0:00 I want to begin with Luke's gospel chapter 3. Our theme for this conference is be filled with the Holy Spirit. And I want you to see 0:21 the type of people God chooses to fill with his Holy Spirit. Luke 3 and verse 1. Look at the names of all these great men 0:42 in the world. In the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, he was the ruler in the ruler of the world as it were in Rome. Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea. Herod 1:00 tetrarch of Galilee. His brother Philillip tetrarch of the region of Iteria and Triconiditis. Lyseneius tetrarch of Lebilene is the Holy Spirit's mentioning all this with a purpose. Those are the great leaders in the world. 1:18 And then the great leaders in religious Jewish society. Annus and Caiaphas, great Bible scholars and religious leaders. The word of God bypassed all of them and came 1:38 to a man in the wilderness called John. And he became the greatest prophet and man born since the time of Adam as Jesus said. And uh that's something which 1:54 characteristic throughout scripture. Today in Christendom the people who are admired are great famous people, great Bible scholars who got a lot of degrees after their names. 2:13 And I think of this passage, the work of God, the real work of God that'll remain for eternity. A lot of things that you see today in Christendom. I want to tell you, maybe you don't have discernment to see 2:26 it. It's wood, hay, and straw. I've seen it clearly. And I've decided that I've got only one life to live. And I want to make sure that I don't 2:45 spend it building with wood, hay, and straw, but with gold, silver, and precious stones. We don't want to come to the judgment seat of Christ and discover 3:02 that we spent our earthly life taken up with what was big and great in the eyes of man. And a lot of things that are bigger great in the in the in Christryendom than the eyes of man were not what God wanted. 3:21 The only way to know what God wants is by reading the scriptures. And if you are careless about reading God's word, if you have more time to read other things on the internet, if you spend more time every day 3:45 with Facebook than with God's book, don't expect to be a man filled with the Holy Spirit. Just forget it. you'll drift along with the rest of Christendom, wasting your life and wasting your time. There's nothing wrong with these things. 4:03 There's nothing wrong with reading the news or going to Facebook. It's a question of time. When the devil cannot get Christians falling into sin, he's he says these Christians are careful about falling into sin. 4:22 His next tactic is to keep them busy, busy, busy, busy with a whole lot of things that will not bring spiritual profit in their life. And a person who's eager to be filled with the Holy Spirit doesn't have time 4:39 for that. I was I was mentioning yesterday that when you build a skyscraper, you first find out whether you want to pay the price. So, I'm mentioning part of the price. Are you willing to give up some of those things which are not wrong? 4:56 To be told to give up the things that are wrong, we understand things are not in the will of God. But to give up that which is not wrong but which is lawful. That's where we are tested. And that's what makes the difference between an 5:14 ordinary believer and a man of God or a woman of God. an ordinary believer and one full of the Holy Spirit in generally in Christendom in Pentecostal charismatic circles it is an initial experience of the Holy Spirit that's emphasized and that's 5:33 about all they ask you questions like are you baptized in the Holy Spirit do you know that in the Acts of the Apostles nobody asked that question nobody in that way. Are you baptized in the Holy Spirit? See, baptism is another 5:53 religious word like I said prophecy yesterday. We got to understand what it really means. Baptism, baptism is a Greek word which means immersion. And I really wish that that word had been translated immersion rather than 6:11 transliterated which is import the word from the Greek into English and nobody knows what it means. Because when you hear baptism, what's the picture you have in your mind? For 90% or 80% of Christians, it's the sprinkling of a baby. That's baptism. 6:29 You see it as being put under water. The word is immersion. So baptism in the Holy Spirit is to be immersed in the Holy Spirit and that is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And uh let's get that clear. First of 6:49 all, let me turn you to Acts of the Apostles chapter 1. In Acts 1, Jesus said, there are three expressions here. You see Acts 15, John baptized with water, but you will 7:08 be baptized or John immersed you in water for repentance. But you will be immersed in the Holy Spirit not many days from now. That's one way he expressed it. Immersed in the Holy Spirit. There are two ways to be 7:27 immersed. One is to be put into a river or a tank and the other is to stand under a waterfall. You stand under a waterfall, you're immersed too. So one is a picture of water baptism. The other is a picture of immersion of the Holy 7:41 Spirit where the Holy Spirit's pictured in Revelation like a river flowing from the throne of God. And when I get under that river, it flows it flows through me from from my innermost being 7:58 into other people and blesses them. So the second expression he used here is verse 8. You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And when that actually happened in Acts 2:4, 8:16 it says they were filled with the Holy Spirit. So immersed in the Holy Spirit, the spirit coming upon them. And verse Acts 2:4, they were filled with the Holy Spirit. It's really the same thing. Now remember what I read yesterday in 8:35 John chapter 20 and verse 22 that Jesus had already breathed on them and said receive the Holy Spirit. So the question is did they receive the Holy Spirit at that time or not? 8:54 Is was there ever a word that Jesus spoke in his life that did not take place? When he said that somebody was healed or a demon is cast out, it always took place. What about when Jesus said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." I believe 9:10 they did, but they were not filled. Now I don't go into analysis of all these things because if you think of the early Christians you know unfortunately we think theological study is the way to know God it's not 9:29 the early Christians did not have a Bible the go the whole New Testament was not written till about 15 the first book was written about 15 20 years after the day of Pentecost and some of the other books 30 9:47 35 years after the day of Pentecost. So picture an early gathering of Christians. Nobody has a Bible. There's no way the preacher doesn't have a Bible either. And you can't say this verse, this chapter, this verse. We have it today. 10:04 It's good. The only place where they had a Bible, which is only Old Testament those days, was in the synagogue, which was in a parchment. They roll the scroll and see what the scripture says. That's how they would compare scripture 10:15 with scripture. But how did these people come into the fullness of the Holy Spirit without somebody explaining the theology of the baptism of the Holy Spirit to them? Today we can do that. Look at this verse. Look at that verse. 10:29 Look at that verse and we study it and there are books written on it. And the end result is I hardly find many people really full of the Holy Spirit because we've made it a matter of the head. And you know, you can sit in a 10:42 meeting like this and make it a head affair. Remember what I said yesterday. It is not for you to know. Acts 1:7. It's not for you to know, but you shall receive power in the heart. The Holy Spirit does not fill the head. He fills 11:01 the heart. It's one of the things the Lord helped me to understand from the time I was a very young Christian. When I started reading the Bible, I didn't know much about the Bible. I had never read it in my life when I was 11:13 converted at the age of 19 and a half. But in 6 months, I decided to read through the whole Bible just to get an overview of it. And then I would look take some commentaries because I didn't know anything. And when I took a commentary and I found 11:30 it spoke to my head, I put it away. I said, I don't want to read that. For example, a commentary on Philippians would tell me all about the history of Philippi. And I was not interested in that. I was interested in the letter to 11:44 the Philippines. So, I'd put it aside. And most commentaries are like that, unfortunately. But I found one or two that really helped me to understand scripture. And that started me off on the study of scripture. I didn't read many 12:00 commentaries. I think only one or two that was for individual books. And that started me on studying the scripture in a way that would speak to my heart. You remember what the psalmist said in Psalm 119. You know, if you read scripture 12:16 carefully, you notice something. Psalm 119 verse 11. Thy word have I treasured in my heart that I may not sin against you. Remember that word I one of the words I 12:36 memorized when I was a young man. The King James version said, "Thy word have I hid or treasured in my heart that I may not sin against you." So I realized I must not treasure God's word in my mind. 12:54 It's in my heart. If I study God's word, my mind is just to preach to other people. A lot of people, even a lot of preachers, they study the Bible to prepare sermons. God didn't give us the Bible to prepare sermons. Yet, most preachers, they study the 13:11 Bible to prepare sermons. It was not meant for that. It was to keep us from sin. Like someone said, "This book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book." Thy word have I treasured in my heart that I might not sin against thee. So 13:29 what I want to share is always emphasize the heart more than the head when you study scripture or any doctrine. You understand you want to understand forgiveness understand it in your heart. There are a lot of people who understand 13:44 justification in their head who are not justified. A lot of people who understand being filled with the Holy Spirit in their heads. They can explain it but they're not filled with the Holy Spirit. God chooses the most unusual people to 13:57 fill. Think of the way Jesus chose his apostles. There was a Bible school in Jerusalem run by a great professor called Gamalio. He was the professor who taught Saul of Tarsus. And there were great scholars there. You had to be a fairly rich person's 14:15 child to get to be able to pay for all that and study there. But Jesus didn't go there to select one single person to be his disciple. He picked up people who were ignorant of the scriptures humanly speaking. In fact, in Acts 4, the chief priest said 14:32 about Peter and John, these unlearned men. They were called unlearned because they were fishermen. They were the first people filled with the Holy Spirit. Showing that God was not interested in a head knowledge of the fullness of 14:48 the Holy Spirit. You can take a Bible study on the baptism of the Holy Spirit and be as dry as a bone in your own life because it's not a head matter. Then to whom does God give this? To those who have a thirst. Very, very important. 15:07 See John chapter 7. John 7. Jesus stood on the last day of the great day of the feast. This is one of those rare instances where Jesus stood up and proclaimed the word. Most of the time he 15:27 would sit and speak. John 7:37 he said if any man is thirsty, let him come to me. Who said anybody can come to Jesus? It's not true. Remember the word I quoted yesterday. 15:45 Come to me, not any Tom, Dick, and Harry, those who are weary and heavy laden. Lord, what if I'm not weary and heavy laden? Stay where you are. You're not invited. What if you're not sick and tired of your defeated Christian life? Stay where 16:03 you are. You're not invited. Because he did not come to call the righteous. He did not come to call the self-satisfied. He came to call sinners who were sick and tired of their defeated life. And I tell you that is the reason why so 16:18 many Christians never enter into this deeper or higher Christian life. There's one single reason. They get angry and they're not sick and tired of their anger. They confess it, but they're not sick and tired of it. They lust in their 16:31 mind sexually and they're not sick and tired of it. They say, "Oh, well, Jesus forgives me." Some of them go even go further and watch pornography in secret and they have the hypocrisy to come on Sunday and sing loud that they're giving their eyes and their 16:49 Lord take everything take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to thee and they don't feel anything about it because next week they're going to do the same old thing. You think Jesus is inviting such people? He is not. 17:02 They can continue to be hypocrites and continue to sit in the best church in the world for all their life and finally end up in hell. But if you're sick and tired of your defeated life, you're invited, brother, sister, young 17:18 child, you're invited. And if you're thirsty, if any man is thirsty, come to me. If you're not thirsty, don't come. If you want to get a Bible study on the fullness of the Holy Spirit and God says, "Don't come. You're not invited. Go somewhere else 17:36 because you only want an intellectual answer. You may get it. Lots of books on it." I know how I began to seek God for the fullness of the Holy Spirit when I was 22, 23 years old. I was in an assembly called the Brethren 17:55 assembly. We study the Bible like we study chemistry or physics and you know analytically and history books with a head. It was good. I got to know the scriptures but I found a tremendous lack of power in my life and they never preach the 18:12 fullness of the Holy Spirit in that church. They're good people but you know every church has got some limitations. But I found a lack of power in my life and I said Lord there's something missing in my life and I need the power of the Holy Spirit. 18:31 It was not through uh analytical study of scripture that I came to that. It was because I honestly felt I'm not experiencing the power of the early Christians. I read commands in scripture that I 18:49 never seem to be able to obey. Have you read a verse like Philippians 4:4, rejoice in the Lord always? Are you disturbed when you read that verse that you're not rejoicing always? You're not. I'll tell you why. Because 19:08 almost 100% of the Christians you meet don't rejoice always. Oh, you say, "Well, I suppose it doesn't mean that. maybe always meant something else in the first century. Doesn't mean 24/7, maybe 6 over 24 or something like that 19:25 in a day. But if you're honest, you say, "Lord, I don't do it." Or couple of verses later, Philippians 4:6, be anxious for nothing. And you say, "Well, nothing probably meant something else in the first century." What does it mean to be anxious for 19:43 nothing? Do you take a verse like that and say, "Lord, I'm not living there." That's what I mean by being sick and tired of your defeated life. I'm not talking about murder and adultery and all. I'm talking about seeing the 19:59 standard of God in the New Testament and saying, "Lord, I'm not coming up to it." or Philippians 2:14, do all things without murmuring or grumbling or complaining. Is it true in your life? Are you sick and tired of the fact that 20:18 you're not obeying that? Or in Philippians 4, further down verse 11, I'm content in whatever state I am. Is that true in your life? See the thing is we don't see these as sins 20:36 because no preacher tells us these things. And so we see a christrysendom that in a very pathetic state increasing in numbers people gloring in megaurches 15,000 20,000 30,000. Are these 30,000 people disciples? Are these 30,000 20:55 people who are rejoicing always who never grumble never complain never anxious content in what they are? No, there's not even five or 10 people in that 30,000 crowd who are like that. What are you boasting about? So, I'm not impressed by numbers. You 21:13 know, earthly people count the number of people and say so many in a church. If the angels were to ask Jesus up in how how many people in that church of 30,000, Jesus may say three. That's the way I want to look at it. I 21:27 want to look at it everything on earth the way heaven looks at it. I don't want to look at anything on earth the way human beings look at it. I want to look at a church the way heaven looks at it. Are these really disciples? 21:42 So if anyone is thirsty, Lord, I long for this life. Ephesians 5:20 says, in everything give thanks. Give thanks for all things always. Do I say, "Lord, I'm not living up 22:02 there." I'm just showing you a few verses. I could show you a lot more, but I don't want you to all feel condemned. I'm just trying to show you why we are not really filled with the Holy Spirit. Because we're not thirsty for this life. 22:16 And Jesus doesn't invite anybody. You want an intellectual answer, come to me. He never said that. He said, "Are you thirsty? Do you read my word and do you thirst? Lord, I want this life. That's how I sought God. I did not read books on being filled 22:33 with the Holy Spirit. I was just thirsty because I saw a standard in scripture which I just did not have. And I found all the people in my church or most of them anyway were pretty content with their substandard statement. But I was not. You know you 22:49 go into some of the slums or ghettos where people live in a very very unhygienic state. I there many like that in India where there no proper toilets the drains are all filthy there are rats and mosquitoes and cockroaches 23:06 and it's filth. The roofs are leaking and would you like to live there? I don't want to live there. Even I if I have to spend half my income on renting a house, I I wouldn't want to 23:23 live there. That's a picture of most of Christendom. To me, most of Christendom and many churches spiritually speaking, if you eyes to see it from God's point of view, is like a filthy slum. What's it that makes a slum? I mean, 23:40 they're all the exterior is grand. probably millions of dollars spent on that building and the carpets and the chairs. But God sees it as a slum because there's sin. There's sin in the family life. Number of those people are divorced who 23:57 sit there. They've disregarded marriage and now there are even more crazy things coming into so-called churches. It's a slum. It's filth. And if you have eyes to see, you will see it and say, "Lord, I don't want to live in this filthy slum in my own life. 24:17 I want to live pure. I want to be holy." I'm not saying we walk away from there, but keep yourself from that filth. If God has placed you in that church, then you must be a blessing to the other people and lead them out of their filth 24:30 and their slum. That's how I see it. Don't be impressed by greatness. You know, people think that if something's growing, that must be of God. You hear of some church, oh, it started out with just 20, 30 people. It's grown to 10,000, 20,000. It doesn't 24:47 impress me. Shall I tell you how Islam has grown? Shall I tell you how Islamic fundamentalists have grown far faster than any Christian church? Are you going to be impressed by 25:03 numbers? You got to join them. Don't be impressed by numbers. Jesus was never impressed by numbers. So when I'm in the midst of all this type of Christendom, if you long for the type of life that the New Testament 25:20 speaks about, then you will come into Jerusalem, the true church. You know, in the end of the Bible, you read about two types of churches, Babylon and Jerusalem. And Babylon is called the great city, 25:38 the mega church 11 times. In today's language, it is the mega church. Babylon. Jerusalem is called the holy city. The holy church. So you have two two types of churches at the end of revelation. It's the end of time. The 25:57 mega church and the holy church. Which one do you want to be a part of? Which one gets greater recognition on earth? Which pastor gets invited to big TV programs to be interviewed? Not the not the one from the holy church, the 26:17 mega church. Who wants to be interviewed in those TV programs anyway? We want to be accepted by God, not recognized in the world. We're not interested in Time magazine recognizing us, but that almighty God recognizing us. And I'll tell you 26:33 honestly, Satan recognizing me. That's more important. You know, once somebody tried to cast out a demon and the demon said, "Jesus I know and Paul I know. Who are you?" And I tell you, Jesus knows the devil doesn't recognize great people in the 26:51 world, but he recognizes a Jesus. and he recognizes of Paul men who are full of the spirit humble men whom the devil trembled when such people were around. Do you want to be one like that? You can be if you're willing to pay the price. Jesus said, 27:07 "Sit down and count the cost if you want it." And I'll tell you one thing. If any of you are not continuously full of the Holy Spirit, there is only one reason. You are not willing to pay the price. So let me read a verse in Matthew chapter 27:28 6. When Jesus taught us to pray, you know, we pray for the Holy Spirit to fill us. But let's begin with praying like this. Matthew 6:9. 27:45 Pray then in this way. Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. So what is the first request? He didn't say we must repeat that every 28:01 day. He said pray in this way. So I don't have to repeat it every day. But that means the basic principle that motivates me in prayer must be the things written here. In other words, my number one burden, you know, prayer must come out of a burden. 28:20 If it doesn't come from a burden, it's not prayer. I'll tell you why a lot of prayers are not answered. Let me first of all mention something about prayer is like a circle. The first half of the circle is from heaven, God putting a burden in my heart 28:36 for something. The second half of that circle is me praying that prayer back to God in faith in dependence on God believing he will answer it because it was a burden from him. I mean if it's something I myself want like I'd like a nice house Lord or a 28:53 better car or you know a better job okay fine. I don't know whether that came as a burden from God. If it's not a burden from God you can ask for it but there's no guarantee you'll get it. But if it is a burden that was given by God, you can 29:05 be absolutely sure you'll get it. That's why I say read the scriptures because in the scriptures you have God's mind and you ask for the things written, "Lord, I want to rejoice always." If you trust the Lord, he'll do it for you. Lord, I 29:20 want to live a life where I'm anxious for nothing. He'll do it for you. Lord, I want to live a life where I never complain, never grumble, he'll do it for you. Lord, when it says in Ephesians 4:31, "Put away all anger." Lord, I want 29:31 a life where there's no anger, zero anger in my life. He'll do it for you. If it's a burden from God, we can have faith for it. So remember, the circle, it has to begin with God. All prayer begins with God through the Holy Spirit 29:45 comes into my heart, comes back. If it stops here and I don't pray it in faith, I don't get anything. If it doesn't start from God, it doesn't I don't get anything. Jesus once said in Matthew 15, "Every plant which my heavenly father 29:58 has not planted will be rooted out." It can be a good plant. It can be a big plant. It'll be rooted out because God did not plant it. God is the only listen to this. God is the only legitimate originator of anything that is eternal. 30:16 He is the only legitimate originator of anything that will last for eternity. So I want everything that I do to originate in God. God gives me a burden and I express it back in to God in faith and it'll be mine. Does God want you to 30:34 be filled with the Holy Spirit? So that's where we're coming to. Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Let your name be respected, revered, honored. That should be the number one desire in 30:52 the heart of every true believer. My backachche can wait. My cancer can wait. Hallowed be thy name. You start praying like that, you live a 31:11 completely Christian life on a completely different level. What that means is I look around and I say, "Lord, your name is so dishonored in the world." And worse than that, your name is so dishonored in Christendom. I want your name to be honored. I can't 31:34 remember how many hundreds of times I have prayed to God, Lord Jesus, your name is so dishonored in India. That's why that's where my ministry is. That's where I've lived all my 75 and a half years. Your name is so 31:51 dishonored in India. I want your name to be glorified. Can I do something in a small way to hallow your name? That has been the burden of my heart for many years. Is the burden of my heart today wherever I go. Lord, your name is 32:10 not hallowed in this church. I'm not talking about this one. The different churches I go to different so many churches that call themselves Church of Jesus Christ. Lord, your name is not hallowed. It's not respected, honored. Your name 32:24 is not being glorified. That's the most important thing. What can I do to glorify your name? What can I do? Lord, I somebody's asked me to speak in a church. I don't know whether your name is being glorified in this church, but I'm concerned it should 32:41 be. Will you give me words to help them to hallow your name? So that by the time I finished speaking in that church in a series of meetings, they learn to hallow and respect your name a little more. That should be the burden of a heart. And you don't have to 32:54 be a preacher. You can be a brother or sister and you meet people. If you meet people and you speak to them, if you have a burden, you meet people who are not glorifying God's name, are you concerned about it? Then you need to be filled with the Holy 33:08 Spirit. See, that's the type of person who's longing. If any man thirst, let me show you another passage. It's in Luke 11. Luke 11. Similar words. He was praying in a 33:30 certain place. Luke 11:1. And when he finished praying, the disciples said, "Wow." I mean that's not written there but that was in their heart. Lord teach us to pray. We've never heard anybody pray like this. We've heard all 33:46 the long boring prayers that the Pharisees pray and Lord this is so different. You speak to the father in such an intimate way. Teach us to pray like this. Then he taught them father hallowed be thy name. And he didn't finish there. 34:01 The teaching on prayer which he began in verse two ends in verse 13. And verse 13, he said to pray for the Holy Spirit. That's why I'm getting there. So it began, remember, he's teaching them how to pray for the Holy Spirit. Okay? Because that's where it 34:18 concludes. How much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit? Verse 13, to those who ask him. You don't have because you don't ask. You ask and you don't receive because you ask with wrong motives for your own 34:32 honor or for own excitement. Then also you don't get. You don't get because you don't ask. You don't get because you ask with the wrong motive. So let's get these things right. Let's ask and let's ask with the right motive. So Lord, 34:46 teach us to pray. Teach us to pray in the right way. Okay. First of all, learn to pray that God's name will be hallowed. Forget your own needs. You seek God's kingdom first. He will add all your needs to you. I've experienced 34:57 that for more than 50 years. God's preserved us individually as a family, as a church. He honors us if we honor him. So, hallowed be your name, Lord. That one be that must be the burden of my heart. 35:16 Your kingdom must come in your church. Your will must be done on earth. Those are the first three requests he taught us to pray. And then we can pray for our needs. But then he goes on in verse five, remember, keep in mind always we 35:28 are praying for the Holy Spirit. Supposing one of you has a have a friend and you go to him at midnight. You see that's your neighbor. Why do you go to him at midnight? Because verse six, another friend of mine came to my house. 35:45 Someone comes to your house at midnight and you don't have any food in your home. The fridge is empty. There's no food cuz you didn't expect him to come. You don't want to ask him, "Have you eaten?" Because if he says, "No, you're 36:04 stuck. You don't have anything." But this guy was so concerned. I mean, if that was your son or daughter, you would ask him, "Have you eaten?" And he was concerned for a stranger. And he says, "No, I haven't eaten." 36:23 "Well, I'm going to get something. I don't have anything in the house, but I'll go and ask my neighbor. So, he goes to his neighbor's house, and it says here, he knocks at his door at midnight. And listen to this. First of 36:35 all, how many of you would go to your neighbor's house? I just think of it practically, even if he's a good friend of yours to wake him up at midnight, say, "Hey, I want some bread for my friend who's come." I think most of us 36:46 would tell this friend, "Hey, let's just pray. Drink a glass of water, man. We'll in the morning we'll eat something." But the he was so concerned. Remember, remember this. What are we driving at? How to pray for the Holy Spirit. Okay? 36:59 You see a friend of yours in need, spiritual need, and you don't ignore it. That's where it begins. You see people around you in spiritual need. This is where prayer for the Holy Spirit begins. And you know him. He's a friend of 37:15 yours. And you see his need, but you can't help him. You don't have anything to help him. The words that you give don't satisfy him. You gave him a glass of water, that's not enough. He's hungry. Such a person will begin to seek God. 37:34 And how will he seek God? He goes to his friend. His friend is God. Now, now God doesn't uh answer like this man. But there's a lesson here. The friend, verse 7, says from his side, don't bother me now. The door is shut. My children are in bed 37:51 with me and I cannot get up and give you anything. How many of us will continue to knock unashamedly keeping on knocking at somebody who says get away man don't disturb me? I don't think you'd knock even if he's a good friend of yours. 38:10 But this man continued and I tell you even though if he doesn't get up because he's friend he'll get up because of his persistence. He says I can't sleep man. This guy's banging away at the door. So he gets up and gives him how much 38:26 does he give? Listen to this. This is a beautiful expression of seeking for the fullness of the spirit. He will give him verse 8. As much as he needs. Wow. Lord, here are some people who needy. 38:43 I don't have what it takes. How much will you give me? as much as you need. I want to tell you my honest testimony. I proved this in 50 years of preaching to people very often. I don't know most 39:03 of them. I say, "Lord, what is their need?" You know, give me what they need as much as they need. And he's always given it. If I'm persistent 39:19 and if I have a love, that's important, a love for the people I'm speaking to. I always tell preachers, my fellow elders, you must love the people you're preaching to. You must see them as slaves who should 39:37 be kings in God's eyes. You must see them as bound, who should be conquering, have a burden. Then you seek God, he'll fill you with his Holy Spirit. That's the point here. And if you don't get an answer immediately from God, what do you do? 39:53 Persistence. Lord, I'm not going to give up. I didn't get it yet. I'm not going to give up. Verse N. And I say to you, ask in this way and it'll be given you. That's the 40:11 meaning. Seek in this way and you will find. Knock in this way and it'll be open to you. Do you see why we don't get? Why we don't find? And why the door is not opened? Because we're not asking, seeking, knocking in 40:30 this way. Then he uses another example. One is persistence. We've understood the parable of persistence. Now here is another parable which speaking about faith. You need persistence and you need faith. They go together. 40:45 If you ask your father for fish, will he give you a snake? You know there are people like that who say, "Oh, I better not pray for the Holy Spirit. I may get some other spirit." No. God will not give you a snake if you ask for fish. 41:02 If he asks you for an egg, will he give you a scorpion? If you being evil now from that I get and give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly father give the holy spirit to those who ask him like this. What I get from that 41:19 verse is that the best earthly father, think of the best earthly father in the world. He is evil compared to God. It's like saying the light of the star is darkness compared to the light of the sun. That's why you can't see the stars right now. 41:36 They're there, but you can't see it because it's almost like darkness compared to the light of the sun. In other words, the best earthly father's light and love is like the light of a star compared to the love of God, which 41:49 is like the sun. If I can believe that, that's faith. If my earthly father will not deny me, the best earthly father will not deny his child what he needs. He's not asking for an elephant or a railway train or something. He's asking 42:05 for bread. He's asking for that which he needs. And if he will not deny it, how will my heavenly father deny the fullness of the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? So it's persistence and faith. Thirst 42:23 which leads to persistence and faith. So if we come to God like that, we may ordinary people. Let me encourage you the type of people whom God chose. Here's another example. 42:42 Turn with me to one Kings. Because sometimes we see, oh, I'm just an ordinary person. 1 Kings chapter 19. God wanted a prophet to replace Elijah, the great man of God. Where Elijah came from, we don't know. We just he suddenly appears as a 42:58 prophet. But where his successor came from, we know Elisha. Elijah went and where 1 Kings 19:19. He found Elisha. Elisha was not in a Bible school either. You know, God doesn't go to Bible schools. I tell you, 43:16 I wish you'd understand that. I never went to a Bible school. I'm thankful for that. The men of God who have blessed me the most in my life from my earliest Christian life are men who've never went to a Bible school. Elisha, he was plowing. He was an 43:35 ordinary farmer and Elijah threw his mantle over him which everybody understood was a sign signify that you're going to be the next prophet. Elijah immediately understood that. Oh, really? Let me say goodbye to my father and 43:53 mother and I'll follow you. He says in verse 20, and he took the pair of oxen and sacrificed some of them and boiled their flesh. Verse 20. And he followed Elijah immediately. Whom did God pick? Who got a double portion of Elijah's 44:10 spirit? An ordinary farmer. One more verse in the book of Amos. Amos was one of the prophets in Israel and you read some fantastic things he 44:27 says in his prophecy. If you have read Amos, Amos chapter 7, I hope you know your Bibles where Amos comes. You're going to meet him in heaven. He'll ask you whether you read 44:45 his book. Amos chapter 7, Amos said to Amziah, "I am not a prophet." He was, but he didn't think of himself as some great prophet. That's the mark of genuine 45:03 prophets and apostles. They don't think of themselves. They just think of as ordinary people. I'm not the son of a prophet. That means my dad was not a prophet either. I'm a herdsman. 45:20 I look after herds and I gathered sycamore growing sycamore figs. I'm a farmer. But the Lord took me from following the flock and said, "Go prophesy." I'm just showing you the type of people whom God chooses. John the Baptist out 45:39 in the wilderness. Peter, James and John fishermen and uh Elisha was a farmer. Amos was just gatherer of fig. Suddenly God lays hold of him and says go and be my prophet. Do you think God could be laying hold of you if you don't have high thoughts 45:57 about yourself? If you say I'm just an ordinary person, God chooses ordinary people to be his servants. You can seek him if you have a concern. Lord, I want your name to be honored. I want the name of Jesus to be honored 46:16 around me first of all in my life. I want the name of Jesus to be honored in my family life, the way I live with my wife or husband. I want the name of Jesus to be honored in the way my children grow up. Do you have a burden 46:30 about these things? or if you have a desire to be a great preacher or you'll completely miss God's will if your desire is to be someone great in the world or someone great in the church. Get rid of it. That may be the thing that's hindering you from being 46:49 filled with the Holy Spirit. I remember hearing of a a pastor in a church in Boston at the end of the 19th century. He was a very famous speaker but he heard DL Moody and all speak about the 47:09 baptism of the Holy Spirit and he felt there was something missing in his ministry and he began to seek for the baptism in the Holy Spirit and he prayed and prayed and he surrendered everything laid everything on the altar as far as he knew and he 47:22 still nothing happened. And as he sought the Lord the Lord said why do you want to be baptized in the Holy Spirit? So that you can become a famous preacher. and he suddenly saw his motive was all wrong and he said, "Lord, I give it up." I 47:40 placed that also on the altar. I don't want to be a great preacher in this church. You can take it away. I just want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Be your child. And God filled him. And God led him to leave that church 47:59 and he joined William Booth in England. the Salvation Army. And William Booth was a wonderful godly man. He knew how to train people. This great preacher come from America. He said, "If you come here to be trained to be a servant, you got to first go 48:17 down to the basement and polish everybody's shoes. That's your job for the next 6 months. Polish the shoes of all these Salvation Army people." Imagine this great preacher. He went down there and he developed from there to be one of 48:31 the greatest men of God in the Salvation Army. So often when we think we have laid everything on the altar, we haven't. There's something on earth or in the church we're seeking and that blocks the pipe. The rivers doesn't flow. 48:49 So let's examine ourselves. Let's bow before God. Heavenly Father, as we bow before you, we want to walk in your light and let the light of God shine into every nook and corner of our heart. We really 49:08 want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Thank you in Jesus name. Amen.
