The Holy Spirit and Preparation for the 2nd Coming

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 joining us on the program again today. Colin and myself are always pleased to know that there are people out there listening and being blessed. But it's not our own words we want to present. We want to present the words that the Holy Spirit has placed on our hearts. And we pray that the Holy Spirit will work with you as well, that there's an answering chord in your heart. And as such, what we do is we would just like to ask God to bless us just by a word of prayer. Please join us. Gracious Father in heaven, we're grateful for your love, your mercy. We're thankful for the promise of the Holy Spirit. We're grateful also for Jesus and him being given to us, that we can receive forgiveness, we can receive the gift of repentance, Father, that we can be crucified with Christ, be raised to newness of life. And that new life is a life filled with the Holy Spirit, Father, a spiritual life which we didn't have before. We're so grateful for this. And as we discuss this and the blessings that come in the train of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we pray that each of us will be drawn closer to you, that our commitment, our relationship with you will go stronger, Father, that will be more intimate with you because of the time we spent with you today. This we pray in Jesus name. SPEAKER D Amen. Amen. SPEAKER C So we continue on in chapter four of this wonderful little book. It's called Steps to Personal Revival being Filled with the Holy Spirit. Written by Helmut Haubeil. And you can download this little book just by simply going to a search engine like Google and typing that in Steps to Personal Revival by Helmut Haubeil. And you'll find a PDF that you can download there for free. Now, we are in chapter four, and it is page 74. Our discussion topic today is actually the Holy Spirit and preparation for the Second Coming. So this is a good Adventist message. The word Adventist simply means those who believe in the imminent, the soon return of Jesus Christ. So chapter four, and we're looking at the Great Commission and how we could actually fulfill that. Is it possible to fulfill the Great Commission without the Holy Spirit? Colin? SPEAKER E I don't believe it is, Ettienne. And can great institutions, successful evangelistic programs, and powerful mission strategies, can they be developed without the Holy Spirit? And I love what Andrew Murray, who was a great missionary to South Africa and an awesome writer. If you've ever read Andrew Murray's books, they're fantastic. Knew that this scenario was very possible and indeed reality in most of Christendom when he wrote these words. SPEAKER C It says, I may preach or write or think or meditate and delight in being occupied with things in God's Word and in God's kingdom. And yet the power of the Holy Ghost may be markedly absent. I feel that if you take the preaching throughout the church of Christ and ask why there is, alas, so little converting power in the preaching of the Word, why there is so much work and often so little success for eternity, why the Word has so little power to build up believers in holiness and in consecration? The answer will come. It is the absence of the power of the Holy Ghost. And why is this? There can be no other reason but that the flesh see Galatians, chapter three, verse three. And human energy have taken the place that the Holy Ghost ought to have. Now, Galatians, chapter three, and verse three says, are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, that you are now being made perfect by the flesh again? SPEAKER E So what he's saying here, Andrew Murray and what Paul is saying in Galatians chapter three, verse three, is that we're either doing it in the flesh, carnal Christians, or we're doing it through the Spirit. And what he's saying is Andrew Murray is saying is a lot of the preaching and a lot of the results we're seeing is through the flesh, carnal Christians, not spirit filled Christians. SPEAKER D That does make sense. SPEAKER E And I love also what Paul says even about health, the Holy Spirit and health, the Holy Spirit will convict us to be healthy because the body is the temple of the Lord. And I love what Paul says. In Romans, chapter twelve, verse one says. SPEAKER C I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. SPEAKER E So Paul is saying your reasonable service is you present your bodies as a living sacrifice. And also I love what Paul said in One Corinthians chapter three, verse 16 and 17, he talks about the temple of the Lord. SPEAKER C Yes, it says, do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. SPEAKER E It's pretty strong words there, isn't? SPEAKER D Yeah, very direct. SPEAKER E And again, he continues on in verse 19 to 20. SPEAKER C Okay, and this is from One Corinthians, chapter six. It says, or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were brought at a price. Therefore glorify god in your body and in your spirit, which are gods. SPEAKER E So Paul's saying, glorify God in the body and in the spirit. The temple of the Lord is the spirit. See? Where did God dwell? In the Old Testament sanctuary or temple? SPEAKER C Well, in the most holy yes. SPEAKER E His shekinah glory dwelt in the most holy place. SPEAKER D Yeah. SPEAKER C Just above the mercy seat. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E And so God wants to dwell in us. And so that temple was holy. It was holy because that's consecrated by. SPEAKER C The presence of God. SPEAKER E Yeah, it was dwelt. And so that's why the sanctuary had to be cleansed of sin. The removal blotting out of sin every year on the Day of Atonement. So the shekinah glory could dwell in the sanctuary. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E Just amazing. The sins of God's people, same thing. Sin needs to be cleansed from us and that's cleansed through the blood of Jesus for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our body and in our spirit. SPEAKER C It's incredible because the sanctuary shows us the holiness, the consecration to God, not only of the priest, but even when the people, when they come and confess their sins, but that God would dwell there and therefore make the whole structure holy. But not only that, he deals with a sin problem which shows us this attribute, this character trait of God, which is mercy and long suffering and patience with our sins. SPEAKER E That's right. And so people filled with the Holy Ghost are God's temple. Now, have you ever stopped to think what the implications this has for your life? A temple is God's dwelling place. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E Remember when God said to Moses in Exodus 25 80 says let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them? SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E They had to build a sanctuary so God could dwell among them. And then God had instituted a process in the sanctuary of dealing with sin. And that was the cleansing of the sanctuary. Ultimately, is the sins went into the lamb or the offering were taken into the blood, was taken into the temple, the sanctuary. And then once a year there was the cleansing or removing of sin that was taken out of the sanctuary. And God's Shakina glory could dwell in the temple. SPEAKER D Yes, that's right. SPEAKER E Now, if we take this statement seriously, then taking care of our health and our lifestyle will become a more deliberate part of our discipleship, our body. What God's saying is our body belongs to God and we should treat God's property carefully. You remember how careful they were in the sanctuary? SPEAKER D Oh, yes. SPEAKER E You had to write the even lighting the candles, using the right components in. SPEAKER C The perfume and using the fire only from the altar for the incense in the senses. SPEAKER D Yeah. SPEAKER E A couple of priests didn't follow god's. SPEAKER C Brought strange fire before the Lord. SPEAKER E Yes, that's right. They made their own incense up and what happened? They were destroyed. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E And so we need to treat our bodies carefully and in fact according to God's instructions. And this demands a certain amount of discipline. Someone who is filled with the Holy Spirit can and will usually implement this discipline with joy. The reward is better health in body, soul and spirit. Someone who isn't filled with the Holy Spirit will struggle and suffer disadvantages. And God expects that we maintain the best possible health in body and spirit for his glory, for his service, and for our own joy. And in this area there's also no replacement for being filled with the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E When Jesus lives in us through the Holy Spirit, then he also said, the. SPEAKER C Lord who heals you, I'm the Lord who heals you. Yes. Exodus chapter 15, verse 26. He actually says that he's taken Israel out of Egypt now, and he says, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who healed you. And that's Exodus chapter 15 and verse 26. SPEAKER E That's right. And this can raise the question does the divine doctor Jesus and the Holy Spirit heal everyone? I remember there was a story about an old Cambodian woman, came as a refugee to a mission hospital, which was in a refugee camp in Thailand. Now she was dressed in clothes of a Buddhist nun. She asked to be treated by Dr. Jesus. So they told her about Jesus? SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E She placed her trust in Him and was healed body and soul. When she was able to return to Cambodia, she was able to win 37 people for Jesus. That's amazing. SPEAKER D That is incredible. SPEAKER E And also we look at a story in the Old Testament. During Hezekiah'sickness, hezekiah was a king of Israel, and during his sickness, the Lord sent him a message in Two Kings, chapter 20, verses one to eleven, where he says, surely I will heal you. Yes, but why didn't the Lord heal him with a word, but rather gave him a task of putting on a fig poultice poultice. SPEAKER D Right. SPEAKER E You know what I mean. Why did he just say you're healed? SPEAKER C Natural therapy remedy natural remedies. SPEAKER E Could it be that the Lord expects our participation through natural remedies or changes in our diet, our exercise and rest? In other words, is there a part for us to do as well? SPEAKER D Absolutely. SPEAKER E Why didn't God heal Paul and left him with a thorn in the flesh? Paul himself said, lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of revelations, that's in Two Corinthians chapter twelve, verse seven to ten, paul talks about these affirmities. They're sworn in his side. And I love what Ellen White tells us about this. SPEAKER C Yes, this is in Medical Ministry, page twelve. It says, the influence of the Spirit of God is the very best medicine that we can receive, and by a sick man or a woman, heaven is all health, and the more deeply the heavenly influences are realized, the more sure will be the recovery of the believing invalid. SPEAKER E Wow. So that's from Ellen White in Medical Ministries, page twelve. Yeah, written page twelve. And isn't it remarkable and significant that what a certain businessman wrote. He shared how all the health seminars hadn't done him any good, but since he started daily praying for the Holy Spirit, he had completely shifted to a healthy lifestyle and adopted a vegetarian diet. SPEAKER D Wow. SPEAKER E And doesn't this show that being filled with the Holy Spirit can motivate us and give us strength along with joy, to accept a healthy lifestyle? So when you pray for the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will convict you to lead a healthy lifestyle, because the Holy Spirit says you're the temple of the Lord. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E And the Holy Spirit wants to dwell with you, so he'll lead you to lead a healthy lifestyle. And I believe there's a great story about a sister, when she wrote this too, as well, about a story about this sister in Christ. She says these words through my complete surrender to Jesus, god changed my life completely in a moment after my prayer of surrender, I went into the kitchen the next morning, stood by the coffee machine, shook my head and said to myself, no, I don't drink coffee anymore. SPEAKER D Wow. SPEAKER E In the past, this would have been unthinkable, because she said, when I tried to quit drinking coffee, I had had a horrible headaches for five days, because it's obviously withdrawal symptoms. When I gave up coffee, there was withdrawal symptoms. When I gave up smoking 30 years ago, there were withdrawal symptoms. When you give up taking drugs or putting drugs in your body, there will be withdrawal symptoms. SPEAKER C Whether it be nicotine, caffeine or opium, there's withdrawal. Some of them are just much more severe. SPEAKER E Even sugar, when you cut back on your sugar, there will be withdrawal symptoms. And so she had headaches and strong symptoms. This time, she didn't even think about the consequences it would have for her. She only knew that she didn't want to drink coffee anymore. SPEAKER D Wow. SPEAKER C So this is just the Holy Spirit convicting her. SPEAKER E That's right. And this time she didn't worry about the consequences. She just trusted in divine power. And today, she says she has no more desire for coffee. SPEAKER C Wow. SPEAKER E This was one of only the many changes in her life. And this can happen over victory, over tobacco, alcohol for anyone who wants to be free from any addictions and explains in length the way to deliverance through prayer and promises, we need to pray and believe in the promises of God. SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER E And a life with the Holy Spirit will greatly promote health reform. I mean, the Bible speaks about health. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E So if the Bible speaks about health, then the Holy Spirit will never contradict God's word. You can read that in John, chapter 16. It won't contradict God's word. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E So if the Holy Spirit is contradicting god's word or the Holy Spirit? SPEAKER D Think. SPEAKER E You think the Holy Spirit's convicting. SPEAKER C You can't be the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER E It's not the Holy Spirit. It will not be in contrary to the word of God. And so a life with the Holy Spirit will greatly promote health reform in your life. It's a matter of health information linked with the power to change. And this is what Don McIntosh, director of New Start Global Weimer in California, says these words right. SPEAKER C It says, the real need of our day is not simply health education. We have excellent information. What is needed is health information coupled with power to put it into practice, which is the power to change. SPEAKER D Yeah. SPEAKER E So we have a lot of information. Even science now is saying vegetarian diet is the best diet. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E I watched a program recently where this man went on this journey, and these people who were even on taking pills for all sorts of things went vegan. And after a few weeks, they didn't need to take the pills. After a while, obviously, they were working with their doctors on this. They just didn't go off it, basically. But their diabetes had come down, their cholesterol, and all sorts of things happened, blood pressure as they went on a vegan diet. And so the real need of day is not simply health education. We have plenty of health education. What we need is the power to change. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E And also, Dr. Tim Howe says these. SPEAKER C Words as well, says, health education alone is not medical missionary work. Health education does not provide healing any more than the law of God provides salvation. To realize health or salvation, the transforming power of God must be experienced. SPEAKER E We need to not a more information. We need a revelation. SPEAKER D Yeah. SPEAKER C Transformation. SPEAKER E Transformation. And the transformation only comes through the power of God. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E And what about faith healings? Can any be expected without being filled with the Holy Spirit? We read Mark, chapter 16, verse 1718. It talks about healing. SPEAKER D That's right. Yes. SPEAKER E And James, chapter five, verse 14 to 16, it talks about healing. SPEAKER C If anybody is sick, they should ask for the elders to come, and the prayer of faith will actually heal the sick person. SPEAKER E That's right. SPEAKER C Yeah. SPEAKER E And then here's the thing is it's not always in our time. This is a very important principle to realize about healing. God promises healing, but whether it happens straight away or in one week or one year or at the second coming, you will be healed. We leave the timing in God's hand. We have faith in God's promises, and we leave the timing in God's hand. SPEAKER D That's true. SPEAKER E So I now want to talk about the preparation for Jesus'second coming. Now, there is no substitute for an intimate fellowship with Jesus, with the Holy Spirit as preparation for the Second Coming amen. Or dying in the Lord. You know what I mean? When we die in the Lord well. SPEAKER C Self stays dead, but we are made alive or quickened through the Holy Spirit, so we're crucified nevertheless we live. SPEAKER E That's right. So when Christ lives in me through the Holy Spirit, then I'm ready through his grace. And three areas can show us this and you can read it. There's a great book that deals with this. It's called Spirit Baptism and Earth's Final Events by Dennis Smith. That you can read this. And the first one is a personal relationship with Jesus. Jesus said these words in John 17, verse three says and this is eternal. SPEAKER C Life that they may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. SPEAKER E So eternal life is based on knowing God and knowing Jesus Christ whom he has sent. And the word no has a deeper meaning in the Bible than it does today in the English language. And what it means, it's a complete, mutual and loving commitment. It's a commitment and it's only present in the life of the Holy Spirit. This thought is expressed in the following quote by Ellen G. White. A beautiful quote. SPEAKER C It says we must have a living connection with God, we must be clothed with power from on high by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, that we may reach a higher standard, for there is help for us in no other way. And this is from a review in Herald, written April 5, 1892. SPEAKER E Wow. So what she's saying is, if you want to have a living connection with God, and we all want to have a living connection with God, don't we? We all want to have a relationship. She says you must be clothed with power from on high by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, so you can reach a higher standard and there's no other help in any other way. And many times she quotes and says we need a daily baptism of the Holy Spirit. Ellen White talks about it's a daily living connection with God. It's not a one off living connection with God where you just got know on the day of conversion. It's a continually daily connection with God, which means we need to continually to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER C Well, the Bible encourages us rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice and then it says pray without ceasing. So that communion with God is a constant connection. It's not just a one off connection or just early morning and the rest of the day without God. It is walking with God. SPEAKER E That's right. And also we can read that in the parable of the ten Virgins, where Jesus says to the virgin, the foolish virgins. And this is in Matthew chapter 25. And here Jesus is giving them some parables, what it'll be like in the last days after he's given the last days presentation in Matthew chapter 24, he says this is what it'll be like. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E And he gives a parable about five wives and five foolish virgins. And Jesus says to them, I do. SPEAKER C Not know you to the foolish. SPEAKER D Yeah. SPEAKER E And what was the reason? It was the lack of oil. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E Which represents the lack of the Holy Spirit that's found in Matthew, chapter 25, verse one to 13. And the men who crucified Jesus had great knowledge of the Old Testament, didn't they? SPEAKER D That's true. SPEAKER E But because of their false interpretations, they didn't look for a personal relationship with Jesus. Are we aware that the generation of the last day, the generation that be we'll living in the last Days, due to the last day circumstances, will need an intimate connection with God? SPEAKER C More than ever. SPEAKER E More than ever, yes. And we look at the message of righteous by faith in God's last message to humanity, which is found in the three angels message. It has the question of the proclamation of the eternal gospel. And I just want to read in Revelation chapter 14, verses six to seven, about the proclamation of the eternal gospel or the everlasting Gospel. SPEAKER C Right. And then it says then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth to every nation, tribe, tongue and people saying with a loud voice fear God and give glory to him. For the hour of his judgment has come. And worship him who made the heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water. SPEAKER E Wow. Amazing. And one of the essence of these messages that the whole world should and will hear it is the righteous by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER E Which is found in Ephesians chapter two, verse eight and nine, where the Bible Paul explains this amazing grace that God has offered us says, for by grace. SPEAKER C Have you been saved through faith, and that is not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. SPEAKER E That's right. And those who proclaim this last day message with power must experience the power of the message themselves. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E And what is the outcome of that message? If you continue reading in Revelation chapter 14, verse six to twelve, the outcome of receiving that message of grace, the Everlasting Gospel, a call to worship God, that a message that his judgment has begun, is that here are they that keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus. SPEAKER C They keep the faith of Jesus as. SPEAKER E Well, in contrast to those who receive the mark of the beast. SPEAKER C Well, they called saints by the Bible as well. The outcome of those three angels'messages, it says here, is the patience of the saints. So they patiently wait on the Lord. They do not run ahead of him and they don't lag behind him as well. They are patient saints who keep God's commandments and they keep Jesus'faith. SPEAKER E That's right. So those who proclaim the last day message the three angels message with power must experience the power of the messages themselves. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E They have to know and experience righteous by faith through Jesus alone, as the forgiver and redeemer from sin. And this is only possible in a life filled with the Holy Spirit, through which Jesus Christ can enable our obedience. You see, Jesus dwelling in us will show us by obedience a call to keep God's commandments. See, if Jesus is living in us, he will seek out to keep His Father's commandments. Those that say the commandments are then done away with. Well, Jesus didn't do away with the Ten Commandments. SPEAKER D No, he didn't. SPEAKER E He will seek to keep the commandments of God. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E And this is only possible a life through filled with the Holy Spirit. And Christ can enable us to obedience, because in the new covenant Jesus promised, the Holy Spirit will write God's laws on our mind and our hearts. Hebrews chapter eight and ten. He will write his laws on our mind and hearts and give us a desire to obey Him, because it'll be Jesus obedience living in and through us. SPEAKER D Yes. Right. SPEAKER E And the world will be illuminated with this message in Revelation chapter 18, verse one. In Revelation chapter 18, verse one, and we actually want to read verses one to six. Okay, it's a repeat of the third angel's message, but with power. And it says, god's glory is going to light up the earth. Let's read that. SPEAKER C Well, the first angel's message says, fear God and give him glory. So we see all three elements of the first, second and third angel's message in this revelation. Repeat under the power of the lateral reign poured out on God's people. It says there in Revelation chapter 18, reading from verse one, after these things, I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority. And the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice saying, babylon the great is fallen, has fallen, has become a dwelling place of demons, and a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her, fornication the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury. And I heard another voice from heaven saying, come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins unless you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven. And God has remembered her iniquities render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works in the cup, which she has mixed, mixed double for her. SPEAKER E So what God is saying is, he sees this angel coming down from heaven, having great authority and the earth that illuminated with his glory, glory of God, god's glory. And Moses said, Show me your glory. And God said, I'll show my glory. And he revealed his character. And so it's revealing God's character to the earth. And he talks about Babylon has fallen. Now, when we look at Babylon in the last days, babylon is a unification of church and state. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E Because it says has been dwelling place of demons and also for all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication and have committed fornication with her. So it's a mixture of church and state. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E Babylon is the mother church. And it says has daughters who have also bought into this mixture. And it says to the message is to come out of her people, come out of Babylon, my people. And Babylon means confusion about the character of God and who God is. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E That's what the word Babylon means. And it says the mother of harlots means there are daughters. And so this is a church in the last day that unites the world. SPEAKER C Together, legislates religious beliefs based on her. SPEAKER E Doctrines and uses the state state to enforce or the governments to enforce their beliefs. You can read that in Revelation persecution. Revelation, chapter 13 talks about that as well. It says, come out of my people lest you receive her plagues. This is the last plagues that God's going to pour out on Babylon. This mother church and the governments of the world. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E For the sins that they've committed. SPEAKER C Well, dear listener, we are just going to take a short break here and we'll be right back after this message. Please stay tuned. SPEAKER F Absolutely true story. A young man was flying in a military plane above Idaho during World War II when the plane hit turbulence and he was thrown against the door of the cockpit and wet out at 20,000ft. But his shoelaces caught on something inside the cockpit. He was hanging from the plain above the earth and he prayed, lord, if you get me out of this, I will serve you forever. Next thing, he was thrown back up into the cockpit, the door slammed shut behind him. He told me this story. He got back on the ground, committed himself to God and became a minister of the Gospel. Psalm 119, verse 146 says, I cried unto thee, save me and I will keep thy testimonies. Don't if you've fallen out of a plane but God has saved you, what can you give him? Start by giving him your heart completely. I'm John Bradshaw, for it is written, let's live today by every word. SPEAKER C Dear listener, we're glad you stayed with us. We are continuing a second half of our program where we are looking at the importance of the Holy Spirit which prepares us for the second coming of Jesus Christ. So, Colin, we've discussed some very important aspects in our relationship with the Lord. We spoke about health, and now we're talking about some other things that are important as well. Regarding our preparation. SPEAKER E That's right. Well, one of the other things we're going to do is we're going to have a love for the truth. SPEAKER C Okay. SPEAKER E What effects will be present in our lives today with or without a spirit filled life with the Holy Spirit, and in reference to the love for the truth, studying God's word and implementing the truth in our lives. And we can read in two, Thessalonians, chapter two, verse ten, when the Bible says these words, it says that those. SPEAKER C Who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. SPEAKER D Wow. SPEAKER E They didn't receive the love of the truth. And where is the truth? Well, it says the Bible, thy Word is the truth. SPEAKER C We are sanctified by the word of truth. That's right. SPEAKER E Jesus is the truth, and Jesus is the Word who became flesh. That's right. And people perish because they don't receive the love of the truth, that they may be saved. And those who cannot be misled have the love of truth in their hearts. So the question is, how do we get this love? How can we have this love that it talks about, this love of the truth? SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E And we can only have this love when we have Jesus Christ living in us through the Holy Spirit. And in Romans, chapter five, verse five, the Bible says that the love is in our hearts comes from the Holy Spirit. Let's just read that. SPEAKER C It says, now, hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. SPEAKER E That's right. So God's love, Agape love, godly love is poured in our heart, and that will give us a love for the truth in God's word. The reason sometimes we don't love the truth is because the truth goes against what we naturally want to do. SPEAKER D That's true. SPEAKER E Our carnal natures, it really comes head to head. And it's only by surrendering and trusting in God that the love of truth can be put in our hearts. SPEAKER C And so much peace comes upon you when that conflict is taken out of the way, when you make that surrender, because that conflict is quite intense. It's very between what we naturally want to do and what the Holy Spirit is convicting us on. SPEAKER E It's the carnal nature versus what God wants to change. SPEAKER C Flesh and the Spirit are contrary to. SPEAKER E One another because he wants us to be partakers of the divine nature, as Peter says in the Word. SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER E And also the Bible tells us in Ephesians, chapter three, verse 17, tells us that we'll be rooted and grounded in love through the Holy Spirit so that. SPEAKER C Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you being rooted and grounded in love. SPEAKER E That's right. And in John chapter 16, verse 13, the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth. SPEAKER D Truth, that's right. SPEAKER E That's right. So this shows us clearly that it is necessary to be a spiritual Christian in order to have the love for the truth. We need to be spirit filled to even love the truth. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E I must admit, before I prayed daily for the Holy Spirit, I would sometimes read the Bible and sometimes I wouldn't. I even would read the spirit of prophecy and sometimes I wouldn't. It was like an off and on relationship. But then when I started praying and surrendering and praying to be daily filled, the Holy Spirit, what happens is you have a love for God's Word. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E You'll have a love for the spirit of prophecy because the Holy Spirit is putting that love in your heart and giving you a desire for that. SPEAKER C You find great delight in it. Anything that you love, you want to spend time with, you talk about it, you think about it, you wake up. The first thing you think about Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. And you want to spend time with Him, communing with Him through His Word, because the Holy Spirit puts that into our hearts. SPEAKER E And so before that, I wasn't thinking like that. I would go to church, I'd go through the routines, I'd pay my tithe, I would turn up to church. But you know what? I wasn't spending time in the Word, wasn't spending time in the Spirit. I wasn't really witnessing. And so what you find is I was lacking the Holy Spirit. But then when I started praying daily, surrendering and praying daily for the Holy Spirit, guess what? The love of God is put on your heart. And I have a love for the truth, a love for God's Word, and a love for the spirit of prophecy. And this clearly shows us it's necessary to be filled with the Holy Spirit in order to have a love for the truth. So do we have problems today with the love for the truth or God's word or God's prophetic writings for the spirit of prophecy? Yes. Consider the times ahead of us. It says these words, ellen White talks about what's going to happen at the end. SPEAKER D Right. SPEAKER C So this is from the Great Controversy, page 625. It says, only those who have been diligent students of the scriptures and those who have received the love of the truth will be shielded from the powerful delusions to take the world captive. Are the people of God now so firmly established upon His Word that they would not yield to the evidence of their senses? SPEAKER E Wow. SPEAKER C So it's talking about what we see and what we hear from the Word of God. And if there's a conflict there, will we go with our senses, which can easily be deceived. I mean, illusionists, those people who do magic tricks and that's so real, doesn't it? That's right. They can easily deceive your senses. You cannot believe what you see. So would you now follow your senses? Or would you have something greater as an evidence for truth? As Jesus says, thy word is truth. SPEAKER E Let me give you an example of that. I have a work colleague that I worked with once and we used to discuss God and the Bible and everything and he didn't believe in it. And I said to him so let me ask you a question. I said if an angel appears on this earth and he says he's Jesus, he looks like Jesus, starts doing even miracles like Jesus, even bringing fire down from heaven, would you believe then? And he says, yes, I would. SPEAKER D Wow. SPEAKER E Which is exactly what Ellen White was. SPEAKER C Saying proves the point. SPEAKER E He doesn't believe now, even in God. But if an angel appeared and did miracles, looked like Jesus, talked like Jesus, walk like Jesus, he says I would believe then. He's not grounded in God's word. No, he basically would only go on what his senses would see. And so that's what Ellen White says here only those who have been diligent students of scriptures and have received the love of the truth, the Holy Spirit has convicted us of the truth in God's word. We haven't gone with our own opinions or on whatever miracles, because there is false miracles as well. The Bible talks about in the last days there'll be false prophets, false Christs and false miracles that will deceive many. SPEAKER C That's right. SPEAKER E Even the elect, if possible. So it's so important that we're grounded in the scriptures to receive the love of truth that will shield us from the powerful delusion that's taking the world captive. Because there is talks about the Bible, talks about that Satan will appear as an angel of light and deceive many in the last days. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E So are the people of God now so firmly established upon his word that they will not yield to the evidence of their senses, because many people who aren't will. Now, God doesn't ask if we've discovered all truth, but what he does ask us if we love the be. I'm discovering things all the time. It's a journey, Etienne and I believe even through the ceaseless ages of eternity, we'll be learning more and more about the character of God and about his creation and about his love and his plan. But what's important is if we love the truth, we don't turn away from it. Because sometimes you come through, read things in the Bible and it goes against what society talks about, or believes goes contrary to them, or even contrary to. SPEAKER C Some stuff that we may hold onto our own opinions. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E Which our own opinions are what are formed by those around us and what we've read, what we've learned, what's come in our brains, everything. We form our own opinions. But God's word goes against our own opinions from time to time. That's right. Now the other thing as well is the fruit of the Spirit or the works of the flesh. Okay? There are two. They either have the works of the flesh or the works of the Holy Spirit. And this is what editor Francis D. Nicholl, who's the Adventist Bible commentary in volume six, this is what he says, I believe, okay? SPEAKER C Yes, that's on page 1112, it says, the influence of the Holy Spirit is the life of Christ in the soul. We do not see Christ and speak to him, but His Spirit is just as near to us in one place as it is in another. It works in and through everyone who receives Christ. Those who know the indwelling of the Spirit reveal the fruit of the Spirit. SPEAKER E Just as what Jesus said, didn't it? You will know them by their fruit. Fruits. And here Dr. Nichol is saying, the evidence or the evidence of the indwelling the Holy Spirit will be revealed in the fruits of the Spirit. And that's what Galatians, chapter five, verse 22 says. It says, the fruits of the Spirit. SPEAKER C Are love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control, and against such there is no law. SPEAKER E That's right. And Ephesians, chapter five, verse nine, also says that the fruit of the Spirit is all goodness, righteousness and truth. SPEAKER D Truth. SPEAKER E You see, righteous by faith is a fruit of the Spirit. SPEAKER D Spirit. Amen. SPEAKER E Because you receive Christ by faith, you walk in the Spirit by faith. And so we read that too, don't we? In Galatians 516 to 21. It shows us that the power of sin will be broken us through the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER C And it says there, I say, Then walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. SPEAKER E I want to stop right there. How do we not fulfill the lust of the flesh? Because we're all battling against the lust of the flesh. Let's be honest, we all are. I've got things in my life that I'm battling against the lusts of the flesh. So how do we not fulfill the. SPEAKER C Lust of the flesh in the Spirit? SPEAKER E Walk in the Spirit and keep reading. SPEAKER C It says, for the flesh, lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. So what are these things that we wish to do? These are the wrong things we wish to do according to the flesh. But if you're walking in the Spirit, you will no longer do those things of the flesh because you're walking in the Spirit. But if you're walking in the flesh, the things that a Spirit convicts you of, you won't be able to do either. SPEAKER E That's right. SPEAKER C So you do not do the things that you wish. And then, verse 18, but if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law, the law of. SPEAKER E Sin it's talking about, there isn't or. SPEAKER C The condemnation of the law as well. SPEAKER E Exactly. SPEAKER C It says, for now the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish, ambitions, dissensions even heresies. So that's things that are not true that people teach as a doctrine, envy, murderous, drunkenness, revelies and the like of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past. SPEAKER E Paul'S repeating himself, he's obviously said this. SPEAKER C Before and he's saying it again. And he said it. Yeah, he's emphasizing that, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. SPEAKER E I think that's pretty clear. So if the works of the flesh in your life and you continue in these things like adultery, fornication, uncleanliness, all these things that Paul talks about, you shall not inherit the kingdom of God. SPEAKER C Or even what about outbursts? I mean, how easy can it be to have an outburst in the car while you're driving and there's some idiot on the road? SPEAKER E That's why we need the daily baptism of the Holy Spirit and the fruits of the Spirit in our life to put to death these carnal practices traits in our life. So now we want to talk now about spiritual gifts. Now under spiritual gifts, we mean the gifts given by the working of the Holy Ghost, not natural abilities, but spiritual gifts. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER C Working the Holy Spirit more than talents. SPEAKER E That's right. So you can find these in one Corinthians chapter twelve, verse 23. And the interesting thing is, and I want to make this point, is it's the Holy Spirit that determines what spiritual gifts you get? We've talked about the fruits of the Spirit. Now we can all, everybody needs the fruits of the Holy Spirit. SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER E That's the most everybody can get those. Yes, but God also gives us different gifts according to the Holy Spirit. He determines what gifts we get. And you can read that in one Corinthians chapter eleven and twelve. SPEAKER D Yeah. SPEAKER E And some of the gifts are listed in one Corinthians chapter twelve, verse 28. What are some of the gifts? SPEAKER C Okay, it says, and God has appointed these in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles. Then gifts of healing, helps administrations, varieties of tongues. SPEAKER E That's right. And also in Ephesians chapter four, verse eleven, it also talks about these gifts. And even Paul speaks about these gifts in Romans as well, doesn't he? SPEAKER D Yeah, he does. SPEAKER E He talks about that in Romans, chapter twelve, I believe. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER C So Ephesians chapter four and verse eleven it says, and he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. SPEAKER E Yeah. And Paul talks about in Romans chapter twelve, when he talks in verse four, for as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function. In other words, the hand does what it does. The nose, the ears, the eyes, all have a different function. But we're all part of one body and it's just same as we're part of the body of Christ. Christ is the head, we're the body, the church is the body and we have many parts and functions. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E And it says to him for as many have members of one body but all the members do not have the same function. So we being many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another having then gifts differing according to the grace. There's different gifts that is given by the Holy Spirit, let us use them. And he talks about prophecy and teaching and exhortation and mercy and different gifts that have given in the church. So we're to use those gifts and the Holy Spirit determines what gifts we're given. And these gifts play an important part of equipping the saints for the work of ministry. The gifts are used for the body, for ministry in the church and for soul winning. Okay? And so they validate the testament of the church and give its leadership and guidance. And the Holy Ghost also gives other talents for specific purposes in knowledge, in all manners of workmanship. For example in Exodus chapter 31, verse two to six it talks about that, yes. SPEAKER C For example, here talks about the guy by the name of Bezalel. And he says, according to Exodus 31 and verse three, that God has filled him with the Spirit, and he's given him wisdom in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship to design artistic works and to work in gold and silver and bronze and cutting of jewels for setting and carving of wood and to work with all manner of workmanship. So this is skills that we typically wouldn't even think are given by the Holy Spirit. But for example, God may even give someone the technical ability because you need your audio visuals Colin. We're just talking about wanting to reach the unchurched. We want to reach those people who have not heard the good news of the gospel yet and we're going to need some skills and abilities and people who are spirit filled, who have their spiritual gifts from God to do their things. We're going to need some technical people. We're going to be able to people who have the gift of hospitality, the gift of communicating with people that social interaction, who can give Bible studies, who can go door to door and visit people, who can pray with the gift. SPEAKER E Of hospitality, greeting people. There's so many different gifts that God gives us. But you notice though even that when he gave those gifts to that guy there in Moses'day the gifts were given to build the temple, the sanctuary, to make all the furnishings in the sanctuary. And so in architecture when we want to become like Jesus, we want to be his disciples. We send him everything we have and are. That's the point. We surrender everything we are. Hence all our talents and abilities inherent as well as learned are placed at his disposal. That's the point. And he can give us additional talents, and if he can refine and purify even our natural abilities, yes. Okay, but it's Holy Spirit directed. SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER E Now, can we have spiritual gifts when we have the lack of the Holy Ghost? SPEAKER C Well, I think the gifts come through the Spirit. And if we do not have the Spirit, how can we have these spiritual gifts? SPEAKER E That's right. And God's choice or the people's choice? We have a worldwide democratic structure in our church for the 7th day Adventist Church is a democratic structure. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E We vote. We vote exactly for the leadership positions and everything in the local church, in the conference, in our unions and divisions, and even our general conference, they are elected positions, but that are done by the people. But it was never thought as a popular democracy. The real goal of our votes is that everyone personally listens to God's voice and casts his vote accordingly. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E And by listening to God's voice, it makes God's will known through the vote. And we certainly pray before taking part in any board meeting. When we have a board meeting to vote on things in the church, we pray about that so that it becomes clear to each person how God wants them to vote. Now, I love what Nehemiah said. He was talking about he was the cup bearer to the king of Medo, persia. Persia. But he had a burden. God put a burden on his heart to rebuild the walls in Jerusalem. And you can read that in Nehemiah, chapter seven, verse five. SPEAKER C Yeah, actually, I'll start with verse four. There says, now, the city was large and spacious, but the people in it were few and their houses were not rebuilt. Then my God put it into my heart to gather the nobles, the rulers and the people that they might be registered by genealogy. And then he found a person to do the genealogy for him, but he asked God to put it into his heart to do the work of the Lord. SPEAKER D Yeah. SPEAKER E So God put it on his heart and gave him a zeal and desire to fulfill God's purpose for him. And as he prayed, a holy purpose was forming in his mind, wasn't it? He's praying. I don't know if you've experienced that. I've experienced that, and we have recently. God puts something in your heart, a desire, a zeal to do something for God to fulfill his purpose. Now will a carnal Christian hear God's voice? If he hasn't consciously and completely surrendered to the Lord, then he certainly won't get an answer. And we can read that in Psalms, chapter 66, verse 18, it says, If. SPEAKER C I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. SPEAKER E That's right. So if you are continually in sin, if you're regarding sin in your life, iniquity means sin. If you're regarding sin in your heart, it says, the Lord won't hear you. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E And in Psalms 25, verse twelve as well. SPEAKER D Yeah. SPEAKER C And it says there, who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall he teach in the way he chooses. SPEAKER E That's right. So if someone who is a carnal Christian votes sincerely to the best of his knowledge, then humanly speaking, it is okay. But the instant human agreements are made, it becomes manipulation and sin. Wow. And so the leaders have a great influence on God's work. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E It definitely makes a big difference and can have major consequences for the church, for our leaders who are leading, who've been called by God, or who have been chosen by a human vote. Now, I'm reading a book of prayer. Helmet Hellboy tells us he realized that we may ask God to show us the way we should go. And that's in Psalms 32 eight, we can pray and ask God, what is the way to go? And David did that. He asked him, what is the way to go? We need to listen to. And, you know, as we listen to God's voice, it'll change your whole right, you know? And Helmet tells about an experience in this article from business representative to pastor. Helmut Halbel, the author of Steps to Personal Revival, was a businessman, and he then becomes a pastor. And there's also a good sermon by Kurt Hassell. How can I make the right decisions? This is only available in German, unfortunately. And so there's some great books and things out how to listen to God. The best way to listen to God is to read His Word, read the Spirit of prophecy, and see his counsel, and then take that to God and ask God, make sure you've confessed your sins. Because if you what if you're holding on to sins in your life, you're regarding iniquity in your life. SPEAKER D That's right. God will not hear. SPEAKER E God will not hear. Repent and go to God, and then he will then let you know his will. And I want to tell you a story about this prayer meeting that Helmut Halball experienced. He went to this seminar, and they were faced with a major decision in the church. And the decision was, should we build an addition to the church? SPEAKER D Okay. SPEAKER E Sometimes that's a big thing, for a church mightn't be seeing big to us, and they'll face the sin, should we build an addition or not? And there are a lot of things for and against it. There were pros and cons for and against it. And the crucial question was it God's will in this matter? We didn't discuss the pros and cons anymore. They wanted to say, Is this God's will? They discussed the pros and cons and said, let's stop that. Let's go to God and ask him what his will? And so what they did is they prayed for ten days that the Lord will prepare us to hear the voice and that he'll give us an answer at the prayer meeting. And this was ten days later. Should we build? And this is after the guests had leave this health retreat. Should we build an addition or not? Well, the prayer meeting took place with more than 20 people afterwards fellowshipping in prayer, each person asked God in silence to tell him if they should build or not. The personal answers from God were shared with the group as follows on a piece of paper they would write a plus. When they should build, then they should write a negative if they shouldn't build and they should write a zero. Right? If no answer came from God at all. Okay, so they had three answers together. SPEAKER C With plus, minus or zero. SPEAKER D Yeah. SPEAKER E Okay, so a zero was if they were unsure of the answer and the result was a sign of God's wonderful leading. There were 14 pluses, right? Four of them with a plus question mark. There were six zeros and four blank pieces of paper. There were also two answers which were unclear and not counted. So they didn't clear. Guess what? There were no negatives. They didn't hear it. So guess what? They just put a zero. They couldn't hear anything. But there were 14 pluses where God impressed them. Thus God's leading was very clear that we should build. And I'm convinced that we should directly seek God's counsel more and more in the last days. SPEAKER D Yes, agree. SPEAKER E I can experience that in my, even my own church. We're buying a house next door. There could be a future car park and a place to house Bible workers and literature evangelists and other things. And we sort of read up the pros and cons and we started talking about it and you know what? There were people for and people against. There were pros and cons. And what we decided to do is let's pray about this. Let's just put it aside and let's pray and find what God's will is. And we all prayed and prayed about this for quite some time. We prayed about it and then at the next meeting we put all up and it was all pros, everybody. And it was 100% vote for yes. We want to purchase this block, this building, this block next door to our church. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E And it was clear before that we laid out all pros and cons. There were pros for it and there were cons against it. And so initially if we'd taken the vote at the start it would have been divided. But what we did is we went to God and we prayed for many, many days, probably for at least a month, we prayed about it and then we came back together and it was a positive meeting and God put in our hearts and there was all 100% vote was yes to vote to purchase this land. SPEAKER C Wow, that is remarkable. In this life, in which we live the natural life. And then, of course, God offers us the spiritual life as well, the eternal life which we can have even now through Jesus Christ in the natural life. Quite often when we look at things, we draw up this list, like you're saying, the pros and the cons. And I found on this planet, typically there's always things that are positive about a decision or an action and there are things that are negative. There's very rarely. And I can't even think of anything at the moment where it's just all upside. For example, even in a business, a business needs to invest money. The pro is if we invest in this, then we can get this result. But if we take the money from there and invest in that, then we can get that result. But we don't have enough money for both. So now we go to decide which one has more pros than cons and which one has more cons than pros. So then you make a decision. It's not a perfect decision, it's not a perfect outcome, but you're trying to find the best alternative. With God, it doesn't work that way. No, with God we can receive the positives without any of the negatives, if it's Spirit there because God can solve our problems a thousand ways of which we can't even comprehend. SPEAKER E So in both these cases for Helmet, when he went to build this extra edition for this health retreat, they decided there were pros and cons. And they decided, well, we don't know which way to go. So they sought the Lord in prayer. And the same with our church. There were pros and cons for both reasons, for doing it and not doing it. But what were we doing? We were just doing our pros and cons from our natural thinking. Then we went to God and asked God. And then when we came back, God had made it clear and changed the minds of those who were sort of against it. And we're all in one accord. SPEAKER D That's incredible. SPEAKER C You know, the knowledge of good and evil has stayed with us as a people because of Adam and Eve'sin. And we've inherited that. Everything that we do has got pros and cons. There's good and evil in everything, but with the Holy Spirit we can receive the good and let God lead. SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER C Well, dear listener, we are just going to take a break here to give you our contact details and we'll be right back after this message. Stay tuned. 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 D Dear. SPEAKER C Listener. Welcome back and you please feel free to use those contact details if you want to get in touch or you want to ask where you can find this book or download it or you have any queries in pertaining to this program, but just Colin as we wrap it up. We were just talking about the fact that we've inherited a world that is full of good and evil. The knowledge of good and evil is with us even when we make decisions. That's why we draw up a list and we have the pros and the cons. There is good and there is evil. But when we rely on the Holy Spirit to lead, we know that that's all good, because there's no evil in God and in the leading of his spirit. SPEAKER E That's right. And the two examples we just used there were pros and cons. It wasn't men of an evil or good. It just meant this looks like it's a negative upside or a downside. Upside and downside based on our natural human thinking. SPEAKER C Thinking and reasoning. SPEAKER E But what is impossible with man is possible with God. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER E Thus, God's leading is very clear. And I'm convinced that we'll seek directly God's counsel more and more in the last days in decisions we make. Instead of just doing the pros and cons, we'll go to God in prayer and ask him to reveal. And I love what Joel 228 29. SPEAKER C Says and it shall come to pass after that that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions. And also on my men's servant and on my maid servants. I will pour out my spirit in those days. SPEAKER E Wow. And Ellen White comments and says these words. She says we must individually hear him speaking to the heart. When every other voice is hushed and in the quietness, we wait for him. That's what happens when you go to prayer. You go to God in the hushness. In prayer we wait before him. The silence of the soul makes more distinct the voice of God. He bids us, be still and know that I am God. That's in Psalms 46, verse ten. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER E And what makes the difference when we come to matters of even money in the church? What differences are there between spiritual and carnal Christians in relation to gaining and dealing with money? Do we see ourselves as the owner of our resources or God's stewards? Love of money and the love of display have made this world a den of thieves and robbers. SPEAKER D That's true. SPEAKER E And the Scripture picture here is the greed and oppression that will prevail just before the second coming of Jesus. SPEAKER C Well, dear listener, thank you for joining us again. On, you shall receive power. We have concluded chapter four of this beautiful book by Helmet hallball. Steps to personal revival. Please join us next week as we continue our study in chapter five. Until then, God be with you. SPEAKER E You'Ve been listening to a production of three ABN Australia radio.