Paul Washer - The Importance of Prayer for Christians

well again it's a great privilege to be with you here today especially in light of the the message that we just heard it is it is always so spectacular to have Christ publicly portrayed pastor if if you truly want your people to serve Him then present Christ before them as crucified and it's raised from the dead on their behalf explain to them the inner workings of the cross it is the mystery of all true godliness it is the very catalyst of true piety truly converted people they do not need to be driven with a whip they just need to know the love of God in the person of Jesus Christ you know I preached last night on the sufferings of Christ and the Forsaken ax suffer the Whitney preached on the forsaken estándar sufferings of Christ and I told dr. Becky you know every minister who got up here every one of them could have taken the same text preached on the same thing and it would not have been old to any of us that know him as a matter of fact we all could have take this taken the same manuscript and read it and for those who are truly converted each time it would have been beautiful and each time there would have been something different manifested and for me I have to tell you something it there are many of you here and many of the preachers I've preached with here before who know the cross so much far more than I do and any preach on it so faithfully but I have to tell you something in God's providence in God's providence not it not because of anyone's fault that's the first time in all the years of my life that I have been preaching and I have listened to another man in pulpit talk about Christ being crushed under the wrath of God and it's not because there are preachers here are unfaithful in preaching it there are faithful men here but into the God's providence it's the first time I ever saw someone else do that and and I learned something I saw the power of preaching because I've read Spurgeon and who portrays the cross better than Spurgeon our Edwards our Flavel I've read them but I can say that today hearing it expounded it had more power than when I read it in a book that that excites me men the cross get to know the Christ of the Cross therein lies the power of everything the mystery of true godliness and anytime you stray away from that and you put anything before the gospel its doctrines of demons if it's drawing you away from the cross well one other thing I want to say before I get to my message and I want you to know that flattery is not only an offense to God but it's an offense to the man that you're flattering but I have to say something almost everywhere I go in the United States any time I talk about prayer or devotion some seminary student comes up to me I can't tell you how many times and when I get done teaching they say do you know Don Whitney and I go yeah weii well sort I met him once why he taught me to pray he taught me about devotion I mean I was learning so many big thoughts and big things but I had gotten away from my time alone with God and when I took his class God showed me that all that other stuff although it is so important if I don't meet with him it's meaningless and I want you to know in this rise of expository preaching there are two things that I would like to see along with it first of all like I said last night if exposit if they walk away from your church talking about your ex posite ori preaching or your handling of the text I'm sorry that's idolatry expository preaching only has value to the degree that it directs the faces of God's people to God and to Christ so I want and not just expository preaching but Christ centered spirit-empowered expository preaching other than that you're just giving people history lessons or moral lessons the other thing I would like to see an elevation of prayer because it is even though their intellect was expansive the Puritans and it's hard at times to follow them and and I don't hey I love the Puritans but let me throw the early Baptist in there also there are a lot of godly men out there and and it is easier to follow their intellect than it is to imitate their piety never forget talking about the theology of David Brainerd it was the theology of David brainer that that drove him to his knees in the snow until icicles are basically hanging from his face as he weeps over the Indians of New England prayer now I'm going to I'm going to talk about I'm going to go to a different places and just because prayer deserves a conference in itself but I want you to go to Matthew five because I want to lay a foundation and I'm going to be moving quickly and this probably won't be the the best of methodology of preaching or whatever but I want to communicate several things to you today before I start though let me say this I want people to pray as I want to pray more but I also do not want to drive good men and good women I do not want to heap condemnation upon them we should all be able to communicate truth through the scripture but not every one of us is a dr. Lawson we should all give and tithe but not all of us have the gift of giving we should all evangelize but not all of us are Ray Comfort in the same way we should all pray but I also believe that there are people specifically gifted who can go farther in this in prayer it's a grace that God has given them I don't want you to try to imitate someone else I want you to go to Christ I want you to abide in him I want you to rest in him and I do want you to pray but I don't want some other man to be your standard that's false secondly I want you to know this I have discovered in my own life I've discovered also in the lives of other men and my wife is always reminding me this there are times and seasons of greater prayer according to the deed now we need to pray everyday but there are also times and seasons of Prayer my wife will remind me you know I'll say to her you know I I'm not praying as I was before and she says yes but you're studying now more than you were there are times it seems when God will lead me into a season of Prayer when it's prayer prayer prayer and in the end I always see the reason for it and even though I must pray every day there are also times when there's more time given to either public ministry or more time given to to the study of Scripture or the administration of the and so I also don't want you to be comparing different stages of your life that is extremely dangerous now one other thing that I want to share about prayer there was a time in my life when prayer and I'm just going to say this because it's true prayer was as easy as breathing and and it was it was no problem whatsoever for me to go hours and hours a day in prayer now I wondered why everyone else didn't pray that way well God answered my question then I came to a time when I couldn't pray like that and I have to be honest with you I've never been able to duplicate those few years of prayer again in my life now again let's not make an excuse for prayerlessness but I do not want condemnation to be heaped upon you what the Lord showed me was he in His Providence he wanted me to pray like that and he gave me the will and he empowered me to do so do you see what I'm saying and for all my discipline and everything else I have never been able to duplicate that there have been a few times right before something was going to happen either the mission or the mission feel when the Lord again enabled me to pray like that but what I learned was this those times of exceptional prayer did not come from exceptional piety it was the Providence of God mysterious working of His grace they gave the will and the power to do so do you say so I always see Christians walking around just full of condemnation and all sorts of things about what they're not in their prayer life and I don't want to add to that I want to admonish you to pray but within your callings within your giftings and within the Providence of God in your life okay now let's look at Matthew 5 look at verse 13 because we're kind of talking about missions also you are salt of the earth but if the salt has become tasteless how can it be made salty again it is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men now we hear this verse all the time and it's usually used in order to build up or support a militant type of Christianity you know let's have Jesus marches let's go out into the street let's do this and do that because we're the salt let's get the salt out of the salt shaker onto the meat and we hear all these wonderful sermons on this well that the problem is is this as we've been taught this verse there's some other verses around this verse and they really help us I think to understand something that I rarely hear about this text now first of all what I believe he's saying is this salt has certain properties certain elements - salt certain distinctive characteristics now you take those characteristics away you no longer have salt you take those characteristics away and you even put good characteristics in their place and guess what you still no longer have salt so Jesus is saying there are certain elements or characteristics to true discipleship that will impact the world that will impact the world now what are they blessed are the poor in spirit blessed are those who mourn blessed are the gentle blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness blessed are the merciful blessed are the pure in heart blessed are the peacemakers that blessed are those who have been persecuted do you want to know what will advance the kingdom of God do you know what will make you true disciple it's not your militant activity it's not some program that worked in another church it's the people of God growing in Christ's likeness and in growing like Christ's likeness they actually become these Beatitudes that is power character virtue is our after all the world's heard a lot of noise from the church Leonard Ravenhill used to say everybody wants to give Christianity a new definition what the world is waiting for is a new demonstration of Christianity now why do I say that well because at the top of this list is blessed are the poor in spirit blessed are those who recognize their absolute dependence upon God and this is where I'm very afraid I really am even for this seeming renewal and Reformation especially young guys listen to me this reformed truth is not just about soteriology and it's mostly most certainly not just about Calvinism it is about a high view of God a mighty magnificent God who now you're going to say Amen but some of you aren't going to know what your remaining when you say Amen who doesn't need all your cleverness who doesn't need your contextualization who doesn't need your relevancy who doesn't need all the things you think you need to reach certain groups of people when in fact the church a church plant should never seek to reach a certain group of people because the beauty of the church is that the local church is not made up of just rich people are just poor people are just young people the beauty and power of the church is all these different people who normally wouldn't get along are all together so actually in all your cleverness you're fighting against God and you're making his church look deformed now you know why I preach in a lot of places once but I will continue saying this my friend don't talk to me about a high view of God if you are going to trust in the arm of the flesh the more you cut yourself off from the arm of the flesh the more you will see the power of God it is Gideon's call and so many people that are experts and so many things do not even understand a simple Bible story the Gideon's call Gideon mighty mighty warrior can you imagine he's hiding go get an army your army is too big it's still too big why is it too big because if you have a big army then after you get this victory you'll write a book and it'll come out in life way and you'll be telling everybody how you did it no he's jealous for his glory that's why give me one preacher one preacher with an open Bible who sees himself absolutely dependent upon God and refuses to look for another aid other than proclamation of the word intercessory prayer and sacrificial love blessed are the poor in spirit now let me just what does this have to do with prayer everything everything weakness you looking in and seeing poverty is not an obstacle to effectiveness it's not an obstacle it is the catalyst the problem is we don't see our weakness you say oh I reckon oh no no listen to me seeing your weakness is also a work subject to sanctification when you're brand new believer you say Jesus is your all-in-all thirty years later it means a lot more it's the same way I can do nothing apart from him John 15 is clear even to the new believer but what must happen years and years and years of the Providence of God faithfully working to weaken you to show you you really do not understand the text and God is constantly working this is the reason for trials this is the reason for failures this is the reason for obstacles that you cannot overcome in the flesh God constantly throwing them before us why to weaken us to show us we can not so that we will do what so that we will cling to him as a person so that we will cling to his word for direction so that we will live a life of prayer so that we will live a life of prayer now the problem is I counseled several people last night that I saw was all of them talking about their weakness and even talking about their failure and their sins sincere believers struggling in these areas but what I always notice is whenever weakness is revealed even in the form of our own sin weakness is revealed that the devil enters in and he tells us he lies to us that that weakness should drive us from Christ that we should get away from him that should go to the penalty box that were no longer worthy or useful or all these things and it causes us to distract ourselves it causes us to remove ourselves from Christ but what you need to see is that every weakness revealed to you and even your own moral failure when it happens when you sin it should be the catalyst that drives you straight to Christ that's what Paul is constantly having his weakness revealed to him he's constantly badgered why he had received so much from God so many graces so much knowledge so much usefulness it was necessary it was necessary and so I want you to know that when you invite especially Joe it is very good at this in the book school of Calvary when you and when you decide that you want to be used of God you say God I want to be for you and I want to be used by you you must understand that if you are sincere if God answers that prayer then you will enter the rest of your life into the school of Calvary it is the school of suffering and to the degree that God uses a man or a woman there will be suffering I'm sorry but that's the way it is it really is you may look at some man who you think is mightily used of God that seems to be carried or this or that but behind the scenes you don't know what he suffers but I can tell you this he suffers something because we must be constantly made aware of our weakness so that we constantly cling to God I hope that most of you young men going out to plant churches with with all sorts of ideas of culture and relevancy and programs and plans and this and that I hope that God will crush everything you do everything I sincerely do not because I'm trying to be angry or I'm old school or this or that no I want you at the end of your days leaning on your staff when someone asks you from where did the effectiveness come you raise your right hand to heaven and say with Jonah salvation is of the Lord now let's let's look at it like I said there's a thousand sermons right there but let's let's go now just to mark really quick chapter 1 mark chapter 1 I want you to know that if you read mark I had a New Testament professor tell me this and I agree with it if you read mark correctly you will be breathing heavy really because I mean just in the first chapter you know immediately immediately immediately the transition word is immediately it's like snapshots of Jesus so fast so quick I mean it is amazing the amount of ministry going on here and something that I want you to know especially you young men if you are ministering in your giftedness in the power of the Holy Spirit virtue will go out from you it'll drain a man it will drain a man it truly will and that applies to us also it will drain us but I want you to look at something if you look in mark chapter one and again I would love to read the whole text but we just simply do not have time if you look in verse 29 of chapter one you see that Jesus is healing people he's doing all sorts of things and then immediately he goes from one place to another he's in the mother-in-law's he's in Simon's mother-in-law's house he's healing her he's doing all sorts of things and then we get to verse 32 when evening came after the Sun had set they began bringing to him all those who were ill and those who were demon possessed in the whole city was gathered at the door and He healed many who were ill with various diseases and cast out many demons and he was not permitting the demons to speak because they knew who he was now let me give me an idea what's going on here I've seen something like this I remember one time up in the mountains of a Ibaka in Peru we were having a Bible conference some of the poorest mountain people you've ever seen but there was a great work of God because of it of an indigenous pastor by the name of uncle Coleman artist it left in its wake something like 500 churches and I mean real churches not Bible studies talking about churches with pastors and and so there are about 1,100 mountain men gathered up on this mountain and their wives and everything and they're singing and sleeping in the dirt and I had come there but I had brought a friend with me who was a doctor and I'm not kidding you the people found out that my friend was a doctor now he had not brought any instruments he didn't have much medicine it said some salve and things like that but they found out he was a doctor for three days they stood in line relentlessly he could not get out of the little mud hut if he tried to get out to go to the bathroom he was followed these were desperate people no doctor for the first time in twenty thirty years some of them had a chance to see a doctor they wore him out he was absolutely totally exhausted I was his translator it was it was just it was unbelievable almost to the point of good people becoming violent because this was their only hope now this is something of what we've got going on here I mean virtue remember when one person was healed from crisis if virtue went out from him now look what he's doing he's taking on Satan's Kingdom he's casting out demons he's healing people all sorts of things are going on the whole city had gathered there and then look what it says in verse 35 in the early morning while it was still dark Jesus got up left the house and went away to a secluded place and was praying there now again I want to say this ministers need sleep they do and this does not mean Jesus spent three years without sleep and so again I don't want us to take this and I don't want to especially a lot of young Christians to heap condemnation on themselves but I do want to make some very important points here first of all remember that although Jesus was God and I said this last night we have spent so much time in evangelicalism and all throughout the history of Christianity defending the deity of Christ that sometimes we forget what it meant for him to be a man and I want you to know it's a wonderful book called power without measure written by some brothers in the United brother in the United Kingdom and he talks about Christ as the man and that what he did he did in the power of the Holy Spirit and that's why we can identify with him it just wasn't easy because he was God he did this as a man he is tired he is afflicted unlike so many people think when he took a body when he took our flesh and blood he was not a super man although he was without sin his body was a body that wasn't pre-fall Adam it was a body that was subject to all the maladies although he was pure all the maladies that afflict us physically but look what he does in this case it says early in the morning while it was still dark so all right he's ministering while it's dark now while it is still dark he gets up and he went away to a secluded place and was praying there now if you'll look some things that are very important verse 36 Simon and his companions searched for him they found him and said to him everyone's looking for you now let's just look at that for a moment I don't know if this was the attitude of Simon but he says everyone's looking for you and it's almost like he's saying don't you care I mean there's ministry to be done there's nurse people that are hurting and you've gone off to a secluded place that reminds me of me that reminds you of you or at least reminds me of you there's so much to do there's so many hurting people and the devil even you know it's like the pastor who decides is going to take a vacation goes out on the beach picks up a shell and wants to listen to the sea and when he puts it to his ear he hears the voice what kind of pastor are you running around the beach when your flocks suffering you know and the devil the devil will even when you decide I need to separate myself I need to spend time in the Word of God I need to pray I need to seek God virtue has gone out of me I need to be strengthened and it be a voice saying but there are people calling their people who need you listen to me my wife's greatest need is to have a husband who spends time in the presence of God I mean she can't do anything with me but she knows God can the greatest need of the people to whom I minister is that I spend time in the presence of God if you're you're here with your elder or pastor you need to know something and you need to stand behind this you're if you really want your children to hear from God out of that man if you want biblical counseling coming out of his mouth then here's what you're going to have to do you're going to have to convince the entire church he needs to be alone with God martyn lloyd-jones said it was just so sad that a man will become effective and powerful and preaching and in ministry and pastoring and then that man will abandon the very things that made him effective and powerful which is alone with God and his word alone with God in prayer now here because I can't get to a lot of other texts that I want to teach let me tell you something about at least for me there is prayer with my boots on and there is prayer with my boots off and if I do not keep it personally for me if I do not keep those two things separate I'm in a lot of trouble first of all you say what is this okay prayer with my boots on when I'm going to go to work I'm going to go feed cattle or whatever I'm going to put my boots on that's what I'm referring to you're going to go cut wood split lumber you're gonna put your boots on there is prayer that is work and to learn this is very very helpful because a lot of people will tell me you know I just don't have the gift of intercession because it's hard and I go yes it's hard it's work you're going to get on your knees you're going to pray you're going to fight the kingdom of Satan you're going to lift men up to God you're going to wrestle with deity yes it's hard there are nations without the gospel it's not going to come down because because you just you know send somebody over there with a new mission program those walls come down through prayer it's hard it's horrible it is work it will exhaust you and personally I really don't like to do it that much it's hard it's wrestling now if that's all your prayer life is you're going to be in trouble after a while then there's prayer with my boots off what's that it's me just sitting there communing with God speaking to God God speaking to me I love to take walks just to be alone with him walk out in the woods just just walk talk to him get a cup of coffee get up in early in the morning when no one is or is has gotten up out of bed just sit there with God talk to him watch snow talk to him I mean just talk to him about everything commune with him fellowship with him so that eventually this communion breaks out of the boundaries of a specific time and what happens is you are practicing the presence of God and he becomes in your mind you become conscious of God more than any person that you can see with your own eyes now I am prone to experience usar pearl ative my wife tells me you know I've never it's the best food I've ever eaten it's the biggest deer I ever saw it's all these things okay and I have to be aware of that even in my preaching but listen to me I'm not kidding you there's more than just me claiming a verse that God is here because he said he would be here there's a sin and awareness of God from being in the scriptures from meditating in the scriptures from practicing the presence of God from praying and and I want you to see that your people need a god word man they do now that's going to manifest itself in so many different ways and some men it manifests itself and may be powerful preaching and others wisdom and others just a gentle christ-like spirit I mean it's it manifests itself in so many ways and we shouldn't compare ourselves but everybody this world your wife the congregation your children they all need a man with something of Christ on his face and that comes from spending time with Christ I mean even under the limited Old Covenant the face of Moses was glowing you know it's so sad to me when I have young men walk up to me and they'll go brother Paul man I wish I lived in - under the Old Covenant and said really yeah when you could actually know God but honestly they learn that from us don't they we're in the New Covenant you know those promises in Jeremiah they will all know me don't ever separate positional righteousness from a practice righteousness okay don't ever separate when you talk about gnosis when you talk about knowledge please never separate intellectual or propositional truth knowledge of that from experience from intimacy from a personal relationship don't ever do that personal relationship I shouldn't use that word because it's become a meaningless cliche what I'm trying to say is you can know God we I don't want to please understand the context in which I'm saying this the Word of God is exalted with his name but my dear friend you have more than a book you have a Living God and one of the saddest things is because of the heresy of so many radical charismatic groups and everything else it seems that we've just thrown out our heritage I refuse to do that Jehovah Witness comes to my house knocks on door said who are you they said Jehovah Witnesses I said come on in so am I now listen to him for about five minutes and I go sir you lied to me you're not a witness for Jehovah I'm a witness for Jehovah now just sit down and let me tell you what Jehovah wants you to know you see our cares man I'm charismatic me too let me tell you something if you're not charismatic you're lost we have received the Holy Spirit and I'm not going to let someone else take my heritage and I'm not going to be afraid of really staunch II proud reform guys that I spook when I talk like this I'm not going to do it you're not going to take my freedom from me in any ways I'm a Baptist so everyone knows we read slow anyway so it really doesn't matter there's so much more out there brothers and sisters than what I know and you know there's some men here that know more than us but there's so much more out there of the knowledge and presence communion with God than even they know there's so much more than what we're going for and I want you to know I love propositional truth I love theology and all these things but I want to tell you something that's not my delight Christ walking with Him knowing him a sense of his love his peace the love of God shed abroad in my heart I want to tell you something that's something you experience now let's go on let's go to gosh there's so many places let's go for a minute to the book of John and chapter 15 I just want to show you something here this as you know chapter 15 if we had time to go through the context of the whole thing you know this is extremely important these are some of the last words of Jesus to his I mean before his death before his resurrection I mean he is really he is really teaching some things I mean fundamental things to his people and here's some of the things that I want you to see that are so extremely important when we get to Matthew 15 he's saying look you can't do anything apart from me period period now in this desire to define our position in Christ which needs to be done and that is the foundation of everything sometimes in our desire to talk about our positional standing before Christ and our positional union with him and everything else we stopped there and what it does is it leads us to presumption well I'm United with Christ I mean I'm in Christ I know that but Jesus talks about within that standing not presuming upon anything but asking asking asking look what he says in verse 7 if you abide in me and my words abide in you ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you you know sometimes if we'd spend more time believing this instead of trying to explain it away if we childlike faith we believed this more we would see more of the glory of God and then gone look look down there verse 16 you did not choose me but I chose you and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit this is absolutely amazing and he says end that your fruit would remain so that whatever you ask of the Father in my name he may give to you do you see again all throughout this text fruitfulness is aligned with abiding in Christ is word abiding in us but it is aligned with prayer sometimes when I'm teaching on prayer someone will come up and ask me you'll what about the decrees of God I said I love the Westminster Confession what you're talking about I love it well do you believe that God before the foundation of the world decreed and all these absolutely do you believe then we need to pray though yeah absolutely I believe he decreed everything before the foundation of the world I believe you have not because you ask not and yeah I could sit here for the next two hours I have read some field theology books on the Providence of God and I could talk to you about all the different nuances of what that could mean but I don't really want to waste my time on that I'm just wanting to do this I just want to believe what God says it's not so important I put it all together as it is that I just believe it I stand on the firm foundation of an absolute sovereign God and I know that I have not because I ask not I know that he has he has dug out the paths of righteousness in which I am and you are and the church is supposed to walk and will walk and yet I cannot presume upon this one of the means is prayer and he gets great glory and answering prayer it abounds and thankfulness when God does something that he is petitioned to do by his people what I want you to see is that it's not expository preaching expository preaching and okay and you need to pray to of course everybody knows that that's not the way Jesus looked at it oh I can't say more than then should be sad about expository preaching but I've heard some expository preaching that was deader than a doornail it was perfect and it was dead because it wasn't bathed in prayer don't presume upon God we are called upon to pray if we want to bear bear fruit we are to a to pray to pray to give ourselves to prayer but not you know not in some sort of monastic anguish in which we think that somehow we're going to wrench something out of the hands of God absolutely not we pray joyfully expecting great things from God to step out and believe him to walk upon the water to call on his name to live a life of risk is the only way to live it is the only way to live my brothers the harbour is safe but the three sides of that Harbor can become so common so dull cast out cast out believe your God believe him he is faithful but he is faithful if in believing you cut yourself off from Saul's armor and go only out with a sling and the smooth stones of the gospel some of you who are thinking about planting churches you need to stop where you're at you need to take off Saul's armor and I don't care who put it on you whether it's some huge church or the Southern Baptist Convention take it off and go out with smooth stones of the gospel and sling your sling sow your seed whatever happened to just going out and preaching a gospel knocking on doors visit people in the marketplace in praying and praying and praying whatever happened to that I'll tell you what happened with it's not clever it's not slick it's scandalous and people will make fun of you but it is in the scandal it is in the scandal but the power is revealed now again I wish I could just spend a day on each one of these but I just want to jump over I want to touch on just a few things I want us to go to Luke for just a moment I want you to be encouraged at how much you can believe him let me give you a recommendation to read now my dear friend Mack Tomlinson has done the huge vault volume on George Mueller and it's a wonderful work but there's also a little one about this big the autobiography of George Mueller and and I've got it on my desk I got it when I was 22 years old it sits on my desk the pages are torn they're yellow and everything but that man has been apart from the Apostle Paul the greatest influence in my life you can trust God you can trust God now let's go to Luke chapter 11 just quickly verse 1 it happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place after he had finished one of his disciples said to him Lord teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples now this is one of those truths that is so overlooked I mean you really you and I should be amazed I mean really amazed let's just look at the context of this Jesus cast out demons now that is a demonstration of power Jesus walked on water Jesus raised the dead and we don't we do not have an account anywhere in the Gospels where the disciples say teach me to cast out demons I'm so impressed with this teach me to watch it walk on water teach me how to raise the dead but they come to Jesus and they say teach us to pray that tells me that maybe maybe the most impressive all inspiring thing that Jesus did in his earthly ministry was pray could you imagine could you always hear people say I'd love if I could you see anything I would want to see Paul preaching on Mars Hill if I could see anything first of all I'd want to have the gift of the interpretation tongue so I could understand him but I would want to see Jesus praying now I'm going to say this to myself and I'm saying it to you and I don't want to hurt me and I don't want to hurt you but I just want to say it so we'll both learn has anyone ever come up to us and said pastor teach me to pray the way you pray now that's not to be depressed about if no one ever has but it is something to think about isn't it it's something to think about Ravenhill used to talk about a man who was so given to prayer the Ravenhill one time the story goes I think walked in on him and he was praying and it so took Ravenhill back that he said he walked out the door but he said he didn't turn around he just backed out of the room and someone said why did you back out of the room and he said because you don't turn your back on law on royalty a lot of people will say brother Paul just name someone that's been a big influence in your life I go ok baylard zukie like who's baylard zukie he runs a gravel pit in Iowa really well what what church is he alright don't get upset he's Wesleyan holiness I'm dear man that discipled me for many many years still does watches over me he always talked to me about this man that had such an impact on his life and so one day I realized I was going to get to meet him and I was like really reserved because again I know what superlatives are like you know everything's bigger than life and I sitting there in the church and the man got up in the pulpit he glowed he wasn't that you know he wasn't a preacher he wasn't anything they just asked him to pray and I saw him just bow his face a little bit and he said Oh oh Jesus and you just see the tears running down his face it wasn't an act it wasn't drama wasn't emotionalism and you just began to weep this was man who spent a great portion of his life in the presence of Jesus and I went up to him and I just it's like whenever I see something that I see a man that God has done something to in in I just want to grab them I want to get close to them because in some ways things aren't so much taught as they are caught I said oh brother sit with me sir please sit with me for a while bless me pray with me the presence of Christ it can't be fabricated you can fake a lot of things but you can't fake that and what's wonderful my dear brothers and sisters not all of us are gifted the same way not all of us have the same intellect and all these other things but we all have wide access to the throne of God in Christ that scepter has been extended to us so we have no fear like Esther it will never be retracted you can go there you can but you say brother Paul I'm the weakest then then you're given first seat so I just want you to look look at this this amazing text you know he tells us about prayer and then he says in verse 5 then he said to them suppose one of you as a friend and goes to him at night and says to him friend lend me three loaves for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey and I have nothing to set before him and from inside he answers and says do not bother me the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed I cannot get up and give you anything verse 8 I tell you even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is a friend yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he NEADS so I say to you ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find knock and it will be open to you for everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds and to him who knocks it will be open you know this if you're you're up on your scriptures you know eluc has a similar event going on a similar story but it's about an unjust judge who doesn't fear God doesn't care about people and we have this this an impotent we have the poorest most powerless person in Hebrew salt a social structure this Widow he said get her out of here she can't do anything for me if I do her a favor she's just nothing she has no cause to come in here she has no one rooting for her there's no one on her side not gonna help her but because of her persistence she wins the day now don't try to protect God he doesn't need your protection don't now break into a diatribe in your mind on sovereignty again God doesn't need your protection it's God's the one speaking this to us and what he's saying is I'm not unjust and I'm not even your judge I'm your father how much more will I do for you I remember one time I have a new believers manual that we've used in Latin America that remember I was very young when I first wrote it and I was going up into the mountains and I'd always take them with me to hand him out and I'd give them to pastors and they'd go through them and that's the way we would train pastors and this young guy who wasn't a pastor was just kind of a new believer as soon as I got there he said I want a manual by mail mom whether they're mano Pablo just chasing me everywhere everywhere I went every day I get up in the morning wake up get up out of bed there he'd be I want to manual and I would tell him son you can't have a manual I only have a certain amount and I've given them to the pastors and I have one left in case a pastor comes another one but I want it at lunch I want the manual at supper I want them finally take it please just take it leave me alone let me ask you a question does this describe anything in your life are you familiar with this phrase wrestling with God to rest in the sovereign decrees is absolutely beautiful but the same men who wrote those poems and those hymns about resting and God's sovereignty were also men who wrestled with God wrestled with God do you wrestle with God you know years ago when I was in Peru and I was pastoring a church there that I had planted and for some how a lot of different people from different charismatic churches and stuff started coming and they would learn new things they learn teaching they would learn the error and all this different thing it was really beautiful people getting converted and all sorts of things but one very sincere man who was who was very charismatic when he first came to our church but he loved the Lord he'd been genuinely converted all he needed was some good solid teaching you know what he said to me one day after a year-and-a-half of sitting under my teaching he said brother Paul I bless God that I've learned so much from the pulpit and I bless God there's so much more solidity in my life I've learned to rest in the sovereignty of God said but also something sad and I said what brother he said it seems like this kind of faith just writes off everything to the sovereignty of God but when I was wrong theologically he said if someone told me they were sick I went and prayed for him if someone told me they were in financial but I went I'd fight I pray all night we'd fast we'd do all kinds of things and he said brother Paul we saw victory after victory after victory here I've just learned to become passive is that what I'm supposed to do you talk about a wake-up call oh my you know I love it when when Sovereign Grace people a lot of times say sovereign believing in the sovereignty God doesn't hinder evangelism I go yet does for at least some of you believing the sovereignty of God doesn't hinder prayer yes it does for some of you be very careful brothers my pastor Anthony was here gave an illustration a while back about some what he was wanting to know the the the doctrine of someone and the way they practice it because he was unsure about one thing in their in their ministry and in their their way of doing things so he he went and he heard the person speak and the person says some people think that were we're all about this one thing and we emphasize this one thing well I've got an answer for you that's not true ix prove it's not true just go look at our doctrinal statement but just because you've got it in your doctrinal statement doesn't mean it's a reality in your life just because you say it with your mouth doesn't mean it's a reality there is a sense and I want to be very careful here but there is a sins in which a man of God and please again I'm just saying this because I want to try to get something across to you and and this is we see this in Scripture we see this in Luther we see this in so many men that men of God are kind of wild they're kind of crazy you say welcome brother Paul you definitely qualify as a man of God but they will wrestle with God they will I mean there are times when is like Lord you brought me here you said you would help me in prayer you said that you'd help me in that sermon I got up and I fell flat on my face what was the problem Lord I'm not going to stay here we need to work this out because I've got to preach tomorrow and I really if someone would come into my hotel room they would bring the police lord you said you said go into all the world we're trying to get in this one place in India but the door is always closed Lord you're the only one that can open it you know your David you open they can't close it you close it they can't open it Lord I'm going to stay here I can't stand the fact that that door remains closed it shouldn't be closed because you said the whole world that's part of the world you need guess sometimes we're just too refined aren't we he says give me no rest give me no peace Watchmen on the wall brothers there's a tenacity there's a boldness in praying I want to be not out of my mind eccentric but I don't want to die not having believed the promises and wrestling for them there's so much more so much more that can be done but it won't fall before all your church planting gizmos that mountain won't be cast into the sea because you've just got some new mission methodology written by a PhD student who's never done missions it will fall because you believe your God in prayer now let's go on and I'm going to I want you to look at something verse 11 for suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for fish he will not give him a snake instead of a fish Willy or if he is asked for an egg he will not give him a scorpion Willy if you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him now there's a controversial text I mean why didn't he say something else why didn't he just say answer the prayer let me recommend to you men before I tried to touch this just for a moment let me recommend to you men to books that have been phenomenally helpful to me and I recommend them any time I'm talking about the Holy Spirit the first one is both of them are written by the same author by Ian Marie the first one is revival and revivalism which exposes many of the things that are so wrong in our country with regard to evangelicalism in our own lives and the other companion volume to that is what ought to take its place and the book is written the title is Pentecost today question mark now again I want you to consider the source this is Ian Murray who Spurgeon and Martin lloyd-jones are two of my most favorite preachers Ian Murray was of course an assistant to Martin lloyd-jones I am a student in a sense in a very limited way because I'm very limited man but of the Welsh revivals of the Calvinistic Methodists of Whitfield of Daniel Rowland's and Hal Harris the beautiful works that were done in Wales by the power of the Holy Spirit and when when we talk about the United Kingdom when at times in history there has been this beauty full wedding between the intellect and the outpouring of the holy spirit revival and I want to talk to you about that for a moment please just give me the time if I go over then all of you can leave and I'll just stand here and preach this anyways but I want to talk about this woman and again Ian Marie sets it forth far better than anything I would do especially young preacher especially read Pentecost today it's it's absolutely wonderful book now he says here give the Holy Spirit what does that mean well first of all I want us to go for just a moment to the Great Commission in Matthew verse 28 verse 18 our chapter 28 verse 18 and Jesus came up and spoke to them saying all Authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I command you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age that's the Great Commission what I want to focus on is right before it verse 16 but the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had designated when they saw him this is the Levites disciples when they saw him they worshiped him but some were doubtful now one I want to look at some things and I'm actually going to try to use notes here to be clear and hold myself in one place first of all before the RET but before the resurrection before the resurrection listen this is a description of the twelve Jesus referred to them as men of little faith they argued about who among them was the greatest in their self-righteousness and prejudice they wanted to call down fire from heaven upon their enemies once Jesus said that they were a stumbling block to him because they had not set their mind on God's interests but man's at the crucifixion they in Christ and Peter even denied him before a little servant girl now let's be honest I've done that the Holy Spirit prompts you to witness to a little girl behind the counter at a hotel and you're afraid she'll laugh all in all they were not great men a value of valor virtue or insight but in the very words of Jesus they were foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets had spoken now that's you said well brother Paul that's prior to the resurrection okay but let's look at after the resurrection we see obedience in verse 16 they proceeded to Galilee as they had been told all right we see worship they worshipped him but also what do we say they were doubtful the word there in Greek is dis da so doubtful it means to stand between two things the word is used of Peter on the sea when he's walking he became two stepping one foot in faith and the other in doubt so here's what I want you to see here we have these these men who after the resurrection they do not seem to me to be very transformed not at all but now let's look just listen after Pentecost what happens after Pentecost we no longer see wavering but we see the witness of the very thing that Jesus had promised what was that let's just listen Luke 24:49 and behold I am sending forth the promise of my father upon you but you are to stay in the city until you were clothed with power on high acts 1:8 but it but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest parts of the earth you're going to go from being afraid of a servant girl to taking on the entire Jewish nation telling that mountain to be cast in the sea and to spreading the gospel throughout the Roman Empire and what's the difference Pentecost Pentecost isn't it amazing some of you are already afraid where am I going Pentecost is the difference now I want to say something really quick he says behold I am or he says behold I am sending forth the promise of my father upon you but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high that's a promise that's a promise but you shall receive power you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you how will you know when the Holy Spirit comes upon you you shall receive power this is not just I want you to accept something positionally by faith I'm sorry it's not he said you will receive power power for what power for Proclamation power for what intercessory prayer power for what sacrificial love well let's go on what happened on the day of Pentecost first of all if we look in acts 1:8 just go there quickly it says that they were clothed look at that but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest parts of the earth it's absolutely amazing and Luke 24 let's bring this back into play I am sending forth the promise of my father upon you but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high that word clothed is the greek word in dual and and what it means is to be endued to be clothed in to be arrayed in power now let's look at the debate I know there's a great deal of debate with regarding this text but like I said I just I kind of here's what I don't want to do I don't want to spend my time up here telling you what this text does not mean so that you don't go charismatic on me I want to find out what it does mean for me and for my brothers and sisters in Christ who tell me that the church in America is languishing with so little power to be a testimony to a dark world you know there's really no sense in the New Testament the book of Acts you never see a place where the church is not having an impact never now the impact comes in two forms it could be the multiplication of disciples or the churches being slaughtered but society can't do anything with this church it's got to do something to it it's got to come to it or kill it but we live in an age when I fear as many people fear that the United States the church and the United States going to come under persecution I fear something far worse I fear that like we're going to be come like many of the churches in Europe that have so little impact on the culture itself that they're just totally ignored now I don't want to talk about all the different nuances of this text even though I'm going to tell you what I think it means I just want to ask you a question it may bring some clarity to the issue and I'm going to say this to myself and I'm going to say this to you pastor believer would you describe your life now let's throw away false humility we're not talking about being proud or exalt I just want ask you a question would you personally describe your life as endued with power would you describe your ministry as a raid with power now again I'm not I know the objections that's coming into least some of your heads well how dare we talk how dare we talk this way because he talked this way he told his church you would be a rage you would be endued with power so we need to talk this way now here's the question he said the church would look like this does your church look like this do you look like this and because I'm asking do I look like this and I think it's a very healthy question instead of just sitting there and trying to get it all entangled in all sorts of things ask yourself this question is there power and not just power for ministry but power to live it's such an important question now first of all what does this teach us I want to read something from my notes here the resurrection was a great vindication or demonstration of Christ's claims yet even this great event could not produce the needed results in the hearts of the Apostles apart from a supernatural work of the Spirit the greatest knowledge and the highest degree of certainty listen careful to the language the greatest knowledge and the highest degree of certainty regarding the Christian faith is not enough to propel a universal missionary endeavor do you see that correct doctrine and right thinking is absolutely essential to the missionary endeavor because missions is not about sending missionaries it's about sending God's truth through missionaries but it is not enough they saw him they had absolute certainty of the resurrection they touched him but they still doubted okay now let's look at Pentecost in chapter 2 first of all let me say this again I'm going to be reading a lot from my notes here we cannot build our theology by reacting against the hare seasons of our day if we do we are committing some of the same exegetical fallacies as the heretics now one thing about my people I'm Baptist one thing about us there's even a book been written about being a Baptist is we're reactionary in a sense we have to be very careful that our theology is not determined by our reaction against those who oppose us do you see that we're known to do that okay and I think that's happened not only to Baptist but Presbyterians Reform guys all throughout that sometimes we come to this text it's like I got a little you know perturbed with the question the other night on unlimited or particular atonement like when I do John 3:16 I see John 3:16 is this beautiful beautiful text that that needs to be preached I mean read Calvin on John 3:16 if you want to be evangelistic but people will grab that thing and they only want to talk about whether God loves the world or not I don't have time for that you know and it's the book of Acts you know here chapter 2 let's not look and see what this means for us Sovereign Grace guys or Reform guys let's not look at that let's just make sure no one gets close to this text you can fence the lord's table but don't fence the lord's book you don't have to protect people from it but it does have to be properly interpreted so let's not build our theology by reacting against the heresies of our day next we should not let the heretical we should not let false teachers steal our inheritance I've already talked about that listen to this this is our inheritance brother sister in Christ this is your inheritance it will come about after this that I will pour out my spirit on all mankind and your sons and daughters will prophesy your old men will dream dreams your young men will see visions even on male and female servants I will pour out my spirit in those days now instead of just relishing in the outpouring of the Spirit you're scared to death of some of those words I just used don't worry I'm going to Matthew 3:11 as for me i baptize you with water for repentance but he who is coming after me is mightier than I and I am not fit to remove his sandals he will baptize you with the spirit and fire acts 1:8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest part of the earth have you taken those as yours now they need to be taken properly but have you taken those texts as yours yours or have you given them to one day one day in the history of the church - the day of Pentecost that's where it happened that's where it started and that's where it stopped or is this your inheritance all right now let's look at some essential truths glean from Pentecost first of all it was a unique event in the history of the church we need to realize that Pentecost was a unit now some of you are breathing a little bit easier it was a unique event in the history of the church it is undeniable that there are certain aspects of Pentecost that are unique first of all it is unique as a direct fulfillment of the scriptures it was the initial moment in which the Spirit of God was poured out upon the church and you can have only one initial moment it was this great moment in history when the Spirit of God is poured out on the church also it was accompanied by unique circumstances there were tongues of fire they were speaking in tongues which do not occur again when we get to Acts chapter 4 and we as we see a similar very similar outpouring of the Holy Spirit okay that's very important there were some unique things that happen there now here's some other things that I want to glean from this some other truths and I'm going I'm going to read again to be very careful with my words it marked the beginning of an extraordinary work of the spirit that was to last throughout the entirety of the church age it marked the beginning of a new age of the Messiah and the spirit remember Joel talks about in the last days now if you have a correct understanding of the last days the last days began with the coming of the Messiah his death his resurrection his ascension to the right hand of God and those last days continue some of my dear Pentecostal friends will come up to me and go brother Paul do you think we're in the last days I go yes and they go he's one of us and then I say we've been in the last days dear brother for the last 2,000 years so so yes but here's what I want you to think now listen it marked the beginning of a new age and not the beginning and the end in one singular event I want you to think about the way we look oftentimes at this prophecy and Joel and as a matter of fact it's the only new covenant promised in the Old Testament that we look at this way Jeremiah talks about God will write his laws on their heart they will all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them no one will have to teach his brother that's a new covenant promise for the church we don't believe that happened on the day of Pentecost and then stopped do we know but when we look at this Joel thing we go that was fulfilled that happened there it's done well that's not what it says now it was fulfilled it was the initiation it was the inaugural event but this promise in Joel is for us today it is for all of us and again I'm going to explain what I mean it is wrong to think that the prophecy of Joel is fulfilled on the day of Pentecost and then comes to an end or even that it was fulfilled in the first century or that it terminated with apostles to think this is to redefine the last days as the age of the Apostles or the age of the primitive Church and that's not the way it is another thing it is wrong to think that the promise is only for the Apostolic era why do I say that the amazing thing about Joel is not that the spirit would be poured out on the leaders the Apostles but that it would be poured out on the least among God's people and that is very similar to what we have in jeremiah 31:34 when he says they will know me from the least of them to the greatest and what I really want you to start doing right now is drawing a parallel between all the other new new covenant promises that you so cherished I want you to look at Joel in light of those and if you do I think you'll begin to understand what's going on and continuing to go on throughout the life of the church now there must be some degree in which the outpouring of the Spirit should be manifest throughout the entire age of the church and not not just at its inauguration now let me go on I'm going to bring this all together if the outpouring of the Spirit is to mark the entire church age then so should the results of that outpouring mark the entire church age now what does this mean now is where I'm going to clarify things does it mean that dreams visions and tongues should be the norm in our Christian experience absolutely not and I'm going to tell you why it's not because I don't believe the Bible but I'm going to tell you why the error I believe that most sincere believers make regarding this issue of these signs and wonders and dreams and all these other things is that they fix their attention on one minut and non-essential aspect of a much greater promise they are focusing on a particular means of communicating the gift rather than the gift itself now what is Joel actually saying is Joel as a prophet delighting in the fact that the people of God will one day dream dreams see visions and speak in tongues was it the great joy and hope of the prophets that one day the people of God were going to be able to experience supernatural phenomenon no that's not the point what is the point of Joel the point is this when we talk in this case in this specific unique case about dreams and visions and them speaking in tongues what are we actually talking about we're talking about the same thing that is in Jeremiah 31 we're talking about revelation and if you can stop looking at the little means this unique event that happened in the day of Pentecost dreams and dreams and you can look at the larger picture you can see how the promise is for us today the delight of Joel as he looked forward to the future seeing the church the delight of all the other prophets joel is going in the last days God is going to pour out his spirit on all his people not just priests not just prophets not just kings but the least among God's people he's going to pour out his spirit upon them and they're all going to know him they're going to understand him and not only are they going to know him and understand him but their life is going to be infused with power so you're missing the point when you when you just focus on the means in which in this particular moment the revelation occurred and what you've got to see is joel is saying the same thing that Jeremiah is saying listen to Jeremiah they will not teach again each man his neighbor and each man his brother saying know the Lord for they will all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them declares the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more now do you see that Jeremiah and Joel are saying the same thing it's just absolutely wonderful look at her back ik for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea so what are we talking about well let me set up a foundation first at the moment of conversion anyone's conversion what happens at conversion a person is regenerated and indwelt with the Holy Spirit all right let's get that straight there is no such thing as two-level kind of Christianity there is not what is properly known as second blessing because there is third blessing fourth blessing fifth blessing sixth blessing seventh blessing eighth blessing ninth blessing and I'm going to explain that in a moment at conversion a person is regenerated and indwelt with the Holy Spirit however our completeness in Christ is not grounds for passivity nor does it indicate that what we have in Christ does not need to be appropriated now I'm going to go on here's some questions that I want to ask you and again it's the same one I asked before am I endued with power arrayed in power is this a reality is there a sense of being carried like the wind in our sails is there a sense of God's help is there a sense of God's presence is there a sense of the shedding abroad in our hearts of the love of God yes I know that there are dark nights of the soul I know there are times when it seems that God totally leaves us that he goes away he tests us to see if we will walk in darkness by faith instead of creating our own lights I know there are all these things but still my question is that do you have a sense of a Power greater than yourself working in you to live the Christian life and a Power greater than yourself working through you in the ministry do you have that sense listen to Colossians 1:29 for this purpose also I labor striving according to his power which mightily works in me if someone now again I know the thing about pride arrogance in the ministry but I want you to think about Paul's language would you say to someone well how is it going in the ministry well I'm striving according to his power which works mightily within me so I wouldn't say that Paul did now again guys I'm I know about all the other side but what I'm trying to say is look we will exegete this but do you ever ask yourself if this is a reality in your own life that's the beginning of the battle what does this mean look at first Corinthians 2 forces my message and my preaching we're not in persuasive words of wisdom but in a demonstration of the Spirit and of power look at Toronto Spurgeon someone has you know I got a news for a lot of Spurgeon biographers and scholars you better straighten up because you get to heaven Spurgeon is gonna be mad at you because a lot of people talk about Spurgeon's mind his photographic memory his abilities and his gifts Spurgeon would have said when someone said you do the work of more than one man he says I am more than one man Christ lives within me was it spurred you you can't preach like that I don't care how smart you are you can't do that that wasn't Spurgeon I was the power of the Holy Spirit well Calvin was just calvin was just a man and there was a great and I'm gonna say it a great and a unique anointing upon life and if you attribute all that to scholarship I'm sorry I know some really smart men they can't do that first commentary I will go to is John Calvin this clarity his simplicity and power and depth all combined in one thing I'm sorry I'm not going to tribute that to a man you see we think wrongly it's just like I always tell when I'm teaching this young people I'll go art well not this but other things I'll tell them I'll say I want you to just for a moment to close your eyes and think about Samson they think about Samson I say all right what does he look like basically looks like a a kosher Arnold Schwarzenegger and so I'll say well if that was the case why the Philistines running around trying to figure out where this guy's power comes from see we're always thinking that we're always a tribute to a man I don't care how strong a man is he's not going to go to the gates of a city rip them up throw them on his back and take them up a mountain is the power of the Living God I want you to know my presbyterian brothers my Baptist brothers I want you to know I want you to be very careful there were some old men many of them have gone on to be with the Lord who were Calvinists when Calvinism wasn't cool and I found in those old Sovereign Grace or some of them I found a unique blend of something a belief in the sovereignty of God and a belief in this I don't know they were men of God of a different fabric they were bold before the throne and humble they talked about the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon a preacher's life they did I remember I remember sitting there even as a little boy listened to a brother D D long preaching big ol voice and they would talk any time a preacher preached with within and made some sense and seemed to help God's people they would say the man's anointed of the Holies spirit now you say he's smart think about it really don't you you walk away going man that guy's smart you did that didn't you this week I mean not with me with what their cut smart smart can't cast out a demon smart can't stop a storm smart can't knock down the walls the Devils built around the culture and the darkest part India even take all your smart put it in a bag and just walk away this useless in the kingdom of heaven it's the spirit of the Living God we need to get back to using this kind of language the man's anointed of the Holy Spirit to preach I want to see a young man with God's anointing on his life and usually with my street preachers especially the ones in Peru it was the dumbest now I'm not saying dumbness is a virtue even though I wish it was I'd be the most virtuous man and planet but I want to tell you something I'm looking for boys got the anointing of the Holy Spirit on his life we'll walk out there and slap some Bible and preach do I resemble the ministers of the first century does my church resemble the Church of the first century now I know we have to caution that question but again brothers and sisters these need to be asked I want to read something from Ian Murray this is what he says so blame this on him okay I have sought to argue leaving aside the question of miraculous gifts we cannot suppose that everything which marked the church at Pentecost is a permanent part of Christian experience the high degree of boldness joy assurance which then and later marked disciples I notice he's saying then and later during Pentecost and throughout periods of time in history that mark disciples is not duplicated in every regenerate person today Christian ministers may be very deficient in the authority which marked the preachers of the early church but how can this be explained if what happened to the church at Pentecost now happens to every person when they become Christian and that's what we've basically been teaching now haven't we you got it all at Pentecost there's a sense in which that's very true we we are saved and we are complete in Christ and we have the Holy Spirit and we're indwelt by the Holy Spirit and we're regenerated Holy Spirit we are complete in Christ at our conversion that is true but we have to be careful with that statement can being filled with the spirit really be the same as being a Christian rather is it not apparent that an individual may genuinely belong to Christ and yet have little assurance and that a preacher may be Orthodox and lack unction and unction doesn't necessarily mean that he's flamboyant it doesn't necessarily mean he raises his voice but matter of fact you can't define unction but when it's there you know it it may be like boulders being broken apart or it may be like a a whistling wind but when you meet that person you know there's unction it is hardly convincing to say in reply to say that such Christians did possess the same Pentecostal fullness at regeneration but they lost it subsequently then he says this after long pastoral experience Charles Vaughn came to a more probable conclusion and it is this many a truly regenerate and painfully sanctified child of God never knows the sweet blessing of the spirits unction in other words we may be regenerate and yet not resemble the spirit field preachers and Christians of the past aaalac error and throughout church history now what does this mean anyone comes to you talking about a second blessing run away from them anyone who talks in terms of really you haven't got it or this or that run away from them that is not my argument and it is not Ian Murray's what is the argument the argument is this that we believers are part of the New Covenant and that we are complete in Christ and that we have even though I don't like that terminology we are we have the Holy Spirit we are regenerate we are indwelt anyone has not the spirit they're not Christian we have the spirit there is no first class in second class Christians but what we need to see is this we who have the Spirit of God or let me let me let me preface this we who have grown a little in sanctification let's the believer right all of us growing some in sanctification do we not want more sanctification we who have saving faith do we not want greater and deeper faith we who know repentance and we sometimes forget especially people that make it too hard for other people to get saved that repentance also is subject to sanctification do we not want deeper repentance of all the virtues of all the gifts of all the things that we were given at the moment of our conversion do we not want them to excel do we not want more we do well will not the Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him now before you think I'm stepping out of line here what I'm saying is I'm just I don't know sometimes it helps to be simple jesus said you will receive power I look at me and I see a lack of the power of which he speaks so I asked him Lord fill me with the Holy Spirit to a greater degree give me greater unction work in me in a greater way outpourings of the spirit upon my church outpourings of the spirit upon me I remember someone asked me one time they said I used to street preach after I got saved and I was scared to death I just knew I supposed to do it I was so scared I mean I would to stand there where all the bars were and I was afraid to even go up to anybody just stand there with my Bible until people would notice me actually it someone came up to me one time says a question why are you standing there just not saying anything and I remember coming home and taking my Bible and putting it on the bed and going he said you would receive power I don't have that I'm Peter with the servant-girl high power and in some old Saints old school Saints I asked them men who are now gone home to be with the Lord they weren't afraid they were Sovereign Grace they were this there but they weren't afraid to say boy you need the power of the Holy Spirit let me talk about second blessing or tongues or this or that they were saying you need the power of the Holy Spirit and you need to ask God to give you unction to do this impossible ministries giving you to do in son every time in your life until you're an old man 90 years old every time you see weakness every time you see ministry that is far beyond you you need to get on your knees and cry out for the power of the Holy Spirit in your life if flawed we've lost that because we attribute everything now to the intellect o my dear brothers now I'm going to finish although there's just so much more to say but I'm going to finish with some quotes now these are quotes from some of the men you'll recognize their names they are most respectable I have all these promises and I need to walk in these promises how did Spurgeon go to the pulpit any of you know he would go to the pulpit you know sometimes he would throw up on Saturday night you didn't know that he did he throw up he because he would sit there and he would fill his trashcan he would write notes throw him throw him and he'd had nothing on Sunday morning when he would go up the pulpit many people don't know that there's a recent new documentary film on him it's wonderful it shows the young life of Spurgeon and you see him just sitting there at his desk and then throwing in the whole floor is littered with papers and he would walk up every Sunday that pulpit because everyone knew he was just a country preacher that's what they called him they mocked him even the people that lived with him when he first came well they mocked him until the first time he preached and he would walk up to that pulpit and this is what he would do and it's if you understand the words it's it's a wise thing to do the same he would walk up to the pulpit he'd go I believe in the Holy Spirit I believe in the Holy Spirit I believe in the Holy Spirit listen to George Smeaton can't get much more respectable than that no more mischievous and misleading theory could be founded nor anymore dishonouring to the Holy Spirit then the principle that because the spirit was poured out at Pentecost the church has no need and no warrant to pray for effusions of the Spirit of God on the contrary the more the church asks for the spirit and waits for his communications the more she receives now young men don't you go home and start having your church pray for the Holy Spirit if that church is going to be all dressed up in the carnal rags of this world that you're trying to use to attract carnal men for the Holy Spirit's going to pour out his effusion on your church and your ministry you have to get rid of Saul's army and the church is not relevant because it looks like the world the church is relevant because it does not look like the world does not act like the world doesn't need to you know what we've done basically we try to do everything the world does and we can't do it as well so we're just a cheap version of the world you don't need the world's clothes you don't need the way it looks you don't need to look the way it sounds you don't need to act like it you need to act like Jesus Christ and you need to conform your life and your actions everything you think to what he has written listen to Jonathan Edwards the Scriptures do not only well on George Smeaton it was the doctrine of the Holy Spirit page 255 now Jonathan Edwards the Scriptures do not only direct and encourage us in general to pray for the Holy Spirit now listen above all things else now paul Washer says that you got cause for doubt this Jonathan Edwards now listen the Scriptures do not only direct and encourage us in general to pray for the Holy Spirit above all things else but it is the it is the expressly revealed will of God that his church should be very much in prayer for that glory outpouring of the spirit which is to be in the latter days and for what shall be accomplished by it that's in this this give you some hope everyone run around I just don't know why we can't have an impact on the culture because we're using Saul's army and we're not praying for the power of the Holy Spirit and we're not trusting in just one simple preacher with an open Bible in which he happens to believe Thomas Boston well Edwards was works volume 2 page 290 Comus Boston wherefore breathe pants and long for the Spirit of Christ works volume 11 page 168 listen to that breathe pants and long for the Spirit of Christ I believe in the Holy Spirit I believe in the Holy Spirit I believe in the Holy Spirit Charles Spurgeon in a way that only Charles Spurgeon can say it listen to this apparently there were some brothers that were passing through his area teaching people they should never pray that God might bless them with a greater effusion of the Holy Spirit now I know people who do that today listen to Spurgeon did we not hear some time ago from certain wise brethren that we were never to pray for the spirit I think I heard it said often we have the Holy Spirit and therefore we're not to pray for him maybe some of you said that like that other declaration from certain men of the same Brotherhood that we have pardon of sin and are not to pray for it just as if we were never to pray for what we have if we have life we are to pray that we have it more abundantly if we have pardon in one respect we are to ask for a fuller sense of it and if we have the Holy Spirit so that we are quickened and saved we do not ask we do not ask for him in that capacity any longer but we ask for his power in other directions and for his grace in other forms I do not go before God now and say Lord I am a dead sinner quicken me by thy spirit for I trust I am quickened by his spirit but being quickened I now cry Lord let not the life thou has given me AB down till it becomes very feeble but give me of thy spirit that the life within me may become strong and mighty and may subdue all the power of death within my members that I may put forth the vigor and energy which come from thyself through the spirit o you that have the spirit you are the very men to pray that you may experience more of his matchless operations and gracious influences and in the benign sanctity of his indwelling may seek that yet more and more that you may know him you have this as your encouragement that God will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him brothers there's a notion of the very energy the very power that we so long and so need in ministry and in life regarding Luke 11:13 this is what John Owen writes oh that was Spurgeon metropolitan Papa Tabernacle pulpit volume 16 page 620 through 21 John Owen writes this this is the daily work of believers if therefore our life to God are the joy of that life be considerable that is large in this we are to abound to ask him of the father as children do of their parents daily bread this is John Owen saying daily asking for the power for the unction for the infusion for the life of the Holy Spirit as children do their daily bread he's drawing directly from the context of Luke 11 now Richard sibs now listen to this quote and we'll close here his complete works well let's see Owen was works volume 4 page 398 and now I'm going to quote sibs from complete works volume 5 for m2 now listen to this Richard I mean if you've read it read this man you may be like me not really sure how to pronounce his last name but if you've read this man listen to what he says take a man that hath the earnest of the spirit and you shall have him defied death the world Satan and all temptations take a man that is negligent in laboring to increase his earnest you shall have him weak now let's read that again take a man that hath the earnest of the Spirit and someone who is labouring also he's indicating here to increase in the earnest of the spirit take a man see that's what I like that word man why because I'm going to tell you something the kingdom of God does not advance in corporate missionary agency rooms sitting around a table it does not advance because a bunch of people have figured out how to do evangelism to a certain people group and they've learned to dress a certain way act a certain way do all kinds of certain things put up coffee shops and everything else in order to win them to Christ the kingdom of heaven advances through a man who's so bare-boned who sees himself as having nothing but believes in the power of God revealed through the power of proclaiming the Word of God who begs heaven for greater and greater options of the Holy Spirit you take a man like that he'll fight hell with a water pistol and it won't be him but Christ within him take a man that hath the earnest of the spirit you shall have him defy death the world Satan in all temptations but take a man that is negligent and laboring to increase his earnest and you shall have him weak brothers are you laboring to increase that earnest are you crying out daily are you crying out before everything that sets its foot in your path Lord fill me with the Holy Spirit fill me with the Holy Spirit fill me with the Holy Spirit a young man came to me and said I want so much what you're talking about I said okay we use an example I promise I close here I use an example that I heard from someone else about another endeavor but it fits so well I said son let me grab you by the back of the neck let me drag you out into the ocean until we're about up to here now I'm going to grab you and I'm going to hold you down and I'm gonna hold you down with everything I got and I'm gonna hold you down until you're fighting me and I'm gonna hold you down until you're nearly hysterical with fear and need for breath I'm gonna hold you down until you know you can't go one second longer without breath or you're gonna die you want breath you know you need breath more than anything son at that moment you really want the Holy Spirit when you can say I want the Holy Spirit as I need air I need him my ministry it's nothing without him I need the Holy Spirit I must have the Holy Spirit get out of my way leave me alone send me off to God what I just shared with you the old men talked about it daily god bless you you

Channel: Alin Cristescu

Views: 476,926

Rating: 4.7769647 out of 5

Keywords: Mission, (Christianity), Christianity, (Religion), Religion, (Literary, Genre), Being, Paul, Washer, (Preacher), Praise, Gospel, Pastor, Youth, Ministry, Holy, Spirit, God, Jesus, Salvation, Redemption, Mis, Paul Washer (Person), Jesus Christ (Deity), Holy Spirit (Deity), Lord, Truth, Word, Preaching, Prophecy, Prophet, Study, Ministries, Hebrew, Grace

Id: 53P-L7wu4h0

Length: 112min 39sec (6759 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 05 2013