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 I’m glad to be with you today. The apostles were no different than we are. They were concerned with worldly things, and they said to Jesus, “Is this the time that you’re going to allow Israel to be like queen of the sea and queen of the world?” Jesus said in Acts 1:7, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power,” which in other words means it’s none of your business.

This is the answer. The answer is Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit was come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria throughout all the ends of the earth.” If you wanted to know what is the summary of the Acts of the Apostles in one verse, it is Acts 1:8: “You shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and throughout all the ends of the earth.”

I was telling the story again of the Jehovah's Witnesses that I met many, many years ago, and I’ll tell it again because it’s a beautiful little story. This happened so many years ago. I had gone to visit a friend and she wasn't home. She was a Bible teacher, Nina Lozon at the time, now she's married to John Pension. I had gone just to be encouraged and to speak to her about some things, but she wasn't home.

So, I went to walk to my old car. It was an old car at the time. As I’m walking to the old car, these two Jehovah's Witnesses follow me. I’m thinking today is not the day that I want to be speaking with Jehovah's Witnesses. This is not the day that I feel very comfortable speaking to Jehovah's Witnesses. They come up to me and they said, “Can we share the Bible with you?” They didn't know that I was a priest. I was just dressed in lay clothes, and I said, “Of course you can share the Scriptures with me.”

They shared something beautiful like, “The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.” It was the 24th Psalm. I think that's a beautiful Psalm. We learned that in public school. We learned the 23rd Psalm, and I love those two Psalms. Then they shared another Psalm with me. I love Psalm 84. They shared another Psalm with me, Psalm 139, and I said that's very beautiful. So, I said to them, “Can I share a Scripture with you now?”

I don't think they’re very used to people saying things like that, but they said yes. I said, “Turn to your Bible and read Acts 1:8.” So, they read it. I said, “But you have to read it out loud.” They read, “And you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and throughout all the ends of the earth.”

I said, “Whose witnesses?” They didn't answer. So, I said, “Read it again.” So, they read it again. “But you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit shall come upon you and you shall be my witnesses.” I said, “Stop. Whose witnesses? Who’s speaking?” They said, “Jesus.” “Whose witnesses?” They wouldn't answer.

I said, “Now you’re being intellectually dishonest. Jesus is saying you’re going to be my witness.” I said, “You people do not know Jehovah. Jehovah is a triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. His Son died on the cross out of love for us, was buried, and rose from the dead, and you don't know Jehovah.” Now they want to change the subject. They said, “You people think that you’re going to heaven, but only 144,000 are going to heaven.”

I said to them, “The Bible already states that we are already seated with Jesus Christ in heavenly places.” They said, “Where does it say that?” I said, “It says it in Ephesians.” So, I opened their Bible and tried to find it, and I couldn't find it. I said, “If I had my Bible, I’d know exactly where it was because my Bible is underlined and I know exactly where it would be.”

With that, the wind blew and my finger was on it, that we are already seated with Christ in heavenly places. Now, I said, “I am not here to argue with you because we need to witness to Jesus. Right now, we’re going to pray and we’re going to pray to Jehovah. You saw what happened. The wind blew and my finger is on ‘We are already seated with Christ in heavenly places.’” I said, “This is an act of God.”

I don't know what ever happened about that, but I do remember saying to the young man whose name was Andrew, “If you ever really want to find the Lord, you’ll never find him at Kingdom Hall. He’s not to be found there. You’ll find a lot of words, but you’ll not find the presence of God, you’ll not find the power of God, and you’ll not find Jesus.”

When Jesus had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight. Now, this is something. What is this cloud? Was it like an airplane going through a cloud? No, this was the cloud of Exodus, the cloud that followed them by day and the fire by night. It was the Cloud of Glory. As the glorious King was ascending into heaven, the glory of God was all around him, that Cloud of Glory. If you have ever seen it, you know what you’ve seen. You know what you’ve experienced. You know it’s real. You know there's a different atmosphere in that cloud if you’ve ever had that experience. I know because I’ve experienced that many years ago.

While they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel. Who are these two men? They are angelic beings who also said, “Men of Galilee, why are you gazing up into heaven? Come on, what are you doing? Why are you looking up to heaven with your mouths open? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall also come in like manner even as you saw him go into heaven.” In other words, he’s going to return in the same place at the same time. He’s going to return just as you saw him leave. We know what the Bible says in Zechariah, that he’s going to place his feet on the Mount of Olives.

What are you looking up for? Why are you wasting time? What did Jesus say? “Go into the city and pray until you receive power from on high. Go into the city and pray until you receive power from on high.” So, they returned and they went into Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem about a Sabbath day's journey. When they were come in, they went up to the Upper Room. This is the Cenacle. This is the place where the Eucharist came about. There abode Peter, James, John, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the brother of James.

I want to tell you something has already happened. They have not experienced the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in magnificence, but Jesus already has breathed in them the Holy Spirit and something has already happened. The great fruit of love is seen in this group of people. You might say, “How do you know that love is in this group of people?” I know for sure because at one time, Matthew was a tax collector and he worked for Rome. At one time, Simon was a Zealot and he hated anyone who worked for Rome, and he hated Romans. He would even kill Romans in a crowd with a knife called a sicarii.

But now they’re under one roof. They’re under one roof. I can see when Jesus called Matthew and Simon the Zealot that at the beginning, their eyes were looking at each other. They were giving each other daggers. But something has happened now. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” They are together now, and it says, “These continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and with Mary the mother of Jesus and his brethren.”

They continued in one accord. “Father, that they would be one as I am in thee and thou art in me, that they would be one in us, that the world might know that thou hast sent me.” These continued in one accord. What are they doing in supplication? “Go into the city and pray until you receive power from on high.” They are waiting for the coming of the Spirit. They are waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit. They don't know what it’s going to mean. They don't know what this gusher is going to do, but Jesus said, “Go into the city and pray until you receive power from on high.”

This power from on high is what the church is in need of. This power from on high is what I am in need of. This power from on high is what you are in need of. We are in need of the Holy Spirit. We are in need of the Spirit of Jesus. Nothing happens apart from the Holy Spirit. Nothing happens. That's why so many ministries, so many churches are barren: no fruit, no excitement. Nothing happens apart from the Holy Spirit.

Yet the idea of Jesus for the church is that it is better for you that I go away. If I do not go away, I will not send the Holy Spirit. That's Jesus's plan for the church. The church's plan is not the same because where is that power? Where are we witnessing? “You shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and throughout all the ends of the earth.” Who is witnessing unto Jesus? Who is witnessing what Jesus is doing today?

This is what it’s all about. It is better for you that I leave because I’m not going to leave you orphans. Remember Jesus said that? But he’s gone. We just saw him ascend into heaven. The glory cloud covered him. We’re all alone. No, we’re not alone. He said, “It is better for you that I go away. If I do not go away, I will not send the Holy Spirit.”

Father Randall sent out an email through Barbara Bruggeman that when the Holy Spirit comes experientially, great things begin to happen. People's lives get changed, bodies get healed, things begin to happen. There is no church apart from the Holy Spirit. The only thing we have are rules and regulations and law. What is missing is the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit comes when we are desperate enough to be in one accord with Mary the mother of Jesus, praying, “Come, Holy Spirit. I am in absolute need of your ministry. I need that you would come. I need that you would baptize me in the power of the Spirit. I need that I would live for Jesus, that you would make Jesus alive in me. I want to live for Jesus.” You see, the Holy Spirit always glorifies Jesus Christ. That's who he glorifies. Jesus says, “When he comes, he will glorify me.” On the day of Pentecost, what did Peter preach? “This Jesus whom you crucified, God has raised up to be both Lord and Messiah.” That's what he preached on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit will always lead us to Jesus Christ.

I had a teacher in the seminary, and he knew I was involved with charismatic renewal. He said, “Well, Tom DiLorenzo is spirit-centered.” So, I raised my hand and I said to him, “Walter, you’re absolutely wrong. I am not spirit-centered, but the Spirit always leads us to Jesus. The Holy Spirit will always glorify Jesus. For anyone filled with the Holy Spirit must be Christ-centered, not spirit-centered. Christ-centered, for the Spirit leads us to Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit leads us to Jesus Christ.”

This is just the way it was. Now they’re in the Upper Room in supplication with Mary the mother of Jesus, praying for the outpouring of the Spirit. The Spirit of God comes when we are in one accord, when we are with one heart, one body, and one soul, when we really are desperate that God would send the Holy Spirit.

How many people have we prayed with for the baptism of the Spirit that have been changed and transformed? So many people. But everybody doesn't walk in the life of the Spirit. They say that was my Jesus time, rather than being called to go deeper and deeper. If you think that you’ve got everything the Holy Spirit is giving you, you haven't even begun. I haven't even begun. The depths of the Spirit are as deep as God himself, and he always leads us to Jesus.

When the day of Pentecost had fully come, what’s Pentecost? Pentecost is the giving of the law. That's why you’re going to find all these Jewish people in Jerusalem: Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians, people from Phrygia and Cappadocia. You’re going to find all these people celebrating the giving of the law when God gave the law through Moses. For the law has come through Moses, but grace and truth come through Jesus Christ.

Suddenly, I love that word suddenly. Suddenly, there came a sound from heaven as a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting. There appeared unto them cloven tongues like of fire that sat upon each of them. This is the fire that burned in Jeremiah's bones when he said, “I am never going to preach again in the name of the Lord because my persecution has been too great, and I will never say another word.” He said, “But there was a fire that reached my bones that I could not hold it in.”

Now this fire is not in their bones only, but the fire is over their heads. Then there's a rushing mighty wind and cloven tongues of fire. What happens when you have wind and fire? You’ve got a big fire problem. Oh, do we need that fire, boys and girls? Do we need that fire, men and women? Do we need that fire, priests and bishops? Do we need that fire, catechists? Do we need that fire, people? We need that fire. I need that fire, and you know what? If you don't want it, I want it. I cannot do without that fire, that fire that comes from heaven, that fire that comes from God, that fire of the Holy Spirit.

But I not only need the fire, I need the wind because where the fire and the wind is, it spreads. We need it to spread. We need the message of Jesus and the person of Jesus to spread. Fire, fire, fire, fire! And they all were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. There were dwelling at Jerusalem devout Jews, men from every nation under heaven. I said why: because they were celebrating the giving of the law.

But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said unto them, “Men of Judea and all ye that dwell in Jerusalem, be this known unto you. Hearken to my words. These men are not drunk as you suppose, since it’s only nine o'clock in the morning. Barrooms aren't open.” There were two groups of people: those who heard them in their own native language and those who heard gibberish. They said, “These people are drunk. These people are crazy people. They’ve been having too much new wine.” Peter says, “This is what the prophet Joel spoke. It shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh.”

We need this, people of God, that the Lord would pour out his Spirit upon all flesh. We are in a real problem in the United States. Things are not getting better. So many people are out of work. They say 9%; I don't say 9%. I say more like 19%, 18%. I’m going to tell you, when there is no food, what’s going to happen? When people cannot buy food, what’s going to happen? The church better be ready to care for people. The church better be ready not only with food, but the church better be ready with the power of the Holy Spirit so that people would be able to not riot, but people would be able to come together in one accord with Mary the mother of Jesus, praying for the gift of the Spirit.

We better be able to believe because we better be able to believe that multiplication will take place, that God will give us the gift of multiplication because he wants to do that. The church always cared for her own. She didn't rely upon the government. She didn't rely upon Rome. She didn't rely upon social structures. She cared for her own poor, and we have forgotten to care for our own poor. We have allowed the government to do this, and I’m going to tell you, the government doesn't do anything right.

We have one nation under God, but so much devoid of the Holy Spirit. We have so many churches, but so devoid of the Holy Spirit. I was in Washington, D.C. the other day just for 12 hours. While I was in Washington, D.C., we went down a street where there were churches for every denomination that you can think of. There were little churches and there were big churches. There were big Catholic churches and big Anglican churches, little churches and cult churches. Reverend Moon was even there. His church was there.

I’m thinking, I wonder how many people got saved on this street in the last week. I wonder how many churches preach Jesus Christ. I wonder how many churches preach the power of God. I wonder how many churches love Jesus and welcome the Holy Spirit. I wonder. There was a young woman from the South, from Tennessee, and she had gone to the Vatican. The Vatican is a big museum. When you’re in St. Peter's, they'll tell you about St. Peter's and they’ll tell you all these things and how big the church is and that it’s the biggest church in the whole world.

The little lady, when they said to her, “Does anyone have any questions?” the little lady raised her hand and said, “Yes, dear. What would you like to ask?” “When was the last time someone was saved in this church?” It’s a good question. Where the Holy Spirit is, you’re going to have salvation. Where the Holy Spirit is, you’re going to have power. Where the Holy Spirit is, you’re going to have healing. Where the Holy Spirit is, you’re going to have the delight of God. Where the Holy Spirit is, you’re going to find the presence of God.

If anyone knows anything about St. Peter's, the best place to go is when you’re walking down the right aisle, not the center aisle. You will see a curtain, and you go into that place. It’s holy because that's where the Blessed Sacrament is and people are praising God and worshipping God in silence all day until they close at about six or seven or eight o'clock at night. People are being saved in that little room where Jesus is present as Eucharist.

I just want to go back now to the whole reality that Jesus said you’re going to receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. So, come, Holy Spirit, come! And from your celestial home shed a ray of light divine! Come, Father of the poor! Come, source of all our store! Come, within our bosom shine! You, of comforters the best; You, the soul’s most welcome guest; Sweet refreshment here below; In our labor, rest most sweet; Grateful coolness in the heat; Solace in the midst of woe.

Oh, most blessed light divine, shine within these hearts of thine, and our inmost being fill! Where you are not, we have not nothing good in deed or thought, nothing free from taint of ill. Heal our wounds, our strength renew; on our dryness pour thy dew; wash the stains of guilt away. Bend the stubborn heart and will; melt the frozen, warm the chill; guide the steps that go astray. On the faithful who adore you and confess you evermore, in your sevenfold gift descend. Give us virtue's sure reward; give us your salvation, Lord; give us joy that never ends. Amen. Alleluia.

I thank you for listening. We’re on every day at this time. You should be studying Acts 1 and 2 during these days before Pentecost, praying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. “You shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit shall come upon you. You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, and in Samaria, and throughout all the ends of the earth.”

So, I need to hear from you. Father Tom, Post Office Box 602, East Boston, Massachusetts, 02128. That's Father Tom, Post Office Box 602, East Boston, Massachusetts, 02128. Today we’ll be praying at the Holy Rosary Rectory at 2:30. You’re welcome to come. Tonight there’ll be Mass at 7:30. You’re welcome to come. My mailing address is Father Tom, Post Office Box 602, East Boston, Massachusetts, 02128. I really need to hear from you, so please help us. God bless you.

Announcer: Behold, I stand at the door and knock. 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, so please help as the Lord leads you. Father Tom DiLorenzo, P.O. Box 602, East Boston, Massachusetts, 02128. In Season and Out of Season.