1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:07,000 You are listening to a sermon from Pastor Colin Smith of Open the Bible. 2 00:00:07,000 –> 00:00:11,620 To contact us call us at 1-877-Open-365. 3 00:00:11,620 –> 00:00:14,840 Or visit our website OpenTheBible.org. 4 00:00:14,840 –> 00:00:17,799 Let’s get to the message. 5 00:00:17,799 –> 00:00:20,299 Here is Pastor Colin. 6 00:00:20,299 –> 00:00:22,639 We’re returning today to the book of Joel. 7 00:00:22,639 –> 00:00:28,320 Last week wonderful promise that we heard God says I will restore the year’s that 8 00:00:28,620 –> 00:00:30,020 locusts have eaten. 9 00:00:30,020 –> 00:00:34,799 And today we’re going to look at an even more wonderful promise that is given in the same 10 00:00:34,799 –> 00:00:35,799 chapter. 11 00:00:35,799 –> 00:00:38,320 We are especially looking at verse 28 and verse 12 00:00:38,320 –> 00:00:41,220 29 of Joel and chapter 2. 13 00:00:41,220 –> 00:00:49,759 And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh and your 14 00:00:49,759 –> 00:00:55,000 sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men 15 00:00:55,000 –> 00:00:58,139 shall see visions. 16 00:00:58,139 –> 00:01:03,619 I want us to see this wonderful promise that will be familiar to many of us, of course. 17 00:01:03,619 –> 00:01:08,099 I want us to see it in the broader sweep of the Bible’s story. 18 00:01:08,099 –> 00:01:12,139 And so we’re going to look at three places in the Bible, first we’re going to look at 19 00:01:12,139 –> 00:01:19,180 the promise of the Spirit anticipated by a prayer of Moses, that’s back in the book 20 00:01:19,180 –> 00:01:20,180 of Numbers. 21 00:01:20,180 –> 00:01:25,660 Then we’ll come to the book of Joel secondly and see how what Moses prayed for was promised 22 00:01:25,660 –> 00:01:27,699 through the prophet Joel. 23 00:01:27,699 –> 00:01:32,459 And then we’ll move forward to the book of Acts and see how what Moses prayed for and 24 00:01:33,300 –> 00:01:40,699 Joel was fulfilled through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on the Day of Pentecost. 25 00:01:40,699 –> 00:01:46,620 So would you turn back with me now then to Numbers and chapter 11, and I put the worship 26 00:01:46,620 –> 00:01:53,980 folder in Joel because we’re coming back there, but Numbers and chapter 11 is where we have 27 00:01:53,980 –> 00:01:56,860 our first, as it were stopping point today. 28 00:01:57,400 –> 00:02:05,019 I want us to look at the spirit anticipated in the prayer of Moses. 29 00:02:05,019 –> 00:02:09,699 Let me just walk you through this story very briefly. 30 00:02:09,699 –> 00:02:12,860 God has brought his people out of Egypt. 31 00:02:12,860 –> 00:02:16,899 He has made a covenant with them, you will be my people and I will be your God, and he 32 00:02:16,899 –> 00:02:20,860 is leading them through the desert towards the promised land. 33 00:02:20,860 –> 00:02:25,240 Because there is no food in the desert, he provides for them everyday by a miracle of 34 00:02:25,279 –> 00:02:30,460 grace, manna, like a kind of seed that is found on the ground when they get up. 35 00:02:30,460 –> 00:02:34,500 It’s the provision of God for them miraculously everyday. 36 00:02:34,500 –> 00:02:39,559 So, these people are wonderfully blessed but they were not very happy. 37 00:02:39,559 –> 00:02:44,960 It’s remarkable how God’s people, though we are blessed in so many ways, can sometimes 38 00:02:44,960 –> 00:02:49,360 be so very unhappy and unsettled. 39 00:02:49,360 –> 00:02:52,380 You find this in verse 1 of Numbers Chapter 11. 40 00:02:52,380 –> 00:02:57,919 The people complained, that’s really the key word of this story, they’re complaining in 41 00:02:57,919 –> 00:02:59,259 the hearing of the Lord. 42 00:02:59,259 –> 00:03:02,360 So, God’s listening everytime you complain. 43 00:03:02,360 –> 00:03:05,940 And, in the hearing of the Lord they complained about their misfortunes. 44 00:03:05,940 –> 00:03:11,139 And you get the feel of this complaining from verse 5, where they say, you know, they’ve 45 00:03:11,139 –> 00:03:14,039 got the manna, seed-like substance. 46 00:03:14,039 –> 00:03:17,039 And, they’re not satisfied with that. 47 00:03:17,039 –> 00:03:20,779 So, they say, oh that we have meat to eat. 48 00:03:21,240 –> 00:03:22,339 And then, this makes me smile. 49 00:03:22,339 –> 00:03:24,199 It might make you smile too. 50 00:03:24,199 –> 00:03:31,339 They say, we remember the fish that we ate in Egypt, that cost nothing. 51 00:03:31,339 –> 00:03:34,119 Well, of course it costs nothing, cause they were slaves. 52 00:03:34,119 –> 00:03:35,580 They didn’t have any cash. 53 00:03:35,580 –> 00:03:36,839 They were never paid. 54 00:03:36,839 –> 00:03:40,839 So, all that happened beau they were slaves where they were tossed a few scraps of fish 55 00:03:40,839 –> 00:03:43,600 to keep body and soul together, keep them working. 56 00:03:43,600 –> 00:03:47,559 But the only thing they remember is because they had no economic means and they’re slaves. 57 00:03:47,699 –> 00:03:49,580 Well, we never paid anything for this. 58 00:03:49,580 –> 00:03:50,940 It didn’t cost anything. 59 00:03:50,940 –> 00:03:55,539 It’s amazing how hindsight distance enhances the view. 60 00:03:55,539 –> 00:04:02,179 And they go on with this marvelously idealized picture of this wonderful life in Egypt, completely 61 00:04:02,179 –> 00:04:04,279 forgetting the realities of it. 62 00:04:04,279 –> 00:04:11,220 And they talk about the cucumbers verse 5, the melons, all the leeks, the onions, and 63 00:04:11,220 –> 00:04:12,220 the garlic. 64 00:04:12,220 –> 00:04:15,080 I mean, I don’t know why they got so excited about garlic. 65 00:04:15,960 –> 00:04:17,980 This was the state of mind. 66 00:04:18,000 –> 00:04:20,720 And whatever we don’t have is what we want. 67 00:04:20,720 –> 00:04:25,799 And now our strength has dried up, verse 5, and there is nothing at all but this manner 68 00:04:25,799 –> 00:04:26,799 to look at. 69 00:04:26,799 –> 00:04:34,839 What a way to refer to the provision of God, to dismiss it and to esteem it only in this 70 00:04:34,839 –> 00:04:35,839 way. 71 00:04:35,839 –> 00:04:42,920 And Moses gets to the point, which you can understand, where he has just about had enough 72 00:04:43,679 –> 00:04:48,459 people who are so difficult to lead. 73 00:04:48,459 –> 00:04:54,720 And so, verse 11, Moses says to the Lord, Why have you dealt ill with your servant? 74 00:04:54,720 –> 00:04:56,019 That’s with Moses himself. 75 00:04:56,019 –> 00:05:02,839 Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of this people on 76 00:05:02,839 –> 00:05:03,839 me? 77 00:05:03,839 –> 00:05:05,279 And then he really lets go. 78 00:05:05,279 –> 00:05:08,279 Did I conceive all these people? 79 00:05:08,279 –> 00:05:13,839 Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse 80 00:05:13,839 –> 00:05:18,239 carries a nursing child to the land that you swore to give to their fathers? 81 00:05:18,239 –> 00:05:25,420 I mean Moses must have had a really bad day in the office, to speak to almighty God in 82 00:05:25,420 –> 00:05:26,420 this way. 83 00:05:26,420 –> 00:05:27,640 But he’s at the end of him. 84 00:05:27,640 –> 00:05:32,959 He said, I can’t take any more what I do with this crowd. 85 00:05:32,959 –> 00:05:35,459 And the Lord has compassion on Moses. 86 00:05:35,559 –> 00:05:41,880 In verse 16 he tells Moses to gather seventy men from among the elders of Israel. 87 00:05:41,880 –> 00:05:48,859 And verse 17, I will come down and talk with you there. 88 00:05:48,859 –> 00:05:59,220 And I will take some of the spirit, capital S, that is on you, and put it on them, on 89 00:05:59,700 –> 00:06:01,079 the 70. 90 00:06:01,079 –> 00:06:06,959 And they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself 91 00:06:06,959 –> 00:06:08,119 alone. 92 00:06:08,119 –> 00:06:12,380 It is a wonderful provision of God to help Moses. 93 00:06:12,380 –> 00:06:15,160 And so now Moses has some helpers and not just some helpers. 94 00:06:15,160 –> 00:06:22,079 He has 70 helpers and God gives to these 70, the 70 elders, a portion of the spirit of 95 00:06:22,079 –> 00:06:26,540 God that has been and is upon Moses. 96 00:06:26,540 –> 00:06:28,559 And you know what happens next. 97 00:06:28,559 –> 00:06:33,820 The people have been complaining about Moses and now he has 70 helpers so they complain 98 00:06:33,820 –> 00:06:36,100 about the 70 helpers. 99 00:06:36,100 –> 00:06:43,440 And the spirit has been given to two of these men, two of the 70, in verse 26, Eldad and 100 00:06:43,440 –> 00:06:45,119 Medad. 101 00:06:45,119 –> 00:06:48,899 And because the Spirit is on them, we’re told they were prophesying. 102 00:06:48,899 –> 00:06:52,519 And the people complain about this, Eldad and Medad. 103 00:06:52,519 –> 00:06:55,019 Who do they think they are and why are they doing this? 104 00:06:55,079 –> 00:06:59,679 They complain and they come to complain to Moses, complaining that the Spirit of the 105 00:06:59,679 –> 00:07:01,339 Lord is on these two men. 106 00:07:01,339 –> 00:07:07,299 And Moses’ response to this is in verse 29, and this is the point here of the story. 107 00:07:07,299 –> 00:07:08,220 Verse 29. 108 00:07:08,220 –> 00:07:13,100 He’s complaining that the Spirit of God is on Eldad and Medad, just two men. 109 00:07:13,100 –> 00:07:19,899 Wood says, Moses, that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His 110 00:07:19,899 –> 00:07:21,079 spirit on them. 111 00:07:21,079 –> 00:07:23,959 And you see the force of what he’s saying. 112 00:07:24,600 –> 00:07:33,739 Here are all these people, and they bear the name of the Lord and they profess faith. 113 00:07:33,739 –> 00:07:41,660 They have had experiences of being delivered, but they are habitual complainers. 114 00:07:41,660 –> 00:07:47,820 They are self-absorbed, they are thoroughly ungrateful for the blessing of God that they 115 00:07:47,820 –> 00:07:51,799 continue to receive every day. 116 00:07:52,079 –> 00:07:56,880 Putting seventy spiritually gifted elders over them doesn’t solve the problem. 117 00:07:56,880 –> 00:08:02,720 And Moses again is at the end of himself, and what can be done about this? 118 00:08:02,720 –> 00:08:08,079 And he says in effect, the only hope for this lot would be God if you gave your Spirit to 119 00:08:08,079 –> 00:08:10,279 every single one of them. 120 00:08:10,279 –> 00:08:13,880 There was about a million. 121 00:08:13,880 –> 00:08:18,239 And I’ll tell you what that’s like, that’s kind of like going, at this point in the Bible 122 00:08:18,239 –> 00:08:27,019 story it’s as if you went into an area that was marked by severe poverty and touched by 123 00:08:27,019 –> 00:08:34,159 the need you say, oh that everyone would be a millionaire. 124 00:08:34,159 –> 00:08:39,039 And even as you say it you think well it would transform everything here if that was the 125 00:08:39,039 –> 00:08:41,940 case, but of course it would never happen. 126 00:08:41,940 –> 00:08:45,559 But Moses has this kind of wistfulness here. 127 00:08:45,640 –> 00:08:52,359 Here’s this crowd and they’re almost unleadable, but if they were all filled with the Spirit 128 00:08:52,359 –> 00:08:55,119 it would be different. 129 00:08:55,119 –> 00:09:00,219 You’ve given the Spirit just the 70, but if they were all filled with the Spirit they 130 00:09:00,219 –> 00:09:04,340 wouldn’t constantly be complaining, they wouldn’t constantly be so self-absorbed and they wouldn’t 131 00:09:04,340 –> 00:09:11,640 be so ungrateful if only, if only. 132 00:09:11,640 –> 00:09:16,239 This is telling us something very important about what God had given and what God had 133 00:09:16,239 –> 00:09:19,679 not yet given at this point in the Bible story. 134 00:09:19,679 –> 00:09:27,799 In Old Testament times the Spirit was given to only a few and only for particular spheres 135 00:09:27,799 –> 00:09:30,000 of service. 136 00:09:30,000 –> 00:09:32,159 The list actually is very interesting. 137 00:09:32,159 –> 00:09:37,400 For example, we’re told that the Spirit of God was given to a man called Bezalel who 138 00:09:37,400 –> 00:09:38,400 was a craftsman. 139 00:09:38,520 –> 00:09:43,919 He was working on the furnishings for the Tabernacle and the scripture says in Exodus 140 00:09:43,919 –> 00:09:45,119 31, God says, 141 00:09:49,760 –> 00:09:56,119 So He’s very Craftsman – He was given the Spirit for crafting in wood and in stone the 142 00:09:56,119 –> 00:09:57,820 furnishings of the Tabernacle. 143 00:09:57,820 –> 00:09:58,820 Fascinating. 144 00:09:58,820 –> 00:10:03,479 The Spirit was given to judges like Osniel, the Spirit of the Lord was on him. 145 00:10:03,479 –> 00:10:04,640 Or warriors like Gideon. 146 00:10:04,640 –> 00:10:07,359 The Spirit of the Lord clothed him. 147 00:10:07,380 –> 00:10:11,119 The Spirit of God was given to prophets for their particular task. 148 00:10:11,119 –> 00:10:16,340 Messengers come from Saul, the Spirit of God comes upon them and they’re able to prophesy. 149 00:10:16,340 –> 00:10:20,039 And of course the Spirit of God was given to kings. 150 00:10:20,039 –> 00:10:22,479 Godly kings. 151 00:10:22,479 –> 00:10:28,820 Men like David who, you remember, after he sinned grievously and prays in Psalm 51, he 152 00:10:28,820 –> 00:10:30,940 says this, 153 00:10:30,940 –> 00:10:36,340 take your holy spirit from me. 154 00:10:36,340 –> 00:10:42,640 So he knew that he had experience of the holy spirit of God given to him for his particular 155 00:10:42,640 –> 00:10:47,340 task of being a king. 156 00:10:47,340 –> 00:10:52,940 So there was a kind of aristocracy of the spirit in the Old Testament. 157 00:10:52,940 –> 00:10:57,500 Some people for some particular purposes, but not all. 158 00:10:57,500 –> 00:11:01,340 The spirit of God given to a chosen few. 159 00:11:01,340 –> 00:11:11,780 And Moses utters this prayer, this cry that comes out of his difficulties of trying to 160 00:11:11,780 –> 00:11:18,419 lead this incorrigible group of people and he’s saying, if only, God, you would give 161 00:11:18,419 –> 00:11:22,599 your spirit to all of them that would make all the difference in the world because without 162 00:11:23,599 –> 00:11:31,119 to all of them, this vast crowd becomes a rabble and they are almost unleadable. 163 00:11:31,119 –> 00:11:36,000 That’s the force of the prayer in Numbers and chapter 11. 164 00:11:36,000 –> 00:11:42,280 So, I’m calling that the spirit anticipated in the prayer of Moses. 165 00:11:42,280 –> 00:11:47,200 Now turn back to Joel, and you’ll see the significance of this perhaps more clearly. 166 00:11:47,200 –> 00:11:48,760 Joel and chapter two. 167 00:11:48,919 –> 00:11:55,619 We’re going to look secondly at the spirit promised through the prophet Joel. 168 00:11:55,619 –> 00:12:00,119 Now, if you go back to Joel chapter two, you can help me with the keyword here, notice 169 00:12:00,119 –> 00:12:01,320 it. 170 00:12:01,320 –> 00:12:03,739 And it shall come to pass afterward. 171 00:12:03,739 –> 00:12:08,580 So, what that means is this promise is being given for future generations beyond the time 172 00:12:08,580 –> 00:12:12,460 of Joel, which is already hundreds of years after Moses. 173 00:12:12,520 –> 00:12:16,739 But it shall come to pass at some point in the future, afterward. 174 00:12:16,739 –> 00:12:23,539 God says that I will pour out my spirit on, notice the word, say it with me. 175 00:12:23,539 –> 00:12:25,280 All flesh. 176 00:12:25,280 –> 00:12:26,419 All flesh. 177 00:12:26,419 –> 00:12:28,440 That’s what Moses would’ve longed for. 178 00:12:28,440 –> 00:12:33,099 Would’ve loved to see back in the desert but never saw. 179 00:12:33,099 –> 00:12:36,260 And here’s what will happen, when the spirit is poured out on all flesh, your sons and 180 00:12:36,260 –> 00:12:39,719 your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall 181 00:12:39,719 –> 00:12:45,599 see visions even on the male and female servants in those days. 182 00:12:45,599 –> 00:12:47,760 I will pour out my spirit. 183 00:12:47,760 –> 00:12:53,599 So here is something in the unfolding story of the Bible that is completely new. 184 00:12:53,599 –> 00:12:58,039 Something Moses longed for but could hardly have imagined. 185 00:12:58,039 –> 00:13:01,760 Something that is now being promised, and it’s being promised for a future time, but 186 00:13:01,760 –> 00:13:07,039 God is giving this promise, giving his people hope for the future, through the Prophet Joel. 187 00:13:07,179 –> 00:13:13,859 I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, all people, not a privileged few, all of God’s 188 00:13:13,859 –> 00:13:16,880 people, and Joel spells this out. 189 00:13:16,880 –> 00:13:17,880 What does all mean? 190 00:13:17,880 –> 00:13:24,119 Well, all means all of God’s people, sons and daughters, so the gift of the spirit will 191 00:13:24,119 –> 00:13:30,359 not be limited by gender, old men and young men, so the gift of the spirit will not be 192 00:13:30,359 –> 00:13:34,640 limited by age, it won’t be a gift that only comes when you’ve been a Christian for forty 193 00:13:34,719 –> 00:13:37,400 years or whatever. 194 00:13:37,400 –> 00:13:46,039 Servants, so the gift of the spirit will not be limited by social status or achievement 195 00:13:46,039 –> 00:13:48,979 in this world. 196 00:13:48,979 –> 00:13:52,000 All my people. 197 00:13:52,000 –> 00:13:55,780 And notice what God says will happen when the spirit is poured out. 198 00:13:55,780 –> 00:14:01,640 It gives us the evidence of the presence of the spirit in peoples’ lives. 199 00:14:02,539 –> 00:14:03,340 Three things. 200 00:14:03,340 –> 00:14:07,640 Number one, your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. 201 00:14:07,640 –> 00:14:11,820 That’s what will happen when the spirit is poured out on all flesh. 202 00:14:11,820 –> 00:14:14,039 Now to prophesy, here’s a simple definition. 203 00:14:14,059 –> 00:14:24,359 To prophesy is simply, to be prompted by God to speak the right word at the right time 204 00:14:24,359 –> 00:14:25,960 in the right way. 205 00:14:26,000 –> 00:14:33,880 To be prompted by God to speak the right word at the right time in the right way. 206 00:14:33,880 –> 00:14:37,840 Many of you know about this from your own experience and perhaps you’ve just not thought 207 00:14:37,840 –> 00:14:41,059 about it in this way but it happens multiple times among God’s people. 208 00:14:41,059 –> 00:14:42,059 It’s very wonderful. 209 00:14:42,059 –> 00:14:43,840 It happened in the foyer. 210 00:14:43,840 –> 00:14:47,200 It may happen in the course of the sermon. 211 00:14:47,200 –> 00:14:53,940 Someone says something to you and what they say to you is just what you needed to hear 212 00:14:53,940 –> 00:14:59,260 and it’s so what you needed to hear that your only conclusion is that God had prompted 213 00:14:59,260 –> 00:15:03,520 them in a very special way to say it to you and it felt like a gift from the Lord that 214 00:15:03,520 –> 00:15:06,539 they said that in that way and at that particular time. 215 00:15:06,539 –> 00:15:11,619 You go out from the service and you say, God had something for me today and it was very 216 00:15:11,619 –> 00:15:17,179 special that’s part of the work of the Spirit and it happens in our private conversations. 217 00:15:17,179 –> 00:15:21,099 God may be the means of you saying something really helpful before you’ve left this building 218 00:15:21,099 –> 00:15:23,580 today to another brother or sister. 219 00:15:23,619 –> 00:15:26,159 You may not know just how helpful it really was. 220 00:15:26,640 –> 00:15:31,859 When the Holy Spirit is poured out this is the sort of thing that happens among the people 221 00:15:31,859 –> 00:15:37,539 of God and it happens not only in our informal conversations it happens within our structures 222 00:15:37,539 –> 00:15:38,739 of ministry. 223 00:15:38,739 –> 00:15:43,219 I thank God for all the times when–I’ve had the experience. 224 00:15:43,219 –> 00:15:49,440 And many of you know about this, in ministry you’re working with a team and there’s 225 00:15:49,539 –> 00:15:51,919 some question that the team is wrestling with. 226 00:15:51,919 –> 00:15:53,059 Should we do this? 227 00:15:53,059 –> 00:15:54,059 Should we do that? 228 00:15:54,059 –> 00:15:57,119 There’s all the different options. 229 00:15:57,119 –> 00:16:01,500 And you go around in circles and long discussion. 230 00:16:01,500 –> 00:16:09,340 And then somewhere an hour and a half into the meeting someone says, you know I think 231 00:16:09,340 –> 00:16:12,099 that the nub of this is this. 232 00:16:12,099 –> 00:16:16,200 And I think that what we should be looking at is doing that. 233 00:16:16,539 –> 00:16:21,320 And when that person says that there’s a sense right 234 00:16:21,320 –> 00:16:27,099 throughout the room of, that’s exactly right, that’s what we need to do. 235 00:16:27,099 –> 00:16:28,679 And everyone has the sense of that. 236 00:16:28,679 –> 00:16:33,359 And then the next thing you think is, why did you not say that an hour ago? 237 00:16:33,359 –> 00:16:38,299 We’ve been going round and round and round in circles. 238 00:16:38,299 –> 00:16:42,559 But what you said is like a gift of the Lord to the whole group. 239 00:16:42,559 –> 00:16:45,440 We know what we’re doing now, we got it, we got it. 240 00:16:45,679 –> 00:16:48,119 Only God could have prompted that and you’re just so thankful. 241 00:16:48,119 –> 00:16:50,640 And it’s not the same person who does it every time because 242 00:16:50,640 –> 00:16:52,099 it’s not like this is a position. 243 00:16:52,099 –> 00:16:57,580 It’s simply that as people are walking with God, God uses his people in wonderful 244 00:16:57,580 –> 00:17:02,559 ways to prompt the things that need to be said in the right way at the right time. 245 00:17:02,559 –> 00:17:05,819 For advancing God’s wonderful purpose. 246 00:17:05,819 –> 00:17:07,619 Let me quote to you Lloyd Ogilvay. 247 00:17:07,619 –> 00:17:12,680 Many of you will recall that he was, for some time, the chaplain at the Senate. 248 00:17:13,319 –> 00:17:16,800 For many years he was a very distinguished pastor and 249 00:17:16,800 –> 00:17:21,420 writing during his years as a pastor of a congregation he says this, 250 00:17:21,420 –> 00:17:27,599 the most dynamic one to one evangelists in my congregation 251 00:17:27,599 –> 00:17:30,880 are those who ask for and receive the gift of prophecy. 252 00:17:32,119 –> 00:17:36,199 They do not have canned monologues to bore people. 253 00:17:36,199 –> 00:17:39,599 In other words they don’t have a rehearsed script of here’s what I have to 254 00:17:39,599 –> 00:17:41,839 say, and I’m going to give it to you. 255 00:17:41,880 –> 00:17:45,680 Rather they know how to listen, to care, 256 00:17:45,680 –> 00:17:50,859 to empathize with love the spirit gives them insight 257 00:17:50,859 –> 00:17:54,800 about what to say, the timing of when to say it, and 258 00:17:54,800 –> 00:17:59,839 boldness to be honest, personal and incisive in helping people to respond. 259 00:17:59,839 –> 00:18:02,540 That’s a gift, that’s God who does that. 260 00:18:02,540 –> 00:18:06,060 And the people who are most useful in advancing the Gospel in 261 00:18:06,060 –> 00:18:10,479 personal evangelism they pray for this and God gives it to them and is wonderful. 262 00:18:12,359 –> 00:18:15,199 Now when the spirit is poured out this is what Joel is saying, 263 00:18:15,199 –> 00:18:19,619 this is what happens, this is what it looks like, in the life of a congregation. 264 00:18:21,500 –> 00:18:24,239 And not only that, that’s the first thing, here’s the second. 265 00:18:24,239 –> 00:18:28,560 Your old men shall dream dreams! 266 00:18:30,079 –> 00:18:34,839 So here are hope-filled seniors, marvelous. 267 00:18:35,959 –> 00:18:40,760 And this has to be a work of God’s Holy Spirit because we all know 268 00:18:40,760 –> 00:18:45,500 that as we get older it is easy to become more negative. 269 00:18:46,439 –> 00:18:50,880 Life seems to move away from us as we get older 270 00:18:50,880 –> 00:18:55,400 and it’s easy to kind of slide into a self-pity 271 00:18:55,400 –> 00:18:58,479 and a sort of feeling that nothing will ever be as good 272 00:18:58,479 –> 00:19:02,119 as it was when we were the ones who were doing it. 273 00:19:02,119 –> 00:19:06,239 But here you have hope-filled seniors, 274 00:19:06,239 –> 00:19:09,079 older saints who are dreaming dreams. 275 00:19:09,079 –> 00:19:10,520 What does that mean? 276 00:19:10,920 –> 00:19:15,920 It means older saints who are filled with confidence 277 00:19:15,920 –> 00:19:18,859 with regards to what God can do on earth 278 00:19:18,859 –> 00:19:21,680 and filled with growing anticipation 279 00:19:21,680 –> 00:19:24,239 of what God has prepared in heaven. 280 00:19:25,400 –> 00:19:29,520 I thank God for that gift in so many 281 00:19:29,520 –> 00:19:32,439 of our senior people in this congregation. 282 00:19:34,359 –> 00:19:36,880 That there is a confidence 283 00:19:36,880 –> 00:19:40,300 in what God is able to do, not only in the past, 284 00:19:40,300 –> 00:19:41,939 but here and for the future 285 00:19:43,219 –> 00:19:48,219 and with it, an anticipation of what he yet has in store 286 00:19:48,420 –> 00:19:52,079 that is coming nearer to me, it’s coming nearer to me 287 00:19:52,079 –> 00:19:55,819 and I to it, wonderful. 288 00:19:56,859 –> 00:19:59,180 Along with that, when the spirit is outpoured, 289 00:19:59,180 –> 00:20:01,760 not only do you have hope-filled seniors, 290 00:20:01,760 –> 00:20:05,099 but young men shall see visions. 291 00:20:06,260 –> 00:20:10,020 So here we have mission-focused youngsters, 292 00:20:10,060 –> 00:20:12,219 a new generation rising up 293 00:20:12,219 –> 00:20:15,319 and again, this is a work of God’s spirit 294 00:20:15,319 –> 00:20:18,680 that young people have a passion 295 00:20:18,680 –> 00:20:20,819 and a sense of mission and vision, 296 00:20:20,819 –> 00:20:22,640 they see visions. 297 00:20:24,180 –> 00:20:25,599 That’s a miracle of God’s spirit 298 00:20:25,599 –> 00:20:28,359 because when you’re young, you’re absorbed with the now. 299 00:20:29,619 –> 00:20:33,219 Life comes towards you when you are young 300 00:20:33,219 –> 00:20:36,140 and all the new music and all the new media 301 00:20:36,140 –> 00:20:37,119 and all the new gadgets, 302 00:20:37,119 –> 00:20:39,780 you’re the target audience for everything that’s coming 303 00:20:40,540 –> 00:20:42,800 at an extraordinary rate towards you 304 00:20:42,800 –> 00:20:47,000 and it’s so easy to be completely consumed by it all 305 00:20:48,439 –> 00:20:50,060 but here are some young people now 306 00:20:50,060 –> 00:20:52,079 the spirit has been poured out on them 307 00:20:52,079 –> 00:20:54,819 and they see through all of this. 308 00:20:54,819 –> 00:20:56,979 They see beyond the little screen 309 00:20:58,180 –> 00:21:01,300 and they have a perception as if they had X-ray eyes. 310 00:21:01,300 –> 00:21:03,160 They see eternal things, 311 00:21:03,160 –> 00:21:06,000 most young people never think about eternal things 312 00:21:06,000 –> 00:21:08,160 but here are young people who are able 313 00:21:08,160 –> 00:21:11,839 to frame their lives early in the light of eternity 314 00:21:11,839 –> 00:21:14,859 and for that reason, they have a passion to glorify God 315 00:21:14,859 –> 00:21:17,500 and to make a difference in the world 316 00:21:17,500 –> 00:21:20,199 and they’re seeing through the shallowness 317 00:21:20,199 –> 00:21:24,239 and the trivia of what’s consuming a generation around them 318 00:21:26,020 –> 00:21:27,900 and you put these two things together 319 00:21:27,900 –> 00:21:30,420 and there’s a spirit filled church, 320 00:21:31,819 –> 00:21:34,520 older saints, 321 00:21:34,520 –> 00:21:37,380 who along with mission focused, 322 00:21:37,380 –> 00:21:40,520 younger people with vision and enterprise, 323 00:21:40,520 –> 00:21:42,719 the older saints are coming alongside 324 00:21:42,719 –> 00:21:44,819 and having great confidence 325 00:21:44,819 –> 00:21:46,260 in what God can do on earth 326 00:21:46,260 –> 00:21:47,660 so they’re saying go for it 327 00:21:47,660 –> 00:21:48,500 and we’re praying for you 328 00:21:48,500 –> 00:21:49,339 and we’re with you 329 00:21:49,339 –> 00:21:50,260 and they’re encouraging 330 00:21:50,260 –> 00:21:51,619 and they’re helping young folks 331 00:21:51,619 –> 00:21:53,420 to look towards the future 332 00:21:55,920 –> 00:21:57,760 and Joel says this is what is gonna be like 333 00:21:57,760 –> 00:21:58,939 the spirit being poured out, 334 00:21:58,939 –> 00:21:59,780 not on a few, 335 00:21:59,780 –> 00:22:03,000 not just on the staff or the pastors or the elders 336 00:22:03,000 –> 00:22:04,260 but at the congregation 337 00:22:04,880 –> 00:22:06,339 and when it happens, 338 00:22:06,339 –> 00:22:07,819 this is what it looks like, 339 00:22:07,819 –> 00:22:11,540 you get hope filled seniors 340 00:22:11,540 –> 00:22:14,920 and you get young men seeing visions, 341 00:22:14,920 –> 00:22:18,040 the younger generation that is being moved 342 00:22:18,040 –> 00:22:19,619 beyond the trivia 343 00:22:20,839 –> 00:22:22,859 and going for life 344 00:22:23,859 –> 00:22:28,640 that is sold out for Jesus Christ. 345 00:22:28,640 –> 00:22:30,099 Is that something to get excited about? 346 00:22:30,099 –> 00:22:30,920 By the way, 347 00:22:30,920 –> 00:22:31,780 I just feel, 348 00:22:31,819 –> 00:22:35,199 myself getting excited about that. 349 00:22:36,540 –> 00:22:39,839 The Spirit anticipated 350 00:22:40,839 –> 00:22:43,500 in the prayer of Moses 351 00:22:44,640 –> 00:22:48,000 and the Spirit promised through 352 00:22:49,020 –> 00:22:52,140 the prophet Joel. 353 00:22:52,140 –> 00:22:54,239 If Moses was listening to these words of Joel, 354 00:22:54,239 –> 00:22:55,079 he’d say boy, 355 00:22:55,079 –> 00:22:57,140 that would be so different 356 00:22:57,140 –> 00:22:58,699 from everything I experienced 357 00:22:58,699 –> 00:23:00,599 with the people of God in the desert. 358 00:23:01,359 –> 00:23:02,400 So different. 359 00:23:04,800 –> 00:23:07,199 Now let’s move forward to the book of Acts, 360 00:23:07,199 –> 00:23:09,180 Book of Acts and chapter two. 361 00:23:12,280 –> 00:23:16,479 And here’s our third last stopping place, 362 00:23:16,479 –> 00:23:18,439 the Spirit of God given 363 00:23:19,420 –> 00:23:22,420 through the Lord Jesus Christ 364 00:23:22,420 –> 00:23:24,739 anticipated by Moses, 365 00:23:24,739 –> 00:23:26,719 promised by Joel, 366 00:23:26,719 –> 00:23:31,719 but given through our Lord Jesus Christ. 367 00:23:32,900 –> 00:23:36,579 And you know the story, most of you, very well, 368 00:23:36,579 –> 00:23:38,739 the day of Pentecost. 369 00:23:38,739 –> 00:23:43,739 Verse one, when the day of Pentecost arrived, 370 00:23:44,020 –> 00:23:48,420 they were all together in one place. 371 00:23:48,420 –> 00:23:49,260 Now who’s they? 372 00:23:50,339 –> 00:23:53,160 Well the they is a reference back to chapter one 373 00:23:53,160 –> 00:23:55,859 and verse 15, where we’re told about 374 00:23:55,920 –> 00:23:58,699 a company of a 120 believers. 375 00:23:58,699 –> 00:24:01,579 Now that’s very important for this reason. 376 00:24:01,579 –> 00:24:03,160 The company that was gathered 377 00:24:03,160 –> 00:24:07,160 on the day of Pentecost was not the apostles only. 378 00:24:07,160 –> 00:24:10,479 It wasn’t the 12, it was the whole congregation. 379 00:24:10,479 –> 00:24:13,020 There only was one congregation in those days 380 00:24:13,020 –> 00:24:16,979 and there were 120 of them, but all of the people of God 381 00:24:16,979 –> 00:24:20,079 the congregation was all gathered together 382 00:24:20,079 –> 00:24:22,760 in one place on the day of Pentecost. 383 00:24:23,540 –> 00:24:25,760 And suddenly verse 2, there came from heaven 384 00:24:25,760 –> 00:24:27,520 a sound like a mighty rushing wind 385 00:24:27,520 –> 00:24:30,319 that had filled the entire house where they were sitting 386 00:24:30,319 –> 00:24:33,359 and divided tongues as of fire appeared to them 387 00:24:33,359 –> 00:24:36,540 and rested on each one of them and they were, 388 00:24:36,540 –> 00:24:37,839 notice the word and help me, 389 00:24:37,839 –> 00:24:41,439 they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, 390 00:24:41,439 –> 00:24:43,040 that’s the key point here, 391 00:24:43,040 –> 00:24:45,739 and began to speak in other tongues 392 00:24:45,739 –> 00:24:48,160 as the Spirit gave them utterance. 393 00:24:48,160 –> 00:24:49,520 What does that mean? 394 00:24:49,520 –> 00:24:51,439 Well, it means simply this that God gave 395 00:24:51,439 –> 00:24:55,180 to these believers an ability, a spontaneous ability 396 00:24:55,180 –> 00:24:57,359 to speak in languages they had never learned. 397 00:24:57,359 –> 00:24:59,140 They were not educated people, 398 00:24:59,140 –> 00:25:00,939 they’d never been to other countries 399 00:25:00,939 –> 00:25:03,180 and they did not have Rosetta Stone. 400 00:25:04,280 –> 00:25:05,780 But suddenly and spontaneously, 401 00:25:05,780 –> 00:25:07,119 their speaking in languages, 402 00:25:07,119 –> 00:25:08,380 it must have been such a surprise to them, 403 00:25:08,380 –> 00:25:10,939 I’m speaking a language I never learned. 404 00:25:10,939 –> 00:25:12,459 And God enabled them to do that 405 00:25:12,459 –> 00:25:13,900 for this particular purpose, 406 00:25:13,900 –> 00:25:16,060 this significance in verse 5, 407 00:25:16,060 –> 00:25:19,619 there was a large crowd of people from every nation. 408 00:25:19,680 –> 00:25:21,739 And they’re all speaking different languages. 409 00:25:21,739 –> 00:25:25,739 And this multicultural crowd gathers together 410 00:25:25,739 –> 00:25:28,319 and they hear the 120 believers, 411 00:25:28,319 –> 00:25:29,819 they’re all speaking different languages. 412 00:25:29,819 –> 00:25:31,359 Can you imagine what happens? 413 00:25:31,359 –> 00:25:33,540 120 people all speaking different languages 414 00:25:33,540 –> 00:25:34,359 at the same time. 415 00:25:34,359 –> 00:25:36,160 That must’ve sounded very confusing. 416 00:25:37,800 –> 00:25:39,699 And then you listen. 417 00:25:39,699 –> 00:25:42,599 You say hey, that guy over there speaking English. 418 00:25:42,599 –> 00:25:43,439 So what do you do? 419 00:25:43,439 –> 00:25:44,959 You go over and you stand beside 420 00:25:44,959 –> 00:25:46,500 the guy who’s speaking English. 421 00:25:47,420 –> 00:25:50,000 If you speak Japanese, 422 00:25:50,000 –> 00:25:52,680 some folks are listening right now to translation 423 00:25:52,680 –> 00:25:55,260 as I’m speaking in Japanese. 424 00:25:55,260 –> 00:25:57,760 And if you were there on the day of Pentecost 425 00:25:58,739 –> 00:26:00,859 you’d go to the person who’s speaking your language 426 00:26:00,859 –> 00:26:01,660 and you’re able to communicate 427 00:26:01,660 –> 00:26:03,739 and so very quickly what happens is that 428 00:26:03,739 –> 00:26:05,839 every believer has a little cluster 429 00:26:05,839 –> 00:26:08,660 of people around him, or her, 430 00:26:08,660 –> 00:26:10,959 and the little cluster of people 431 00:26:10,959 –> 00:26:13,500 are listening to these believers 432 00:26:13,500 –> 00:26:15,699 declaring the wonderful works of God. 433 00:26:17,099 –> 00:26:19,099 By the way, that’s a beautiful picture 434 00:26:20,140 –> 00:26:22,599 because God will place people around you 435 00:26:22,599 –> 00:26:24,979 with whom you can communicate this week. 436 00:26:26,180 –> 00:26:29,780 And they’re placed around you, not around me. 437 00:26:29,780 –> 00:26:32,619 Not around the person next to you, just around you. 438 00:26:34,219 –> 00:26:37,739 And some of you can speak languages 439 00:26:37,739 –> 00:26:41,979 that I cannot speak like hip. 440 00:26:41,979 –> 00:26:45,319 I don’t do that or cool. 441 00:26:45,339 –> 00:26:47,219 I don’t do that. 442 00:26:48,079 –> 00:26:50,560 But the point is that God has gifted us 443 00:26:50,560 –> 00:26:52,459 even within the English language, 444 00:26:52,459 –> 00:26:55,199 let alone the other languages that are spoken. 445 00:26:55,199 –> 00:26:59,280 We are given the ability by God 446 00:26:59,280 –> 00:27:01,959 to be able to communicate with all different kinds of people 447 00:27:01,959 –> 00:27:04,239 people you can touch, 448 00:27:04,239 –> 00:27:07,119 that I in my entire life would never be able to reach 449 00:27:07,119 –> 00:27:08,619 but they’ve been placed around you 450 00:27:08,619 –> 00:27:10,920 so that you can take what you’re learning 451 00:27:11,079 –> 00:27:12,979 from God and the wonderful works of God 452 00:27:12,979 –> 00:27:17,180 and declare that to them, it’s beautiful. 453 00:27:17,180 –> 00:27:19,959 This is the church filled with the Holy Spirit 454 00:27:20,979 –> 00:27:25,400 and it is a marvelous, marvelous thing. 455 00:27:25,400 –> 00:27:26,680 And Peter gets up 456 00:27:26,680 –> 00:27:30,219 and he explains to the crowd what is happening 457 00:27:30,219 –> 00:27:34,500 and he says this verse 16, notice it, 458 00:27:34,500 –> 00:27:38,359 this is what was uttered through the prophets. 459 00:27:38,359 –> 00:27:39,319 Say it with me, 460 00:27:39,319 –> 00:27:44,319 Joel, see, that the last day as God declares, 461 00:27:44,500 –> 00:27:46,079 “‘I will pour out my Spirit on,’ 462 00:27:46,079 –> 00:27:47,160 say it with me, 463 00:27:47,160 –> 00:27:50,020 “‘all flesh and your sons and your daughters 464 00:27:50,020 –> 00:27:52,380 “‘shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions 465 00:27:52,380 –> 00:27:53,859 “‘and your old men shall dream dreams.’” 466 00:27:53,859 –> 00:27:57,500 So here, the 120 and they’re all ministering. 467 00:27:57,500 –> 00:27:58,339 It’s wonderful. 468 00:28:00,300 –> 00:28:03,819 And think how different this was from the people, 469 00:28:03,819 –> 00:28:06,520 the crowd, in the time of Moses. 470 00:28:07,459 –> 00:28:10,280 The crowd in the time of Moses, 471 00:28:10,280 –> 00:28:13,699 oh, yes, we believe, oh, yes. 472 00:28:13,699 –> 00:28:15,619 Oh, yes, we bear the name of the Lord. 473 00:28:15,619 –> 00:28:18,060 But they’re complaining and they’re self-absorbed 474 00:28:18,060 –> 00:28:19,800 and they’re really ungrateful 475 00:28:19,800 –> 00:28:22,540 for all of the mercies of God that come to them daily. 476 00:28:24,979 –> 00:28:29,979 And now here are this congregation in the city of Jerusalem 477 00:28:30,300 –> 00:28:31,599 and they’re filled with the Spirit 478 00:28:31,599 –> 00:28:33,420 and they’re very different. 479 00:28:33,420 –> 00:28:35,619 They are declaring the works of God. 480 00:28:35,680 –> 00:28:38,040 And they’re filled with praise and thanksgiving 481 00:28:38,040 –> 00:28:40,939 and gratitude and people around them are seeing this 482 00:28:40,939 –> 00:28:44,199 and it calls for an explanation. 483 00:28:5,900 –> 00:28:47,300 And Peter is able then to get up 484 00:28:47,300 –> 00:28:49,939 and to speak to them about Christ. 485 00:28:49,939 –> 00:28:53,219 I wonder if God allowed Moses to look down on this scene 486 00:28:53,219 –> 00:28:54,699 and I wonder if Moses was saying, 487 00:28:54,699 –> 00:28:57,699 oh, if only it could’ve happened in the desert. 488 00:28:57,699 –> 00:28:59,300 This is wonderful. 489 00:28:59,300 –> 00:29:01,579 This is so different. 490 00:29:01,579 –> 00:29:02,859 It is remarkable. 491 00:29:03,739 –> 00:29:05,380 The difference is overwhelming. 492 00:29:05,380 –> 00:29:08,939 Imagine going into a church 493 00:29:10,239 –> 00:29:13,339 in which you find whatever the service is like, 494 00:29:13,339 –> 00:29:15,760 that the people, as you just listen in on conversation, 495 00:29:15,760 –> 00:29:18,640 that they are largely ungrateful, 496 00:29:18,640 –> 00:29:20,979 self-absorbed, a lot of complaining. 497 00:29:20,979 –> 00:29:22,939 You just hear that a lot. 498 00:29:24,219 –> 00:29:25,280 And you would say to yourself, 499 00:29:25,280 –> 00:29:28,099 you know they profess to be Christian. 500 00:29:28,099 –> 00:29:30,140 They say that they believe. 501 00:29:30,819 –> 00:29:34,160 Got a nice sign up of their church. 502 00:29:35,300 –> 00:29:37,260 But their speech betrays them. 503 00:29:38,119 –> 00:29:39,380 Their speech betrays them. 504 00:29:41,020 –> 00:29:42,900 And imagine the next Sunday you go 505 00:29:42,900 –> 00:29:46,020 into a church and just as you’re listening 506 00:29:46,020 –> 00:29:47,459 around what you’re really hearing 507 00:29:47,459 –> 00:29:48,819 from people is a great sense 508 00:29:48,819 –> 00:29:50,900 of gratitude and a great sense 509 00:29:50,900 –> 00:29:52,920 of praise to God. 510 00:29:54,099 –> 00:29:56,540 Would you not say, comparing the two experiences, 511 00:29:56,540 –> 00:29:59,599 no this church is where the real Christians are. 512 00:30:00,660 –> 00:30:02,579 Of the second one. 513 00:30:02,579 –> 00:30:05,119 Because there is the evidence 514 00:30:05,119 –> 00:30:08,599 of the spirit of Jesus in these people. 515 00:30:10,280 –> 00:30:12,119 So here’s the obvious question 516 00:30:12,119 –> 00:30:14,339 that comes out of all of this for us, 517 00:30:14,339 –> 00:30:16,180 and it’s a question that all of us, 518 00:30:16,180 –> 00:30:18,060 speaker and hearers alike needs 519 00:30:18,060 –> 00:30:19,579 to frame for ourselves, 520 00:30:19,579 –> 00:30:22,060 to which group do you belong? 521 00:30:24,000 –> 00:30:25,579 Now as I have to put my life 522 00:30:25,579 –> 00:30:26,939 under the scope of God’s word 523 00:30:26,939 –> 00:30:29,739 before I ever try to speak from it 524 00:30:29,739 –> 00:30:31,800 and I ask the question 525 00:30:31,800 –> 00:30:33,520 and I see too much complaining 526 00:30:33,520 –> 00:30:35,000 still in my own life 527 00:30:36,020 –> 00:30:38,439 and too little gratitude, 528 00:30:38,439 –> 00:30:39,479 which leads me to say, 529 00:30:39,479 –> 00:30:41,459 as a Christian, who has the spirit, 530 00:30:41,459 –> 00:30:44,099 every Christian is given the spirit of God, 531 00:30:44,099 –> 00:30:45,560 but I look at these things 532 00:30:45,560 –> 00:30:46,439 and it makes me say, 533 00:30:46,439 –> 00:30:51,140 oh God, I need more of your spirit. 534 00:30:53,260 –> 00:30:55,560 And how can that happen? 535 00:30:55,560 –> 00:30:58,560 Well how did it happen on the day of Pentecost? 536 00:30:58,560 –> 00:30:59,540 What caused it? 537 00:30:59,579 –> 00:31:01,479 What led to the outpouring of the spirit? 538 00:31:01,479 –> 00:31:03,479 Well Peter makes it perfectly clear here. 539 00:31:03,479 –> 00:31:06,439 Verse 22, men of Israel hear these words, 540 00:31:06,439 –> 00:31:07,800 Jesus of Nazareth, 541 00:31:07,800 –> 00:31:09,739 he goes to Jesus. 542 00:31:09,739 –> 00:31:11,300 Jesus is the explanation 543 00:31:11,300 –> 00:31:12,719 of everything that’s happening here 544 00:31:12,719 –> 00:31:14,020 because Jesus is the one 545 00:31:14,020 –> 00:31:15,439 who pours out the spirit 546 00:31:15,439 –> 00:31:16,319 and this Jesus, 547 00:31:16,319 –> 00:31:18,339 he was attested to you by signs and wonders. 548 00:31:18,339 –> 00:31:20,359 Verse 22, he’s delivered up 549 00:31:20,359 –> 00:31:22,040 according to the definite plan of God. 550 00:31:22,040 –> 00:31:24,540 Verse 23, you crucified him. 551 00:31:24,540 –> 00:31:27,420 Verse 24, God raised him up 552 00:31:27,420 –> 00:31:29,459 and then jumping to verse 33, 553 00:31:29,520 –> 00:31:32,800 God raised him up and being therefore exalted 554 00:31:32,800 –> 00:31:34,239 at the right hand of God 555 00:31:34,239 –> 00:31:37,319 and having received from the Father 556 00:31:37,319 –> 00:31:39,359 the promise of the Holy Spirit, 557 00:31:39,359 –> 00:31:45,219 he, Jesus, has poured out this 558 00:31:45,219 –> 00:31:49,280 that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 559 00:31:49,280 –> 00:31:50,520 It’s all because of Jesus. 560 00:31:50,520 –> 00:31:51,599 That’s what he says. 561 00:31:53,060 –> 00:31:53,959 Now in the bible, 562 00:31:53,959 –> 00:31:55,599 the bible speaks about the spirit 563 00:31:55,599 –> 00:31:57,020 being sent by the father 564 00:31:57,040 –> 00:31:59,400 and of the spirit being sent by the Son. 565 00:31:59,400 –> 00:32:00,979 The bible speaks about the Holy Spirit 566 00:32:00,979 –> 00:32:02,619 as the spirit of the Father 567 00:32:02,619 –> 00:32:05,140 as well as the spirit of the Son. 568 00:32:05,140 –> 00:32:06,959 Here’s what matters. 569 00:32:06,959 –> 00:32:10,719 The outpouring of the spirit from the Father 570 00:32:10,719 –> 00:32:12,619 and through the Son happens 571 00:32:12,619 –> 00:32:16,660 because of the finished work of Jesus Christ 572 00:32:16,660 –> 00:32:18,380 through his death, through his resurrection, 573 00:32:18,380 –> 00:32:19,300 through his ascension, 574 00:32:19,300 –> 00:32:21,160 he’s now at the right hand of the Father 575 00:32:21,160 –> 00:32:24,160 and therefore, he pours out 576 00:32:24,160 –> 00:32:25,859 the light of his finished work 577 00:32:25,859 –> 00:32:28,300 on his people, the Holy Spirit 578 00:32:28,300 –> 00:32:30,619 and the spirit is poured out on who? 579 00:32:30,619 –> 00:32:32,719 Those who look to him in faith 580 00:32:33,699 –> 00:32:36,560 and are walking with him in obedience, 581 00:32:36,560 –> 00:32:37,959 these 120 people. 582 00:32:39,060 –> 00:32:40,380 So you follow through the story. 583 00:32:40,380 –> 00:32:42,500 It gives you the answer to the question, 584 00:32:42,500 –> 00:32:45,739 how can I know more of the Holy Spirit in my life? 585 00:32:45,739 –> 00:32:47,560 And the answer is simply this. 586 00:32:47,560 –> 00:32:49,339 You give more of yourself to God 587 00:32:49,339 –> 00:32:51,939 and you ask God to give more of himself to you. 588 00:32:52,920 –> 00:32:54,920 You give more of yourself to God 589 00:32:54,920 –> 00:32:58,719 because God cannot fill what he does not have. 590 00:32:59,839 –> 00:33:01,920 You place yourself into his hands 591 00:33:01,920 –> 00:33:03,380 so that he may fill you. 592 00:33:04,560 –> 00:33:06,000 And you go into another week 593 00:33:06,000 –> 00:33:07,660 and as you go into another day, 594 00:33:07,660 –> 00:33:11,119 you live with a sense of your own need 595 00:33:11,119 –> 00:33:13,380 of the empowering and the equipping 596 00:33:13,380 –> 00:33:17,140 and the strengthening and the prompting 597 00:33:17,140 –> 00:33:20,119 of the Holy Spirit to be able to live 598 00:33:20,160 –> 00:33:23,439 as one of the 120 lived 599 00:33:23,439 –> 00:33:27,260 and not like the folks in the desert. 600 00:33:28,560 –> 00:33:29,900 In the light of God’s mercy, 601 00:33:29,900 –> 00:33:32,920 present your bodies as living sacrifices, 602 00:33:32,920 –> 00:33:33,739 says the apostle. 603 00:33:33,739 –> 00:33:34,660 That’s what I have to do 604 00:33:34,660 –> 00:33:37,560 and I seek to do it as I move through life 605 00:33:37,560 –> 00:33:39,640 on a continuing and on a deepening basis. 606 00:33:39,640 –> 00:33:40,479 Lord, hear my. 607 00:33:40,479 –> 00:33:42,300 Take me, use me, fill me. 608 00:33:44,199 –> 00:33:47,400 God gives his spirit, Peter says in Acts 5.32, 609 00:33:47,400 –> 00:33:49,099 to those who obey him. 610 00:33:49,140 –> 00:33:52,439 You walk in obedience to Christ. 611 00:33:52,439 –> 00:33:54,739 That’s what it means to live a Christian life. 612 00:33:55,859 –> 00:33:57,939 Then as you’re giving yourself to him, 613 00:33:59,500 –> 00:34:04,280 you’re asking him to give more of himself to you. 614 00:34:06,800 –> 00:34:08,659 The way to seek more of the spirit 615 00:34:08,659 –> 00:34:12,659 is to come to the one whose completed work on the cross 616 00:34:12,659 –> 00:34:14,679 and triumphant resurrection from the dead 617 00:34:14,679 –> 00:34:17,620 led to the pouring out of the spirit at Pentecost. 618 00:34:17,620 –> 00:34:20,020 Christ is the one who has the spirit without measure, 619 00:34:20,020 –> 00:34:23,100 and Christ is the one who imparts the spirit 620 00:34:23,100 –> 00:34:26,939 into the lives of his people. 621 00:34:29,260 –> 00:34:31,760 One story, and then we’re through. 622 00:34:33,780 –> 00:34:38,780 Early in my ministry I began to feel a profound need 623 00:34:41,979 –> 00:34:45,739 for more of God’s spirit, and I still do, 624 00:34:46,659 –> 00:34:49,199 and I hope that I always will. 625 00:34:51,340 –> 00:34:54,399 I feel the weight of Christ’s words, 626 00:34:54,399 –> 00:34:58,500 without me you can do nothing. 627 00:34:58,500 –> 00:34:59,340 Nothing. 628 00:35:00,699 –> 00:35:04,040 How hopeless is all the work 629 00:35:04,040 –> 00:35:06,300 of preaching and pastoring and leading 630 00:35:06,300 –> 00:35:09,459 unless God should breathe upon it 631 00:35:09,459 –> 00:35:12,639 and give it life by his spirit? 632 00:35:13,639 –> 00:35:17,120 I had some preaching heroes in these early days 633 00:35:17,120 –> 00:35:18,719 and I still do now. 634 00:35:20,100 –> 00:35:21,560 There was one man in particular 635 00:35:21,560 –> 00:35:24,199 whose preaching had been a great blessing to me. 636 00:35:25,080 –> 00:35:27,679 There was the way that he spoke of Christ 637 00:35:27,679 –> 00:35:30,760 and the incisiveness with which 638 00:35:30,760 –> 00:35:32,879 his speaking came to my heart. 639 00:35:32,879 –> 00:35:37,219 I wanted something more of what he had 640 00:35:37,219 –> 00:35:39,719 and sensed what I think I could only describe 641 00:35:39,719 –> 00:35:42,139 as an anointing upon his ministry. 642 00:35:43,459 –> 00:35:45,239 One day I was at a conference 643 00:35:45,239 –> 00:35:47,280 in which he was one of the speakers. 644 00:35:47,280 –> 00:35:49,100 There were just about a hundred of us there. 645 00:35:49,100 –> 00:35:52,100 It wasn’t a large group and we were there for three days 646 00:35:52,100 –> 00:35:54,179 and so there was good opportunity to interact 647 00:35:54,179 –> 00:35:56,600 with those who ministered to us 648 00:35:56,600 –> 00:36:00,000 and I decided that I would ask this man to pray for me. 649 00:36:01,100 –> 00:36:04,659 I think I felt that if he prayed for me, 650 00:36:04,659 –> 00:36:08,000 something of what I admired in him 651 00:36:08,000 –> 00:36:10,300 might rub off on me in some way. 652 00:36:10,300 –> 00:36:11,979 You’ve perhaps felt that with someone 653 00:36:12,320 –> 00:36:14,360 that you admire yourself. 654 00:36:15,479 –> 00:36:17,439 And we sat down during a coffee break 655 00:36:17,439 –> 00:36:18,699 during this conference 656 00:36:18,699 –> 00:36:23,699 and I told him about the hunger in my soul. 657 00:36:25,699 –> 00:36:30,439 I said, I want more of God’s spirit. 658 00:36:31,659 –> 00:36:33,040 Will you pray for me? 659 00:36:35,340 –> 00:36:39,360 And he paused and he said, 660 00:36:40,320 –> 00:36:43,159 you know where he comes from. 661 00:36:46,120 –> 00:36:50,860 And that was it, you know where he comes from. 662 00:36:53,800 –> 00:36:55,239 And it is to this day 663 00:36:55,239 –> 00:36:58,320 the only time I have ever asked someone 664 00:36:58,320 –> 00:37:00,780 to pray for me and been refused. 665 00:37:00,780 –> 00:37:05,780 And he was absolutely right to do what he did. 666 00:37:06,679 –> 00:37:09,080 And I’ve always been so thankful for it. 667 00:37:09,199 –> 00:37:10,340 It’s been life shaping. 668 00:37:12,080 –> 00:37:14,600 He discerned, and I’ve no doubt that God gave him 669 00:37:14,600 –> 00:37:17,399 discernment, that I was looking to this pastor 670 00:37:17,399 –> 00:37:21,419 as if he was the giver of the Spirit, rather than Christ. 671 00:37:21,419 –> 00:37:23,679 And he gave me the best advice 672 00:37:23,679 –> 00:37:25,860 that anyone could ever give. 673 00:37:25,860 –> 00:37:26,919 Go to Christ. 674 00:37:26,919 –> 00:37:29,399 You know where he comes from. 675 00:37:29,399 –> 00:37:31,879 He said it with such warmth and affection. 676 00:37:31,879 –> 00:37:33,560 You know where he comes from. 677 00:37:35,679 –> 00:37:37,000 Go to Christ. 678 00:37:37,000 –> 00:37:41,459 And that is what I have tried to do, 679 00:37:41,459 –> 00:37:46,459 and what I am still doing, and what I will continue to do 680 00:37:46,500 –> 00:37:49,479 until the day when faith is turned to sight, 681 00:37:49,479 –> 00:37:51,919 and what the Apostle Paul prays for believers 682 00:37:51,919 –> 00:37:54,199 will be true of me as in the presence of Jesus, 683 00:37:54,199 –> 00:37:56,840 it’ll be true of you to be filled 684 00:37:56,840 –> 00:37:59,360 with all the fullness of God, 685 00:37:59,360 –> 00:38:02,239 and until that day, I’m gonna keep coming to Christ 686 00:38:02,239 –> 00:38:04,399 and saying I want more, I need more, 687 00:38:04,459 –> 00:38:07,320 I need to be refreshed, I need for today, 688 00:38:08,639 –> 00:38:12,520 oh fill me with thy fullness, Lord. 689 00:38:12,520 –> 00:38:13,419 What about you? 690 00:38:14,739 –> 00:38:16,639 The New Testament commands us as Christians, 691 00:38:16,639 –> 00:38:19,139 be filled with the Holy Spirit, 692 00:38:19,139 –> 00:38:21,860 when is the last time that you came to God 693 00:38:21,860 –> 00:38:23,679 to express your desire, 694 00:38:23,679 –> 00:38:26,000 and what do you see of yourself in today? 695 00:38:26,000 –> 00:38:29,139 Are you as you look at your own life honestly, 696 00:38:29,139 –> 00:38:30,719 full of thanksgiving, 697 00:38:31,679 –> 00:38:34,340 ready at the prompting of God 698 00:38:34,340 –> 00:38:35,840 by a spirit in your life 699 00:38:35,840 –> 00:38:39,639 to be able to speak to those who God gathers around you 700 00:38:39,639 –> 00:38:42,320 and seeking to move in a way that’s sensitive to that, 701 00:38:42,320 –> 00:38:45,520 to be as useful as you possibly can be to Him, 702 00:38:45,520 –> 00:38:46,699 full of gratitude, 703 00:38:46,699 –> 00:38:48,479 declaring the wonderful deeds of the Lord 704 00:38:48,479 –> 00:38:51,320 or would you say that there was in your life 705 00:38:51,320 –> 00:38:55,459 just too much complaining and ingratitude 706 00:38:55,459 –> 00:38:59,179 and me, me, me. 707 00:39:01,439 –> 00:39:04,840 Oh, fill me with your fullness, Lord 708 00:39:06,159 –> 00:39:08,919 until my very heart 709 00:39:10,020 –> 00:39:10,959 o’erflow. 710 00:39:13,280 –> 00:39:15,000 Will you stand with me and we’re gonna pray? 711 00:39:15,000 –> 00:39:17,000 We’re gonna have the benediction 712 00:39:17,000 –> 00:39:18,739 and then we’ll be dismissed. 713 00:39:23,860 –> 00:39:27,219 Father, there is not one of us who knows you 714 00:39:27,219 –> 00:39:30,580 who wants to be more like the crowd in the desert. 715 00:39:31,520 –> 00:39:35,540 We see it and we see too much of it in ourselves already 716 00:39:35,540 –> 00:39:40,300 and today, we want to turn from it by your grace 717 00:39:40,300 –> 00:39:43,320 and to say oh Lord, make us rather like the crowd 718 00:39:43,320 –> 00:39:48,320 in the city, filled with your Holy Spirit, all of us. 719 00:39:51,139 –> 00:39:56,139 Make us a church of hope-filled seniors 720 00:39:56,719 –> 00:40:01,719 and mission-focused youngsters, and all in between. 721 00:40:06,280 –> 00:40:11,280 Oh fill me with your fullness, Lord. 722 00:40:13,000 –> 00:40:16,540 Oh use me, use even me. 723 00:40:17,820 –> 00:40:20,179 Lord, hear our prayers. 724 00:40:20,179 –> 00:40:23,260 And grant that Your great work in us 725 00:40:23,260 –> 00:40:25,739 may lead to a greater work through us. 726 00:40:26,739 –> 00:40:29,000 For these things we ask in the name 727 00:40:29,000 –> 00:40:31,060 and for the sake of Your Son Jesus 728 00:40:31,060 –> 00:40:34,419 and all of God’s people together said, amen. 729 00:40:37,939 –> 00:40:39,179 You’ve been listening to a sermon 730 00:40:39,179 –> 00:40:41,560 with Pastor Colin Smith of Open The Bible. 731 00:40:41,560 –> 00:40:46,560 To contact us, call us at 1-877-OPEN365 732 00:40:46,860 –> 00:40:50,260 or visit the website, OpenTheBible.org.