Acts 2 The Activity of the Holy Spirit - Holy Spirit Series #5

the scripture reveals abundantly about God the Father and about his son Jesus Christ from the ascent the Bible says no man has seen the father but Christ hath declared him the complexity of talking about God's Spirit different story and one of the great theologians gives an example of was a Sunday School class where the Sunday school teacher was trying to explain God the Father is like the parent and that made sense and the son as the son of God that made sense and one of the children asked well how do you describe God's Spirit and the Sunday school teacher cupped the hand and blew and said like wind invisible no one sees where it goes and he says make it an invisible so I can better understand we're not able to do that but we are able to glean from the scriptures I have empathy for people who say but I don't understand or I have empathy for people who have been studying and it's still not clear what I don't have empathy for is people who will say I understand this and have they have completely mastered the subject which I think is impossible even somebody like me who spends the time in the word I think it's impossible and I'm going to try and show you exactly what I mean see we have many levels of issues to deal with we have the fact that we're dealing with we're using the King James here but I don't care what Bible you use we're still dealing with the English language and we know that the New Testament was written by and large in Greek we have the majority text giving us these we'll call it clarity's by virtue of the language which coming into the English may become a little bit less clear no don't get mad at the translators some of them had some bias some of them had their own whatever but translation is difficult and anybody who says oh it's she is a fool I used to be that for many years ago I used to say well you know if they could only you know have sure have the tools that we have today that won't even help you because without God's guidance and without clarity we have 2000 plus years of people who are still divided on theological divides that have made great schisms in the church let alone what the demonic forces and the non-believers have done but the people who are that will call them the things of the church in endeavoring to translate have created massive schisms based on their understanding so my prayer is to open this up and make it clear again this is one message don't know if we'll keep going on this next week but I want to at least keep peeling this away so I ask you to turn please to John 16 while you are turning there to John 16 I'm going to write a little Greek and if you are relatively new to the ministry please don't worry about trying to read if you read Greek that's wonderful if you don't and be like the rest of the people and say it's all Greek to me there is a point to show you something sometimes even if you don't understand it's kind of cool to see what it looks like but if you've been around a little while you pick up some words and I don't ask you to do more than that but we're looking at John 16 and I'm going to read here the verse that I'm writing and when he has come Jesus is speaking to his disciples and he is speaking about the comforter the Spirit of God the Paraclete here in this passage when he has come he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment and I'm only interested in one thing here and that is the first portion of what work how Martius in the Greek all right so let's take a look at this if you have a Bible like mine in the 8th verse that word reprove will have a 1 and if you look in your margin it will say convince and when he has come that's the Holy Spirit he will convince the world of sin this is important because when we begin to look at and analyze the text there are some certain things that we need to glean out of this before we can move ahead remember I'm laying down pieces of information that become useful to us for our faith walk for our journey and let's just say God's already equipped us but if we don't know what we've been given and how to use it there's already a problem right there I'll point out whether I do it this week or next week or in fest on Festival Paul when he's writing to Timothy says neglect not the gift that was given to you or placed in you and he's speaking of that gift which could only have been given by God to Nick he says neglect not the gift that tells me that we can have a gift given to us and it can be neglected let alone put aside neglected not even don't we don't even know we have it do you think that my whole life wasn't spent engaged in learning languages and linguistics God gave me a gift that I didn't know I had until I started to really use it it's like that so sometimes there's something placed in you don't even know and other times you can be given a gift and you can neglect it so here I want to look at this word reprove for a minute which is this Greek word right here and it's really not important whether you can read Greek or not some of your translations will read for example Webster says reprove like the King James the douay-rheims the Catholic version has convinced which is what our margin it's interesting that they put that in the margin of the Bible considering the was the Catholic version the Aramaic says correct race come he will correct the world of sin other translations use the words rebuke or expose now let me tell you a little background to this word if you were looking this word up in the Septuagint that is the what that looks like the Septuagint that is the greek version of the hebrew text which was done two to three hundred years before christ if you were looking to the Septuagint to get an idea you have several Hebrew words in fact one two three four five at least six different Hebrew words that will be translating this Greek word or vice versa if you want to put it that way several different Hebrew words all being translated by this Greek word some will be translated as to rebuke with the shame to punish to condemn to convict one incidence here one occurrence is to atone in Proverbs in in in the Septuagint version of proverbs 18 to test or to examine but in the New Testament this is what's vitally important to show someone his sin and to summon him to repentance it's a there's a two-fold activity let me go back to the texture man when he has come the Holy Spirit he will reprove the world of sin don't go beyond of righteousness righteousness and judgment but read down verse 9 of sin because they believe I'm reading King James they believe not on me now go back to reprove the world of sin and I want you to notice one thing sin singular not plural not reprove the world of sin zazz in the things you've done sin and specifically here because they do not King James believed on Christ they do not fade on Christ they do not when he says I am the Messiah they say no no there's another one we wait for another one he cannot be or he was not or he is not and this is the sin that if you remember in the beginning of John's Gospel behold the lamb of God that taketh away the sin not sins sin of the world so you want to talk about hope of salvation through Christ all of these concepts are paramount but I want to tell you what the word does not only mean some Nero do well we'll read this and say well see I'm full of the spirit so I'm come to convince you of your sin run Forrest run the world does not only mean to reveal to expose but to set right see we talked about the activity of the person of the work of the Holy Spirit is not just to bring conviction it is to set right to point away from sin to repentance it implies some form of we'll call it spiritual education and discipline but not the discipline idea of the father that's mentioned in Hebrews we're talking about some something that is brought to the heart and this is important why because now go back to the text and you begin to realize the will call it the work of the Holy Spirit Christ isn't when he has come he will now let's talk about this reveal and expose but set right be able to point you away from sin to repentance that is in the Greek Metanoia to change the mind not to be grieve that comes afterwards ceasing to go following after your way and following after him but it also implies the ability to recognize something is not right with me something is not right with you and this is why I told you and years from this Ministry of telling you altar calls and things that are coerced the worst thing is making somebody repeat something that is not coming out of the heart every single week I meet people who will who will say this person is basically a good person and that if we're talking in Christian Christianese conversation I automatically know that this individual has not come to an understanding like Paul who said there is no good that dwelleth in me nothing now I've told you this before it was your guest I hate to point at you but it was your guest it was a really nice man I really liked him a lot it was a sweet gentleman but I remember you brought him to the cathedral and this poor man he could not understand I remember afterwards you said to me said he couldn't take it that I was self abasing myself because I said I'm no good and I'm a sinner and okay Oh why does she do that because he didn't have the ability to understand and part of this has to do with somebody receiving the Spirit of God because to receive the Spirit of God means and I'm gonna go through this it's almost like a step-by-step something that you're gonna say it makes sense now why somebody like that who came across is basically a good person right nice man nice and division but he couldn't understand it why because in his eyes that's not something that an individual sense of themselves but when God spirit has come upon you begin to realize that without that conviction without that and I don't want to call it persuasion because it's definitely not persuasion you don't need to be persuaded the conviction that comes the if you want to call it the check in the spirit that slowly says where I was I was wrong I was going about this all wrong my thinking was wrong right at the time so what does this mean let's start first with the spirit the person of the holy spirit the spirit involved in the proclamation of the gospel see there's several points to this it's either you go into a church I remember dr. Scott telling the story of and actually multiple different stories and different versions of this story people going into a church and being very frustrated and walking out not spirit of god wasn't there today you know and they left which puts an extreme unfair burden on the minister and one who is truly endeavoring to bring something forth or the people why didn't what an unfair thing because you didn't feel something experientially emotionally captivating your soul today the Spirit of God wasn't there and in the infamous words of dr. Jean Scott hogwash and pickle juice I don't know where he got that from but it just sounded good to me right then and there the reality is that in order to stand and preach and deliver God's Word and proclaim there must be something registering with us in our brains turn with me if you will and we'll do it we'll do a little bit of bible turn you turn with me to second Corinthians in the third chapter you know one should take a look at something and somewhere if you're taking notes put put the spirit involved in the proclamation with a twofold activity right there both on the preacher and the here second Corinthians three and I'm actually gonna read instead of just giving you a synopsis I'm gonna read this he says do we begin again to commend ourselves or need we as some other epistles of commendation to you or of commendation from you ye are our epistle written in our hearts known and read of all men you know that the italics are added by the translators with difficulty so I'm just going to read it as it appears though for as much as you are manifestly declared to be the Epistle of Christ ministered by US written not with ink but with the spirit of the Living God not in tables of stone but in fleshy tables of the heart so he says essentially this is the method in which and such trusts have we through Christ to God word not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as ourselves but our sufficiency is of God who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament not of the letter but of the spirit for the letter killeth but the spirit giveth life but if the ministration of death written and engraven in stones was glorious so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance which glory was to be done away how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious first demonstration of condemnation be glory much more demonstration of righteousness exceed in glory if you keep reading this it says in as in Moses day not as Moses which put a veil over his face that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished but their minds were blinded for unto this day remain at the same veil taken away in the reading the Old Testament which veil is done away in Christ but even under this day when Moses is read the veil is upon their heart nevertheless when it shall when I should turn to the Lord the veil shall be taken away now the Lord is that spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty so think of what he's saying he goes on to say now saying we have this ministry and goes on to tell but the proclamation he makes a sharp contrast between the Ministry of Moses and the law versus what he is called to do refer this ministry is the Ministry of the Spirit the Ministry of the New Covenant a far greater glory in this passage has to do with direct reference to the one who can remove the veil and he's speaking of the one who is the Revelator in this case the spirit not the law so it's almost as if it's like saying the possibility of those people who can hear but the veil will remain they can be hearing but the veil will remain until that veil is lifted away it's impossible for them to hear now take a look at have you turned to first Thessalonians and we'll see it again in a different way because these are all kind of you line up these scriptures and you begin to realize the proclamation if you remember I talked about power Dunamis and authority as many as received him he gave them the authority to become the sons of God born from above exclusives and Dunamis he said go tarry Jerusalem until you be endued and dynamited with power these two things are always going to accompany the preaching and the reception of the gospel and if you're still not sure I'm going to show you I'm giving you the scriptural pieces right now and then we're gonna look at the evidence of something first Thessalonians first chapter verses five and six for our gospel came not unto you in word only but also in power Dunamis and in the Holy Ghost Holy Spirit and in much assurance as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake and he became followers of us and of the Lord having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost not let me ask you a question people talk about why some people seem to have such things happen to them terrible things they come into the church they hear they're told things are gonna be different and they are gonna be different trust me but not the way that you envisioned and because people are not reading the template I've told you this that the pattern is here these people receive the word with affliction means trouble follows and joy with the Holy Spirit we are a duality we are like a walking combination of yes and no all right and so it's important the point here is the converts became converts not on the basis of Paul's preaching alone the word was the channel the proclamation though came by the power of the Spirit so we're looking at the letter to the Thessalonians see what happens when Paul preaches at Thessalonica acts 17 told you we turn to a couple of places but I want you to see because I'm giving you the first example they are in Thessalonica acts 17 because that's the letter ultimately later on that will be written first in second Thessalonians all right now when they had passed through and people is and Apollonia they came to Thessalonica there was a synagogue of the Jews and Paul as his manner was went in unto them three sabbath days reason with them out of the scriptures out of what out of the scriptures there was no new testament he reasoned with them in the synagogue out of their writing old testament he didn't go in and tell him you gotta let the negativity go he didn't go in and tell them by my book he didn't even go in and say give a little bit of charity he went in and he opened and reasoned the scriptures with them the Word of God opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered remember try and wrap your mind around this he's preaching to people Jews steeped in Judaism there is no New Testament there may be some maybe of course there has to be rumors and stories of Christ that have circulated already but there is no book as we have it but he's pointing to their scriptures opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead can you imagine not having anything but their scriptures to do that from oh yeah yeah right and that this Jesus whom I preached unto you was Christ now what did John 16 say and convict convinced of sin why because they King James believed not on me might be a better way to say they reject me they refuse to acknowledge that I am the Christ is what's being said there so basically in essence there is no there is no salvation because in their eyes there is no Savior that makes sense alright this is what the preaching did some of them believed some of them latched on some of them trusted to what Paul was saying some of them amen I'm trying to push the word believe beyond because believed is a terrible word and consorted with paul and silas and of the devout greeks a great multitude and of the chief women not a few in other words the preaching managed at Thessalonica to be powerful enough to get some people to say yep that's got to be it but the Jews which believed not and there you have it moved with envy took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort gathered a company said all the city in an uproar assaulted the house of Jason and sought to bring them out to the people and great happens here by the way so you have it you have a picture ultimately of the preaching of Paul and this will be no matter where Paul goes this will be the matter that I'm talking about in Proclamation so the activity that Christ was speaking of remember I said the word does not only mean to reveal or to expose but to set right namely to point away from sin to repentance not just to point out something I want you to think of the people that Christ spoke to or that Christ dealt with personally that had cataclysmic changes or that their mindset was changed the woman at the well or is the kiyose all of these people that we could point to and say as they heard the word from the word they heard the word the word affected them change occurred and others it had no effect the rich young ruler what must I do to inherit eternal life and he tells them and he went away very sorrowful because he wouldn't do the thing that he said that is rejecting the word putting aside the word so the point I'm making here is there must be an understanding it's not all on the preacher don't sit here and say well pastor you know I'm I'm following you but I'm not following you so it's your fault because people do that you know and people done that for many years or they are no longer able to listen I want you to think about this because in the bigger picture this explains this will explain a lot to you of how people can come and hear and then cease hearing and suddenly I become the convenient scapegoat for not being able to hear because they'll say they're not hearing anything because they're not receiving anything well this is what I'm telling you it's important to understand this as the basis of something that takes you to another dimension of understanding why Paul says grieve not the spirit because it is possible for us to will say it this way all manner of sin shall be forgiven but sin against the Holy Spirit there's the one that is defined as unforgivable don't ask me what that is I'm just telling you I'm walking you through some principles here that seem on the surface you can read and says that's very simplistic those are very easy things to understand but when you begin to peel back the Greek of the verse of John 16:8 you realize something a little bit more as I'm reading again to set right to point away from sin to repentance we don't just merely hear something and begin to repent without the activity of excuse my coining this but of the holy activator doing something to bring about that but what about free will well you've got the freewill to reject that and to do your own thing which is why I just told you about these who would not hear Jews which believe not they had every opportunity remember he reasoned with them out of their own scriptures he was one of theirs schooled at the feet of Gamaliel if anybody could explain this thing to them and make them understand just with words and reasoning it was this man but the Spirit was not I'm not saying it wasn't in the proclamation it wasn't the proclamation but it's also in the revelation and receiving and if those are not there don't just blame the one proclaiming you've got to look at the whole equation pretty important stuff elsewhere and I'll read it to you because otherwise I'll have you turning everywhere if you want to turn there you can but in there's a passage in Romans 15 1519 that says through mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God so that from Jerusalem and round about unto aleikum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ so Paul never said I did this on my own and I did this in my own strength but if you want to know the basis of what I'm saying again unfolded he went in the power of the Spirit of God he was given that gift I'm I'm still laying down the pieces here so bear with me first corinthians turn their next book over first corinthians second chapter and listen to what he has to say there and I brethren when I came to you came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom declaring unto you the testimony of God for I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified and I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power Dunamis to things I've told you repeatedly are you seeing the pattern now because without this seeing the pattern it's very easy to say what's missing here Proclamation on the part of the preacher revelation and reception on the part of the hero and all of this activity is done by the third person of the Godhead if Christ came and said I am coming to you essentially showing you what God the Father is like the one who we cannot see the third person of the Godhead has the imprint of Christ on him as well and this is why said to you you can't separate these things it's almost impossible to try and define but listen to what Paul says that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God and the Dunamis of God howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect yet not the wisdom of this world nor of the princes of this world that come to nought but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery and he'll say this again repeatedly and you say it again and express it again in Ephesians even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory which none of the princes of this world knew for had they known it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory but as it is written eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him but God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit for the spirit searches all things yea the deep things of God here's the big part of this equation he says for what man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of a man which is in him even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God now we have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit which is of God that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God which things also we speak not in the words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Ghost teacheth comparing spiritual things with spiritual but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto Him neither can he know them because they're spiritually discerned if while I go back and digress to John 16:8 and the text of convincing reproof rebuked conviction but also to turn and to be able to point in the right direction also enabling to hear and to receive and for the reality of the word of God to become penetrable into the soul of man to be received not just superficially but taken in and some effectual change begins to occur in it may not be like that instantaneously but a seed that is planted that eventually will produce change will produce growth will produce fruit I read on just a few more verses but he that is spiritual judgeth all things yet he himself has judged no man for who hath known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him but we have the mind Christ you can see here we have revelation and reception and again I'm telling you the importance of this because the Corinthians seemed to have this problem it's a special problem with them but it's a problem that even goes on today which is even though they had heard and they had received they preferred the wisdom remember the culture and the time they lived in was a culture steeped in seeking and pursuing after Saphir wisdom the preference was to go after the wisdom of the world which is why Paul keeps talking about this and he says these things are not as the world and the world cannot discern them nor understand this is why people come into the church and if the Word of God is being preached you have people that say I can't understand I don't know if they come back again they keep coming back and they keep coming back because God is saying I'll open up the word be patient I'll open up your heart be patient I'll make a way I'll help you to understand but the ones that come and they say I got nothing out of that that's because there's no receiver turned on that's the sad part of it it's almost like when you see that and the reason why I told you you know if this offends you if the shoe fits you gotta wear it there was a time when I used to think I was silly enough to think based on a lot of the activity of this former congregation I used to think that people could they could rationalize certain types of behavior based on emotional and spiritual immaturity and blame it on me and you know what for a while I endured it because I I didn't have the understanding that I now have I'm telling you something that's kind of scary you know the years that I listen to people say all this in the dark and I can't listen to her and a cut listen anybody else listen I hate to tell you something dr. Scott was an incredible man of God was a great teacher but that's like saying when Paul died when the Apostle Paul died Christianity should have ceased to exist because the Apostle Paul died so let's all just toss in the towel go home and make a day of it or you are living for Christ and the Church of God and the church of Jesus Christ which is energized not every you know skipping generations in every generation God will bring God will not leave his church orphans even if it's a little flicker that's left in the world God will have his presence known and felt to those who are called and chosen and they'll never be a time never and you may say you just contradicted that's okay I'm perfectly okay with this because I stand on this word as my authority not not a man's word not a woman's word I stand on this authority God has never abandoned his church which he said he'll build and the gates of Hell shall not prevail he hasn't skipped a year or ten years or even 500 years every pocket where God's people have been chosen and called where he called out people from a place where obviously many many are not called and not chosen he provides and he does not make his church into a lie by leaving you as orphans with nothing to abide by he gives you the word which is the manna from heaven and if you have lost your appetite for the manna don't blame the man or the woman begin to look at your faith and begin to recognize there may be something wrong with the gift that you've either neglected and pushed aside or grieved start there you know I just was telling somebody the other day I do try to live by the principle of the beam and the mote look at yourself first before you start blaming somebody else look and take the stuff out of your own eye before your busy dissecting somebody else's it's Pastor Scott coming to the pulpit every single week and bringing the Word of God or she selling you vitamins she's selling you a new Wade reinvent your hair growth or she telling you what shoes to wear what fashions to know so I used to be silly enough to listen to that kind of stupid stuff but I realize and that's why I said you can paint this is very simple or you can realize there's something very profound that I'm peeling back here that even the best of students may have missed this what I'd call a most important part which is why it's important to hold on because it is God's Spirit that brings the conversion Romans 5:5 declares about the pouring out of God's Spirit we are anointed by the Spirit we are sealed I mentioned that word last week airbone we have been circumcised in the heart romans declares that the believer in galatians 3 is asked did you receive how did you receive this gift did you receive receive it from hearing the Torah the law or did you receive it by the hearing of faith and how does faith come faith comes by God's word being preached and proclaimed Christ is formed in your heart by faith and you begin to operate on that faith which then builds more faith and you go from faith to faith it's it's swinging from one faith grip to another constantly moving forward and never standing still because you know what happens when you stand still holding on right all right that was just like all right so now the proof of what I'm saying to you and here's the proof and I want you to see something which brings us all together all this everything I've done believe it or not was background to my text which is acts 2 and if you begin to put all the pieces behind what I'm saying you'll realize what I just did is I gave you the undergirding of a passage which is red and red and red but to analyze that this way is to put some substance underneath it see they were told to go and wait until they were endued from above Jesus told him to tarry and acts 2 begins with when the day of Pentecost was fully come that began to be the harvest of souls and we have this great picture which the you know the Pentecostals and the charismatic they like to read this and everybody gets crazy when they read it suddenly there came a sound from heaven as a rushing mighty wind filled all the house where they were sitting and there appeared unto them cloven tongues as of fire and it's sad upon each of them and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance they were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews devout men out of every nation under heaven and of course you've got all these people parth ian's Medes Elamites dwellers of Mesopotamia Judea Cappadocia Pontus and Asia Phrygia Pamphylia in Egypt parts of Libya Cyrene strangers of Rome Jews and proselytes and here's what's interesting creats Arabs we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God all of these nations all of these people heard the same thing they all heard it in their own understanding in their own tongue but they all heard it and they were all amazed and were in doubt saying one to another what meaneth this others mocking said these men they're full of new wine they're drunk now here's the important thing Peters sermon which if you know and have read and you know your gospel like this back and forth you know that Peter is the bumbling mouthpiece mouth is always engaged before the brain is always saying something or the only good thing that he said was the declaration to Christ that says the riah philip i thou at the christ but then he had to go and mess that one up too by telling christ it wasn't good for him to go and die be it far from the Lord and that's when Jesus said get behind me Satan so one good utterance and then Christ said declared of him he would deny him no not me Lord and that came true we know that and the statement that Christ makes him I've prayed for you that your faith be not eclipsed t' but nevertheless when you are turned back that you go and strengthen your brother and how can you strengthen your brethren except right here is the example of what's going to happen and Peter didn't do this in the wisdom that he had because if you look at the man in his life of what has been revealed of him we know him to not be the eloquent preacher that's gonna stand up right now remember what Jesus said Jesus said when the Spirit has come he's going to bring to your memory all the things that I've said which by the way would include words perhaps we don't have written down here but words of the word of the scripture Peter standing up with the eleven lifted up his voice said unto them he man of Judea and all that dwell at Jerusalem be this known unto you and hearken unto my words for these are not drunken as you supposing it is only the third hour of the day but this is that which was spoken of by the Prophet Joel did you ever hear Peter or read Peter anywhere else quote scripture and if there is one reference at the scant one like help I'm drowning oh he was familiar with Psalm 69 right yeah she'll come to pass in the last days say if god I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my spirit and they shall prophesy and I will show wonders and the heaven above signs in the earth beneath blood and fire and vapor of smoke the Sun shall be turned in the darkness the moon into blood before that great and notable day of the Lord come to come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved this is a wonderful sermon and so crystal clear and so succinctly says the men of Israel hear these words Jesus of Nazareth a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you as yourself also know him being delivered by determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God he have taken by wicked hands have crucified and slain whom God hath raised up having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be holding of it now watch how much scripture is in here for David speaketh concerning him for us foresaw the Lord always before my face for he is on my right hand that I should not be moved kind of interesting quote out of Psalm 16 want to quote all the scripture here come on how how does the man who seemingly for three and a half years didn't spend much time seemingly in the synagogue but was kind of with the traveling synagogue if you know what I mean and all of a sudden here comes the scriptures right there for did my heart rejoice my tongue was glad moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope because that will not leave my soul in hell more quoting of Scripture neither will thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption that was made known to me the ways of life thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance men and brethren let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David who was both dead and buried and a supper coolest is with us under this day therefore being a prophet and knowing that God has sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne he's seeing this before a spake of the resurrection of Christ that his soul was not left in Hell neither did his flesh his flesh did see corruption this Jesus had God raised up where of your all witnesses not done therefore being by the right hand of God exalted and having received to the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost he has shed forth this which he now see in here this is what he was saying in John 16 it's expedient that I go away if I don't go away the comforter won't come to you I must go I've got many things to say to you right now but you can't handle them right now and then he goes on in John 17 father restore me to the glory I had I've done all that you've asked me to do so he says here what you see now is essentially what was promised for David is not ascended into the heavens but he's safe with himself the Lord saith unto my lord sit down on my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool more scripture therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ now when they heard this they were pricked in their heart now tell me something the word pricked in their heart it's an interesting term it occurs here and to other places specifically one of the uses is for when they pierced Christ's side they were pricked in their hearts from just that preaching from that word and they said unto Peter and the rest of the Apostles men and brethren what shall we do then Peter said unto them repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift gift of the Holy Ghost for the promise is unto you into your children to all that are afar off even as many as the Lord our God shall call so it's kind of interesting the proclamation that was given by power Dunamis on that day the revelation and the reception the hearing all activated and culminated in the act of those people it's a different Greek word from John 16:8 but the concept is there to bring about the reality something is not right with me something is messed up I'm not on the right track and not just the conviction and the convincing and the rebuke and the reproof of that but also the setting in a right place they asked what do we need to do what should we do now if you think this is a soul event you're solely sorely mistaken it says the same thing of Stephen now mind you they stoned him but he preached they said this was a man full of the Holy Spirit and with his preaching by the way many came under the same conviction you've got the same reaction with Peters preaching with Stephens preaching and with Paul's preaching and it is the proclamation that is in dude with dynamite from the Word of God not just words not wisdom of the world but what God has revealed and made plain at the same time the ability that God is given by placing the gift which is why I taught on the word Arab own that part deposit something that has been placed in the believer for your simple faith in Christ given to you a part of God's nature if you will enabling you to receive to hear the revelation the Word of God and to begin you are not making the change the change is happening inside of you I love what dr. Scott used to say it's like coming in contact with radioactive material your cell structure will be changed you will not be aware of it but things are gonna change inside your body this is what's going on but not against your will God won't do anything against your will but he says whosoever will who will come who can receive arms are open to receive arms are open whosoever will act by the way something that's quite staggering do you think all the people on that day that heard Peter preaching all came and were saved no I don't think so started with a hundred and twenty and it ends with three thousand but I guarantee you there are more people listening not all not all came and were added to the church that day many and many continued to be added but again if you keep looking for these evidences of what how God is operating in the life of the believer he's given a gift to each person who has come to receive remember what I started off by saying from John as many as received him he gave them the power exuse here the right the authority to become the sons of God born from above without this you have a band of people gathered together who will not be interested this is why if you go into a church and the Word of God is not being opened up you have a band of people who are interested in walking around we'll call it collectively representing themselves as the Church of Jesus Christ but there is no power there is no interest there is no motivation there is no feeling of the depth of depravity for others who don't hear in fact there's indifference there's an idea somehow that it doesn't really matter as long as what the pastor says makes me feel good and in the smallest amount of time pastor keep your preaching to about 5 10 15 minutes make me feel good tell me things that are good about me tell me all the things that I want to hear that make me feel good so I can leave here and I can feel good about me because it's not what it's about ultimately you feeling good about the natural you God forgive my trying to make a joke of that but the point is that the conviction that comes it's a marvelous wonder this is why there are many people who as I said can come and they cannot receive so when we talk about this gift God is given I want to make sure that you understand why I'm peeling back very carefully and maybe quite methodically to make a point about something you know the years I spent grieving over people with the recognition that they had already grieved the spirit away they had already moved the gift that God had given them aside for something else for in their eyes what was right and proper and I guess the definition of sin in the Bible all we like sheep have gone astray we've gone everyone to our own way I've put back on my blinders now and the best that I can do is blame somebody else for putting them back on because I chose something more important than the Word of God I chose something more important than obeying the Word of God I chose something more important than following the very thing that led me to the first place where I said this is where I belong and to whom much is given much is required you will never come into the kingdom of God and be given some free pass to be excused from the bumps and the divots and all the other deviations you know that won't happen you can know this though God has given us the spirit of a sound mind and not the spirit of fear God's given us the ability to know if we're really truly looking conviction to be able to even at the moment of seeing something just beginning to slip say I'm I'm losing my grip lord help me to get back I don't want to grieve away the gift you've given me now this is one of those wake-up calls where you say wake up folks because as simplistic as the text is there's complexities underneath it all not coming in and saying yeah I smugly know everything and I know how it works no man no one can the only thing that we can do is share to edify and build up the faith the faith and strengthen the body of this what we call the Church of Jesus Christ to make sure we are not neglecting the gift not grieving the spirit and recognizing God has given me some piece of equipment forgive me God for saying it like this to whom I yield my members to to whom I desire and need all the help and every guidance in every way and it says when the Spirit has come he will guide us in all truth elsewhere it says the word is true and this is why without the word being preached faith cannot come and you come back - how can people be quickened and brought to conviction of sin and that is not believing not trusting not fading in Christ for the sufficiency of what Christ did at the cross else by the Spirit of God which was given unto the church for the express purpose of equipping the Saints for service unto Him and how can you serve if you're not even set aright now this is why I've told you many times it pays to go back into the scripture if you feel a little bit off today go back into the scripture read what David penned in Psalm 51 because David had some great understanding we should greatly benefit from the sin that we commit the worst one is against the Lord and against the gift that he's given us when he is here his presence is here to help us and to guide us and we keep trying to push and push away and I'll do it in my own strength and I can forge through this thing no Lord I need your help I need your guidance I want to go be with you where you are on that day when you call me away I want to be where you are I don't want to be somewhere else I want to be in your presence and I know the only way to be in your presence on that day is to be following after you in the now so I'm telling you and I'm take it first to myself and I pass it on to you neglect not the gift don't look upon the equipment given say I don't have anything you've been given a lot it's time to start earnestly thanking and praising God for the ability to have the sight to see the ears to hear the receivers turned on and that God is not with all of our follies in our lifetime God is not his Spirit has not departed us but rather still gives us guidance has given us the gift of His Word and the desire to seek after that word and change our mind from our way towards him and his that's my message you've been watching me pastor Melissa Scott live from Glendale California faith Center if you would like to attend the service with us Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m. simply call

Channel: Pastor Melissa Scott, Ph.D.

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Keywords: pastor melissa scott, pastor scott, pastor melissa scott exposed, faith center, faith center church, faith center glendale, holy spirit, the activity of the holy spirit, holy spirit series, the person and works of the holy spirit, the person of the holy spirit, acts 2 kjv, revelation and repentance, the work of the holy spirit, repentance, the word of God, recognize Christ, failure, seed of the spirit, grieve the holy spirit, don't grieve the holy spirit, reprove sin

Id: U9qwVQ-vw1A

Length: 58min 2sec (3482 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 27 2018