WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Ruah Publishing Date: 2025-02-09T05:04:44-08:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/ruah/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.120 Four years ago, almost to the day, we had this thing called Shekinah, a week full of 00:00:16.120 --> 00:00:24.220 these meetings called Shekinah. I know that that was a time when we were going as a church 00:00:24.220 --> 00:00:30.060 shifted, and so I'm expecting that the Lord will do it again because I was planning to 00:00:30.060 --> 00:00:33.060 be out of town this week if possible. 00:00:33.060 --> 00:00:53.060 Can you turn to Ephesians 5.18? Ephesians 5.18. 00:00:53.060 --> 00:01:13.060 Ephesians 5.18. What should I do, Brandon? Ephesians 5.18. 00:01:13.060 --> 00:01:27.060 It says there, be filled with the Holy Spirit. It says, do not be drunk with wine, but be 00:01:27.060 --> 00:01:32.060 filled with the Holy Spirit. Do not be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. 00:01:32.060 --> 00:01:41.060 I know it's a scripture you know, Ephesians 5.18. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the 00:01:41.060 --> 00:01:47.060 Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the 00:01:47.060 --> 00:01:57.060 Spirit. Or in other words, let your fullness, let you be filled with the fullness that comes through 00:01:57.060 --> 00:02:04.060 the Spirit. Be filled, church, with the fullness that comes through the Spirit. Be filled with the 00:02:04.060 --> 00:02:10.060 Spirit. Be full of the Spirit. However you look at it, that's a sense. Be full of the Spirit. 00:02:10.060 --> 00:02:17.060 And I'm trusting that that's what God wants to do during this week, and why. So before we go there, we need to 00:02:17.060 --> 00:02:38.060 understand that this church believes that every believer is filled with the Spirit. 00:02:38.060 --> 00:02:50.060 At conversion. The church believes that every believer is filled with the Spirit at conversion. So it's not as if 00:02:50.060 --> 00:02:59.060 there's a second separate filling that happens to believers. I know that the Pentecostal tradition believes 00:02:59.060 --> 00:03:07.060 that. I came out of that tradition, and I used to believe that too. But scripture indicates that the moment 00:03:07.060 --> 00:03:14.060 you're born, you're given the Holy Spirit as a deposit, and he's a person, and so he lives in you. And he can't come 00:03:14.060 --> 00:03:21.060 half. He's not a quantity. Even though analogies compare him to liquid, baptism of the Spirit. So it's immersing someone 00:03:21.060 --> 00:03:28.060 in the Spirit. It's water. Or you read here, be filled with the Spirit. It's again liquid. Do not be drunk with wine, 00:03:28.060 --> 00:03:33.060 but be filled with the Spirit. But at the end of the day, when you look at 2 Corinthians 3.18, there we find who the 00:03:33.060 --> 00:03:44.060 Holy Spirit is. 2 Corinthians 3.18 says, the Lord is the Spirit. So he's not a quantity. So you received him in 00:03:44.060 --> 00:03:57.060 fullness when you were born again. So all believers in Christ are Spirit filled. The imperative or the command is 00:03:57.060 --> 00:04:18.060 keep being full of the Spirit. Keep being full of the Spirit. Keep being full of the Spirit. That's the command. So when you look at 00:04:18.060 --> 00:04:29.060 the book of Acts, you'll see this phrase come up again and again. Filled. They were filled with the Spirit. So let's go look at it. 00:04:29.060 --> 00:04:40.060 So we realize that even though we are filled with the Holy Spirit, God keeps saying, keep on being full of the Spirit. It's not a 00:04:40.060 --> 00:04:56.060 contradiction. So if you go to John 21, John 21, verse 22, John 21, sorry, John 20, verse 22, John 20, verse 22. In John 20, 00:04:56.060 --> 00:05:06.060 verse 22, Jesus has risen from the dead and he is with his disciples and he says to his disciples, listen, he breathes on them and 00:05:06.060 --> 00:05:17.060 once he breathes on them, he says, receive the Holy Spirit. This is the risen Christ saying to the disciples, receive the Holy Spirit. And yet 00:05:17.060 --> 00:05:31.060 in Acts chapter 2, verse 4, go to Acts chapter 2, verse 4, Acts 2, verse 4. The same guys who were there when Jesus said, receive the 00:05:31.060 --> 00:05:39.060 Holy Spirit. In Acts chapter 2, verse 4, they have the Holy Spirit arrive on earth like he has never before, even though he was always present on earth 00:05:39.060 --> 00:05:50.060 and he created the earth. In Acts chapter 2, verse 4, it says, all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other 00:05:50.060 --> 00:06:06.060 tongues as the Spirit enabled them. So they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Go to Acts chapter 4, Acts chapter 4, verse 30 and then 31. 00:06:06.060 --> 00:06:18.060 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your Holy servant Jesus. After they prayed, the place where they were 00:06:18.060 --> 00:06:33.060 meeting was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. So what the Pentecostal tradition may call 00:06:33.060 --> 00:06:59.060 baptism of the Spirit or being filled with the Spirit or overflow or being immersed in the Spirit is real, but 00:06:59.060 --> 00:07:22.060 is not a separate experience, but is repeated often in a believer's life or should be repeated often in a believer's life. 00:07:22.060 --> 00:07:36.060 Sometimes when people, let's look at some more scriptures. Acts chapter 4, Acts chapter 4, verse 31 we did. Acts chapter 13, Acts chapter 13, verse 9. 00:07:36.060 --> 00:07:49.060 Acts chapter 13, verse 9. Then Saul, who was also called Paul, and Saul had been touched by the Holy Spirit, he was speaking about Christ here, 00:07:49.060 --> 00:08:00.060 had amazing revelations. In Acts chapter 13, verse 9, you see that Paul was confronting a Jewish sorcerer on the island of Paphos and suddenly it says there 00:08:00.060 --> 00:08:11.060 that Saul, who was called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elimass and said, you're a child of the devil. So this idea of filled with the Spirit 00:08:11.060 --> 00:08:34.060 is not uncommon in the New Testament. So when you get born again, it might be an experience that happens when you get born again or it might happen after. 00:08:34.060 --> 00:08:46.060 How much after? One day, one month, one year, it doesn't matter. It may happen after. And should be happening often. 00:08:46.060 --> 00:09:09.060 Subsequent fillings, baptisms, outpourings periodically through life. That is what I'm hoping will happen for us. 00:09:09.060 --> 00:09:31.060 And when this happens, often guys, it's accompanied by speaking in tongues, by preaching boldly, by prophecy, which you'll find in Acts chapter 10, 00:09:31.060 --> 00:09:53.060 and by unusual biblical manifestations. Any questions? 00:09:53.060 --> 00:10:07.060 Go ahead, Nick. Yeah, you may experience this filling of the Spirit sometimes as soon as you're born again. So some people then think that that's when it should happen. 00:10:07.060 --> 00:10:16.060 And if it happens any other time, if it doesn't happen then that you are not filled with the Holy Spirit. The fact is the moment you're born again, you receive the Spirit. 00:10:16.060 --> 00:10:26.060 You're filled with the Holy Spirit. He's a person, therefore you're filled with him. That we must establish as biblical truth. 00:10:26.060 --> 00:10:32.060 But later on, people can be filled again because the Bible says be filled with the Spirit. 00:10:32.060 --> 00:10:39.060 And we showed from scripture how the same people were being filled with the Spirit at different times. 00:10:39.060 --> 00:10:42.060 And that's what happens when you're born again. 00:10:42.060 --> 00:10:45.060 And that's what happens when you're born again. 00:10:45.060 --> 00:10:48.060 And that's what happens when you're born again. 00:10:48.060 --> 00:10:51.060 And that's what happens when you're born again. 00:10:51.060 --> 00:10:54.060 And that's what happens when you're born again. 00:10:54.060 --> 00:10:57.060 And that's what happens when you're born again. 00:10:57.060 --> 00:11:00.060 And that's what happens when you're born again. 00:11:00.060 --> 00:11:03.060 And that's what happens when you're born again. 00:11:04.060 --> 00:11:10.060 They've been surrounded by leaders who are saying we're going to beat you, we're going to put you in prison. 00:11:10.060 --> 00:11:12.060 And they beat them up and put them in prison. 00:11:12.060 --> 00:11:14.060 And when they come out, what's their prayer? 00:11:14.060 --> 00:11:21.060 Oh God, even though we've been beaten, now could you cause the hand of your servant to be upon us? 00:11:21.060 --> 00:11:23.060 And what happens when they pray? 00:11:23.060 --> 00:11:27.060 It says they were filled with the Holy Spirit and they began to speak the word with boldness. 00:11:27.060 --> 00:11:29.060 Boldness or lack of courage. 00:11:29.060 --> 00:11:40.060 Lack of courage or lack of boldness is because you and I once again need a fresh touch of Christ the Lord who is the Spirit and who is present here. 00:11:40.060 --> 00:11:43.060 And that is what I'm hoping will happen. 00:11:43.060 --> 00:11:45.060 That courage will come. 00:11:45.060 --> 00:11:47.060 Conviction will come. 00:11:47.060 --> 00:11:49.060 The ability to witness will come. 00:11:49.060 --> 00:11:52.060 And that it will be accompanied by the signs of the Holy Spirit. 00:11:52.060 --> 00:11:55.060 How we can't do this, I can't do this. 00:11:55.060 --> 00:11:58.060 It'll have to be a sheer work of the Spirit of God. 00:11:58.060 --> 00:12:04.060 But if he's brooding over us and he's saying, can you hear the thunder in the distance? 00:12:04.060 --> 00:12:08.060 Then let it be so. 00:12:08.060 --> 00:12:10.060 Because this is really what you and I live for. 00:12:10.060 --> 00:12:16.060 It's just that we don't have it inside, so put it inside, oh God. 00:12:16.060 --> 00:12:20.060 Let something happen. 00:12:20.060 --> 00:12:22.060 And let it happen to everybody. 00:12:22.060 --> 00:12:26.060 It doesn't matter how disinterested you are, how you're looking at your phone and doing your own thing. 00:12:26.060 --> 00:12:27.060 Doesn't matter. 00:12:27.060 --> 00:12:32.060 The Spirit of God loves you, even if I don't. 00:12:32.060 --> 00:12:37.060 He loves you. 00:12:37.060 --> 00:12:39.060 This is the beauty of it. 00:12:39.060 --> 00:12:41.060 This is not a man-making. 00:12:41.060 --> 00:12:43.060 He loves you. 00:12:43.060 --> 00:12:46.060 He will do it for you, regardless of whether you're interested or not. 00:12:46.060 --> 00:12:51.060 Regardless of whether I'm interested or not. 00:12:51.060 --> 00:12:59.060 Any questions on this? 00:12:59.060 --> 00:13:04.060 Why do you think the Holy Spirit is distinguished between the tapir and the tapir? 00:13:04.060 --> 00:13:07.060 Yeah, because it's a tradition that we come out of. 00:13:07.060 --> 00:13:13.060 So Pentecostal tradition says that it is something that happens later on, not at conversion. 00:13:13.060 --> 00:13:20.060 That you receive the Holy Spirit and that at this later stage, the Holy Spirit fills you to overflowing. 00:13:20.060 --> 00:13:28.060 And so sometimes in extreme cases, if you don't speak in tongues, it means you're not filled with the Holy Spirit. 00:13:28.060 --> 00:13:34.060 So that becomes the measure that if you don't speak in tongues, you're not filled with the Holy Spirit. 00:13:34.060 --> 00:13:38.060 It's impossible to be a Christian without the Holy Spirit. 00:13:38.060 --> 00:13:42.060 And He's a person, so He comes and dwells in you. 00:13:42.060 --> 00:13:43.060 Impossible to be a Christian. 00:13:43.060 --> 00:13:49.060 The Bible says again and again, those that have the Spirit are the sons of God. 00:13:49.060 --> 00:13:55.060 Ephesians 1.13, when you receive Christ, the Spirit was given to you as a deposit. 00:13:55.060 --> 00:14:00.060 That is the Spirit who convicts of sin, of righteousness, of judgment. 00:14:00.060 --> 00:14:05.060 That the Father and the Son come and abide in you by the Spirit. 00:14:05.060 --> 00:14:10.060 And so it became out of an experience came a tradition. 00:14:10.060 --> 00:14:17.060 And the thing is, now you have the other side, the non-Pentecostal side that say there's no such thing. 00:14:17.060 --> 00:14:19.060 And so then they become losers too. 00:14:19.060 --> 00:14:29.060 Because now you don't want outpourings, infillings, baptisms that are subsequent and must happen again and again and again because it happened in the Bible. 00:14:35.060 --> 00:14:36.060 Any other questions? 00:14:36.060 --> 00:14:46.060 Okay, so let's look at Luke 24, 49. 00:14:46.060 --> 00:14:52.060 Luke 24, 49. 00:14:52.060 --> 00:14:58.060 Luke 24, 49. 00:15:06.060 --> 00:15:16.060 Starting at 47, Jesus is speaking and He says, 00:15:16.060 --> 00:15:19.060 The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. 00:15:19.060 --> 00:15:20.060 This is after He's risen. 00:15:20.060 --> 00:15:28.060 And then He says, And repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. 00:15:28.060 --> 00:15:31.060 You are witnesses of these things. 00:15:31.060 --> 00:15:37.060 I'm going to send you what my Father has promised. 00:15:37.060 --> 00:15:44.060 But stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. 00:15:44.060 --> 00:15:52.060 Guys, before I go on that, when I say subsequent fillings of the Spirit, it's not that the Holy Spirit has gone. 00:15:53.060 --> 00:16:03.060 It's like the Spirit of God who is in us pours Himself or comes upon us so that we are revived to follow Him. 00:16:03.060 --> 00:16:05.060 So it's not that He's left. 00:16:05.060 --> 00:16:07.060 So we need to be filled again. 00:16:07.060 --> 00:16:08.060 No, no, no. 00:16:08.060 --> 00:16:10.060 Once He is, He is. 00:16:10.060 --> 00:16:12.060 So He lives in us. 00:16:12.060 --> 00:16:20.060 But as we will see perhaps in the days ahead, the comfort of life, the consumerism that I'm consumed with, 00:16:20.060 --> 00:16:29.060 the lack of courage and the cost that Christianity requires, sometimes when we keep avoiding it, we get dull. 00:16:29.060 --> 00:16:30.060 And then what do you need? 00:16:30.060 --> 00:16:32.060 You need the Spirit of God to come in. 00:16:32.060 --> 00:16:33.060 Recharge. 00:16:33.060 --> 00:16:36.060 It's like connecting it to a supercharger. 00:16:36.060 --> 00:16:42.060 It's not that the battery is dead, but it needs something to happen in it so that it starts running again. 00:16:42.060 --> 00:16:43.060 It is that. 00:16:44.060 --> 00:16:52.060 And throughout church history, throughout church history, whenever a church or whenever a people want to really step up, 00:16:52.060 --> 00:16:56.060 they begin to call out to God saying, Oh God, pour out your Spirit on us. 00:16:56.060 --> 00:17:02.060 And throughout church history, the Spirit of God who gives you that hunger satisfies that hunger. 00:17:02.060 --> 00:17:06.060 Who gives you that hunger satisfies that hunger. 00:17:06.060 --> 00:17:09.060 And sometimes we don't even know what that hunger looks like. 00:17:09.060 --> 00:17:10.060 That's okay. 00:17:10.060 --> 00:17:11.060 He's the appetite creator. 00:17:11.060 --> 00:17:13.060 He's the appetite creator. 00:17:13.060 --> 00:17:15.060 What happens when a baby is born? 00:17:15.060 --> 00:17:17.060 Who creates the appetite? 00:17:18.060 --> 00:17:20.060 God gives the appetite. 00:17:22.060 --> 00:17:24.060 The baby hasn't been taught to have an appetite. 00:17:24.060 --> 00:17:25.060 God gives us the appetite. 00:17:25.060 --> 00:17:33.060 I pray God that as we spend the next four days just sometimes sitting and not knowing what to expect, 00:17:33.060 --> 00:17:38.060 knowing that he's here, he's hovering, he's active, and he's present, 00:17:38.060 --> 00:17:44.060 that will cause enough hunger to rise and that their hunger will be satisfied. 00:17:45.060 --> 00:17:48.060 There's just nothing we can do about this guys. 00:17:48.060 --> 00:17:51.060 We are so helpless in this one. 00:17:51.060 --> 00:17:54.060 Rara won't make it happen. 00:17:58.060 --> 00:18:00.060 Luke 24, 49. 00:18:01.060 --> 00:18:03.060 Acts chapter one, verse eight. 00:18:03.060 --> 00:18:04.060 Acts chapter one, verse eight. 00:18:04.060 --> 00:18:11.060 So Luke 24, 49 says, from Jerusalem to the nations. 00:18:13.060 --> 00:18:21.060 And it says, clothed with power from on high. 00:18:24.060 --> 00:18:25.060 Let's see what Acts 1, 8 says. 00:18:26.060 --> 00:18:30.060 Acts 1, 8 says, you will receive power. 00:18:30.060 --> 00:18:39.060 So again, power from, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit, Acts 1, 8. 00:18:40.060 --> 00:18:41.060 Let me read it exactly. 00:18:41.060 --> 00:18:42.060 Acts 1, 8. 00:18:43.060 --> 00:18:51.060 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. 00:18:56.060 --> 00:18:59.060 And you will be my witnesses. 00:19:00.060 --> 00:19:05.060 And you will go from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. 00:19:08.060 --> 00:19:10.060 What's common guys? 00:19:10.060 --> 00:19:14.060 One is before Christ ascended, one is after Christ ascended. 00:19:20.060 --> 00:19:21.060 This is common. 00:19:23.060 --> 00:19:25.060 From Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. 00:19:25.060 --> 00:19:30.060 If you or this church has to go beyond our four walls, 00:19:30.060 --> 00:19:38.060 then one of the things that has to happen is the ridiculous oncoming of the power of God upon us. 00:19:39.060 --> 00:19:43.060 Not just over these four days, but in the future too. 00:19:44.060 --> 00:19:45.060 What else? 00:19:46.060 --> 00:19:52.060 Witnesses. If you go to Luke 24, 47, it talks about, can you go tell them about repentance and forgiveness? 00:19:52.060 --> 00:19:58.060 So there's witnessing here, and there's witnesses here. 00:19:59.060 --> 00:20:06.060 So if I want to be a witness to the resurrected Christ, 00:20:09.060 --> 00:20:16.060 then we need to be immersed, baptized, just drenched with the Holy Spirit. 00:20:17.060 --> 00:20:24.060 And then the third one that is common is power and power. 00:20:27.060 --> 00:20:34.060 My contention is that I don't have that kind of power and this church doesn't have that kind of power. 00:20:37.060 --> 00:20:42.060 And so we need it, and there's only one place to get it from. Him. 00:20:43.060 --> 00:20:48.060 But if He's brooding over us, if this is His desire, 00:20:49.060 --> 00:20:53.060 if Jesus said that if you ask for the Holy Spirit, why would He give you anything else but the Spirit? 00:20:54.060 --> 00:20:59.060 Because you're His children. What do you think should happen based just on the nature of God? 00:21:06.060 --> 00:21:07.060 Any questions guys? 00:21:07.060 --> 00:21:10.060 Let's look at another scripture, Acts 433. 00:21:12.060 --> 00:21:13.060 Acts 433. 00:21:15.060 --> 00:21:18.060 Acts 433. Impossible to do this without Him. 00:21:19.060 --> 00:21:20.060 Acts 433. 00:21:22.060 --> 00:21:27.060 With great power, again that word which we don't have much of, 00:21:28.060 --> 00:21:31.060 with great power the apostles, 00:21:31.060 --> 00:21:40.060 with great power the apostles gave witness or continue to testify, depending on the word that you read, 00:21:41.060 --> 00:21:43.060 gave witness, again that word, 00:21:47.060 --> 00:21:52.060 to the resurrection or to the risen Christ. 00:21:53.060 --> 00:21:57.060 Let's look at another word. First Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 1.5. 00:21:57.060 --> 00:21:59.060 1 Thessalonians 1.5. 00:22:02.060 --> 00:22:04.060 1 Thessalonians 1.5. 00:22:09.060 --> 00:22:13.060 We came to you not with words, we came to you not with words, 00:22:14.060 --> 00:22:16.060 so the gospel was not just words, 00:22:21.060 --> 00:22:26.060 but infused with mighty power. 00:22:28.060 --> 00:22:33.060 But infused with mighty power of the Spirit. 00:22:36.060 --> 00:22:41.060 And the gospel was a witness to Christ, so again we have the same words. 00:22:48.060 --> 00:22:55.060 I would say to you that the one thing lacking in my life and lacking in your life and the church is this power. 00:22:57.060 --> 00:23:00.060 But it's available because the source is present here. 00:23:02.060 --> 00:23:05.060 Any questions, any disagreements with that? 00:23:16.060 --> 00:23:17.060 Any questions guys? 00:23:19.060 --> 00:23:20.060 Go ahead Dilna. 00:23:27.060 --> 00:23:34.060 Like you have the honeymoon, at certain times you're calling out to God and asking where are you? 00:23:35.060 --> 00:23:37.060 You know, just like David and Saul. 00:23:37.060 --> 00:23:49.060 So, isn't like, you know when the spirit is just there's an awareness? 00:23:50.060 --> 00:23:52.060 Awareness versus film? 00:23:52.060 --> 00:23:59.060 Yes, so awareness yes, but I would say shouldn't my life evidence, 00:24:00.060 --> 00:24:06.060 shouldn't our Christian lives experience the presence and power of the Spirit 00:24:07.060 --> 00:24:11.060 and shouldn't my Christian life give evidence of the presence and power of the Spirit? 00:24:15.060 --> 00:24:19.060 And does it at present match New Testament standards? 00:24:22.060 --> 00:24:26.060 But is this honeymoon period constant or is it just constant? 00:24:53.060 --> 00:24:57.060 He says, repent for you have fallen from your first love. 00:24:58.060 --> 00:25:03.060 And he says repent or else, he even threatens them to get back into love. 00:25:04.060 --> 00:25:14.060 So, while it is true the honeymoon period, I get very agitated when I either think of myself saying it or someone else saying it 00:25:15.060 --> 00:25:19.060 when they say, oh when I first became a believer I was so passionate about God. 00:25:19.060 --> 00:25:25.060 But first love has gone away and I'm thinking to myself, don't say that Jacob, it's supposed to increase not decrease. 00:25:25.060 --> 00:25:28.060 Because this is one bridegroom who keeps increasing. 00:25:29.060 --> 00:25:37.060 He doesn't go bald, he doesn't get like old or things, he just gets getting better and better and better. 00:25:40.060 --> 00:25:42.060 So, yeah. 00:25:42.060 --> 00:25:43.060 Yeah. 00:25:46.060 --> 00:25:49.060 Yeah, we will. Yeah, we'll do that right away. 00:25:55.060 --> 00:26:03.060 So, life in Christ should be characterized, 00:26:06.060 --> 00:26:10.060 life in Christ should be characterized by power. 00:26:13.060 --> 00:26:15.060 This power should be experienced. 00:26:17.060 --> 00:26:30.060 This power should be evidenced in a dynamic, transparent life. 00:26:31.060 --> 00:26:47.060 It is power that is veiled in weakness as in in your weakness, as in in your flesh, but it shows. 00:26:48.060 --> 00:26:58.060 This is why Paul talks about treasures in jars of clay, even though it's broken on the outside, it's still tremendous treasure inside. 00:26:58.060 --> 00:27:00.060 And even as I keep dying, I keep living. 00:27:01.060 --> 00:27:05.060 So, we start here in terms of defining what power looks like. 00:27:06.060 --> 00:27:13.060 So, the first thing is life in Christ is characterized by power. 00:27:14.060 --> 00:27:25.060 Because if you really look at Luke 24 47, if you look at Acts chapter 1 verse 8, if you look at Acts 4 33, if you look at 1 Thessalonians 1 5, 00:27:25.060 --> 00:27:34.060 it seems to be, if you look at Ephesians 1 11 to 18, it just keeps repeating the same thing, the power of the Holy Spirit, 00:27:35.060 --> 00:27:39.060 the power of the Holy Spirit, life that are characterized, dynamic lives. 00:27:40.060 --> 00:27:42.060 There are days when your life and my life is dynamic. 00:27:43.060 --> 00:27:46.060 By dynamic, I mean alive and vibrant in the Spirit. 00:27:47.060 --> 00:27:52.060 When I was playing around with the word Ruwa, May sent me a text saying, 00:27:53.060 --> 00:27:58.060 one of the ways to describe Ruwa or the Spirit or the life of the Spirit is found in Psalm 27 in the message. 00:27:59.060 --> 00:28:02.060 It says zest, space, light, that's dynamic. 00:28:03.060 --> 00:28:08.060 And God forbid we say that that is not the lifestyle that we need to live continuously. 00:28:09.060 --> 00:28:12.060 God forbid that we say that it should only happen occasionally. 00:28:12.060 --> 00:28:15.060 And so the question then is, is that power active in my life? 00:28:15.060 --> 00:28:20.060 And the answer to almost every question I ask about myself and about this church is no. 00:28:22.060 --> 00:28:29.060 I praise God we can face the no so that he can make it a yes because he's the only one capable of doing it. 00:28:30.060 --> 00:28:40.060 Is life, space, light the dynamic way I live on a regular basis? 00:28:40.060 --> 00:28:41.060 And the answer is no. 00:28:42.060 --> 00:28:48.060 There are moments, moments ain't enough, right? 00:28:49.060 --> 00:28:50.060 Moments are good. 00:28:51.060 --> 00:28:52.060 We can do better. 00:28:53.060 --> 00:28:55.060 Day by day, week by week. 00:28:58.060 --> 00:29:00.060 So, someone ask a question? 00:29:02.060 --> 00:29:04.060 So life is characterized by power. 00:29:04.060 --> 00:29:05.060 It must be experienced. 00:29:05.060 --> 00:29:06.060 It must be evidence. 00:29:06.060 --> 00:29:08.060 Please don't think I don't say that. 00:29:08.060 --> 00:29:11.060 Please don't think I don't see this in your life. 00:29:12.060 --> 00:29:14.060 There's not a life here that it hasn't been visible in. 00:29:15.060 --> 00:29:22.060 Doesn't matter whether it's HIP's life and his testimony or Chava's life and his testimony or Mark Butler's life and his testimony or Diana's life. 00:29:22.060 --> 00:29:24.060 It shows there is power present. 00:29:24.060 --> 00:29:26.060 Otherwise we wouldn't even be talking about this. 00:29:26.060 --> 00:29:27.060 Am I speaking too fast? 00:29:28.060 --> 00:29:29.060 No. 00:29:32.060 --> 00:29:33.060 So it is evident. 00:29:33.060 --> 00:29:38.060 But we're not talking about these little blips every so often where all the seven planets line up. 00:29:38.060 --> 00:29:47.060 It happens once in 39 years when three of them line up and once in 100,000 years when all seven line up. 00:29:48.060 --> 00:29:50.060 It's got to happen more often than that. 00:29:51.060 --> 00:29:54.060 So, does insurance? 00:29:56.060 --> 00:29:57.060 Sorry. 00:30:03.060 --> 00:30:05.060 Should it affect with persecution? 00:30:08.060 --> 00:30:09.060 Yes. 00:30:11.060 --> 00:30:12.060 No. 00:30:13.060 --> 00:30:18.060 The church that expects power should have the courage to face persecution. 00:30:18.060 --> 00:30:20.060 The church that expects... 00:30:20.060 --> 00:30:21.060 Will they? 00:30:21.060 --> 00:30:24.060 But will they inevitably? 00:30:24.060 --> 00:30:25.060 Yeah. 00:30:25.060 --> 00:30:26.060 Sometimes they do. 00:30:26.060 --> 00:30:27.060 Sometimes they do. 00:30:27.060 --> 00:30:38.060 Because when I think of what we may face here compared to what someone faces in a village in North India, it's like miles apart. 00:30:39.060 --> 00:30:46.060 So sometimes it's surprising how God takes a church and a person without anything happening to them. 00:30:46.060 --> 00:30:52.060 And other times you see people being killed before they can even preach their first sermon. 00:30:52.060 --> 00:30:55.060 So should I expect persecution? 00:30:55.060 --> 00:30:56.060 No. 00:30:56.060 --> 00:30:58.060 But should I have the courage for it? 00:30:58.060 --> 00:30:59.060 Yes. 00:30:59.060 --> 00:31:00.060 And that's what the Spirit of God provides. 00:31:07.060 --> 00:31:11.060 So what does this power look like? 00:31:11.060 --> 00:31:13.060 One. 00:31:13.060 --> 00:31:14.060 Dynamic. 00:31:14.060 --> 00:31:19.060 And when I use the word dynamic, think light, zest, life, space. 00:31:19.060 --> 00:31:21.060 Light, space, power. 00:31:21.060 --> 00:31:23.060 Light, zest, life, space. 00:31:23.060 --> 00:31:25.060 A simple way of thinking about it. 00:31:25.060 --> 00:31:33.060 And so one of the things we'll hopefully talk about at some point is the idea of joy. 00:31:37.060 --> 00:31:40.060 Essential to the nature of the Spirit and the people of God. 00:31:40.060 --> 00:31:42.060 The idea of joy. 00:31:43.060 --> 00:31:45.060 Sometimes we are so poor, eh? 00:31:45.060 --> 00:31:47.060 And other times we are so rich. 00:31:52.060 --> 00:31:55.060 So what's the purpose? 00:31:55.060 --> 00:31:59.060 Dynamic empowering of life. 00:32:00.060 --> 00:32:02.060 What's the purpose of this power? 00:32:02.060 --> 00:32:03.060 Two. 00:32:03.060 --> 00:32:08.060 Witnessing to Christ. 00:32:10.060 --> 00:32:13.060 And you shall receive power and you shall be witnesses to me. 00:32:13.060 --> 00:32:14.060 Three. 00:32:14.060 --> 00:32:22.060 Openness to gifts and the miraculous. 00:32:26.060 --> 00:32:27.060 Four. 00:32:29.060 --> 00:32:34.060 Obedience to mission. 00:32:40.060 --> 00:32:42.060 These are the four things the power is for. 00:32:44.060 --> 00:33:02.060 One is can your life take on the brilliance of someone who is the most joyous, most spacious, most zestful, most light filled, most life giving, being in the entire universe? 00:33:04.060 --> 00:33:08.060 Can my life begin to catch glimpses of it, reflect it a little more? 00:33:08.060 --> 00:33:12.060 After these three, four days in the presence of the Spirit, will my life show that? 00:33:12.060 --> 00:33:14.060 Will my ways show that? 00:33:14.060 --> 00:33:16.060 I pray God that it does, eh? 00:33:16.060 --> 00:33:21.060 Change has to be seen, otherwise it's nothing changed. 00:33:21.060 --> 00:33:23.060 So that's the first one. 00:33:23.060 --> 00:33:25.060 The second one is witnessing to Christ. 00:33:27.060 --> 00:33:32.060 You shall receive power so that you may be witnesses to my resurrection. 00:33:32.060 --> 00:33:33.060 Witnesses. 00:33:33.060 --> 00:33:36.060 And witness not occasionally in our little circle. 00:33:36.060 --> 00:33:38.060 Witness that expands. 00:33:39.060 --> 00:33:42.060 One of the things about, this is a special power guys. 00:33:42.060 --> 00:33:44.060 Why do you call it special? 00:33:44.060 --> 00:33:49.060 Because you're not talking about sharing a testimony in your circle. 00:33:49.060 --> 00:33:51.060 You're talking about expanding. 00:33:51.060 --> 00:33:53.060 It's Jerusalem to the nation. 00:33:53.060 --> 00:33:56.060 Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth. 00:33:56.060 --> 00:33:58.060 It's continuously moving outwards. 00:34:01.060 --> 00:34:03.060 And that's where you need the courage. 00:34:03.060 --> 00:34:05.060 We'll talk about why we need courage for this. 00:34:09.060 --> 00:34:13.060 Third one is openness to gifts and the miraculous. 00:34:13.060 --> 00:34:17.060 To all the gifts and to all the miraculous in the Bible. 00:34:17.060 --> 00:34:18.060 Openness to it. 00:34:18.060 --> 00:34:20.060 We can't do it, but he can. 00:34:20.060 --> 00:34:22.060 But am I open to it? 00:34:22.060 --> 00:34:23.060 Where I leave control? 00:34:23.060 --> 00:34:26.060 Where I'm not afraid of being made foolish? 00:34:27.060 --> 00:34:30.060 And openness to gifts and the miraculous. 00:34:32.060 --> 00:34:34.060 And then the last one. 00:34:34.060 --> 00:34:36.060 Obedience to mission. 00:34:36.060 --> 00:34:38.060 Immediate obedience to mission. 00:34:38.060 --> 00:34:39.060 I want you to go here. 00:34:39.060 --> 00:34:40.060 I want you to leave this place. 00:34:40.060 --> 00:34:41.060 I want you to journey. 00:34:41.060 --> 00:34:44.060 I want you to obedience to mission. 00:34:46.060 --> 00:34:49.060 I'm praying that this thing that no pastor can make happen. 00:34:49.060 --> 00:34:51.060 That no book can make happen. 00:34:52.060 --> 00:34:54.060 That the Spirit of God will make happen. 00:34:54.060 --> 00:34:56.060 And I'm praying that for myself first. 00:34:56.060 --> 00:35:00.060 Not because I'm the pastor, but because I don't have this. 00:35:00.060 --> 00:35:03.060 I don't have it the way he wants me to have it. 00:35:05.060 --> 00:35:08.060 I want the desperation that begins to build in my heart. 00:35:08.060 --> 00:35:12.060 Where this becomes so important because it is so important to him. 00:35:15.060 --> 00:35:18.060 And then I would definitely like us to have it. 00:35:22.060 --> 00:35:24.060 Because the expansion is global. 00:35:24.060 --> 00:35:26.060 And what has been given to us is global. 00:35:26.060 --> 00:35:28.060 Because the expansion is global. 00:35:28.060 --> 00:35:30.060 And what has been given to us is global. 00:35:37.060 --> 00:35:39.060 We need him more than ever. 00:35:40.060 --> 00:35:42.060 And what a wonderful thing when he begins to change. 00:35:42.060 --> 00:35:43.060 You change. 00:35:43.060 --> 00:35:46.060 Your ability to witness changes. 00:35:46.060 --> 00:35:51.060 Your openness to help others through the gifts and the miraculous. 00:35:51.060 --> 00:35:53.060 Bill Johnson sometimes puts it this way. 00:35:53.060 --> 00:35:55.060 The Holy Spirit lives in you for yourself. 00:35:55.060 --> 00:35:57.060 But he lives on you for others. 00:36:01.060 --> 00:36:03.060 And then finally, obedience to mission. 00:36:07.060 --> 00:36:09.060 Any questions before we go on? 00:36:20.060 --> 00:36:22.060 When you talk about empowering of life, you're talking about 00:36:22.060 --> 00:36:25.060 can I break out of cowardice? 00:36:28.060 --> 00:36:30.060 Can I break out of consumption? 00:36:32.060 --> 00:36:35.060 Which is basically feeding self. 00:36:36.060 --> 00:36:38.060 Or self-centeredness. 00:36:38.060 --> 00:36:40.060 Can I break out of comfort? 00:36:41.060 --> 00:36:44.060 And can I break out of the hesitation to pay the cost? 00:36:44.060 --> 00:36:46.060 Because the cost is high. 00:36:47.060 --> 00:36:51.060 In Christianity, you can count the cost and immediately realize 00:36:51.060 --> 00:36:53.060 that you cannot pay it. 00:36:53.060 --> 00:36:56.060 And then throw yourself helplessly onto God. 00:36:56.060 --> 00:36:59.060 When Jesus said count the cost, he didn't mean count the cost 00:36:59.060 --> 00:37:01.060 and realize whether you can or you cannot. 00:37:01.060 --> 00:37:03.060 You can never pay the cost. 00:37:03.060 --> 00:37:05.060 Because your cost is your life. 00:37:06.060 --> 00:37:08.060 So all you can do is count the cost and realize, 00:37:08.060 --> 00:37:10.060 oh my God, I don't have what it takes. 00:37:10.060 --> 00:37:12.060 So Lord, now I'm helplessly yours. 00:37:12.060 --> 00:37:14.060 Help me, because I can't do this. 00:37:21.060 --> 00:37:22.060 What when? 00:37:22.060 --> 00:37:25.060 Cowardice, consumption, comfort and cost is replaced by 00:37:25.060 --> 00:37:33.060 light, life, zest, space, obedience and joy. 00:37:34.060 --> 00:37:36.060 Oh my God, don't you want it? 00:37:40.060 --> 00:37:42.060 Nick, you want it, right? 00:37:43.060 --> 00:37:45.060 I do, man. 00:37:46.060 --> 00:37:51.060 The few hours that we sometimes taste this every week is so... 00:37:55.060 --> 00:37:57.060 But what if you had this? 00:37:59.060 --> 00:38:01.060 It's so much fun, man. 00:38:04.060 --> 00:38:05.060 Go ahead, James. 00:38:06.060 --> 00:38:07.060 Sorry? 00:38:07.060 --> 00:38:12.060 Zest is like a zest for life. 00:38:12.060 --> 00:38:14.060 A zest for life, as in... 00:38:18.060 --> 00:38:24.060 Exuberance and a love for God and creation and just... 00:38:25.060 --> 00:38:27.060 Like zesty nachos, like... 00:38:27.060 --> 00:38:29.060 No, that doesn't help. 00:38:31.060 --> 00:38:33.060 Eagerness, yeah. 00:38:33.060 --> 00:38:38.060 Like a passionate, exuberant eagerness for life and everything, 00:38:38.060 --> 00:38:42.060 even when it sucks, to meet it with zest. 00:38:42.060 --> 00:38:43.060 Yeah. 00:38:59.060 --> 00:39:02.060 Christians have sought this outpouring of the Spirit throughout church history, guys. 00:39:02.060 --> 00:39:05.060 And it's our turn, because our mission is global. 00:39:06.060 --> 00:39:08.060 It's our turn, because our mission is global. 00:39:08.060 --> 00:39:11.060 Please believe me when I say it is our. 00:39:11.060 --> 00:39:13.060 I actually mean our. 00:39:13.060 --> 00:39:16.060 When I was worshipping there, at one point I said, 00:39:16.060 --> 00:39:21.060 the song said, like a rushing wind pour upon my soul, 00:39:21.060 --> 00:39:24.060 and I said, I cannot come alone. 00:39:24.060 --> 00:39:26.060 I must come with my family. 00:39:26.060 --> 00:39:29.060 And I imagine me standing in front with you guys behind, 00:39:29.060 --> 00:39:31.060 just because I pass through the church and saying, 00:39:31.060 --> 00:39:33.060 either all, not just individuals. 00:39:33.060 --> 00:39:36.060 This is our global mission, given to a church as a gift, saying, 00:39:36.060 --> 00:39:45.060 listen, you bun to nobody's ordinary people, extraordinary God. 00:39:45.060 --> 00:39:47.060 This is exactly what I want. 00:39:47.060 --> 00:39:51.060 People that aren't famous, aren't anything but a famous God. 00:39:55.060 --> 00:39:58.060 Always Venus, am I right? 00:39:59.060 --> 00:40:01.060 Our mission is global. 00:40:03.060 --> 00:40:08.060 20s and 30s, Hebrides 2.0, we've talked about it. 00:40:08.060 --> 00:40:10.060 I'm praying this week that something will shift. 00:40:10.060 --> 00:40:15.060 You know, the whole idea of Hebrides started with Shekinah. 00:40:16.060 --> 00:40:20.060 Four years ago, 2021, where God began to burst it. 00:40:20.060 --> 00:40:22.060 Four years seems a long time. 00:40:22.060 --> 00:40:25.060 Jacob, what evidence is there that something is happening? 00:40:25.060 --> 00:40:29.060 I can give you evidence, but it's not enough, because we've got the whole blooming globe. 00:40:29.060 --> 00:40:34.060 But surely, people get added, eh? 00:40:40.060 --> 00:40:42.060 Someone asked, Jane, how's the church growing? 00:40:44.060 --> 00:40:46.060 What did you say? 00:40:48.060 --> 00:40:49.060 Yeah. 00:40:50.060 --> 00:40:51.060 Yeah. 00:40:57.060 --> 00:40:58.060 Okay. 00:40:58.060 --> 00:41:01.060 So what will happen when this outpouring happens? 00:41:01.060 --> 00:41:02.060 What will happen? 00:41:04.060 --> 00:41:08.060 You'll have deep conviction. 00:41:09.060 --> 00:41:14.060 First Thessalonians 1.5. 00:41:15.060 --> 00:41:23.060 Listen, when we preach the gospel to you, do you realize that we spoke with great conviction? 00:41:24.060 --> 00:41:29.060 Because the Holy Spirit infused our words with power, and we spoke with great conviction. 00:41:29.060 --> 00:41:31.060 Deep conviction. 00:41:31.060 --> 00:41:33.060 Deep conviction in Wall-E. 00:41:33.060 --> 00:41:35.060 Deep conviction in Northland. 00:41:35.060 --> 00:41:37.060 Deep conviction in France. 00:41:37.060 --> 00:41:39.060 Deep conviction in New York. 00:41:39.060 --> 00:41:43.060 In New York, deep conviction about anything that God has said, 00:41:43.060 --> 00:41:48.060 this is your baby that I formed before you were born, so you can carry it. 00:41:48.060 --> 00:41:50.060 Deep conviction. 00:41:51.060 --> 00:41:56.060 You know the difference between conviction and belief, according to US law, 00:41:56.060 --> 00:42:00.060 is that beliefs can shift, opinions can shift. 00:42:00.060 --> 00:42:04.060 Convictions is when you decide that I am so deeply convicted about it, 00:42:04.060 --> 00:42:06.060 that I will go to jail for it. 00:42:09.060 --> 00:42:11.060 Deep conviction. 00:42:11.060 --> 00:42:16.060 They could not understand in Acts chapter 4 why these disciples who were ordinary fishermen 00:42:16.060 --> 00:42:21.060 had now turned into people that would not back down even when you beat them up. 00:42:22.060 --> 00:42:26.060 That you carry it so deeply that there's nothing that can shake you, 00:42:26.060 --> 00:42:28.060 that God will always be good. 00:42:28.060 --> 00:42:32.060 It doesn't matter what comes at you, it is impossible for you to suspect Him 00:42:32.060 --> 00:42:36.060 of any other motive but a brilliant Father. 00:42:37.060 --> 00:42:39.060 Deep conviction. 00:42:40.060 --> 00:42:44.060 So the questions we have to ask when we talk about deep conviction is, 00:42:44.060 --> 00:42:50.060 remember what God said to you when you were first a believer in your honeymoon period. 00:42:50.060 --> 00:42:52.060 How deeply convicted are you about that? 00:42:52.060 --> 00:42:55.060 Remember what God has said to us as a church. 00:42:55.060 --> 00:42:58.060 How deeply convicted are you about it? 00:42:59.060 --> 00:43:02.060 Remember the ministry that He has given you. 00:43:02.060 --> 00:43:05.060 How deeply convicted are you about it? 00:43:05.060 --> 00:43:09.060 Remember the truths of who He is as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 00:43:09.060 --> 00:43:12.060 How deeply convicted are you about it? 00:43:12.060 --> 00:43:14.060 Remember the fact that He says, 00:43:14.060 --> 00:43:17.060 I'm a God who will clothe you with power from on high. 00:43:17.060 --> 00:43:21.060 How deeply convicted am I about it? 00:43:21.060 --> 00:43:27.060 Deep conviction that gets you up in the morning at five though you went to sleep at two. 00:43:27.060 --> 00:43:34.060 Deep conviction that makes you work hard and then still go and do what you want to do. 00:43:34.060 --> 00:43:39.060 Because God has said a deep conviction that stops you from mismanaging your time. 00:43:40.060 --> 00:43:47.060 Deep conviction that says no to covetous, no to comfort, no to the cost that has, 00:43:47.060 --> 00:43:53.060 yes to the cost that has been paid and no to, what's the fourth one? 00:43:53.060 --> 00:44:01.060 Comfort, cost, covetous and consumption. 00:44:01.060 --> 00:44:03.060 Consumption. 00:44:04.060 --> 00:44:06.060 Deep conviction. 00:44:08.060 --> 00:44:15.060 I watched a documentary on a flight. It's called Canary something. 00:44:15.060 --> 00:44:21.060 It's about a guy who went up mountains covered with ice 00:44:21.060 --> 00:44:25.060 because he wanted to get a cylinder of ice to bring back 00:44:25.060 --> 00:44:30.060 because just like trees have rings, ice has rings and it gives you the history of the land. 00:44:32.060 --> 00:44:37.060 From when he was 30 to when he was 80, he did this. 00:44:37.060 --> 00:44:40.060 He was cancer-ridden but he said, I'll go again. 00:44:40.060 --> 00:44:46.060 At 84, he's trekking up some mountain in the Andes in South America because he hasn't gone there. 00:44:48.060 --> 00:44:50.060 They gave him the President's Medal. 00:44:50.060 --> 00:44:53.060 Obama gave him the President's Medal. He wouldn't settle for it. 00:44:53.060 --> 00:44:58.060 He says, no, just because I got a medal doesn't mean I must unearth 00:44:58.060 --> 00:45:04.060 and show the world the history of lands that will soon be wiped out 00:45:04.060 --> 00:45:06.060 because the ice cap is melting. 00:45:08.060 --> 00:45:12.060 There were times when he couldn't go up a mountain so he would charter a helicopter 00:45:12.060 --> 00:45:16.060 and then find that he's taking all this heavy equipment up 00:45:16.060 --> 00:45:20.060 and he realizes that a helicopter can't handle the equipment in the winds 00:45:20.060 --> 00:45:22.060 and it will come down and he will lose a lot of money. 00:45:22.060 --> 00:45:24.060 But this man had one thing straight. 00:45:24.060 --> 00:45:26.060 I must do this because nobody else is doing it. 00:45:29.060 --> 00:45:34.060 How do you become so convicted about things that are so not eternal? 00:45:38.060 --> 00:45:41.060 I can't do this for me. I can't do this for you. 00:45:41.060 --> 00:45:46.060 But I pray God that the Spirit of God will bring a strange conviction in our hearts over the next three or four days. 00:45:49.060 --> 00:45:54.060 And when we fail, we'll get up again because these baptisms are not a one-off event. 00:45:55.060 --> 00:45:59.060 Deep conviction. This is what the power of God looks like. 00:46:01.060 --> 00:46:06.060 Next one. Self-denying courage. Self-denying courage. 00:46:10.060 --> 00:46:13.060 Self-denying courage, Acts 4. 31. 00:46:13.060 --> 00:46:17.060 Guys, I got self-denying faith but I don't have self-denying courage. 00:46:19.060 --> 00:46:21.060 I want self-denying courage. 00:46:24.060 --> 00:46:26.060 Self-denying courage. 00:46:32.060 --> 00:46:34.060 Self-denying courage. 00:46:36.060 --> 00:46:48.060 The courage and the boldness, the courage and the boldness to suffer for Christ. 00:46:49.060 --> 00:46:54.060 Go back to Acts chapter 4. Let's just read that. 00:46:54.060 --> 00:46:59.060 Acts chapter 4, verse 28 onwards. Acts 4, verse 28 onwards. 00:47:08.060 --> 00:47:10.060 Verse 21. Chapter 4, verse 21. 00:47:10.060 --> 00:47:13.060 After further threats, they let them go. 00:47:13.060 --> 00:47:17.060 They could not decide how to punish them because all the people were praising God for what had happened 00:47:17.060 --> 00:47:21.060 for the man who was miraculously healed was over 40 years old. 00:47:21.060 --> 00:47:24.060 Or was over 40 years old. 00:47:24.060 --> 00:47:27.060 And then verse 29, they start praying. 00:47:27.060 --> 00:47:31.060 And they pray, Now Lord, consider their threats. 00:47:31.060 --> 00:47:33.060 So they were being threatened. 00:47:33.060 --> 00:47:38.060 Consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 00:47:38.060 --> 00:47:44.060 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miracles, signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus. 00:47:44.060 --> 00:47:47.060 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. 00:47:47.060 --> 00:47:49.060 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. 00:47:49.060 --> 00:47:52.060 And they spoke the word of God boldly. 00:47:52.060 --> 00:47:59.060 When we are talking about self-denying courage, is the courage and the boldness to suffer for Christ? 00:47:59.060 --> 00:48:01.060 And I don't have it. 00:48:05.060 --> 00:48:13.060 That looks like if, yeah, for us, it would perhaps be here or in some other mission field somewhere. 00:48:13.060 --> 00:48:14.060 Or at work. 00:48:14.060 --> 00:48:21.060 Where the courage to take a stance and speak up may cause you to suffer in terms of your job. 00:48:21.060 --> 00:48:23.060 In terms of your pay. 00:48:23.060 --> 00:48:26.060 In terms of your physical harm. 00:48:26.060 --> 00:48:31.060 In terms of you being chucked out of the house because you're having a house church in your house. 00:48:31.060 --> 00:48:36.060 For us, it's pretty miniscule compared to others. 00:48:36.060 --> 00:48:38.060 But I don't even have the courage for that. 00:48:38.060 --> 00:48:45.060 I don't have the courage for that because we live in such a politically correct environment that cowardice is something that's cultivated. 00:48:45.060 --> 00:48:50.060 The whole idea of PC is, can I make you coward enough? 00:49:09.060 --> 00:49:11.060 Third. 00:49:14.060 --> 00:49:16.060 Convincing wisdom. 00:49:16.060 --> 00:49:20.060 Convincing wisdom. 00:49:24.060 --> 00:49:26.060 This is what we are going to be praying for today. 00:49:26.060 --> 00:49:27.060 Convincing wisdom. 00:49:27.060 --> 00:49:30.060 Look at Acts chapter 6. 00:49:30.060 --> 00:49:33.060 Acts chapter 6, verse 8-10. 00:49:33.060 --> 00:49:34.060 It's about Stephen. 00:49:34.060 --> 00:49:37.060 Acts chapter 6, 8-10. 00:49:37.060 --> 00:49:43.060 Now Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. 00:49:43.060 --> 00:49:49.060 Opposition arose, however, from the members of the synagogue of the freed men, as it was called. 00:49:49.060 --> 00:49:53.060 Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. 00:49:53.060 --> 00:50:02.060 These men began to argue with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the spirit by whom he spoke. 00:50:02.060 --> 00:50:04.060 What does that even look like, Dilna? 00:50:04.060 --> 00:50:06.060 Question back to you since you're asking a lot. 00:50:06.060 --> 00:50:09.060 What does that even look like? 00:50:09.060 --> 00:50:16.060 To stand up, they could not stand up against his wisdom or the spirit by whom he spoke. 00:50:16.060 --> 00:50:18.060 Convincing wisdom. 00:50:18.060 --> 00:50:20.060 Irresistible wisdom. 00:50:20.060 --> 00:50:29.060 Which doesn't mean that everyone will agree, but irresistible wisdom accompanied by signs and wonders. 00:50:35.060 --> 00:50:40.060 Irresistible wisdom accompanied by signs and wonders. 00:50:40.060 --> 00:50:43.060 This is what we are asking for. 00:50:43.060 --> 00:50:46.060 Oh God, please give no. 00:50:46.060 --> 00:50:50.060 Please give no. 00:50:51.060 --> 00:50:54.060 I don't understand. 00:50:54.060 --> 00:50:56.060 We can't control everything. 00:50:56.060 --> 00:50:59.060 I mean, we can't even... 00:50:59.060 --> 00:51:01.060 Yeah. 00:51:01.060 --> 00:51:03.060 I'm hoping that... 00:51:03.060 --> 00:51:07.060 How would I... 00:51:07.060 --> 00:51:15.060 I think all we can give him is desperation, and then every time I try controlling what I receive, to say, stop it! 00:51:15.060 --> 00:51:18.060 And release it again. 00:51:18.060 --> 00:51:19.060 What else? 00:51:19.060 --> 00:51:22.060 There's nothing else. 00:51:27.060 --> 00:51:28.060 We can pray for this. 00:51:28.060 --> 00:51:29.060 Yeah, we will be praying for that. 00:51:29.060 --> 00:51:31.060 But I said after prayer, what else do you do? 00:51:31.060 --> 00:51:34.060 Your prayer is a desperate cry. 00:51:34.060 --> 00:51:38.060 Oh God, this or nothing. 00:51:38.060 --> 00:51:42.060 How much more teaching can we teach? 00:51:42.060 --> 00:51:43.060 Clean hands, pure hearts. 00:51:43.060 --> 00:51:45.060 We should be there by now. 00:51:45.060 --> 00:51:49.060 Because we've been cleaning hands and puring hearts, sorry, for a while now. 00:51:49.060 --> 00:51:52.060 We should be there by now. 00:51:54.060 --> 00:51:59.060 One of the things with God is he operates a non-condemnation ministry. 00:51:59.060 --> 00:52:07.060 So yes, you may have unclean hands or an impure heart, but then again, there is no condemnation if you go to him and say, 00:52:07.060 --> 00:52:08.060 Clean hands, pure heart. 00:52:08.060 --> 00:52:11.060 Ask that a million times. 00:52:16.060 --> 00:52:22.060 There's nothing like purpose that makes a person want to live the life for the one who gave you the purpose. 00:52:22.060 --> 00:52:27.060 Any time someone trusts you with purpose, what happens? 00:52:27.060 --> 00:52:31.060 You really want to do the best you can. 00:52:31.060 --> 00:52:35.060 And if you fail, get up. 00:52:37.060 --> 00:52:40.060 And the last one. 00:52:43.060 --> 00:52:50.060 The power to turn the hearts of people. 00:52:54.060 --> 00:52:56.060 It kind of ties in with this. 00:52:56.060 --> 00:53:02.060 If you go to Luke 1, 15-17, 00:53:02.060 --> 00:53:05.060 Luke 1, 15-17, 00:53:05.060 --> 00:53:08.060 Luke 1, 15-17, 00:53:14.060 --> 00:53:17.060 Luke 1, 15-17, 00:53:25.060 --> 00:53:28.060 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, John the Baptist. 00:53:28.060 --> 00:53:37.060 He is never to take wine or a other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from birth. 00:53:37.060 --> 00:53:44.060 Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God, and he will go on before the Lord in the Spirit and the power of Elijah 00:53:44.060 --> 00:53:51.060 to turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. 00:53:51.060 --> 00:53:53.060 Or go to Acts 26, verse 18. 00:53:53.060 --> 00:53:55.060 We read it out last time. 00:53:55.060 --> 00:54:03.060 I'm sending you so that you can open the eyes of people so that they can turn from Satan to God, turn from darkness to light. 00:54:03.060 --> 00:54:05.060 Can my words... 00:54:05.060 --> 00:54:10.060 Now you do understand why Paul said, I did not come to you with mere preaching. 00:54:10.060 --> 00:54:16.060 I came to you in trembling, but my words carried the power of the Spirit of God, and I demonstrated the power of the Spirit of God. 00:54:16.060 --> 00:54:22.060 My words were not oratorially skilled. 00:54:22.060 --> 00:54:25.060 My words were trembling. I was scared. 00:54:25.060 --> 00:54:32.060 But they carried in it the wisdom of God and the power of God. 00:54:32.060 --> 00:54:35.060 This is what we are going to hunger after. 00:54:35.060 --> 00:54:37.060 This is what power looks like. 00:54:37.060 --> 00:54:40.060 This is what power looks like for this church. 00:54:40.060 --> 00:54:46.060 This is what power looks like in the New Testament. 00:54:46.060 --> 00:54:50.060 I asked these questions, and I wrote them down. 00:54:50.060 --> 00:54:57.060 Are you satisfied with your level of power in witness for Christ? 00:54:57.060 --> 00:55:05.060 Are you satisfied, Jacob, with the level of your power in witnessing to the resurrection of Christ? 00:55:05.060 --> 00:55:07.060 Are you satisfied with it? 00:55:07.060 --> 00:55:10.060 And my answer was, I'm not. 00:55:10.060 --> 00:55:17.060 Do you have deep conviction that leads you, sometimes drives you? 00:55:17.060 --> 00:55:19.060 Do you have self-denying courage? 00:55:19.060 --> 00:55:21.060 Do you have irresistible wisdom? 00:55:21.060 --> 00:55:25.060 Do you have signs and wonders flowing through you? 00:55:25.060 --> 00:55:31.060 And the answer is, no. 00:55:31.060 --> 00:55:41.060 Are you someone who has... do I have deep conviction? 00:55:41.060 --> 00:55:44.060 I'm not saying it's absent, but it's not enough. 00:55:44.060 --> 00:55:47.060 Do I have deep conviction? 00:55:47.060 --> 00:55:52.060 Do I have self-denying courage? 00:55:52.060 --> 00:55:56.060 Do I have the kind of wisdom that people can't stand before? 00:55:56.060 --> 00:56:01.060 It's irresistible because it is from the Holy Spirit. 00:56:01.060 --> 00:56:06.060 Do I have signs and wonders flowing through me? 00:56:06.060 --> 00:56:13.060 And the answer is, no, I don't. 00:56:13.060 --> 00:56:25.060 These next four days are super important for me, hazardous for you. 00:56:25.060 --> 00:56:27.060 Guys, the other thing is, some of you are young. 00:56:27.060 --> 00:56:39.060 If you can get it right now, you don't have to do this at 60. 00:56:39.060 --> 00:56:42.060 Next, all questions I was asking myself. 00:56:42.060 --> 00:56:50.060 Am I becoming content with the teaching at Acts 29, with house churches, with growth? 00:56:50.060 --> 00:56:53.060 Am I becoming content? 00:56:53.060 --> 00:56:55.060 Very easy, guys. 00:56:55.060 --> 00:56:56.060 We are growing. 00:56:56.060 --> 00:56:58.060 There are house churches. 00:56:58.060 --> 00:57:00.060 There's good teaching. 00:57:00.060 --> 00:57:05.060 Very easy to think we even have an Instagram account now. 00:57:05.060 --> 00:57:10.060 I mean, how much bigger can you get than that? 00:57:10.060 --> 00:57:12.060 And so, are you content with it? 00:57:12.060 --> 00:57:15.060 Are you content with the teaching? 00:57:15.060 --> 00:57:22.060 Because whatever strength you hide behind or whatever weakness you hide 00:57:22.060 --> 00:57:29.060 will prevent you from walking with the voice of the Lord in the garden. 00:57:29.060 --> 00:57:30.060 Hear me. 00:57:30.060 --> 00:57:33.060 Whatever strength you hide behind. 00:57:33.060 --> 00:57:38.060 Let's say our strength is the prophetic, our worship, our hearing God, our freedom. 00:57:38.060 --> 00:57:46.060 Whatever strength you hide behind or whatever weakness you hide 00:57:46.060 --> 00:57:50.060 will prevent you from walking with God and recognizing His voice, 00:57:50.060 --> 00:57:56.060 even though you recognize His voice in the garden. 00:57:56.060 --> 00:58:03.060 Because He wants a helpless, continuously increasing Adam and Eve. 00:58:03.060 --> 00:58:10.060 He wants a helpless, continuously increasing Adam and Eve. 00:58:10.060 --> 00:58:18.060 Whenever you hide behind your strength or you hide your weaknesses, 00:58:18.060 --> 00:58:35.060 then you can, you're unable to walk with Him even though you can recognize His voice. 00:58:35.060 --> 00:58:40.060 Can you see Jesus Christ now in John 13, John 14, John 15? 00:58:40.060 --> 00:58:47.060 Can you see why He says, apart from Him, I can do nothing? 00:58:47.060 --> 00:58:49.060 If there was a man who had strength, it was Him. 00:58:49.060 --> 00:59:01.060 If there was a man who did not have weakness, it was Him. 00:59:01.060 --> 00:59:05.060 And the final question. 00:59:05.060 --> 00:59:08.060 Am I settling for less than the promise? 00:59:08.060 --> 00:59:10.060 This has really bothered me. 00:59:10.060 --> 00:59:17.060 Am I settling for less than the promise that you shall receive power? 00:59:17.060 --> 00:59:20.060 What am I settling for? 00:59:20.060 --> 00:59:22.060 That's His promise in Acts 1-8. 00:59:22.060 --> 00:59:28.060 You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. 00:59:28.060 --> 00:59:30.060 What am I settling for? 00:59:30.060 --> 00:59:33.060 Am I settling for anything less than the promise that you shall receive power? 00:59:33.060 --> 00:59:35.060 A power to do what? 00:59:35.060 --> 00:59:39.060 None of these things that we've talked about is power for your own personal, 00:59:39.060 --> 00:59:44.060 personal increase, but it is power for His personal increase through you. 00:59:44.060 --> 00:59:56.060 Everything about this power will cost us, but we will have the courage for it. 00:59:56.060 --> 01:00:05.060 Any questions? 01:00:05.060 --> 01:00:11.060 For I can hear that thunder in the distance, like a train on the edge of the town. 01:00:11.060 --> 01:00:14.060 I can feel the brooding of your spirit. 01:00:14.060 --> 01:00:18.060 Lay your burdens down. 01:00:18.060 --> 01:00:27.060 Any questions, guys? 01:00:27.060 --> 01:00:31.060 Can you look at your notes and can you begin to, wherever you're seated, 01:00:31.060 --> 01:00:35.060 just begin to call out to God saying, Oh God, I need this. 01:00:35.060 --> 01:00:43.060 Can you, I'll just write down some of the things so we can look at the screen whenever we need to.