1 00:00:00,001 --> 00:00:02,580 [upbeat music] 2 00:00:02,580 --> 00:00:09,740 ♪ I got the joy, joy, joy, joy ♪ 3 00:00:09,740 --> 00:00:11,080 ♪ Down in my heart ♪ 4 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:11,920 Where? 5 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:13,780 Okay, come on. 6 00:00:13,780 --> 00:00:20,260 I'm wearing a cap. 7 00:00:20,260 --> 00:00:23,960 Not to be disrespectful, it's a cool cap. 8 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:25,560 That's why I got it on. 9 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:28,060 But also, this past week, 10 00:00:28,060 --> 00:00:31,460 I had a granddaughter who turned 18. 11 00:00:31,460 --> 00:00:35,900 And I sent her a text and I said, 12 00:00:35,900 --> 00:00:38,580 "Happy birthday, young woman." 13 00:00:38,580 --> 00:00:42,240 And she replied, "Thank you, old man." 14 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:45,240 [audience laughing] 15 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:51,160 And then she said, "Ha ha, I think she meant that kindly. 16 00:00:51,160 --> 00:00:52,720 "And I'm not sure." 17 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:54,460 And I said, 18 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:01,560 "Gray hair and even a bald head is a sign of wisdom." 19 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:05,840 And she said, "I know." 20 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:10,680 So anyway, I just wanted to take a moment to reveal. 21 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:14,580 [audience laughing] 22 00:01:14,580 --> 00:01:16,980 Yeah, there you go. 23 00:01:16,980 --> 00:01:21,980 Glad you're here this morning. 24 00:01:23,420 --> 00:01:26,860 Philip and the Ethiopian, 25 00:01:26,860 --> 00:01:29,260 we're gonna talk about this passage 26 00:01:29,260 --> 00:01:31,020 in Acts chapter eight this week. 27 00:01:31,020 --> 00:01:36,020 Philip was one of the original deacons, 28 00:01:36,020 --> 00:01:39,640 and he's also often referred to as Philip the Evangelist. 29 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:43,840 One of the reasons that he's referred to 30 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:48,340 as Philip the Evangelist is because of chapter eight. 31 00:01:48,340 --> 00:01:51,720 After Stephen had been martyred, 32 00:01:51,780 --> 00:01:53,780 Philip went to Samaria, 33 00:01:53,780 --> 00:01:57,380 and he began to preach, and the whole town, 34 00:01:57,380 --> 00:02:00,760 the whole area came to the Lord. 35 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:01,860 The whole area, God said. 36 00:02:01,860 --> 00:02:03,820 There was a big revival going on. 37 00:02:03,820 --> 00:02:07,300 In fact, he was confronted by a guy named 38 00:02:07,300 --> 00:02:11,060 Simon the Sorcerer who, well, I don't know if he was, 39 00:02:11,060 --> 00:02:13,000 they called him Simon the Sorcerer. 40 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,040 I don't know, you know, let's just call our kids Simon. 41 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:17,440 He was a man of faith. 42 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:18,980 He was a man of faith. 43 00:02:18,980 --> 00:02:21,880 He was Simon the Sorcerer. 44 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:22,840 I don't know, you know, let's just call our kids 45 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:23,680 Simon the Sorcerer. 46 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:26,040 But they called him that, 47 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:29,880 and he had been a big deal in the area, 48 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:34,880 and I love this story because when Philip was confronted 49 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:38,200 by this guy and challenged by this guy, 50 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:43,200 he didn't do what we have a tendency to do 51 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:47,640 when we're confronted and challenged about our faith. 52 00:02:47,640 --> 00:02:50,640 He didn't go, "Blah, blah, blah, blah," 53 00:02:50,640 --> 00:02:52,940 you know, "Out on you, bang, bang, bang." 54 00:02:52,940 --> 00:02:56,380 No, he got him saved. 55 00:02:56,380 --> 00:02:57,920 He converted him. 56 00:02:57,920 --> 00:02:59,720 You know, it was really great, 57 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:01,640 and so this big revival's going on, 58 00:03:01,640 --> 00:03:04,980 and Peter and John is sent to Samaria 59 00:03:04,980 --> 00:03:07,560 in the first half of this chapter, 60 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:11,360 and an angel speaks to Philip 61 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:13,700 and gives him some new instructions. 62 00:03:13,700 --> 00:03:14,920 Would you stand with me? 63 00:03:14,920 --> 00:03:17,100 Let's find out what those instructions were. 64 00:03:17,100 --> 00:03:22,100 Now, an angel of the Lord said to Philip, 65 00:03:22,100 --> 00:03:25,560 "Go south to the road, the desert road 66 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:28,940 "that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." 67 00:03:28,940 --> 00:03:31,980 So he started out on his way. 68 00:03:31,980 --> 00:03:36,040 He met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official 69 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:39,980 in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake, 70 00:03:39,980 --> 00:03:43,420 which means queen of the Ethiopians. 71 00:03:43,420 --> 00:03:47,420 This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 72 00:03:47,420 --> 00:03:51,280 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot 73 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:54,460 reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. 74 00:03:54,460 --> 00:03:58,100 The spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot 75 00:03:58,100 --> 00:03:59,800 "and stay near it." 76 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:02,740 Then Philip ran up to the chariot 77 00:04:02,740 --> 00:04:06,240 and heard the man, Isaiah the prophet. 78 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:08,980 "Do you understand what you are reading?" 79 00:04:08,980 --> 00:04:10,600 Philip asked. 80 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:12,780 "How can I," he said, 81 00:04:12,780 --> 00:04:15,740 "unless someone explains it to me?" 82 00:04:15,740 --> 00:04:20,160 So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 83 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:24,280 This is the passage of scripture the eunuch was reading. 84 00:04:24,280 --> 00:04:27,660 He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, 85 00:04:27,660 --> 00:04:31,360 and as a lamb before its sharers is silent, 86 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:34,260 so he did not open his mouth. 87 00:04:34,260 --> 00:04:39,060 In his humiliation, he was deprived of justice. 88 00:04:39,060 --> 00:04:41,940 Who can speak of his descendants? 89 00:04:41,940 --> 00:04:45,240 For his life was taken from the earth. 90 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:48,780 The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, 91 00:04:48,780 --> 00:04:51,380 "who is the prophet talking about, 92 00:04:51,380 --> 00:04:54,180 "himself or someone else?" 93 00:04:54,180 --> 00:04:58,280 Then Philip began with that very passage of scripture 94 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:02,460 and told him the good news about Jesus. 95 00:05:02,460 --> 00:05:06,800 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water, 96 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:10,700 and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. 97 00:05:10,700 --> 00:05:14,860 "What can stand in the way of my being baptized?" 98 00:05:14,860 --> 00:05:18,180 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. 99 00:05:18,180 --> 00:05:22,640 Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, 100 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:25,220 and Philip baptized him. 101 00:05:25,220 --> 00:05:27,940 When they came up out of the water, 102 00:05:27,940 --> 00:05:31,960 the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, 103 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:34,920 and the eunuch did not see him again, 104 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:37,960 but he went on his way rejoicing. 105 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:42,960 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, 106 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:46,300 preaching the gospel in all the towns 107 00:05:46,300 --> 00:05:48,640 until he reached Caesarea. 108 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:50,880 Father, thank you for your word. 109 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:53,240 Thank you for the life that is in your word. 110 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:56,480 Thank you for the presence of the Holy Spirit in this place. 111 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:57,580 Give us ears to hear. 112 00:05:57,580 --> 00:05:59,440 Give us hearts to understand. 113 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:03,260 In Jesus' name, amen. 114 00:06:03,260 --> 00:06:04,760 You may be seated. 115 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:06,960 Now, before I get into what I wanna actually 116 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:11,500 talk about today, I wanna immediately do a bunny trail, 117 00:06:11,500 --> 00:06:14,400 a word about baptism, because I was asked 118 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:18,300 a few weeks ago by someone, 119 00:06:18,300 --> 00:06:21,000 "What do you have to do to be baptized?" 120 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:24,240 And I've been asked that many times 121 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:26,180 throughout the years in ministry, 122 00:06:26,180 --> 00:06:29,380 and what they mean is, "Well, do I need to take some classes? 123 00:06:29,380 --> 00:06:32,420 "Do I need to, what do I need to learn? 124 00:06:32,420 --> 00:06:36,920 "You know, do I need, what do I need to do?" 125 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:41,920 And this is, this passage pretty much answers it. 126 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:47,520 There is a verse that you won't find 127 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:51,840 in almost any of the new translations 128 00:06:51,840 --> 00:06:55,180 because it's not in some of the older text, 129 00:06:55,180 --> 00:07:00,500 but it's, when the eunuch says, you know, 130 00:07:00,500 --> 00:07:04,120 "What would stand in the way of me being baptized?" 131 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:06,640 That verse says it doesn't change anything, 132 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:08,720 but the verse says that Philip told him, 133 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:11,320 "If you believe with all your heart, you may." 134 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:16,900 And the eunuch answered, "I believe that Jesus Christ 135 00:07:16,900 --> 00:07:20,600 "is the Son of God," and so they baptized him. 136 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:24,000 And so if you're wondering what do you have to do 137 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:27,560 to be baptized, believe. 138 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:31,580 You believe, if you believe, you should be baptized, 139 00:07:31,580 --> 00:07:33,400 you should get baptized, 'cause you see, 140 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:38,040 we not only are proclaiming that Jesus is our Savior, 141 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,120 we're proclaiming that Jesus is our Lord. 142 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:43,180 And you know what Jesus said to do? 143 00:07:43,180 --> 00:07:49,220 Get baptized, be baptized, and if he's our Lord 144 00:07:49,220 --> 00:07:52,760 and he's saying, "Be baptized," then hey, 145 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:55,660 I'm not gonna put, nothing stands in the way 146 00:07:55,660 --> 00:07:58,460 except just saying yes. 147 00:07:58,460 --> 00:08:02,040 So anyway, that's got nothing to do 148 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:04,100 with what I'm gonna teach about today, 149 00:08:04,100 --> 00:08:07,240 but it was something that I felt like I needed to say, 150 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:08,520 was supposed to say. 151 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:13,520 The book of Acts, the book of Acts was written by Luke, 152 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:19,780 and we know this because Luke wrote the book of Luke, 153 00:08:19,780 --> 00:08:25,640 and in the book of Luke, he addressed it to dear Theophilus. 154 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:28,940 I wanna tell you some things here. 155 00:08:28,940 --> 00:08:32,340 And the person who wrote the book of Acts says, 156 00:08:32,340 --> 00:08:34,480 "In my former book, Theophilus, 157 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:35,740 "I told you about this stuff, 158 00:08:35,740 --> 00:08:37,580 "now I'm gonna tell you about some other stuff." 159 00:08:37,580 --> 00:08:40,980 And so Luke wrote the book of Acts, but he didn't name it. 160 00:08:40,980 --> 00:08:45,180 He didn't call it Acts, he didn't call it anything. 161 00:08:45,180 --> 00:08:47,220 He just said, "Here you go, Theophilus, 162 00:08:47,220 --> 00:08:48,920 "I'm gonna tell you some stuff." 163 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:53,920 It was almost 200 years later when a guy named Arrhenius 164 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:57,540 named it, called it the Acts of the Apostles, 165 00:08:57,540 --> 00:09:01,860 and the name stuck, and it's rather unfortunate 166 00:09:01,860 --> 00:09:05,800 that the name stuck, Acts of the Apostles. 167 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:09,080 Because, well, some things that are recorded in Acts 168 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:12,300 were things that the Apostles, the original 12, 169 00:09:12,300 --> 00:09:13,700 were involved in. 170 00:09:13,700 --> 00:09:16,580 A lot of the things that are recorded in Acts, 171 00:09:16,580 --> 00:09:18,960 Paul was involved in, now he was an Apostle, 172 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:20,700 but he wasn't one of the original 12. 173 00:09:20,700 --> 00:09:25,060 Philip wasn't an Apostle, he was a deacon. 174 00:09:25,060 --> 00:09:27,940 He was a deacon and an evangelist, 175 00:09:27,940 --> 00:09:29,540 and there are other things in the book 176 00:09:29,540 --> 00:09:33,340 that weren't necessarily done by the Apostles. 177 00:09:33,340 --> 00:09:38,220 However, everything in that book was inspired by 178 00:09:38,220 --> 00:09:41,980 and empowered by the Holy Spirit. 179 00:09:41,980 --> 00:09:45,560 And so a more accurate title for the book 180 00:09:45,560 --> 00:09:48,580 would be Acts of the Holy Spirit. 181 00:09:48,580 --> 00:09:52,020 And if these were simply the Acts of the Apostles, 182 00:09:52,020 --> 00:09:53,940 then it might lead some to believe 183 00:09:53,940 --> 00:09:57,620 and some to even teach that, 184 00:09:57,620 --> 00:09:59,140 well, those guys aren't here anymore, 185 00:09:59,140 --> 00:10:01,820 so that stuff doesn't happen anymore. 186 00:10:01,820 --> 00:10:03,820 But guess who is still here? 187 00:10:03,820 --> 00:10:07,180 The Holy Spirit. 188 00:10:07,180 --> 00:10:09,720 And so because he is still here, 189 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:12,940 the things he did then, he does now. 190 00:10:12,940 --> 00:10:18,300 He is part of the Godhead, the God who doesn't change, 191 00:10:18,300 --> 00:10:21,900 Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. 192 00:10:21,900 --> 00:10:24,960 Hey, the Holy Spirit is also the same 193 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:26,680 yesterday, today, and forever. 194 00:10:26,680 --> 00:10:31,300 And so the Holy Spirit does stuff. 195 00:10:31,300 --> 00:10:35,120 Well, who is this Holy Spirit? 196 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:38,320 The Holy Spirit has multiple titles, 197 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:41,640 just as the Father and the Son have multiple titles. 198 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:44,140 The Father is the ancient of days, 199 00:10:44,140 --> 00:10:47,560 he is the Lord God Almighty, the God of Abraham, 200 00:10:47,560 --> 00:10:50,340 Isaac, and Jacob, the great I Am, Jesus. 201 00:10:50,340 --> 00:10:54,020 The Son has multiple titles, he's the Prince of Peace, 202 00:10:54,020 --> 00:10:56,300 he's the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, 203 00:10:56,300 --> 00:11:00,720 he's the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. 204 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:05,720 Jesus introduces the Holy Spirit over in John chapter 14, 205 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:10,060 and the word that he uses to describe him 206 00:11:10,060 --> 00:11:12,720 is a word that contains many titles. 207 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:16,820 Now, it's a Greek word, and I don't usually use Greek words, 208 00:11:16,820 --> 00:11:18,520 but I can pronounce this one. 209 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:23,020 And the word is parakletos. 210 00:11:23,020 --> 00:11:27,240 And if you're reading in various translations, 211 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:30,300 you might see the word comforter, 212 00:11:30,300 --> 00:11:32,260 or you might see the word advocate, 213 00:11:32,260 --> 00:11:34,920 or you might see the word counselor. 214 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:37,740 And if you're only gonna use one word 215 00:11:37,740 --> 00:11:40,280 to describe parakletos, then yeah, 216 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:42,280 you can use any of those words. 217 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:45,940 But what the term literally means is 218 00:11:45,940 --> 00:11:49,680 one called alongside to help. 219 00:11:49,680 --> 00:11:52,720 That's what it literally means. 220 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:55,780 Philip left the revival in Samaria, 221 00:11:55,780 --> 00:11:59,180 and it says an angel gave him instructions, 222 00:11:59,180 --> 00:12:01,860 and it probably required an angel 223 00:12:01,860 --> 00:12:04,040 to get him to leave a big revival 224 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:06,260 where he's kind of a central character 225 00:12:06,260 --> 00:12:07,860 and things are really going on, 226 00:12:07,860 --> 00:12:11,580 and wants you to go and walk in the desert for a while, 227 00:12:11,580 --> 00:12:14,000 go take a desert road. 228 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:16,620 But an angel tells him to do that, 229 00:12:16,620 --> 00:12:19,560 and he meets an Ethiopian eunuch along the way, 230 00:12:19,560 --> 00:12:23,500 an important official, and we read this. 231 00:12:23,500 --> 00:12:28,440 The spirit told Philip, go to that chariot 232 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:29,600 and stay near it. 233 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:37,180 Now Ethiopia, the results of this encounter 234 00:12:37,180 --> 00:12:41,080 were massive, were unimaginable. 235 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:44,340 Ethiopia was actually the first country in the world 236 00:12:44,340 --> 00:12:47,740 to officially proclaim Christianity 237 00:12:47,740 --> 00:12:52,740 as their religion, and today, almost 2,000 years later, 238 00:12:52,740 --> 00:12:57,500 even though it's surrounded by Muslim countries 239 00:12:57,500 --> 00:13:00,580 on all sides, over 70% of the population 240 00:13:00,580 --> 00:13:02,660 of Ethiopia are Christians. 241 00:13:02,660 --> 00:13:06,660 They still claim Christ, and this happened 242 00:13:06,660 --> 00:13:09,880 because Philip was listening to and obedient 243 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:12,160 to the Holy Spirit. 244 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:16,440 Now, here's the kicker. 245 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:20,700 The Holy Spirit wants to talk to you. 246 00:13:20,700 --> 00:13:27,600 He's not just here to talk to certain ones. 247 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:30,100 He's not just here to talk to apostles. 248 00:13:30,100 --> 00:13:32,420 He's not just here to talk to pastors. 249 00:13:32,420 --> 00:13:35,300 He's not just here to talk to evangelists. 250 00:13:35,300 --> 00:13:38,720 He wants to talk to you. 251 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:45,460 There is such a thing, and the culture 252 00:13:45,460 --> 00:13:47,520 and the teaching that I was brought up in 253 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:51,600 was all about the Holy Spirit. 254 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:54,480 We heard about the Holy Spirit a lot, 255 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:56,820 and let me just say, you know, we sang earlier. 256 00:13:56,820 --> 00:13:58,560 One of the first things that we sang today 257 00:13:58,560 --> 00:14:02,120 was I have decided to follow Jesus. 258 00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:05,160 I hope by the time I get through this morning, 259 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:10,160 you'll understand that that is a totally empty phrase 260 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:14,420 unless it is coupled with the decision 261 00:14:14,420 --> 00:14:16,180 to follow the Holy Spirit, 262 00:14:16,180 --> 00:14:20,360 because you can't follow Jesus 263 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:24,000 unless you're gonna follow the Holy Spirit as well. 264 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:28,420 There is such a thing as being filled with the Spirit, 265 00:14:28,420 --> 00:14:30,920 being baptized in the Holy Ghost. 266 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:32,440 Now, that's what I was brought up with, 267 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:36,040 baptized in the Holy Ghost, and man, I was several times. 268 00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:40,080 And you know, when you get baptized in the Holy Ghost, 269 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:42,900 you speak in tongues, and just weird things happen, 270 00:14:42,900 --> 00:14:46,440 and you seek and you tarry until that, 271 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:48,440 yeah, you know what I'm talking about. 272 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:52,160 And that's real. 273 00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:54,680 There is such a thing, and I know a few weeks back, 274 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:58,200 Kevin held a service and invited people to come down 275 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:00,120 and be filled with the Holy Spirit, 276 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:02,040 and that's a wonderful thing, 277 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:06,040 but one of the things that I have learned over the years 278 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:09,200 is that being filled with the Spirit 279 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:10,760 is not a one-time event. 280 00:15:11,900 --> 00:15:13,600 Yeah. 281 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:16,860 If you go and fill your car up with gas, 282 00:15:16,860 --> 00:15:21,480 you know what you're gonna have to do next week? 283 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:24,920 You're gonna have to fill it again. 284 00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:28,240 In fact, the day that Kevin held that service, 285 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:30,120 we were out of town, and we were traveling, 286 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:31,320 and we were gonna listen to it, 287 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:33,960 but the internet didn't work. 288 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:36,520 It got broke or something that day, I don't remember, 289 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:38,660 so we weren't really able to, 290 00:15:38,660 --> 00:15:40,200 and then we watched it later, 291 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:42,320 and then they cut it off before the real stuff 292 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:45,480 started happening, which, but anyway, 293 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:50,740 we were driving that day, and you know what? 294 00:15:50,740 --> 00:15:53,220 We started that day with a car full of gas, 295 00:15:53,220 --> 00:15:55,940 and we had to fill it up the same day. 296 00:15:55,940 --> 00:16:01,580 And just because you've been filled with the Spirit 297 00:16:01,580 --> 00:16:04,320 doesn't mean you're still filled with the Spirit. 298 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:07,120 Yeah, that'll preach. 299 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:12,120 Yeah, I mean, it is an ongoing thing, an ongoing process. 300 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:18,040 And so, even if you, here's what I wanna say. 301 00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:21,640 Even if you've never experienced the baptism 302 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:24,660 of the Holy Spirit, the fullness of the Holy Spirit, 303 00:16:24,660 --> 00:16:27,740 you still have the Holy Spirit. 304 00:16:27,740 --> 00:16:31,340 The Holy Spirit is still your paraclete. 305 00:16:31,340 --> 00:16:36,880 He is still the one called alongside to help you. 306 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:40,320 He is still inside of you. 307 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:42,660 Romans 8, 9 says this. 308 00:16:42,660 --> 00:16:46,400 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh, 309 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:48,220 but are in the realm of the Spirit, 310 00:16:48,220 --> 00:16:50,640 if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you, 311 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:53,120 and if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, 312 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:55,760 they do not belong to Christ. 313 00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:59,180 Conversely, what that is saying is if you belong to Christ, 314 00:16:59,180 --> 00:17:02,560 the Spirit's in there. 315 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:05,360 Now, the tank may not be full. 316 00:17:05,360 --> 00:17:09,440 It may be somewhere down here, but the Spirit is in there. 317 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:17,600 Let me just say, because I know I kinda grew up sometimes 318 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:21,600 where some people would take this particular passage 319 00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:25,880 and they would go, see, you gotta be baptized 320 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:27,700 in the Holy Ghost to be saved. 321 00:17:27,700 --> 00:17:31,980 That's not true. 322 00:17:33,340 --> 00:17:36,300 It does not say God so loved the world 323 00:17:36,300 --> 00:17:38,600 that he gave his one and only Son, 324 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:41,760 that whosoever believes on him and speaks in tongues 325 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:46,040 shall not perish but have everlasting life. 326 00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:50,540 No, you, hey, I'm not denigrating speaking in tongues. 327 00:17:50,540 --> 00:17:52,940 I speak in tongues, but I'm just saying 328 00:17:52,940 --> 00:17:55,780 that's not a requirement to be saved, 329 00:17:55,780 --> 00:17:58,400 and it's not a requirement to have the Holy Spirit 330 00:17:58,400 --> 00:17:59,400 living in you. 331 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:04,400 This last Thursday, Justin was teaching in Galatians 332 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:07,400 and came across a verse and he said, 333 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:08,500 you know, we're in the middle of talking 334 00:18:08,500 --> 00:18:10,580 about the Holy Spirit, and this is the reason 335 00:18:10,580 --> 00:18:12,740 why we're talking in Galatians. 336 00:18:12,740 --> 00:18:15,100 Hey, he's getting better every week. 337 00:18:15,100 --> 00:18:17,940 [audience laughs] 338 00:18:17,940 --> 00:18:20,000 He really is. 339 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:21,400 I mean, the boy's coming along. 340 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:23,340 Yeah. 341 00:18:23,340 --> 00:18:27,100 Even Michelle likes you now. 342 00:18:27,100 --> 00:18:30,000 I mean, she always laughed at your jokes, but. 343 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:34,400 But this is the verse he was talking about. 344 00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:38,580 Because you are his sons, God sent the spirit of his Son 345 00:18:38,580 --> 00:18:42,660 into our hearts, the spirit who calls out Abba, Father. 346 00:18:42,660 --> 00:18:48,800 The first paraclete taught us to pray, our Father, 347 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:50,760 who art in heaven. 348 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:54,020 The second paraclete comes into our very hearts 349 00:18:54,020 --> 00:18:58,420 and cries out, my Father, my Father. 350 00:18:58,420 --> 00:19:01,980 And so if you belong to Christ, if you're saved, 351 00:19:01,980 --> 00:19:04,180 the Holy Spirit is in you. 352 00:19:04,180 --> 00:19:07,940 He's there, and he's trying to talk to you. 353 00:19:07,940 --> 00:19:11,100 He's called alongside to help you, 354 00:19:11,100 --> 00:19:13,140 and he's speaking to you, and this isn't just 355 00:19:13,140 --> 00:19:16,540 a special occasion event. 356 00:19:16,540 --> 00:19:20,900 We tend to think, okay, yeah, the Holy Spirit will speak 357 00:19:20,900 --> 00:19:24,380 when something big happens. 358 00:19:24,380 --> 00:19:27,140 The Holy Spirit will speak when something big 359 00:19:27,140 --> 00:19:28,020 is really needed. 360 00:19:28,020 --> 00:19:30,860 That's not, no. 361 00:19:30,860 --> 00:19:35,860 In fact, he's unlikely to speak when something big happens 362 00:19:35,860 --> 00:19:38,640 if you haven't learned to listen to him 363 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:41,000 when something small is going on. 364 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:46,620 He can't really trust you with a big word 365 00:19:46,620 --> 00:19:49,100 if he can't trust you with a small word. 366 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:52,880 This is a daily event. 367 00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:58,180 How much help is a helper who only shows up every few years? 368 00:19:58,180 --> 00:20:05,280 I've got a couple of friends up in Antioch, 369 00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:09,700 and they're physically, they're really going through it. 370 00:20:09,700 --> 00:20:12,320 She's got all kinds of issues. 371 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:17,320 He's dealing with like his fourth or fifth bout of cancer, 372 00:20:17,500 --> 00:20:21,720 and this one has really been rough on him. 373 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:23,260 They don't go to the church here. 374 00:20:23,260 --> 00:20:28,260 These are friends from back in my theater days. 375 00:20:28,260 --> 00:20:35,740 But anyway, Michelle and I have gone to visit them 376 00:20:35,740 --> 00:20:37,820 several times and gotten to know them 377 00:20:37,820 --> 00:20:39,700 and really, really care about them, 378 00:20:39,700 --> 00:20:43,480 and Michelle has been very concerned 379 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:45,040 about how do they make it? 380 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:50,040 How are they able to take care of each other? 381 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:54,940 And yesterday, I was on the phone with my friend, 382 00:20:54,940 --> 00:20:58,820 and he told me, he said, "We have home health now. 383 00:20:58,820 --> 00:21:02,080 "They come five days a week, and they take care of things, 384 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:04,360 "and they're getting ready to start coming 385 00:21:04,360 --> 00:21:05,740 "seven days a week." 386 00:21:05,740 --> 00:21:10,820 What if they only came once a month? 387 00:21:10,820 --> 00:21:14,540 How much help would that be? 388 00:21:14,540 --> 00:21:16,540 What if they only showed up every three months? 389 00:21:16,540 --> 00:21:19,820 Or just every now and again? 390 00:21:19,820 --> 00:21:23,000 No, they're gonna be there every day 391 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:25,420 because they're needed every day, 392 00:21:25,420 --> 00:21:29,920 and the paraclete, the one called to walk alongside of you, 393 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:33,420 is walking with you every day. 394 00:21:33,420 --> 00:21:35,500 He wants to talk to you every day. 395 00:21:35,500 --> 00:21:38,440 And then when he does speak, we tend to think of it 396 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:42,480 as a relegating it to the realm of the woo-woo. 397 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:46,120 But it's actually far more pedestrian than that. 398 00:21:46,120 --> 00:21:50,320 He can speak to you from a burning bush. 399 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:54,440 He can come and set this bush on fire, 400 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:57,520 but it's not being consumed, and tell you to go to Egypt, 401 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:01,080 and confront Pharaoh, and tell him to let my people go. 402 00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:02,860 He can do that. 403 00:22:02,860 --> 00:22:06,140 He's never done it to me. 404 00:22:06,140 --> 00:22:12,240 I mean, that's not usually how he does things. 405 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:16,360 I've had him tell me to do some pretty big things, 406 00:22:16,360 --> 00:22:18,760 but he never did it that way. 407 00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:19,600 He never did. 408 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:23,880 He can also speak to you at the grocery. 409 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:28,600 He can speak to you at the appliance store. 410 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:33,600 He can speak to you at the shoe store. 411 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:37,100 He can speak to you at the clothing store. 412 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:42,400 Come on, this is supposed to step on your toes. 413 00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:44,740 This is supposed to hurt. 414 00:22:44,740 --> 00:22:48,340 He can speak to you at any of those times. 415 00:22:48,340 --> 00:22:53,680 One of my favorite stories that I heard a long time ago, 416 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:57,760 I think Wayne Barry told it to me, so I think it's true. 417 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:02,680 But it involves Don Finto. 418 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:06,720 Don was a pastor at Belmont Church in Nashville, 419 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:09,680 and Wayne and Gene were going there at the time. 420 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:12,340 Apparently, they used to have Sunday night services. 421 00:23:12,340 --> 00:23:15,800 After the Sunday night service, 422 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:17,900 Don liked to go home and have ice cream. 423 00:23:17,900 --> 00:23:22,200 So he'd go home after the Sunday night service, 424 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:23,600 he'd get out a scoop of ice cream, 425 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:26,200 oh praise God for ice cream. 426 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:28,300 Been doing the work of God today, 427 00:23:28,300 --> 00:23:30,780 and now it's time to rejoice. 428 00:23:30,780 --> 00:23:36,680 So anyway, apparently Don was telling the church one time 429 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:40,960 that he had gone home after the Sunday night service, 430 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:42,300 and he'd gotten out his ice cream, 431 00:23:42,300 --> 00:23:44,600 and the Holy Spirit said, what are you doing? 432 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:50,060 And Don goes, well, I'm eating ice cream. 433 00:23:50,060 --> 00:23:53,120 And he didn't hear anything. 434 00:23:53,120 --> 00:23:54,680 And he went, you don't care. 435 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:57,560 I mean, you're not, are you? 436 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:03,000 Now I don't know if Don went ahead 437 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:04,480 and ate the ice cream or not. 438 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:08,400 But what? 439 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:09,920 He didn't. 440 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:11,440 He's a better man than me. 441 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:14,440 [audience laughing] 442 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:17,680 Because I'm, full confession here. 443 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:19,440 I mean, I'm not batting a thousand. 444 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:21,260 I never claimed to be. 445 00:24:21,260 --> 00:24:23,620 You know, I'm just trying to stay above the Mendoza line 446 00:24:23,620 --> 00:24:25,560 for those of you who know what that is. 447 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:29,040 But you know, I mean, there've been times 448 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:30,960 that I've been at home, 449 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:33,240 and I'm starting to scoop out ice cream, 450 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:35,360 and God has reminded me of that story. 451 00:24:36,360 --> 00:24:40,000 And I'm thinking, yeah, God, that's a good story. 452 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:47,780 Very instructive. 453 00:24:47,780 --> 00:24:53,960 He can also tell you when to pick up the phone 454 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:54,960 and call somebody. 455 00:24:54,960 --> 00:25:00,480 He can tell you when to go and talk to somebody. 456 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:04,920 There've been so many times that I've called somebody, 457 00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:08,800 and I've heard, oh, you called it just the right time. 458 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:11,860 Well, somebody told me to. 459 00:25:11,860 --> 00:25:15,840 And that's why it was just the right time. 460 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:20,080 And he doesn't just speak to preachers about that. 461 00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:22,300 He doesn't just speak to people 462 00:25:22,300 --> 00:25:24,320 who get up on the platform about that. 463 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:27,780 He wants to speak to every one of us about that. 464 00:25:27,780 --> 00:25:33,480 Well, how do you recognize the Spirit's voice? 465 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:37,640 [audience member speaking faintly] 466 00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:41,920 I like jokes. 467 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:45,400 And a few months ago, one of my favorites 468 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:48,040 was a few months ago, Evan and Charlotte 469 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:50,880 were over at our house for dinner, 470 00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:54,840 and Evan goes, "I got a new knock-knock joke for ya." 471 00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:55,920 And I said, "Okay." 472 00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:58,760 Yeah, he goes, "Knock-knock." 473 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:01,280 I said, "Who's there?" 474 00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:02,800 "Charlotte's pregnant." 475 00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:06,040 [audience laughing] 476 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:07,800 Now, I started laughing. 477 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:09,720 Yeah, I found it funny. 478 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:11,560 Michelle didn't start laughing, 479 00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:13,400 but she was jumping up and down on her seat 480 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:16,600 and going, "Yeah, that's so great, yeah." 481 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:19,000 I didn't do that, but I was laughing. 482 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:21,560 Now, and if you were laughing, that's great. 483 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:23,780 If you weren't, that's okay too. 484 00:26:23,780 --> 00:26:25,320 It probably wasn't funny. 485 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:27,080 But if you found it funny, 486 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:29,320 you might wanna hang out with them more often. 487 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:31,500 I got one for you. 488 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:33,680 Knock-knock. 489 00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:34,840 >> Who's there? 490 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:36,120 >> Holy Spirit. 491 00:26:36,120 --> 00:26:37,280 >> Holy Spirit. 492 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:39,940 >> That's the problem. 493 00:26:39,940 --> 00:26:48,020 That's the issue. 494 00:26:48,020 --> 00:26:55,400 Back in the days before caller ID and stuff like that, 495 00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:58,860 you'd get a phone call sometimes. 496 00:26:58,860 --> 00:27:00,340 I might get a phone call. 497 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:03,640 Hello, is Arwin there? 498 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:06,420 May I ask who's speaking? 499 00:27:06,420 --> 00:27:08,980 Arwin was my daughter. 500 00:27:08,980 --> 00:27:13,960 And you know, I didn't know who it was. 501 00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:15,660 I'd never heard this voice before. 502 00:27:15,660 --> 00:27:19,960 If he called back the next day, 503 00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:22,440 you know, I might have an idea who it is. 504 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:26,160 And if somebody kept calling regularly, 505 00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:29,340 I wouldn't have to ask, "Who is it?" anymore. 506 00:27:29,340 --> 00:27:32,560 The way you recognize the Spirit, learn to recognize 507 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:34,300 the Spirit's voice is you listen. 508 00:27:34,300 --> 00:27:37,120 Is you listen. 509 00:27:37,120 --> 00:27:40,180 And you start by expecting. 510 00:27:40,180 --> 00:27:43,200 By expecting him to speak. 511 00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:48,720 In fact, it's even okay to ask him to speak. 512 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:52,820 It's even okay to go, "Hey, I need some direction here. 513 00:27:52,820 --> 00:27:54,420 "Would you speak to me?" 514 00:27:54,420 --> 00:27:56,880 And you might find out that you need 515 00:27:56,880 --> 00:27:59,420 a whole lot more direction than you think you need. 516 00:27:59,420 --> 00:28:03,260 As you begin to learn to listen to him 517 00:28:03,260 --> 00:28:05,840 and begin to learn to follow him. 518 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:07,680 And then listen, he isn't gonna start 519 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:09,020 by telling you to go to Africa. 520 00:28:09,020 --> 00:28:10,520 I mean, you know, some people go, 521 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:12,260 "Well, I don't know if I wanna hear from the Holy Spirit. 522 00:28:12,260 --> 00:28:13,540 "He's probably gonna tell me to do something 523 00:28:13,540 --> 00:28:14,920 "I don't wanna do." 524 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:18,580 Well, maybe he is, but he's probably not. 525 00:28:18,580 --> 00:28:19,740 He's probably just gonna start out 526 00:28:19,740 --> 00:28:22,740 with something real simple and see if you'll pay attention. 527 00:28:22,740 --> 00:28:26,080 See if you'll actually do it. 528 00:28:27,060 --> 00:28:29,600 Like I said, there's been many times in my life 529 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:34,140 when I clearly heard about big things. 530 00:28:34,140 --> 00:28:37,300 I heard about big things about going 531 00:28:37,300 --> 00:28:38,660 into the ministry full-time. 532 00:28:38,660 --> 00:28:41,940 I heard about, you know, I clearly heard 533 00:28:41,940 --> 00:28:43,780 about going to Africa. 534 00:28:43,780 --> 00:28:47,300 The hardest one that I ever heard him say 535 00:28:47,300 --> 00:28:49,360 for me to do was go to Smyrna. 536 00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:52,420 Very honestly. 537 00:28:52,420 --> 00:28:54,120 I went, "No." 538 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:54,960 Oh. 539 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:58,640 All right, I'll do it. 540 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:02,720 Oh, and you know, if you start saying, 541 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:21,920 [mimics 542 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:26,700 But most of the stuff that I hear about is smaller stuff. 543 00:29:26,700 --> 00:29:30,700 There is a principle in scriptural, 544 00:29:30,700 --> 00:29:33,500 in scriptural, through all of life, and it's this. 545 00:29:33,500 --> 00:29:38,500 Whoever is faithful with little will be entrusted with much. 546 00:29:38,500 --> 00:29:41,520 I said earlier that he's not probably going 547 00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:45,620 to give you a big burning bush experience 548 00:29:45,620 --> 00:29:46,940 to have you go do something. 549 00:29:46,940 --> 00:29:51,080 And if you don't hear from him regularly, 550 00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:53,340 because he can't trust you with it, 551 00:29:53,340 --> 00:29:58,300 until he knows he can trust you with something small, 552 00:29:58,300 --> 00:30:02,420 until he knows that he can trust you, 553 00:30:02,420 --> 00:30:07,420 that if he goes, "Hey, go over to George today, 554 00:30:07,420 --> 00:30:12,260 your friend George, and don't say, 'How you doing?' 555 00:30:12,260 --> 00:30:14,060 Say, 'Are you okay?'" 556 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:22,280 Go over to Betty and ask her, "Is everything all right?" 557 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:26,860 Can he trust you to do that? 558 00:30:26,860 --> 00:30:31,720 Or, you know, go to Fred and say, 559 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:34,200 "I love you, man. 560 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:35,220 I care about you." 561 00:30:35,220 --> 00:30:38,780 That'll be just the thing Fred needed to hear. 562 00:30:38,780 --> 00:30:40,620 But the Holy Spirit's gotta trust somebody 563 00:30:40,620 --> 00:30:41,840 to take the message. 564 00:30:44,900 --> 00:30:48,420 And over time, you'll learn to recognize his voice, 565 00:30:48,420 --> 00:30:52,800 not necessarily so much how it sounds, but how it feels. 566 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:57,500 The Holy Spirit's voice feels different 567 00:30:57,500 --> 00:31:00,440 from the other voices that are trying to talk to you 568 00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:01,280 in this world. 569 00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:03,680 The Holy Spirit's voice feels differently 570 00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:05,420 than your own flesh. 571 00:31:05,420 --> 00:31:13,100 And of course, his voice will always confirm his word. 572 00:31:13,940 --> 00:31:16,240 And you'll learn that you can trust him, 573 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:19,940 and that the Holy Spirit is working both sides 574 00:31:19,940 --> 00:31:21,260 of the situation. 575 00:31:21,260 --> 00:31:25,420 You know, Philip didn't know it, 576 00:31:25,420 --> 00:31:30,420 but this Ethiopian eunuch was reading a passage in Isaiah 577 00:31:30,420 --> 00:31:33,140 and needed somebody to explain it to him. 578 00:31:33,140 --> 00:31:37,820 And the Holy Spirit sent Philip on this mission 579 00:31:37,820 --> 00:31:39,860 and told him to go and stand by this chariot 580 00:31:39,860 --> 00:31:42,000 because he could explain that to him. 581 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:44,280 He was working both sides of the equation. 582 00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:47,020 And whenever he says to you, 583 00:31:47,020 --> 00:31:49,020 "Go tell Fred how much you love him," 584 00:31:49,020 --> 00:31:52,800 he knows that there's something inside of Fred's heart 585 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:53,880 that day that's going, 586 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:56,040 "Man, I just don't feel like God loves me." 587 00:31:56,040 --> 00:32:00,340 When he tells you to go and ask Betty, 588 00:32:00,340 --> 00:32:01,720 "Is everything all right?" 589 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:04,140 It's because, no, everything isn't all right. 590 00:32:04,140 --> 00:32:07,220 And that may be why you don't wanna go and ask her. 591 00:32:07,220 --> 00:32:10,580 But he's got something big that he wants to do. 592 00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:15,160 In her life and in your life as well. 593 00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:20,940 But if you're gonna also go, 594 00:32:20,940 --> 00:32:22,140 "Well, he'll confirm the word," 595 00:32:22,140 --> 00:32:24,300 you need to know something about the word. 596 00:32:24,300 --> 00:32:29,920 How can you know if his voice is confirming the word 597 00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:31,180 if you don't know the word? 598 00:32:31,180 --> 00:32:33,420 You don't have to be a scholar. 599 00:32:33,420 --> 00:32:38,420 You don't have to be aspiring to be a scholar. 600 00:32:38,420 --> 00:32:41,520 But you gotta do something. 601 00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:44,940 You got to at least be trying. 602 00:32:44,940 --> 00:32:47,500 And it's not a matter of, 603 00:32:47,500 --> 00:32:51,420 "Well, I can't ever be blah, blah, blah, blah." 604 00:32:51,420 --> 00:32:53,260 You don't have to be blah, blah, blah, blah. 605 00:32:53,260 --> 00:32:55,700 You need to be what the Spirit needs right now 606 00:32:55,700 --> 00:32:58,500 for this situation. 607 00:32:58,500 --> 00:33:02,220 Father Ray Cash was here a few months ago and he spoke. 608 00:33:02,220 --> 00:33:03,660 I love one of the stories. 609 00:33:03,660 --> 00:33:04,700 He's a close friend of mine. 610 00:33:04,700 --> 00:33:07,780 He didn't tell it at this, but he was telling me. 611 00:33:07,780 --> 00:33:09,020 I love one of the stories. 612 00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:13,620 He was discipling a couple of young men 613 00:33:13,620 --> 00:33:16,620 who had recently come to know Christ. 614 00:33:16,620 --> 00:33:18,300 I think they were bikers or something. 615 00:33:18,300 --> 00:33:20,860 I mean, they were kind of rough around the edges. 616 00:33:20,860 --> 00:33:23,740 But they didn't know much about the Lord. 617 00:33:23,740 --> 00:33:25,740 And he had been discipling them for a little while. 618 00:33:25,740 --> 00:33:28,140 And they brought a friend with them one day 619 00:33:28,140 --> 00:33:30,880 to the discipleship time. 620 00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:35,820 And as the friend was listening to what was going on, 621 00:33:35,820 --> 00:33:38,620 he decided he wanted to get saved. 622 00:33:38,620 --> 00:33:40,460 Yeah, I want Jesus. 623 00:33:40,460 --> 00:33:42,000 I'll take Jesus. 624 00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:45,360 And Ray went, "Well, that's great." 625 00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:47,600 And he went inside to get a Bible. 626 00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:49,640 And he brought it out and he said, 627 00:33:49,640 --> 00:33:51,900 "I'm gonna give you this Bible." 628 00:33:51,900 --> 00:33:55,260 And then he was gonna give him some instruction 629 00:33:55,260 --> 00:33:57,460 in the Bible, but before he did, 630 00:33:57,460 --> 00:33:59,040 one of the guys stepped in and said, 631 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:00,480 "No, no, no, wait, wait. 632 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:03,040 "Let me show you something." 633 00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:06,280 And he opened up the book and he told his friend, 634 00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:08,800 he said, "That big word you see at the top there 635 00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:11,500 "where it says John, that's the name of the book. 636 00:34:11,500 --> 00:34:17,820 "And this big number right here, three, that's the chapter. 637 00:34:17,820 --> 00:34:21,880 "And then these little numbers over here, 638 00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:23,500 "those are the verses." 639 00:34:23,500 --> 00:34:28,400 And the guy went, "Wow." 640 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:32,540 See, Ray was about ready to shoot 641 00:34:32,540 --> 00:34:34,920 about 100 miles over the guy's head. 642 00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:38,260 But the Holy Spirit knew what the guy needed. 643 00:34:39,260 --> 00:34:43,180 Knew where he was in the walk. 644 00:34:43,180 --> 00:34:44,420 And so he can use you. 645 00:34:44,420 --> 00:34:48,580 You don't have to be a scholar. 646 00:34:48,580 --> 00:34:51,860 He can take the verse you read today 647 00:34:51,860 --> 00:34:54,700 and plug it in somewhere in your day. 648 00:34:54,700 --> 00:34:56,340 I mean, there are people all over here 649 00:34:56,340 --> 00:34:58,120 who can go, "Yeah, it happens to me all the time." 650 00:34:58,120 --> 00:34:59,220 It can happen to you all the time, 651 00:34:59,220 --> 00:35:00,620 but you gotta read a verse. 652 00:35:00,620 --> 00:35:04,700 You gotta read a verse before it can happen. 653 00:35:04,700 --> 00:35:05,860 I'm not saying you have to read 654 00:35:05,860 --> 00:35:07,580 chapter after chapter each day. 655 00:35:07,580 --> 00:35:10,420 If you did, that's great, but something. 656 00:35:10,420 --> 00:35:12,140 Make some kind of effort. 657 00:35:12,140 --> 00:35:14,980 And many think that they've heard the Spirit say 658 00:35:14,980 --> 00:35:19,340 to fix something, but they're totally acting in the flesh 659 00:35:19,340 --> 00:35:22,080 'cause they have no idea what Jesus would do. 660 00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:27,180 Because they haven't spent any time in the Word. 661 00:35:27,180 --> 00:35:29,600 They don't know what it feels like. 662 00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:33,340 They just feel like, "I'm gonna fix something." 663 00:35:33,340 --> 00:35:36,260 No, you're getting ready to break something. 664 00:35:36,260 --> 00:35:38,340 And it's not the chains of oppression. 665 00:35:38,340 --> 00:35:42,260 Only He can do that. 666 00:35:42,260 --> 00:35:47,400 If you encountered this Ethiopian eunuch, 667 00:35:47,400 --> 00:35:51,820 or somebody, anybody, reading the passage, 668 00:35:51,820 --> 00:35:54,740 He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, 669 00:35:54,740 --> 00:35:56,920 and as a lamb before His shares was silent, 670 00:35:56,920 --> 00:36:01,180 opened not His mouth, was deprived of justice, 671 00:36:01,180 --> 00:36:02,900 taken from the earth. 672 00:36:02,900 --> 00:36:05,500 Could you tell them who the prophet was talking about? 673 00:36:05,500 --> 00:36:09,160 You should be able to. 674 00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:13,860 It's Jesus, the Lamb of God. 675 00:36:13,860 --> 00:36:21,220 The result was magnificent. 676 00:36:21,220 --> 00:36:22,940 Look at this here. 677 00:36:22,940 --> 00:36:24,520 When they came up out of the water, 678 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:27,340 the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, 679 00:36:27,340 --> 00:36:29,740 and the eunuch did not see him again. 680 00:36:29,740 --> 00:36:32,900 Woo, that is so cool. 681 00:36:34,100 --> 00:36:36,620 You know, have you ever been translated? 682 00:36:36,620 --> 00:36:38,900 No, I haven't either. 683 00:36:38,900 --> 00:36:41,280 But almost every time I go on a long trip, 684 00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:45,800 I think about it, I go, "Lord, translate us." 685 00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:48,500 It just doesn't happen. 686 00:36:48,500 --> 00:36:50,480 But apparently it happened to Philip. 687 00:36:50,480 --> 00:36:51,820 He's just gone. 688 00:36:51,820 --> 00:36:53,380 He was there, and then he wasn't there. 689 00:36:53,380 --> 00:36:54,900 Wow, that's good. 690 00:36:54,900 --> 00:36:57,440 But that's not the part that I want you to see. 691 00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:01,060 He didn't see him again, 692 00:37:01,060 --> 00:37:03,180 but he went on his way rejoicing. 693 00:37:04,180 --> 00:37:05,080 Rejoicing. 694 00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:10,460 He wants to talk to you, the Holy Spirit does, 695 00:37:10,460 --> 00:37:13,500 and if you will let this sink into your being, 696 00:37:13,500 --> 00:37:18,400 expect it, listen for it, go, 697 00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:22,460 "Okay, this is how it's gonna be from now on." 698 00:37:22,460 --> 00:37:24,560 It is life-changing. 699 00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:27,300 It can be life-changing for someone else, 700 00:37:27,300 --> 00:37:30,740 but it'll definitely be life-changing for you. 701 00:37:31,660 --> 00:37:33,500 Because you see, he isn't just the one 702 00:37:33,500 --> 00:37:35,340 who tells us what to do. 703 00:37:35,340 --> 00:37:36,540 He isn't just the one that says, 704 00:37:36,540 --> 00:37:39,180 "Do this, don't do that," that kind of stuff. 705 00:37:39,180 --> 00:37:40,320 I mean, he does that. 706 00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:47,000 The first Paraclete, Jesus, 707 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:48,420 walked alongside the disciples, 708 00:37:48,420 --> 00:37:50,860 and many times he told them what to do. 709 00:37:50,860 --> 00:37:52,820 He gave them instructions about that, 710 00:37:52,820 --> 00:37:57,280 but he was also the one when the storm was raging. 711 00:37:57,280 --> 00:37:59,400 Is it raining outside? 712 00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:01,340 Hallelujah! 713 00:38:01,340 --> 00:38:02,780 Yeah. 714 00:38:02,780 --> 00:38:04,860 When the storm was raging 715 00:38:04,860 --> 00:38:07,900 and things were really getting rough, 716 00:38:07,900 --> 00:38:10,180 he was the one who went, "Peace. 717 00:38:10,180 --> 00:38:12,160 Be still. 718 00:38:12,160 --> 00:38:13,200 Don't be afraid. 719 00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:16,180 Where's your faith?" 720 00:38:16,180 --> 00:38:19,540 He's the one, and the second Paraclete 721 00:38:19,540 --> 00:38:23,640 can do the same thing, and he does in our lives. 722 00:38:23,640 --> 00:38:26,300 I mean, we all go through stuff. 723 00:38:26,300 --> 00:38:30,300 The Holy Spirit is the one who is able 724 00:38:30,300 --> 00:38:32,140 to speak a word of peace. 725 00:38:32,140 --> 00:38:36,820 He's the one who bestows beauty instead of ashes. 726 00:38:36,820 --> 00:38:39,900 We look at a situation, and the only thing there 727 00:38:39,900 --> 00:38:43,300 seems to be ashes, but the Holy Spirit comes along 728 00:38:43,300 --> 00:38:46,660 and goes, "Let me show you the beauty. 729 00:38:46,660 --> 00:38:48,340 Let me show you where that is." 730 00:38:48,340 --> 00:38:54,000 And he's the one who causes us to cry out, 731 00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:57,440 "Father, my Father." 732 00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:00,100 Yeah, come on out, guys. 733 00:39:00,100 --> 00:39:03,300 I didn't tell you to, but I imagine the Holy Spirit did. 734 00:39:03,300 --> 00:39:06,300 (audience laughing) 735 00:39:06,300 --> 00:39:08,780 I know he did. 736 00:39:08,780 --> 00:39:09,620 Yeah. 737 00:39:09,620 --> 00:39:16,480 When Father Ray was here, he mentioned prayer, 738 00:39:16,480 --> 00:39:18,580 talked about prayer, and he mentioned the morning 739 00:39:18,580 --> 00:39:21,300 and evening offices in the prayer book. 740 00:39:21,300 --> 00:39:27,720 I went, "Yeah, I wanna check that out." 741 00:39:27,720 --> 00:39:31,320 And I haven't really gotten into the evening part yet, 742 00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:34,800 but the morning part, I'm doing pretty much every day. 743 00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:39,400 And it starts off with a brief prayer. 744 00:39:39,400 --> 00:39:40,640 Actually, they got two of them, 745 00:39:40,640 --> 00:39:42,240 and I was flipping them back and forth 746 00:39:42,240 --> 00:39:44,840 'til I got to the one and went, "No, that's the one." 747 00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:50,080 And it says this. 748 00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:54,840 It says, "Open our eyes to see your presence 749 00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:58,240 "and strengthen our hands to do your will, 750 00:39:58,240 --> 00:40:05,020 "that the world may rejoice and give you praise." 751 00:40:05,020 --> 00:40:11,000 Philip obeyed the Holy Spirit. 752 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:14,880 This guy went on his way rejoicing. 753 00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:20,900 And I suspect Philip may have had a little rejoicing as well. 754 00:40:22,240 --> 00:40:27,240 We oftentimes think we're doing God's will. 755 00:40:27,240 --> 00:40:32,400 And one of the things that I have begun to look for 756 00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:38,240 when I think I'm doing God's will is the result. 757 00:40:38,240 --> 00:40:43,240 Is the result that the world may rejoice and give you praise? 758 00:40:43,240 --> 00:40:50,520 Or is the result that maybe I feel like I won, 759 00:40:51,660 --> 00:40:54,780 but people now despise Jesus 760 00:40:54,780 --> 00:40:56,620 and the faith that I stand for? 761 00:40:56,620 --> 00:41:05,680 If we listen to the Holy Spirit who calm our storms, 762 00:41:05,680 --> 00:41:07,860 who show us beauty for ashes, 763 00:41:07,860 --> 00:41:15,000 He will open our eyes to see God's presence in everything. 764 00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:20,800 That He will strengthen our hands to do God's will 765 00:41:20,800 --> 00:41:25,800 in such a way that the world rejoices, gives Him praise. 766 00:41:25,800 --> 00:41:30,780 Would you stand with me? 767 00:41:30,780 --> 00:41:38,800 This isn't obviously an emotional type of teaching 768 00:41:38,800 --> 00:41:44,460 or anything, but as Pastor Kevin was saying earlier, 769 00:41:44,460 --> 00:41:49,460 sometimes we just need to be quiet and listen. 770 00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:52,220 For those who are gonna pray with people, come forward. 771 00:41:52,220 --> 00:41:56,200 And that's all, I mean, we're gonna worship, 772 00:41:56,200 --> 00:41:58,100 but in our spirits, let's get quiet. 773 00:41:58,100 --> 00:42:01,380 And if you hear him saying, 774 00:42:01,380 --> 00:42:07,280 hey, I'd like to do some work here. 775 00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:09,120 I'd like to do something here. 776 00:42:09,120 --> 00:42:12,780 Go down there and pray with somebody. 777 00:42:12,780 --> 00:42:13,860 Let's talk about it. 778 00:42:13,860 --> 00:42:18,160 Then be obedient. 779 00:42:18,160 --> 00:42:19,320 Let's worship. 780 00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:21,160 Let's worship. 781 00:42:21,160 --> 00:42:23,740 (gentle music) 782 00:42:26,320 --> 00:42:28,320 [music fades out]