Jesus' Most Precious Gift

SPEAKER B Jesus promised his disciples in Acts One eight, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all here and Samaria and to the end of the earth. Welcome to. You shall receive power. And here are your hosts, Ettienne McClintock and Colin Hone. SPEAKER C Dear listener, greetings and a warm welcome. Thank you for tuning into the program again today. We're delighted to have your company. And just as we start, we just invite you to bow your heads with us in prayer. Gracious, father in heaven. We're starting a new series of programs here. Under, you shall receive power. And we just pray for a fresh measure of your spirit to be poured out on us and everyone watching and listening. Father, may you bless us as we look at this beautiful book that we're going to be discussing and studying as we look at the Word of God to encourage us to receive this most precious gift that Jesus has promised. And this is our prayer in his name. Amen. Well, welcome to the program. It's so wonderful to have you. And we are actually on program number 61, and we're starting our studies out of a new little book. This book has gone around the world, over 600,000 copies have gone around, and it's called Steps to Personal Revival being Filled with the Holy Spirit by Helmut Haubeil, originally written in German, I understand, and translated into English, but it's been translated quite a bit. It's a wonderful little book, and chapter one actually deals with this most precious gift that Jesus has promised. This is the biggest and the greatest gift that Jesus could give his church. And if you have not received the gift yet, guess what? You don't have to work for gifts. You don't have to earn gifts. Gifts are given free, or as they say in Africa, Pacella, which means you don't pay a cent for it. Now, if you haven't received that gift yet, we have to ask why. And we're going to answer some of those questions as we go through this program. Colin, I'm really excited about it. SPEAKER D That's true. I know Helmut Horbel very well, and I remember he got that 40 days prayers and devotions to prepare for the Second Coming of Jesus by Dennis Smith. He got that translated in Germany and just an amazing miracle how that started. And that was back in around about 2009, 2010. And we sent the book over to him. He translated it and then he sent it out to all the Adventist pastors right throughout Germany. And he wrote an article about it. He writes a Health ministry article that goes out to about 20,000 Germans. And then the book just took off the 40 days right across Germany, and it's had an incredible impact on that country. And then helmet in writing this book. The reason he wrote this book was he was very concerned. Why are we losing so much of our youth? Like, many of us are wondering, why are we losing so many of our young people? SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER D And the statistics say that something like over 65% of our youth are leaving the church wow. And not returning. SPEAKER C A lot of precious souls gone there. SPEAKER D That's right. And he was shocked about this helmet as well. And I know myself as well, we think of it. I have children, and it's been occupying my mind as well. SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER D And he believes, and I believe, too, that the same spiritual cause behind many of our problems, specifically our personal problems in the local churches and the worldwide church, is the lack of the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER C Yeah, that is true. SPEAKER D The lack of the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER E Yeah. SPEAKER D And so he wrote this book out of finding out what were the causes. If you can eliminate the causes, then we can reduce the exodus and then many of the problems will be resolved. And so, just like Helmut Horbel, many others have said what? Have said the same thing about this deficiency in the church is the lack of Holy Spirit. SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER D And for know, Emile Bruner, an evangelical reform theologian, wrote that the Holy Ghost has always more or less been the stepchild of theology. SPEAKER C And there's another statement here by a gentleman called D. Martin Lloyd Jones, and his comment regarding the importance of the Holy Spirit is, if I may give my honest opinion, then there is no topic of biblical belief that has been so neglected in the past or present as the topic of the Holy Ghost. I'm sure that this is the cause for weakness of the evangelical faith. SPEAKER D Wow. And another scholar, Leroy E. Froom, back in the, who was a leader of the church, Adventist Church, he says, I'm convinced that the lack of the Holy Spirit is our worst problem. SPEAKER E Right. SPEAKER C So no problem greater than the lack of the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER C And of course, Dwight Nelson, who is the pastor of the Memorial Church. Now, where is that memorial Church? SPEAKER D At the main University in Andrews. Memorials University. Andrews University. SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER C And he says that our church has, to the point of exhaustion, developed admirable forms, plans and programs, but if we don't finally admit to our spiritual bankruptcy, meaning the lack of the Holy Spirit, which has overtaken many of us, ministers and leaders, then we will never be able to get out of our pro former Christianity. SPEAKER D Now, I know Dwight Nelson has read this book last year, and apparently he's. SPEAKER C Read it many a times. SPEAKER D Many a times. Steps to personal revival. And he's been promoting it through the US and all around the world himself. As we know, 600,000 copies plus have been distributed worldwide and in over 20 OD languages. And we'll give you the website so you can download the book if you'd like, for free. SPEAKER E Okay, great. SPEAKER C Because he attests to the fact that his spiritual life, his Christian experience, has changed since he's read this book. SPEAKER E Yeah. SPEAKER D And put into practice the recommendations. Another Gary F. Williams, he wrote this it seems that the Holy Spirit largely plays a minor role, if at all, in the daily lives of many Adventists and in church life. And yet this is the foundation for a joyful, attractive and fruit bearing life in Christ. So again, same problem, lack of Holy Spirit in our lives. SPEAKER E Absolutely. SPEAKER C And then this amazing statement by AW tozer where he says, if the Holy Spirit were taken away from our church today, 95% of what we would do, we continue to do with no one even noticing the difference. But he said if the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the early church, then 95% of what they were doing would have stopped and everyone would have noticed the difference. SPEAKER D It's an incredible statement, isn't it? SPEAKER C That is an incredible statement. SPEAKER D So what we want to do is we have these many authors and spiritual leaders of the church have all said that's the problem, it's the lack of the Holy Spirit in our church. And so we want to have a look at a few references that Jesus made about the Holy Ghost. And so we can turn to probably turn to Luke chapter eleven, verses one to 13. SPEAKER E Okay. SPEAKER C Luke, chapter eleven, verses one to 13. And I'll read out of the new King James Bible. It says, now, it came to pass as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased that, one of his disciples said to him, lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. SPEAKER D So let's just I want to unpack this as we go along. So what's the first thing you've noticed is that the disciples have come and said, can you teach us to pray? I believe they saw that Jesus'power was through his prayer life. SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER D I mean, you read right throughout the and in the Gospel accounts, jesus spent many nights praying in the mountain, in the garden of Gethsemane. He was always praying and they associated that power with his prayer. SPEAKER C Interesting that John also taught his disciples how to pray. So it seems to suggest that a knowledge of praying and how to communicate with God was absent in the church at that time. SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER C So John taught all his disciples and then they said, Well, John taught Is, would you also please teach us how to pray? And obviously they would have noticed how many times Jesus prayed and what he was able to do because of his connection with the Father. SPEAKER D Was this the power, why he had such great influence over people? And was he able to do the things he could do? SPEAKER C So from verse two, we see the model prayer that Jesus shares with them. So he said to them, when you pray, say our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive everyone who is indebted to us, and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. SPEAKER D Do you notice that Jesus said to pray, to ask God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven? SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER D I always wondered about know for many years I thought, well, you know, God can see the end from the beginning, and he's all powerful, isn't he going to do what he wants to do anyway? But according to this, that we are to pray for God's will to be done. Because I believe that God is God of love. SPEAKER E He is. SPEAKER D And he's created us with a free will and I believe that he has a will and he wants his will to be done, but he's asking us to pray for that will to be done, which puts an even more importance on prayer. Yes, it does, because it releases God's power upon people. Let me give you an example. There are many people who don't ask God for help, who say, I don't believe in God, don't need God. And you would look at it and say, well, let's say God comes to work in someone's life and Satan will say, hang on, you can't force yourself upon know, love cannot force. What right do you have to interfere with that person's life or to move upon that person's life? He's mine. Yes, but God can say, well, hang on, Etienne or Colin or whoever is praying for my will to be done in their life. So that gives me permission to come in and work in their lives. SPEAKER C That's right. SPEAKER D Because it's the amount of choice, isn't it? So I think that's the power of it. SPEAKER C Absolutely, I agree. I mean, God has given us the ability to choose, so we are free moral agents, we can choose or we can deny. And this is a God given thing, he gave it to Adam and Eve in the beginning, it was demonstrated even that they made a poor choice about a very bad choice. SPEAKER D And weren't they given dominion? They were given and rulership over this earth. SPEAKER E That's right. SPEAKER D So whatever happened on here, they were representing God and they had such power, they were able to hand over that power to Satan. SPEAKER E That's right. Yeah. SPEAKER C And so by believing Him rather than God yeah. SPEAKER D And then Jesus came back to win that back. SPEAKER C To win that back. SPEAKER E That's right. SPEAKER C And winning our legions back. So God's will for us is written in the word of God. We can discover it by studying the word, or we can discover it by the leading of the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER C And then we can ask for his will to be done on earth because it's definitely done in heaven because everybody cooperates with Him there. But it's a choice. We can choose to have God work in our lives or we can choose to reject Him. SPEAKER D And we can ask God to work in other people's lives even if they don't want it because it's God's will. But he won't force Himself upon people because love doesn't force. But when we ask for God's will to be done, then he has sort of a rite of passage to go into someone's life and work on their. SPEAKER C And you know, even when it comes to faith, if we exercise faith according to God's will and pray according to his will, he will hear us. And we will touch on those texts a little bit later. But the interesting thing is, and I just want to connect God's will with faith, we are told that Jesus is the author of faith. Author and finisher of faith in Hebrews chapter twelve. Now in Hebrews chapter eleven, we are told that faith is the substance of things hoped for. Now if Jesus authored faith, who's hoping for these things? Well, it's the author that's hoping for it. So Jesus hopes for us to accept his faith based on his will to be performed in our life. So God is hoping for many things in your life that he wants to transform and change and he wants to give you the blessings of this gift of the Holy Spirit, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. And unless we actually ask for it and cooperate with God's will, we will not receive it. But we don't have to work for it, it's merely for the asking. SPEAKER D And as we unpack Jesus and when they ask him to pray, he puts it into three different categories. SPEAKER E Okay? SPEAKER D The first thing he three parts. The first was the Lord's Prayer which we've just read. Then he's going to talk about the parable of a friend coming at midnight and as the climax, the continual request for the Holy Ghost. SPEAKER E Okay? SPEAKER D And so let's read the parable that Jesus then connects prayer and what to ask for. SPEAKER C Okay, so we're still in Luke eleven and we're reading now from verse five to eight. Okay? And he said to them, which of you shall have a friend and go to him at midnight and say to him, friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey and I have nothing to set before him. And he will answer from within and say, do not trouble me. The door is now shut and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give to you. I will say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs. SPEAKER D So what we've got is this parable where a visitor arrives at a man's home late in the evening and the first thing you notice is he has nothing to give him. Yes, just notice that he has nothing to give. All right. SPEAKER C So he recognizes his need, because now there's a need that's created. He wasn't aware of it before, he becomes aware of it, has nothing to give. So he now has to go for some go to someone, somewhere else to. SPEAKER D Get to fulfill that need to give to his neighbor. Yeah, he immediately goes to his neighbor. He explains to him that he has nothing and asks for bread. And he continues to ask until he finally receives the bread. Now he has bread. By the way, what does the bread represent in the Bible? I've just told you the answer. SPEAKER C Jesus is the bread. SPEAKER D Isn't the bread I'm the bread of life? SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER D And the Word is looked at as the bread of life, the Word of God. And so he continues to unfinly ask to receive the bread. Now he has the bread, the bread of life for himself and for his visitors. So he has it not only for himself, the bread of life, but he now has that bread of life to give to his visitors, because he has nothing and he has something for himself and is now in a position where he can share. Now what happens is Jesus links this parable and the parable is really the problem is I have nothing. That's what the parable is about. I have no I have nothing. And that's the first step, is I have nothing and I have a need. And he links this parable with the request of asking for the Holy Spirit. So let's read on the rest of it from verse nine. Luke, chapter nine to verse 13. SPEAKER C Okay, so Jesus says so I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock, and it will be open to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds. And to him who knocks, it will be opened. For if a Son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? SPEAKER D See how he links that. SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER D So he said the bread, and we need the Holy Spirit to give. And so I can't think of a better Bible passage which Jesus commands us to ask for the Holy Spirit. And I know a passage where Jesus so loving urged us to take something to heart. These verses are found in his lesson on the prayer in Luke eleven, right? SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER D And how many times did he say to ask? Ten times. We should ask for the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER C So the ask, the seeking, and the knocking, all those is ten times. I've counted them. Yeah, ten times. SPEAKER D And these verses, jesus used the verb ask six times, then he replaced ask and emphasize it with seek two times, and they're both action words. And then two more times with knock, also an action word. So there's an action which lines up. SPEAKER C With the parable, because this guy realizes his need, he knows where he can go and get bread. He goes, he knocks, he asks, he knocks and he asks. And although he's declined the first time, apparently he persists until he actually gets the bread. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E Yeah. SPEAKER D And so this clearly shows us that we have to take action in order to be filled with the Holy Spirit, don't we? SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER D There is an action, something we must do, obviously, that's to ask. SPEAKER E Yeah, that's right. SPEAKER D It's just not automatically given to you. You have to ask for it and persistently ask for it. That means that we aren't to ask once, but rather to ask continuously. SPEAKER E Okay. SPEAKER D Here, Jesus doesn't only make asking Him out of urgency, but also expects us to continually do it and certainly also wants us to awaken our desire for the Holy Spirit with this heartfelt invitation. SPEAKER C It's interesting that that last word ask there, that we read is actually in a continuous tense in Greek. So as you were saying before, we got to continue to ask for it. SPEAKER D That's right. So we're not to ask just once for the Holy Spirit, and maybe people believe that we ask once when we're baptized, but here, this verse clearly tells us well, these verses in Luke eleven that we're continually to ask for the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER D As you said, it's a continuous action verb. SPEAKER E Yeah. SPEAKER D And also he wants us to waken a desire for the Holy Spirit with invitation. SPEAKER E Okay. SPEAKER C So basically what you're saying is the more we ask until we receive, the greater our desire to receive the Holy Spirit, and the more we'll appreciate it when it does come. SPEAKER D That's right. I believe that the invitation shows us Jesus'conviction, that we would be missing something crucial if we don't continually ask without pouring the Holy Ghost. SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER D He's clearly calling our attention the fact that we absolutely need the Holy Spirit in this way. He wants us to continually receive the rich blessings of the Holy Ghost. And I love what it says in Christ's object lessons. SPEAKER E Okay. SPEAKER C And this is from page 145, and you can find this paragraph three on that page said, god does not say ask once and you shall receive. He bids us ask unwearingly, persist in prayer. The persistent asking brings the petitioner into a more earnest attitude and gives him an increased desire to receive the things for which he asks. SPEAKER D Wow. It's pretty clear, isn't it? SPEAKER C Very clear. So that actually has a positive effect on us if we persistent asking because desire is increased in our heart and also, I guess, appreciation once we receive it. SPEAKER D That's right. And Jesus gave three examples which show behavior that is unimaginable even for sinful human fathers like ourselves to give our children. He wants to show us that it is even more unimaginable that our Heavenly Father wouldn't give us the Holy Ghost when we ask. SPEAKER E Yeah. SPEAKER D Jesus wants to be sure that we'll receive the Holy Ghost when we ask in the appropriate way. With this promise and other promises, we can ask in faith and know that we have already received what we requested. And I love it what it says in one John, chapter five, verse 14 and 15. SPEAKER E Okay. Yeah. SPEAKER C I love this text as well. It says, now, this is the confidence that we have in Him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petition that we have asked Him of Him. SPEAKER E Yeah. SPEAKER D So we're just asking for God's will. Again, God's will is to give us the Holy Spirit asking the appropriate way and persistently ask. We want to see, do we really want it? Do you really need this? Or you're just asking us? Yeah, I need the Holy Spirit, or do you realize how much you need this? Because without this, Jesus says, without Me, you can do nothing. SPEAKER E Nothing. That's right. SPEAKER D And Jesus comes and lives in us and dwells in us through the Holy Spirit. Without Jesus living in us in the Holy Spirit, we can do nothing. SPEAKER E That's right. SPEAKER D That's the point that Jesus is trying to make here. SPEAKER C And of course, that promise there, we read in Philippians, chapter four, verse 13, it says, we can do all things for Christ who strengthens us, so we can do nothing. And then at the same time, if we have Christ in us, we can do all things which pertains to spirituality. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER C And what I love about this text, it's just one of my favorite texts, just to give us confidence and strengthen our faith, is if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know he hears us, we know that we have the possession of what we've asked. Now, it's very clear from our previous text there in Luke, chapter eleven, verse 13, that how much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. So God is keen to give us the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER E Yeah. SPEAKER C So that's a wonderful encouragement for us. So God is willing? Are we willing? So if God is willing to give and we are willing to receive what can stand in the right, we just need to be persistent in asking that's right. SPEAKER D And this part of the lesson on prayer is a unique process. The Holy Spirit is God's greatest gift, the gift which brings all other gifts with it. This was Jesus'crowning gift to his disciples and clear proof of his love. I think we can understand that with such a valuable gift wouldn't be pushed on someone. It's only given to those who express the desire for this gift and appreciate it. SPEAKER E That's right, yeah. SPEAKER D And he'll be given to those who have surrendered their lives to Jesus. He'll be given to those who live a continual commitment to Jesus, as we just read in John, chapter 15, verse four to five. SPEAKER C And we get gifts. Sometimes we get them for our birthday, sometimes someone's just nice to us, or it might be something around Christmas. A lot of people buy and give gifts at Christmas time. Some gifts are useful and others aren't. So if we don't really see a need for a particular gift, what happens to it? It goes in the drawer, goes in the box, never gets used. So the law doesn't want to do this with the holy it. He doesn't want to squander it. It's a precious gift. It's the most precious gift that we can receive. Christ in us, the hope of glory through the Holy Spirit. So God wants us to appreciate the gift, and he wants us to desire the gift before he receives. But it is a gift nonetheless, and. SPEAKER D He wants us to be persistent, because what does persistence show when you persist in something? It shows that you really desire and want this. SPEAKER E Absolutely. SPEAKER D You know what I mean? And so we need to persist and be committed to really wanting this gift. And if we do, God will give this gift, and all other gifts come with that. And so I want to go to John, chapter seven, verse 37. And so the first thing is, do we have a yearning for God? I love what Jesus says in verse 37. SPEAKER E Okay. SPEAKER C It says, and on the last day of that great feast, jesus stood and cried out saying, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. SPEAKER D Wow. So the first thing he says, if you thirst so if you're thirsty, you've got a need again, haven't you? SPEAKER C Water is such a blessing. When you've been thirsty, it's a hot day, you dry, you parched. And then when you can get access to that cool water and drink that down, that's just the most wonderful thing. But I've had that when I'm really, really thirsty. That desire for water is more important than anything else at that time. SPEAKER D So that's what Jesus is saying. Everyone thirst. Let Him come to me and drink. And then verse 38, and it says. SPEAKER C He who believes in me, as the Scripture says, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. SPEAKER D Keep reading. In verse 39, okay, but this he. SPEAKER C Spoke concerning the Holy Spirit, whom those believing in him would receive, for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. SPEAKER D So Jesus is talking about pentecost here isn't he? He's saying had not been given yet. But what he's saying is he who believes in me as Scripture has says, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. And so to me, I always have that imagery going back to Ezekiel, chapter 47, where the temple, out of the temple flowed this river that brought healing to the nations. It went out to the sea and instead of brought healing wherever it went. And he's saying rivers of living water will flow from within your heart, out of your heart. And he's talking about the Holy Spirit here. And so the next thing is to trust in God, he who believes in me, as Scripture says. So the second thing is, first thing is a yearning for God. And the next thing is to trust in God. SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER C So he was saying that the word. SPEAKER D Belief, there equates to trust, trusting in God. Yes, exactly. So they're two things that we need to have. And then we can go to Romans chapter twelve, verse one. Romans, chapter twelve, verse one. SPEAKER E Right. SPEAKER C And it says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. SPEAKER D So here we have a complete surrender as a result of trusting in God, which means placing your whole life at God's disposal, isn't it? That means everything. SPEAKER E That's right. SPEAKER D Your body, everything is giving it to God. SPEAKER C And Paul is here when he says the word besiege. It's just an old English word which means I urge you. So that's a strong encouragement by Paul. And where it says to give your bodies a living sacrifice wholly acceptable to God. That word reasonable service actually means it's a rational service. So while we're talking about a heartfelt response, at the same time religion or Christianity is also rational. So that reasonable service is a rational service. Well, dear listener, we are at the end of the first half of our program. We pray that God has been blessing you in your study and we will just take a short break and be right back after these messages. Stay tuned. SPEAKER F Um, in 2001, Americans spent on average 9.4 hours online each week. Americans now spend 24 hours a week online, a full day a week. Of course, the internet is pretty much essential now, but that's still a lot of time just disappearing. The internet is full of tricks to keep you online. Wasting your time. Time is a talent given to us by God. And if we did an inventory of our time spent, we might find that we are wasting a very precious resource. French writer Viktor Hugo is quoted as saying, short as life is, we make it still shorter by the careless waste of time. Solomon is quoted as saying, to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. Ecclesiastes three one, give some thought as. To how you're using the time God has given you. I'm John Bradshaeper. It is written. Let's live today by every word. SPEAKER C Dear listener, welcome back. This is the second half of the program. You shall receive power with Colin Hone and Etienne McClintock. And today is a new program. This is program 61. And we are starting our discussion on this wonderful little book called Steps to Personal Revival being filled with the Holy Spirit, written by Helmut Horbel. Now, you're able to download this book for free. If you don't want to go and buy one, you can buy one at an Adventist Book Center if you want, or you can order them online. But there's a PDF available. And if you go to steps two, personalrevival info. Now, it sounds like a mouthful there, but we will put us on our Facebook page so you'll be able to find it there. So it's Stepstoppersonalrevival info and between Steps and Two and Personal Revival, there's just a hyphen between each of those. SPEAKER D Yeah, but even if you went on there, you'll find it, click on it, it'll take you to the website where you can download the book for free. The PDF for free in over 28 different languages. SPEAKER C 28 languages. That is fantastic. SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER D So you can do that. SPEAKER C Okay, so easier, they just type in Steps to Personal Revival and this is the first things that came up. You've got options here for downloads in the PDF. Very simple. SPEAKER D That's right. Or you can contact your local Adventist book center. So we were looking at the Holy Spirit isn't pushed on people. SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER D It's something we need to ask and we need to have a desire for this gift and to appreciate it. That was from what Jesus was saying, from the in Luke eleven in the parable asking for bread and being persistent. And then he brought in that what he was saying is we need to ask for the Holy Spirit and appreciate it. And we also looked at in John chapter seven, verse 37, we need to have a yearning for God, whoever thirsts. Do you see your need? And the second thing, we look at John seven, three days to trust in God, he who believes in me. As scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from within them. So we need to trust in God. SPEAKER E That's right. SPEAKER C And those living waters in verse 38 to 39 explained that he was talking concerning the Holy Spirit that's right. Which had not yet been given because he had not yet been glorified. SPEAKER D That's right. And then we also looked in Romans chapter twelve, verse one, that we need to completely surrender as a result of trusting in God. So when we trust God, we can surrender. SPEAKER C That's right. SPEAKER D Because you're trusting Him to take care of you. So it's placing your whole life at God's disposal. And then we look at the next thing we need is found in Acts chapter five, verse 32, acts, chapter five, verse 32. Who's the Holy Spirit's given to? What does it say there? SPEAKER C It says the apostles speaking say we are his witnesses to these things and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him. SPEAKER D So it's given to those who want to follow God in everything, who trust, believe in him, who thirst, who desire this and persistently asking, and it's also given to those who obey Him. SPEAKER E That's right. SPEAKER D The Bible just says it's given the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him. SPEAKER C And it's interesting that obedience is an outflow of repentance because it's confession. It says if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us, so we've been forgiven and also to cleanse us. So the cleansing is part of that process. But in verse 31 so just preceding that, it says that God has exalted Jesus to his right hand to be a prince and a savior, to give repentance. So repentance is a gift as well. Give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. So the repentance forgiveness precedes the ability to be obedient, to obey Him. But those who obey him receive the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER D Everything is a gift, it's a process in it. SPEAKER E Yeah. SPEAKER D That brings us to another thing, acts, chapter two, verse 38. It's to give up our own way and go God's way and do this according to God's will. So remember Peter's talking to thousands of people on the day of Pentecost and Peter's preaching a sermon and he just said to them, listen, you crucified the Messiah. SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER D Now, it was actually the Romans that crucified it. But when you really think about it, did not Jesus go to the cross and paid the penalty for every single human being that's ever lived? SPEAKER E That's right. SPEAKER C Jew or gentile? So whether they were Roman or whether. SPEAKER D They were Israel, in the book of Romans also says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So we've all sinned, therefore we really all put Jesus on that cross, didn't we? That is true when you really unpack that I put Jesus on the cross because he went there for every single person that's ever lived. That includes you listener as well, or you watching on Facebook, he paid the penalty for you. And so when they realized that they'd put Jesus on the cross, well, what did they say? SPEAKER C Yeah, well, they said that they were cut to the know and then they said, what shall we do? And then of course we get this answer from Peter. But the thing is, you're talking about sin. Bible is very clear. The definition of sin is sinner's, transgression of the law. And if you're listening to this and thinking, well, I don't think I'm a sinner, I think I'm a reasonably good person, I even help some charities, I sometimes help my neighbor or whatever it is, I'm pretty good. But let's take a simple example. For example, the Bible says the Ten Commandment says the moral law of God, you shall not lie. Question is, have you ever told a lie? SPEAKER E Yeah. SPEAKER C And everybody go, yeah, sure. So if you have told a lie, what does it make you? SPEAKER D A sinner. SPEAKER C A liar. Yeah, sinner, but a liar. So you are a sinner. And it says that no one that tells a lie will actually enter the kingdom of God. So that's something that is a sin that we need to repent of. And this is what Jesus is willing to give us. He's willing to forgive us for that, cleanse the record and also to cleanse the desire to lie going forwards. SPEAKER D Well, that's right. He gives you a new heart ezekiel 36 and says he'll give you a new heart and write his laws on your heart and give you a desire to obey again, another gift from God, the desire and the ability to obey Him from the heart, to come into. SPEAKER C Harmony with that law of love. SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER C Because, I mean, you won't lie to someone you'd really love, would you? SPEAKER D That's true. That's right. So yet Peter basically says they were cut to the heart. That's what happens when you realize that you put Jesus on the cross, you too will be realized, you should be cut to the heart. SPEAKER E That's true. SPEAKER D And when you're cut to the heart, you say, what do I do then? And Peter said, repent of your sins, be baptized in water for the remission of your sins, and you too shall receive the promise of the Holy Spirit. And we also look in Psalms, chapter 66, verse 18. Psalms 66, verse 18, where the Bible says, if I regard iniquity, iniquity means sin, another word for sin. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. SPEAKER E That's right. SPEAKER D So what that means is not to plan on going on sinning. Now, we make mistakes, all of us have made mistakes, but it's the intentionality. What he's saying is here, as David is saying in Psalms, if you regard iniquity in your heart, if you're holding on to cherished sins and you're continuing, you want to keep planning on there, the Lord will not hear. SPEAKER C Iniquity is deliberate sin because you have trespass, which is another type of sin. There's a sin of ignorance. And then, of course, you have iniquity, which is a deliberate sin. So if you deliberately keep on sinning in your heart, the Lord will not hear. However, that's verse 18, verse 19 says, but certainly God has heard me. He has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be the God who has not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from Me. So God and his mercy is calling you. He's wanting to give you repentance and he's wanting you to turn away from your iniquities so that he will hear your prayer. He will attend unto it because of his great mercy and he'll give you power. Amen. SPEAKER E Yeah. SPEAKER D To not hold iniquity in your heart. He'll give you a new heart. SPEAKER C That's right. SPEAKER D God is such a giving God, isn't he? SPEAKER C Well, every aspect of our salvation has been authored by Christ, so there's nothing we need to author gives you repentance. We don't have to reinvent the wheel. Salvation has been invented by God, it's been created by God. He authored it and he authored our faith. He gives gifts, including repentance, including faith, including salvation. And of course the greatest of the gifts, the Holy Spirit, which is Christ. SPEAKER D Within, to give us power. And the other thing is we need to realize and admit our great need. Remember in Luke, chapter eleven, verse six, where the person who had a friend over realized he has nothing to give him? SPEAKER E Yeah. SPEAKER D I mean, in ourselves we have nothing to give to our friends or family. In ourselves we need the Holy Spirit, we need the bread of life, Jesus, and the word of God. We need that power to give to our friends. SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER D And the other thing in Luke chapter eleven, verse nine and 13 is the final one is continually ask for the Holy Spirit. It's to pray daily for the infilling of the Holy Spirit. It's not a one off, it's continually pray and pray that you need it, because we do need it. SPEAKER C And the more we ask, of course, the more desires will be of receiving it. SPEAKER D That's right. And when you think about all these prerequisites, then you probably find deficiencies in yourself. I know I do. I look in there and go, there's deficiencies in myself? SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER D I've made it a plan or a habit to pray daily for the desire for the Holy Spirit in connection with John, chapter seven, verse 37, I pray daily, Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit. If anyone thirsts, let him come and drink. So we need to pray daily. And here's a prayer that you might be able to pray, you might be able to say, lord Jesus, I completely say yes to all the prerequisites for receiving the Holy Ghost. I sincerely ask that you now for today fulfill them in me. Our wonderful God is even there for us in fulfilling the prerequisites. You can ask, Lord, help me with the prerequisites and he'll help you with that. SPEAKER E Yeah. SPEAKER D It's beautiful because the Holy Spirit is a source of a fulfilled life and according to Jesus, why did he come to this earth? In John, chapter ten, verse ten, well. SPEAKER C He says there that I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. SPEAKER D So he's come to give us life and to give it more abundantly. SPEAKER C But he talks about the opposition party just before that. He talks about it in the way of a thief. And that he says the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. And then he contrasts what he's come to do. I've come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. SPEAKER D Well, what a promise that is. What a promise that is. And so Jesus wants us to experience this new life now and to continue in a completely different dimension after his second coming, his eternal life in God's kingdom. SPEAKER E Amen. SPEAKER D Because we know when Jesus returns in the Second coming, we believe that is soon, according to all the prophecies in God's word, that the ultimate climax will be the second coming of Jesus, where he will put away sin and sin and sinners will be destroyed at the brightness of his coming. But those who have accepted this wonderful gift of repentance, the gift of Jesus's, gift of the Holy Spirit, those who will receive pardon, and we can all receive pardon, we only have to ask. SPEAKER E That's right. SPEAKER C We know if we are connected with the Lord through the Holy Spirit, although unseen in the effects of it will be evident. Just like Jesus talks about the wind blow, you don't know where it's come from, you don't know where it's going, but you can see the effects of it. So the Holy Spirit will also work in our lives. And if we've had that connection with the Lord, when his physical visible presence is there, we will not be consumed. SPEAKER E Why? SPEAKER C Because we already have Christ in within our hope of glory. SPEAKER D That's right. And so he also shows us that the source of a filled life, the source of this fulfilled life that Jesus said, I've come to give you more abundantly is the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER C Amen. SPEAKER D Because he says in John Seven, verse 37 to 39, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in Me, as Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this he spoke concerning the Spirit. Yes, this is where you have the joy, the Spirit. Well, you have to think about what are the fruits of the Spirit? SPEAKER C Well, love, then joy, then peace, patience, goodness. SPEAKER E Yeah. SPEAKER D So the joy and the filled life comes having the fruits of the Spirit in your life, having peace in your life. And in the rivers of living water, I think is a fantastic comparison for a filled life. Rivers of living water. And the water spoken back in the Bible were rivers of healing waters. Now, we know that during his life here on Earth, jesus gave us a corresponding example. We know that Mary conceived Jesus through the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER C Through the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. SPEAKER D We can read that in Matthew, chapter one, verse 18. Matthew, chapter one, verse 18, where the angel is talking to Mary. SPEAKER E Okay? SPEAKER C And it says, and now the birth of Jesus was as follows after his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER D So Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit? SPEAKER E Yeah. SPEAKER D And I think, just like we need to be, also, Jesus says, unless you're what? Unless you're born again, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. You must be born of water. SPEAKER E That's right. SPEAKER D And the Spirit water representing dying to self repentance and baptized in water. And the Spirit being filled with the Holy Spirit and having Jesus living out his life in and through you. And this is what Jesus speaking, born of water and of the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER E That's right. Yes. SPEAKER D And that's why we know after Jesus'baptism, when Jesus, who was baptized in water himself, he prayed and it says, and the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon him. We can read that in Luke, chapter three, verse 22 says, and the Holy. SPEAKER C Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon him. And a voice came from heaven which said, you are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased. SPEAKER E Wow. SPEAKER D Do you notice two things happened there? The first thing he says, he was filled with the Holy Spirit, but he prayed for it. It was answered a prayer. SPEAKER E That's right. SPEAKER D Jesus was baptized in water and then he prayed for the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came upon him, and then he heard these wonderful words this is my beloved Son, who I'm well pleased. SPEAKER C So in answer to a prayer of Jesus, he was baptized with the Holy Spirit. And that's what the word baptized, which actually means, to be anointed with the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER D That's what the word Messiah means, filled or anointed. SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER C Because verse 21 says, and when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized. And while praying so this happens while Jesus is praying, the heavens was opened and the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon him. SPEAKER D So you can see, even under these circumstances, it was necessary important that he received the Holy Spirit daily. And I love what Ellen White said in the Spirit of prophecy, she says these words. SPEAKER E Okay. SPEAKER C And this is an Acts of the Apostles, page 56 to the consecrated worker. There is a wonderful consolation in the knowledge that even Christ during his life on earth, sought His Father daily for fresh supplies of needful, grace or needed. SPEAKER D Right. And he says she says, morning by morning he communicated with His Father in heaven, receiving from him a daily fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER E Right. SPEAKER D So Jesus received a fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit. Also goes on to talk his lips and his soul were anointed with grace that he may impart to others. See, it's about receiving so daily, morning by morning. SPEAKER C So the first thing you really should be doing in the morning is praying. SPEAKER D For the baptism of the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER C Receive power from the Lord. SPEAKER E Yeah. SPEAKER D And what is it he receives grace to impart to others. It's always receiving to impart to others. Jesus then went out his day imparting that grace to others through healing and teaching and preaching about the kingdom of God healing sicknesses. It was about imparting that grace. And so when you think about the parable that Jesus said in Luke chapter eleven, he asked for the bread or the grace to impart to others, wasn't it? SPEAKER E That's right. SPEAKER D It was not only for himself he needed it, but it was also to give to his friends. And we too, we need to receive the bread of life, Jesus in us, the hope of glory, and to impart that grace to right. SPEAKER C You know, it's not for us to use the Holy Spirit, it's the Holy Spirit, really to use us and to empower us for service. SPEAKER D That's right. And now, if Jesus needed a refreshing daily baptism, Holy Spirit, how much more important is it for you and me? Crucial, and I believe the apostle Paul really understood Jesus objective. In his letter to the Church in Ephesus, paul confirms in chapter one, verse 13, that they had been sealed by the Holy Ghost when they became believers. SPEAKER C It says in him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. SPEAKER D Yeah, when you believed, you are sealed with the promise. But then you read on in chapters chapter three, verse 16 and 17, he encourages them to be strong in the Spirit. SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER C And it says that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might through his spirit in the inner man. That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width, the depth, the length and the height to know the love of God which passes all knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. SPEAKER D So he said, continually telling them to continue to be filled with all the promises and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And then we look in chapters Ephesians, chapter five, verse 18, where Paul, as an authorized apostle, calls the Ephesians, and us too, to be filled with the Spirit, or let yourselves be continuously and repeatedly filled again with the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER E That's right. SPEAKER D It says, do not be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy. SPEAKER C Spirit and continue to be filled. SPEAKER D Yeah, that's right. And he is talking about here, it's the Greek verb action. Again, it's a continuous action, not a one off. It's to continually be filled and repeatedly filled again and again. And we see that even if we received the Holy Spirit when we were born again and when we believed that we in general need a daily refreshing of the Holy Spirit. Yes, and it's important for the spiritual life and growth of a Christian to be daily filled with the Holy Spirit. And there was a wonderful Sabbath school study guide that talks about the following in Ephesians chapter five, verse 18 what does it mean to be baptized with the Holy Spirit? And what does it say? Jesus personally explained this with a cinnamon, didn't he? SPEAKER E Yeah. SPEAKER D He said, A person is baptized with the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter one, verse five. What does he say? In Acts chapter one, verse five, it. SPEAKER C Says, for John, truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. SPEAKER D And then you go to verse eight. SPEAKER C And it says, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be witnesses to me. SPEAKER D Okay? So when the Holy Spirit has come upon them, to be baptized means to be fully immersed in something, doesn't it? And it usually means in water. This involves the whole person. Baptism with the Holy Spirit means to be completely under the influence of the Holy Ghost, to be completely filled by him. This isn't a one time experience, but rather something that has to be continually repeated, as Paul illustrates in Ephesians chapter five, verse 18, with the tense Greek verb filled, continually being filled. And we also look at what about Jesus farewell words and the Holy Spirit. Well, in Jesus farewell words, he conveyed joy and hope by telling him that the Holy Ghost would come in in his place. Jesus tells something surprising to the disciples. In John, chapter 16, verse seven. SPEAKER C It is surprising, actually. It says, Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the helper or the comforter will not come to you. That's another name for the Holy Spirit. But if I depart, I will send him to you. SPEAKER D So here we see a new advantage solution. Jesus is saying, told his disciples something really surprising. He says, It's to your advantage that I go away. This means that the new solution, that he is with us through the Holy Ghost is more advantaged than Jesus being personally present. Yes, in this way he isn't limited, but rather he can be by each person, no matter where he currently is. In other words, the Holy Spirit can be with anyone all over the planet Earth, in millions and millions of people, where Jesus could only be in one place at one time when he was in Palestine, in Israel. And that's what the amazing advantage is. That Jesus can be and dwell in you and be with you through the Holy Spirit no matter where you are. SPEAKER C I mean, many people have said, wouldn't it have been wonderful to have been in Palestine at that know, being in Jerusalem, at Galilee, seeing what Jesus does and he was doing, seeing his miracles, hearing his words, being encouraged by it? But here we see that Jesus actually say, there's an advantage to me to leave you, but I will not leave you orphans. He says, I will actually come to you. And the way he's going to do that is through the Holy Spirit, and he can dwell individually within each person. And there's a statement in Spirit of Prophecy where it says that Jesus was actually closer or nearer to his disciples when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit took place on the day of Pentecost than when he was here in person, because instead of seeing being beside them, he was now in them. SPEAKER D Wow. And there's a wonderful story. Know I can tell you many stories, but I'll just tell you a quick one. SPEAKER E Yes. SPEAKER D Steps of Personal Revival was given to this teacher, and they read through it quickly. But as they're reading it, I was told that they needed to read this many times over, that we need to listen and read to at least four or five, six times. SPEAKER C Potentially the first time we hear something, we don't always absorb it or take it in. SPEAKER D Yeah, I've read it a number of times now. And anyway, they wanted the experience, and they already by the third reading, they tell her they felt a great love for Jesus. All of a sudden, she felt a greater love for Jesus, which she'd yearned for her whole life. Within two months, she'd read this book six times, and she said the result was worth it. And she could understand that it would be like when Jesus comes to us and we can look into his pure, kind and loving eyes from then on. She says, I didn't want to be without this joy in our Savior. And one day she woke up in the morning and she yearned for the morning worship time in order to gain this experience fellowship with God. And during the day, she prayed quietly that the Holy Ghost would help her with her thoughts during conversations, especially while she was teaching and communicating. She was a teacher, so that's praying. SPEAKER C Without ceasing, basically, she's demonstrating that that's right. SPEAKER D And so she tells that when a child craved attention and acted accordingly, god gave her strength and wisdom to deal with it. And she says her days at work have been so much better. She's filled the Holy Spirit, she prays with her children, she feels closer to God, and she talks this story about this Ruffian boy, and she had to teach ten to 15 year old boys in this aventus school, and she prayed for God to give her opportunities. And then soon afterwards, a wonderful experience happened to her, the Holy Spirit work. In one of these people's hearts, there was this young 13 year old Ruffian, a real rough boy, and he came to this school in a few days. He was starting to fight, and he was like the biggest of the children, so he was really strong and then she didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to do, and she had no idea how to help this kid. And he kept on fighting with his classmates. And later he realized his mistake and apologized anyway. She had a talk with him, and she prayed for him and continually prayed for him. And six months later, she thought the prayers had brought him closer to God. And then what happened is she came to her and she said to him, have you ever prayed for the Holy Spirit? Because the boy wanted to overcome this. But his anger and swearing outbursts, his fits, were permanently out of control. And so she gave him the book and asked the boy, I want you to pray for the Holy Spirit. And he never heard of that. And he started praying for the Holy Spirit. And then what happened is time changed. The fight stopped. SPEAKER E Wow. SPEAKER D And she couldn't hardly believe it. The boys he'd beaten up every day became his friends, and they got along, got along really well. He completely changed. He's now, in a polite, even obliging and peacefulness, has taken over his aggressive nature. And his classmate, she goes on, tells that they confirm that it was God at work. You can see the fruits every day to God's glory. The boy then mentioned that boy wanted to get baptized, and he was eventually baptized in water. I mean, I don't know if that wasn't the Holy Spirit. I don't know. She got the boy to read the book and start asking for the Holy Spirit, and that's what brought about the change. SPEAKER C Incredible. This little story can actually be found in chapter one of this wonderful book we're going through at the moment as part of this program. It's the first day that we're doing it, so we're in chapter one. The book is called Steps to Personal Revival being Filled with the Holy Spirit by Helmet Horbill. And you can download a free copy by simply typing in Steps to Personal Revival. And you find many links there to download the PDF. And this story is just wonderful where this little boy, he didn't want to do the wrong thing. He didn't want to fight anymore, and he was praying for that. But it's not until he actually prayed for the baptism of the Holy Spirit that God actually was able to give him power. And the kids he was beating up previously were now becoming some of his closest friends. He almost became like a protector of them because he was such a big. SPEAKER D Strong kid, because the promise of his nature became partakers in the divine nature. SPEAKER E Amen. SPEAKER D And that's what made the difference. SPEAKER C And if God can transform lives like that with some ruffian children, he can do that with anybody. Dear listener, we are just going to share our contact details with you, so if you want any more information regarding this program or the book that we're. Currently using, please get in touch. We'll be right back after this message. Thank you for joining us on You Shall Receive Power. If you would like more information about today's program or if you have any questions, please contact 3ABN Australia Radio by Phoning 024-973-3456. Or you can send an email to [email protected]. You can also contact us on our 3ABN Australia radio Facebook page. We look forward to hearing from you SPEAKER C Dear listener, welcome back. You are with you shall receive power with Colin Hone and Etienne McClintock. And we're talking about chapter one out of this little book called steps to Personal Revival being filled with the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER D That's right. And that lady who told that story about that ruff, and she said sometime when this boy is in heaven, she'll know that God brought it about. It wasn't her. Yes, god bought it. She was at the end of her wisdom and finally understood that she couldn't guide him. And then God did something radical in his heart. And just encourage us to realize there are no hopeless cases for God, that he can change any heart. SPEAKER E That's true. SPEAKER D And it's important that we pray for each other. Pray for your friends. Write down ten names of people, family, friends, who don't know Jesus, and write them and ask God to start working on their hearts. Working on their hearts. And if you haven't been praying for the Holy Spirit, I want to invite you now to pray with us. And you can maybe pray along with this prayer. And the prayer is found in the book Steps to Personal Revival. And it goes like this father in Heaven, thank you for Jesus urgent invitation to ask for the Holy Spirit. I'm so sorry for the losses I've experienced because of the lack of the Holy Spirit. I need divine assistance so that Jesus can become greater in me. I need his help in every area of my life. Thank you that the Holy Spirit can change my character and can make me fit for God's kingdom. I completely surrender myself to you with all that I am and have. Thank you for accepting me and giving me your blessings and help me to grow in knowledge about the Holy Ghost. I ask this in Jesus Christ's name. SPEAKER E Amen. SPEAKER C Amen. Well, dear listener, we pray that you were blessed by this program today. We pray that you've prayed that prayer with us as Colin was leading out in that prayer, that you've also asked for forgiveness for the losses you've experienced because we haven't had the Holy Spirit, and it's such a beautiful promise of Jesus, and an urgent promise as we just discovered through our study today. God wants to fill you with the Holy Spirit. Jesus'desire is to live within you because he loves you and he wants that intimate relationship with you. And if you desire the same thing. All you need to do to receive the Holy Spirit is to ask and God will do all that is required to prepare your heart as a vessel for his indwelling. And we look forward to catching up with you next time as we go to chapter two of this book. And chapter two will be what is the center of our problems. Until then, God be with you. SPEAKER D You've been listening to a production of three ABN Australia radio.