WYC 2008: Something Better

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GYC West

WYC 2008 Plenary Sessions

Doug Batchelor

Better Hope

Eugene Prewitt

Better Sacrifice

Don Mackintosh

Better Covenant: What’s New About the Old Covenant

Tim Riesenberger

Better Promises

Better Resurrection

I've been praying about priorities this week, and what I would be sharing with you tonight, you know, the theme of better in Hebrews.

Take your computer and a Bible program and look that up.

You'll be surprised how much it talks about better.

And Paul there in Hebrews is making a comparison.

He's exalting the benefits of Christianity, the reality of Christ over the shadows that you find in Judaism.

I kind of feel some of that in my own life, because mother was from Jewish background.

He'd send me to Christian school to go live with my mother.

At military school, they required me to pick a service to go to.

They said you either go to Catholic, Protestant, or Jewish every Sunday.

Sunday, interesting, even Jewish services.

And they'd say, wait a second, last week you were at the Catholic service.

I said, well, I don't want to make my mother mad, so I'm at the Jewish services today.

And it would give me a kind of a broad spectrum.

But Christianity certainly is superior to the shadows, the reality of Christ.

As I've thought about what's better in the priorities, you think about a lot of the greatest things in the Bible.

What does it tell us in 1 Corinthians 13 is the greatest thing?

And if you were to ask Malachi, what's the most important thing, he'd probably say, do justly, love mercy, walk humbly.

And as I thought about that, I'm going to talk to you tonight what I think about, what I believe is the most important thing.

I was 17 when God got a hold of me and the enthusiasm potential in this group, if you could become infected with the potency of the good news.

I want to begin with a quote and it's from the Spirit of Prophecy.

I'm going to read you a couple of quotes.

The spirit of god as it comes into the heart by faith is the beginning of life eternal the spirit of god what promises less fulfilled in the church than that of the endowment of the Holy Spirit here is our greatest need whether you knew it or not I'm telling you now your greatest need is the Holy Spirit The teacher must be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Then the mind and the spirit of Christ will be in him and he will confess Jesus as a spiritual and holy life.

He will give evidence that the truth has been received, that it has not been merely a theory, but it's been sanctified through the truth that he has been sanctified through the truth he can talk of christ and him crucified in a language that savors of heaven I want to read something else you're familiar with first selected messages page 121 a revival of true godliness among us is the greatest and most urgent of all our needs to seek this should be our first work there must be earnest effort to obtain the blessing of the Lord not because God is not willing to bestow His blessing upon us but because we're unprepared to receive it our Heavenly Father is more willing to give here's the greatest thing His Holy Spirit to them that ask Him than our earthly parents to give good gifts to their children but it's our work by confession, humiliation, repentance and earnest prayer to fulfill the conditions upon which God has promised to grant his blessing a revival need be expected only in answer to prayer while the people are so destitute of God's Holy Spirit they cannot appreciate the preaching of the Word but when the Spirit's power touches their hearts then the discourse is given will not be without effect now you're going to hear some wonderful discourses this week you're going to hear some men of God open the word of God and share some very important truths.

What is it that's gonna prepare us for everything that we might receive?

Now as my custom is, I'd like to use a story in the Bible as a springboard for that principle.

So if you have your Bibles, please turn with me to the second book of Kings, chapter 2.

And I've got a timekeeper here, so I'm going to have to pace myself.

This is the story where Elijah is taken up into heaven.

And Elisha is present for that experience.

I think it's relevant for us for a couple of reasons.

1 is, before this is over, Elisha gets a double portion of Elijah's spirit.

Another reason is, it's talking about translation, and we're on the verge of that.

We want to know, what does it mean to live a life that can be translated from this world to the next without death?

Also, it's a picture of Christ, and you'll understand that as I go on verse 1, and it came to pass, 2nd Kings chapter 2 verse 1 when the Lord was about to take Elijah up into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.

Elisha is the apprentice prophet of Elijah, their names are similar, and it's, I'll mess it up before we're done you just watch I'll get them mixed up Elijah means my God is Jehovah Elisha means my God is Savior very similar but of course different individuals Elisha was called by Elijah when Elijah came back from his Mount Sinai experience.

And you remember Elijah placed his mantle on the shoulders of young Elisha, who must have been a wealthy son because he was plowing among servants that had 11 other yoke of oxen.

And in Bible times, if you had a yoke of oxen, you were middle class.

If you had 12 of them, you were doing very well.

And he walked away from all of that to follow a poor prophet that had to live by a creek, was fed by birds and widows to be the servant of that man then Elijah said to Elisha stay here please for the Lord has sent me to Bethel Bethel means the house of God and Elisha said as the Lord lives and as your soul lives I will not leave you now don't miss this God is preparing to fill Elisha with a double portion of Elijah's spirit How many of you would be content to have at least what Elijah had?

I mean, I would never have the audacity to ask for twice of what Elijah had.

1 secret is, he said, I'm not staying here, I'm following you.

And when Elijah, there I did it, when Elijah went to the house of God, Elisha went with him.

We need to be willing to follow our Lord when he goes to the house of God.

If you missed the point, if you don't have enough faith to get you to church once a week, you probably don't have enough to get you to heaven.

And the sons of the prophets who were with him at Bethel came to Elisha and they said to him do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?

He said yes I know it, hold your peace, keep silent, now they were saying you know word is out through the prophets that God is going to take away Elijah to heaven And he was going through the circuit of the schools of the prophets, trying to encourage them before he ascended.

Now, Elijah in this story is something like Jesus.

What did Jesus do before he ascended to heaven?

After his resurrection, he spent 40 days meeting here and there with the apostles for what purpose?

To open the scriptures, to encourage them, because he was going to go up.

And when he went up, he sent the Spirit, didn't he?

The sons of the prophets were saying, you're going to be the resident prophet when he ascends.

And Elijah was saying, as the Father has sent me, Elisha, so I'm sending you.

I've trained you to complete the work of revival that I've started.

As Jesus said, as the Father sent me, so I send you.

And in the same way that there were schools of the prophets back then and Jesus had the apostles, I believe God wants to have schools of the prophets in the last days where people come together with a common love for the truth.

That's what we want Weimar to be, way more.

And when they said he's gonna be taken away, he said, hold your peace.

Was he happy that his boss was going to be gone?

Matter of fact, 1 time when Elisha was being introduced to the king of Israel, that he said, this is the 1 who poured water on the hands of Elijah.

The same way Jesus poured water on the feet of the disciples, to be a servant.

In heaven, will you be pleased to be a Gibeonite, a gatekeeper?

If I can just be there, watching the door, praise the Lord.

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Series

WYC 2008 Plenary Sessions

Better Hope

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Our Greatest Need

47m

Mission: Supernatural

40m

GYC 2011 Seminar: The Greatest of All Our Needs

Conditions & Hindrances for Spirit Filling

2h 27m

Part 5 - Crossing the Jordan

1h 9m

The Parables

The Sheep And The Goats

43m

Empowered by His Spirit

39m

Acts

Time of Preparation

32m

Preparing For Rain

44m

The Early and Latter Rain: Our Need of the Holy Spirit

Six Reasons Why the Early Rain is Needed

57m

Acts

Persecution, Prayer, and Power

53m

God's Love Stories (Noon Meetings)

12. Demon Possession in India

1h 41m

Sound Doctrine