South Shore Pentecostal Church

Guest (Male): Welcome to the Apostolic Truth Radio Program with Pastor Craig Ouellette, a radio ministry of South Shore Pentecostal Church located in Whitman, Massachusetts. At a time when many Christians do not know what to believe, South Shore Pentecostal is honored to bring you clear biblical teaching on which you can confidently build your faith. Thank you for joining us.

J. Craig Ouellette: When we say relationship with Jesus, we're not talking about knowing about Jesus, we're talking about knowing him. There's a difference between knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus. So there's a lot of people that know about Jesus. Even Jesus's own disciples weren't quite sure. Remember one day in the Book of Matthew, Chapter 16, he said unto them, "Who do men say that I am?"

A lot of them had different answers. Peter finally came out, "Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God." Amen. But see, it's not what others say, it's what God says, it's what the Bible says. We've got to know who Jesus is. If you make it to heaven, it's because you knew the Lord. That's right. If you make it to heaven, it's because you knew the Lord.

We're going to look at these scriptures here this morning and I'm going to talk about a relationship with Jesus. So starting with Isaiah 41:8 in the Old Testament there, Isaiah 41:8. And God is speaking to Israel through the prophet Isaiah. He says, "But thou Israel, art my servant Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend." Amen.

John 15:13 in the Gospel of John. John 15:13 says, "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth, but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of my father I have made known unto you."

And then finally in Romans 5:8-12. It says, "But God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Isn't that great that God loves us even when we're not right? Amen. I don't have to get right to be loved by God, but I do have to get right to have a relationship with God. Amen.

And so he goes on and says in verse nine, "Much more then being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also join God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received the atonement or reconciliation. Wherefore as by one man's sin entered into the world and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned."

Let's pray. Lord God, we thank you for this day, we thank you for this time. And Lord, we're looking for your spirit to move upon all of us, upon me, upon all of us here. Speaking to our hearts and minds, to cast down imaginations, to help us evaluate things by the word and not by traditions and our backgrounds, but what your word says, Lord God. We're asking you, Lord, to open up our understanding today and we give you praise in Jesus' name. Everyone say amen.

When we study the Bible, we see that God created man for relationship. Man was created for relationship from God by God from the beginning. And a lot of times we don't understand that because we hear the judgment of God, which is a true thing. God will judge. God will judge all sin, God will judge our lives. And the Bible says we need to get our sins under the blood of Jesus. But in the beginning, God's intent and purpose was that we were created for relationship with him.

Isn't that good? In other words, God wants us to know him. God wants you to know him. God's not happy if all you think about is what the preacher says. If that's the extent of your relationship, God is not happy by that. He wants you to be able to go home and pray and that God can speak to you. God wants you to be able to read his word and believe, "Hey, if he did it for somebody else and it says it here, I can receive it too." God wants that for you and for us. God wants us to be victorious. Amen.

So God created Adam and Eve and started talking to them and relating to them from the first. We're saying this to show that God wanted a relationship. He gave Adam the command not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. So he's talking to Adam. Adam's not going, "I think God said that. Was that the voice of God?" No, he heard God talking to him. God saying to him, "Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, don't eat, for in the day that you eat it you shall die." Amen. If God spoke in the past to people, can't God speak today? God can speak today, that's right. He's not a different God, he's the same God. Amen.

So when Adam and Eve sinned, God came to find them and they recognized his voice. Again, indicating they were familiar with conversing or talking with God. It wasn't that God had given Adam one command and that's all Adam ever heard, but it says they heard the voice of the Lord in the cool of the night and they were afraid. They recognized, it wasn't like, "What's that? Was that God? What is that?" They recognized the voice of God. So this is saying that they had a relationship with God, that God talked to them, they talked to God. Amen.

And when Adam and Eve sinned, God came to find them, they recognized the voice, they were familiar, but they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord because of their sins. Now notice the Bible says, King James says, "the presence of the Lord." And often times that word "presence" means the face of God. So they hid themselves from the face of God because of sin. Amen. Again, they recognize God. So now the Lord asks them, "Have you eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? How come you know you're naked? What's going on?"

And they both admit they've eaten of the tree, but they both have failed to admit their personal responsibility. All right, notice, "Have you eaten of the tree?" "Yes, but Eve." "Eve, have you eaten of the tree?" "Yes, but the serpent." Yeah, I did the wrong thing but I did it because they influenced me. That's why a lot of times people can't get free of their sins. You've got to accept responsibility for your sin. Not only am I a sinner, I did it. I might have been with a crowd, but I did it. I might have done something but maybe a bunch of people influenced me, but I decided I was going to do it.

So I am guilty of it. So they never really accepted the blame, but God covered it, he took care of them. But sin, this is the important point, sin changed man's relationship with God. Sin changes the nature of things. We look around today and you see people declaring natures that's not their natures. Sin changes the nature of things. Before there was sin in the world, there was no death. Before there was sin in the world, there was no thistles and thorns. Before there was sin in the world, there was no curse.

Before there was sin in the world, the devil didn't have really any authority over people. And so sin changes the nature of things. Sin takes people that are supposed to be made in God's image and likeness and changes them into evil people. So I'm saying sin changes the nature of things. And a lot of things we see going on, the problem is sin. It's not more government, it's not better laws, it's not more policemen, it's sin, sin, sin.

So sin brought fear of God's presence into Adam and Eve's life. Before they weren't afraid. A lot of people won't go to church, they're afraid. "If I come in the building, it will fall down." You've probably heard people say things like that. Sin brought death into the world, sin brought curses into the world. When God made the world, all there was was the creation and blessings, but sin brought curses into the world. That's why the devil wants us to sin, because if we sin, we bring curses into our lives. A lot of times you're blaming other people when the problem is our own problem. Amen.

So notice that Adam and Eve, they both admitted that they had sinned, but they never fully admitted their guilt. They put the blame on something else and not themselves. But if you're going to deal with sin, this is for all of us, even if you're saved. You don't escape sin because you're saved, you still have to deal with it, but you've got power and authority over it and the blood of Jesus will wash you and cleanse you if you confess it. It's the Bible. That's not my idea. That's the Bible, that's 1 John 1:7-9. Amen. That's Bible verse.

"If we walk in the light as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sins. If we sin and confess our sins, he is faithful to forgive us." He's writing that to the church. That's written to the church. It's not written to people that they're trying to save, that's written to people that are saved. Amen.

So if I'm going to deal with sin, first thing I've got to admit that I sinned. If I want a relationship with God, I've got to start out with "I'm a sinner, I've sinned." It's not how big they are, it's "I've sinned." Amen. My sins might be bigger than yours or yours might be bigger, but it's still sin. I've got to admit that I sinned. But now I've got to accept the blame for my sin. I've got to accept responsibility for my sin. You've got to accept responsibility. "Yes, I've sinned" and you're right only. A good example of that is in Psalm 51.

As you look at the words of David. Psalm 51, David it's a prayer of confession. In verse one, David says, "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before thee." In other words, "I did it. I did them." Verse four, "Against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest." So I've got to confess my sins, I've got to acknowledge that. Amen.

Then I've got to turn from sin. If a person comes to the altar and they just want to be forgiven of their present condition, but they do not intend to turn from sin to God, their repentance is not going to work. It's not going to work. God's not looking at us just here, he's looking down the road. What kind of commitment am I making? If I really want to be forgiven, that means I don't want to sin tomorrow either. I don't want to sin next week. If I need to change my life so that I don't sin, I want to change my life. All right?

Again, a lot of times people are just looking at the big things in their lives. Living for God requires a coming out of the world and a coming to God. You can't stay in the world and be in the church. You can't do it. God doesn't have a gray line, you can't be on the fence. You're either in or you're out. Maybe they sound strange to you, but it's what the Bible says. You're in or you're out. Amen. You're trying to live now. Trying to live for God doesn't mean we're flawless, but our effort is to do the will of God. Our purpose is to do the will of God. Amen.

And if you know your own self, if you're honest with your own self, every one of us in here know if we even if we want to live for God, we've got certain areas we've got weaknesses. And we know that if I'm going to live for God the way God wants, I'm going to have to get some help from God to do it. So that makes a prayer life. That also means a change of thinking, a change of goals. If I'm involved in goals that are leading me into sin, I've got to change my goals. If I'm hanging around with people that are leading me into sin, I've got to change who I hang around with. If I'm watching or reading things that are leading me into sin or my thinking, I've got to change that. Amen.

And so in repentance, not only do I need to repent and accept that I'm the one to blame, I've got to turn from sin to God. Repentance is not just reformation, it's turning to God. Say "Turn to God." Amen. And declaring that only with God's help can I be saved. Amen. So the book of Genesis gives us an early history of mankind. When we look at that. And after sin enters the world through Adam, humanity becomes more and more sinful. Now, don't believe the intellectuals that say it's just a story. That's history. Genesis is history. That is real history, it's not just a story. It's not just an idea, it's not just an illustration. Adam and Eve are real people, they were real people.

Jesus refers to Adam. The epistles refer to Adam. They were real people. Genesis is history. And so we see that after sin enters into the world, mankind doesn't get better just because they had one law. He only gave the law of "don't eat of the tree" to Adam and Eve, they took the tree away, but man doesn't stop there. Man gets worse and worse and worse. So let's us understand when sin gets in our lives, it takes us some place we don't want to go. Sin will always take you farther than you want to go. Amen.

A lot of times we'll do a little we'll do sin and say "it's just a little sin." But then that little sin leads to a little bit more sin. And pretty soon we've got a pile of big sin. Sin will always take us further than we want to go. If Adam and Eve could look into the future and realize their sin was going to result in their son murdering their other son, they would have said, "We don't want to taste the fruit." God doesn't always tell us what's going to happen, but if he says "don't do it," he's got a good reason because he cares about us. Hallelujah. Amen.

So the world becomes more and more evil. Cain goes out from the presence of God, the Bible says in Genesis chapter 4:16-24. And his offspring becomes more and more evil. Next murder is in his offspring and he's boasting about it. The first polygamy is in his offspring, in Cain's offspring. Amen. And eventually, man gets so evil and wicked that God destroys the world through a flood, but he talks to Noah. Now again, these are illustrations. We've got a problem today. A lot of people in churches, Christian churches, when you say Old Testament they kind of shut off. They kind of turn it off. "Oh, that's a nice story."

But the Bible says those stories are given to us to help us understand. They're illustrations of principles. So when it says God told Adam and Eve not to eat of this, this was what's going to happen. If God says to us "don't do something," we're going to deal with the same consequence, a consequence. When God gives us illustrations about the flood, and again they escape the flood, how do they escape the flood? They escape the flood by obeying what God says to do. Right? Is the flood a judgment? Yes, it's a judgment for sin in the world.

How do they escape that? They escape it by obeying what God says to do. The principle is if God says I've got to do something, I need to do that. That isn't changed from Old Testament to New Testament. Amen. And he had to build the ark the way God wanted him. So God gives grace. His grace was "Here's how to get out of this Noah. This is what you need to do." That's grace. That's grace.

Bible says Noah found grace in the eyes of God in Genesis 6. The grace is God provides a way. But in order for him to receive what God has provided, he's got to do what God says. He can't build a canoe and get away. He can't build an open deck an open house boat even if it's got three stories. He's got to use the wood, the length, the size, the height, pitch it on the inside, pitch it on the outside, one door in the side. He's got to do it God's way. Amen.

But after the flood, even when God starts all over, again we see the nature of man. The nature of man. We need God. Man has got a sin nature. We fall into sin. So even after the flood and God gives a rainbow to Noah and says, "I'm making a covenant with you and your family and all the world. I'm making a covenant for you and I'm never going to destroy the world by water again. And I give you authority to judge other men. If men kill men, you can judge them." Capital punishment comes from God. It doesn't come from governments, God ordained that.

The only problem with capital punishment is if the people administering it aren't right, they'll do the wrong thing. But that's the same with any law. If the people in charge of laws are wrong, it doesn't matter how good the law is, they'll find a way to administer it the wrong way. Problem is not laws, it's morals. Morals. Amen. So God has to confuse, confound all the languages because mankind rises up in a rebellion against God after the flood and probably only a couple hundred years, not too long after the flood if you look at 100, 175, 200, maybe 250, not too many years.

And Noah's still alive, Shem's still alive. There's people living that have been on both sides of the flood, but yet you've got people raising themselves up against God and God confounds them by confusing their languages because they were going to gather together and make their own tower and get above whatever God could do. Amen. And what are we talking about? We're talking about the early history of man. But the Bible lets us know Isaiah 41:8, we read this, that Abraham was the friend of God.

So in the midst of all of this, God is able to find a man that's going to believe him, that's going to trust him, that's going to obey him. And that statement that Abraham is the friend of God is found at least two other places, 2 Chronicles 20:7 and James 2:23. In this world where sin seems to reign, how did Abraham become God's friend? Amen. I think that's a good question. At least that's a question to me. If you're living in a world where there's sin all over the place, but the Bible tells us that God sought Abraham.

Bible doesn't say Abraham was looking for God. There might be some different histories and different things outside of the Bible, but in the Bible says that God appeared to Abraham. God spoke to Abraham. God was looking for someone that he could make an agreement with. Now God's doing the same thing today. God is speaking today. I don't just mean here, I mean in the world. God is speaking to people. God speaks to us a "still voice" the Bible says a lot of times.

It's not always a thundering voice, but it's something in our heart that says, "I need more of God. I need to change something in my life. I need to find the presence of God. I need to know him." Still voice. God doesn't always thunder into our lives, sometimes he does, but often it's just that thing you get up every Monday morning and you're not satisfied with your life. Something's missing, something's not right. That's God speaking to our hearts. He's looking for somebody that wants a friendship, a relationship with him.

So the Bible tells us that God sought out Abraham. God appeared to Abraham and he made him an offer. See God does the same thing today. He's going to talk to us and draw us and he's going to make us an offer. Now God's not never going to make you an offer that violates the Bible. God is not going to make you an offer that's different from what the Bible says because the Bible is there so we know who God is, what he is, what he believes, what he's going to do, how he's going to act, what he wants from us.

The Bible is there to let us understand this. You want to know God, you start by reading your Bible and praying. Amen. So let's read God's offer to Abraham in Genesis 12:1. And really if you take a little time to think about it, you recognize that anybody that's going to be saved, God's really challenging us the same way, maybe with different specifics. But in Genesis 12:1 says, "Now the Lord had said unto Abraham, get thee out of thy country, from thy kindred, from thy father's house unto a land that I will show thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, I will bless thee, I will make thy name great, thou shalt be a blessing. I will bless them that bless thee, curse him that curses thee, and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed."

So now Abraham had to do some things if he wanted the to receive the promise. Amen. Isn't this what the Bible tells us? Abraham had to do some things if he wanted to receive what God was offering. So listen, understand, living for God sometimes means you've got to leave some things that you like. Get out of your country. You may not be able to stay where you're at to serve God. Leave your family. Now he's not talking about husbands leaving wives and all that kind of stuff.

But he's talking about outside of your immediate family, sometimes you've you're going to have to understand that if you accept what God says, they will not accept you. There are many people sitting in churches today that God has dealt with them and they have not responded to God because my friends, my aunts and uncles, my mother, my dad, will not understand this, will not like that. That's not the point. God is not asking you to do anything that he didn't ask Abraham to do. He had to leave his family. He had to leave his country. He had to leave his kindred. He had to go where God said to go to receive the promise. And again, what we do is "Oh, that's Abraham. He's supernatural man, special characteristics." Amen. And so that's him and that doesn't apply to us. No, that's not it. It's there to help us understand this is how God deals with people.

Now notice what it says about Abraham. God's offer to Abraham led to a relationship where Abraham had to have faith and patience. A lot of times we know God can do it, we get faith with God and we say we know he can do it, but we don't have patience. So we look over into Hebrews 6:12, we find out that it comments the New Testament commenting on Abraham and he lets us understand some things about receiving things from God. So Hebrews 6:12 it says, "that ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises."

Now slothfulness means that I'm not doing whatever I need to do to get the job done. If I'm being slothful, I'm not doing what I need to do. So if I'm going to get what God's got for me, I've got to do what God wants I need to do to have my relationship with God. So don't be slothful, but be followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. What's he mean? He means use Abraham as an example.

Go further here, "For when God promised to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swear by himself, saying surely blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thee." And here's this is Abraham now. This is Abraham. "And so after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise." Say patience. Patience. Jesus said it, "In your patience you possess your souls." Living for God requires patience to wait on God's timing, God's method, God's way. Not man's way. In our computer age and have it the way you like it age, God still does it his way. So I've got to have patience, I've got to have faith. Faith that God will do it. But now I've got to keep walking until God does it. I've got to keep walking till God does it.

Amen. And so sometimes I've got to go back to the well and get a fresh drink because I'm running out of water in a dry and thirsty land. What does he mean? It means I go to prayer to find God. I go to read the word to find God. I go to church to worship with people of like precious faith. Amen. And I get a drink from the well. Amen. And when I was ready to give up, ready to faint, ready to lose my step, the Holy Ghost gives me power to take another step. Amen. And I can walk and I can be one through faith. Amen. And have patience, I continue to walk till I get to the promise. Oh, somebody needs to say "I'm going to walk." Come on, "I'm going to walk." Amen. If I'm walking with Jesus, I've got to walk. Hallelujah. You're going to walk with the Lord, you've got to walk in faith. Hallelujah.

So again, you've got to have faith mixed with patience. A lot of times you hear about faith and we've got to have faith, but I've got to be patient for God to bring it to pass. Now Abraham became God's friend because he believed the Lord and he obeyed. Look what it says in Hebrews 11:8, just a little further, "By faith Abraham when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, did" what? "Obeyed." He obeyed. And he went out not knowing whither he went. In other words, he didn't know really where I'm going. All he knew was God said I can't stay here. So I'm leaving.

So a true faith is is when we start to if I have faith, I believe what God says. If I believe what God says, I do what God says. If I don't do what God says, it's questionable if I've got faith. Hallelujah. Amen. So now the Bible tells us the promise passed from Isaac from Abraham to Isaac, and we know it went from Isaac to Jacob. But notice in Genesis 26 why God says that Isaac is getting the promise. And in Genesis 26:4-5 God speaks to Isaac.

See, now here in God's giving you a principle right there. God gave a promise to Abraham and Abraham told it to Isaac, but Isaac doesn't really know about it or what to do till God speaks to Isaac about it. Now Jacob knows about it, but Jacob really doesn't understand what to do or how to do it till God speaks to Jacob about it. You need God to speak to you about the promise before you can walk in it. You've got to have God speak to you personally. Amen. Amen. The pastor of the ministry or some song can give you some inspiration, but you need something in your heart that this is from God.

And notice what he says, "And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, I will give unto thy seed all these countries and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Same thing he said to Abraham, right? "Because," why? "Because that Abraham obeyed my voice." You praying for your families? Obey God's voice. If God's given a promise to you, you can pass it down to your children by obeying God's voice. "Because that Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes and my laws." In other words, Abraham wasn't just leaving his country, going where I said, but he's also acting and doing things the way I would like him to do it. My commandments, my statutes. Amen.

So let's shift to the New Testament. Luke 19:10, Jesus speaking, "For the son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Jesus came into this world to seek and save us. He provided the means by Calvary, the cross. He provided a blood that could cover our sins, a blood atonement. The blood of a bull, an ox, or a lamb or a goat can't take care of a human's sin. You need human blood to cover human sin and you need somebody that's related to you, a kinsman redeemer, which is what the word "redeemer" means in the Old Testament.

So we needed somebody that was human that did not have sin. That means they couldn't be of the lineage of Adam and Eve, but they had to be born into the world. So God says, "Here's what I'll do. I'll take Mary and my spirit will overshadow Mary and she will conceive a son by my spirit and God is going to dwell in that son that's born." He's "God-man." Not another person, the God-man. If you're dividing God in persons, you're confused because that's not what the Bible says. The Bible says God is one. And all those things that people say, "What about the baptism of Jesus? There's a voice, there's a dove, there's Jesus in the water." Those don't prove different persons.

God can speak to a million people at one time. God can speak to every dialect in the world right now a different message as needed and it would not make a hundred or 200 or 1000 gods or persons. And God does not look like a dove, it's a symbolic illustration. And if God wanted to show us that he was now three, he would have said that. And he doesn't say that. That is people, hundreds of years after the church has been formed, amen, looking at that and coming up with a doctrine that was never found in the Bible.

Oh, devil doesn't want you to know God. Devil doesn't want you to know the truth. You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. He doesn't want you to know the truth. So God came. All humanity born in the world is sin, we know that. Jesus came to seek us. He's going to try to draw you. His spirit, the Holy Ghost, is the Spirit of Christ. It's not another spirit, it's the Spirit of God.

When it says the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters, it's the God that said "let there be light." It's not another person, it's the same God. God is a spirit and God is holy and there's only one spirit. And when you get the Holy Spirit, you get the spirit that was in Christ, amen, because the Spirit of God dwelt in the person of Jesus Christ, that humanity, but God still sits on the throne because God cannot be contained.

So the baptism of Jesus was there just to confirm to John the Baptist that this is the Messiah. And God gives a voice because it said in Isaiah that God would say this. And God gives a sign of a dove because God's spirit is invisible so God's got to use some symbolic image that John the Baptist, as a Jewish minister, prophet, is going to understand. And a dove sitting on him does not mean another person, it just means "This is the one that the spirit is resting upon. This is the one you came to point out and this is why you are here, John." Amen.

So Jesus will talk to us, he'll draw us, then he wants to save us. And his death on the cross provides salvation, but we must respond in faith. Right? Without faith it's impossible to please him. Right? For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, he's a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Amen. So in John 15 we read this this morning, Jesus said, he said to his disciples, "Ye are my friends." John 15:14, "Ye are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you." In other words, I've got to obey what he says, right? So it's really no different than what Abraham had to do, he's got to obey. If I believe, I'll obey. Don't tell me you believe and you don't obey. Don't tell me. Oh, you can tell me but try telling that to God. Okay?

So Jesus came to save us from our sins so that we could have a relationship with him. You see, it all comes back to God is trying to reach and correct what happened in the Garden of Eden. Now just understand, maybe you already know this, but if you don't know this, the Bible says the lamb was slain, meaning Jesus, the sacrifice from the foundation of the world. Now it's not talking about that that happened in the past and in early time, but it means that God already knew before Adam and Eve were ever made.

God knew Adam and Eve were going to sin. God knew the devil was going to come, tempt them, they were going to sin and God already had a plan to deal with that. And throughout all history, God has been reaching out to people. And if you lived according to what God revealed to you in your age, that's where God judges you. So don't don't try to take what's the New Testament and extrapolate it back. The thief on the cross, he's still under law. People say "What about the thief on the cross?" He's under law.

Jesus hasn't died yet, he hasn't risen yet, the Holy Ghost hasn't been given yet. God is dealing with him under the law. So he can say to him, "This day you'll be with me in paradise." That man does not need to get baptized in Jesus' name or get the Holy Ghost. But once the Holy Ghost has come, once Jesus has died and risen from the dead, now all men everywhere need to repent, get baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you need the receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

So the problem with having a relationship with the Lord as we read in Genesis is sin separates us from God. Isaiah 59:2. They must have been asking God "How come you're not asking answering our prayers?" A lot of times we do that to God. Sometimes it's just God saying "wait." Sometimes we're asking for something that God doesn't agree with. Or if he gives it to us, he knows it'll hurt us. And sometimes God's not answering because we've got sin.

But in Isaiah 59:1 it says, "Behold the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither is his ear heavy that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear." Sin will prevent us from getting a relationship with God, so you've got to confess your sin. So again, we've got to admit. If you're going to live for God, the first step is "I'm a sinner." Right? That's first step. You've got to admit "I'm a sinner."

And whatever sins I did, I did them. I might have done them with other people but I still did them. They might have influenced me, but I still did them. And I'm wrong because I did them. So I've got to confess my sin. Jesus said we had to repent. Luke 13:3 and 5. He said, "I tell you nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Verse five, "I tell you nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." So Jesus taught we've got to repent. Amen.

So even if I believe in Jesus, until I repent, I'm not going to make any headway. I've got to repent. I've got to obey what God says to do. Jesus commanded his disciples to baptize people. You look at that in Matthew 28, he commands them. You've got people today saying "Oh, you don't need to be baptized to be saved." But why did Jesus command them to baptize? Why does he give them a command? Why didn't he just say if they want to be baptized, they can.

If they want to do that as as a show of of their faith to other people or a declaration, you can baptize them. But he says "Go and baptize." In Matthew 28 he says in verse 19, "Go ye therefore teach all night nations, baptizing them." Baptizing them, he gives them a command to baptize. In Mark 16, 16:16, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be damned." That's the gospel of Mark.

Luke 24:47, "And he said unto them, thus it is written and thus it behoove Christ to suffer and rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations." Remission of sins is water baptism. That's what that means. And notice whose name it's supposed to be, whose name? His name, Christ's name. Water baptism is supposed to be in the name of Jesus. Not titles, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Those are not names. A lot of fathers here. If I just yell "Father," I'm going to get a lot of response. Brother Mark Zaro back there, he's a father. If I just say "Father," I don't know who it is, but if I say "Mark Zaro," now I've got the name, we know who we're talking about. You get baptized in name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, you've got an anonymous baptism. You didn't get any name.

And not only that, it doesn't say "names," it says "name." It's looking for a single name. It's not looking for names. So Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are not names. You know the name of the son is. What is it? Jesus. So at least at least you should be saying is Father, Jesus, Holy Ghost. But it says "in the name," not names. It's not looking for names, it's looking for one name that represents God and that name is Jesus Christ. Amen.

Again in John 3:5, water baptism. "Verily I say unto you except a man be born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." And water there does not mean the natural birth because Jesus is talking about entering into the kingdom of God, he means water baptism. So Jesus said "repent," didn't he? Jesus said "baptize." You need to be baptized, didn't he? Jesus said "wait for the Holy Ghost."

Acts 1:8, "ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you." Verse four, "but wait for the promise of the Father, which saith he ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." So Jesus is saying repent, get baptized, get the Holy Ghost. Right? Isn't that what Jesus is saying?

So on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, when the Holy Ghost is poured out and people want to know what's going on and they say "What's this commotion about?" Peter stands up with the other eleven and he says unto them, "You crucified the Messiah. You're guilty of crucifying the Messiah." And in verse 37, Acts 2:37, "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?"

Peter doesn't say "just believe on the Lord you'll be saved." Just "confess the Lord you'll be saved," "accept the Lord you'll be saved." Peter says, "Repent, be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." He's saying the same thing Jesus had taught them. Jesus said repent, he said first thing. Jesus said you need to be baptized. He says you need to be baptized for the remission of sins. Not "because of" remission of sins. "For" the remission of sins.

What do you mean "because of?" Some people say, "Well, you just got your sins are already taken care of, you're just getting baptized because they are taken care of." No, no, it says "for." It doesn't say "because of." It says "for" remission of sins. And none of the translations say "because of," they all say "for." They say "because" or "for" the remission of sins, it takes care of your sins. "Remission" means "freedom from." That's why you've got people sitting in church that believe in God, think they're saved and they're not saved. They're unhappy, they can't reach God, their prayers aren't working because you didn't do what God asked you to do.

You did what some preacher told you to do. You did what some denomination told you to do and not what the Bible said to do. "Yeah, but if I do that they'll kick me out of the church." "Get thee out of your country, go from your kindred, go to the place I'll show you." Do what you've got to do in order to get what God's got for you. Oh, let's give God some praise here. Lord, we thank you, Lord. We praise you, Lord. We magnify you, Lord God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

So again, a relationship with Jesus, it required he said, "Ye are my friends if ye keep my commands." He commanded them to teach about repentance, he commanded them to teach about baptism, he commanded them to the wait and receive the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is an experience. You can believe and get baptized and not have the Holy Ghost. There's examples in the New Testament. That's right. So you need all that. You need to repent, you need to get baptized in Jesus' name, and you need to get the baptism of the Holy Ghost. And again, baptism for remission of sins will give you freedom from your sin.

But if I don't have something once God frees me from my sin, if I don't have a change of my nature, if I don't receive something from God that will help me to overcome my nature, I'll fall back to where I came from. Is that true? Yeah, that's true. In fact, Jesus talked about it a little bit different way. He said when the spirit of an unclean man goes out, he goes through dry places seeking for a place to rest and when he doesn't find a place, he goes back to the house that he was thrown out of, cast out of, brings seven devils and now the state of the man is worse than before.

Now, I'm not saying if you don't get the Holy Ghost you're going to get a devil in you. What I'm trying to say is unless something comes in to take that clean house, you're going to fall back into your sin. That's the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is what gives us the power to change. Our sin will convict us, God's presence will convict us. We'll understand "I need to repent, I need God." But the Holy Ghost will cause you to want to serve God.

The Holy Ghost will cause you to want to change your life to be the way God wants it because you like God's presence. You need the Holy Ghost so that you know God is real in your personal life. Every person needs to know God personally. Amen. This New Testament salvation is each person is supposed to have a personal experience with God. And that experience involves repentance, water baptism in Jesus' name, and receiving the Holy Ghost. And when you get the Holy Ghost, the same thing that happened on the day of Pentecost, you'll speak in tongues with the language God's spirit gives you. And you can search your Bible, but there's no other sign that says we knew they got the Holy Ghost except by speaking in tongues.

Water baptism, you're buried with Jesus. Water baptism is an admission that you've died to your sins. If you're really dead to sin, might as well get water baptized, right? What's the problem? If you've really confessed your sins and you want to quit sin and live for God, what's the problem with getting baptized? Why don't I want that? And why don't I want it in Jesus' name? Why don't I want the name of the one that's provided the blood, the one that's earned my brought my salvation? Why don't I want that name on me? Why don't I want the only name that the devils are afraid of, the only name that salvation's in? Why don't I want that name on me? Amen.

Water baptism is we crucify our body. If we've crucified our body by repenting of sins and we really crucified ourselves, we get buried with him in Jesus' name. It's a spiritual circumcision the Bible says. Not a physical, a spiritual one. The Bible also says that getting water baptized washes away our sins. Paul said that's what happened to him in Acts 22:16. He said Ananias said "What are you waiting for? Arise, wash away your sins, calling on the name of Jesus," which meant to get baptized in Jesus' name.

Water baptism again washes away our sins. 1 Corinthians 6:11, let's read that one scripture there so you can see it. Understand that there are scriptures that sometimes God says things different ways in the Bible, but they mean the same thing. 1 Corinthians 6:11, "Such were some of you, but ye're washed." Not "some of you are washed," "all of you, ye're washed, ye're sanctified, ye're justified." How were you washed, sanctified and justified? "In the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God." That's talking about a water baptism, washed in the name, washed by the spirit is talking about a spirit baptism.

We'll look at another one, Titus 3:5, just so you can see that there's more than one scripture that talks about it. Titus 3:5, he's saying he says, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us" why, how? "By the washing of regeneration," water baptism, "and renewing," or renovation, "of the Holy Ghost," Holy Ghost baptism. So water baptism puts the name of Jesus on you. If you're going to be a follower of Christ, don't you want his name? If you're going to be the family of God, don't you want his name? If you're going to be in the body of Christ, don't you want the name of the body you're in? Jesus.

So Jesus said you've got to be born again to enter the kingdom of God. It's the baptism of the Holy Ghost which gives us power to live for the Lord. It's water baptism which gives us that living that Holy Ghost gives you living water. The baptism of the Holy Ghost is when you receive the Spirit of Christ. Again, because people are confused about God, they think "I got Jesus, I don't have the Holy Ghost." No, you don't have either. You might think you do. God's one. God's a spirit, there's only one spirit in God. The spirit of God was in Christ. When you get the Holy Ghost, that's when you get Jesus.

You can believe in Jesus, you can believe, feel, hear, have God heal you and not have Jesus. These are Bible things. So just because you feel Jesus doesn't mean you have Jesus. Just because you hear the voice of God doesn't mean you are right with God. And I'm not going through all the Bible things to talk about that because we're running out of time. But the baptism of the Holy Ghost makes you a temple of God. So the Bible records the story of a God who wants a relationship with us. That's really what he wants. He wants us to know him.

We all, I think probably everybody here knows the scripture, "He's wonderful, counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace." You don't really understand that till you get the Holy Ghost. You don't really understand God until you have that experience. The Holy Ghost is a supernatural experience, it's an encounter with God where God fills you with his spirit. And when you become the temple of God, now God is living in you. He's with you. All right? And so now now you have power because God is living in you. Amen.

So God has been reaching for humanity since the beginning. God came in himself in the person of Jesus Christ. He's not another person. This idea that the son is in heaven and God sent the son down, that is not what the Bible is saying. There's no eternal son sitting up in heaven before Jesus is born. The Bible tells you the son is the humanity that God conceived through Mary. Look at all the scriptures, the son is "made," "concerning his son made of the seed of David according to the flesh." "Being made so much better than the angels."

God who is eternal robed himself in flesh, and it's really said in Philippians 2:5, "Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal to God." The only way that can be not robbery is if he is that God. "Made himself of no reputation." In other words, when God came in the person of Jesus Christ, he did not come as God, he came as our fellow man. "He made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of servant, was made in the likeness of men."

So God came himself in the person of Jesus Christ. Again, I could go through a whole bunch of scriptures, but John 8:58, Jesus tells the Pharisees and the Sadducees, "Before Abraham was, I am." There's only one I AM. When he said that's why they picked up stones to stone him, because they realized he's saying he's the one that was in the bush talking to Moses. He's a man. Again, in John 10:30, "I and my father are one." Pick up stones. "Why do you want to stone me?" "Because you being a man makes yourself God." He's claiming to be the God of the Old Testament. Not another person. The God manifest in flesh.

God's still reaching today. Would you stand here this morning? Thank you for being patient here today. Amen. The question, would you like a relationship with the Lord today? We can all have an intimate relationship with the Lord, but you have to obey with the faith as Abraham did and as Jesus said. Now now listen to this statement. Salvation is provided by grace, but it takes obedience and faith to receive what God has provided by that grace.

Grace makes it available, but for you and me to access it, I've got to exercise faith and obey what God said to obtain what God has provided. And this is no different than the way God has dealt through the whole Bible. Let's start to pray. This altar's open here. If you just want to come and worship God, maybe you want a renewal in God, maybe you want a deeper experience with God. Amen. And you can say "Well, I can pray right there where I'm at." You're right, you can. But when you take a step of faith to the altar, you're signifying "I want something more from God."

And God is going to work, God is going to work in a special way when you start to move and reach out to God. God will work and help you. Amen. Praise God. The Bible says God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hallelujah. If you'll come and pray and just ask God and believe God. "Lord, show me what to do. Lord, the preacher's saying a lot of things that are different from what I've been taught. Show me if that's right, God. Show me, show me in your word. Teach me, Lord God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah."

If that's right, then I want to know, God. Let me understand, Lord God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Come on, if you'll just start to worship God and pray. Hallelujah. Just start to ask God. "Lord, do I know you the way that I'm supposed to know you? Lord, have I just been following traditions? Have I just followed things that I've been taught, but my heart, my heart doesn't feel like it knows you?" Oh, if you want a heart experience with God, you've got to obey him and yield to him. Amen.

You've got to get rid of traditions. Jesus said that "by traditions you can make the word of God of none effect." It's not how long the traditions have been followed, it's whether they contradict what God is saying. Hallelujah. Lord, we thank you, Lord. Come on, the Lord's moving here. The Lord's moving. Listen to him, reach up to him. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. God's not interested in a formality, he's interested in our heart. Our heart.

You might not know how to pray, you might not know what to do, but you can just be like the man that had a son that was possessed and he said, "Lord, I believe help my unbelief." You can be like the woman with the issue, "If I can just touch his hem, I'll be healed. Hallelujah. If I can just get a crumb like the Syrophoenician woman, just give me a crumb, God. Crumb from you will be worth more than all the other things. Give me a crumb, Lord. Give me a crumb." Oh, come on, God is here. He's reaching for people. He's reaching for hearts. He's reaching for people that say "I want to know you. Lord, I want to love you and serve you."

Guest (Female): Thank you for joining us today as we have studied the word on Apostolic Truth Radio. My name is Tina Ouellette, wife of Pastor Craig Ouellette of South Shore Pentecostal Church, located at 58 West Street in Whitman, Massachusetts. If you love praise and worship, you will love services at South Shore Pentecostal Church and we invite you to come and worship with us.

Sunday School for all ages begins at 10:00 AM and our Sunday evening service begins at 6:00 PM. Adult Bible study and Children's Churches are held on Wednesdays at 7:00 PM. You can learn more about our church on our website at southshorepentecostal.com or you may call us at 781-447-1668. If you have been blessed by this radio ministry, you can help support Apostolic Truth Radio via online giving through Venmo at SSPC Whitman. Write us today and request a free copy of today's message and join us for another broadcast of Apostolic Truth.