In Season and Out of Season

Announcer: Behold, I stand at the door and knock. This is In Season and Out of Season, a Bible teaching ministry with Father Tom DiLorenzo.

Father Tom DiLorenzo: Good day, it's Father Tom and Anthony. The word that's coming to me today is very simple and very filled with light. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for thou art with me.

Wherever you are today, wherever you are walking today, if it seems that you are in the darkness, the Lord says, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for thou art with me." He is with you. He is for you. If you are a believer, He is in you. He has plans for you, and you need only to surrender. No one talks about surrender very often. We talk about getting a new mind or getting a new mindset, but very few people talk about surrender.

Surrender to God and He will do everything for you. That's the real word. Surrender to God and He will do everything for you. Many years ago, I would get a white handkerchief and I would wave it up. "Lord, I surrender. I surrender. I surrender all that I am, all that I have, all that you know about, all that I do not even know about."

I surrender because, Jesus, you are my trustworthy Savior. When I surrender, I am surrendering into the hands that are marked with glorified wounds. The one who went before me to the cross did so because He wanted us to be saved by the blood that He shed and by the nails that went in His hands and feet.

He wanted His people to be saved and given a new life in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not only salvation; it's a new life in the power of the Holy Spirit. Most people have no idea about the Holy Spirit. They think that the Holy Spirit is some kind of a bird. The Holy Spirit is the third person in the Blessed Trinity.

We are walking in the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Father is in heaven. The Son is in heaven. The Holy Spirit has been poured out upon the earth and upon believers. Without the Holy Spirit, we have nothing. The Holy Spirit always leads us to Jesus Christ. He is the Spirit of the Lord Jesus. He leads us to Jesus Christ, not to anything else.

The Holy Spirit wants to lead you more deeply into the heart of the Lord Jesus. When we ask Him to come into our lives, He comes in. We do not want Him to come into the cellar or into the attic. We want to just keep Him in the dining room. No, the Holy Spirit wants to invade with love your basement where all the junk is. He wants to go down where all the things you do not want to be seen are located and clean it up.

I am not talking about a basement; I am talking about you and me. That is what the Holy Spirit wants to do. Do we give Him the credit and the ability to do it by asking Him to do it? Most people do not. Most people have no idea of the Holy Spirit, of Pentecost, or of the power of the great and awesome Holy Spirit.

Most people in the church think it is some kind of a bird flying over the head of the Lord Jesus. Without the Holy Spirit, they would have died in Jerusalem after the Lord ascended into heaven. But when the Spirit of God came upon them, they became witnesses of the truth, witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ, and even martyrs.

They died for the love of Jesus because they were filled with the Holy Spirit. That is what the church needs today. We do not need another meeting. We do not need an extra mass. What we need today is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and our surrender to the Holy Spirit so that Jesus would be all in all through our ministry and our lives.

The Holy Spirit leads us to Jesus. On the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit of God came in Acts 2, the first proclamation of Peter was, "This Jesus whom you crucified, God has raised up to be both Lord and Messiah." The Holy Spirit leads to Jesus Christ. He is the Spirit of the Lord Jesus.

We received Him at Baptism and Confirmation. In most people's lives who were baptized and confirmed, the Holy Spirit is in a birdcage, locked up. They do not give Him any control. When we give control to the Holy Spirit, our lives begin to change. We face many things that we never faced before. We are led to people that we were never led to before.

How we need the surrender to the Holy Spirit, the wonderful Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of Jesus. We need it. Nothing happens apart from the Holy Spirit. Even this broadcast, if the Holy Spirit is not working through my words and in you, nothing happens.

That is why I declare that I am going to preach Jesus. Everything happens when you preach Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is a reality. I received Confirmation and was filled with the Holy Spirit, but I never experienced it until I was 21 years old. In front of the Blessed Sacrament, I experienced what happened at Confirmation.

I experienced what the Bible calls the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I got it, or He had me. I will never forget it. I was in my little bedroom in East Boston and I was filled with the Holy Spirit. The only thing I wanted to do was to praise God. No one taught me that. I was so filled that the only thing I could do was praise God.

What the church needs now, what I need now, and what you need now is a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We do not need another meeting. I have been to so many meetings. Do you know what happens in meetings? Zero. We never came to any conclusion. We walked out the same way we walked in. I hate meetings.

I love the power of the Holy Spirit. I love a meeting like the one that took place in the cenacle with Mary, the mother of Jesus, the 12 apostles, and the 120. That is when the Holy Spirit came upon them. What a glorious meeting that was. It brought conversion to the 3,000 Jews who were there celebrating the law in Jerusalem.

Without the Holy Spirit, there is zilch. Nothing happens. When we go to Eucharist, the Holy Spirit comes out. "Let your Spirit come upon these gifts so that they may become for us the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ." The Holy Spirit is absolutely needed in our lives. He leads us to Jesus. He does not lead us to Himself.

I got the Holy Spirit at Baptism and Confirmation, but the Holy Spirit got me when I was 21. Every day, I want Him to keep on getting me because if He does not get me, I go down the drain. I want the Holy Spirit to get me so that I can continue to proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is no proclamation of the cross and resurrection without the gift of the Holy Spirit. I depend upon the Holy Spirit. I can do nothing apart from the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit always leads us to the Lord Jesus Christ. You were confirmed and filled with the Holy Spirit. I was confirmed and filled with the Holy Spirit, but I only experienced it when I was 21.

It happened when I was 11. They asked what name I called myself, and I said, "Gerald." Then the bishop laid his hands upon me and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." At that time, they used to give us a little slap on the face to wake us up. On the first Easter, Jesus came through the doors of the cenacle and He breathed on them like they were dead men needing the breath of God.

He said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive shall be forgiven. Whose sins you retain shall be retained." Without the Holy Spirit, there is zero happening. We do not want to give the Holy Spirit command because we are control freaks. We want to tell God what to do.

For instance, I will make pretend I am going away to another country. I say, "Lord, watch over my goods at home. Make sure that nobody comes in the house to rob me. Do what you need to do, Lord, to keep this house afloat while I am gone." I tell God all about the house rather than God telling me, "You are going out to proclaim Jesus Christ. You better be ready and know the message you are going to give these people."

Salvation rests upon these things. Many people have not been saved. In Baptism we have been saved, but as adults, many have not been saved, even the ones who come to church. You can tell where salvation is because Jesus becomes real to the person.

Jesus becomes the author and finisher of our faith. That is what happens when the Holy Spirit becomes real to people. We need the Holy Ghost. Without the Holy Ghost, we have dead religion. We need Pentecost. There is a cost in Pentecost. It will cost you your life, but you will see things that other people will never see. You will do things that other people will never do.

You will be apostolic because God pours His Spirit upon you. We want to be in charge. We want to tell God, "Lord, I am going away. I want you to guard my house. I want you to give me a good ride in the automobile. Send me to the gas station where the cheapest gas is." We tell God what to do.

I thought it was the other way around. I thought God was the one to tell us what to do. Nothing happens when I tell God what to do. Everything happens when God tells me what to do and I obey Him. How do you think we started this radio ministry? It was not my idea. It was God's idea that He put in my head.

He said, "You have a ministry to preach to people. You have been given money by proclaiming the gospel. Save that money and put it on radio for three months." So I did. Here we are 41 years later, proclaiming the same Jesus, the same powerful Christ, and the same wonderful Holy Spirit.

I keep on getting this scripture: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for thou art with me." No matter what you are going through today, He is with you. No matter how awful today seems to you, He is with you. He is for you. He is walking with you. He will never leave you or desert you.

He has plans for your life. Even when you are bankrupt and you do not know those plans, as you grow out of bankruptcy and into faith, plans will be revealed. You will walk in faith with the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the man with the plan. But we do not always want His plan because we want to tell Jesus what to do.

Nothing happens that way. Think about the church right now. We have these wonderful seasons. We have the season of Lent when we should be fasting and praying. God wants to change lives during Lent. But we often only think, "I fast and pray." No, God wants to change lives.

Then we have the season of Easter and the proclamation of Jesus Christ risen from the dead. Those who die believing in Jesus are not dead, but quite alive in heaven. Easter brings resurrection power. It is the power to take us from death to life. We shouldn't just say, "Jesus is risen from the dead, Hallelujah." It is more than that.

Resurrection power means He has risen from the dead and He can change you and me. He has plans for your life. It is all about Jesus. The Holy Spirit leads us to Jesus. If the church preaches anything but Jesus, it's going off the central message. There's so much to preach about Jesus 365 days a year. Never get tired of proclaiming the power of Jesus. Hallelujah.

Anthony: Father, we pray in the name of Jesus that that same Holy Spirit which was poured out upon Father Tom in 1965 comes and baptizes every person who is listening. Jesus said the Holy Spirit will be with you and soon He will be in you. The Holy Spirit is with us when we are in the service, but do we let Him into us?

Do we surrender our lives? We receive the Holy Spirit when He sees that we are able to surrender our heart, our mind, our will, and our life. The Lord does not pour out the Spirit with measure. He wants you to live off the overflow. He wants your life to be so dwelled within the Holy Spirit that your cup is not empty. There's a flow from heaven and your cup is constantly overflowing.

Everyone you come across or bump into catches that overflow too. Wherever the Holy Spirit touches, there is life. When the Holy Spirit touches your heart, it brings life. When the Holy Spirit touches your mind, it gives you the mind of Christ. It reveals the secrets and the thoughts of God to you. Whenever the Holy Spirit touches your emotions, there is life.

When the Holy Spirit touches your finances, there is life and increase. God commands us to multiply everything we own and to multiply us in faith. The Holy Spirit is a great multiplier. He multiplies Christians and He multiplies God's power. If you need multiplication in any area of your life, what you need is the precious Holy Spirit.

We need the Holy Spirit to give us the mind of Christ. If your thinking is wrong, your whole life will be wrong. But when your thinking is right, your life will start to line up with your thinking. It is about "as a man thinketh, so he becomes." If your thinking is wrong today, your life will be wrong. If your thinking is right, your life will be right.

Only the Holy Spirit reveals to us the mind of Christ and the destiny that God has for you from before the foundation of the world. When we preach Jesus, we not only want words to go forth, but we want the Holy Spirit to release the power of God to begin to heal you, to renew your mind, and to enliven your heart.

The Holy Spirit comes to turn death to life. He wants to make you fully alive. The only thing that is different about Christians is we are filled with the life of God. We are not Christian because we are good, nice, or polite. Hindus are polite sometimes. Satanists feed the poor. But only Jesus Christ can make you alive in the power of the Spirit.

When I see Father, he is 78 years old, but I see life in his eyes. I hear power in his voice. The same Holy Spirit that flowed through Jesus and allowed Him to work miracles 2,000 years ago is within you. He is bringing life to your mortal body, to your thinking, to your finances, and to your heart. Whatever the Holy Spirit touches, He brings life in abundance.

Father Tom DiLorenzo: I never talk about finances, but I am going to tell you that when the Holy Spirit is the Lord over my finances, I am generous. I give to the poor at least ten percent of what I have, and many times more. What we hold on to in our money will never increase. You will have an increase in your pocketbook as you give to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anthony: Whatever you release, God will increase. Say it with me.

Father Tom DiLorenzo: Whatever you release, God will increase.

Anthony: If God cannot get something through you, He can never give you more. If God cannot get money through you to give to the poor and to give to the kingdom, there is a block in your spirit. The little you have is all you will have. If God cannot get the power of God through me when I pray for people, He cannot give me more. If God cannot get something through you, you cannot possess it.

God gives us what we have the ability to steward. At first, God knew Father Tom had the ability to steward three months of radio. As Father was faithful to steward that well, God increased it in cities and influence for 41 years. What you do with the money in your wallet is going to determine if God increases you.

Imagine God, who has given us everything, having to battle for two hours with you in a church service to get 25 dollars back. The Lord wants to blow finances through you. He wants you to be a resource center for the kingdom of God. He wants to blow the anointing through you. Whatever you release, God will increase. If God cannot push something through you, He cannot give you more.

It all depends upon us. There are two seas in Israel: the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. The Dead Sea is absolutely dead because it has no outlets. It is just a big puddle of mud and death. Then you have the Sea of Galilee, which is filled with fish and life. It has outlets that bring life. Do you have an outlet to give to Jesus? Are you giving Him your life and blessing people, or are you stuck in the Dead Sea of your life? God bless you.

Announcer: This has been In Season and Out of Season with Father Tom DiLorenzo. Remember that this ministry is supported only by the donations of listeners. Please help as the Lord leads you. Father Tom DiLorenzo, PO Box 602, East Boston, Massachusetts 02128. In Season and Out of Season.