I, I suffer so hard, but where is it I will make? I still don't see that glory, but my mind seems so crazy. I never thought he'd care, but now I'm in tears again. The rest of us can take your Bibles if you want to look up some of these scriptures as we're going through. We are going to hit a lot of scripture. What I can do for you this morning is give you a handout. I'm not going to write the blanks up on the board. But I do have a handout with this message. It's something I preached before. In fact, it's something I prepared for a college class that closed, that college actually closed before I ever had a chance to use it in the class. Vincent, can you hand me that phone? And if you need a pen or a pen and a You want to hand out some vents for me? And you're welcome to... I just give this to you for note-taking. It's important as we go through. I think the church is more important this morning than whatever our normal Sunday morning service would be. This is going to be something I hope will be of help to you, something that's going to help the beat. And it's been good for me to review what we're going to look at this morning. So, give me a second to get the hand out. Thanks for your prayers for us this past week. Again, we just thank the Lord for a good holiday and a good time away. It was refreshing time. The Eckerd Valley is beautiful. The weather was stunning and the fishing was decent. So we had a good time and enjoyed ourselves. All right. Have you heard of the Disruption? Is that with the Church of Scotland? Church of Scotland at different times has separated from within itself, there's been different breaks that have taken place. Even recently, you know, the Church of Scotland voting to stay with homosexuality and homosexual ministers, there's been churches that have come out of the Church of Scotland. But that's happened in the past at different times. One of the key times that the Church of Scotland came to a point of separation, and it was good, it was back in 1843, it was called the Destruction. The disruption took place with guys like the Bonner Brothers, that we have the hymn writer Horatius Bonner. Thomas Chalmers was president, I guess, I think he was president of the Free Church School that came out. It's when the Free Church began, as they came out of the Church of God. But it was called a disruption, anyway, that took place. But they had a statement of purpose that they gave when that took place, and it is that, with profound humiliation, and in reliance on the great strength of Almighty God, solemnly to devote, dedicate, and consecrate and give themselves and their fellow laborers to the service of God and His holy purpose of glorifying His great name and saving souls through the preaching of the truth and the operation of the Holy Ghost. And as they made that statement, or within that statement, it was a great statement, but they made two statements of dependence upon God for His power. They said, in reliance on the great strength of Almighty God, and then they said, after preaching the truth and the operation of the Holy Ghost. As these men sought to evangelize Scotland and sought to take a stand for the Lord as they separated from the Church of Scotland, they knew that to do that they had to depend upon God and His strength and strength alone. By the way, these men, when they came out of the Church of Scotland, they lost the mass, they lost the building, They met on ships, they met in open air. In fact, if you go to the calendar, and you go down by the riverfront, there's a hillside on your left that they have different theories about where it came from, but on that hillside, a preacher and a scout met outdoors and they preached there. But as they did that, they were just kind of fun guys to do the work that God desired them to do. I want to consider, as we start, really what the message is this morning is about power. It's about spiritual power. It's about serving God and doing God's work with God's enablement and God's ability. But as we think about that, let's think, as we even heard in Sunday school about the vehicle. We talked about a vehicle in Sunday school, but all vehicles aren't equal. I had a Plymouth Horizon when I started driving, and it was basically a tin can with wheels and a, I don't know, it didn't have a mouse in the inside, but The engine was not cool. It wasn't that powerful, but that vehicle as a vehicle, I could keep it running and maintaining it in a way that would make it more powerful for what it was, or as powerful as it could be. I had, when we traveled racing sports from over here, we were pulling a 14,000 pound caravan behind us. I had a Dodge diesel truck that had a diesel Cummins engine. And I put something called Superchip on it. And the Superchip connects to a computer and basically in this big vehicle, four-wheel drive truck, you can feel the tires in it because it souped it up to that kind of power. And so there's things that we can do. As we have a vehicle, we can go to Helpers or we can go to Amazon and order things to maintain that vehicle and increase that vehicle's talent. What we're thinking about today is this. As individuals, we're not all the same. But whatever we are by God's grace, to the degree that God can enable us, we can soup up, in a sense, or increase our ability to serve God or our power for God, or at the very least, we can maintain. Does that make sense? Because all Christians are equal. You might be in a church or something, and you'll see, this Christian's on fire for the Lord, this person's not on fire. This person has a zeal for God, this person has an excitement about serving God. As they witness, they have a story, as they witness, they have something dynamic working through them. But what's the difference? What makes the difference? See, even though somebody's saved, it doesn't mean that somebody's functioning at 100%. It doesn't mean that they're living a vital life. By the way, with regards to the term revival, revival is just bringing back to normal. We use the term revival, praying for revival. Revival's normal. If somebody passes out and they're on the floor and you revive them, you don't bring them, you know, they don't get up and they get a big S on their chest and they're not a superman because they've been revived. They're just back to normal. And really, as Christians, God desires us to live a vital Christian life. He wants us to have His power. He wants us to have victory over sin. He wants us to have power as we're evangelizing and sharing Christ. And it's a power that is available to all of us. It's not something that God's kept a secret. It's not something that God has hidden. It's something that God's revealed very clearly in the Word of God. And we'll start with that. Who that power is, but then ways in which we, if we're not careful, we hinder that power or ways that we can increase that power. So let's pray and ask God to help us as we study this. Father, thank you for the word. God, thank you for this study. It's been good for me to refresh in my mind these truths. And Lord, how much I desire by the grace of God in my own mind that these things would be more effective so that I could better serve you. And how I desire that for our church this morning. And Father, that as believers we would be functioning as vital Christians, Lord, ready for those divine appointments, ready for those opportunities of ministry. Lord, not just being cast about with every, not with the doctrine, but just life, Lord. Out of control, letting life shove us everywhere. I pray, God, give us grace to be in control. Give us grace, that power to stand, having done all the stand, and not, Father, trying to get back, but holding that position by the grace of God and power that you possess. And so I pray, spirit of God, would you give me liberty in my preaching. I pray that you give me wisdom as I speak. I pray, give us truth here this morning. that would help us as a church to be well-geographed through the Lord Jesus Christ. So he can help us now through Christ and in you prayer. Amen. All right, your first blank, how God affects your power, okay? First blank is God. You may not keep up with me, and so if you get behind, don't worry about it afterwards. If you want the blanks, we can help you fill those in. If you get behind, try to just find where we're at, and that'll help you out, okay? How God affects your power, and the first blank after that, letter A, God is the person of power. God is the person of power. And Acts 1-8 says, But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Now the question for you this morning, should I expect as a believer to have power that is not from me in my heart? You know, I should. But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you." And it was powerful evangelism, wasn't it? And he shall be witnesses unto me. And so God is the person of power. 1 Corinthians 2.4, Paul said, my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of men's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit of power. In other words, when Paul got to this area of Corinth as he was preaching, it wasn't that Paul was a great orator, it wasn't that he was more clever, it wasn't that he had greater skill, greater ability, it's that as he spoke, he had the power of God in his preaching. 1 Thessalonians 1.5 says, For our gospel came not unto you in words only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. It's interesting. It wasn't just that they're there in word only. By the way, word only is Jesus Christ died on the cross for you, Jesus Christ paid the price for your sin, Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and by faith in Jesus Christ could be saved. That's words. And those are probably some of the words that Paul gave, but as he came, it wasn't just words, but it was the power of the Spirit of God in Paul and how that was taking place there. The Holy Ghost, again, as Marty said, is God. He is the person of power. Jesus Christ never intended for you and I to take a message and the truth and capability to give it to us and take it out to the world that needs it without some assistance and basically all the assistance that we need with that person of power, the Spirit of God. Now, as far as the Holy Spirit is, how much God is He? He's God. He's God just like Jesus Christ is God. He's God just like God the Father is God. There's a psalm about God. It says, He is almighty, unchangeable God. King of kings, Lord of lords, robed in majesty. He rules and reigns for all eternity, almighty, unchangeable God. And Jesus Christ was God with us. The Holy Spirit is God in us. We have this morning, if you're saved, you have a Holy Spirit inside of you. He is God. And he's powerful. And let it be here. God gives the promise of power. Okay? God gives the promise of power. The promise of the blame. And the disciples were commanded to wait for this power. God gives the promise of power. The disciples were commanded to wait for this power. So in 2449, says, and behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, and tell you that ye can live with power for my time. Now, if Jesus Christ came today, say he was here, and he said, for the next three and a half years, I'm going to be here every day, and I want to teach you. And as he gets done with that, I had a college education for four years, but imagine three and a half years in the school of the Lord Jesus Christ. How educated are you? I mean, you know it. I mean, if he can't get it into your heart, if he can't get it into your life, nobody can. He's the very best teacher. Everything that he says, you can absolutely trust, completely understand. And so, if it's a question of information, did they have it yet? In other words, if Christ had ascended up into heaven, and he had sent unto them, going, as you said, into all the world and preached the gospel to every preacher, and had just said, go, Do they have the information? Yes. But he said to wait, didn't he? He said to wait, because they needed to have the person of power. Luke 24, verse 40, 19, quote, I send a promise to my father upon you again, but carry it in the steady of Jerusalem. Why? I mean, he's got the information. I tell you, he didn't do it with power from the house. See, why do we pray at 9.40 on Sunday morning until 9.55 when it's not that long? Why have churches in the past 10 hours in prayer asking God for His power? Because the reality is, it's vain for us as a church to try to be church without God. It's vain for me to try to live my Christian life and my Christian experience, get up and say, tomorrow, get up tomorrow and, you know, I'm just going to hack away, I'm just going to get it done, I'm just going to do it without the power. We have some great preachers, our church has been privileged to have Evangelist John M. Gilder and other guys preach on the Holy Spirit, David O'Byrne as well. Preaching on the Holy Spirit and the need for us to depend upon God's power to be able to do God's work. Why? Because without me, he can't do nothing. And so even the disciples, these are men that are apostles, these are the guys that start everything that is New Testament in a church. They were told by Jesus, wait until you have the power. John 14, 26, Jesus said, but the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send. He's gonna send him. Now understand this morning, there's a difference between us and them. The Holy Spirit had not come until Pentecost. Once he came, he appeared. You and I, when we got saved, we received the Holy Spirit. But do we understand and stand or sit? No, what I do is in absolute dependence upon God. So the disciples were prepared to wait for this power. Second thing there under letter B is that Jesus humbly lived in dependence, dependence upon God's power. Now this is interesting. There's another that shows that this is important. Jesus humbly lived in dependence upon God's power. And I know you might be thinking in your heart or mind that Jesus Christ is God. How did he live in dependence upon God's power? Well, remember what the institutive said, who, being in the form of God, thought that robbery could be equal with God, but made himself with no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. Jesus Christ is God, but he set aside his deity to become a man. And so as a man, Jesus Christ was what? Fully man. Was he still God? Yes. Did he still have all that power that he set aside? No. Because he set it aside to become a man. So now we understand Jesus Christ as man. How is he going to live the same way you and I live? How did he have to live? Independence upon God. in God's power. Acts 10.38 tells us how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good and killing all that were oppressed of the devil, and in the last phrase, where God was with him. Isn't that interesting? God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, and then said God was with him. Why? Because Jesus Christ became a man. Why did he pray? Why before he chose his 12 disciples did Jesus Christ spend a night in prayer? Why before the cross is he there pleading in prayer? Why so often is he out seeking God because he's living independent upon God just like you and I have to live our lives independent upon God? And so Jesus humbly said, independent upon God's power. Luke 4.1 says in Jesus being full, of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness." Again, full of the Holy Ghost and led by the Spirit. So that's Jesus. Then another servant of the Lord, John the Baptist. John the Baptist had a special enablement of God by the Spirit. Luke 1-15 says, "'For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb." Now that's different. That's unusual. We have people that say, I was saved from the day I was born. I've always been a Christian. No you haven't, because at some point, you took Jesus Christ as your Savior, and in our dispensation, when somebody gets saved, they receive the Holy Spirit. Remember Acts chapter 10, where Cornelius' family gets saved? And Peter says, hey, you guys have received the Spirit, and so they're obviously saying let's baptize him, because that's evidence that they're saying. But this is unusual, this prophet. John the Baptist, he's filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. There's a anointing that God's given to this man before he's even born. Now we see it in the Word of God, Luke 1.44, says, for Lo, as soon as the voice, and let me explain, Elizabeth, John the Baptist's mother, she's six months pregnant, I think, and Mary is pregnant with the Lord Jesus Christ, and Mary has come to see Elizabeth, and Mary cries out in salutation to Elizabeth, and this is what happens. For lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, this is Elizabeth speaking, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. John the Baptist in the womb of his mother, Elizabeth, when Mary, who's carrying the Lord Jesus Christ, came into proximity, when she cried out, Mary cried out, and Elizabeth heard. The baby in the womb lived for joy. Isn't that interesting? The Holy Spirit is already reacting to the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in the womb of Mary, in person, John the Baptist. That's interesting. that that's taking place, that special enablement of God. Barnabas, that great preacher that traveled with Paul as the missionary church planter, Barnabas was full of Ahoy Ghosts. Acts 11-24 says, For he was a good man, and full of Ahoy Ghosts, and of faith, and much people were baptized in the Lord. Barnabas. How do you characterize Barnabas? It's either Barnabas, or you're writing about Barnabas, and here is the author Luke writing about Barnabas, but he's writing as inspired by God. And he says about Barnabas, that man is full of God's Spirit. It's evident in his life and of faith. Stephen was full of the Holy Ghost. Acts 7, verse 55 says, but he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God in Jesus standing in the right hands of God. Now, it's martyrdom. He's being killed for the faith. And as he stands, there's a boldness about Stephen that's unusual. It's a boldness that you read about when you read about the covenanters or other martyrs that have died. You read about what they said as they stood on the day of their death and spoke. And it's evident that it's not just them. There's something different. It's something more than that. It's the Spirit of God who has filled them. And so we see it here in Stephen's life. Now, again, when somebody gets saved, they're baptized in the Body of Christ by God's Spirit. He does that. They're involved by the Spirit. He comes and lives inside of them. They are sealed by the Spirit, according to the Word of God. So that all takes place. Can I say this? Not everybody, though they are saved and have the Spirit of God, not everybody is at least currently filled with the Spirit? See, filling with the Spirit is different than baptizing healed or in blood. And we'll see it here as we study it. And so the next point, some are full but some are not. Some are full but some are not. Acts 6, 3. says, wherefore brethren, look ye out among ye seven men of honest report. Okay, so it's qualifications for deacons. There's a need for some servants of God to help minister to some widows that were getting food provisions from the church, but there were some that were being neglected. And so they're looking for deacons, and they say, you know, let's find some deacons. Now notice, again, they said they have to be men of honest report. that they have integrity, so that they're managing these finances or these things well. But then it says also, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, who we may appoint over his business. So as a working faith, who do we want to serve the Lord in this way and oversee this? Let's find people that are filled with God's Spirit. Tell me that it's obvious that, again, to God's own, something that's obvious that God's Spirit is working within them, it was a qualification. Then we find as well, Paul commands us, that's the next line quoted, number two there, Paul commands us to be filled. Paul commands us to be filled. Now, why would Paul command us to be filled if we're filled? Does that make sense? If when I got saved, I was loved by the Spirit, and that's the same as being filled with the Spirit, then why would Paul give a command in the Word of God to be filled with God's Spirit? Acts 5, 18. says, and be not drunk with wine, for it is in its excess, but be filled with the Spirit. In the same way that intoxication controls somebody that's intoxicated, God commands me to have the Spirit controlling me. So that the things that I do, so that the things that I say, so that the things that I think about, it's obvious that it's God's Spirit that is moving in those things. Does that make sense? But it's commanded. And so again, if it's something that God does, then there's no reason to say, but be filled with the Spirit. But if it's something that we have to yield to and allow God to do and ask God to do, then we need to understand, let's obey the plan, let's get filled with God's Spirit as God expects us to. Christians ought to expect to be filled. Christians ought to expect to be filled. That's the next one. As Jesus said in John 7, verse 38 to 39, He that believeth on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Okay, so somebody is saying, somebody has trusted in Christ that there's going to be an outflow from their life of these rivers of living water. But what's he speaking about? That this shake he of his spirit, which they that believe on him shall receive, where the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified. So he's speaking futuristically because Christ has not ascended, he's not, it's not after his death, his resurrection, he's still speaking, but he's speaking futuristically saying there's going to be this outflow of God's spirit from people's lives that's going to touch other people's lives with life-giving power. So God, the Holy Ghost, is the person's power. And that's where we start this morning. He is the power. We're not talking this morning about a power that's the end. We're talking about a power that's the person. A person that dwells in each one of us. And that has the ability to control our lives and to direct our steps. That's what the Word of God says in John 15, verse 5. Without me, you can't do what? Nothing. Remember, we talked about that with our The Bible is called, by the knee and I am you. If the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except through the body and the vine, no more can we accept the abiding in thee. And so in everything that we do, as we seek to live for the Lord, as we seek to evangelize, as we seek to live a holy life, as we seek to build our current life, as we seek to spend time in the Word of God, what we need more than anything is what? We need God's power. And we need to be in dependence upon God's power. God is the person of power, but now what we want to look at, the rest of the message, is how you, or I, affect his power. And you can just put I, you can fill in your blanks there, you can just put I. How I affect his power. Your prayer affects his power. And I put this first because prayer is so important when it comes to this idea of dependence upon God. I mean, really what it is, it's asking God's work in our lives, and depending upon whom to do it. Isaiah 45, 11 about prayer says, Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel and His Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my son, and concerning the work of my hands, command ye me. It's an interesting statement, isn't it? Command ye me. We have statements like Jeremiah's promise given to him by God. Jeremiah 33, 3, Call upon me and I will answer thee. and surely great and mighty things which thou knowest not. Our prayer affects His power. Why? Because prayer accesses wisdom. Prayer accesses wisdom. Now, when the deacons were called, one of the qualifications was not just that men of honest report, filled with the Spirit, and what? Does anyone remember the next thing? Wisdom. Yeah, wisdom as well was one of the qualifications. James 4 and 5 tells us about wisdom. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that give it to all men liberally, and upgrade it not, and it shall be given him. Okay, raise your hand if you lack wisdom. My hand's up. We all do. I mean, there's none of us that, of ourselves, we've got the wisdom that we need. If any of you lack wisdom, how do you get wisdom? You read books, and I mean certainly you can get some wisdom from the word of God, but is that what the Bible speaks about when it says it's the main source of wisdom? No, if any of you lack wisdom, let it... ask God. Give it to all men literally. Pray about it. Ask God. God will give you wisdom. How important is wisdom to me in my Christian life or experience? Well, here it is. Remember Jesus' Sermon on the Mount? What do you say at the end about the two houses? You've got a house on sand and you've got a house on a rock. The house on the rock is what? Someone that's wise. You've got to hear the word of God. They obey it. They do it. They're wise. The house on the sand is the fool. So, we're talking about spiritual power. How to have a vehicle, a Christian vehicle that's functioning at full power. What is important to me as I walk with God and as I serve God is what? That I have wisdom. I need wisdom. How do I get that? With that. So again, how important is prayer to this idea of availing myself of God's powers? It's vital that I ask God for that wisdom. Prayer, secondly, accesses God's spirit. Prayer accesses God's spirit. F-P-I-R-I-N-T. Prayer accesses God's Spirit. It's a promise that Jesus gave. A promise. Certainly, we saw it at the Pentecost, right? They were all gathered together in one place. What were they doing? Praying. What did God do? Send his Spirit as they carried their waiting for that precious power of God. And so, it's a promise Jesus gave. Luke 11, 13 says, If ye then, seeing evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, How much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? You don't just ask God, God, fill me with your Spirit. You command me to be filled with your Spirit. God, fill me with your Spirit. Jesus Christ was anointed with the Holy Ghost and we thought, I've got to do anything with the Holy Ghost. Tell me to live today a Spirit-filled life. Tell me to live today a life enabled by you. It's a promise Jesus gave. How much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? Again, we don't have to ask this morning for the Spirit with regard to salvation, to get the Spirit. I believe it has to do with the SIDESI and filled with the Spirit. It's a promise the disciples receive. R-E-T-E-I-V-E-G. I'm spelling that one, I don't know why, I'm not writing it on the board. It's helping me out. Receive. Acts 4 31. I want to say about Acts chapter 4 before we look at this verse, When did Pentecost take place in the Book of Acts? Acts chapter 1, you know? We read it this morning in our service. Acts chapter 2. Remember we read about that? So Acts chapter 4, have they already received God's Spirit? Yes. It's already taking place. They were baptized healed, indwelled by God's Spirit. It took place at 10 o'clock. So, again, notice Acts 4.31, they pray, they ask God specifically for boldness, okay? They've been threatened, they've been told that not to preach anymore in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they pray, and they ask God, God, give me boldness. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken, where they were assembled together, and what? They were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they speak the Word of God with boldness. Now I think there's probably a lot of preachers that would step back from this and say, no I don't know. I think we have a generation that's scared because of charismatic theology coming in and tongues and signs and wonders and healing and basically an abuse of God's Spirit and it's not true faith. But because of that, as Bible believers, we backed up and said, I can't take too much of this idea about the Holy Spirit. And I'm not comfortable praying, asking God for the Spirit of God. You know, God's given us a good example right there. And now, understand, they didn't pray specifically for God's Spirit, they just prayed for boldness in what He got to do. God filled them with the Spirit. So that's God's end of it. The reality is, they prayed and God filled them with His Spirit. And generations previous to ours, I think, you read the stories about these generations that sought the power of God. They were unashamed to cry out and say, God, we need the power and spirit of God. We need you to do what we cannot do. And so they received that blessing of being filled with God's spirit. Prayer of access is the impossible. All right, we're talking about power again and how we can better serve God through prayer of access the impossible. Matthew 17.21 says, how be it this time goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. Now do you know the story? Jesus has come down from the mount of transfiguration. He's been transfigured before some of his disciples. They've seen him radiant with the glory of God. They've heard God the Father speak and say this is my beloved son. They come down and disciples have tried to cast the demon out of the boy and they couldn't do it. I want us to note what Jesus says in Matthew 17 verse 21. He says, How he at this time goeth not out but by what? Prayer and fasting. What's he saying? What he didn't say is, Oh, I'm sorry. You know, I am, I am Jesus. You're just a disciple. You can't do it. And he didn't say, because I'm Jesus, I can do this, and if you pray fast, you can do it too. Jesus Christ lived a life of prayer and fasting. Christ had been independent upon God, but he had not. And he said about that demon, hey, this kind of was not offered by prayer and fasting. Can I say this about Scotland? I think this is the land that we could easily say churches aren't going to be built without prayer and fasting. We're not going to live godly as families without prayer and fasting. We're not going to have victory in our lives without prayer and fasting. Why? Because it's not normal what we're facing. There's an intense spirit of battle. It's on a level that's pretty high, I feel bad for people when they first get saved because it's like, wow, Satan is real. He attacks. He doesn't want me to grow. He doesn't want me to serve God. He doesn't want me to please God. So how do I stand? Well, let's pray. Let's get on our knees and say, God, help me to. We're fast, and ask God to help us too. Hudson Taylor said to Jonathan Wilcox as they went into a province of China, he said to them, nobody has succeeded in that province. If you would take that province, you must go forward on your knees. I think, again, modern day Christians, you go, nah, that's not true. And we do a lot of questions, we do a lot of evangelism, but we're not trusting today the fact that we put out hundreds of thousands of pieces of literature or have spent this many hours a week doing evangelism, because the reality is it doesn't matter, because just doing it isn't going to get us done. This guy, he quoted that out, but by putting it back, we need to listen to it. Taylor said to Gofford, hey, we can say this morning, I'll just tell you the truth about mission in Scotland in the last 50 years is it's failed, not because of bad men, not because of people that I look at and say they're not what they should be for God, but people I look at and I respect and I think they've done a lot for the Lord, they've done everything, they've done a dependence upon God, and they're speaking God, so I'm speaking now. But if we're honest, we've got to set that and look at it and say, you know, it's failed. So do you and I have anything better to offer to God today and say, God, surely you can help start a church in Scotland because of us? Or do we need to go to God like this, first speak to God and say, hey, this kind of work is not outwit by prayer and facts, and so let's fast and pray. Let's skip a few meals and say, God, we want you that much. We want your power that much. We'll set some food aside. Hey, we'll set aside the belly today. We'll set aside We'll set aside things today. Why? Because we want to speak to God. You know, we're having a missions kind of conference the next two Sundays. It'd be a great time for God to speak to the hearts of our kids about missions and to call people to missions, but is God going to do that if we're not praying and asking God to work? I mean, we need to, again, just really ask God. God has worded in us about this area of prayer. Thomas Chalmers, who I already had mentioned, he said to his students, read Edwards on prayer. The season of revival in the church is generally preceded by a season of prayer. So our prayer affects his talent. I'm not going to have enough time to get through all this this morning, just realizing where time has gone. So let me just highlight something real quick. The next thing, let it be, is your purity affects his talent. How can God take the slain and use us if we're not clean? And if you want the blame, without purity, you have an unbelievable witness, Lot. I tried to say to his kids, hey, get out of the city, God's going to destroy it. And they looked at him and said, it just seems like he's mocking me. Lot, you've lived here all this time. You've dwelt in Sodom, and you've lived just As if it's fine, and now all of a sudden you're saying, oh, we've got to get out of here, because God's going to destroy the city. You know, if we don't have purity, we don't have a believable witness. We're talking about power. We want to have an impact on our community. We want our neighbors to get saved. We want our friends to get saved. We want our family to get saved. And they look at us and say, hey, you're no different than I am. What's the point? And so purity affects our power. An unbelievable witness. We have an improbable walk. You look at your brother, and you know they've got a need, but you've got a need, and until you get rid of your need, you cannot meet their need. That's what the Bible speaks about in Luke 6, 41, about the boat and the beam. We've got to take the beam out of our eyes so that we can see clearly to help somebody else with their problems, be able to help them. Unanswered prayer, Psalm 56, 18, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. We have an impassable channel. God desires, we talked about, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But if my life is full of sin, that water is not going to flow through me, so I've got to have a vessel that's clean, so that I have the power of God. And so my purity affects his power. Then your priorities affect his power. Your priorities. Priority is the work of God. The work of God. Hebrews 12.1, great a cloud of witnesses, let it lay aside every weight, in the thin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that set before us." What's the priority? God's work. You know, these servants of the Lord, they were all in for Jesus, weren't they? I mean, you get, and I say Jesus, but for God, Elijah? 100%. Saul became Paul. 100%. Peter, 100%. The priority of the work of God. You know, we got these men, they're gonna see us someday, we come to heaven, and the cloud of witnesses is there, and as we walk in, what are they gonna do? Hang their heads in shame, thinking, what happened to your generation? Why didn't you have any men for the cause of Christ? Why didn't you stand up and fight for Jesus? Why didn't you do something, accomplish something for God? Or are they gonna applaud and say, you know, by God's grace, you're faithful on a very tough day, and echo the words of the Lord Jesus, well done. Well done. You know, is the work of God a priority for you? Is work sin? Is work sin? No, God gave us the ability to work to give us the command to work. It doesn't provide for its family. God says that's sin, right? He's given us that responsibility. But if I work so much, and there's a lot of people like me that work hundreds of hours a week, Literally, over a hundred hours a week, I know somebody like that, that used to serve God, but their life is consumed with work. Are they powerful for the Lord? No. Because they don't have the priority of the work of God. Is education sin? No. But if somebody's so caught up in their studies, and there's young people like this nowadays who are so focused on their studies that they don't have any time to serve God or do anything for God, because they're serving education, I like to fish, I fished this past week, but there's sportsmen that they're just involved in things and they're doing so many things that they can't serve God. Those things in themselves aren't sin, but if they don't have time to serve God, then what's the point? The work of God, the priority of the work of God. Then the priority of the word of God. The priority of the word of God. Moody had written in his Bible, this book will keep me from sin, or sin will keep you from his book. The word of God has to be a priority in our lives. Psalm 119, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word. Remember, I already talked about, in your commission, purity is power. If I have a life that's right with God, that's power. But if I'm not in the word of God, what don't I have? I don't have purity. Wherewithal shall a young man clothe his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word? There has to be that time in the word of God so that we have the sure life, so that we have the power of God. And then, the priority of God. Matthew 6, 24, No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. He cannot serve God and men. What's your life about? You stop and think about today. You've got God on this side. Certainly you've got faith in God. Here's what God desires. On the other side, you have many other things, possibly. What is it? Is it money? Is it things? Is it whatever? Or is it God? See, as believers, we need to come to the point where, hey, God's whatever you want today. Is God going to mess up, by the way, those things that I'm concerned about over here that I desire to see accomplished? Is he going to get that wrong if I trust him? No. But I gotta put God first. And until God has first place in my finances, in my time, in my life, as far as what I do, what I don't do, my life's gonna be all messed up, isn't it? It's like a car that's gonna be not put together properly, not gonna function properly until I say, no, God, you have first place. You are my priority. And so God, I yield to you. Until we do that, we're certainly not gonna have the power of God's work in our lives. And so our priority is effective power. And then your pride affects his power. 1 Timothy 3 says, Does not a novice, when he is lifted up with pride, fall into the condemnation of the devil? Can God use somebody that's proud? No. Will God use somebody that's proud? No. So until somebody humbles their heart before God, God can't use them. Remember Saul? Saul, when he was little, in his own eyes, He became the king, but then as king he became proud of what happened with his pride, he fell. And so God can't use pride. Romans 12.3 says, For I say through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly than not to think, but to think soberly, according as God himself to every man in the nation of David. God says, Be humble. James 4.6, wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. You know you couldn't get saved until you humbled your heart? Until, in your heart, you came to the point that, you know, God, I'm nothing, just like the word said, I'm a sinner, and I'm against you in my life. God, please forgive me of my sin and save me. Until somebody humbles themselves, they can't get saved. And until we humble ourselves, you know what? We can't serve God. We can't have God's power. Because we're not living a life of dependence upon God. We're independent of God, and so our pride affects his power. And then lastly, this morning, your perspectives affect his power. Your perspectives affect his power. And what I mean by that is just that the idea that we started with this morning in our opener, as I read that quote from Leonard Ravenhill, you can have a sure pool of people, but if there's no passion, there's no hope. There's no point. If nobody has zeal for God, nobody has a desire to save a lost faith, nobody has a desire to really earnestly contend for the faith and really see, God, what's the point? And that's our perspective, our perspective, how we view this thing of knowing God. Ephesians 3 speaks about this idea this way, to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that you might be filled with the wholeness of God. I want to ask you, how do you know something that passes knowledge? The answer is you know it experientially. And it's not just head knowledge, it's a relationship with God that you can know the love of God experientially that you can have that relationship with God. It passes knowledge. Ian Paisley said in a great sermon that you can listen to online, and you know Ian Paisley had that great blooming voice We said the church of Jesus Christ is largely sleeping. And she's saying, please don't wake me. Then he says, wake up and sleep and arise from the dead and Christ will give you life. We've got churches that are full of people and our hearts can become this way. We're just asleep spiritually and we don't care. We're going, please don't wake me. I just love to be asleep. I just love to go to sleep, unmoved, unconcerned, unburdened. And he said, well, it's appropriate. Awake not of sleep that's been arised from the dead, and Christ shall give you life. We need that zeal for God. W. M. Taylor said of Thomas Chalmers, he was not so much an instructor as a quickener. The other professors laid the materials in the minds of the students, and he brought and struck the match which kindled these materials into a flame that burned with an energy kindred to his own. Mentored guys like the Bonner Brothers, and Robert Murray Chaney, and William Hearn. Guys that had a passion for the cause of Christ that really set the world on fire in their day in the 1800s. But it's because they had a passion for the things of God. And these things all go together, prayer, passion, and desire to be pure and serve the Lord. Robert Moffat, who was born in Harleston, and with us this morning. He was David Livingston's father-in-law. He was a veteran pioneer missionary in Africa. He was the guy that you look at and say, sure, this guy has the heart of God. He's fervent about the things of God. But he said about himself, if I speak for myself, I must say that I do not feel that sympathy for the awful condition of my fellow men, which their state ought to cite in every Christian's bosom. When I look at the man of Saul, his toilsome days, and midnight prayer, and the burning zeal of the first ministers of the gospel, I feel as if I had not the same mind or spirit. Listen, if Robert Loftus didn't have the heart of Christ, what about our heart this morning? If we can just leave a message like, it's no big deal, Pastor, you know, was blowing a lot of steam off this morning, and we can just walk away and think, who cares? I'm burdened to have God reveal in my heart a deal for the lost and the burdened to reach a community like God wants us to. Can I really pray today, asking God, you know, we need your power, we need the power of the spirit of God, we need you to pour out your spirit upon this community, awaken this community, can I really pray that if I don't have the perspective of Christ, sort of lost the perspective of Christ when it comes to my own life, et cetera. Again, Jesus Christ did. Jesus Christ, again, it's not, just think in our lives today. Do I get excited about the things of God? Do I get burdened about the things of God? Was there a time where, in my life, where by the grace of God, the Spirit of God broke my heart to do the work of God? And if not, let's pray to God, thank God, give me that perspective again. Give me that burning heel again for the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, as, again, we consider this, We can have a church that has nominal power. We can just get together, it could be a social club, it could be a time where we get together and we have our service. But it's pointless if we don't have the power of giving. What we need this morning is that person of power, the Holy Spirit, working our hearts, working our minds, helping us to be what we ought to be for the cause of Christ. But there's things in our life that need to change for us, for that to take place. We need to pray and ask God, God, please work in my heart, work in my life. We need to have purity. If there's sin in our life, it has to be dealt with. It has to be set aside so that we're an unchained channel for God's spirit to flow through. We gotta have a priority of Christ when we say, you know, nothing's more important than being at church, being in the Word of God, being in prayer. This is my priority. I want to please God with my life. And so God gets first place. He gets first place in my finances. He gets first place in my time. He gets first place in my thoughts for the day. It's about God. It's about pleasing God. We've got to set aside pride so that God's Spirit isn't quenched and God's Spirit isn't hindered and we need to have the burning deal of God. See, what we don't want today or any day is to get done with the Lord's Day and say, well, our speech and our preaching was with enticing words of men's wisdom and without penetration of the Spirit of power. Our worship today was just humanistic, formalistic, ritualistic. What we need to say is, by the grace of God, we met God today. The power of God is here. The Spirit of God is working. That's what we need to see. When He is here, there is evidence. And so, may God help us to See the Spirit of God work in our ministry and in our lives. Let's pray. Father, take the Word of God and drive it deep into our hearts. Father, what we've looked at this morning is vital to modern day Christianity. It's too easy just to be a machine. It's too easy just to function as ritualistic, formalistic, educational instruction. Father, I pray that by the grace of God, you quicken us by your spirit, make it relational, make it applicable to our lives, challenge us in areas that we can't create in our ability to serve you if we'll only deal with your spirit. Lord, he is powerful. He is as able to work today as he has been any day. So I pray in the name of Lord Jesus Christ, that you would wake us up and give us grace that we ought to be for Jesus' sake. It's in Christ's name I pray. 389 if you're all on the altar, 389.