Power Through The Spirit

I told him he's my savior. I appreciate it that immensely. I'd like to say amen to the service thus far and the reverence that we have gathered in.

I trust that we can continue to be open with God this evening as we started yesterday. There's still a lot of room in here. Let's keep bringing them in too, all right? And I don't know if you have any more chairs or not, but there is grass, so available, all right? So let's do what we can.

I remember in the past, I'm going to Central America in the country of Belize. I was asked to go there and have two weeks of meeting and I consented to that. And they told me, they said, the preacher that called me said, well, we're going to have a special prayer from, and he had called me maybe a year before.

And he said, but we plan on three months before the meeting to continue, every day we're going to have prayer. Somebody's going to be praying 24 seven. And I thought I understood correctly.

And I said, did you say you're going to be praying 24 seven for three months? He said, yes, we are. We want a revival. We need a revival.

And I told him, I says, the preacher can use a revival too. So remember that. And the Lord did bless those meetings.

The first evening that we were there, I just marveled because they thought they were not going to have a meeting when I flew in. But the missionaries called each other by radio and they said, we've got to have a meeting. There's about four or 500 people out here.

And they said, well, is the preacher ready to preach? I said, try me. So we went and I was really, really blessed. I was willing to watch those people.

And then I talked to a number of them afterwards. Some of them traveled three hours, who come to me in three hours. You know, we jump in our cars today and off we go, jump in the plane and off we go.

But there was a thirst for the word. Like, well, I seen it before, but they were right. And you know what they did? It was the Christian, when they were on their knees, praying to the almighty God that they would have a revival in their community.

And I trust that you also will be blessed today with a revival. This evening, I'd like to talk about a subject that I promised the Lord I would preach in my coming revival meetings. And I was humbled when the Lord asked me to do this because I felt there was a need first in my heart.

And I said, I feel a need in our church to have a revival. I felt a need in our community. I feel that there's a need in the world today of having a real, real revival.

But it's really not, I can cause that revival, but there is one that will cause a revival if we open ourselves. And I'll start by telling you this little story. Two Christian men met, one was an American, and the other one was an English gentleman.

And they were, the English gentleman come over to the United States to see what it was like and to also visit Niagara Falls. He always wanted to see Niagara Falls. And that is something to watch.

I don't know how many of you have been ever to Niagara, but my wife and I and our children have been there. And so they're at the Niagara Falls and they're viewing this magnificent, this tremendous falls. And they were both stood there and just looked at each other and they smile, they smile.

The American told them prior to that, he says, I want to show you, come and see, and I will show you the greatest unused power in the world. He told them that because there was Niagara Falls. For those of you that remember were there, it's a tremendous force that comes down in there.

I don't know why anybody in the right mind will want to get in the barrel and go down the falls. I mean, I've done some dangerous things in my life, but that's something I never tried. I'm not planning on it either.

So that's what he did. They went to the foot of the Niagara Falls and finally the American man says, there it is, the greatest unused power in the world. The English man looked at the American and he said something like this, he said, oh, not so my brother, was the reply of the English gentleman.

The greatest unused power in the world is the power of the Holy Spirit of the living God in the life of many people today. To him, that was the unused power. And this evening, I'd like to share that with you as well.

The unused power we have in the US today is that we could use the power of the Holy Spirit, P-O-W-E-R, power. And as Christians, where do we get our power? Let me tell you something. I was a weightlifter for many years and that sure doesn't help me much today.

Look, I needed help to get up here and I'm glad my brother helped me too. But power, and when we were young, especially the older ones, didn't we wish we had more power and more power? That's why I did it. But I'm gonna tell you something.

There is an unused power, even among the Anabaptist Church today, it's available, it's there, but we don't want it. We don't want it. Why? Why? Why is it so, so hard to understand? I like if you go with me to Isaiah.

Turn to Isaiah 30. I'm gonna be reading a few verses out of Isaiah. But as I think of what's going on in the world today and the wars, rumors of war, there in the Middle East, there in Europe, there's, and all over the place, there's a lot of wars going on.

The US just recently sent warships over there to Europe. Why? Well, because they're showing their power, but they have to have their ships. They have to have their F-16.

They have to have their A-18. They have to show their might, right? Yeah, they have to show their might. And the world, and the world trembles at that.

Oh, what a power the United States have. And I hear even as Christians, we say, well, our army is unbeatable. Well, it probably is.

I don't underestimate that. But to me, there is a power that's even much stronger than all the implements that the United States may have. Yeah, all.

And that power is to us. I like reading there in Isaiah chapter 30. This is what God told his people.

And he says in Isaiah 30, starting to read in verse one, he says, woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of men, but not of me, and that come with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin. They walk in, let me get my eyes settled here. That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt.

There shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and that trust in the shadow of Egypt, your confusion. What did they do? Here are the people of God who had God on their side, who God said, I will fight your battles. I'll go before you, and I will be right there.

And all Israel had to do was call out, and God was there. God was there. God showed his power, but Israel didn't do that.

If we keep on reading here, we can see why did they do it? Verse 19 says that this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord. That's why they do it. That's why they put their confidence in Egypt.

How often do people run to Egypt? Egypt is a type of what? Tell me quickly. It's a type of the world. Why is it that they go to Egypt? Chapter 31.

I'd like to read a few verses there. First three verses. Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many, and in horsemen, because they are strong.

But they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord. Yet he also be wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words, but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity. Verse three.

Now the Egyptians are men, and not God. They're horses, flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is hoping shall fall down, and they all shall fall together.

What is man before God? Well, he's nothing. We heard already this evening that we were just dust, right? Yes, we're dust. But why is it that we go to the world? What is it that we go to Egypt? It's because we think we are going to win.

We think so. But we have something that's much more powerful. Turn with me to Acts chapter two.

Acts chapter two. I like to read it. Let's read the first 12 verses of Acts chapter two.

I'm gonna show you that power. I'm gonna show you where you can go and plug in and charge yourself. I'm gonna show you this evening something that we think it can't happen today, and it can happen, will happen if we let it happen.

You know, we don't have to be afraid today. What are we gonna do if all of a sudden war would break out? We have a young man at Ukraine right now. He's supposed to be coming sometime this end of this month.

And he told his parents, who told the rest of us at the church, that just recently, Russians sent over a bunch of, what do they call these things? Drones. They sent a bunch of drones. And he said it wasn't very far from where they were sleeping.

It wasn't very far that could have hit where they were. And he said, but the Lord kept us. It's kind of scary, he says.

Well, sure, it's kind of scary. You wouldn't, right? You know, we're no match for a bomb. But I tell you one who is.

And we let it at that. And the important thing is, do we have to worry? We don't have to this evening, dear ones, because we have a greater power. And we know if our life is taken, we know where we go.

We go. I told a young man one time flying from one place to another here in the United States. We're up 40,000 feet in the air.

This young man never flew before. And we were sitting toward the back of the plane. And I had my Bible open because I had to preach that evening.

But my one that was sitting beside me, the middle seat was, there was nobody there. So he was on the other side, closed the window. But he, and I didn't even know, was it a he or was it a she? Because it had a coat over, a heavy coat over them, over himself.

And then it turned out to be a he. So we're flying and it isn't very long. Maybe we're up there three quarters of an hour, maybe an hour.

And all of a sudden this plane starts going up and down, up and down, that side way, up and down. And they were going to start giving refreshments. And they said, well, we can't give refreshments because it is pretty bumpy.

Well, what do you do? No, you just wait it out, right? But it got, they got desperate. And the captain came on, everybody, please stay sitting, stay sitting. Some were becoming a little concerned.

And one of the, to ask a question to these girls, stewardesses, then, you know, what is this gonna stop? How were they supposed to know? You know, how were they supposed to know? But yeah, we want this thing to stop. And so finally the person that was beside me finally made a sound. Oh, this person is alive, I said.

And I looked under the coat and there he was. And he looks at me, he said, did it stop? Well, does it feel stop? It was worse right when he was asking me. No, no.

Oh, I said, if I was you, I wouldn't worry too much. I said, yeah, I'm worried, he says. And he was trembling, actually.

I can feel him trembling. And I said, son, I said, you're gonna be all right. You're gonna be all right.

He said, well, how do you know? And I said the wrong thing. I said, well, you don't have to worry because if this airplane goes boom down, I'm gonna call boom up. I said, and that really scared him.

That really scared him. And I thought later, well, that was a bright thing to say. But he kept asking me questions.

I kept talking to him. He said, this is his first time he's flying. He said, it's all right.

I said, my God, who I believe will take us there safely. Will take us there. And it wasn't very long until there was a great bonanza up in the air.

I thought he was gonna come out of his coat. He didn't. Finally, I lifted the coat.

It's all right, you can come out. I don't want to, I don't want to. And so, okay, suit yourself, suit yourself.

But he did come out about halfway, I guess, to our destination. And he told me, I just never flew. He says, I will never fly again.

I said, how are you gonna get back to where you started? He said, I'll take a boat so you know how to swim. I said, right? No. We had a pretty good conversation going for a while.

And he said, why aren't you afraid? He says to me, I says, because I have Jesus on my side. He says, I see your Bible's open, what are you doing? I said, I'm preparing, I'm to preach tonight. I want to preach the word.

And I want to preach that I said that we are on the winning side tonight. Brethren and sisters and those that are listening in, I want us to remember this. And that is, we are on the winning side.

Anything can happen, we're still on the winning side. Why? Because we have that power of the Holy Spirit. We have that power.

Let's read Acts chapter two at this time. The first 12 verses. We know what this is, it's the chapter of the Holy Spirit.

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come and we're all with one accord in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind. And it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as a fire, and it sat upon each of them.

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. May I read that verse again? Because here's the power, the power came upon them. And it says, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noise abroad, the multitude came together and were confounded because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled saying one to another, behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how here we every man in our own tongue wherein we were born.

Parthians and Medes and Elamites and the dwellers of Mesopotamia and in Judea and in Cappadocia and Pontius in Asia, in Phrygia and Pamphylia in Egypt and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians. We do hear them speak in our tongues like what wonderful words of God. And they were all amazed and were all in doubt saying one to another, what meaneth this? Verse 13, others mocking said, these men are full of new wine, but that's not what it was.

Just reading down verse 14, and Peter standing up with 11, lifted up his voice and said unto them, ye men of Judea and all ye that dwell in Jerusalem, be this known unto you and hearken to my words for these are not drunken as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day, but this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel and it shall come to pass in the last day, save God, and I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesying, prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams. I'm gonna stop there. There was a miracle.

There was a miracle. Why? The miracle was because there was power. There was power.

Can we have that power today? Can we understand? Can we believe the simple word of God and what it has for each one of us? We see this and many times we see what the Lord does in the life of the others. Isn't it wonderful? What better power can we see when someone who was in the depths of sin stands up and say, Lord, hear my, Lord, hear my. I think that is the most wonderful power that we can see in this world today, the power of the Holy Spirit.

This evening, do you have that power of the Holy Spirit? That is important this evening. It's important that you understand it. Why is it so many are giving their backs to God today? Why is so many churches so divided today? Why is it that young people are going after the things of the world when the Bible says clearly, love not the world.

And young people, you have the power. You have the power. It's to avail yourselves of that power, to avail yourself.

This evening, did you ever think why the Holy Spirit was called Holy Spirit? I had to think about that. And I just kind of did a little praying and telling the Lord, why is it called the Holy Spirit? Well, there's a number of reasons. I'm just gonna give you some that I read about.

And one is because he is holy in character. He is holy. What is holy? It's a person that has left all sin.

It's a person that has given himself to the things of the Lord. It's a person that has completely surrendered his life to God. That makes someone holy.

Holy is not only one of his attributes of the Godhead, but part of it, but it is part of his being, his being. Holy, the Holy Spirit. He is holy because he came from a holy God.

He came from a holy God. Do you believe that? And a number of verses came to me on that. I'm not gonna read them all, but in John 14, 26 says, but the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you what? All, all things, and bring all things to your remembrance so ever I have said unto you.

We were in Guatemala, like most of you know, for 17 years, a little over 17 years. And it was over one of the worst times that we were, a lot of guerrilla activity. And anyhow, we were caught in some of this.

And I often said to the Lord, Lord, let me, if I ever get caught by the guerrillas, if they wanna take me away, give me a message. Give me a message. I prayed that often.

I mean, I've heard of so many, and some of you probably remember when John Troyer was killed. And I prayed that often to the Lord, Lord, give me a message. And one evening I was supposed to preach in the home church and was about 11 or so.

I was in my office studying and travailing at the same time because the activity, guerrilla activity got worse. And as I was studying for a message, I went through all the house on my mind by my wife. She was in our bedroom.

I went to each of the children. They were in their bedroom. And I said, Lord, just protect them.

Just protect them. And I kept saying, Lord, protect them. Then they hit me.

Well, I'm praying for everybody else, but what about me? I need that protection. And God wants to hear it from me. So I told them, Lord, that will be done.

Protect me as well. Now, well, and it was, I don't remember all the details of that particular incident. It was 11 something, close to midnight when I heard a bang on the door.

I went over to our bedroom and I pulled the curtains away a little bit. And here were armed men. They all looked like they had machine guns.

I knew right away after looking a little more that these were the guerrillas. And I knew that they were coming for me. But I didn't want them to touch my family.

So, okay, I said, I go. My wife had woke up and I told her I'm gonna step out and I'm gonna go talk with them. So I did.

I went to our big gate and we had two dogs and they wouldn't let anybody in the gate. And I finally told them, you go away, you go away. And the man that was standing at the door was the commander.

And he said, well, thank you. And I said, well, I didn't want him. I don't want these dogs to bite any of you.

I said, can I help you? Yes. And he said, are you the head gringo here or something? I said, yes. He said, well, you talk perfect Spanish.

I says, well, that's because I could be Spanish. Don't you think? Well, I guess you could. He said, I said, I am Spanish.

I was born in Puerto Rico, so I speak your language. He talked perfect Spanish as well. And he said, oh, I see.

He said, well, he got down right down to business. He says, we're going around talking to these imperialists. That's what he called me.

Imperialists that have everything surrounded by a bunch of poor people that hardly have anything. And he says, we talked to all your neighbors. And he says, they told us that you are different.

Well, I looked at him. I'm more different than more than just one way, I said. Well, he said, yeah, we heard that.

But he said, you know, we told them that here is this gringo right at your next door and he's eating eggs and steaks and whatnot in the morning for breakfast. And I thought, steak, that's the last thing I would ever eat for breakfast. But anyhow, and they were telling him, you know, he has plenty of food and he probably don't even share it.

And they said, oh, no, no, you don't know that preacher. You don't know that preacher. And praise the Lord.

I'm not saying this to pat myself on the back. I'm saying it because this is what the spirit, how the spirit worked. And he kept talking to me and I didn't confront him.

And finally I said, well, we have tried very hard to teach our children to love everyone about them and to share what they have and to share. And he says, well, we heard that too. And I says, that's why we're in this country.

We're not in this country to deplete the people of this country. We are here because we want to teach the word of God. I said, there's a lot of people here in this country that are worshiping a false God.

And we want them to understand that there is a real God. And why I believe in it, I believe. I guess I must've got a little too preachy because he looked at me and he started smiling.

Well, it sounds like you're doing it now, preaching. Well, I said, I do believe the Lord came for you too. I do.

I said, I believe that he wants you to be able to lay down all those guns and be able to look at other human beings and make them your brother. And I don't know what all I said anymore. After a while, they smiled.

I says, well, why don't, they became friendly then. I says, why don't I go get my wife and she would want to make you something to eat and some coffee. I said, no, don't wake them.

Don't wake your family. I said, Lord, thank you. Thank you.

And before they were ready to leave, the commander of the group looks at me and he's, they hadn't covered their face. They were all covered, but they uncovered after a period of time. And the commander said, preacher.

He said, pastor. Yes. Keep preaching.

Keep preaching. Oh, it was because I flexed my muscle and you saw how my muscle popped, right? He heard my voice and he knew that I was gonna stand strong. No, it wasn't that.

Cause I tried not to get too loud. I tried. But it was because he saw something.

I believe he saw the power of the Holy Spirit. And I told him, I'm gonna pray for all of yous. I says, I don't know who you are, but I don't have, there was about 30 men.

I don't know. I said, but God knows. God knows each one of you and who you are.

Yeah, each one. And dear ones, that's because the Holy Spirit of God has power. As they were there in Acts two, and they were waiting for that power.

Jesus told way back in John 14, 15, 16, that there was a comforter coming, right? Yeah. Yes. And you shall receive that power this evening.

You and I can have that power as well. Why? Because he is in the world. The Holy Spirit is in the world representing Christ.

Representing Christ. These meetings aren't to put a man up in the air. I don't believe in that at all.

But I do believe that the Holy Spirit gives us power to be able to stand and preach the word of God and do it without fear of man. Without fear of man. I took one time, we were here on furlough and I had to go into New York City to the Guatemalan embassy.

And there was a young father of two small children who volunteered to take me to New York. And all right, New York wasn't new to me. I knew where I was going in New York.

Anyhow, we were headed through and I says, how many times have you been to New York? Zero. He says, oh, you've never been to New York? No. And he says, you know, I see.

He says, do you know where you're going? And I said, no. And he swings that car off to the curve. He said, you don't know where you're going? How are we gonna get there? He said, I know the general area.

So it shouldn't be hard to find. It shouldn't be, oh. And he was shaking, literally shaking.

He said, can I ask you what those two boxes back there are? Yeah, I took two boxes of tracks. I had something like 1,000 or 1,500 or more tracks. And what are they for? I said, you and I are gonna give out tracks.

We're gonna have to wait on these papers and it might take them two or three hours. And I'm not gonna waste my time in New York doing nothing. I said, we're gonna make this.

And I thought we could have a little bit of street meeting. What, you and I? And I looked at him and I thought, we've got the power, we can do it. You can talk and I can talk.

He said, I never had a devotion at church because their church was very big, something like 400 members. Here's a young father that never had a devotion. I said, well, I'll give you the opportunity to do it.

No, no, no, no, no. So we were in Park Avenue, very busy, a lot of the consulates on that area and thousands and thousands of people. I said, those are gonna go like this.

And I kept telling him, God will give you the power to do it. Even if you don't know what you're gonna say, the Lord will give you something to say. He said, I'll give tracts away, but I can't say anything.

And there was a police officer standing by and I didn't know that. And here he is, he's laughing from one side of the ear to the other. And he says, I think you're gonna have to work a little harder on him.

Yeah, the police officer. Yeah, but I said, when he saw the police officer with that, it made it worse for him. What, this is not even legal.

Is that, sir, is this legal? Absolutely, he said. You give him all those tracts you want. So he did.

We started and I said, all right, I'll talk first while you hand the tracts out. I'm not gonna talk that long, just maybe five, six minutes at a time. I would like to break it up.

So, all right. And then you just do what I do. So I started, I did it.

He was nowhere around. After all, I said, well, it's time for me to speak again. So I got up and I spoke some more.

In the meantime, the officer said, I think he got lost. And all of a sudden, here he comes. And he's all excited.

I says, what happened? He says, that box of tracts, they went out like pancakes, he says. Oh, okay. So I said, hey, now you can speak.

No, you do the speaking. We gave two boxes of tracts. And I'm not sure if it was 1,500 or 2,500 anymore in a short time.

Afterwards, he said, he's ashamed of himself. He said, you said we have the power. We do.

He believes that. Go ye into all the world. The Great Commission says, right? Go ye, do something about it because the Lord will be with you.

And we do something because the spirit of the living God, as it's 2 Corinthians 3 says, he is with us. He is with us. He will be with you.

Each and every one of you. This evening is, do we believe in that power? What does the spirit also bring into our life? He makes us, or he gives us liberty, liberty. Psalm 51 verse 12 says something like this, if I can get it.

Restore unto me the joy of the salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit. With the free spirit. Why? Because it is that free spirit that gives you liberty.

It is that free spirit that God has promised to give you. What did happen in John 11? No, John 8. In John 8. When he made that, he healed that woman. What did he tell the woman? And later on in that chapter over here, where these Jews were standing and they wanted to have this liberty.

It's yours, Jesus said, you can have it. And he said, the truth would make you what? Free, how free? Oh, indeed. Indeed, free indeed.

Yes, I remember when I sat where you sat and I can hear these preachers preaching and I wasn't ready to give up. I didn't want to give up. There's still time.

Tomorrow is still here, right? Tomorrow here, until he came into our, then I said, now I can see what this free indeed is all about. Yes, I do. Because it's a spirit that will give us liberty.

But liberty of what? He's gonna give you, let me name a few things. Liberty of your mind, yes. He's gonna make you liberty from your sin, all your sin, right? All your sin.

I told the preacher, when after I got to know the Lord, I said, I'm so ashamed to say what I've been. I've been in a lot, a lot, a lot of things. I thought they would let me off the hook, but they didn't.

What did you do? So I ended up telling them about all the sins that I've committed. And you know, when I was done, although I know I didn't say everything because I couldn't remember everything, but I felt free. I felt, after we were done, we prayed, and then the preacher asked me, how do you feel? I said, I feel like a bird that can fly.

A bird that can fly. I felt free. I wasn't bound anymore.

Why? Because the Holy Spirit of God had freed me. What does it mean to have liberty? We have liberty in our prayer life. That connection with God, we can read a number of verses there.

I'm not gonna deal with that this evening, but we're at liberty to worship. We're at liberty. We sang here this morning, or this evening, excuse me.

We sang. Did you feel like you didn't wanna sing too loud because someone's gonna hear you? No, we don't have to worry about that. We don't have to worry about that.

We are at liberty to get together and worship. We are at liberty to come together and serve the Lord. It was again in Guatemala when there was so much people getting missing and being killed in villages.

Whole villages would get killed. And I remember our church there in Guatemala. I got up to preach one Sunday morning, and I was traveling because the guerrillas had come into our town where the church was, and they had taken some people, some friends of mine in the church, and people were conscious of that.

I said, Lord, I don't know if I can preach this morning, nor what should I preach on? I thought the Lord had given me something, but I felt so unready, so unready. And I told them finally, I get up. When I got up to preach, I said, I don't know what to preach on, but I am gonna talk a little bit about our faith being tried.

I said, take this as you're being tried. You're being tried, but the Lord is still with you. The Lord is gonna give you a power to be able to withstand.

And there was time where these men said a knock in the door would scare them because they never knew when the guerrillas would come into their homes. Power, we don't have to worry about that. We're free here, we're free.

So this evening, it is worth to have the Holy Spirit of God. It's the Holy Spirit of God that brings purpose in life. What would I do? What did I do when I was in the shoes of, what, should I become a Christian or not? I didn't know what to do.

I felt no purpose in life. I wanted a purpose in life. We were there in New York and New Jersey.

We were very poor. We barely had enough to eat. And sometimes we didn't eat for a week because there was nothing to eat.

But there we were, but God would give us a strength from one day to another. Why? Because He wasn't done. He wasn't done.

I often wanted, I'd go in these gang wards to make these hits. And I had someone on my left side, someone on my right side would be shot from the roof or die for other reasons as well. But I never was hit.

And I would yell at him, well, hey, why don't you try me? Like if I was invincible. Why? And I know after I became a Christian, I even told the brethren, I says, why is it that I was never hit? But yet I lost a lot in the gangs. Why? Why? Well, the Lord wasn't done with you.

I kept hearing that. The Lord wasn't done with you. But what happened when the Holy Spirit came in? Well, that was totally, totally different.

Totally different. Let me tell you, as I look at the apostles over this time, remember what about these apostles, remember the time they were squabbling against each, with each other about who's gonna be the greatest in the kingdom. And then another time when they said, who's gonna sit in his right hand or his left hand? Childish, you know.

And because they couldn't get to Jesus, so they sent mama over to Jesus. You know, can my son sit? Super sign. There was no more of that.

Among the disciples here in chapter two, there was perfect peace. There was perfect peace, right? Yeah. Yeah.

It's possible. We live in a time where amongst the churches, again, that there is so much brokenness. And sometimes I have to wonder, Lord, why all this? What am I doing wrong? What are we doing wrong? Show us the way.

I hope that that is, that is what you feel. The Bible talks about the spirit being the spirit of truth. The spirit of truth.

This is a spirit that was gonna help us to testify of Jesus Christ. It is the spirit that would guide us into all truth. I don't know how many, how many of you have ever been in, let me get the word I want in here, court.

In a court and have, oh, good. How many have talked at the court? Okay, very good. Did you get a chance to get your testimony at the court? Sure.

Yeah, I look for that. When I go, I do go to courts a lot because of representing, I'm a counselor. Anyhow, I love when the judge says, all right, Reverend Rivera, what do you have to say? And I have to watch because I have a tendency of doing this.

He says, no, keep it short, okay? And so I start and I don't know of any time that I didn't tell them that I was once a prisoner. Oh, you were, yes. I was in since prison, I said.

I was in since prison. I was there. Yes, and I've been behind bars not long, but I've been behind bars.

I know what it feels like too. But let me tell you something. It's much better when we take the Holy Spirit into our life.

I had one time when just says, thou almost persuaded me. Oh, no, I'm the apostle Paul. I wish I can do that and all together show you what about Jesus Christ.

Brethren, we have nothing to fear. We have nothing to fear. The Lord is on our side.

He will give us the power to be able to stand. He will. Turn with me to John chapter 16.

We're soon gonna end here. John 16. So may I break into where? Verse seven.

Let's, I'll break into chapter 16 of John. Verse seven. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth.

It is expedient for you that I go away. This is Jesus, of course, talking to the disciples. And then he says this, for if I go not away, the comforter will not come on to you.

But if I depart, I will send him on to you. And when he has come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin, because they believe not on me.

Of righteousness, because I go to my father and ye shall see me no more. Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot hear them now.

How be it when he is the spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth. For he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak. And he will show you things to come.

Well, who's the Holy Spirit talking to then? He's not gonna speak of himself. But remember, he's part of the triune God. He works with the team and God tells him what to say.

And dear brethren and sisters, we can just relax and that God is gonna do the right thing through the Holy Spirit so that you and I can be free, free, free indeed. Yes. Tonight, power.

You like power? I think both men and women like power. And this evening, you can have the power in your life. If you do not have that power in your life, may I encourage you to pray more and more and more for that power.

And he will give it to you. He will give it to you. Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer.

Father in heaven, we come before you this evening. We pray there, Father, that you may be continue to be with us, be with these meetings. We pray that you may receive all the glory and honor and that Father, that we might be able to trust you that you have sent the Holy Spirit to give us power to stay close to you.

Father, we know that the prince and the power of this world, Satan himself wants us to fall. Father, he doesn't wanna be alone in hell. He wants more and more.

He divides, he subtracts. But Father, the Holy Spirit, when it comes into a life of a person, he adds and he multiplies the good, the things that you have in your world, in your word. We pray that you might be able to be with everyone this evening.

We pray that you might bless each one, that they might go with you and be able to serve you. Father, if there is someone that is struggling, we pray that you might just give them strength to yield themselves to you. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.