Gateway Church's Podcast
Marcus Lamb
Before I begin my message, I wanna show you a video clip. It's only three minutes long. The video quality is not good, but I will be amazed if it doesn't touch your heart. Every time I've seen it, it is so impacted me. And I won't tell the story. I'll let the video tell it itself. But the title of it is Artic Fire. Again, it's three minutes, and then I'll be right back to preach about what happened to these people in the artic. Let's watch this together. - It happened in the middle of winter, February 28th, 1999. - Believers had gathered for a week of revival meetings at the Anglican Church, hungry for God and trouble by new reports of community drug use. They decided to add a special Sunday afternoon youth service. Among those leading the meeting were Pastor Moses Kayak and his ministerial colleagues, Joshua and James Ariak. All great-grandson's of the original lightkeeper, Angua Tizawak. - An invitation was offered for youth who felt they wanted to come closer to God. - Worship leader Louis Ariak was praying over the youth that had gathered around the altar. - He was also close to God, and he kept giving me this verse that says, "Was there the purer and harm "for they will see God?" - Something started to happen that was out of our control. - This noise started coming. - Yeah, it started softly, like you can barely hear it. - A dual cassette deck used to record the service was still running off the sound board. - Right away. - I know a lot of stuff, but it kept getting louder, and I started to notice that people were kind of getting a little nervous. - It was so strong, so strong. - It was so loud that everything started to shake. - Why you won't bite through me? - That's the sound of my object. - Things started to shake, I started to shake. - I don't want something, there's no chance to pound the wood. (dramatic music) - Eighteen months after this extraordinary visitation, it was evident the moment still had power. (dramatic music) - Every time I thought about it, I was greatly humble. Thinking. Thinking that the ultimate God. (speaking in foreign language) - When Pastor Moses Kayak first heard the low-pitched rumbling, he walked over to the church sound board to adjust the settings. When these efforts failed to correct the situation, he quickly turned down the master control. When this too failed, he shut the system off completely, still, the sound, and the recording continued. - It shouldn't have been recorded. It's only by the miracle of God. - Dammit your guitar. - It was completely humble, to the point where he wanted to continually come before God, kneel, and ask for prayer, and ask for cleansing of the heart to become here before him. (dramatic music) - Wasn't that awesome? And to think that was an Anglican church, which is not one that would be an outward proponent of Pentecost or the charismatic move. I thought that was so awesome that almost two years after the experience, you could see how much it still impacted those people. I'm preaching tonight for just a few minutes about how to walk in the spirit. People are looking for something real today. They want a divine encounter. They want a life-changing experience. They want the supernatural. And my question for you today is this. Do you want more of God? Do you want more of His presence, more of His power? Are you open to everything that God has for you? Everything that the Word of God says that you can have, then you need more of the Holy Spirit, more of His power, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And I want you to understand that the gifts from God are free. I just happen to have a couple of gifts in my hand. And here's the first one. It's called salvation. Isn't that neat? It's red, the blood of Jesus. He gave so that we might receive, and so Rebecca, would you come and receive this gift? You don't have to be good to get it or work for it or earn it, just because I love you. I want to give you that gift. And just as we receive the gift of salvation by faith, and it is a gift, well, there's another gift. It's also very important. It's called the Holy Spirit. And boy, this looks like a Holy Spirit box. And it's just kind of glows. It's iridescent, I guess. And Stephen, I want you to come, and I want you to receive this gift. And the Lord's just gonna give it to you just because He loves you. Again, you don't have to earn it or deserve it or work for it, just by faith. Freely we receive and freely we give. So the gift of salvation is for the life to come. But the gift of the Holy Spirit is for the life right now, the life right here on this earth. Point number one, the Holy Spirit was promised. And Isaiah 32, 15, until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest. And Isaiah 59, 21 asks for me, sayeth the Lord, this is my covenant with them, my spirit that I have placed upon you, and my words which I have put in your mouth. So not depart from out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your seed, nor out of the mouth of your seed seed, from henceforth, and forevermore. In Ezekiel 39, 29, neither will I hide my face anymore from them, for I have poured out of my spirit upon the house of Israel, sayeth the Lord God. And in Joel 28 and 29, and it shall come to pass that in the last days, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. That means on Baptist flesh, on Catholic flesh, on Pentecostal flesh, on charismatic flesh, on black flesh, and white flesh, and brown flesh, and yellow flesh. On all flesh, God said I will pour out of my spirit. In Zechariah 12 and 10, upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, will I pour out the spirit of grace and of supplication. In Matthew chapter three, verses 16 and 17, and straightway, when Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him. And lo a voice from heaven saying, "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased." You see, when you go to college and you study to be in the ministry, they'll teach you $100 theological words. And one of the ones that I was taught was called the canotic theory, or the theory of kenosis, that when Jesus came to this earth, he emptied himself of his divine attributes. For if he didn't, he wouldn't be able to understand the temptations that we have as human beings. And because he entered himself of those divine attributes, he needed the power of the Holy Spirit in his life, just like you and I do. You think about that verse Luke four and one, and Jesus being led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of Satan. You see, it was the Holy Spirit that chose the battleground, and the anointing of God was upon Jesus as he went to do fight with the devil. In Luke 24, 49, and behold, I send the promise of my father upon you, but terry ye in the city of Jerusalem until you be in dude or clothe with power from on high. In John 7, 37, 38, and 39, and that last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, "If any man thirst," underlined that word, because it's a key. "If any man thirst, let him come unto me in drink, "and as the scripture saith out of his innermost being, "she'll flow ridders of living water, "but this fake he of the Spirit that should come. "And acts one and eight, but you shall receive power." After that, the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And Acts two, 38, and 39 repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promises unto you and to your children, to your children's children, to all that are far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. In Acts 4 and 30, and when they had prayed, the place was shaken, where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spake the word of God with power. You see, ladies and gentlemen, the Holy Spirit is real, and it's a promise of God that's been chronicled down through the word of God. In the Bible, water is a metaphor used for the Holy Spirit. Getting baptized in the Holy Spirit is like getting baptized in water, and you saw all these wonderful people getting baptized tonight. I want Pastor Robert to come over here and help me for just a minute. I might even, if he does a good job, I might even share some of the offering with him. (congregation laughs) What I want you to understand is this, 'cause a lot of people, they argue about this, or they misunderstand this. When you get saved, you do receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes into your life, but getting baptized in the Holy Spirit is different than getting saved. It's not that you get more of the Holy Spirit when you get baptized, it's that the Holy Spirit gets more of you. So in other words, you don't get 65% of the Holy Spirit when you get saved, and then 35% more when you get baptized. So let's just imagine that he and I are in that water-bad history. We've already established that water is a metaphor for the Holy Spirit. So we're in the water, we're in the Holy Spirit, but until I yield myself, I haven't been baptized yet. Now this guy, he's a tall, younger than me. He's strong, he's in great shape. He's fully recovered from his rotator cuff injury, and so it would be easy for him to baptize the little Lamb of God. I mean, it wouldn't take anything for just to put me down real quickly. So I want you to pretend that you're gonna baptize me. No, not you, baptize me. You're not getting any of the offering if you don't do any better than that. (congregation laughs) Okay, so I'm in the water, I'm in the spirit, but I haven't been baptized yet. Do you get that? I'm a Christian, I'm a believer. I better be if I'm gonna get baptized. So again, baptizing the Holy Spirit's like getting baptized in water. This is the baptizer. Well, you see, I'm gonna have to trust him that he's not gonna drop me. I dropped a lady one time. I'll tell you that story another day. And oh God, how mercy, trying to get her up out of the water was bad. But anyway, you gotta trust the baptizer and then you got to yield. So even though he's bigger and stronger and younger than me, I didn't say he was better looking though. I have to yield to him, not only trust him, but I've got to yield to let myself go back. If I don't yield, even though he's trying to baptize me, I won't get baptized. You get Pastor Robert a big hand for helping me. (congregation applauding) So getting baptized in the Holy Spirit is like getting baptized in water. You've got to yield to the baptizer. Number two, not only is the Holy Spirit promised, but the Holy Spirit is a person. Now it's easy for us to have a picture of God the Father in our mind 'cause we can relate to a Father. And we think about stories in the Bible. God came down in the form of an angel and went into the tent with Abraham and ate with him. They probably had angel food cake. I guess that's what they had not devil's food cake or not deviled eggs. But anyway, he came in the form of a person. We know the story of Moses when he was on Mount Sinai and the Bible says that he saw the hinder parts of God after Moses had cried out and said, "Oh Lord, show me by glory in Exodus chapter 33." And the power of God was so great upon Moses that his face glowed like the brightness of the new day sun and they had to put a veil upon Moses' face. Let me tell you this, when somebody's been with God, when somebody's had a divine encounter, they won't have to tell you, you'll see it on their face. You'll see it that glow, that joy, that excitement upon their countenance. You'll feel it coming forth from their heart. When somebody's been with God, you'll know that they have. So we have this image in our mind of God the Father. And it's easy to have an image in our mind of God the Son. We have the incredible portrait that Warner Sawman did of what Jesus looked like in his mind. We have the incredible picture that Leonardo da Vinci did of the Lord's Supper and there is Christ with his disciples. So we have that in our mind, a visual image. And we know the stories from the scriptures, even from a small child and the miracles that Jesus did. So we have this idea in our mind of Jesus, the Son, Jesus as a person. But when we start talking about God the Holy Spirit, it's very difficult for some of us to have an understanding of him as a person. We think about him like a cloud or a mist or a smoke or a fog. Or we think about him as a feeling or an experience. But I submit to you today that the Holy Spirit is a divine person. Listen what Jesus said. In John chapter 14 verses 16 and 17 and Jesus said, "And I will pray the Father and He will send you another comforter." When you looked that up, the word comforter, even though it's in the middle of a sentence is capitalized. Why? Because it's referring to a divine person. And I will send you another comforter that he may abide with you forever, even the Holy Spirit whom the world cannot see or the world cannot receive. But you know him for he is with you, but shall be in you. Go back to the illustration. I'm in the bad history, I'm in the water, but I haven't been baptized yet. Jesus saying the Holy Spirit is in you. But the Holy Spirit is with you, but He's going to be in you. In other words, He's going to be in control of your life. He's going to be greater power in your life. He's going to have a greater impact on your life. And in John 16 and seven is where He said that it's expedient for you that I go away. And there's words in the Bible that describe the Holy Spirit as a person. He's called a guide. He's called a counselor. He's called a comforter. He's called an advocate. First John five and seven says for there are three that bear record in heaven. The Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit. Now I've asked Pastor Thomas Miller to come over here and join me and he's going to help me illustrate my sermon. We're going to see if he can do better than Pastor Robert. Now he's going to be the Holy Spirit. Now Romans 8, 14 says for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. But how many of you have been guilty just like me? Instead of being led by the Holy Spirit, we tried to lead the Holy Spirit ourselves. And we'll go and we'll make a decision and then we'll get in trouble and then we'll cry. Oh God, come and help me and bail me out of this situation. And the Holy Spirit, it's his time. It's his dispensation. The Father had his time in the preexistence of the world and the creation of the world. Jesus had his time in the New Testament. He walked the sandy shores of Galilee and performed all the miracles. But again, Jesus said it is expedient for you. It is very vital. It is utterly necessary that I go away. For if I go not away, the comforter will not come. But if I depart, I will send him unto you that he may abide with you forever. The word abide means to live with or to come alive. So Jesus said it's vital. It's necessary. It's of utmost importance that I ascend to the heavens, that I can send back the Holy Spirit for now it's his time. It's his dispensation. So here we are and we're saying, come on Holy Ghost, follow me, come on Holy Spirit. And you know, we're just, instead of being led by the Holy Spirit, we're trying to lead the Holy Spirit. But we're supposed to, all right now Holy Spirit, you're not supposed to be behind me. You're supposed to be in front of me. I'm supposed to be following you. You know why? Because the Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth. He knows all things. The Bible says that he can teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you in John 14 and 26. And you know what, ladies and gentlemen? We need to think about him as a real person in our lives. And we need to develop a relationship with him like we would a friendship with our best friend. In order to do that, you've got to make an investment of time. You've got to talk to him. You've got to love him. You've got to create an atmosphere where he's welcome and where he feels wanted and where he feels needed. And you need to get to a point to where you quit talking and you start listening. When we pray, we spend all the time talking and God's just saying, well, are you through? If you'll ever stop talking, then I'll start talking. And how does he talk? He talks through the scriptures. He talks through his servants, men of God. But he can speak to you by the Holy Spirit. It can be a steel small voice. It can be an inner impression. It can be a strong feeling. It can be a dream. It can be an idea. It can be something that just comes alive in your spirit. You can be riding down the road, and all of a sudden, the thought will come to you. Don't go this way. Take this detour. Take this exit. Go this other way. And then later on, you might find out that there was some tragedy or there was some danger that if you would have taken the path that you normally take, that you would have encountered. But the Holy Spirit, knowing all things and knowing the things in advance, if you are being led by the Holy Spirit and you're listening to him, then he can keep you out of trouble. He can help you understand things. Have you ever been in a situation where you were just perplexed over a problem? And all of a sudden, you begin to pray. And then it was like a light just went on in your head. Oh, yeah, I get it. Yeah, that's it. Well, it was this one. It was him speaking to you. But you gotta have that relationship to where you can hear his steel small voice. Where he feels welcome to be around you, to lead you, to guide you, to protect you. Does that help you? The Holy Spirit is a real person. Will you give Pastor Thomas a hand for helping me tonight? And finally, the Holy Spirit, not only is he promised, not only is he a person, but the Holy Spirit has a prayer and praise language. According to experts, there are over 600 million people around the globe who claim the experience called the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking with other tongues. Now, I know for some that may be a controversial thing, but 30 times in the New Testament are tongues via the Holy Spirit referenced. And I believe that James, the brother of Jesus, gave us a clear understanding as to why God uses this unusual medium of expression called speaking in tongues. In James chapter three, verse eight, it says, "For the tongue can no man tame, "it is an unruly evil full of deadly poison." In other words, it's the most uncontrollable part of a person's life. And just like getting baptized in water, you got to yield yourself. When you get baptized in the Holy Spirit, you've got to yield your tongue. You've got to yield your mouth. I had a friend of mine who was an evangelist and he told me the story about this lady that came up to me. And she said, "Brother McDowell, will you pray for me?" I'm trying to be pitiful 'cause she was pitifully told me. And he said, "What's wrong with you?" She said, "I want you to pray for me "that I can get my tongue on the altar." Well, he looked down on the altar, was 50 feet long. And he said, "Well, how long is your tongue? "How many have ever gotten in trouble with this tongue? "Say amen or O me." So it's the most uncontrollable part of your body. There's life and death, the Bible says, in the tongue, the power of the tongue. So if we can yield the most uncontrollable part of ourself to God, it stands to reason that we can yield all those other parts to God. Our heart, our mind, our time, our attention, our will, our emotions, our gifts, our talents, our abilities, everything else will be a lot easier to yield to God once we yield the most uncontrollable part of ourself, that being our tongue. What does the Bible say about it? And Isaiah 28, 11, and 12, forward stammering lips and another tongue, will he speak to this people? And this shall be a time of refreshing and a rest wherewith the weary shall rest. In Mark 16 and 17, and these signs shall follow them that believe in my name, you will speak with other tongues. In Acts chapter two and verse four, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit in speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14 and two, he did speaketh in an unknown tongue, speaketh not unto man, but unto God. So the next time somebody challenges you or questions you about it, then quote on that verse and then say, what's wrong with speaking unto God? 1 Corinthians 14 and five, the Apostle Paul was a southerner because he said, I thank my God, I speak in tongues more than ye all. See, he was a southerner, that's why he said it that way. 1 Corinthians 14 and 15 talks about the prayer language. I will pray with the Spirit. Ephesians six and 18, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. Jude chapter one, that one chapter, a book of the Bible, but ye beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. When you pray in the Holy Spirit, in that heavenly language, you build yourself up and you become strong. And guess what? When you pray in the Holy Spirit, not only does God know what you're saying, but the devil doesn't know what you're saying. Somebody say, praise the Lord to that. Romans 828 is one of the most popular verses in the Bible. And it's usually quoted like this, all things work together for the good of them who love God who are the called according to his purpose. And most people's attitude towards Romans 828 is, case surah, surah, whatever will be will be. In other words, whatever happens is God's will and I don't have to be involved in the situation. So think about this, somebody gets sick is A, they go to the hospital is B. And while they're in that semi-private room, they witness to somebody that's on the other side of the curtain, that person gets saved, that's C. So they think in their natural mind, A plus B equals C. It was the will of God that I got sick, so I could go to the hospital, so I could witness to the person that got saved. No, bad things don't come from God. Good things come from God. But the good news is that God can turn a bad situation into a good situation. Now let's look at what this verse actually says. In Romans 828 when it says all things work together, it's actually a present participle. Now a better way to understand that is that it is a present progressive verb of continuing action. And it's rightly translated this way. And it says all things are working together. Now let me give an example of that. Let's take the word run. You could say I ran down the street last week. That's in the past tense. I'm gonna run to the store in a few moments. That's in the future tense. But if you say I am running, that's present, but if I'm running, it's not only present, but it's progressive. It's continuing action. I am in the process. I am running. So the Bible is really saying that everything is in God's process. Everything that happens to you is not necessarily the will of God, but the good news is that when you're led by the Holy Spirit, God can cause it all to turn out for His glory and for your good. I wish somebody would clap your hands and praise the Lord. (congregation applauding) But now listen to this. And if you don't get anything that I've preached tonight, you need to get this part. I sense the anointing of the Holy Spirit just thinking about this. I am convinced that the reason that Romans 828 works is because of Romans 826 in Romans 827. Verse 26, likewise the spirit helpeth our infirmities. Everybody say infirmities. Infirmity which would be a limitation or some lack. Helpeth our infirmities. And then it begins to enumerate what those are. For we know not, so we have a lack of knowledge or limited knowledge, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought or as we should, but the spirit itself, and again, it's capitalized. Spirit is capitalized referring to a divine person talking to the Holy Spirit. So the spirit itself helpeth our infirmities. And then it goes on to say, for he make it the intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered, which I believe is an unmistakable reference to praying in the heavenly language, to praying in the spirit, to praying in tongues. And it says, and he make it the intercession according to the will of God. That must be the most all asked question. How can I know God's will? How can I be in God's will? How can I do God's will? Well, ladies and gentlemen, when you yield to the precious Holy Spirit and he prays through you, then you're automatically praying in the will of God. So we have limited understanding sometimes of how to solve a difficult problem. We have limited understanding of what the future holds. We don't know if our house is gonna burn down. We don't know if we're gonna lose our job or our child's gonna die or somebody's gonna sue us or we're gonna be audited by the IRS or whatever it is, some terrible cataclysmic thing that may happen. But oh, when the Holy Spirit prays through you in the heavenly language, guess what? He already knows about tomorrow. He already knows about next week, next month, next year. And when he prays through you, he's taking all of those things into consideration. We also have a limited knowledge in knowing how to talk to the God of the universe. How do you properly talk to somebody who has no beginning, who has no ending? Man, how do you do that? Our language is limited in knowing how to talk to him. And many times we also feel limited by our location that God is up in heaven and we're down here on this earth. But here's the good news. When the Holy Spirit prays through you in the heavenly language, guess what? He is intimately acquainted with the Father and with the Son. He knows them very well. He knows exactly how to talk to them. He knows how they think. He knows how they feel. He knows how they operate. So when he prays through you, he is praying for you with that advantage. The Holy Spirit goes before the throne room of Almighty God. When you yield to the Holy Spirit and he prays through you in that heavenly language, you don't have to worry about did my prayers bounce off the ceiling? Did God hear me? Was God on vacation or was God deaf? No, ladies and gentlemen, when the Holy Spirit prays through you, that prayer walks down the street of gold. That prayer is presented before the throne room in the very heavenlies before the Father and before the Son on your behalf. And guess what else? Oh, yes, that's something to rejoice about. The Holy Spirit is not merely a messenger. In other words, pastor Marcus, the Holy Spirit doesn't just go and tell the Father and the Son what you're thinking or how you're feeling. But the Bible says that he intercedes. In other words, he's a divine advocate. I'll tell you this. Whether you think O.J. was guilty or innocent years ago, he had several multi-million dollar attorneys and it was those multi-million dollar lawyers that got him off with a simple phrase. If the gloves don't fit, you must acquit. That's why I got off. Because of those high-powered lawyers, those high-powered attorneys, what so it is with the Holy Spirit when he prays to you in the heavenly language. Again, he doesn't just repeat to God what you're thinking and how you're feeling. But he goes over there on your behalf and he intercedes to the Father and to the Son and he persuades them to answer your prayers according to the needs that are in your life. I wish somebody to get excited and gateway church and praise the Lord for that. And finally, ladies and gentlemen, he does so that verse says according to the will of God. When you pray and you're understanding, you're limited. When you're praying and you're understanding, you don't know everything that's gonna happen. When you pray and you're understanding, you don't in advance know the will of God, but oh, when you yield to the precious Holy Spirit and he prays to you in the heavenly language. The Bible says that he automatically is praying the will of God for your life. So a prayer language is a God given resource which bypasses our human minds, trusting the Holy Spirit to speak the prayer, the perfect prayer for us. In other words, tongues are a yielding of our will and our understanding to his will. And then there's something else need about the Holy Spirit language that is praise. Our words are so limited. Our language is so limited, but when we praise in the Holy Spirit language, one word in the Holy Spirit could be worth a thousand words in man's language. So when the time calls for prayer and Thanksgiving beyond your ability to adequately express, then our praise and tongues is what will work because it'll give God the glory and the honor that he so richly deserves. I want the musicians to come to the instruments. And I want to close with a true story that happened in a revival in Los Angeles, California. There was a teenage girl by the name of Kathleen Scott. She had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. During the revival, they had an upper room. It was a prayer room. And prior to the preaching service, people would gather in that prayer room and they would pray and they would intercede and they would worship God. And there was a man that came into the service, a stranger. And he heard the praying going on up in the upper room. So he ascended the stairs and as he got to the top of the stairs, that teenage girl, Kathleen Scott, stood up on her feet, turned to the man and pointed her finger and started speaking in a language that she had never studied or never learned. She spoke in this language for several minutes and the man was just captivated, arrested, paralyzed in amazement of what this girl was saying. Then they rang a bell, which was to tell the people in the upper room that it was time for the preaching service to start. And immediately the girl stopped speaking in this language. And as she walked to the stairs, 'cause see this man had come to the top of the stairs, he took her by the arm, walked down the stairs with her. And then when the service came to order, he walked up to the leaders that were on the platform and he gave this testimony. He said, "I am a Jewish man. "I came to this city with an assumed name. "Nobody knew that I was here "and nobody knew what my real name was." He said, "I go to Christian churches "to pick apart the sermons of preachers "so I can use it against them. "But what I walked up to the top of that step "and that young teenage girl turned "and pointed her finger at me. "And she began to speak. "That girl was speaking in Hebrew. "She told me my first name. "She told me my last name. "She told me what I did for a living. "And while I was, and why I was here. "And she told me things that nobody in this city could know. "And then the story goes that he fell on his knees "because the last thing she had said was "that God had said, you need to repent of your sins "and receive Jesus as your Messiah. "And after he told this story, "fell on his knees and he began to cry "as though his heart would break. "That was the precious Holy Spirit who spoke through her." (silence) (silence) (silence) You [BLANK_AUDIO]