Aug. 21, 2024

Revival Pt 5

Revival Pt 5

We continue our look at an article in the Sword of the Lord newspaper about revival.

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We continue our look at an article in the Sword of the Lord newspaper about revival.

WEBVTT

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good morning everyone.

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It is Wednesday, August the twenty first, twenty twenty four.

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It is currently nine forty nine am Central Time, and

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I am coming to you live from the Theology Central

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studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. Let's talk about

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Christianity and it's never ending obsession with the idea of power. Power.

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Now you may disagree. You may say Christians don't have

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an obsession with power, but I disagree. I believe from

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the very moment I became a Christian it was constantly

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just drilled into my head. Now that I'm a Christian,

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I have power. I have the Holy Spirit. I have

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Holy Spirit power working in me, working through me. I

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have been given I have been given illumination so that

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I can understand the scriptures. I've been given the power

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of God to strengthen me, to help me fight temptation,

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to overcome difficulties, to overcome trials. I've got power or

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I have power. I have ability. I can speak directly

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to God, I can get answered prayers. I have illumination,

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I can understand scripture. I have the Holy Spirit teaching

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me himself all of this idea of power and ability,

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power and ability, power and ability, power and ability. And

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it did not take long that I started kind of

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questioning this. I started. I was a teenager, and I

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kept hearing all about this power and ability, and you know,

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the Holy Spirit supposedly teaching us. And I was looking

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around at all, because I was a teenager when I

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became a Christian. I was looking around of all of

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these Christian kids raised in the church claim to have

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been a Christian. They were like seven or eight years old.

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I'm like, what the Holy Spirit's teaching them? These kids

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don't understand anything about the Bible. They're confused. I don't

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know how to interpret scripture. But the Holy Spirit's teaching them,

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and they've got power. I go to school with these kids.

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I see how they act, I see what they do.

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Where's their where's their supernatural power? Where? Where? Where is

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this power? So I remember we were I don't know

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where we were at. We were at some kind of

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youth activity. And I went to school with a bunch

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of girls who were Pentecostal, who are charismatic, and they

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would talk about the power the Holy Spirit if you

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get baptized and you know, baptized with the Holy Spirit,

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baptized in the Holy Spirit, you would get power. You

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would get you know, supernatural basically ability. And I'm like, okay,

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well all right. They kept talking and talking. So I

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was around the non charismatic teenagers. There was no power.

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I was around these other I was around these arismatic

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girls who claimed they had power. I didn't necessarily see it,

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but I'm like, well, maybe maybe they've got the power.

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So I remember challenging at this youth group, all of

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the teenagers. I just kept it was. I was kind

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of trolling. I was kind of picking on them, but

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I kept trying to I was playing Devil's advocate. They

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didn't know what I was doing, but I kept arguing

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with them, like, we need power, we need Pentecostal power,

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we need supernatural power, just to see how they would

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respond if they would if they would respond by saying, well,

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I don't have that power obviously because I do this. No,

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they just wanted to argue with me, well, they're just wrong.

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Pentecostals are wrong, Charismatics are wrong. But they could not

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really articulate, well, do we get this power? Do we

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have this power, and I just I remember, I kept

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just picking and provoking. I was really being a jerk,

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is what I was doing. But I I but it

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was my own. It was my own frustration with the

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lack of power, right because I'm like, well, if the

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Holy Spirit is teaching me, how is this working? Because

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the more I read the Bible, the more I don't understand,

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the more I don't understand, the more I don't understand,

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the more I don't understand. Like, there was just so

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many questions. But as long as I've been a Christian,

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you hear it constantly. You listen to a sermon, and

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what do you hear when you become a Christian? You're

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in what with the Holy Spirit? Now you have power.

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You have power, You have power. You can say noice in,

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you can say yes to God. Oh so I can

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be perfect? Well no, you can't be perfect. Well I

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thought you just said I can say notice in and

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yes to God. Well, I mean you can, but you can't. Okay,

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well you can do this, you can do that. And

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the Holy Spirit teaches us. Well, if the Holy Spirit's

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teaching us, then why Christians don't agree on anything? Well,

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you know it doesn't work quite that way. And then

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of course if you listen to charismatics, then of course

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you have all kinds of power. So but it seems

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Christians are obsessed with this idea power and ability, and

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I obviously greatly question all of this. I've been questioning

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it since I was a teenager. And I'm even more

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you could say cynical, more against a lot of this. Well,

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if you have been paying any attention, we're currently in

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a series on revival, and this all started because of

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an article and the June seventh, twenty twenty four edition

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of the sort of the Lord newspaper, and the name

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of this article is the Holy Spirit and Revival, The

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Holy Spirit and Revival. So we've been working through it,

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and I have found myself extremely frustrated with the article.

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In fact, I became very frustrated with the article almost

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from the very beginning because at the very beginning of

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the article they quote Acts four thirty one. So let

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me remind you of this Acts four thirty one. Where

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we read these words Acts four thirty one. And when

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they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together

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was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit,

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and they spoke the Word of God with boldness. Now

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I have heard this verse preached and spoken so many

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times in churches, and it's almost like, hey, this is

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for you. See, if you are filled with the Holy Spirit,

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then you'll get the power to speak with boldness. He will.

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He will give you strength, he will give you courage,

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he will give you power. Again making it applicable to us.

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And I was always like, well, wait a minute, Wait

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a minute. So if this is applicable to us, does

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the physical building shake if we if we're filled with

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the Holy Spirit, does the building shake? Or is this

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a unique situation, a unique period of time and this

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is not for us. Well, that'd be like, no, the

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basic concept is for us. And I would be like, well,

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wait a minute. The very next verse says, now the

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multitude of those who believed were of one heart and

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one soul. Neither did anyone say that any of the

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things he possessed was his own, but they had all

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things in common. So I'm like, well, wait a minute.

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So if we're if this is for us, then we

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have to be we have to say we don't own

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any thing. We basically sell everything we have, we give

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it to the church. And then the Church will distribute

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as there is need. Are we gonna be willing to

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give up all of our possessions? Well no, no, no, that's

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not for us. Well wait a minute, so part of

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the verses for us, part of the verse isn't. The

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next verse isn't for us, But then the next one

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will be like people do weird things with the Book

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of Acts, but see Ocs. Four thirty one. The article

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goes on to quote Acts two forty two. The article

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goes on to quote Acts two forty two, which reads

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like this, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine

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fellowship and the breaking of bread and in prayers. And

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they're like, see, that's for we need to get back

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to that. We need to get back to the the

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Acts to church, and we need to continue steadfastly in

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the apostles doctrine, fellowship and the breaking of bread in prayers.

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But then look at the very next verse. Then fear

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came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were

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done through the apostles. Wait a minute, is this for us?

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Are these signs and wonders active today? Are there apostles today? Now?

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Almost instantaneously, you'd be like, well, wait a minute. Wait, no,

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the Apostolic age ended. There was not Apostolic succession. The

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apostles died and that ended that era, and those signs

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and wonders are no longer active today. Now charismatics would

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claim they're active today, and they would claim some Apostolic succession,

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but we don't. So wait a minute. So one part

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of the verse, the verse before, that's for us. The

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next verse is it? But wait a minute, immediately, what

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is this connected to. Now, all who believed were together

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and had all things in common, and sold their possessions

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and goods and divided them among all as anyone had need.

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So once again, that's not for us. So people do

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weird things with acts. They run to acts and say

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this is for us. Well, no, that part's not for us.

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In fact, look a look at the very next verse.

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They continued daily with one accord in the temple. Well,

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should we be meeting every single day? Well, Christians like, no,

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that's not for us. So we don't meet every single day.

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We don't have the signs and wonders, we don't have apostles.

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We're not going to sell all of our property and

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have it in common. But acts, these things about power

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and these things about that belongs to us, and it's like,

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it's so maddening. So this article about revival did the

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exact same thing, quote only parts of verses and acts

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or only one verse, ignoring the rest and just creating

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a false impression about what we should be expecting and

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what revival is or what revival isn't. So yesterday we

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looked at the section on the Holy Spirit and prayer

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right now. They didn't really do a lot with it.

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There was one very important part I'm not going to

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go review it that we talked about yesterday. I thought

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it was rather profound. I thought it was very good.

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I thought it really classified, really describe what revival really is.

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So we talked about that, and today we have two

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sections to look at, the Holy Spirit and Witnessing and

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the Holy Spirit and Power. Power. I got the power, Okay,

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all right, music fans will know what I'm referencing. Okay,

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but yes, this idea of power which Christians I believe

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are obsessed with. So we're going to go through this

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and we're going to look at this now. That the

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Holy Spirit and Witnessing, they reduced that to a very

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small section most of this, the rest of this is

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really about power. That's where I'm going to put my focus,

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and I'm just going to connect the witnessing with power

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because once again, it's this idea that if we get

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the Holy Spirit, we have an ability, we have supernatural ability,

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we have power. And this stuff just drives me crazy

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because I think it's so misleading, it's so disingenuous. Christians

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have to pretend to have something that they don't because

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just look at two thousand years of church history, all

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the talk of power and ability, the Holy Spirit's teaching us, well,

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nobody can agree, So the Holy Spirit must be a

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bad teacher. We have power, and what do we see

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in the church? Sin sin sin sin sin sin sin

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sin sin sin sin. Well, the Holy Spirit's giving us power.

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Can we get to perfection? No? So then why is

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the Holy Spirit's power limited? All these just never ending

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struggles that I think anyone who's been a Christian for

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any length of time begins to call into question some

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of this stuff. So let's see how they handle it.

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It seems now the article doesn't do a lot like

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the way this article is. I mean, it's basically a

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printed sermon. How this sermon really is structured. It makes

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a lot of there's a lot of it. It makes

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no sense because they don't really explain anything. Right, So

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it seems the idea that I guess revival is well,

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when the Holy Spirit brings revival, then I guess we

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get power seems to be the idea that it's going with.

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But let's let's pick up the printed sermon, page seventeen

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of the June seventh, twenty twenty four edition of the

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Sort of the Lord newspaper. This section is part three,

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the Holy Spirit and witnessing, and of course they quote

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Acts one eight. Jesus said, but you shall receive power

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after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and

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you shall be witnesses unto me, you shall receive power. Now,

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I have heard that preach so many times, almost inevitably

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I could be wrong. Let me I'm not gonna say

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it first. I'm gonna look this up because I don't

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want to say what is always said here until I

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can verify it. Acts one eight. I'm going to the

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anti linear power. Yes, I've heard a million sermons. You

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can probably just look up Acts one eight on the

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sermons two point oh app and you'll hear. Who knows

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how many sermons will say the exact same thing. You're ready,

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we receive power and power is this Greek word Strong's gen.

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Fourteen eleven, Dunamus, dunamous, Dunamus, dunamous, dunamous, And they will

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say something like, dunamus, we get power. That's where we

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get the word dynamite, right, dunamus, we get power. We

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have this supernatural power inside of us, and now we

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can do all of these things. And dunamus has used

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one hundred and twenty times the outline of biblical usage strength, power, ability,

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inherent power, power for performing miracles, the power and influence,

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power and resources. But please, no power for performing miracles.

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Now again, depending on which type of Christianity you find

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yourself in, if you're around charismatics. So that we have

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the dunamus, we have that dynamite power to perform miracles,

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and it's right there in Acts one eighth. Let me

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read it to you again. Jesus said, but you shall

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receive power after that the Holy ghost has come upon

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you and you shall be witnesses under me. We have

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power and we can go do these miracles and this

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will influence people. And this is how we can be

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a witness because we walk in power, and the people

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around us are going to see where do they get

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that power? We have power to live holy. They're gonna

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be like, how can I live holy? We have power

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to have the perfect Christian families, to have the perfect

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Christian marriage. We have power. We have power, We have power,

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and so that I've heard that preach so many times,

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and I believe it's a complete, absolute corruption of the

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text when preachers do this, as we've already demonstrated when

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we open up the Book of Acts, there are things

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going on there that clearly are not for us. It's

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unique to that very specific period of time. One you

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have a muscles operating. The Apostolic era is over too.

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You had them meeting every single day. Clearly nobody thought

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that that needed to be carried over. I guess you

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could say Catholics are the only one close because they

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eliminate of them have daily Mass. But most Protestants have

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already abandoned that idea outright. They sold all of their

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possessions and had everything in common. Clearly, no one believes

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that's carried over. And there were all these signs and

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wonders that were happening now. Charismatics believe that that is

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operating today. But here's the issue. They claim that, and

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then over and over and over when they make these claims,

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they're proven to be fraudulent, they're proven to be fakes,

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they're proven that it's all a scam. And everyone else

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who's living life knows that all those signs and wonders

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are not occurring. It would be it would be on

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every news channel twenty four to seven that these amazing

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signs and wonders are occurring. They're not occurring. There's claims constantly,

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but the claims always turn out to be fraudulent, to

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be fake. So clearly we know there's things and acts

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that was a unique period of time and not for us.

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And I believe this power was specifically for that particular

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time and a specific group of people, primarily the apostles

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and some of those associated with them. Let's just consider

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some things right Acts one to eight, as we've already read.

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But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has

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come upon you. In this verse, Jesus is speaking to

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his disciples before his ascension. The power promised here is

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specifically the power of the Holy Spirit, which would empower

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the disciples to be effective witnesses of jesus resurrection and message.

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The power included boldness in preaching, the ability to perform miracles,

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and spiritual authority to spread the gospel. That was for

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the disciples, that was for the apostles. That promise is

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not for you. We do not have this supernatural power,

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you said, But wherein dwelt with the same Holy Spirit,

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the Holy Spirit in dwelling us. Yes, he sells us

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to the day of redemption. But if you want to

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start talking about what power he's working in us, it's

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not that power. You don't have the power to perform

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signs and wonders. You don't have this power. You don't

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have the apostolic authority. The apostles had that authority. Now,

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if you believe in apostolic succession, I guess you can

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claim apostolic authority, which then you almost end up creating

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almost a magisterial authority. I mean, the Catholic Church believes

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in apostolic succession Acts four, Acts four to thirty three,

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and with great power. The apostles were given their testimony

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to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace

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was upon them all. This verse describes these apostles ministry

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after receiving the Holy Spirit. The great power here refers

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to the effectiveness and impact of their testimony about jesus resurrection,

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accompanied by miracles and signs that authenticated their message, their power,

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their their authority was witnessed by this great power to

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do signs and wonders, which gave an a It made

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their It demonstrated that their message was authentic. It authenticated

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the truth of their message through their ability to do

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signs and wonders. God gave the apostles that ability to

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authenticate their message, to authenticate their authority, which you needed

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that apostolic authority at the beginning of the church in

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order to build that foundation. You needed that authority. The

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canon of Scripture was not even complete yet. Now the

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power I believe were for the original recipients were for

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the apostles or for those in Acts. The power mentioned

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in Acts was indeed specifically promised to the apostles and

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early disciples, who were directly commissioned by Jesus. This promise

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was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy

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Spirit descended upon them, enabling them to speak in tongues

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preach boldly and perform miracles. This empowerment was essential for

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the early Church's growth and the spread of the Gospel.

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I do not believe it has anything to do for

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us today. None. We don't receive some supernatural power. We

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don't receive some supernatural ability. That is not the case,

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and reality would demonstrate it. Reality demonstrates again when the

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Bible speaks of the Holy Spirit leading us into all truth.

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That was for the disciples and for the those who

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would write the New Testament. He was going to lead

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them into all truth so that what they wrote is true.

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What it talks about bringing to mind everything that I

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have said, that is not for you and I. You

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don't just immediately remember everything the New Testament says. Most

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Christians can't even cite the New Testament from memory. So

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you don't just like I ask you a question, you're like, oh,

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I remember everything Jesus said. No, that was for the

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original disciples who wrote the New Testament. They needed to

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bring to mind everything that Jesus had said. Those are

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promises for the apostles, the disciples, for the writers of

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the New Testament, to give us the completed canon of scripture.

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They were given power to do signs and wonders, to

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authenticate their message, and to authenticate their authority. That had

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apostolic authority, which was absolutely critical for the New Church.

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Once scriptures were completed, once the fossils died off, the

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Apostolic era came to an end. The era of signs

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and wonders came to an end. And now we as Christians,

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we live in a completely different situation and we cannot

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be running to the Book of Acts claiming that is

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for us. Now the article goes on to say this,

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so it quotes that verse Acts one pint eight, but

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you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has

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come upon you. Now I know the perspective I'm putting forth.

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Ninety nine percent of Christians are going to disagree with.

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They're going to walk around, now I've got that power.

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I've got that power. Way you claim to have the

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power and you run around making the claim, I'd love

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to see some of your signs and wonders that you

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claim that you do. Okay, but all right, I don't

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believe that is for us. So they go on to say,

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when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, then we will

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be witnesses. We will be channels of blessings. The Holy

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Spirit will work through us to others. Now, if we

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can reach a point where the Holy Spirit completely controls

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our lives, wouldn't that be sinless perfection? If you can

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reach a point where the Holy Spirit completely controls your life,

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then obviously you can't sin. If the Holy Spirit can

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simply control our lives, we would not sin. If he's

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controlling every aspect, we would only speak the truth. So now,

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wait a minute, I got, I got, we got we

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had an issue because I got Christians who believe this.

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I got Christians who believe this. So are you saying,

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who is the Holy Spirit controlling? Is he controlling the Lutherans?

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And they're right about infant baptism and how it brings

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about regeneration? Are the Presbyterians right? Are the Methodists right?

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Are the Church of Christ right? Are the Pentecostals right?

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Or do I just believe the Holy Spirit's only controlling me?

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And then I'm right? You are a channel, You are

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a witness. One of the primary ways the Holy Spirit

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convicts a lost man is through you and me. Are

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you a clear channel so that God can work through you?

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Are you living such a life that you are a

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witness for the Savior. Now wait a minute. If the

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Holy Spirit's controlling me, then why is it now placing

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it upon me? Am I a clear channel? Am I

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living in such a life that the for a witness

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the Holy If the Holy Spirit's controlling me, I don't

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have to do anything. I don't have to live, I

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don't have to allow he's in control. So does the

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Holy Spirit control? Or does he not control? Does he control?

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But the minute I want the control he lets up, Well,

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then I would be in control. So who's really in control? Now?

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That's all they say about being a witness. They don't

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really go much into it other than I guess they

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believe that revivals when the Holy Spirit, I guess, we

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get enough of the Holy Spirit. Now he controls us,

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and we have power, and now we are a bold witness.

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I don't know. It doesn't really explain it. It just

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immediately goes to the next section, which is the Holy

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Spirit and power. Power. Really these two sections should just

404
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be combined, he goes. They quote then again Acts one

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to eight. Again, but you shall receive power and with

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great power gave the apostles witness of the Resurrection of

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the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all

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Acts four thirty three. We've already quoted these verses again.

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Power power, power, power. Now this is what they have

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more to say about this. Here we go. Here's what

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they have to say. This is on page seventeen. Are

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you ready? Here we go. The Holy Spirit is synonymous

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with power. We need overcoming power. The world is too much,

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The world is too much for us. Satan's power is

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ever against us, So we need overcoming power. See the

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world is too much for us, just too much, and

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Satan's power is ever against us. But see when we

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get the Holy Spirit, now we have power so that

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we can overcome the world and we can overcome Satan.

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Now again, if we can overcome Satan and we can

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overcome the world, then I'm assuming then we can be perfect.

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If it's overcoming power, If it's overcoming power, that when

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the first thing we would want to overcome is not

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the world, not Satan, the first thing we would want

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to overcome is our sinful nature? Or does the Holy

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Spirit not give us enough power to overcome our sinful nature?

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So I don't really know how this supposedly works. Next paragraph,

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we need power to speak out for the savior. This

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power does not come through machines or education. This power

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comes through the Holy Spirit. Now allow me to review

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just a moment. Now they're going to go back and review.

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So we need power, power to speak, power to overcome.

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Doesn't really explain how this works. Then it goes on

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to say, we are saved by the blood. We are

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not saved by any works of righteousness of our own.

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We are saved entirely by His grace. For by grace

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are you saved through faith? Ephesians two eight. I completely agree. Secondly,

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we are in dwelt by the Holy Spirit. He dwelleth

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with you and shall be in you John fourteen seventeen.

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I do not, in any way, shape or form deny

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the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. By by being dwelt

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by the Holy Spirit, it identifies me as God's possession.

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He now owns me. I am His I am sealed.

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It's more about that. We want to make it about power,

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supernatural power. But again, so many times those claims, they

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don't manifest in any way, shape or form, in a

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way that's even in touch with reality. Third, we are

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cleansed by the spirit for the Spirit feels only Now

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this one is is weird all right? We are cleansed

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by the spirit, and for the spirit, the Holy Spirit

451
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feels only cleansed only the cleansed heart. Now this one,

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to me is a weird circle. We're cleansed by the spirit,

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but the Spirit only fills the cleansed heart. Now wait

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a minute, So he would have to move in to

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clean me first, right, But it says he only fills

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the cleansed heart. So do you mean I'm in dwelt

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by the Holy Spirit, but I'm not filled the Holy

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Spirit until the Holy Spirit cleanses me. And if the

459
00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:06.000
Holy Spirit's doing the cleaning, then any lack of cleaning

460
00:27:06.039 --> 00:27:08.480
in my life would be the responsibility of the Holy

461
00:27:08.519 --> 00:27:10.960
Spirit and not on me. So is it the Holy

462
00:27:11.000 --> 00:27:13.319
Spirit that cleanses my life or is it me that

463
00:27:13.359 --> 00:27:16.079
cleanses my life? And if it's the Holy Spirit cleansing

464
00:27:16.119 --> 00:27:18.519
my life, then why doesn't he just cleanse all Christians

465
00:27:18.559 --> 00:27:24.400
to well sinless perfection. So the Holy Spirit's the one

466
00:27:24.480 --> 00:27:26.599
that cleanse the life, but he won't feel the heart

467
00:27:26.680 --> 00:27:29.759
until it's cleansed. But he's the one cleaning it, So

468
00:27:29.799 --> 00:27:32.880
why wouldn't he just clean all the hearts perfectly, then

469
00:27:32.920 --> 00:27:35.160
he would fill them. Then we would have the fullness

470
00:27:35.160 --> 00:27:36.920
of the Holy Spirit, so then we would have even

471
00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:39.359
more power. And if we're already cleansed, then we wouldn't

472
00:27:39.400 --> 00:27:47.920
have any sin. This is the stuff. This is the

473
00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:50.759
stuff that just makes me just lose my mind with Christianity.

474
00:27:51.119 --> 00:27:55.400
Christianity talks so much and it never explains anything like

475
00:27:55.720 --> 00:27:59.599
what does that even mean? We are cleansed by the

476
00:27:59.640 --> 00:28:02.359
spirit and for the spirit. The Holy Spirit fills only

477
00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:05.839
the cleansed heart. So he comes in, he does the cleaning,

478
00:28:06.079 --> 00:28:09.680
and then once we're clean, then he fills us. So

479
00:28:09.759 --> 00:28:11.920
what's the difference between the end dwelling and the filling.

480
00:28:13.160 --> 00:28:16.319
Some say the dwelling he's there, but he doesn't have control.

481
00:28:16.440 --> 00:28:19.960
The filling is when he takes complete control. So he

482
00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:23.680
moves in. He cleanses me, so it's up to him

483
00:28:23.680 --> 00:28:25.839
to get me clean. Once I get clean, then he

484
00:28:25.880 --> 00:28:28.240
fills me. Now he has complete control. Well, if he

485
00:28:28.279 --> 00:28:34.359
now then has complete control, then I should be absolutely perfect.

486
00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:37.079
And if I claim that I'm filled with the Holy Spirit,

487
00:28:37.119 --> 00:28:39.799
then you should never question any of my preaching, any

488
00:28:39.839 --> 00:28:42.880
of my teaching, because then I'm it's coming from someone

489
00:28:42.920 --> 00:28:45.160
who's filled with the Holy Spirit. So every word has

490
00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:47.400
to be true, every word has to be perfect because

491
00:28:47.440 --> 00:28:52.920
the Holy Spirit's controlling everything, my thoughts, my speaking everything. Well,

492
00:28:52.920 --> 00:28:56.319
then do I reach some level of infallibility? Well no, no, no,

493
00:28:56.359 --> 00:29:05.480
Well then the Holy Spirit's not in control. Fourth, we

494
00:29:05.519 --> 00:29:07.839
are filled with the Holy Spirit. This means empowering for

495
00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:11.160
living and witnessing. So see now, so now we were

496
00:29:11.240 --> 00:29:13.960
not where we're filled when we cleansed. So the Holy

497
00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:17.559
Spirit cleanses us. Then we're filled. Now we have the power.

498
00:29:17.839 --> 00:29:24.000
Now we get power for living. Stephen was filled with

499
00:29:24.039 --> 00:29:25.799
the Holy Spirit. He spake with such power of the

500
00:29:25.799 --> 00:29:27.960
Spirit that the people gnashed upon him with their teeth

501
00:29:28.079 --> 00:29:30.519
and cried out with their voices, stopping their ears and

502
00:29:30.559 --> 00:29:33.359
running upon him with one accord. The apostles summed up

503
00:29:33.359 --> 00:29:36.480
his ministry by saying, my speech and my preaching was

504
00:29:36.519 --> 00:29:39.559
not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration

505
00:29:39.640 --> 00:29:45.000
of the spirit and of power. Now is that not

506
00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:50.640
true of the apostles. See, the apostles were in a

507
00:29:50.680 --> 00:29:56.160
completely unique We cannot compare ourself to the apostles. They

508
00:29:56.160 --> 00:30:00.759
were being given you could say direct revelation. They were

509
00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:05.759
being utilized in many cases to write inspired scripture. They

510
00:30:05.839 --> 00:30:09.559
had power to do signs and wonders. They had an

511
00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:13.079
authority that was authenticated by those signs and wonders. We

512
00:30:13.119 --> 00:30:18.000
cannot compare ourself to the Apostles. We cannot compare Christianity

513
00:30:18.119 --> 00:30:23.119
after the Apostolic era with Christianity during the Apostolic era.

514
00:30:23.400 --> 00:30:28.000
It's a completely unique, different situation, dare I say, a

515
00:30:28.119 --> 00:30:33.319
different dispensation, even if you hate dispensationalism. A different time.

516
00:30:39.519 --> 00:30:42.279
The power of the Early Saints is witnessed by the

517
00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:45.160
results of their preaching. At Pentecosta, about three thousand were saved.

518
00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:47.839
A short time after five thousand and more were saved

519
00:30:47.960 --> 00:30:51.079
when Paul preached. They said of him that he turned

520
00:30:51.119 --> 00:30:54.000
the world upside down. The whole city of Ephesus was

521
00:30:54.920 --> 00:30:58.079
so stirred by the ministry of Paul that many believed

522
00:30:58.240 --> 00:31:02.160
and confessed and showed their deeds. Now again, though, that's

523
00:31:02.240 --> 00:31:17.400
Apostolic preaching, that's the Apostles, a completely different situation. Amazing

524
00:31:17.400 --> 00:31:20.279
things happen when the Holy Spirit takes over. There is

525
00:31:20.319 --> 00:31:23.160
the story of the old preacher who has been called

526
00:31:23.160 --> 00:31:28.000
by his parishioners old man dry Sticks. He was so

527
00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:32.160
dry and unattractive that his people were preparing a petition

528
00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:35.440
asking for his removal. The old minister found out what

529
00:31:35.559 --> 00:31:39.000
was going on and on under the surface, and with

530
00:31:39.079 --> 00:31:41.880
a broken heart, he sought the Savior's face. He cried

531
00:31:41.920 --> 00:31:45.880
all night and prayed until God unto God, confessing his sins,

532
00:31:45.920 --> 00:31:49.839
seeking for the enduement of power. The next Sunday, as

533
00:31:49.839 --> 00:31:53.039
he preached, the fire fell. His people were amazed. A

534
00:31:53.079 --> 00:31:56.160
new grip came into his sermons, a new response came

535
00:31:56.200 --> 00:31:59.359
out from came from his pleas a revival broke out.

536
00:31:59.440 --> 00:32:02.119
Souls were saved every night, and many were added to

537
00:32:02.160 --> 00:32:05.559
the church. That old man, who had been called old

538
00:32:05.559 --> 00:32:09.240
man dry sticks. I'm going to turn to page twenty

539
00:32:09.279 --> 00:32:15.880
two here and on this in this paper, became a

540
00:32:16.039 --> 00:32:19.279
live wire from heaven. They did not want to get

541
00:32:19.400 --> 00:32:21.359
rid of this man and now wanted him to stay

542
00:32:21.400 --> 00:32:24.680
with the church. May God give us the feeling of

543
00:32:24.839 --> 00:32:28.039
the Holy Spirit. And that's where that section ends. Now

544
00:32:28.039 --> 00:32:37.559
there's no explanation, there's no even dealing with these difficulties. See,

545
00:32:37.640 --> 00:32:41.440
Christians love this idea to see what we need as

546
00:32:41.480 --> 00:32:44.279
a revival. And when we have revival, the Holy Spirit's

547
00:32:44.319 --> 00:32:46.240
going to fall. And then we're going to be endued

548
00:32:46.279 --> 00:32:49.680
with power, power, and then the Holy and then once

549
00:32:49.759 --> 00:32:52.799
the Holy Spirit's power falls, then we're going to get ability,

550
00:32:52.880 --> 00:32:54.759
and then we're going to become and then it's it

551
00:32:54.799 --> 00:32:58.279
almost always turns into moral reformation. We're going to become

552
00:32:58.319 --> 00:33:00.559
better people because now God's power was going to fall

553
00:33:00.599 --> 00:33:02.880
upon us, and we're going to confess our sins and

554
00:33:02.880 --> 00:33:05.119
we're all all going to be now good little boys

555
00:33:05.119 --> 00:33:07.519
and girls. We're gonna be good husbands and wives. We're

556
00:33:07.519 --> 00:33:09.519
going to be good people. We're all gonna be perfect,

557
00:33:09.599 --> 00:33:11.559
and it's all. And now we're going to have power

558
00:33:11.720 --> 00:33:14.799
to witness it's all. So much of revival is about

559
00:33:15.079 --> 00:33:17.640
a mighty move of God that induce us with such

560
00:33:17.720 --> 00:33:21.200
power that then I guess, now we can do what

561
00:33:21.240 --> 00:33:23.799
we couldn't do. So we can't do it without the revival.

562
00:33:23.799 --> 00:33:28.440
Once we get the revival, now we get the power. Now.

563
00:33:28.440 --> 00:33:31.559
We talked about and the last live broadcast I think

564
00:33:31.559 --> 00:33:33.039
maybe the last one of the one before it, I

565
00:33:33.039 --> 00:33:35.519
can't remember it. I did like four yesterday. We talked

566
00:33:35.519 --> 00:33:39.759
about Charles Finnie and how so many ideas about revival

567
00:33:39.799 --> 00:33:43.359
in the evangelical fundamentalist world they come from Charles Finny,

568
00:33:43.640 --> 00:33:55.000
who his teaching was absolutely heretical. Now there wasn't a

569
00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:58.440
lot there for me to grab onto. Right, So here's

570
00:33:58.440 --> 00:34:02.240
what we've demonstrated over and over again. When people talk

571
00:34:02.279 --> 00:34:04.759
about the Book of Acts, they grab certain verses and

572
00:34:04.799 --> 00:34:08.519
ignore others. Second, when they want to talk about that power,

573
00:34:08.559 --> 00:34:12.159
that dunamus, they forget that that dunamus is about the

574
00:34:12.320 --> 00:34:15.119
ability to do signs and wonders, which is clearly not

575
00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:19.679
for this time. We're those are not happening. All those

576
00:34:19.679 --> 00:34:23.719
claims are constantly proven to be fraudulent. So we know

577
00:34:23.840 --> 00:34:26.679
immediately there's a difference between the Book of Acts and now.

578
00:34:26.719 --> 00:34:30.400
The Book of Acts was a transitional period. It's a transition,

579
00:34:31.039 --> 00:34:34.960
and much of it is descriptive. It's not prescriptive. It's

580
00:34:34.960 --> 00:34:38.800
not prescribing what should happen. It's describing what did happen

581
00:34:39.199 --> 00:34:44.880
to formulate form build that early New Testament church, and

582
00:34:44.960 --> 00:34:49.039
it required very specific things for it to build. How

583
00:34:49.119 --> 00:34:51.960
the church operates after that period of time is where

584
00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:57.280
we find ourselves. And we don't have apostolic succession, we

585
00:34:57.320 --> 00:35:04.360
don't have apostolic authority, but we have this concept of

586
00:35:04.519 --> 00:35:09.039
power which the church is obsessed with So here's what

587
00:35:09.119 --> 00:35:11.400
I wanted you to challenge. I want to challenge you,

588
00:35:13.039 --> 00:35:14.800
if you've been a Christian for any length of time,

589
00:35:16.280 --> 00:35:18.880
I want you to think about how this concept of

590
00:35:19.039 --> 00:35:23.920
power has impacted your way of thinking about your Christian life.

591
00:35:23.960 --> 00:35:25.800
Was there a time in your Christian life for you're like, Okay,

592
00:35:25.880 --> 00:35:29.119
I've got power, I got dunamus, I got this dynamite

593
00:35:29.159 --> 00:35:31.199
power inside of me. I can do this and this

594
00:35:31.280 --> 00:35:32.880
and this and this and this. And maybe you were

595
00:35:32.960 --> 00:35:37.480
really convinced of that, but now maybe you realize something,

596
00:35:38.280 --> 00:35:41.880
something's not quite right with that. And then ask yourself

597
00:35:41.880 --> 00:35:45.280
how you what made you transition in your thinking? And

598
00:35:45.320 --> 00:35:48.079
I want you to consider how you process it now?

599
00:35:48.679 --> 00:35:51.480
What do you do now? What was it a shock

600
00:35:51.599 --> 00:35:53.239
to you? And you kind of begin to realize, Wait

601
00:35:53.280 --> 00:35:56.880
a minute, I talk a big game. I talk a

602
00:35:56.880 --> 00:35:59.599
big game, but the reality has always been different than

603
00:35:59.599 --> 00:36:02.840
what I have put forward. Now, some of you are

604
00:36:02.880 --> 00:36:05.480
still going to be yelling and arguing with me about power, power, power.

605
00:36:05.679 --> 00:36:07.559
I don't look, there's no reason to get mad at me.

606
00:36:07.840 --> 00:36:10.039
If you think you've got the power, you think you've

607
00:36:10.079 --> 00:36:13.119
got the dunamus, you think the Holy SPIRITU then by

608
00:36:13.119 --> 00:36:16.239
all means, just go live it out. Just just go

609
00:36:16.280 --> 00:36:18.440
live it out and show everyone how perfect you are

610
00:36:18.559 --> 00:36:20.880
and how much power you have, and how much better

611
00:36:20.920 --> 00:36:25.280
you are than everyone else. Just go do it. You

612
00:36:25.320 --> 00:36:27.320
don't need to argue about it, just do it. Just

613
00:36:27.360 --> 00:36:31.440
live it. But I want you to be very honest

614
00:36:31.480 --> 00:36:34.920
with yourself about what really is going on behind the

615
00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:39.360
scenes when nobody is looking, what's going on inside of

616
00:36:39.400 --> 00:36:44.960
you that nobody sees. I want you to consider how

617
00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:47.400
many times you think you understand the Bible, but you

618
00:36:47.480 --> 00:36:54.159
actually don't. I think we all have to come face

619
00:36:54.199 --> 00:36:57.760
to face with this reality. We were sold, in many

620
00:36:57.760 --> 00:37:05.559
cases a lie. We were We were sold the infomercial,

621
00:37:05.679 --> 00:37:11.079
the infomercial of Christianity. These infocommercials. So much of what

622
00:37:11.159 --> 00:37:14.400
Christianity is is what we put forth we sell it.

623
00:37:14.400 --> 00:37:17.440
It's like, oh, there's an infocommercial line and sell. We

624
00:37:17.519 --> 00:37:21.920
sell Christianity in almost a fraudulent way, making it sound

625
00:37:22.000 --> 00:37:26.599
like something that it actually isn't. Oh do I wish

626
00:37:26.679 --> 00:37:31.599
we all could be endude with supernatural power? Yes? Can

627
00:37:31.639 --> 00:37:34.800
you imagine what Christian families would look like if you

628
00:37:34.840 --> 00:37:38.880
have the mother and father both in endude with supernatural power?

629
00:37:39.559 --> 00:37:46.320
Supernatural power God illuminating their minds with supernatural understanding of scripture,

630
00:37:46.599 --> 00:37:52.639
with supernatural wisdom, supernatural power, to be basically almost perfect.

631
00:37:52.840 --> 00:37:54.639
They would be the best mom, they would be the

632
00:37:54.679 --> 00:37:58.360
best dad. There would be everything in the house would

633
00:37:58.360 --> 00:38:01.719
be almost perfect. Can you imagine what churches would be

634
00:38:01.880 --> 00:38:05.400
like if everyone inside those churches were endued with supernatural power.

635
00:38:07.159 --> 00:38:09.159
It's the same thing when Christians sell the idea that

636
00:38:09.159 --> 00:38:12.320
if you're a Christian, if anyone is in Christ as

637
00:38:12.320 --> 00:38:14.239
a new creature, old things have passed away, all things

638
00:38:14.239 --> 00:38:16.599
have become new, and we make that applicable to our

639
00:38:16.679 --> 00:38:22.079
lives today. That is applicable to our lives positionally, not practically.

640
00:38:22.360 --> 00:38:26.000
We're not new creatures. Practically, the old is not gone

641
00:38:26.159 --> 00:38:28.559
practically for that to be true, that means when you

642
00:38:28.599 --> 00:38:32.599
became saved, the entire old nature was absolutely removed, and

643
00:38:32.679 --> 00:38:35.199
now you no longer have a sinful nature, which then

644
00:38:35.440 --> 00:38:38.920
that would just demand that we basically the probability is

645
00:38:38.960 --> 00:38:41.639
what we would be perfect. We know that's not the case.

646
00:38:44.159 --> 00:38:48.320
I'm tired of these concepts being sold to Christians who

647
00:38:48.320 --> 00:38:52.239
then try to pretend that they that they're real, that

648
00:38:52.679 --> 00:38:55.199
it's true, and then you find you're no better than

649
00:38:55.239 --> 00:39:00.599
anybody else. You have the same struggles, same weaknesses, doubts,

650
00:39:00.960 --> 00:39:03.800
same sins that everyone else has. And you can try

651
00:39:03.840 --> 00:39:08.119
to pretend all day. I've been sold the line You've

652
00:39:08.159 --> 00:39:11.159
got dunamus so many times. I've been sold that so

653
00:39:11.400 --> 00:39:13.639
many times. I'm tired. Now you're trying to sell it

654
00:39:13.679 --> 00:39:20.280
to me. I'm not buying it. And if this all

655
00:39:20.360 --> 00:39:22.599
happens in salvation, then why do you need a revival?

656
00:39:24.119 --> 00:39:26.960
How can you revive people who are already a new creature,

657
00:39:27.039 --> 00:39:29.920
the oldest completely gone, everything is new and you now

658
00:39:29.960 --> 00:39:33.800
are a dude with supernatural power and now you have

659
00:39:33.880 --> 00:39:35.760
the Holy Spirit illuminating. What do you need to be

660
00:39:35.880 --> 00:39:39.039
revived from? Does the Holy Spirit taking over your life,

661
00:39:39.119 --> 00:39:43.599
controlling your life, filling you? Now? What? We can lose it? Hey,

662
00:39:43.639 --> 00:39:45.800
we had it, but then we lost it, So now

663
00:39:45.840 --> 00:39:47.639
we need revival to get the back. Do what do

664
00:39:47.719 --> 00:39:49.360
we get back? Do we get back the Holy Spirit?

665
00:39:49.719 --> 00:39:51.840
Did he leave us? Does he come back? Is he

666
00:39:51.880 --> 00:39:54.840
already in us? Do we have to be revived from

667
00:39:54.880 --> 00:39:56.480
being a new creature that we went back to an

668
00:39:56.519 --> 00:39:58.320
old creature? That we come back to a new creature?

669
00:39:58.559 --> 00:40:01.599
Like Christians just talk book in circles. You're like, well,

670
00:40:01.599 --> 00:40:04.079
wait a minute, you claim this. Now you're claiming this, Well,

671
00:40:04.119 --> 00:40:17.000
that seems to contradict that. So this leaves us one section,

672
00:40:18.360 --> 00:40:24.920
one section, and this and this article or this printed sermon.

673
00:40:25.559 --> 00:40:28.960
We have one section, and this section is called Holy

674
00:40:29.039 --> 00:40:32.280
Spirit and Revival. It's only a couple of paragraphs long.

675
00:40:32.599 --> 00:40:35.280
I could finish it right now, but we'll wait because

676
00:40:35.320 --> 00:40:37.960
that because we just kind of handled all about the power.

677
00:40:39.000 --> 00:40:41.000
We kind of dealt with all of that. Really, I

678
00:40:41.039 --> 00:40:43.280
wish I could offer something more profound. I mean, we

679
00:40:43.599 --> 00:40:45.360
kind of covered a little bit about where I believe

680
00:40:45.440 --> 00:40:48.119
that power was for the apostles for this specific period

681
00:40:48.159 --> 00:40:49.480
of time. I don't know what else I can say

682
00:40:49.559 --> 00:40:52.800
or do other than constantly warn you not to buy

683
00:40:52.920 --> 00:41:02.519
in to this fraudulent, infocommercial idea of Christianity. All right,

684
00:41:02.559 --> 00:41:10.239
thanks for listening. I wish yeah. Well, hey, whenever you

685
00:41:10.360 --> 00:41:12.000
review something, you got to deal with what you have.

686
00:41:12.199 --> 00:41:14.559
You can't. I mean, sometimes you just end and you're

687
00:41:14.599 --> 00:41:16.760
kind of like, well, I wish there was more to

688
00:41:16.880 --> 00:41:19.840
it than that. But I mean they offer no explanation.

689
00:41:20.079 --> 00:41:23.239
They offer no, they don't explain it. They don't I mean,

690
00:41:23.280 --> 00:41:27.280
they don't expand on it. It's just make these claims

691
00:41:27.320 --> 00:41:29.760
and don't explain anything about how it works, doesn't work,

692
00:41:29.880 --> 00:41:32.679
why it doesn't like that. That's really frustrating, But all right,

693
00:41:32.719 --> 00:41:34.320
I'll start right there. Thanks for listening, everyone, have a

694
00:41:34.360 --> 00:41:36.280
great day. I don't know what the rest of the

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day is going to look like. We will see, but

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in the meantime, Well gives this some serious thought about

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how the idea of dunamus and power has impacted your

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Christian life and how you've changed your thinking on it.

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Thanks for listening everyone, have a great day. God bless