Title: Are You Clothed With Power? Meta: We are not going to spread the Gospel into this whole world through the cleverness of our minds but in the power of the Holy Spirit. I don't care what you think about the words, let me ask you, Are you clothed with power from on high? Tags: Holy Spirit, power, evangelism, missions 1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,283 I count myself among the old men 2 00:00:07,284 --> 00:00:12,771 who look for Christ in every line of the Old Testament. 3 00:00:12,772 --> 00:00:15,810 If Christ be removed from the Old Testament, 4 00:00:15,811 --> 00:00:18,397 if everything there is not a picture of Him, 5 00:00:18,398 --> 00:00:22,412 then I am left with nothing but moral stories. (P) 6 00:00:22,413 --> 00:00:26,642 The animal slain to cover the nakedness of our first parents, that was Christ. 7 00:00:26,643 --> 00:00:29,089 The ark that weathered the deluge, that was Christ. 8 00:00:29,090 --> 00:00:32,708 The ram caught in the thicket by its horns, that was Christ. 9 00:00:32,709 --> 00:00:36,129 The temple and its sacrifices, that was Christ. 10 00:00:36,130 --> 00:00:40,184 He is the seed of Abraham and one greater than Moses and Joshua. 11 00:00:40,185 --> 00:00:46,224 When I read of Samson ripping up the gates of that city and throwing them down, 12 00:00:46,225 --> 00:00:50,614 I see Christ ripping up the gates of hell and throwing them down 13 00:00:50,615 --> 00:00:58,127 like they were the tiniest feather on the smallest fowl. (P) 14 00:00:58,128 --> 00:01:02,970 Let me tell you something: I know Paul Washer. 15 00:01:02,971 --> 00:01:10,036 And I need more that proverbs and maxims and moral stories. 16 00:01:10,037 --> 00:01:17,575 I need a mighty God who can wrestle this man to the ground and save him. (P) 17 00:01:17,576 --> 00:01:22,849 Jesus has really risen and He has appeared to us. 18 00:01:22,850 --> 00:01:25,250 We have seen Him with our own eyes. 19 00:01:25,251 --> 00:01:27,309 Now where do we learn about that? 20 00:01:27,310 --> 00:01:29,928 If you are going to be a missionary or a preacher, 21 00:01:29,929 --> 00:01:34,910 you cannot rely on the secondhand testimony of others. 22 00:01:34,911 --> 00:01:39,011 You cannot rely on the testimony of Calvin alone, or Piper alone, 23 00:01:39,012 --> 00:01:41,624 or even something you parrot from Scripture. 24 00:01:41,625 --> 00:01:46,946 You yourself must experience the resurrected Christ. (P) 25 00:01:46,947 --> 00:01:50,380 You must be born again to testify of the new birth. 26 00:01:50,381 --> 00:01:52,167 You say, "Why do you say that to pastors?" 27 00:01:52,168 --> 00:01:55,027 Because so many are not born again. 28 00:01:55,028 --> 00:01:58,252 You must be broken to testify of repentance. 29 00:01:58,253 --> 00:02:00,995 You must believe to testify of faith. 30 00:02:00,996 --> 00:02:06,234 You must know something of the filling and the baptism of the Holy Spirit 31 00:02:06,235 --> 00:02:10,029 if you are going to give testimony to the power of the Spirit. 32 00:02:10,030 --> 00:02:13,706 And you must know Him to testify of Him. (P) 33 00:02:13,707 --> 00:02:17,066 We are not going to spread the Gospel into this whole world 34 00:02:17,067 --> 00:02:21,205 through the cleverness of our minds but in the power of the Holy Spirit. 35 00:02:21,206 --> 00:02:24,344 I don't care what you think about the words, let me ask you, 36 00:02:24,345 --> 00:02:28,830 Are you clothed with power from on high? (P) 37 00:02:28,831 --> 00:02:34,582 Sometimes the only thing that will ever keep you going is that He has risen, 38 00:02:34,583 --> 00:02:37,897 He has risen indeed! 39 00:02:37,898 --> 00:02:41,274 He has risen indeed. Your sins are gone! 40 00:02:41,275 --> 00:02:45,216 He has risen indeed. The world has a Savior. 41 00:02:45,217 --> 00:02:49,062 He has risen indeed. The universe has a King. 42 00:02:49,063 --> 00:02:51,414 He has risen. 43 00:02:51,415 --> 00:02:57,110 And one day, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, 44 00:02:57,111 --> 00:03:02,089 with the trumpet call of God, you will too. 45 00:03:02,090 --> 00:03:05,401 And I can't wait to see your beauty on that day. (P) 46 00:03:05,402 --> 00:03:10,741 "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, 47 00:03:10,742 --> 00:03:12,685 for we have heard for ourselves 48 00:03:12,686 --> 00:03:15,820 and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world." 49 00:03:15,821 --> 00:03:19,100 You must know it for yourself. 50 00:03:19,101 --> 00:03:22,306 You cannot depend upon the testimony of your godly grandmother, 51 00:03:22,307 --> 00:03:28,226 or your mother, or even men around you that you greatly esteem. 52 00:03:28,227 --> 00:03:31,864 You must know it for yourself. 53 00:03:31,865 --> 00:03:36,208 My goodness, some of us should just leave and get alone with God. (P) 54 00:03:36,209 --> 00:03:42,333 The missionary, the preacher, must be entirely convinced of the grace of God. 55 00:03:42,334 --> 00:03:45,177 Because everyday when you get up and you look in that mirror, 56 00:03:45,178 --> 00:03:52,698 you know you are called to proclaim a message that you yourself cannot even live up to. 57 00:03:52,699 --> 00:03:55,895 You need grace, you need grace, you need grace! 58 00:03:55,896 --> 00:04:00,088 But someone says, "If you throw that much grace around, it would be a licence for sin." 59 00:04:00,089 --> 00:04:03,911 Only among the unconverted church members. 60 00:04:03,912 --> 00:04:06,503 Oh, they would take it as an excuse for sin, 61 00:04:06,504 --> 00:04:09,695 and the ungodly pastors will take it as an excuse for sin. 62 00:04:09,696 --> 00:04:12,863 But I want you to know this, the genuinely converted will say this: 63 00:04:12,863 --> 00:04:16,774 "If grace be such, if it be so large and so wide, 64 00:04:16,774 --> 00:04:22,072 depths I cannot asound, then O let me be holy; O let me serve Him." 65 00:04:22,072 --> 00:04:27,689 You see, that's the difference between the unregenerate and the regenerated heart. (P) 66 00:04:27,690 --> 00:04:29,817 When light shines out of darkness 67 00:04:29,818 --> 00:04:32,644 and we understand that we have been justified by faith, 68 00:04:32,645 --> 00:04:35,449 and the great weight of sin rolls off our shoulders, 69 00:04:35,450 --> 00:04:39,932 and we cry out, "Abba, Father." Do you know that? (P) 70 00:04:39,933 --> 00:04:43,668 It comes from countless hours alone with God in the Word of God, 71 00:04:43,669 --> 00:04:47,469 not simply to gain knowledge so that you become a better debater, 72 00:04:47,477 --> 00:04:49,677 or not simply to prepare sermons, 73 00:04:49,678 --> 00:04:56,058 but you're alone with God in the Word of God because you want to know God. (P) 74 00:04:56,059 --> 00:04:58,901 It comes from countless hours alone with God in the nightwatch 75 00:04:58,902 --> 00:05:03,712 when men with better sense are tucked in their beds. 76 00:05:03,713 --> 00:05:08,569 Of being shut up to God, I learned that language from old men. 77 00:05:08,570 --> 00:05:14,133 Of being shut up to God. 78 00:05:14,134 --> 00:05:24,372 Of being consumed by God, in communion with God where no one can save you from Him. 79 00:05:24,373 --> 00:05:28,313 It comes from empowerings and fillings of the Holy Spirit; 80 00:05:28,314 --> 00:05:31,859 I will not give that up though you call me Charismatic. 81 00:05:31,860 --> 00:05:35,036 Empowerings and fillings of the Holy Spirit 82 00:05:35,037 --> 00:05:40,181 as He replaces the virtue that has gone out of you in ministry, 83 00:05:40,182 --> 00:05:45,146 and proves once again that it was to our benefit that Christ leave us 84 00:05:45,146 --> 00:05:46,806 and go to the right hand of the Father, 85 00:05:46,807 --> 00:05:53,040 so that He might send the ever-present, all-powerful Comforter. (P) 86 00:05:53,041 --> 00:05:56,311 It comes from countless trials, 87 00:05:56,312 --> 00:06:00,291 and a peace that has absolutely nothing to do with the natural. 88 00:06:00,292 --> 00:06:02,275 A peace from God. 89 00:06:02,276 --> 00:06:04,254 A peace that passes all understanding. 90 00:06:04,255 --> 00:06:08,274 It comes from countless victories over sin. 91 00:06:08,275 --> 00:06:14,302 Yes! Believers ought to have victory over sin! 92 00:06:14,303 --> 00:06:15,975 It comes from great victories over sin 93 00:06:15,976 --> 00:06:18,627 and the joy of making progress in the Christian faith 94 00:06:18,628 --> 00:06:20,195 and of bearing fruit that endures. 95 00:06:20,196 --> 00:06:24,587 But it also comes from countless failures, 96 00:06:24,588 --> 00:06:29,195 and terrifying revelations of self, and bone crushing discipline, 97 00:06:29,196 --> 00:06:33,577 and bending, and breaking, and repentance, and restoration. 98 00:06:33,578 --> 00:06:43,199 A man of God, when he reaches old age ought to be broken into a thousand pieces. (P) 99 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:51,155 Give us missionaries? Give us missionaries? No. 100 00:06:51,156 --> 00:07:00,576 Give us men who have been ravished and mauled by God, and we'll have missionaries. (P) 101 00:07:00,577 --> 00:07:04,400 You can have a high view of Jesus Christ, 102 00:07:04,408 --> 00:07:08,616 only to the degree you have a high view of His Gospel. 103 00:07:08,617 --> 00:07:14,538 And if you preach this truncated gospel, four spiritual law thing that's going around, 104 00:07:14,539 --> 00:07:19,791 I can assure you that it's because you have a truncated Christ. 105 00:07:19,792 --> 00:07:23,491 And if in the book of Revelation, we are warned that if you alter, add to, 106 00:07:23,492 --> 00:07:27,775 or take away from this prophecy, you will be brought under a curse, 107 00:07:27,776 --> 00:07:32,637 how much more, sir, will you be brought under judgment 108 00:07:32,638 --> 00:07:41,153 for not giving men the Gospel, that is the Gospel of Christ. 109 00:07:41,154 --> 00:07:43,510 Without being truncated, without being edited, 110 00:07:43,511 --> 00:07:49,443 without being adorned in order to make it palatable to your carnal generation. 111 00:07:49,444 --> 00:07:51,973 O how we should fear in preaching the Gospel. (P) 112 00:07:51,974 --> 00:07:53,483 Maybe you've never head this before. 113 00:07:53,484 --> 00:07:57,525 Proclaim Christ as the only expected Person. 114 00:07:57,526 --> 00:08:00,320 Do you realize how important this is? Christ made it clear. 115 00:08:00,321 --> 00:08:02,989 He said, "I'm the fulfillment of everything." (P) 116 00:08:02,990 --> 00:08:07,988 Now I want to read something to you from Loraine Boettner, listen to this, 117 00:08:07,989 --> 00:08:09,715 (and this is true,) 118 00:08:09,716 --> 00:08:16,885 "In all the history of the world, Jesus emerges as the only expected Person. 119 00:08:16,886 --> 00:08:20,776 No one was looking for such a person as Julius Caesar, or Napoleon, 120 00:08:20,777 --> 00:08:25,241 or Washington, or Lincoln, to appear at the time and place that they did appear. 121 00:08:25,242 --> 00:08:29,034 No other person has had his course foretold 122 00:08:29,050 --> 00:08:32,315 or his work laid out for him centuries before he was born. 123 00:08:32,316 --> 00:08:36,032 But the coming of the Messiah has been predicted for centuries. 124 00:08:36,033 --> 00:08:38,823 We can use that. And we ought to use it more in our preaching. 125 00:08:38,825 --> 00:08:41,291 He is the only expected Person. 126 00:08:41,292 --> 00:08:44,825 There is no one else like Him. 127 00:08:44,826 --> 00:08:50,760 But He is not only the only expected Person, He's the context of everything. (P) 128 00:08:50,761 --> 00:08:53,271 Listen to this, from the Expositors Greek New Testament: 129 00:08:53,272 --> 00:08:56,060 "The gist of prophecy in the Old Testament, 130 00:08:56,061 --> 00:09:01,804 the gist of it is the suffering and the resurrection of Christ, 131 00:09:01,805 --> 00:09:05,425 and the preaching in the name of the risen One to all nations 132 00:09:05,426 --> 00:09:09,629 of repentance unto remission of sins." 133 00:09:09,630 --> 00:09:11,174 Now missionary, you want to be encouraged? 134 00:09:11,175 --> 00:09:15,231 Then understand this: Not only the appearance of Christ was predicted, 135 00:09:15,232 --> 00:09:18,445 not only His death and resurrection was predicted, 136 00:09:18,446 --> 00:09:21,269 but also the Scriptures of the Old Testament 137 00:09:21,270 --> 00:09:28,701 predict the missionary endeavors of the church and its success. 138 00:09:28,702 --> 00:09:32,762 Yes! I said success. (P) 139 00:09:32,763 --> 00:09:34,891 So many people use this idea of election 140 00:09:34,892 --> 00:09:36,864 just because they don't want to go out and witness to anybody, 141 00:09:36,865 --> 00:09:40,078 and they are convinced they are the only group God is going to save. 142 00:09:40,079 --> 00:09:44,028 No! God ALWAYS is successful. 143 00:09:44,029 --> 00:09:47,608 He is going to call forth a Mighty tribe of people. 144 00:09:47,609 --> 00:09:52,759 Look what it says in Psalms 22 after explaining in great detail the suffering of the Messiah, 145 00:09:52,760 --> 00:10:00,075 in verse 27, it says this: "All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, 146 00:10:00,076 --> 00:10:03,948 and all the families of the nations will worship before You." 147 00:10:03,949 --> 00:10:07,267 When you go on that mission field, I don't care how dark it is, 148 00:10:07,268 --> 00:10:09,726 I don't care how wicked it is, 149 00:10:09,727 --> 00:10:12,631 you stay there long enough, you preach through enough, 150 00:10:12,632 --> 00:10:16,556 and somebody is coming out of there saved. 151 00:10:16,557 --> 00:10:20,112 It's going to happen. (P) 152 00:10:20,980 --> 00:10:26,459 Missionaries, some of you, friends of mine, 153 00:10:26,460 --> 00:10:36,409 on the day you're slaughtered in the foreign field, and your blood comes out, 154 00:10:36,410 --> 00:10:43,239 I want you to bleed the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 155 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:46,814 Bleed it. 156 00:10:48,302 --> 00:10:52,621 With all that is in me, I promise that we will take care of your wife and your children. 157 00:10:52,622 --> 00:10:55,573 Don't worry about them. 158 00:10:55,574 --> 00:10:59,710 But BLEED the Gospel. 159 00:10:59,711 --> 00:11:06,299 Your blood is not as precious, nor is mine, as the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (P) 160 00:11:06,300 --> 00:11:08,553 You will not be satisfied laying on your bed 161 00:11:08,554 --> 00:11:11,902 because there's been some measure of blessing on your ministry. 162 00:11:11,903 --> 00:11:18,080 You will not be satisfied until the flag of Christ flies on every hill of this world. 163 00:11:18,081 --> 00:11:22,100 You will go to bed and you will rise up in the morning with the Moravian cry, 164 00:11:22,101 --> 00:11:27,447 "O that the Lamb might receive the full reward of His suffering." 165 00:11:27,448 --> 00:11:33,299 It's so much bigger than all of us. It's so much bigger than all of us. 166 00:11:33,300 --> 00:11:36,565 O that all of us would just be pulverised into dust, 167 00:11:36,566 --> 00:11:43,147 that our names would disappear, but that Christ would be glorified. (P) 168 00:11:43,148 --> 00:11:46,486 The book of Acts is not the acts of the apostles, 169 00:11:46,487 --> 00:11:50,914 but the acts of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, 170 00:11:50,915 --> 00:11:53,264 working through the apostles. (P) 171 00:11:53,265 --> 00:11:57,990 When Moses interceded for idolatrious Israel, stood in the gap, 172 00:11:57,991 --> 00:11:59,894 God was going to destroy them. 173 00:11:59,895 --> 00:12:05,689 Some lesser theologians would say that the entire destiny of the nation of Israel 174 00:12:05,690 --> 00:12:08,461 was being held in the hand of the man Moses. 175 00:12:08,462 --> 00:12:16,404 But they forget Moses was held in the hand of God and sustained by His grace. (P) 176 00:12:16,405 --> 00:12:21,534 The preacher is not a spin doctor, and he is not a marketing executive. 177 00:12:21,535 --> 00:12:26,671 He is only a faithful messenger of what has already been said by God, 178 00:12:26,672 --> 00:12:29,592 and he needs to say it just the way God said it, 179 00:12:29,593 --> 00:12:34,192 whether anyone likes it or not. (P) 180 00:12:34,193 --> 00:12:38,576 The old Brainerds, and the old Edwards, 181 00:12:38,577 --> 00:12:44,865 they would cry out for more and more of a manifestation 182 00:12:44,866 --> 00:12:49,897 of the Spirit of God in their life and their ministry. 183 00:12:49,898 --> 00:12:51,990 Do that! 184 00:12:51,991 --> 00:12:55,451 Do that, and you would do well.