In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of receiving the promise of power from God. He refers to Acts 2 and the prophecy of Joel, stating that God has poured out a visible and audible demonstration of power. The speaker believes that all Christians have the potential to receive the nine miraculous gifts, including tongues, interpretation of tongues, prophecy, healing, miracles, words of knowledge, words of wisdom, discernment, and faith. He acknowledges that these gifts do not substitute for character, but they greatly assist in sharing Jesus and growing in love for Him. The speaker encourages the audience to open their hearts and receive the Holy Spirit, asking for His power to be poured out upon them.

If this is on offer for all, we may all be anointed. All! Not only chosen to be His for eternity and loved, but allowed to be the ones to share this with a dying world. You see, it's always for the saving of a nation. It's always to bring people to Israel. And He said, with this promise, which you now see and hear, there will be signs and wonders, not necessarily emotions. Now, I'm just saying this for the sake of anybody who gets to be like me, who prays for an outpouring of the Spirit and doesn't feel anything. Okay, that's just how God works with me. I dearly, dearly hope that as we come to pray now, you'll all feel great. I really do, you know, I'd feel better on the plane tomorrow. But, you know, evangelicals are always coming up to me and saying, after they've spoken in tongues, you know, I didn't feel anything. And I said, well, that's what you're afraid of, wasn't it? I don't know how God will deal with you, but I do know that if He's promised, it's time to receive the promise. And we've been told to wait, but the time is now. Now, let me tell you how to receive the promise of power, okay? Because He said, this is what the Prophet Joel, this is in Acts 2, this is what the Prophet Joel promised. He's poured out what you now see and hear. Measurable, visible, audible demonstration of power, whether or not you get emotion too. You will, when you receive power, receive something audible, I mean miraculous or measurable. You have the possibility of receiving all nine miraculous gifts. Now, I believe all Christians can receive all nine from time to time. That is, the gift of tongues for public use, the interpretation of tongues, prophecy, gifts of healing, all our brothers prophesy, all our brothers pray for the church. Everyone can. It doesn't mean to say that, oh, everybody's going to be healed all the time, but you can all be used from time to time. Gifts of miracles, words of knowledge, words of wisdom, gifts of discernment, gifts of faith. This is not faith, by the way. Faith for a particular situation, gifts of faith. And you can receive all nine from time to time. You do not own any of them except the gift of tongues for private prayer. And you can use that whenever you like. And the scripture says, you will be built up if you do that. So why not receive it? All I ask is, if you've got a, if you're still sticking on this one, please don't be rude about it. And when we come to pray, it would be helpful if you could say, dear Lord, I'd really like anything on offer. It would be very rude to say anything except tongues, you know. I mean, they are good gifts. And they're good. He really would not offer us a stone or a scorpion or a snake, would he? We're his children. Why would he give gifts that are dangerous or useless or poisonous? He would not. You're safe. Children, you're safe. Children, you're safe. If you know you belong to the Father, of course you're safe. They're good gifts. They're gifts that help us to know him and share him. Unfair gifts, because they're gifts of grace. Now this is how to receive. If you have an understanding of how men work with God, I'll use tongues as the example, but it works with all the other miraculous gifts in the same way. So it's an understanding of how earthly man cooperates with heavenly God. And this is going to be an ongoing learning thing. Man does the earthly, God does the heavenly. Man does the ordinary, God does the sublime. Man does the foolish. God does the wonderful. God does not make fools of us. But I think very often the gift of tongues is the first one to receive. Not that it has to be. Very often it is, because it's foolish. I know all the books say people go off into ecstatic chatter, but the majority of people that I pray with do feel foolish. Especially men, by the way. But I hope you feel wonderful. I do hope so. I do hope you've walked on a cloud and slid on a mountain or whatever. I really do. That you're baptized, immersed into His love and sweetness. I don't know how He will deal with this, but He will require our cooperation. And I do know some people that have been carrying 20 years. And I've offered to pray with them, because I know they could receive now, but they want to go on carrying. And that is because they think God's going to do everything. Well, He isn't. If you would like the gift of tongues, for example, He will give you a miraculous language, but you're going to speak it. And most people are waiting for God to speak in tongues. So it goes like this. Dear Lord, if you'd like, especially if you're an evangelical. Dear Lord, if you'd like me to speak in tongues, make me. Well, this is the fifth time I've been prayed for, and I didn't get it. My friend got it first. I've got to block. Well, I'm not accepting blocks tonight. Okay. No, you don't. No blocks. Okay. God is willing. And if there's a frightful block in you, the Holy Spirit can wash it out better than you can get rid of it. It's actually how it works. When Peter was in the boat, this is how man works with God. Jesus said, Come to me. Now, Peter could have said, Dear Lord, if you would like me to walk, make me. I didn't get it. And I've been prayed with five times. I still didn't get it. You see, what many of us are expecting to happen is what will not happen. We're expecting God to take us over, and if God wants us to speak in tongues, it's going to float out of our mouths. That would be spiritistic or spiritualistic. Would not be Christian. We are not mediums. Nothing is going to pour out of our mouths without our cooperation. With the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we bow the knee all the time. There's always the bowing of the knee. That is, I will cooperate. Scripture says the spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets. That means if you don't want to speak in tongues, He will not make you. Don't worry. You just don't have to speak. Now, I love praying with people who've been prayed with nine times. I think they're so brave to pray a tenth time. I love praying with them, and they say, I didn't get it, and I say, Oh, yes, you did. Time number one. I'm not going to put my hands on you because you already got the power of the Holy Spirit. And you've got a language, by the way. The first time you were prayed for, you just haven't spoken it yet. So, I'm going to start speaking quietly in tongues. The minute I do that, join in. And they do, every single one. They've just been waiting for it to shoot out, just like Peter sitting in the boat. But Jesus didn't go and whisk him out of the boat, take over his legs. Peter did something much more foolish, and that was he moved by himself. It was not a miracle. It was not a miracle that he walked, that it was a choice. I will walk. And as he looked at Jesus, put one leg over the edge of the boat, and the other disciple said, Peter, what are you doing? Hey, I'm going to go to Jesus. And as long as he looked at Jesus, he walked on the water. It was not a miracle that he walked. He'd been walking since he was a baby. It was a miracle that he walked on the water. When you pray to receive the power of the Holy Spirit, I don't know how God will deal with you, but I know if you haven't yet received a new spiritual language to help you pray, you will. And you will find out by speaking it. That's it. It will not come out. By way, sounds will not come into your mind. It's not thinking in tongues. Why would you think in tongues? You think with your mind about Jesus. That's what the language is for. It's to help you say what you don't know how to say. So you think with your mind about Jesus, and you start with any sound. You give your voice to your lips. I do beg your pardon for making this sound technical. I do beg your pardon. This is not an exercise. And in a way, I don't like to do this, especially if there are people around who are very skeptical. I just trust God in this, and everyone we pray with does receive these gifts. I have to say they don't substitute for character. But they do greatly assist us in sharing Jesus while we go on learning to love Him more. And we have found, with new Christians, we never do an explanation like I'm doing now. They're expecting Jesus to be miraculous, and they will all receive immediately. And go on having baptisms after that, or whatever you want, or more fillings, or being filled with His love, or immersed in His Spirit, or whatever. They'll go on. This will be an ongoing thing. But I want to stay with you now for whatever you're longing for. And we've made it word enough, haven't we? Would you stand? By the way, if you would like to receive a new language, when you come to the bit where you're going to start to speak, just temporarily don't speak in your own language. Okay? You think in your own language. It's very hard to speak two languages at the same time. So you just start like a baby who doesn't yet know how to say, Mommy, I'm hungry or thirsty, or wet. But a baby, almost from birth, before it's learned the language, Ma! And the mother says, Oh, she's wet. She knows what she's saying. And as you give your voice, the Holy Spirit will give you words which God understands to help you say the cry of your heart before you even know the language. It's to help us speak to Him. It's to help us praise Him. It's to help us pray for people. When we don't know how, or pray for ourselves when we're in a muddle. If you already feel you know very well how to pray in your own language, then you won't want this. And tongues is not the only one. It's the only one you can get to take home and use when you like. But as you use this gift privately, all our people pray in tongues privately every day. And hardly any of them ever speak in tongues publicly. But the more they pray in tongues privately, the more they will be used in prophecies, words of knowledge, words of wisdom and healings, and all the other miraculous gifts when we come together. It's just how it works. And we use gifts of the Spirit the whole time. Because some of us can't read. But we have people who've come to know Jesus on Wednesday. Just. And on Saturday, one of them prophesied half a Philippians 2. He couldn't read. Yes, you would expect God to do that. Why would it be just those who could read? So, so kind our God, these gifts of grace. Can I ask, can I ask Doug and David and Steve to come with your wigs onto the stage and help us pray for people? And then some of us will come down and pray for people. We invite your Holy Spirit. Father, you promised all flesh. You promised all flesh. You promised all flesh. Not just special kings and prophets, judges and leaders. But for all of us, you would pour out your Holy Spirit to help us know you and make you known. Lord, there are many, many, many who've had a longing in our hearts for your Holy Spirit so we can know Jesus better and so we can share Him with others. And we know this longing in our hearts was even put there by the Holy Spirit. And so what we desire is what you've already desired. You've been drawing us because you'd already prepared to pour out your love and mercy and power upon us. So we come to you expectant because we want what you already wanted and you've made a promise. Those who are hungry to be filled with the Holy Spirit or receive the power of the Holy Spirit or be baptized in the Spirit or whatever it is that you're longing for from God's Holy Spirit for you and for the world. Please come forward. Those of you who would like a spiritual language, you will receive it as we pray. You will find it out by speaking it. But don't worry. We won't go until we've made sure. I won't go. So you're a little bit off the hook because in this matter I'm completely certain of God. So you don't need to start crying because you think you've been left out. Honestly, this is your night. This is the day. This is when you come to receive the promise. And I completely believe in this. I'm completely certain of God in this. This isn't some will and some won't. This is all may and I have enough faith for you so you really are off the hook. You've had faith enough to come forward. That's fine. That little bit is enough. So just close your eyes now. God deal with us as you will. Those who need an experience of feelings, you'll do it. Those who you're going to pour out power upon who mistrust feelings. Lord, you know what to do with us. But whatever it is, Lord, deal with our hearts. Deal with our hearts and may your Spirit touch our spirits to make us alive and full with you so we can share you with a hungry world, with a lost world and even that we'll be so filled with love and so poured out upon with power that people will be attracted to you and that we'll go out to reach the ends of the earth. We want to be filled with your Holy Spirit and we ask for your Spirit to be poured out upon us. Now, in Jesus' name, receive. Open your hands. You don't need to lift them high. Just open them like receiving a present because this is a promise. If you'd like a spiritual language, some people will come around and put their hands upon you and as they do that, you begin with your voice, your tongue, your lips. He'll give the language. It won't come out by itself. You will receive the language. Now receive in Jesus' name.