1 00:00:05,042 --> 00:00:06,333 Howdy, Pastor Mark here. 2 00:00:06,375 --> 00:00:09,708 I wanted to say thanks for tuning in and joining us for our sermon series. 3 00:00:09,792 --> 00:00:11,417 We're currently in the Book of Acts. 4 00:00:11,500 --> 00:00:14,500 We're actually going to take a chunk every year after Easter 5 00:00:14,583 --> 00:00:16,875 for the next number of years. 6 00:00:16,958 --> 00:00:19,500 And for those of you who pray for me or for us, 7 00:00:19,583 --> 00:00:23,583 those of you who give to the church, want to say thank you very, very much. 8 00:00:23,667 --> 00:00:25,625 For those of you who'd like to get connected 9 00:00:25,667 --> 00:00:27,917 and be part of the extended Mars Hill family, 10 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:32,375 go to marshill.com/global, we'll sign you up for a "connect" account. 11 00:00:32,458 --> 00:00:34,333 That'll get you some free resources 12 00:00:34,375 --> 00:00:37,292 and allow you to know what's going on at Mars Hill. 13 00:00:37,333 --> 00:00:41,000 In addition you can also find the study guide for the "Acts" series. 14 00:00:41,083 --> 00:00:44,417 It was put together by a team right here at Mars Hill church. 15 00:00:44,500 --> 00:00:46,000 We've made it very inexpensive. 16 00:00:46,083 --> 00:00:48,917 Any of the proceeds come back to the church, not to me. 17 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:51,500 And we'd love to have you do a deep study 18 00:00:51,583 --> 00:00:53,667 with us through the Book of Acts. 19 00:00:53,750 --> 00:00:55,708 So we love you, we appreciate you, thank you, 20 00:00:55,792 --> 00:00:58,083 and thanks for signing up for a global account. 21 00:01:04,667 --> 00:01:10,250 Jesus said, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit 22 00:01:10,333 --> 00:01:12,458 "has come upon you, 23 00:01:12,500 --> 00:01:16,625 "and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem 24 00:01:16,667 --> 00:01:22,625 and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth." 25 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:29,500 What does Jesus' mission look like here? 26 00:01:29,583 --> 00:01:33,833 What's his mission here? 27 00:01:33,875 --> 00:01:37,833 What does Jesus' mission look like here? 28 00:01:37,875 --> 00:01:42,833 What does Jesus' mission look like here? 29 00:01:42,917 --> 00:01:45,458 What is Jesus' mission here? 30 00:01:45,500 --> 00:01:48,792 How do I know what Jesus' mission is? 31 00:01:55,167 --> 00:01:56,583 Howdy, Mars Hill. 32 00:01:56,667 --> 00:02:00,250 How many of you have attended, visited, 33 00:02:00,333 --> 00:02:05,250 participated in another church other than Mars Hill? 34 00:02:05,333 --> 00:02:06,667 So, many of you. 35 00:02:06,708 --> 00:02:08,375 How many of you, Mars Hill's it? 36 00:02:08,458 --> 00:02:11,125 You're like, "This is where I started, glad to be here." 37 00:02:11,167 --> 00:02:12,625 Glad to have you. Love you. 38 00:02:12,667 --> 00:02:14,167 Glad to have you as well. 39 00:02:14,250 --> 00:02:18,000 What tends to happen is whatever your first church experience is, 40 00:02:18,083 --> 00:02:20,708 that becomes normative for you. 41 00:02:20,792 --> 00:02:24,083 You assume that we're doing it right, and if other churches 42 00:02:24,167 --> 00:02:28,500 are doing it different, then they must be doing it wrong. 43 00:02:28,583 --> 00:02:31,000 And that's not always the case, 44 00:02:31,083 --> 00:02:33,125 but that was at least my experience. 45 00:02:33,167 --> 00:02:35,083 I was raised--some of you know my story. 46 00:02:35,167 --> 00:02:36,500 I was raised Roman Catholic. 47 00:02:36,583 --> 00:02:38,583 I thought, OK, church is very formal. 48 00:02:38,667 --> 00:02:42,333 You kneel and sit and stand and genuflect, and an old-- 49 00:02:42,375 --> 00:02:48,125 like, very old--person has to be the preacher. 50 00:02:48,167 --> 00:02:52,500 He's this close to Jesus, so he knows the most, you know? 51 00:02:52,542 --> 00:02:57,083 And that church was supposed to be not very exciting, 52 00:02:57,167 --> 00:03:00,667 not very enthusiastic, not super passionate. 53 00:03:00,750 --> 00:03:04,167 I stopped going to church when I was in my teen years, and then 54 00:03:04,208 --> 00:03:06,667 God saved me in college, and I became a Christian 55 00:03:06,750 --> 00:03:08,208 through the study of the Bible. 56 00:03:08,292 --> 00:03:10,208 And then I had to find a church, 57 00:03:10,292 --> 00:03:12,583 and I had no idea what to look for. 58 00:03:12,667 --> 00:03:15,333 And by God's grace, I ended up in a good, Bible-teaching, 59 00:03:15,375 --> 00:03:17,333 Jesus-loving evangelical church, but it was kind of 60 00:03:17,375 --> 00:03:19,917 a decaf church, you know, like, people would sing 61 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:21,875 but not really, you know? 62 00:03:21,958 --> 00:03:23,708 There's, like, three kinds of churches: 63 00:03:23,792 --> 00:03:26,208 churches where you sing with your hands at your side, 64 00:03:26,292 --> 00:03:28,875 churches where you sing with one hand up, and churches where 65 00:03:28,958 --> 00:03:31,500 you sing with both hands up. And we were sort of 66 00:03:31,583 --> 00:03:33,500 a hands-down-at-your-side church. 67 00:03:33,583 --> 00:03:37,167 And I didn't know that other churches were not like us until 68 00:03:37,250 --> 00:03:41,917 we had a joint get-together of a lot of churches in the area, 69 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,417 and some churches showed up that were--they called themselves 70 00:03:45,500 --> 00:03:50,000 charismatic or Pentecostal. And they were different. 71 00:03:50,083 --> 00:03:53,875 Before worship, they're stretching, you know, 72 00:03:53,958 --> 00:03:56,875 like, get the hams loosened up, Icy Hot. 73 00:03:56,958 --> 00:03:59,125 You know, like, wow, this is going to get-- 74 00:03:59,167 --> 00:04:01,500 this is going to get serious. 75 00:04:01,542 --> 00:04:04,042 You know, they're like, "All right, we're ready to sing; 76 00:04:04,125 --> 00:04:05,750 let's do this." 77 00:04:05,833 --> 00:04:08,167 It's like, "Oh, wow, OK, these guys are plugged in." 78 00:04:08,250 --> 00:04:11,417 I didn't know that it was like aerobics for Jesus. 79 00:04:11,500 --> 00:04:13,208 This is amazing. 80 00:04:13,292 --> 00:04:16,000 And so when it came time to sing, man, they sang. 81 00:04:16,083 --> 00:04:18,917 Like, we sang in our hearts; they sang with their mouths. 82 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:22,708 They were in it to win it. And they were clapping, 83 00:04:22,792 --> 00:04:27,000 and on beat. 84 00:04:27,042 --> 00:04:30,667 Just pray about that, Mars Hill-- something for us to consider. 85 00:04:30,750 --> 00:04:32,333 They were very enthusiastic. 86 00:04:32,375 --> 00:04:33,833 They'd shout. 87 00:04:33,875 --> 00:04:35,375 They'd cheer. 88 00:04:35,458 --> 00:04:36,833 During the preacher's sermon, 89 00:04:36,875 --> 00:04:39,000 they felt inclined to participate. 90 00:04:39,083 --> 00:04:40,708 "You bet ya!" "Go get 'em!" 91 00:04:40,792 --> 00:04:42,500 "Raise him up!" "Amen!" 92 00:04:42,542 --> 00:04:44,083 "Say it again!" 93 00:04:44,167 --> 00:04:45,625 I was like, "Wow, 94 00:04:45,667 --> 00:04:47,125 this is like the Apollo. 95 00:04:47,167 --> 00:04:48,625 This is like BET. 96 00:04:48,667 --> 00:04:50,500 This is fantastic!" 97 00:04:50,583 --> 00:04:53,292 And then there was a point in the service 98 00:04:53,333 --> 00:04:55,208 where the band stopped playing. 99 00:04:55,292 --> 00:04:58,417 I don't know if the lead guy broke a guitar string or what. 100 00:04:58,500 --> 00:05:00,667 There was downtime, and these folks thought, 101 00:05:00,708 --> 00:05:02,875 "We'll fill it." And they did: 102 00:05:02,958 --> 00:05:08,792 they just started talking out loud very enthusiastically 103 00:05:08,833 --> 00:05:12,000 in a language I had never heard, 104 00:05:12,083 --> 00:05:14,833 and I did not know what was going on. 105 00:05:14,875 --> 00:05:17,417 And everybody was nice, and I talked to them. 106 00:05:17,500 --> 00:05:19,375 They loved Jesus. They believed the Bible. 107 00:05:19,458 --> 00:05:21,500 I just didn't know what was going on. 108 00:05:21,542 --> 00:05:24,708 I thought, "Well, I wonder if we're wrong or they're wrong." 109 00:05:24,792 --> 00:05:28,208 And the answer is--what does the Bible say? 110 00:05:28,292 --> 00:05:31,500 And so, some of you are going to come into Mars Hill like, 111 00:05:31,542 --> 00:05:33,500 "It's not like my old church." 112 00:05:33,583 --> 00:05:36,625 Maybe your old church was wrong, or maybe we're wrong, or maybe 113 00:05:36,667 --> 00:05:41,000 it's flexibility and God is approving of both. 114 00:05:41,083 --> 00:05:44,625 The only way we really discover how the church should be is 115 00:05:44,667 --> 00:05:47,833 not taking our experience and making it normative, 116 00:05:47,875 --> 00:05:51,625 but going to the Word of God and seeing what the will of God is. 117 00:05:51,667 --> 00:05:53,500 So, if you've got a Bible, 118 00:05:53,583 --> 00:05:56,000 go with me to Acts chapter 2, verses 1-13. 119 00:05:56,083 --> 00:05:59,167 We're going to look at the fact of being empowered by the Spirit 120 00:05:59,250 --> 00:06:02,375 to follow Jesus, and we're going to look at one of the most 121 00:06:02,458 --> 00:06:06,000 debated issues in church theology--and that is, 122 00:06:06,042 --> 00:06:08,125 Should we speak in tongues? 123 00:06:08,167 --> 00:06:09,833 What should services look like? 124 00:06:09,875 --> 00:06:11,333 What happens when we come together? 125 00:06:11,375 --> 00:06:13,500 We're going to get into all of this today. 126 00:06:13,583 --> 00:06:16,708 This will be a pretty thorough sermon that we can refer back to 127 00:06:16,792 --> 00:06:20,500 as this issue comes up again in the ensuing weeks and months 128 00:06:20,583 --> 00:06:22,833 and years in the book of Acts. 129 00:06:22,875 --> 00:06:25,833 And let me preface by saying that here's where we find 130 00:06:25,875 --> 00:06:27,667 ourselves in the story: 131 00:06:27,750 --> 00:06:30,917 Jesus is God become a man, lived without sin, went to the cross, 132 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:34,625 died in our place for our sins as our substitute Savior, 133 00:06:34,667 --> 00:06:38,000 was buried, 3 days later on a Sunday 134 00:06:38,083 --> 00:06:41,667 he rose from death conquering Satan, sin, death, hell, 135 00:06:41,750 --> 00:06:43,500 the wrath of God. 136 00:06:43,583 --> 00:06:47,708 Acts chapter 1 tells us that he appeared for 40 days, 137 00:06:47,792 --> 00:06:51,083 evidencing his resurrection with many proofs. 138 00:06:51,167 --> 00:06:53,583 He then told his disciples, 139 00:06:53,667 --> 00:06:56,125 "Do not go out and start your ministry yet. 140 00:06:56,167 --> 00:06:57,833 You need to wait." 141 00:06:57,875 --> 00:07:00,542 Acts 1:8, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you. 142 00:07:00,625 --> 00:07:03,667 "He will come with power so that you can be my witnesses-- 143 00:07:03,750 --> 00:07:06,250 Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, ends of the earth-- 144 00:07:06,333 --> 00:07:09,292 your city, your state, your nation, your country, 145 00:07:09,333 --> 00:07:12,208 the nations of the earth. That's what he's talking about. 146 00:07:12,292 --> 00:07:14,375 He then ascended into heaven, 147 00:07:14,458 --> 00:07:17,083 and then it tells us at the end of Acts 1 148 00:07:17,167 --> 00:07:20,125 that for 10 days, they prayed, they studied the Bible, 149 00:07:20,167 --> 00:07:23,833 they prepared their leadership, they prepared themselves. 150 00:07:23,875 --> 00:07:27,292 And today we see Jesus' promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit 151 00:07:27,333 --> 00:07:30,333 being fulfilled in Acts chapter 2. 152 00:07:30,375 --> 00:07:32,000 And this is important: 153 00:07:32,083 --> 00:07:34,417 just as the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus 154 00:07:34,500 --> 00:07:37,000 at his baptism in Luke's Gospel to anoint 155 00:07:37,042 --> 00:07:39,208 and appoint him for ministry, 156 00:07:39,292 --> 00:07:42,708 so here Jesus is going to send the Holy Spirit on his people 157 00:07:42,792 --> 00:07:45,625 so that we can follow in the ministry of Jesus 158 00:07:45,667 --> 00:07:48,083 by the power of Jesus. 159 00:07:48,167 --> 00:07:51,208 Let's read it together beginning in Acts chapter 2, 160 00:07:51,292 --> 00:07:53,875 verses 1-3, where we learn that the Holy Spirit 161 00:07:53,958 --> 00:07:57,083 empowers Christians for ministry: 162 00:07:57,167 --> 00:07:59,417 "When the day of Pentecost arrived, 163 00:07:59,500 --> 00:08:01,500 they were all together in one place"-- 164 00:08:01,542 --> 00:08:04,667 so it's a church meeting of about 120 people-- 165 00:08:04,750 --> 00:08:08,083 "And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like"-- 166 00:08:08,167 --> 00:08:10,500 "like"--and this is important: 167 00:08:10,542 --> 00:08:13,417 the Bible here is telling us something that happened; 168 00:08:13,500 --> 00:08:17,625 it's explaining a supernatural, miraculous event. 169 00:08:17,667 --> 00:08:19,333 But it's unusual. 170 00:08:19,375 --> 00:08:22,125 Have you been in a situation where you saw or experienced 171 00:08:22,167 --> 00:08:24,125 something that was altogether new for you-- 172 00:08:24,167 --> 00:08:27,125 you're trying to figure out how to explain it to somebody else, 173 00:08:27,167 --> 00:08:30,292 say, "Well, it's kind of like this and it's kind of like that, 174 00:08:30,333 --> 00:08:32,792 but it's not like this and it's not like that." 175 00:08:32,833 --> 00:08:35,708 When you hear that language, what you're supposed to 176 00:08:35,792 --> 00:08:40,792 understand is that the Bible here is straining to explain 177 00:08:40,833 --> 00:08:43,625 the supernatural in the constraints 178 00:08:43,667 --> 00:08:45,625 of human language. 179 00:08:45,667 --> 00:08:49,917 So it was "like," it was "like a mighty rushing wind, 180 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,375 "and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 181 00:08:52,458 --> 00:08:55,083 And divided tongues, as of fire"--again, 182 00:08:55,167 --> 00:08:56,625 it's "like" fire; 183 00:08:56,667 --> 00:08:59,292 it's as of fire—"appeared to them and rested 184 00:08:59,333 --> 00:09:01,083 on each of them." 185 00:09:01,167 --> 00:09:04,792 So the timing is Pentecost-- this is a Jewish holiday. 186 00:09:04,833 --> 00:09:07,208 Before this, there was a major holiday 187 00:09:07,292 --> 00:09:09,500 called Passover, 188 00:09:09,542 --> 00:09:12,208 and it was celebrating God's deliverance of his people from 189 00:09:12,292 --> 00:09:14,875 slavery and bondage in Egypt through the shedding 190 00:09:14,958 --> 00:09:17,333 of the blood of a substitutionary lamb, 191 00:09:17,375 --> 00:09:20,125 which all prefigured the coming of Jesus, 192 00:09:20,167 --> 00:09:22,667 our Passover lamb who has been slain, 193 00:09:22,750 --> 00:09:25,625 that through him, it is through his shed blood that we receive 194 00:09:25,667 --> 00:09:28,792 our redemption, our Exodus, our liberation 195 00:09:28,833 --> 00:09:31,125 from Satan, sin, and death. 196 00:09:31,167 --> 00:09:35,625 And they celebrated it and then 50 days later--50, "pente,"-- 197 00:09:35,667 --> 00:09:38,792 50 days later, it was Pentecost. 198 00:09:38,833 --> 00:09:41,500 So this is 50 days after the Passover, 199 00:09:41,583 --> 00:09:44,625 and they're meeting in Jerusalem around the temple, 200 00:09:44,667 --> 00:09:47,167 and the presence of God in the Holy of Holies 201 00:09:47,250 --> 00:09:49,417 and the people of God are together. 202 00:09:49,500 --> 00:09:53,667 The first believers in Jesus are gathered as the first church-- 203 00:09:53,750 --> 00:09:56,625 about 120--and the Holy Spirit descends on them. 204 00:09:56,667 --> 00:10:01,083 He comes to empower them as he came to empower Jesus 205 00:10:01,167 --> 00:10:03,833 so that they might be on his mission, 206 00:10:03,875 --> 00:10:07,750 and they might be on his mission by his power. 207 00:10:07,833 --> 00:10:09,833 I want you to see that. 208 00:10:09,917 --> 00:10:14,333 And he comes "like" the wind and he comes "like" a fire. 209 00:10:14,417 --> 00:10:16,625 When he comes like the wind, 210 00:10:16,667 --> 00:10:19,958 you and I are supposed to see this as power. 211 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:25,250 For those of you who have any time in, where I live, 212 00:10:25,333 --> 00:10:29,250 Seattle, you go to a beach during the winter, 213 00:10:29,333 --> 00:10:31,750 it's different than like Mars Hill Orange County. 214 00:10:31,833 --> 00:10:34,833 Mars Hill Orange County can go to the beach during the winter. 215 00:10:34,917 --> 00:10:38,917 "Oh, it's what—-you're wearing a tank top and flip-flops." 216 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:41,000 In Seattle, no. 217 00:10:41,083 --> 00:10:46,833 Gale-force winds--your face is getting sandblasted off. 218 00:10:46,917 --> 00:10:49,042 If you don't hold on to something, 219 00:10:49,125 --> 00:10:51,500 you will gown down the beach like a tumble weed, 220 00:10:51,583 --> 00:10:54,333 And you have to wear boots and a parka, 221 00:10:54,417 --> 00:10:56,958 and you can only be out for 30 seconds, 222 00:10:57,000 --> 00:10:59,250 no more, OK? 223 00:10:59,333 --> 00:11:02,000 It's because of the gale-force winds, amen? 224 00:11:02,083 --> 00:11:04,792 Some of you didn't know that when you moved to Seattle. 225 00:11:04,833 --> 00:11:07,292 You're like, "Oh, I'm going to go to the beach." 226 00:11:07,333 --> 00:11:09,833 Just once, and then you'll learn your lesson. 227 00:11:09,875 --> 00:11:14,167 And what you see is that the wind comes with power. 228 00:11:14,250 --> 00:11:16,708 It overwhelms; it overtakes. 229 00:11:16,792 --> 00:11:19,833 It's this all-consuming unstoppable force. 230 00:11:19,875 --> 00:11:24,500 God the Holy Spirit is a person, but his power is like that. 231 00:11:24,583 --> 00:11:26,333 I'll give you an illustration. 232 00:11:26,375 --> 00:11:28,833 Some years ago, we had spring break and I thought, 233 00:11:28,875 --> 00:11:30,417 "Oh, it will be fun. 234 00:11:30,500 --> 00:11:32,292 "We'll go down the coast toward Oregon, 235 00:11:32,333 --> 00:11:34,167 "and we'll take the family. 236 00:11:34,250 --> 00:11:38,083 And we'll go stay in a place by the beach." And then I had, sort of, 237 00:11:38,167 --> 00:11:41,792 visions of building sandcastles and family time on the beach. 238 00:11:41,833 --> 00:11:43,792 Well, it didn't work like that. 239 00:11:43,833 --> 00:11:46,333 We got there and the rain was coming down sideways, 240 00:11:46,375 --> 00:11:51,500 the winds were like gale force, white caps, and it was raining, 241 00:11:51,583 --> 00:11:53,667 so we're stuck indoors. 242 00:11:53,750 --> 00:11:56,125 And so, if you live in the Northwest, 243 00:11:56,167 --> 00:11:58,583 what you wait for is something called a sunbreak. 244 00:11:58,667 --> 00:12:02,875 It not really a sunbreak; it just stops raining for a second 245 00:12:02,958 --> 00:12:06,500 and you run outside and pretend like it's a sunbreak. 246 00:12:06,542 --> 00:12:09,583 And so, we did that on a few occasions with the kids, 247 00:12:09,667 --> 00:12:11,292 and finally the kids were like, 248 00:12:11,333 --> 00:12:13,125 "Dad, this kind of isn't awesome." 249 00:12:13,167 --> 00:12:14,792 I noticed that. 250 00:12:14,833 --> 00:12:16,708 What could we do to make it awesome? 251 00:12:16,792 --> 00:12:18,125 What can we do? 252 00:12:18,167 --> 00:12:20,333 And then I thought, "Buy kites." 253 00:12:20,375 --> 00:12:23,625 Let's just work with these gale-force winds on the beach. 254 00:12:23,667 --> 00:12:26,875 So I went and got these very serious kites, 255 00:12:26,958 --> 00:12:31,625 not like a Hello Kitty kite but a real kite, 256 00:12:31,667 --> 00:12:33,292 a couple of real kites. 257 00:12:33,333 --> 00:12:36,583 And I took my kids out to the beach, and it was honestly 258 00:12:36,667 --> 00:12:41,083 one of the most memorable moments of my life. 259 00:12:41,167 --> 00:12:47,292 My kids--and all of a sudden, these dead kites, they're alive. 260 00:12:47,333 --> 00:12:52,708 These dead kites are soaring, and they're dancing. 261 00:12:52,792 --> 00:12:56,583 And I look over, my daughter Alexie, who's now 9-- 262 00:12:56,667 --> 00:13:01,500 this was a couple years ago-- she is dancing with a kite. 263 00:13:01,542 --> 00:13:07,167 I will not do anymore dancing, but you can--you're welcome. 264 00:13:07,208 --> 00:13:10,500 You can envision it in your mind's eye: a beautiful 265 00:13:10,583 --> 00:13:14,833 little girl dancing with a kite, 266 00:13:14,875 --> 00:13:18,333 and the kite is dancing in the wind. 267 00:13:18,375 --> 00:13:20,708 And I took photos, and I just thought, 268 00:13:20,792 --> 00:13:23,125 "Oh, this is sort of a sacred moment." 269 00:13:23,167 --> 00:13:26,125 I walk up to Alexie, I say, "What are you doing?" 270 00:13:26,167 --> 00:13:29,333 She said, "The kite is dancing, and I am dancing as well." 271 00:13:29,375 --> 00:13:32,208 The Holy Spirit is like that. 272 00:13:32,292 --> 00:13:34,500 He fills the believer. 273 00:13:34,542 --> 00:13:36,208 He lifts the believer. 274 00:13:36,292 --> 00:13:39,125 He brings life into the believer. And the believer's life now 275 00:13:39,167 --> 00:13:42,417 is one that is dancing with the power of God. 276 00:13:42,500 --> 00:13:44,208 It's like that. 277 00:13:44,292 --> 00:13:47,208 He comes like wind and fire. 278 00:13:47,292 --> 00:13:50,792 We know it's like fire 'cause if their heads were on fire, 279 00:13:50,833 --> 00:13:53,708 this would not be good news, right? 280 00:13:53,792 --> 00:13:57,708 But it's like tongues of fire resting upon their head. 281 00:13:57,792 --> 00:14:03,958 And fire is most appreciated when it is cold and dark, amen? 282 00:14:05,833 --> 00:14:10,917 You and I, we love fires the most when it's cold and dark. 283 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:14,125 You're out hiking, hunting, camping. 284 00:14:14,167 --> 00:14:17,417 It's dark, and it's cold. 285 00:14:17,500 --> 00:14:20,625 You really appreciate a fire because it illuminates. 286 00:14:20,667 --> 00:14:22,417 You can see. 287 00:14:22,500 --> 00:14:25,708 It brings warmth and life and heat. 288 00:14:25,792 --> 00:14:28,500 The Holy Spirit is like that. 289 00:14:28,542 --> 00:14:34,667 Our lives and our world, they are cold, and they are dark. 290 00:14:34,750 --> 00:14:38,708 And the Holy Spirit comes to illuminate Jesus 291 00:14:38,792 --> 00:14:42,167 and to warm our hearts to love him. 292 00:14:42,250 --> 00:14:45,375 I want you to think of this every time you enjoy a fire. 293 00:14:45,458 --> 00:14:48,000 I'm one who particularly enjoys a good fire. 294 00:14:48,083 --> 00:14:49,500 I love to chop wood. 295 00:14:49,583 --> 00:14:50,917 I love to stack wood. 296 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:52,625 I love to make a fire. 297 00:14:52,667 --> 00:14:54,500 I love to stoke a fire. 298 00:14:54,542 --> 00:14:57,667 I love to sit by a fire, and my 7-year-old son, Gideon, 299 00:14:57,750 --> 00:14:59,500 he's like his Papa Daddy. 300 00:14:59,583 --> 00:15:01,958 So he has become my fire-starter helper. 301 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:03,875 And we chop wood together. 302 00:15:03,958 --> 00:15:05,542 We stack wood together. 303 00:15:05,625 --> 00:15:07,417 We build fires together. 304 00:15:07,500 --> 00:15:09,708 We do this in the fireplace during the winter, 305 00:15:09,792 --> 00:15:11,708 and then all my kids hang out. 306 00:15:11,792 --> 00:15:14,917 We visit and play games 'cause there's life and warmth 307 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,667 around a fire. And a fire attracts a crowd; 308 00:15:17,750 --> 00:15:20,083 everybody wants to be there. 309 00:15:20,167 --> 00:15:23,708 The last time Gideon and I made a fire was last night. 310 00:15:23,792 --> 00:15:27,833 It was warm and decent out, and so we built a fire outside, 311 00:15:27,875 --> 00:15:30,625 and we sat outside until it got dark, 312 00:15:30,667 --> 00:15:34,417 and we kept stoking the fire and chopping wood. 313 00:15:34,500 --> 00:15:38,708 And I got to enjoy my little buddy's company because a fire 314 00:15:38,792 --> 00:15:42,708 brings illumination and warmth. 315 00:15:42,792 --> 00:15:45,917 And we particularly enjoy fires, don't we, 316 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:49,208 when it's cold and it's dark? 317 00:15:49,292 --> 00:15:55,500 And so these are the outward symbols--metaphors-- 318 00:15:55,542 --> 00:16:02,042 that the Holy Spirit is using to reveal his internal working. 319 00:16:02,125 --> 00:16:04,833 He fills us like a kite. 320 00:16:04,917 --> 00:16:07,625 He warms us like a fire. 321 00:16:07,667 --> 00:16:12,000 He sets us ablaze for the truth of God, 322 00:16:12,083 --> 00:16:16,208 and he illuminates the world in which we live. 323 00:16:16,292 --> 00:16:20,333 So all of this happens on this day of Pentecost. 324 00:16:20,375 --> 00:16:23,333 So a couple of things I want to share with you briefly 325 00:16:23,375 --> 00:16:25,500 as we examine this together. 326 00:16:25,583 --> 00:16:28,792 Number one, Jesus' mission is not to take us from the world 327 00:16:28,833 --> 00:16:32,125 but to join us in the world by the power and presence 328 00:16:32,167 --> 00:16:34,500 of the Holy Spirit. 329 00:16:34,542 --> 00:16:37,375 Number two, Jesus' mission does not send us to a holy place-- 330 00:16:37,458 --> 00:16:41,417 a temple or Mecca-- but instead 331 00:16:41,500 --> 00:16:45,333 Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to make us a holy place, 332 00:16:45,375 --> 00:16:49,000 individually and corporately as God's people. 333 00:16:49,042 --> 00:16:52,417 Number three, Jesus' mission requires that the Holy Spirit 334 00:16:52,500 --> 00:16:56,917 sometimes works loudly and publicly, but other times, 335 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:00,292 quietly and privately. 336 00:17:00,333 --> 00:17:03,958 Here, the Holy Spirit's going to work loudly and publicly, 337 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:06,250 but he's not limited to working in that way. 338 00:17:06,333 --> 00:17:08,500 I'll give you another example from the Driscoll home 339 00:17:08,542 --> 00:17:09,917 last night. 340 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:12,167 Alexie, my youngest daughter 341 00:17:12,250 --> 00:17:15,125 very, very, very rarely has a bad dream 342 00:17:15,167 --> 00:17:17,500 or a night terror or any trouble sleeping. 343 00:17:17,542 --> 00:17:19,667 Last night she did. 344 00:17:19,750 --> 00:17:22,833 She thought she saw something and she was scared, 345 00:17:22,875 --> 00:17:25,417 and so she was crying and she was struggling. 346 00:17:25,500 --> 00:17:29,417 Well, Grace went in and held her and kissed her and loved her and 347 00:17:29,500 --> 00:17:33,000 prayed over her and prayed that the Holy Spirit would comfort 348 00:17:33,083 --> 00:17:35,417 her and guard her thoughts and guard her mind 349 00:17:35,500 --> 00:17:37,333 and guard her dreams. 350 00:17:37,375 --> 00:17:39,708 And the Holy Spirit answered that prayer. 351 00:17:39,792 --> 00:17:42,625 And Grace and the Holy Spirit tucked Alexie in bed 352 00:17:42,667 --> 00:17:48,000 and she slept soundly-- no more problems. 353 00:17:48,083 --> 00:17:50,500 Sometimes he comes like a hurricane, 354 00:17:50,583 --> 00:17:53,000 and sometimes he tucks scared little girls into bed 355 00:17:53,083 --> 00:17:55,667 so they can get a good night's sleep. 356 00:17:55,750 --> 00:18:00,250 Number four, Jesus' mission requires that you, individually, 357 00:18:00,333 --> 00:18:04,667 and we, corporately, be filled with the Holy Spirit. 358 00:18:04,750 --> 00:18:07,417 We can't be who Jesus has made us to be, 359 00:18:07,500 --> 00:18:10,375 we can't do what Jesus has called us to do unless we 360 00:18:10,458 --> 00:18:13,917 are filled by the power and the presence of the person 361 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:16,000 of the Holy Spirit. 362 00:18:16,083 --> 00:18:19,208 And so, I want you to understand that the Bible talks about us 363 00:18:19,292 --> 00:18:20,875 being baptized in the Holy Spirit. 364 00:18:20,958 --> 00:18:22,708 You're going to read this language. 365 00:18:22,792 --> 00:18:25,833 That happens once at conversion when you become a Christian. 366 00:18:25,875 --> 00:18:29,292 Ephesians 1 talks about being sealed with the Holy Spirit. 367 00:18:29,333 --> 00:18:31,417 All right, this is a one-time event 368 00:18:31,500 --> 00:18:32,833 when you become a Christian. 369 00:18:32,875 --> 00:18:35,833 And then you're going to read it with me in Acts 2 370 00:18:35,875 --> 00:18:37,500 and you're going to read it repeatedly 371 00:18:37,583 --> 00:18:38,917 in the remainder of Acts 372 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:40,417 and other places like Ephesians 5, 373 00:18:40,500 --> 00:18:41,833 where the Bible talks about 374 00:18:41,875 --> 00:18:43,833 believers being filled with the Holy Spirit. 375 00:18:43,875 --> 00:18:45,208 Filled with the Holy Spirit. 376 00:18:45,292 --> 00:18:48,125 And there is one baptism and there are multiple fillings, 377 00:18:48,167 --> 00:18:50,625 and this is empowering. 378 00:18:50,667 --> 00:18:52,917 So, let's say you're a new Christian, 379 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:56,125 you want to figure out what your gifts are to serve Jesus. 380 00:18:56,167 --> 00:18:59,125 You're asking the Holy Spirit to fill you and to show you 381 00:18:59,167 --> 00:19:00,792 what your ministry is. 382 00:19:00,833 --> 00:19:02,583 Let's say you're going to get married. 383 00:19:02,667 --> 00:19:05,667 You're asking the Holy Spirit to fill you so that now you 384 00:19:05,708 --> 00:19:07,917 can learn to be a loving and faithful spouse. 385 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:10,125 You're pregnant and now you want to be parents, 386 00:19:10,167 --> 00:19:11,500 and it's a great season. 387 00:19:11,583 --> 00:19:14,708 You're asking the Holy Spirit to fill you so you can have that 388 00:19:14,792 --> 00:19:17,500 God-given instinct to love and to lead your children 389 00:19:17,542 --> 00:19:19,208 to the glory of God. 390 00:19:19,292 --> 00:19:21,417 You're struggling, you're suffering, you're sick, 391 00:19:21,500 --> 00:19:24,833 you're hurting, you're asking the Holy Spirit to fill you, that 392 00:19:24,875 --> 00:19:27,833 you might persevere and through your sufferings learn more about 393 00:19:27,875 --> 00:19:30,667 Jesus and become more like Jesus. 394 00:19:30,750 --> 00:19:34,333 There are multiple fillings, and there is one occasion 395 00:19:34,375 --> 00:19:36,500 on which the believer is baptized. 396 00:19:36,583 --> 00:19:39,667 That being said, we're now going to look at what happens 397 00:19:39,750 --> 00:19:42,875 as they are filled with the Holy Spirit 398 00:19:42,958 --> 00:19:44,792 to use the language of the Bible. 399 00:19:44,833 --> 00:19:47,125 And what we learn is, first off, 400 00:19:47,167 --> 00:19:49,875 that the Holy Spirit empowers Christian for ministry. 401 00:19:49,958 --> 00:19:52,500 And then secondly, we learn that the Holy Spirit 402 00:19:52,542 --> 00:19:55,000 overcomes gospel barriers. 403 00:19:55,042 --> 00:19:56,917 It's long, but read with me, 404 00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:59,208 Acts chapter 2, verses 4-11: 405 00:19:59,292 --> 00:20:01,583 "And they were all"--what? 406 00:20:01,667 --> 00:20:03,833 "Filled with the Holy Spirit." 407 00:20:03,875 --> 00:20:05,417 So here's a filling. 408 00:20:05,500 --> 00:20:07,250 Here's a moment of filling. 409 00:20:07,333 --> 00:20:09,833 "And began to speak in other tongues." 410 00:20:09,875 --> 00:20:11,417 You heard of tongues? 411 00:20:11,500 --> 00:20:13,042 Kind of controversial. 412 00:20:13,125 --> 00:20:14,667 Churches have divided over it. 413 00:20:14,708 --> 00:20:16,333 Denominations debate over it. 414 00:20:16,375 --> 00:20:18,042 We're going to discuss it. 415 00:20:18,125 --> 00:20:20,042 "As the Spirit gave them utterance. 416 00:20:20,125 --> 00:20:21,833 Now, they were dwelling in Jerusalem"-- 417 00:20:21,875 --> 00:20:23,833 they're all together for this feast-- 418 00:20:23,917 --> 00:20:26,167 "Jews devoted men from every nation under heaven. 419 00:20:26,208 --> 00:20:27,625 "And at this sound, 420 00:20:27,667 --> 00:20:29,542 the multitude came together"--it's like the wind 421 00:20:29,625 --> 00:20:32,833 was almost like a siren that summoned everyone together-- 422 00:20:32,875 --> 00:20:34,625 "And they were bewildered"-- 423 00:20:34,667 --> 00:20:37,167 this is something supernatural. 424 00:20:37,208 --> 00:20:40,667 "Because each one was hearing him speak in his own language." 425 00:20:40,708 --> 00:20:44,542 Circle that in your Bible, "language." 426 00:20:44,625 --> 00:20:47,542 When the Bible talks of tongues, sometimes it talks about 427 00:20:47,625 --> 00:20:50,125 the physical organ in our mouth, sometimes it talks about 428 00:20:50,167 --> 00:20:52,417 an angelic, heavenly language. 429 00:20:52,500 --> 00:20:55,542 Sometimes it talks about a known earthly language, 430 00:20:55,625 --> 00:20:58,750 and here it's talking about a known earthly language. 431 00:20:58,833 --> 00:21:00,917 "And they were amazed and astonished, saying, 432 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:03,708 'Are not all of these who are speaking Galileans?'" 433 00:21:03,792 --> 00:21:05,500 The Galileans were rural folk. 434 00:21:05,583 --> 00:21:07,625 They were country folk, fishermen, and farmers-- 435 00:21:07,667 --> 00:21:09,792 not highly educated. 436 00:21:09,833 --> 00:21:13,083 Imagine someone who is not formally educated, from an area 437 00:21:13,167 --> 00:21:15,917 that is far away from a city, comes to a city 438 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:17,708 and, all of a sudden, 439 00:21:17,792 --> 00:21:20,333 has this capacity to speak in another language 440 00:21:20,375 --> 00:21:22,625 with perfect pronunciation, 441 00:21:22,667 --> 00:21:25,667 no mistakes, and clear articulation. 442 00:21:25,750 --> 00:21:28,167 Say, "Well, that's unexpected. 443 00:21:28,250 --> 00:21:32,375 "I did not anticipate that Uncle Sy knew Portuguese. 444 00:21:32,458 --> 00:21:34,375 I did not see that coming." 445 00:21:34,458 --> 00:21:38,208 All right, it was a miraculous moment. 446 00:21:38,292 --> 00:21:41,125 And then the story continues. 447 00:21:41,167 --> 00:21:43,292 "And how is it that we hear, 448 00:21:43,333 --> 00:21:46,000 each of us in his own native language?" 449 00:21:46,083 --> 00:21:48,125 And then it lists these groups of people-- 450 00:21:48,167 --> 00:21:49,917 "Parthians and Medes 451 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:52,292 "and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, 452 00:21:52,333 --> 00:21:54,625 "Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 453 00:21:54,667 --> 00:21:56,708 "Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, 454 00:21:56,792 --> 00:22:00,167 "the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 455 00:22:00,250 --> 00:22:02,750 both Jews and proselytes"-- 456 00:22:02,833 --> 00:22:05,833 Gentiles who had converted to the Jewish faith--"Cretans 457 00:22:05,917 --> 00:22:09,500 "and Arabians--we hear them telling in our own tongues"-- 458 00:22:09,583 --> 00:22:14,208 or languages-- "the mighty works of God." 459 00:22:14,292 --> 00:22:18,000 So there are two barriers here. 460 00:22:18,083 --> 00:22:22,500 There are two barriers: one is location, the other is language. 461 00:22:22,542 --> 00:22:24,333 And here's the big idea: 462 00:22:24,375 --> 00:22:28,500 the Holy Spirit absolutely loves Jesus. 463 00:22:28,583 --> 00:22:30,125 The third member of the Trinity 464 00:22:30,167 --> 00:22:33,000 loves the second member of the Trinity, 465 00:22:33,042 --> 00:22:36,500 and the Holy Spirit loves people made in the image 466 00:22:36,583 --> 00:22:38,667 and likeness of God. 467 00:22:38,750 --> 00:22:41,208 And the Holy Spirit, because of his love, 468 00:22:41,292 --> 00:22:43,583 he wants people to meet Jesus, 469 00:22:43,667 --> 00:22:45,000 amen? 470 00:22:45,083 --> 00:22:46,875 That's what we believe, right, Mars Hill? 471 00:22:46,958 --> 00:22:48,500 What's the Holy Spirit doing? 472 00:22:48,583 --> 00:22:50,208 Well, the primary thing he's doing 473 00:22:50,292 --> 00:22:53,625 is introducing people to Jesus, 474 00:22:53,667 --> 00:22:56,125 people that he loves-- introducing them to Jesus, 475 00:22:56,167 --> 00:22:58,125 whom he's always loved. 476 00:22:58,167 --> 00:23:01,083 Now, there are barriers. 477 00:23:01,167 --> 00:23:04,292 There are barriers that need to be overcome 478 00:23:04,333 --> 00:23:07,000 for people to meet Jesus. 479 00:23:07,042 --> 00:23:09,000 One is location. 480 00:23:09,042 --> 00:23:11,833 So the Holy Spirit overcomes location by waiting until 481 00:23:11,875 --> 00:23:15,375 the day of Pentecost when people have come from multiple nations 482 00:23:15,458 --> 00:23:17,417 to one location. 483 00:23:17,500 --> 00:23:19,417 And if you looked at a modern-day map, 484 00:23:19,500 --> 00:23:22,000 they're coming from Iran, Turkey, North Africa, Crete, 485 00:23:22,042 --> 00:23:24,333 Rome, Arabia, Egypt, Syria, 486 00:23:24,375 --> 00:23:27,083 across various smaller parts of the Middle East, 487 00:23:27,167 --> 00:23:30,000 and also Israel, and parts that we would perhaps call 488 00:23:30,083 --> 00:23:31,625 the Holy Land. 489 00:23:31,667 --> 00:23:34,125 So these people are all coming together, and he waits 490 00:23:34,167 --> 00:23:35,625 until they're all in one place. 491 00:23:35,667 --> 00:23:38,625 And if they meet Jesus and are filled with the Holy Spirit 492 00:23:38,667 --> 00:23:42,625 and then return home, they return home as missionaries. 493 00:23:42,667 --> 00:23:45,625 Want you to see, Mars Hill, that we do believe that churches 494 00:23:45,667 --> 00:23:48,000 should be planted everywhere, but we have a particular 495 00:23:48,042 --> 00:23:51,625 affinity for those crossroads where people groups and nations 496 00:23:51,667 --> 00:23:53,917 come together. 497 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:56,083 Wherever there's an airport, wherever there's a college, 498 00:23:56,167 --> 00:23:58,833 wherever there's a major city, wherever people, 499 00:23:58,875 --> 00:24:01,583 goods, and ideas flow to and from, 500 00:24:01,667 --> 00:24:04,292 we believe that's a strategic place for the gospel 501 00:24:04,333 --> 00:24:06,667 to be preached and for a church to be planted, 502 00:24:06,750 --> 00:24:10,333 because from there, you can reach the nations. 503 00:24:10,375 --> 00:24:12,792 So, for example, over by Mars Hill UW, 504 00:24:12,833 --> 00:24:15,333 the nations have come to the University of Washington, 505 00:24:15,375 --> 00:24:17,208 and if they meet Jesus, 506 00:24:17,292 --> 00:24:19,167 they go home as missionaries back to their 507 00:24:19,250 --> 00:24:20,667 country of origin. 508 00:24:20,750 --> 00:24:23,333 Mars Hill Rainier Valley's in the most diverse ZIP code 509 00:24:23,375 --> 00:24:24,833 in the United States of America. 510 00:24:24,875 --> 00:24:27,833 People have come from all over the world and they are living 511 00:24:27,875 --> 00:24:30,583 there, and if they meet Jesus, they still know the language, 512 00:24:30,667 --> 00:24:32,792 culture, and have the familial connections back to their 513 00:24:32,833 --> 00:24:34,833 native language and their native land. 514 00:24:34,875 --> 00:24:37,292 So there's an opportunity for them to be witnesses 515 00:24:37,333 --> 00:24:39,333 and missionaries there as well. 516 00:24:39,375 --> 00:24:42,375 In Mars Hill Albuquerque, if people meet Jesus, 517 00:24:42,458 --> 00:24:45,333 there's an opportunity to influence down into Mexico 518 00:24:45,375 --> 00:24:48,833 because many would find their history there. 519 00:24:48,875 --> 00:24:52,208 This is the kind of thing that the Holy Spirit has always done. 520 00:24:52,292 --> 00:24:55,208 He's always liked to show up in places where there are diverse 521 00:24:55,292 --> 00:24:59,500 groups of people because his love is for all the nations. 522 00:24:59,542 --> 00:25:03,667 And he overcomes the location barrier in this way. 523 00:25:03,708 --> 00:25:07,208 Secondly, there is the language barrier, and these people 524 00:25:07,292 --> 00:25:09,833 have different languages. 525 00:25:09,875 --> 00:25:11,625 They can't communicate with one another. 526 00:25:11,667 --> 00:25:13,333 Perhaps you've had this frustration. 527 00:25:13,375 --> 00:25:15,000 How many of you have traveled internationally, 528 00:25:15,083 --> 00:25:17,000 and you don't speak the language? 529 00:25:17,042 --> 00:25:18,500 And it's just really frustrating 530 00:25:18,542 --> 00:25:20,833 'cause it's hard to get anything done. 531 00:25:20,875 --> 00:25:23,625 Or perhaps there's someone that has come to your place 532 00:25:23,667 --> 00:25:25,292 of employment or your education 533 00:25:25,333 --> 00:25:27,708 or your neighborhood and you really want to love them 534 00:25:27,792 --> 00:25:29,208 and serve them and help them, 535 00:25:29,292 --> 00:25:31,917 but they don't know English and you don't know their language. 536 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:34,917 And it's really hard to figure out how to get that relationship 537 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:37,292 sorted out because the communication barrier's 538 00:25:37,333 --> 00:25:39,083 a very real one. 539 00:25:39,167 --> 00:25:40,792 That was the case here. 540 00:25:40,833 --> 00:25:42,500 They come from different nations, 541 00:25:42,583 --> 00:25:44,417 and they speak different languages. 542 00:25:44,500 --> 00:25:47,333 So how would the Holy Spirit overcome that barrier, to connect 543 00:25:47,375 --> 00:25:51,000 people with Jesus, because he loves them both? 544 00:25:51,083 --> 00:25:53,500 That leads us into the discussion of something 545 00:25:53,583 --> 00:25:55,500 called tongues. 546 00:25:55,583 --> 00:25:57,583 You heard of it? 547 00:25:57,667 --> 00:26:00,458 How many of you have heard of this debate? 548 00:26:00,500 --> 00:26:03,875 OK, it's a big debate. 549 00:26:03,958 --> 00:26:07,708 It's going to occur repeatedly in the book of Acts 550 00:26:07,792 --> 00:26:09,500 where people speak in tongues. 551 00:26:09,583 --> 00:26:13,500 So let me do one big sermon that we can refer back to later, 552 00:26:13,583 --> 00:26:16,208 and as new people come, we can encourage them to listen 553 00:26:16,292 --> 00:26:18,667 to this sermon. 554 00:26:18,750 --> 00:26:21,375 You may want to take notes on this. 555 00:26:21,458 --> 00:26:24,000 And what I would say, whatever your church experience is, 556 00:26:24,083 --> 00:26:27,292 for a moment, set it aside and let's see what the Bible 557 00:26:27,333 --> 00:26:29,500 has to say and if that doesn't bring us 558 00:26:29,583 --> 00:26:31,625 to a place of agreement. 559 00:26:31,667 --> 00:26:34,000 Let me make this as simple as I can. 560 00:26:34,083 --> 00:26:36,833 And let me say this: when I first became a Christian, 561 00:26:36,875 --> 00:26:38,917 I was totally confused by this issue. 562 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:41,083 I did not understand it. 563 00:26:41,167 --> 00:26:43,833 I read one book that said people who speak in tongues 564 00:26:43,875 --> 00:26:46,167 are basically demon-possessed. 565 00:26:46,250 --> 00:26:48,333 I was like, "Oh, then I'm against it." 566 00:26:48,375 --> 00:26:50,375 Then I read another one that said, "No, 567 00:26:50,458 --> 00:26:51,917 "they're filled with the Holy Spirit 568 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:53,417 and they love Jesus the most." 569 00:26:53,500 --> 00:26:55,417 I was like, "Well, then I'm for it." 570 00:26:55,500 --> 00:26:57,417 I'm so confused. I was so confused. 571 00:26:57,500 --> 00:26:59,625 And I studied and read and studied and read. 572 00:26:59,667 --> 00:27:03,000 In the grace of God, I've come in to a position that I believe 573 00:27:03,042 --> 00:27:06,292 is biblical and I believe it is practical and I believe it is 574 00:27:06,333 --> 00:27:09,500 helpful, and it's a great honor to teach you today 575 00:27:09,583 --> 00:27:12,208 after a lot of years of intense study. 576 00:27:12,292 --> 00:27:15,208 And if I could summarize it, I believe that when the Bible 577 00:27:15,292 --> 00:27:19,792 speaks of tongues, it does so in two primary ways: 578 00:27:19,833 --> 00:27:23,708 one that is private and one that is public. 579 00:27:23,792 --> 00:27:26,875 And I believe the confusion happens when the public 580 00:27:26,958 --> 00:27:30,833 goes private or the private goes public. 581 00:27:30,875 --> 00:27:32,875 I believe that's where the confusion occurs. 582 00:27:32,958 --> 00:27:35,417 And so, let me look with you in the Bible 583 00:27:35,500 --> 00:27:37,000 and what we're going to do, 584 00:27:37,083 --> 00:27:39,708 we're going to move from Acts, which is the historical record 585 00:27:39,792 --> 00:27:43,125 of what happened, to 1 Corinthians, where there's 586 00:27:43,167 --> 00:27:46,083 some theological explanation of these things. 587 00:27:46,167 --> 00:27:49,625 1 Corinthians chapters 12-14 are primarily on what 588 00:27:49,667 --> 00:27:55,000 is called spiritual gifts, which includes this gift of tongues, 589 00:27:55,042 --> 00:27:57,292 or languages. 590 00:27:57,333 --> 00:28:02,500 And one more thing I will say: for those who have this gift of 591 00:28:02,542 --> 00:28:05,500 praying or singing or speaking in tongues, 592 00:28:05,542 --> 00:28:10,500 in 1 Corinthians 14:15 it says it manifests itself with praying 593 00:28:10,583 --> 00:28:13,833 and singing. And singing. 594 00:28:13,875 --> 00:28:19,708 It says, "if I speak in tongues or if I sing in my spirit." 595 00:28:19,792 --> 00:28:25,500 OK, I want you to know that sometimes you're going to 596 00:28:25,583 --> 00:28:29,500 experience God in ways that are supernatural, 597 00:28:29,583 --> 00:28:36,417 in ways that are unusual, in ways that are unique. 598 00:28:36,500 --> 00:28:39,208 And what this does is it humbles us. 599 00:28:39,292 --> 00:28:43,125 What this does is it shows us that, though God has called us 600 00:28:43,167 --> 00:28:45,792 to love him with all of our mind, our mind has 601 00:28:45,833 --> 00:28:49,625 certain limitations; we need some humility-- 602 00:28:49,667 --> 00:28:54,292 and that God is not just an idea to be pondered. 603 00:28:54,333 --> 00:28:57,500 He's a person to be enjoyed. 604 00:28:57,583 --> 00:29:01,083 And to that end, I want to talk about the first use of tongues 605 00:29:01,167 --> 00:29:04,500 biblically, and that is a private, unknown, 606 00:29:04,542 --> 00:29:08,125 heavenly language for prayer, OK? 607 00:29:08,167 --> 00:29:13,292 Private, meaning something you do with the Holy Spirit, 608 00:29:13,333 --> 00:29:15,833 not necessarily in public. 609 00:29:15,875 --> 00:29:19,333 Unknown--this is not a known language of the earth; 610 00:29:19,375 --> 00:29:20,917 it's a heavenly language; 611 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:24,208 it's the language of the angels, and this is what some would call 612 00:29:24,292 --> 00:29:26,000 their prayer language. 613 00:29:26,083 --> 00:29:28,917 1 Corinthians 13:1, Paul says, "If I speak in the tongues 614 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:30,708 of men and of angels." 615 00:29:30,792 --> 00:29:32,292 Here's my question to you: 616 00:29:32,333 --> 00:29:35,583 what's the official language of heaven? 617 00:29:38,292 --> 00:29:41,417 I have not been there. 618 00:29:41,500 --> 00:29:45,292 Apparently, it's some angel language. 619 00:29:45,333 --> 00:29:50,208 See, we on earth have languages so we can communicate. 620 00:29:50,292 --> 00:29:54,000 Angels are created beings who dwell in the presence of God, 621 00:29:54,042 --> 00:29:56,708 and they are ministers and messengers, 622 00:29:56,792 --> 00:29:58,792 and they communicate with one another. 623 00:29:58,833 --> 00:30:01,875 We see in places like Isaiah 6, they actually sing out loud 624 00:30:01,958 --> 00:30:03,375 and they worship God-- 625 00:30:03,458 --> 00:30:06,292 "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty." 626 00:30:06,333 --> 00:30:10,125 So apparently the angels communicate with God 627 00:30:10,167 --> 00:30:15,042 and one another in a language that is a heavenly language. 628 00:30:15,125 --> 00:30:18,125 Apparently, God's kingdom has a language. Just like 629 00:30:18,167 --> 00:30:21,833 the nations of the earth have primary languages, 630 00:30:21,875 --> 00:30:24,958 so the kingdom of God has a language. 631 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:28,333 Now, some of you say, "This is very supernatural." 632 00:30:28,417 --> 00:30:30,750 Yes. 633 00:30:30,833 --> 00:30:33,667 OK, we're dealing here in the miraculous. 634 00:30:33,708 --> 00:30:36,208 We're dealing in the supernatural. 635 00:30:36,292 --> 00:30:39,458 We're dealing with the presence of God. 636 00:30:39,500 --> 00:30:43,833 We're getting a glimpse into how things work in God's presence 637 00:30:43,917 --> 00:30:45,333 with the angels. 638 00:30:45,375 --> 00:30:48,667 I want you to have some sense of how majestic and wonderful and 639 00:30:48,708 --> 00:30:52,833 amazing it is that we even get to know about these things. 640 00:30:52,875 --> 00:30:55,542 "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, 641 00:30:55,625 --> 00:30:58,542 but have not love, I'm a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." 642 00:30:58,625 --> 00:31:01,417 What he's saying is, it doesn't matter how gifted you are, 643 00:31:01,500 --> 00:31:03,500 if you're not loving. 644 00:31:03,583 --> 00:31:05,875 He also says, 645 00:31:05,958 --> 00:31:08,292 1 Corinthians 14, verses 2 and 4, 646 00:31:08,333 --> 00:31:13,708 "For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God." 647 00:31:13,792 --> 00:31:16,417 If he was speaking to men, that would be public. 648 00:31:16,500 --> 00:31:20,125 Not speaking to men, speaking to God--that would be private. 649 00:31:20,167 --> 00:31:21,583 God knows what he's saying. 650 00:31:21,667 --> 00:31:23,500 The Holy Spirit knows what he's saying. 651 00:31:23,583 --> 00:31:25,792 If people listened in, they would not know what 652 00:31:25,833 --> 00:31:27,708 he or she was saying. 653 00:31:27,792 --> 00:31:30,000 "For no one understands him"--all right, 654 00:31:30,083 --> 00:31:32,500 this is the language of the angels-- 655 00:31:32,583 --> 00:31:35,500 "but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. 656 00:31:35,583 --> 00:31:40,375 "The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, 657 00:31:40,458 --> 00:31:43,792 but the one who prophesies builds up the church." 658 00:31:43,833 --> 00:31:47,625 He's distinguishing here between public and private use of what 659 00:31:47,667 --> 00:31:50,000 is called spiritual gifts. 660 00:31:50,083 --> 00:31:52,875 These are supernatural endowments and enablements by 661 00:31:52,958 --> 00:31:54,917 the power of the Holy Spirit. 662 00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:57,625 There's lists of them-- 1 Peter 4, Ephesians 4, 663 00:31:57,667 --> 00:32:02,167 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12-- that list these spiritual gifts. 664 00:32:02,250 --> 00:32:05,042 What he's saying is, some edify us. 665 00:32:05,125 --> 00:32:07,625 They build us up personally. 666 00:32:07,667 --> 00:32:13,125 Others are to be used publicly for the building up of others. 667 00:32:13,167 --> 00:32:16,625 And here's what we want for you: we want you to have a private, 668 00:32:16,667 --> 00:32:20,500 personal, passionate relationship with Jesus. 669 00:32:20,583 --> 00:32:24,208 We want you to have a public congregational, corporate, 670 00:32:24,292 --> 00:32:27,833 passionate relationship with Jesus. 671 00:32:27,875 --> 00:32:32,083 We want you to worship Jesus all by yourself and with us. 672 00:32:32,167 --> 00:32:35,208 That's what he's talking about. 673 00:32:35,292 --> 00:32:38,500 And so there is this private, unknown, 674 00:32:38,542 --> 00:32:42,208 heavenly language for prayer, OK? 675 00:32:42,292 --> 00:32:46,208 For those of you who feel comfortable, how many of you, 676 00:32:46,292 --> 00:32:47,917 you have this gift? 677 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:50,000 You're like, "I know what we're talking about. 678 00:32:50,042 --> 00:32:51,375 "I pray in tongues. 679 00:32:51,458 --> 00:32:54,333 This is my time with the Lord." 680 00:32:54,375 --> 00:32:56,500 I asked this question of the senior leaders at 681 00:32:56,583 --> 00:32:58,500 Mars Hill Church recently on a training day-- 682 00:32:58,583 --> 00:33:00,583 just threw it out there out of curiosity: 683 00:33:00,667 --> 00:33:02,583 "How many of you have a private, angelic, 684 00:33:02,667 --> 00:33:06,792 heavenly prayer language or singing language of tongues?" 685 00:33:06,833 --> 00:33:10,792 Maybe half or more of the senior leaders raised their hands. 686 00:33:10,833 --> 00:33:15,000 So maybe the majority, or around the majority, 687 00:33:15,042 --> 00:33:18,000 of the senior leaders in Mars Hill Church-- 688 00:33:18,083 --> 00:33:23,208 this is their private, personal, passionate worship connection 689 00:33:23,292 --> 00:33:26,792 with the Lord through the Holy Spirit. 690 00:33:26,833 --> 00:33:28,292 You know what's beautiful? 691 00:33:28,333 --> 00:33:30,208 It's never been divisive at Mars Hill. 692 00:33:30,292 --> 00:33:31,917 We've never fought, argued. 693 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:38,208 This has never been an issue because of spiritual maturity. 694 00:33:38,292 --> 00:33:40,500 There's never a problem with spiritual gifts. 695 00:33:40,583 --> 00:33:44,292 Sometimes the problems are around spiritual maturity. 696 00:33:44,333 --> 00:33:46,125 If you're not spiritually mature, 697 00:33:46,167 --> 00:33:47,833 then the gift becomes divisive. 698 00:33:47,875 --> 00:33:49,500 If you are spiritually mature, 699 00:33:49,583 --> 00:33:52,333 then the gift does not have to become divisive. 700 00:33:52,375 --> 00:33:57,333 Now, what I would say is, we don't believe that those who 701 00:33:57,375 --> 00:34:00,250 have this particular gift have more of the Holy Spirit 702 00:34:00,333 --> 00:34:03,792 than other people. 703 00:34:03,833 --> 00:34:06,292 Some would say, "Well, if you don't speak in tongues, 704 00:34:06,333 --> 00:34:08,333 you don't even have the Holy Spirit." 705 00:34:08,375 --> 00:34:10,083 I actually experienced this not long ago. 706 00:34:10,167 --> 00:34:12,833 At a conference, I had a woman come up, she said, 707 00:34:12,875 --> 00:34:14,208 "Do you speak in tongues?" 708 00:34:14,292 --> 00:34:16,708 I was like, "No, I have never spoken in tongues." 709 00:34:16,792 --> 00:34:18,917 She said, "It's amazing how much you've gotten done 710 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:20,333 without the Holy Spirit." 711 00:34:20,375 --> 00:34:21,708 I was like, really? 712 00:34:21,792 --> 00:34:23,125 Wow, wow, all right? 713 00:34:23,167 --> 00:34:25,625 I said, "Well . . ." Here's what I would say: everything good, 714 00:34:25,667 --> 00:34:27,417 the Holy Spirit did. 715 00:34:27,500 --> 00:34:29,500 Everything else, I did. 716 00:34:29,542 --> 00:34:31,417 OK, that's my theology. 717 00:34:31,500 --> 00:34:34,833 All the mess-ups--that was me. 718 00:34:34,875 --> 00:34:37,125 Anybody got saved, the Bible got taught, 719 00:34:37,167 --> 00:34:39,625 the gospel moved forward-- that was the Holy Spirit. 720 00:34:39,667 --> 00:34:44,125 We don't believe that we can do ministry 721 00:34:44,167 --> 00:34:46,500 but by the power of the Holy Spirit. 722 00:34:46,542 --> 00:34:49,625 So, for those of you who are in Mars Hill and you say, 723 00:34:49,667 --> 00:34:51,000 "You know what? 724 00:34:51,083 --> 00:34:54,208 This is my gift, or one of my gifts," welcome, we love you, 725 00:34:54,292 --> 00:34:55,625 God bless you. 726 00:34:55,667 --> 00:34:58,625 We see it in the Bible, and we want to affirm that. 727 00:34:58,667 --> 00:35:01,375 For those of you who don't have it, you're like me. 728 00:35:01,458 --> 00:35:04,875 For so many reasons, I apologize for that--but that may not be how 729 00:35:04,958 --> 00:35:06,292 God has gifted you. 730 00:35:06,333 --> 00:35:09,000 And here's what I have said-- I've said, "Lord, you know, 731 00:35:09,083 --> 00:35:11,000 "if you ever want to give the gift, 732 00:35:11,083 --> 00:35:13,125 give me the gift of speaking Spanish." 733 00:35:13,167 --> 00:35:16,083 All right? 734 00:35:16,167 --> 00:35:21,292 'Cause I would love to be able to be bilingual. 735 00:35:21,333 --> 00:35:24,583 OK, now that leads me to the next right use of tongues, 736 00:35:24,667 --> 00:35:27,917 it's the Rosetta Stone spiritual gift. 737 00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:31,000 The second right use of tongues 738 00:35:31,042 --> 00:35:35,625 is a public known earthly language for evangelism. 739 00:35:35,667 --> 00:35:37,667 And this is exactly what we just read 740 00:35:37,750 --> 00:35:39,708 in Acts chapter 2. 741 00:35:39,792 --> 00:35:41,500 These people love Jesus. 742 00:35:41,583 --> 00:35:44,417 These people have not yet heard about Jesus and they speak 743 00:35:44,500 --> 00:35:46,292 different languages. 744 00:35:46,333 --> 00:35:49,167 So the Holy Spirit will allow the people who do know Jesus 745 00:35:49,250 --> 00:35:53,083 to talk the people who don't yet know Jesus so that they can have 746 00:35:53,167 --> 00:35:55,833 an opportunity to come and meet Jesus. 747 00:35:55,875 --> 00:36:00,583 All right, this is a bilingual gift and when we say tongues, 748 00:36:00,667 --> 00:36:04,583 people get confused, so let's just call it languages 749 00:36:04,667 --> 00:36:08,208 'cause the word literally means languages. 750 00:36:08,292 --> 00:36:11,500 And again, with the growing number of people who speak 751 00:36:11,583 --> 00:36:15,792 Spanish, if the Holy Spirit wants to give me this gift, 752 00:36:15,833 --> 00:36:18,833 that would be amazing if I could also preach in Spanish. 753 00:36:18,875 --> 00:36:21,667 But here's how we read it, Acts chapter 2, verse 8: 754 00:36:21,750 --> 00:36:26,417 "And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own"--what? 755 00:36:26,500 --> 00:36:28,333 "Native language?" 756 00:36:28,375 --> 00:36:33,208 Do you see that that's different than the language of angels? 757 00:36:33,292 --> 00:36:35,917 That's an unknown heavenly language. 758 00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:39,500 Here is a known earthly language: Portuguese, Chinese, 759 00:36:39,583 --> 00:36:42,208 English, Spanish. That's what we're talking about, 760 00:36:42,292 --> 00:36:45,417 a known earthly language. 761 00:36:45,500 --> 00:36:48,917 And what this is here, this is God overcoming something that 762 00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:52,208 happened earlier in the Bible and foreshadowing something 763 00:36:52,292 --> 00:36:54,583 that happens later in the Bible. 764 00:36:54,667 --> 00:36:57,083 In the first ten chapters of the Bible, 765 00:36:57,167 --> 00:37:00,500 everybody spoke the same language, and then in chapter 11, 766 00:37:00,542 --> 00:37:02,750 something happened called the Tower of Babel. 767 00:37:02,833 --> 00:37:05,583 You probably heard about it, and it's where everyone spoke one 768 00:37:05,667 --> 00:37:08,792 language and they decided, "We don't need God or his kingdom. 769 00:37:08,833 --> 00:37:11,583 "We can be God with our own kingdom and, in fact, 770 00:37:11,667 --> 00:37:14,833 "we'll build ourselves a tower so we can sit on top of it 771 00:37:14,875 --> 00:37:18,208 like God and rule and reign from the heavens." 772 00:37:18,292 --> 00:37:22,708 Their vision was a global government without God, 773 00:37:22,792 --> 00:37:26,208 in rebellion against God, where people were ruled over 774 00:37:26,292 --> 00:37:28,917 by leaders who thought they were God. 775 00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:31,292 Can you fathom that world? 776 00:37:31,333 --> 00:37:38,000 You're talking about absolute, total oppression of the earth. 777 00:37:38,083 --> 00:37:42,125 And it was made possible because they all spoke one language. 778 00:37:42,167 --> 00:37:44,625 And so what it says is that God judged them, 779 00:37:44,667 --> 00:37:47,708 but it was also an act of love and God scattered them 780 00:37:47,792 --> 00:37:50,125 and he confused their languages. 781 00:37:50,167 --> 00:37:52,833 And Genesis 11 says that's when languages were born 782 00:37:52,875 --> 00:37:54,875 as we know them. 783 00:37:54,958 --> 00:37:57,417 It's to protect people and to love people, because 784 00:37:57,500 --> 00:38:00,042 the only thing worst than conflict between two nations is 785 00:38:00,125 --> 00:38:03,167 one nation that thinks it's the kingdom of God with a ruler, 786 00:38:03,250 --> 00:38:06,375 who thinks he's God and has total control over everyone 787 00:38:06,458 --> 00:38:10,917 on the earth, without any opportunity to unseat them. 788 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:15,292 So, what happens then is we have the language barrier. 789 00:38:15,333 --> 00:38:16,875 Here in Acts 2, 790 00:38:16,958 --> 00:38:19,625 we see that the way we overcome the language barrier, 791 00:38:19,667 --> 00:38:22,125 the national barrier, the cultural barrier, 792 00:38:22,167 --> 00:38:25,833 is by coming around Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit-- 793 00:38:25,875 --> 00:38:29,917 that the nations are not unified just around multiculturalism or 794 00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:33,792 some vague commitment to peace or to mutual understanding 795 00:38:33,833 --> 00:38:36,708 but around Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit. 796 00:38:36,792 --> 00:38:40,125 And this foreshadows Revelation 7:9-10 797 00:38:40,167 --> 00:38:42,500 where it says, "In the kingdom of God 798 00:38:42,583 --> 00:38:45,208 "eternally they'll be gathered around the throne of Jesus-- 799 00:38:45,292 --> 00:38:47,625 "people from every tribe, language, tongue-- 800 00:38:47,667 --> 00:38:51,292 "group of people and that we'll all be singing Jesus' 801 00:38:51,333 --> 00:38:53,000 "praises together. 802 00:38:53,083 --> 00:38:55,500 And he's in the center, and he's on the throne." 803 00:38:55,542 --> 00:38:59,625 And I believe that we'll be singing that heavenly language, 804 00:38:59,667 --> 00:39:03,167 and that the language barriers will be no more. 805 00:39:03,208 --> 00:39:06,083 And so, what's happening in Acts 2 is, the Holy Spirit 806 00:39:06,167 --> 00:39:10,125 is showing Jesus has dealt with a sin problem, and this unity and 807 00:39:10,167 --> 00:39:13,792 reconciliation and supernatural love between people is 808 00:39:13,833 --> 00:39:19,500 ultimately going to be that way forever in the kingdom of God. 809 00:39:19,583 --> 00:39:23,000 How many of you at this point have questions about tongues? 810 00:39:23,042 --> 00:39:25,000 You got a few questions? 811 00:39:25,083 --> 00:39:26,583 Every time we hit this issue, 812 00:39:26,667 --> 00:39:28,833 there's always a lot of questions, 813 00:39:28,875 --> 00:39:31,000 as I said initially, oftentimes because of your 814 00:39:31,042 --> 00:39:33,000 church background and experience. 815 00:39:33,083 --> 00:39:36,708 So, let me take what I find to be the three most common questions 816 00:39:36,792 --> 00:39:38,708 about tongues and answer them in succession. 817 00:39:38,792 --> 00:39:42,583 Number one, can every Christian have the gift of tongues? 818 00:39:42,667 --> 00:39:45,208 If you're from what is called a more Pentecostal background-- 819 00:39:45,292 --> 00:39:47,625 of course, they take that from Pentecost, 820 00:39:47,667 --> 00:39:50,292 which we are studying-- then they would say, 821 00:39:50,333 --> 00:39:53,292 "Everybody should speak in tongues, and if you want to know 822 00:39:53,333 --> 00:39:56,208 if you have the Holy Spirit, you have to speak in tongues." 823 00:39:56,292 --> 00:39:58,208 You say, "Well, where do I get tongues?" 824 00:39:58,292 --> 00:39:59,917 Usually the answer is, come forward, 825 00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:02,583 pastor or leader up front will lay hands on you, 826 00:40:02,667 --> 00:40:04,583 and you're going to get the Holy Ghost, 827 00:40:04,667 --> 00:40:06,583 and you're going to speak in other tongues, 828 00:40:06,667 --> 00:40:08,542 and we'll give it to ya right here. 829 00:40:08,625 --> 00:40:10,250 Is that possible? 830 00:40:10,333 --> 00:40:12,750 Should everyone speak in tongues? 831 00:40:12,833 --> 00:40:16,458 Is it even possible for us all to have this ability? 832 00:40:16,500 --> 00:40:19,167 Paul addresses this in 1 Corinthians 12, 833 00:40:19,208 --> 00:40:21,500 verses 8-11. 834 00:40:21,583 --> 00:40:24,958 He says, "For to one is given through the Spirit . . . various kinds 835 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:30,125 "of tongues"--or languages, heavenly or earthly—"to another, 836 00:40:30,167 --> 00:40:32,208 "the interpretation of tongues"-- 837 00:40:32,292 --> 00:40:34,833 the ability to articulate in the other language 838 00:40:34,917 --> 00:40:37,750 what has been said in the foreign language. 839 00:40:37,833 --> 00:40:40,667 "All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, 840 00:40:40,708 --> 00:40:43,458 who apportions to each one individually as he wills." 841 00:40:43,500 --> 00:40:46,250 Here's what he's saying: somebody can do this 842 00:40:46,333 --> 00:40:48,958 and somebody can do that, but not everybody gets to do 843 00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:51,167 the same thing. 844 00:40:51,208 --> 00:40:53,750 And you don't have to come forward for the leader 845 00:40:53,833 --> 00:40:56,750 in the church, for the pastor to give you the gift 846 00:40:56,833 --> 00:40:58,333 because we don't do that. 847 00:40:58,375 --> 00:41:00,125 Who gives the gift? 848 00:41:00,167 --> 00:41:01,625 Look at this. 849 00:41:01,667 --> 00:41:03,917 It's right here in this book I found: 850 00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:06,500 "All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, 851 00:41:06,583 --> 00:41:09,917 who apportions to each individually as he wills." 852 00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:12,500 The Holy Spirit says, "You're going to be an administrator." 853 00:41:12,583 --> 00:41:14,083 "You're going to be a leader." 854 00:41:14,167 --> 00:41:15,708 "You're going to be an encourager." 855 00:41:15,792 --> 00:41:18,125 "You're going to have the gift prayer language of tongues." 856 00:41:18,167 --> 00:41:20,333 "You're going to have the missionary gift of tongues 857 00:41:20,375 --> 00:41:22,333 "to go out and help people meet Jesus 858 00:41:22,375 --> 00:41:24,083 "you don't even know their language of." 859 00:41:24,167 --> 00:41:25,583 "You have the gift of healing. 860 00:41:25,667 --> 00:41:27,583 "You're going to start praying for sick people, 861 00:41:27,667 --> 00:41:29,792 "and God's going to hear and answer that prayer." 862 00:41:29,833 --> 00:41:31,375 "You have the gift of evangelism. 863 00:41:31,458 --> 00:41:33,375 "You're going to go talk to lost people. 864 00:41:33,458 --> 00:41:34,792 They're going to meet Jesus." 865 00:41:34,833 --> 00:41:36,792 And the whole context in 1 Corinthians 12-14 866 00:41:36,833 --> 00:41:39,792 is that Paul uses his favorite analogy for the church, and that 867 00:41:39,833 --> 00:41:41,500 is, the church is like a body. 868 00:41:41,583 --> 00:41:44,500 And his point is, well, we need our fingers and our toes 869 00:41:44,542 --> 00:41:46,667 and our ears and our eyes and our nose. 870 00:41:46,750 --> 00:41:49,708 And a body's not healthy if it has all of these parts 871 00:41:49,792 --> 00:41:51,042 and none of those parts. 872 00:41:51,125 --> 00:41:53,167 And so it is with the church body. 873 00:41:53,208 --> 00:41:55,833 Everybody should accept the fact that Jesus has sent 874 00:41:55,875 --> 00:41:57,917 the Holy Spirit to give them 875 00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:00,708 whatever ministry endowment--called a gift-- 876 00:42:00,792 --> 00:42:04,125 that is best for the church and just be who you are 877 00:42:04,167 --> 00:42:06,708 and do what you are supposed to do, right? 878 00:42:06,792 --> 00:42:08,792 A football team doesn't need 10 quarterbacks. 879 00:42:08,833 --> 00:42:10,875 A plane doesn't need 27 pilots. 880 00:42:10,958 --> 00:42:13,583 It needs everybody to do their part and find their place 881 00:42:13,667 --> 00:42:15,417 and be part of the greater mission. 882 00:42:15,500 --> 00:42:20,083 So it is with Jesus' mission to reach the nations of the earth. 883 00:42:20,167 --> 00:42:24,792 And also, I would say, there is no evidence that 884 00:42:24,833 --> 00:42:29,167 the Lord Jesus Christ ever spoke in tongues. 885 00:42:29,250 --> 00:42:30,667 There's no evidence. 886 00:42:30,750 --> 00:42:32,708 The Bible never tells us. 887 00:42:32,792 --> 00:42:35,500 It does say that he was filled with the Holy Spirit. 888 00:42:35,542 --> 00:42:39,042 I mean, Jesus was perfectly, continually filled, empowered 889 00:42:39,125 --> 00:42:42,000 by the Holy Spirit. But it never tells us 890 00:42:42,083 --> 00:42:43,667 that he spoke in tongues. 891 00:42:43,708 --> 00:42:45,333 It doesn't mean he didn't. 892 00:42:45,417 --> 00:42:47,708 He had private prayer time with the Father. 893 00:42:47,792 --> 00:42:50,625 We don't have any record of exactly what happened there, 894 00:42:50,667 --> 00:42:53,250 but I think we go out to the very, very end 895 00:42:53,333 --> 00:42:56,000 of the limb to say, those who have the Holy Spirit 896 00:42:56,083 --> 00:42:58,750 all receive the same gift, even if we don't see it 897 00:42:58,833 --> 00:43:00,500 in the Lord Jesus 898 00:43:00,542 --> 00:43:03,208 or we don't see it in the teaching of the Bible. 899 00:43:03,292 --> 00:43:06,208 So if you're here and you say, "Well, I have this gift," 900 00:43:06,292 --> 00:43:07,625 praise God. Not everyone does. 901 00:43:07,667 --> 00:43:10,500 Don't judge them or look down on them or think that you're 902 00:43:10,583 --> 00:43:12,500 more spiritual than they are because you're not. 903 00:43:12,542 --> 00:43:14,917 All right, everybody gets the gift that the Holy Spirit 904 00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:18,083 gives them, and we need to humbly use that for the building up 905 00:43:18,167 --> 00:43:19,500 of the whole church. 906 00:43:19,542 --> 00:43:20,875 Does that make sense? 907 00:43:20,958 --> 00:43:22,625 So, some of you here, you're like, 908 00:43:22,667 --> 00:43:24,333 "I wish I could get the gift." 909 00:43:24,375 --> 00:43:27,083 Well, you can ask. And the Holy Spirit may say yes; 910 00:43:27,167 --> 00:43:28,500 he may say no. 911 00:43:28,542 --> 00:43:30,667 Second question, does Mars Hill Church believe that 912 00:43:30,750 --> 00:43:34,125 the gift of tongues is for today? 913 00:43:34,167 --> 00:43:37,333 OK, there are two positions on this. 914 00:43:37,417 --> 00:43:39,750 One is called Cessationism. 915 00:43:39,833 --> 00:43:42,208 Cessationism teaches that certain supernatural, 916 00:43:42,292 --> 00:43:46,708 miraculous gifts ceased around the turn of the first century 917 00:43:46,792 --> 00:43:50,708 after the Bible was completed in its writing. 918 00:43:50,792 --> 00:43:55,208 The other is Continuationism, and that is that all of 919 00:43:55,292 --> 00:43:57,833 the supernatural, spiritual gifts continue. 920 00:43:57,875 --> 00:44:01,167 Until this day, they have not yet ceased. 921 00:44:01,250 --> 00:44:05,167 Let me say a few things about this, and then we'll look at 922 00:44:05,250 --> 00:44:07,917 1 Corinthians 13. 923 00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:11,875 We agree with a Cessationist that there will come a time 924 00:44:11,958 --> 00:44:15,625 when certain spiritual gifts cease, OK? 925 00:44:15,667 --> 00:44:18,417 For example, the gift of evangelism. 926 00:44:18,500 --> 00:44:21,208 Do you think we're going to need that in heaven? 927 00:44:21,292 --> 00:44:23,208 How many of you are evangelists? You're like, 928 00:44:23,292 --> 00:44:24,708 "I love non-Christians. 929 00:44:24,792 --> 00:44:27,500 When I talk to them, they give their life to Jesus. 930 00:44:27,542 --> 00:44:28,875 It's amazing." 931 00:44:28,958 --> 00:44:32,292 When we get to heaven, the gift of evangelism is not going to be 932 00:44:32,333 --> 00:44:33,792 as needed as it is now. 933 00:44:33,833 --> 00:44:36,708 You're like, "I'm going to go out and find the lost people." 934 00:44:36,792 --> 00:44:39,000 There aren't any. This is the kingdom of God. 935 00:44:39,083 --> 00:44:41,333 Everybody here already loves Jesus. 936 00:44:41,417 --> 00:44:42,750 "Oh." 937 00:44:42,833 --> 00:44:45,333 So, evangelism comes to an end. 938 00:44:45,417 --> 00:44:47,167 So those with the gift of evangelism, 939 00:44:47,208 --> 00:44:51,333 they're going to need to find something else to do, all right? 940 00:44:51,375 --> 00:44:53,833 If you're walking around on the street handing out tracks, 941 00:44:53,917 --> 00:44:55,833 "Do you know the Lord?" "Yes, I do." 942 00:44:55,917 --> 00:44:57,833 "Do you know the Lord?" "Yes, I do." 943 00:44:57,917 --> 00:44:59,625 "Do you know the Lord?" "Yes, I--" 944 00:44:59,667 --> 00:45:02,000 "I need to find something else to do. 945 00:45:02,042 --> 00:45:04,708 Everyone here knows the Lord," OK? 946 00:45:04,792 --> 00:45:07,000 So, we agree with the Cessationists that certain gifts 947 00:45:07,083 --> 00:45:09,500 will come to an end like the gift of healing. 948 00:45:09,583 --> 00:45:11,708 You think in heaven you're going to be like, 949 00:45:11,792 --> 00:45:13,500 "I'll pray for the guy with cancer. 950 00:45:13,583 --> 00:45:15,000 Oh, that's right-- no more cancer." 951 00:45:15,083 --> 00:45:18,000 You won't need the gift of healing in the kingdom of God 952 00:45:18,083 --> 00:45:19,500 'cause there won't be any sickness. 953 00:45:19,583 --> 00:45:21,667 So, we agree with the Cessationists that yes, 954 00:45:21,750 --> 00:45:24,625 certain gifts, at least, they're going to cease. 955 00:45:24,667 --> 00:45:27,875 They're going to cease. 956 00:45:27,958 --> 00:45:31,917 Where we disagree with the Cessationists and we agree 957 00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:36,458 with the Continuationists is when they cease. 958 00:45:36,500 --> 00:45:41,208 We believe that all of the gifts continue until 959 00:45:41,292 --> 00:45:45,667 one very important transitionary moment 960 00:45:45,708 --> 00:45:47,958 in the history of the world. 961 00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:49,333 We read about it here, 962 00:45:49,417 --> 00:45:51,750 1 Corinthians 13, verses 8-12. 963 00:45:51,833 --> 00:45:53,542 Love never ends, right? 964 00:45:53,625 --> 00:45:57,000 Certain spiritual gifts we're not going to need them 965 00:45:57,083 --> 00:45:59,917 in heaven, but love continues forever. 966 00:46:00,042 --> 00:46:04,500 So even when the gifts end, the love continues. 967 00:46:04,583 --> 00:46:06,417 As for prophesies, they will pass away. 968 00:46:06,500 --> 00:46:10,208 As for tongues, that could be the heavenly or the earthly-- 969 00:46:10,292 --> 00:46:13,833 I suppose, at the very least, the earthly. 970 00:46:13,875 --> 00:46:16,000 They will what? 971 00:46:16,042 --> 00:46:17,500 Cease. 972 00:46:17,583 --> 00:46:21,625 And again that position is Cessationism. 973 00:46:21,667 --> 00:46:25,917 When, when does it cease? 974 00:46:26,000 --> 00:46:28,292 When does tongues conclude? 975 00:46:28,333 --> 00:46:30,333 When is it over, right? 976 00:46:30,375 --> 00:46:35,500 What's the expiration date on the box for tongues? 977 00:46:35,583 --> 00:46:37,708 When's it over? 978 00:46:37,792 --> 00:46:39,458 Was it over in the first century 979 00:46:39,500 --> 00:46:41,500 or is it not over yet? 980 00:46:41,583 --> 00:46:43,333 What's the answer? 981 00:46:43,417 --> 00:46:46,208 Well, let's read the book that the Holy Spirit wrote. 982 00:46:46,292 --> 00:46:48,833 "When the perfect comes, the partial will pass away." 983 00:46:48,917 --> 00:46:50,542 The Cessationists then say, 984 00:46:50,625 --> 00:46:52,833 "And the perfect is the perfect Word of God. 985 00:46:52,875 --> 00:46:55,167 "Now that we have the perfect Word of God, 986 00:46:55,208 --> 00:46:57,333 "we don't need certain supernatural, miraculous, 987 00:46:57,375 --> 00:46:58,958 spiritual gifts." 988 00:46:59,000 --> 00:47:02,292 OK, Mars Hill, do we believe that the Word of God is perfect? 989 00:47:02,333 --> 00:47:04,000 Absolutely. 990 00:47:04,083 --> 00:47:06,125 Absolutely. 991 00:47:06,167 --> 00:47:10,208 But the perfect being spoken of there is not the conclusion of 992 00:47:10,292 --> 00:47:12,583 the writing of the Bible. 993 00:47:12,667 --> 00:47:14,500 Read with me. 994 00:47:14,583 --> 00:47:18,833 "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face." 995 00:47:18,875 --> 00:47:24,708 Oh, so the perfect has a face. 996 00:47:24,792 --> 00:47:26,625 The perfect has a face. 997 00:47:26,667 --> 00:47:28,583 Well, who are we talking about now? 998 00:47:28,667 --> 00:47:31,375 OK, just so you know, one perfect guy, OK? 999 00:47:31,458 --> 00:47:32,792 Let's all say it together. 1000 00:47:32,833 --> 00:47:34,167 His name? 1001 00:47:34,250 --> 00:47:35,792 Nailed it. Good job, Mars Hill. 1002 00:47:35,833 --> 00:47:41,917 OK, so one perfect guy shows up and we see him face to face-- 1003 00:47:42,000 --> 00:47:43,833 that's the Bible's language for friendship. 1004 00:47:43,875 --> 00:47:46,333 So when do these gifts cease? 1005 00:47:46,417 --> 00:47:48,042 When? 1006 00:47:48,125 --> 00:47:51,917 When Jesus comes back, when we see him face to face. 1007 00:47:52,000 --> 00:47:54,333 So the Cessationists are right: 1008 00:47:54,417 --> 00:47:56,542 certain gifts will come to an end. 1009 00:47:56,625 --> 00:47:58,417 But the Cessationists are wrong-- 1010 00:47:58,500 --> 00:48:00,625 that end has not yet come. 1011 00:48:00,667 --> 00:48:03,083 And the Continuationists are right--that all the gifts 1012 00:48:03,167 --> 00:48:06,208 continue until we see him face to face, 1013 00:48:06,292 --> 00:48:09,333 until Jesus comes again. 1014 00:48:09,375 --> 00:48:12,500 "Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, 1015 00:48:12,583 --> 00:48:14,333 even as I have been fully known." 1016 00:48:14,375 --> 00:48:16,333 What he says is between now and then, 1017 00:48:16,375 --> 00:48:18,333 we're going to have a lot of questions, 1018 00:48:18,375 --> 00:48:19,708 but when Jesus comes back, 1019 00:48:19,792 --> 00:48:21,417 it's all going to get cleared up. 1020 00:48:21,500 --> 00:48:22,917 It's all going to make sense. 1021 00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:24,625 So you struggling, suffering believers, 1022 00:48:24,667 --> 00:48:28,917 be persevering believers, and when you see Jesus face to face, 1023 00:48:29,000 --> 00:48:30,417 everything's going to make sense. 1024 00:48:30,500 --> 00:48:32,083 It's all going to come together. 1025 00:48:32,167 --> 00:48:35,417 You just got to hang in there and be patient and live by faith 1026 00:48:35,500 --> 00:48:39,042 until your faith becomes sight and you see him face to face. 1027 00:48:39,125 --> 00:48:42,625 So, we do believe that the gift of tongues and all of the gifts 1028 00:48:42,667 --> 00:48:44,458 continue until this very day. 1029 00:48:44,500 --> 00:48:46,750 It's absolutely what we believe. 1030 00:48:46,833 --> 00:48:49,167 Now, what happens is some will come along and say, 1031 00:48:49,208 --> 00:48:51,417 "But those gifts are very abused! 1032 00:48:51,500 --> 00:48:53,333 "They're misused! 1033 00:48:53,375 --> 00:48:55,542 "Tongues and prophesy, these things-- 1034 00:48:55,625 --> 00:48:57,542 "they're misused and abused, 1035 00:48:57,625 --> 00:49:00,583 therefore we should get rid of them." 1036 00:49:00,667 --> 00:49:03,875 My answer is, all spiritual gifts have been used 1037 00:49:03,958 --> 00:49:06,417 and abused and misused. 1038 00:49:06,500 --> 00:49:09,875 For example, the gift of teaching. 1039 00:49:09,958 --> 00:49:13,792 There's been a lot of false teaching, a lot of bad teaching, 1040 00:49:13,833 --> 00:49:16,667 and the answer is not, "Well, there has been bad teaching, 1041 00:49:16,750 --> 00:49:19,875 so let us get rid of teaching." 1042 00:49:19,958 --> 00:49:22,500 The answer is, "There's been bad teaching, so let's have 1043 00:49:22,542 --> 00:49:24,917 Bible teaching." 1044 00:49:25,000 --> 00:49:29,333 If gifts have been misused, they should not be rejected: 1045 00:49:29,375 --> 00:49:32,625 they should be used biblically to give God's people 1046 00:49:32,667 --> 00:49:35,375 a faithful alternative. 1047 00:49:35,458 --> 00:49:37,833 Amen? 1048 00:49:37,917 --> 00:49:40,167 So we don't want to just have the gifts; 1049 00:49:40,208 --> 00:49:43,417 we want to use them in the way that the Holy Spirit governs, 1050 00:49:43,500 --> 00:49:47,250 according to the Scriptures that he has written. 1051 00:49:47,333 --> 00:49:52,167 Third question, what happens when the public--or excuse me, 1052 00:49:52,208 --> 00:49:54,125 read it again. 1053 00:49:54,167 --> 00:49:58,167 What happens when the private use of tongues goes public? 1054 00:49:58,208 --> 00:50:03,708 This is where all the confusion comes in. 1055 00:50:03,792 --> 00:50:07,958 1 Corinthians 14:27, "If any speak in a tongue or a language, 1056 00:50:08,000 --> 00:50:10,958 "let there be only two or at the most three, 1057 00:50:11,000 --> 00:50:14,500 and each in turn, and let someone interpret." 1058 00:50:14,583 --> 00:50:17,667 So, let's say you've got a private prayer language 1059 00:50:17,708 --> 00:50:20,250 of tongues, and all of a sudden, we're together. 1060 00:50:20,333 --> 00:50:22,750 It's a meeting, the church is together, and you say, 1061 00:50:22,833 --> 00:50:25,542 "I feel like God wants me to speak, 1062 00:50:25,625 --> 00:50:28,167 and he has something to say." 1063 00:50:28,208 --> 00:50:30,417 The answer is? 1064 00:50:30,500 --> 00:50:33,833 Two or three at the most, one at a time. 1065 00:50:33,917 --> 00:50:37,333 No, "Ready, set, go--crazy." 1066 00:50:37,375 --> 00:50:38,833 Crazy. 1067 00:50:38,875 --> 00:50:40,958 Whoo! Right? 1068 00:50:41,000 --> 00:50:42,667 Holy Ghost time. 1069 00:50:42,708 --> 00:50:44,708 Grab a flag, grab a tambourine, right? 1070 00:50:44,792 --> 00:50:46,667 Go! 1071 00:50:46,708 --> 00:50:49,042 No, OK? 1072 00:50:49,125 --> 00:50:51,042 Two or three at the most, 1073 00:50:51,125 --> 00:50:54,000 and an interpreter, because if you're saying something 1074 00:50:54,083 --> 00:50:55,833 and nobody knows what you're saying, 1075 00:50:55,875 --> 00:50:57,833 somebody needs to interpret and say, "Well, 1076 00:50:57,917 --> 00:51:01,833 here's what's being said," to make sure it's not wrong. 1077 00:51:01,875 --> 00:51:07,000 And if that's not the case, then go home and enjoy that at home, 1078 00:51:07,083 --> 00:51:09,333 OK? 1079 00:51:09,375 --> 00:51:14,625 Let me say it this way--how many of you have things you do 1080 00:51:14,667 --> 00:51:19,500 in private that don't work in public? 1081 00:51:22,875 --> 00:51:25,000 OK, chuckle, chuckle, chuckle. 1082 00:51:25,042 --> 00:51:26,625 What will Mark say now? 1083 00:51:26,667 --> 00:51:28,833 Something not governed by the Holy Spirit, I'm sure. 1084 00:51:28,875 --> 00:51:30,208 It's going to be hilarious, 1085 00:51:30,292 --> 00:51:33,208 and we're going to get picketed again. 1086 00:51:33,292 --> 00:51:36,000 So, here's what I will do. 1087 00:51:36,083 --> 00:51:38,542 I will submit to the Holy Spirit 1088 00:51:38,625 --> 00:51:41,333 and just leave that ball on the tee, OK? 1089 00:51:41,417 --> 00:51:43,458 But I will tell you a story. 1090 00:51:43,500 --> 00:51:46,208 OK, so I was at Starbucks. 1091 00:51:46,292 --> 00:51:48,000 I was at Starbucks. 1092 00:51:48,083 --> 00:51:50,333 You may have heard of these. 1093 00:51:50,417 --> 00:51:52,542 I know there's Mars Hill churches everywhere, 1094 00:51:52,625 --> 00:51:54,667 not like Starbucks. 1095 00:51:54,708 --> 00:51:57,833 I was sitting in a Starbucks and in walks a young gal, 1096 00:51:57,917 --> 00:52:01,417 maybe college, career, just seems like a normal, nice gal, 1097 00:52:01,500 --> 00:52:03,917 gets her drink, sits down in one of those big, 1098 00:52:04,000 --> 00:52:07,208 sort of oversized like plushy velour chairs. 1099 00:52:07,292 --> 00:52:13,625 Takes her shoes off, takes her socks off, 1100 00:52:13,667 --> 00:52:17,667 puts her feet up on the chair, 1101 00:52:17,750 --> 00:52:21,708 pulls out a toenail clipper-- 1102 00:52:21,792 --> 00:52:28,292 plink, plink, plink, plink, OK? 1103 00:52:28,333 --> 00:52:32,208 OK, is she sinning? 1104 00:52:32,292 --> 00:52:35,000 No. 1105 00:52:35,083 --> 00:52:40,417 But this is the wrong place, right? 1106 00:52:40,500 --> 00:52:42,250 That's what I told her. 1107 00:52:42,333 --> 00:52:46,000 I said, "Excuse me, miss." 1108 00:52:46,083 --> 00:52:49,917 Literally, as I saw her toenail go flying by. 1109 00:52:50,000 --> 00:52:55,042 I was like, "OK, oh, we've now find the line. There it is." 1110 00:52:55,125 --> 00:52:56,750 We've crossed it, OK. 1111 00:52:56,833 --> 00:52:58,542 "Excuse me, miss." 1112 00:52:58,625 --> 00:53:00,333 "Yes?" 1113 00:53:00,375 --> 00:53:05,125 "This is a huge planet. 1114 00:53:05,167 --> 00:53:09,708 This could be done elsewhere." 1115 00:53:09,792 --> 00:53:11,875 The Holy Spirit didn't say that; I did. 1116 00:53:11,958 --> 00:53:14,625 But that's what I--OK, true or false, 1117 00:53:14,667 --> 00:53:18,000 there are certain things that privately, totally fine; 1118 00:53:18,042 --> 00:53:21,708 publicly, not appropriate. 1119 00:53:21,792 --> 00:53:24,625 So it is spiritually. 1120 00:53:24,667 --> 00:53:26,500 So it is spiritually. 1121 00:53:26,542 --> 00:53:29,625 What he's saying here is, if you want to take your private thing 1122 00:53:29,667 --> 00:53:32,833 and make it public, well, here, OK, two or three at the most, 1123 00:53:32,875 --> 00:53:34,333 with an interpreter under spiritual leadership. 1124 00:53:34,375 --> 00:53:36,750 You can't just do whatever you want when the church 1125 00:53:36,833 --> 00:53:38,167 all gets together. 1126 00:53:38,208 --> 00:53:39,667 OK, give me some other examples. 1127 00:53:39,708 --> 00:53:42,833 How many of you in your car, you love to sing Christian music 1128 00:53:42,875 --> 00:53:48,458 to Jesus, and you sing it, OK? 1129 00:53:48,500 --> 00:53:54,833 And it should never leave your car. 1130 00:53:54,875 --> 00:53:58,750 Like, no one else should be included, right? 1131 00:53:58,833 --> 00:54:00,708 So, you're home and you're like-- 1132 00:54:00,792 --> 00:54:03,917 you're just rocking out to Jesus. 1133 00:54:04,000 --> 00:54:07,083 And you show up in church, you're like, "Oh, they got a mic. 1134 00:54:07,167 --> 00:54:08,667 Yes, they have a mic!" 1135 00:54:08,750 --> 00:54:12,000 Not for you. Not for you, OK? 1136 00:54:12,042 --> 00:54:15,875 Not for you because that's private, not public. 1137 00:54:15,958 --> 00:54:18,375 You're saying, "But I am so edified." 1138 00:54:18,458 --> 00:54:24,500 Yes, but we are so horrified that you should just 1139 00:54:24,542 --> 00:54:31,333 do that for--Jesus can take it, right? 1140 00:54:31,375 --> 00:54:34,625 The rest of us, we just, we don't have that pain threshold, 1141 00:54:34,667 --> 00:54:38,958 OK? 1142 00:54:39,000 --> 00:54:40,833 And I'll use myself. 1143 00:54:40,917 --> 00:54:42,458 I love to study. 1144 00:54:42,500 --> 00:54:43,917 I nerd out. I love books. 1145 00:54:44,000 --> 00:54:46,458 Right, if the Rapture comes, I'm grabbing all my books 1146 00:54:46,500 --> 00:54:48,333 and I'm taking book shelves, Whoo. 1147 00:54:48,417 --> 00:54:53,250 I love my books, but you don't need to watch me study, OK? 1148 00:54:53,333 --> 00:54:56,458 I'm personally privately edified by study. 1149 00:54:56,500 --> 00:54:58,250 If you saw me, I smile, 1150 00:54:58,333 --> 00:54:59,667 I'm happy. 1151 00:54:59,708 --> 00:55:01,500 Sometimes I'll even break out in song. 1152 00:55:01,542 --> 00:55:02,875 I'll pray. 1153 00:55:02,958 --> 00:55:05,625 I got my Bible open, I got all my books open-- 1154 00:55:05,667 --> 00:55:07,000 love the smell of books. 1155 00:55:07,083 --> 00:55:09,833 But see, that doesn't need to happen in church on Sunday. 1156 00:55:09,875 --> 00:55:12,333 You say, "Oh, Mark's going to study for 10 hours. 1157 00:55:12,375 --> 00:55:14,500 "We're all going to sit there and watch him. 1158 00:55:14,583 --> 00:55:16,708 "Oh, he flipped another page. He grabbed another book. 1159 00:55:16,792 --> 00:55:18,125 What a nerd." 1160 00:55:18,167 --> 00:55:19,875 You don't need to--that's me, not you. 1161 00:55:19,958 --> 00:55:21,500 That's me, not us. 1162 00:55:21,583 --> 00:55:23,333 That's private, not public. 1163 00:55:23,375 --> 00:55:25,333 That's personal, not public, right? 1164 00:55:25,375 --> 00:55:27,125 You get that? 1165 00:55:27,167 --> 00:55:30,125 And the problem becomes, you take your private and you go public. 1166 00:55:30,167 --> 00:55:31,500 You're like, "Whoo! 1167 00:55:31,583 --> 00:55:33,500 No, go home. OK, yay," OK? 1168 00:55:33,583 --> 00:55:35,833 Now, what happens when that doesn't happen? 1169 00:55:35,875 --> 00:55:40,458 Well, Paul talks about it in 1 Corinthians 14:18-23: 1170 00:55:40,500 --> 00:55:42,458 "I thank God that I speak in tongues." 1171 00:55:42,500 --> 00:55:44,458 Paul spoke in tongues, right? 1172 00:55:44,500 --> 00:55:46,125 Paul spoke in tongues. 1173 00:55:46,167 --> 00:55:47,833 Sometimes I hear this--people are like, 1174 00:55:47,917 --> 00:55:49,458 "We don't need things like tongues. 1175 00:55:49,500 --> 00:55:52,000 We just need to study the Word that Paul wrote." 1176 00:55:52,083 --> 00:55:53,417 But Paul spoke in tongues. 1177 00:55:53,500 --> 00:55:56,167 Anyways, "I thank God that I speak in tongues more than 1178 00:55:56,208 --> 00:55:57,542 "all of you. 1179 00:55:57,625 --> 00:55:59,042 Nevertheless, in the church"-- the public-- 1180 00:55:59,125 --> 00:56:01,333 "I would rather speak five words with my mind 1181 00:56:01,375 --> 00:56:04,333 in order to instruct others"-- to help them-- 1182 00:56:04,375 --> 00:56:07,292 "than ten thousand words in a tongue. 1183 00:56:07,333 --> 00:56:09,333 If, therefore, the whole church comes together"-- 1184 00:56:09,375 --> 00:56:11,917 here's the public meeting-- "and all speak in tongues, 1185 00:56:12,000 --> 00:56:13,917 "and outsiders or unbelievers enter, 1186 00:56:14,000 --> 00:56:18,125 will they not say that you are out of your mind?" 1187 00:56:18,167 --> 00:56:20,917 Welcome to Out-of-Mind Bible Church, right? 1188 00:56:21,000 --> 00:56:23,417 Have you been to Out-of-Mind Bible Church, right? 1189 00:56:23,500 --> 00:56:26,083 You thought, "Oh, I'm going to go get my coworker, 1190 00:56:26,167 --> 00:56:27,500 "Johnny. 1191 00:56:27,542 --> 00:56:29,500 "Johnny, come on, come to church with me. 1192 00:56:29,542 --> 00:56:31,500 "Come on, come on, Johnny, here it is. 1193 00:56:31,542 --> 00:56:33,500 "Oh, we're going to go out to coffee. 1194 00:56:33,542 --> 00:56:36,000 You know, we're going to go out to coffee," right? 1195 00:56:36,042 --> 00:56:37,333 'Cause Johnny's like, "What? What? 1196 00:56:37,417 --> 00:56:38,833 "Is it happy hour?" Like, what? 1197 00:56:38,917 --> 00:56:41,458 "This is great. 1198 00:56:41,500 --> 00:56:44,125 "You know, everybody's drunk and crazy. 1199 00:56:44,167 --> 00:56:46,958 This is not how I imagined church to be." 1200 00:56:47,000 --> 00:56:52,750 And the point here is, you may be personally connected to 1201 00:56:52,833 --> 00:56:58,708 the Lord, but what if it pushes other people away from the Lord? 1202 00:56:58,792 --> 00:57:02,083 What if non-Christians can't hear about Jesus 'cause of all 1203 00:57:02,167 --> 00:57:04,583 the noise we're making? 1204 00:57:04,667 --> 00:57:07,208 What if non-Christians can't learn about Jesus 'cause of all 1205 00:57:07,292 --> 00:57:10,000 the distractions we're causing? 1206 00:57:10,042 --> 00:57:12,667 We want you to sing and raise your hands and cheer 1207 00:57:12,750 --> 00:57:14,833 and be enthusiastic and passionate 'cause the Bible 1208 00:57:14,875 --> 00:57:16,917 talks about all of those things. 1209 00:57:17,000 --> 00:57:20,167 We want to always make sure that Mars Hill is a place that 1210 00:57:20,250 --> 00:57:23,208 non-Christians and visitors are welcome and that the Holy Spirit 1211 00:57:23,292 --> 00:57:25,417 will be able to teach them about Jesus, 1212 00:57:25,500 --> 00:57:26,917 whether it's our Community Groups 1213 00:57:27,000 --> 00:57:28,333 or our Sunday services. 1214 00:57:28,375 --> 00:57:31,083 And if you say, "But I have something I feel like 1215 00:57:31,167 --> 00:57:33,583 I need to say," then run it by an elder. 1216 00:57:33,667 --> 00:57:35,792 Get permission from a spiritual leader. 1217 00:57:35,833 --> 00:57:37,500 We don't just believe in spiritual gifts; 1218 00:57:37,583 --> 00:57:41,000 we believe in spiritual leadership as well. 1219 00:57:41,083 --> 00:57:44,833 And then he closes by telling us what happened when 1220 00:57:44,917 --> 00:57:47,750 the Holy Spirit showed up, and that is that the Holy Spirit 1221 00:57:47,833 --> 00:57:49,333 is received and rejected. 1222 00:57:49,375 --> 00:57:52,458 Acts 2:12-13, "They were all amazed and perplexed, 1223 00:57:52,500 --> 00:57:54,542 "saying to one another, 'What does this mean?' 1224 00:57:54,625 --> 00:57:58,000 But others mocking said, 'They are filled with new wine.'" 1225 00:57:58,083 --> 00:58:01,083 When the Holy Spirit comes and he teaches about Jesus 1226 00:58:01,167 --> 00:58:04,667 and he reveals Jesus, some people receive it. 1227 00:58:04,750 --> 00:58:08,417 And you're going to see next week, 3,000 people are saved. 1228 00:58:08,500 --> 00:58:11,625 It's an explosion of conversion. 1229 00:58:11,667 --> 00:58:17,167 While some receive Jesus, others reject him. 1230 00:58:17,250 --> 00:58:21,375 "These people are crazy. Christianity makes no sense. 1231 00:58:21,458 --> 00:58:23,417 I'm not interested. Leave me alone." 1232 00:58:23,500 --> 00:58:25,125 Friend, here's my question to you: 1233 00:58:25,167 --> 00:58:28,500 have you received or rejected Jesus? 1234 00:58:28,583 --> 00:58:31,417 Have you received the Holy Spirit's conviction 1235 00:58:31,500 --> 00:58:34,125 and instruction, or have you rejected 1236 00:58:34,167 --> 00:58:38,250 the Holy Spirit's instruction and conviction? 1237 00:58:38,333 --> 00:58:40,750 Don't get distracted by the tongues. 1238 00:58:40,833 --> 00:58:44,333 The big idea is this: the Holy Spirit is absolutely, 1239 00:58:44,417 --> 00:58:47,833 unequivocally, fully, thoroughly, 1240 00:58:47,917 --> 00:58:53,042 totally committed, that whatever means are required, 1241 00:58:53,125 --> 00:58:57,250 that the message of Jesus would get out with power. 1242 00:58:57,333 --> 00:58:59,917 And if a language is in the way, he will work 1243 00:59:00,042 --> 00:59:01,500 through the language. 1244 00:59:01,583 --> 00:59:04,875 If geography is in the way, he will work through the geography. 1245 00:59:04,958 --> 00:59:08,417 If people are in the way, he will move those people aside. 1246 00:59:08,500 --> 00:59:11,625 He will literally move heaven and earth to get the news 1247 00:59:11,667 --> 00:59:15,333 of Jesus to lost people so that they have an opportunity to turn 1248 00:59:15,375 --> 00:59:17,833 from sin and to trust in him. 1249 00:59:17,875 --> 00:59:20,792 And Mars Hill, hear me in this: it's not about the tongues. 1250 00:59:20,833 --> 00:59:24,125 It's about people hearing about Jesus. 1251 00:59:24,167 --> 00:59:27,208 Everybody needs to hear about Jesus, 1252 00:59:27,292 --> 00:59:30,833 and the Holy Spirit sets a fire in the children of God, 1253 00:59:30,875 --> 00:59:33,000 and he unleashes them on the earth 1254 00:59:33,042 --> 00:59:35,500 so that people would hear that Jesus is God, 1255 00:59:35,583 --> 00:59:38,000 that Jesus is good, that Jesus has lived, 1256 00:59:38,083 --> 00:59:42,167 that Jesus has died, that Jesus is risen, that Jesus is saving, 1257 00:59:42,208 --> 00:59:46,500 that Jesus is serving, that Jesus is coming again to judge 1258 00:59:46,583 --> 00:59:48,042 the living and the dead. 1259 00:59:48,125 --> 00:59:51,833 And this message absolutely has to get out, and the ministry 1260 00:59:51,917 --> 00:59:54,917 of the church is to get this message out. 1261 00:59:55,000 --> 00:59:59,042 And Mars Hill, I invite you to join me and to require 1262 00:59:59,125 --> 01:00:01,750 the presence and power of the Holy Spirit 1263 01:00:01,833 --> 01:00:03,458 to work through us. 1264 01:00:03,500 --> 01:00:08,958 If there is any, any opportunity for us to speak, to share, 1265 01:00:09,000 --> 01:00:13,417 to teach, to talk about Jesus, to do it and to overcome 1266 01:00:13,500 --> 01:00:16,625 whatever barriers might get in the way so that people 1267 01:00:16,667 --> 01:00:18,625 can receive him 1268 01:00:18,667 --> 01:00:21,125 and join us forever as the glad family of God, 1269 01:00:21,167 --> 01:00:22,500 amen? 1270 01:00:22,583 --> 01:00:26,583 That's what it's about. 1271 01:00:31,208 --> 01:00:35,000 Acts is the book of the acts of the Holy Spirit, 1272 01:00:35,083 --> 01:00:38,958 and he wants to work through us as he has worked through people 1273 01:00:39,000 --> 01:00:41,042 for thousands of years. 1274 01:00:41,125 --> 01:00:42,917 In a moment, we're going to sing. 1275 01:00:43,000 --> 01:00:45,333 Feel free to sing with great gladness and joy. 1276 01:00:45,417 --> 01:00:47,750 We're going to take Communion in remembering the broken body, 1277 01:00:47,833 --> 01:00:49,333 shed blood of Jesus. 1278 01:00:49,375 --> 01:00:51,625 First, we're going to collect our tithes and offerings, 1279 01:00:51,667 --> 01:00:53,542 and this is our way of saying 1280 01:00:53,625 --> 01:00:56,000 we want to help the message of Jesus get out, 1281 01:00:56,083 --> 01:00:58,958 more churches, if we have to use technology, 1282 01:00:59,000 --> 01:01:02,500 if we have to buy a building, if we have to increase the staff, 1283 01:01:02,542 --> 01:01:05,417 whatever we got to do, we got to get this message out, 1284 01:01:05,500 --> 01:01:06,833 amen? 1285 01:01:06,875 --> 01:01:12,500 The world needs to hear about Jesus, that's why we give. 1286 01:01:12,583 --> 01:01:16,167 And as you are giving, I want to share with you some of what 1287 01:01:16,250 --> 01:01:18,208 the Holy Spirit is doing in Ethiopia. 1288 01:01:18,292 --> 01:01:21,667 A portion of our income is going to help church planting 1289 01:01:21,750 --> 01:01:23,333 in Ethiopia and India. 1290 01:01:23,375 --> 01:01:26,333 Jesus said to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. 1291 01:01:26,375 --> 01:01:28,625 And here's the good news: the Holy Spirit's working 1292 01:01:28,667 --> 01:01:30,917 among other nations and other people groups 1293 01:01:31,000 --> 01:01:33,208 and other languages and other cultures 1294 01:01:33,292 --> 01:01:35,500 to do the same thing that he always does-- 1295 01:01:35,583 --> 01:01:38,500 take people whom he loves and introduce them to Jesus, 1296 01:01:38,583 --> 01:01:40,000 who loves them. 1297 01:01:40,083 --> 01:01:43,083 So I get to share that with you now. 1298 01:01:56,500 --> 01:02:00,833 [speaking foreign language] 1299 01:02:00,875 --> 01:02:02,667 When I was going to school, 1300 01:02:02,750 --> 01:02:05,292 there was an evangelist named Samuel. 1301 01:02:05,333 --> 01:02:09,500 He greeted me and he asked me if I know the Lord. 1302 01:02:09,542 --> 01:02:13,208 Because my background is the Coptic traditional church, 1303 01:02:13,292 --> 01:02:15,417 I said, "Yeah, I know the Lord. 1304 01:02:15,500 --> 01:02:18,083 Who is the Lord you are talking about?" 1305 01:02:18,167 --> 01:02:20,417 The evangelist Samuel told me that 1306 01:02:20,500 --> 01:02:27,167 "The Lord Jesus Christ is not in you yet." 1307 01:02:30,542 --> 01:02:32,875 Then I just said, "Yes! 1308 01:02:32,958 --> 01:02:38,542 If the Lord Jesus is coming into my heart, let me receive!" 1309 01:02:38,625 --> 01:02:44,167 [speaking foreign language] 1310 01:02:44,208 --> 01:02:46,667 Hi, yeah. Hello? 1311 01:02:46,708 --> 01:02:49,500 Yeah, this is Werku Golla from Wollega. 1312 01:02:49,583 --> 01:02:51,333 How are you doing? 1313 01:02:51,417 --> 01:02:53,250 Pastor Werku, where are we going? 1314 01:02:53,333 --> 01:02:57,750 We are here now in the northwest part 1315 01:02:57,833 --> 01:03:01,500 of the country in Wollega, 1316 01:03:01,583 --> 01:03:03,875 and now we are going to the other side-- 1317 01:03:03,958 --> 01:03:08,292 about 120-kilometers drive. 1318 01:03:08,333 --> 01:03:11,875 Our church planters have been sent to this area, 1319 01:03:11,958 --> 01:03:17,958 and the Lord has brought many people to his kingdom. 1320 01:03:22,458 --> 01:03:26,417 I didn't think that I would move from Kelafo, 1321 01:03:26,500 --> 01:03:29,000 but the Lord spoke to my heart and told me 1322 01:03:29,083 --> 01:03:33,917 I needed to move to this area. 1323 01:03:34,000 --> 01:03:35,542 After a while, 1324 01:03:35,625 --> 01:03:39,667 I decided to rent a house, saying this would be the church. 1325 01:03:39,708 --> 01:03:44,125 This would be the church, and she rented the house to start 1326 01:03:44,167 --> 01:03:47,250 the church without anybody, only by herself! 1327 01:03:47,333 --> 01:03:49,125 Total faith. Praise God. 1328 01:03:49,167 --> 01:03:52,667 Praise God. Praise God. 1329 01:03:52,708 --> 01:03:56,750 There was an evangelist in Yazo, and one day I invited him 1330 01:03:56,833 --> 01:03:59,750 to just come and pray here. 1331 01:03:59,833 --> 01:04:02,500 So, we'd go to the rented house and we'd pray there, 1332 01:04:02,583 --> 01:04:06,167 "Lord, bring the . . ." 1333 01:04:06,250 --> 01:04:09,333 We would go to the rented house and pray, 1334 01:04:09,375 --> 01:04:11,833 "Lord, bring the people here." 1335 01:04:11,875 --> 01:04:15,500 So that evangelist, he understood the desire 1336 01:04:15,542 --> 01:04:20,792 of my heart and 1337 01:04:23,792 --> 01:04:27,625 the burden that the Lord has laid in my life. 1338 01:04:27,667 --> 01:04:30,833 So in that year, nobody was there but me, 1339 01:04:30,875 --> 01:04:33,500 the evangelist and his wife. 1340 01:04:33,583 --> 01:04:36,417 We did our best to share the testimony of Jesus Christ 1341 01:04:36,500 --> 01:04:38,833 to over 1,000 people. 1342 01:04:38,917 --> 01:04:43,625 In the same year, 30 people received the Lord. 1343 01:04:46,583 --> 01:04:50,417 So, how many today, how many people call this church 1344 01:04:50,500 --> 01:04:56,167 their home? 1345 01:04:56,208 --> 01:05:01,333 We are about 120 people. 1346 01:05:01,375 --> 01:05:04,792 We're becoming many in number, 1347 01:05:04,833 --> 01:05:07,417 so I appealed to the local officials 1348 01:05:07,500 --> 01:05:10,625 to give us a piece of land to have a place 1349 01:05:10,667 --> 01:05:12,625 to build the church. 1350 01:05:12,667 --> 01:05:15,833 The local officials, they gave us a piece of land 1351 01:05:15,875 --> 01:05:18,833 that we will visit now. 1352 01:05:18,875 --> 01:05:21,500 And you were telling me earlier how important it is 1353 01:05:21,542 --> 01:05:25,417 for the husband and the wife to both be called by Jesus, 1354 01:05:25,500 --> 01:05:29,000 and the husband leads, but the wife is supporting, 1355 01:05:29,042 --> 01:05:31,500 and how important that is in these churches 1356 01:05:31,542 --> 01:05:33,500 as you've blended them, right? 1357 01:05:33,583 --> 01:05:35,083 Oh, yes. 1358 01:05:35,167 --> 01:05:36,750 That's our general policy, you know? 1359 01:05:36,833 --> 01:05:41,000 He has to--he's here with his wife. 1360 01:05:42,417 --> 01:05:45,167 People were just scoffing [at] us because we were few. 1361 01:05:45,208 --> 01:05:49,250 She was only the person when we came here. 1362 01:05:49,333 --> 01:05:53,958 But gradually the Lord has brought many people. 1363 01:05:54,000 --> 01:05:57,333 And he's not building a wooden house 1364 01:05:57,417 --> 01:06:01,625 but the building of the living house of the Lord. 1365 01:06:01,667 --> 01:06:07,958 People have to liberated from the bondage of sin and Satan. 1366 01:06:09,667 --> 01:06:15,083 If the Lord opens the door, it is a great privilege for 1367 01:06:15,167 --> 01:06:17,417 the expansion of the good news about Jesus, 1368 01:06:17,500 --> 01:06:22,875 about salvation is in Jesus Christ only--and only. 1369 01:06:25,833 --> 01:06:29,292 This is what I want to see! 1370 01:06:29,333 --> 01:06:34,625 This is what I want to see all over Ethiopia! 1371 01:06:34,667 --> 01:06:37,042 This is what I want to see all over Ethiopia-- 1372 01:06:37,125 --> 01:06:42,208 to be expanded like this. 1373 01:06:49,292 --> 01:06:51,750 Let the praises come to you, Lord, 1374 01:06:51,833 --> 01:06:55,958 with our both hands, with our both hands to you, 1375 01:06:56,000 --> 01:06:58,125 Lord, with our both hands. 1376 01:06:58,167 --> 01:07:02,500 Let the praises come to you, Lord, with our both hands, 1377 01:07:02,542 --> 01:07:06,875 with our both hands. 1378 01:07:15,542 --> 01:07:18,500 Each year, over 10 million Mars Hill church sermons 1379 01:07:18,542 --> 01:07:21,583 are downloaded worldwide for free. 1380 01:07:21,667 --> 01:07:24,167 This ministry is generously supported 1381 01:07:24,250 --> 01:07:26,833 by Mars Hill church members and listeners like you. 1382 01:07:26,875 --> 01:07:30,375 If you'd like to support our efforts to preach Jesus to the world, 1383 01:07:30,458 --> 01:07:33,375 Please consider making a tax-deductible donation 1384 01:07:33,458 --> 01:07:36,292 by visiting marshill.com/give.