1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,600 Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. We are a Bible-Believing Church located in 2 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:17,120 beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part of the Christian Fellowship Ministries 3 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:22,800 with 3,000 churches around the world. We are a church focused on world evangelism, discipleship 4 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:28,160 and church planting. Here we will share recent sermons from P.H.S.A. Church and other sermons 5 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:33,120 from throughout our fellowship. I am Pastor David Bickford and I will be your host for this podcast. 6 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:37,920 I thank you for listening today and we hope these messages are a blessing to you and bring you closer 7 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:50,800 to God. Hello and welcome back to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. I am the pastor here 8 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:56,400 in Salmon Arm. My name is David Bickford. Today I have something new and it is Mitchell Mondays. 9 00:00:56,400 --> 00:01:00,480 This is going to be a collection of sermons from our founding pastor, the late Wayman Mitchell, 10 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:05,040 and our current head pastor, his son, Greg Mitchell, based out of Prescott, Arizona. 11 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:09,600 These are powerful messages from our fellowship leaders and I hope that these messages add to 12 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:17,680 your week. God bless. This evening, what a real privilege for me to turn this pulpit over to my 13 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:27,520 pastor. Pastor Greg has just been such a blessing to our fellowship. His dad, I was very, very close 14 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:37,280 to his dad in the years. It was a hard time when he passed away, but what was really, really neat 15 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:45,280 is that Pastor Greg was already stepping into the place of leadership. I remember being at a 16 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:52,160 leadership meeting where Pastor Greg actually shared with all the leaders that he was just trying to 17 00:01:53,520 --> 00:02:03,040 fulfill a need by helping in Prescott, but God raised him up and we are very privileged tonight to 18 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:08,320 be able to experience the ministry of Pastor Greg. I am so thankful for his ministry 19 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:11,600 and let's give him a warm Canadian welcome as he comes. 20 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:26,160 Thank you. Praise God. Amen. Thank you. I am honored to be here with you. Wasn't able to be 21 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:33,200 here last year, so I missed out, but I'm very, very grateful to be with you again this year and 22 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:40,400 I'm trusting God's going to do good things. I was in Chandler on Tuesday and those of you 23 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:47,920 have been praying for Pastor Campbell, giving a good report that he is recovering. God did a 24 00:02:47,920 --> 00:02:54,080 miracle in him. You don't know, his heart stopped in the airport in Sydney, Australia, 25 00:02:54,080 --> 00:03:01,280 but a doctor was standing next to him. When that happened, was able to revive him and after some 26 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:09,040 recovery in Australia, surgery, underwent surgery. Now he's back home and very, very good to see him. 27 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:16,640 So no doubt if God arranged a doctor to be there when you need it, I said clearly God has more for 28 00:03:16,640 --> 00:03:23,280 you and he's not finished. And so I was very glad. So you keep praying for him that he'll have 29 00:03:23,920 --> 00:03:38,640 full recovery. Turn in your Bibles to Psalm 133. Psalm 133 in 1900 30 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:48,480 in Spindletop Hill, which is outside of Beaumont, Texas. They started drilling for oil. They believe 31 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:57,040 that there was oil underneath a salt dome. They started in October of 1900. By January 1901, 32 00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:08,400 they had drilled down 1,020 feet, hadn't hit oil yet. But on January 10, 1901, mud came gushing out 33 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:17,120 of the hole at high speed, then natural gas, and then oil started shooting out 150 feet up in the 34 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:24,880 air. They called the Lucas Geyser. It was the most powerful ever seen at that time. The oil began to 35 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:34,160 flow at the rate of 100,000 barrels a day. That was the large, that was more that was being produced 36 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:40,560 by all oil wells in North America at that time. First year produced three and a half million 37 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:49,760 barrels of oil. Second, 17.4. Three of the largest petroleum companies were sparked or spawned out of 38 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:57,920 that initial strike. So here's my point from that story. They drilled, but then the oil began to flow. 39 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:04,560 The scripture that we're going to read is a very famous one, and it speaks about the anointing oil. 40 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:13,200 Oil, as you know, is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, and our text tells us what it will take. We're 41 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:19,200 going to learn what will it take for the oil to flow. But there is a question that I am posing 42 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:26,080 to you that actually forms the title of the sermon, and that is, will the oil flow? 43 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:31,360 The oil flow, because that depends on us, and we're going to look at this from God's word. 44 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:36,000 Will the oil flow? Psalm 133 starting at verse one, 45 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:41,680 Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. 46 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:46,960 It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, 47 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:52,080 running down on the edge of his garments. It's like the dew of her maw, descending upon the 48 00:05:52,080 --> 00:06:00,080 mountains of Zion, for there the Lord commanded the blessing, life evermore. Will the oil flow? 49 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:05,600 I want to begin three simple thoughts. Number one, here's the first one. It starts with the head. 50 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:14,560 Verse two says it's like the precious oil upon the head. In the Bible, when it uses that word head, 51 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:22,960 head is a symbol of leadership or spiritual authority. This text is talking about Aaron, 52 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:30,160 who was the head or the leader of the Levites. He was the chief priest, the one who put people 53 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:38,480 in touch with God. First Chronicles 8, 28, they were heads of their fathers' houses by their 54 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:45,040 generations, chief men. They dwelt in Jerusalem. Over 25 times you'll find that phrase in the 55 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:55,040 Bible, heads of houses. The one who leads a clan, a tribe, a group of people. Literally, 56 00:06:55,040 --> 00:07:00,480 one who leads is one who determines what happens. First Corinthians 11, 3, I want you to know the 57 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:09,520 head of every man is Christ. The head of woman is man. The head of Christ is God. It starts with the 58 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:17,760 head. The body is affected by the head. Anyone who has had a stroke or suffered brain damage, 59 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:26,880 what's happening in the head now affects the arms, the legs, the rest of the body. So here is my 60 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:35,920 point that I want to bring out. You cannot expect the body to be what the head is not. 61 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:46,880 If you are the head of a home, I'm speaking now to pastors. If you're the head, if you're the one 62 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:57,120 who leads the church, if you are not committed, passionate, and surrendered, they will never be. 63 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:06,160 Because our text says it starts with the head. When I was concert director, about to go out to 64 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:13,040 preach, I was at my parents' house. The phone rang. Dad answered the phone. It was a young pastor on 65 00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:22,400 the other end. He was complaining that the people won't give. He is mad. These people, they won't 66 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:27,280 give. There's no money. They're not giving. So Pastor Joe, I could hear his end of the conversation. 67 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:33,040 Well, are you preaching on money? To each of this, the man was giving an irritated reply. Yes, I'm 68 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:38,400 preaching on money. Are you teaching? Yes, I'm teaching on money. Are you taking offering? Of 69 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:44,560 course I'm taking offering. So I could see Dad, you know, mentally scratching his head, and finally 70 00:08:44,560 --> 00:08:54,160 he asked, he asked the pastor, he said, well, are you tithing? Crickets. The pastor wasn't tithing. 71 00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:01,200 Now, no one knew that. He didn't say, I want you all to give, but I'm not going to do it. 72 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:08,240 But the Bible says it starts with a head. He could not get them to be what he is not. This is true 73 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:15,840 in life. A carnal head will never produce a spiritual body. The pastor's carnal, the body is 74 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:22,960 going to be carnal. A covetous head can never produce a liberal body. The pastor's driven by 75 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:29,840 money, the people will be driven by money. A cold head will never produce an honest body. 76 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:39,840 A carnal body will never produce an on-fire body. In our text, it gives a powerful principle, and 77 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:49,120 that is anointing runs downward. Verse two, it's like the precious oil upon the head running down. 78 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:58,000 A very common complaint that I hear from pastors, and this is around the world, pastors say these 79 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:05,680 people are not going to get these people to fill in the blank, pray, give, commit, surrender, go. 80 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:15,920 The mistake that they're making is that this is always a people problem. This is a body problem. 81 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:21,760 They come to conferences, they hear a brother giving a report, and people are getting saved, 82 00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:25,920 and God is doing good things, and people are getting involved, and they're giving money, 83 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:33,520 and of course they are. You got the good people. I got the bad people. They're not doing it. 84 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:40,800 But that's not biblically correct. The Bible says anointing flows 85 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:48,880 downward. In fact, there are people that they are eager to claim their right to be the head. 86 00:10:49,680 --> 00:10:54,320 There are foolish husbands, that their favorite verse is what I quoted before, 87 00:10:54,320 --> 00:11:00,880 1 Corinthians 11.3. Do you know this woman? I'm the head of the house, because the Bible said so 88 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:08,000 in 1 Corinthians 11.3. There are pastors who have to frequently remind the people, I'm in charge. 89 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:14,160 I'm going to give you a little clue in life. If you ever have to tell someone that you're in charge, 90 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:26,720 you're not. See, leadership, this is not something to be demanded. It's a responsibility, 91 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:36,240 because anointing flows downward. To anyone who is in authority, whether that is in a home, 92 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:45,120 a ministry, or the pastor of a church, we will answer for authority. It is not, give me a title. 93 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:50,960 I want to be in charge so everybody knows that I'm important. See, you answer for authority in the 94 00:11:50,960 --> 00:12:07,120 garden. Husband and wife both sin, but God came looking for who? Adam. Where are you? Because it 95 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:14,880 is a responsibility, James 3.1, dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers 96 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:22,640 in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. Pastor, pastor, I want to be in 97 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:27,200 charge. Can I have a title? Can I have a ministry? I want to be able to tell people what to do. 98 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:33,680 You might not know what you're asking for, because it comes with greater accountability. 99 00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:42,400 When the cruise ship Costa Concordia shipwrecked some years back off the coast of Italy, 100 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:50,240 who did they charge? The captain. A maritime lawyer said the captain is the master of the vessel. 101 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:55,520 Every crew member looks to the captain for guidance and leadership. It's the captain's 102 00:12:55,520 --> 00:13:04,640 responsibility to know the waters and avoid coming close to any shoals and reefs. So the first 103 00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:10,800 principle, if the oil is going to flow, the Bible says it starts with the head. Principle number 104 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:19,920 two is, very simple, you need the oil. Our text speaks about oil and is talking about a particular 105 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:28,720 kind of oil. It is anointing oil, verse two, like the precious oil upon the head. This is the 106 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:40,160 anointing oil that was poured on Aaron when he was anointed as priest. Oil is a very important 107 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:51,600 element of the Bible. It is a supernatural dimension, literally God at work, God doing 108 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:58,320 something. We believe in the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The three parts of the Godhead. 109 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:06,800 What the Father plans, the Son purchased, the Holy Spirit is the one who provides that. 110 00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:14,960 He is the one who empowers all that the Father planned and the Son purchased. The Holy Spirit 111 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:23,520 is all about supernatural power. This is what we have to have at work in our lives, in our churches. 112 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:30,480 We need something supernatural. You don't need a program. You need a miracle. You need God doing 113 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:39,120 what we cannot do, doing more than we can do. Micah 3, 8, but I am full of power by the Spirit 114 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:45,120 of the Lord. That should be the cry of every pastor, of every person involved in ministry. 115 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:54,320 God, let me be full of power, full of supernatural ability. Zechariah 4, 6 and 7, so he answered and 116 00:14:54,320 --> 00:15:01,280 said to me, this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel. Not by might nor by power, but by my 117 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:07,920 spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel, you shall become a 118 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:18,080 plane and he'll bring forth a capstone with shouts of grace, grace to it. See, what God is promising, 119 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:28,240 he can supply a supernatural dimension in ministry. We're not talking about doing something 120 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:36,240 for God, trying to bring God's presence to other people. God never intended for you to try to 121 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:43,040 minister in your own power. Luke 24, 49, I'll send the Holy Spirit as my father promised, but stay 122 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:51,680 here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven. Our text 123 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:59,040 speaks about oil and it is anointing oil. In the Bible, prophets, priests and kings were three 124 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:07,040 types of people who were anointed. This of course was the rite of consecration when they were 125 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:14,240 dedicated to the Lord, but notice this, when they're going to do something for God, oil, 126 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:20,800 they had to have the oil. They could not begin their ministry without oil. 127 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:31,760 It is the power of the Holy Spirit, God doing something beyond human wisdom, human planning, 128 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:39,680 human talent, human organization, human ability. Isaiah 10, 27 says, 129 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:45,680 in that day, his burden shall be taken from off of your shoulder, the yoke from off your neck, 130 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:53,360 and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. Think about that, a dimension. 131 00:16:53,360 --> 00:17:01,360 Dimension. People are held captive in many ways in life and the Bible says, 132 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:09,920 what is going to break bondage off of people? Have you ever tried to talk a drug out of drugs? 133 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:15,680 You ever tried to talk an alcohol? I don't know if you're aware of this, drugs are killing your 134 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:23,360 life. Have you ever had a drug out of God? I was unaware of that. Thank you for pointing that out. 135 00:17:23,360 --> 00:17:30,480 No, no, no, it takes a miracle for someone to be, and the Bible says, the anointing can break the 136 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:37,840 yoke. Luke 4, 18 and 19, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach 137 00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:42,720 the gospel to the poor. Send me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the 138 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:48,080 captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those that are bruised, to preach the 139 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:56,960 acceptable year of the Lord. Jesus is announcing his ministry and he says something is going to 140 00:17:56,960 --> 00:18:07,200 happen supernaturally. He describes the effect prisoners set free, eyes are opened, broken hearts 141 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:14,720 are healed. Something has to happen. I was counseling last night to new convert, to couple, 142 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:22,720 and I'm speaking just very simply. She's simply telling of the different things in her life, 143 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:29,360 and I am telling her, oh, I pointed out from the Bible, God is able to cleanse and God is able to 144 00:18:29,360 --> 00:18:35,440 deliver. I just spoke for a few moments and she looked at me and she said, I can feel it. 145 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:42,400 Something is changing in, we hadn't even prayed yet. Something is changing inside. What was 146 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:48,480 happening? Not because I said something clever that she was going to write down. A supernatural 147 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:57,360 dimension, that is what we have to have. Our text speaks about anointing oil. Think about anointing. 148 00:18:57,360 --> 00:19:07,360 Anointing manifests in two profound ways. Number one, how do you tell if someone is anointed? 149 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:16,880 Anointing manifests through human speech. That's firstly, 1 Samuel 3, 19, Samuel grew and the 150 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:25,360 Lord was with him and did let none of his words fall to the ground. That is the dimension of 151 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:30,560 anointing. Have you ever had that feeling that you're witnessing to someone and it just feels 152 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:36,320 like it's dribbling down your chin? Like, no, I need it to go to their heart. 153 00:19:39,360 --> 00:19:45,760 You preach, doesn't feel like anything is happening, but the Bible says when Samuel spoke, 154 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:55,920 those words did not fall to the ground. What that is saying is they made impact. Luke 4, 22, 155 00:19:55,920 --> 00:20:03,440 everyone spoke well of him and were amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. You know, 156 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:12,000 grace in the Bible is of course kindness or he was speaking kindly, but it's power. That word is 157 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:20,240 power, powerful. They were amazed at the powerful words that he was speaking. What needs to happen, 158 00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:28,160 we have to have words that penetrate. Acts 2, 37, Peter's words, they were pierced to the heart. 159 00:20:29,120 --> 00:20:36,480 When he preached, you can read the sermon that he is simply pointing out biblical and godly logic 160 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:45,200 and connecting it to their lives, but the effect is they, the Bible says, they were pierced to the 161 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:54,800 heart. God did a miracle. I was earlier this year in New Zealand and a man was there on the, 162 00:20:55,600 --> 00:21:04,480 probably the second row, and his entire face is tattooed. He had, and I learned from him, 163 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:13,600 and I learned that his testimony, his pastor told me his testimony, his pastor was on the streets 164 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:22,000 in the city of New Zealand where he was, and he saw two gangsters. He saw they were part of the 165 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:29,280 largest gang in New Zealand called the Mongrel Mob. It was a bike gang, criminals. He saw two of them. 166 00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:36,160 He started witnessing one of them listen. He said the other guy listened for a minute, scowled 167 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:45,680 and stormed away, and he thought to himself that guy was not into it at all. He said one year later 168 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:53,920 he got a call. It was the man who walked away, and that man said to him, 169 00:21:53,920 --> 00:22:00,720 for one year I cannot get the words out of my head that I heard you say that day. He said, 170 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:08,640 what time is church? I want to come to church, and here he, I met he and his wife. Here his entire 171 00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:16,640 face is tatted out, lifting his hands, worshiping. God did a miracle. What happened? The words 172 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:24,480 pierced to the heart. That is what anointing does. James Hervey, he was a friend of the Wesley's at 173 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:29,920 Oxford. He talked about the change that took place when he was filled with the Holy Spirit. 174 00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:36,720 He said while my preaching was once like the firing of an arrow in which the speed and the 175 00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:43,440 force depends on the strength of the arm and bending the bow, he said after I was filled with 176 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:50,720 the Holy Spirit, it's like the firing of a rifle that all it takes is the touch on the trigger 177 00:22:51,280 --> 00:23:00,160 to set it off. Anointing is manifested in speech. It makes what you say effective. 178 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:10,000 It's talking about words that inspire the disciples on the road to Emmaus. What they said after 179 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:19,280 talking with Jesus, didn't our hearts burn within us while he spoke? That is what needs to happen. 180 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:27,280 Listen, in preaching, it has to be more than clever arguments, biblical, you know, tense Greek verbs. 181 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:34,640 There needs to be something of fire. I remember when I was a young disciple in Australia, 182 00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:41,360 when my father would just preach on destiny, my heart would begin to pound. He was simply saying 183 00:23:41,360 --> 00:23:49,600 God has a plan for your life. You can do something for God, but he was anointed. Something powerful 184 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:58,720 would happen. One man asked my father, he said, Pastor Mitchell, when you preach, there's more 185 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:06,800 going on than what you're saying. And he said, what is it? In other words, it's not just his sermon, 186 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:12,960 yes, and I want you, he says when you preach, there's something more going on. People want to 187 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:23,840 do the will of God. Why? Anointing. Second thing that anointing is or that it does, anointing causes 188 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:33,680 us to have favor with people. First Samuel 320, and all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that 189 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:41,360 Samuel had been established as a prophet of the Lord. There was something supernatural. He had been 190 00:24:41,360 --> 00:24:50,640 anointed. The Bible says his words don't fall to the ground. But the second thing is other people, 191 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:59,680 they could feel, they could see something in Samuel. They were drawn, they wanted to listen to him. 192 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:07,360 That is what has to happen. You have to have a supernatural dimension. Listen, my wife and I 193 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:15,120 went out when I was 21 and she was 19, and believe me, we looked like we were 12. I have the photos 194 00:25:15,120 --> 00:25:20,560 to prove it. There is no one who in the natural would look at us and go, wow, I'm going to trust 195 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:28,320 my whole life with that guy. But you know what? God was doing a miracle. There were people, 196 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:37,280 the only people who ever asked about our age were religious people from outside. Converts, 197 00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:49,920 they would listen. Converts were drawn. Converts would follow because anointing causes favor with 198 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:56,560 people. It's supernatural. Charles Spurgeon said it's extraordinary power from God, not talent that 199 00:25:56,560 --> 00:26:02,240 wins the day. It's extraordinary spiritual unction, not extraordinary mental power that we need. 200 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:11,600 Mental power may fill a chapel, but spiritual power fills the church with soul anguish. Mental 201 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:18,240 power may gather a large congregation, but only spiritual power will save souls. What we need is 202 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:26,720 spiritual power. And I tell you, that is the power of the Holy Spirit. That brings us then to the 203 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:34,640 third thought. So if it starts with the head, if it's the oil that you need, let's talk about the 204 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:47,360 determining factor. Our text says the determining factor of whether oil flows or not is unity. 205 00:26:47,360 --> 00:26:55,920 Verse one, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Unity, 206 00:26:55,920 --> 00:27:06,480 the word simply means one, to be as one, to be together. Unity is powerful. Whenever there is 207 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:18,800 unity and agreement, power can be released. Genesis 11, 6, the Lord said, indeed the people are one. 208 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:26,320 They have one language and this is what they'll begin to do. Nothing they propose to do will be 209 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:34,080 withheld from them. Unity is powerful. Whether that is in business, or in the church, or in the 210 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:41,040 whether that is in business, whether that is in sports, when everyone on the team will work 211 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:53,440 together as one. Even evil, our text says, even for evil unity is powerful. Our world is being 212 00:27:53,440 --> 00:28:01,760 transformed by unified evil. I don't know, I can't speak for Canada. America is being changed in 213 00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:11,600 terrible ways because wicked people are uniting to change it. Unity. So think about this, lack 214 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:21,520 of unity affects the oil. Our text says unity causes oil to flow, so let's use reverse logic. 215 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:31,440 Disunity, where people are not one, that stops the flow of oil. Mark 325, and if a house is 216 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:41,680 divided against itself, that house cannot stand. Think about this, husbands and wives. 217 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:51,200 The Bible tells about a wife named McCall. She was not in agreement with her husband. She despised 218 00:28:51,920 --> 00:29:00,480 her husband David. They were not one, they were two completely separate. The Bible says she was 219 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:10,960 barren to the day of her death. The flow of life that should have been at work was stopped. But 220 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:20,160 this is true in every human relationship. Husbands and wives, people and pastors, pastors and leaders, 221 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:32,080 brothers and sisters, fellow pastors, unity can release the oil, but unity can stop the oil. Think 222 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:41,600 about some ways that this manifests. Think about conflict for a moment. The book of Philippians, 223 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:46,800 can you imagine, you understand what the, when we say epistles, they were letters. That's what it 224 00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:53,200 meant. They were letters that were written. In those days, there was no internet. They couldn't 225 00:29:53,200 --> 00:30:01,040 live stream. Pastor Paul had a message for the church. So they would gather, they had this written 226 00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:10,240 on parchment. Pastor Paul, he has something he wants us to know. So they all sat down in church and 227 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:17,440 they're, Philippians is a wonderful book. Chapter two, at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow 228 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:22,560 and every tongue, they're like, you can imagine in the pew, yeah, depending on where they're from. 229 00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:32,720 They're excited. Yes. Then they get to chapter four and verse two, and I appeal to Iodia and 230 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:40,480 Syntyche, please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. Iodia and Syntyche are 231 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:54,080 sitting in church. Knock it off. Think about that. Conflict. Here's the problem. There are people that 232 00:30:54,080 --> 00:31:01,200 conflict is as normal as breathing. There are people that in every human relationship, 233 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:10,560 they fight. They're mad. They wake up in the morning mad. They fight with people. They fight 234 00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:16,080 with their family. They fight with people in the church. They fight on the job. They fight with 235 00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:21,200 the pastor. They fight with everybody. They go to the store. They're looking at people. What are you 236 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:28,880 looking at? They're going to fight with them too. And they think that that is normal. They're 237 00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:37,040 thinking that that is normal. In their mind, everybody fights like that. As a matter of fact, 238 00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:42,480 they teach their children how to fight, how to hold on to offenses, how to be mad at people. 239 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:50,880 I don't know if you understand this, there are many people in the world who aren't fighting with 240 00:31:50,880 --> 00:31:57,280 anyone. For some of you, this will blow your mind. Like, no way. What kind of freaks are those? No. 241 00:31:57,280 --> 00:32:04,480 Listen, conflict is not normal. There are people, you've gotten used to it. You're just totally 242 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:17,920 used to fighting with people. But the Bible says it's killing the flow of the oil. Envy. Let's be 243 00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:26,160 honest. Anytime I hear someone say, that person really bugs me, I know that means the person who 244 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:33,360 bugs you, they have something you wish you had. They get to do something you wish you get to do. 245 00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:43,120 That's why they bug you. Envy is the root of much conflict. Rebellion. You have people, they're at 246 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:49,280 odds with everyone in authority. There are people at odds with the pastor. I got people, I ask, 247 00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:54,080 why do you come to church? You hate everything I do. You hate everything I say. I don't want to make 248 00:32:54,080 --> 00:33:07,200 you miserable. Critical of everyone in authority. Tribalism. You know, we can survive black magic 249 00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:14,480 and witchcraft as a fellowship. We cannot survive tribalism. You know what that means? Tribalism. 250 00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:22,800 I'm not talking about first nation people. No, no, I'm talking about churches. Talk about people 251 00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:28,800 who, it's normal, you're proud of where you come from. Thank God. I thank God for my church. I 252 00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:35,040 thank God for my pastor. I thank God for my home church. But what happens is, we start saying, 253 00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:43,520 I'm better than you because of where I'm from. As a matter of fact, I'm suspicious of you because 254 00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:51,120 you're not where I'm from. It doesn't matter what you've done. You're just not where I'm from, 255 00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:55,840 so there's got to be something wrong with you. And there are people, this is how they view in the, 256 00:33:55,840 --> 00:33:59,360 we're all, yeah, we're taking the world for Jesus, but I'm really worried about them because they're 257 00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:09,600 not us. And clearly we're superior because I'm. So what happens because of tribalism, there are 258 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:19,040 people, they will not support someone who's not from their tribe. They speak against people who 259 00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:27,600 they're from another tribe, another wing of the fellowship. They divide their people against their 260 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:34,080 people. As the old saying, there are some men, they'll fly around the world to preach a sermon. 261 00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:44,320 They will not drive across town to hear one. You know the story, a man went and visited 262 00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:54,000 an asylum for the criminally insane and he was shocked. There was a hundred inmate. These are 263 00:34:54,000 --> 00:35:01,120 people, they are violent. They are absolutely crazy people, very dangerous. If they're on the 264 00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:10,640 streets, he starts counting 100 of these violent, dangerous people, only three guards. So he kind of 265 00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:19,200 got near the guard. He said, aren't you worried that these guys are going to unite and attack you 266 00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:25,680 and overcome you so they can escape? And the guard said, you don't understand, crazy people never 267 00:35:25,680 --> 00:35:36,560 unite. You should say, man, right there, that's the truth. You say, who's he talking about? And 268 00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:47,280 that's true. Crazy people never unite. I asked the question, will the oil flow? It starts with the 269 00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:55,440 head. You need the oil, but will it flow? Because our text says, apparently there are some people, 270 00:35:55,440 --> 00:36:06,000 it will not flow because they do not have unity. You cannot have the flow of the oil of the Holy 271 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:12,880 Spirit without unity. What does that mean? That means for some of us, we need to repent. 272 00:36:14,560 --> 00:36:25,040 We need to repent of our pride, rebellion, envy, evil speaking, tribalism. Acts 3.19, 273 00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:32,240 repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out so that the times of refreshing 274 00:36:32,240 --> 00:36:38,400 may come from the presence of the Lord. You want the times of refreshing, but the Bible says it 275 00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:48,560 starts with repentance. There's something just dead flat wrong. Eurycha, Eurya and Syntyche, 276 00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:55,360 knock it off. That's called repentance. Stop it. Change your heart and your mind. 277 00:36:55,360 --> 00:37:06,880 If we want to repent, then we need to choose to be in agreement and unity. Listen, there are things 278 00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:15,040 in life worth fighting about. Okay? I understand this. It's my job to step in. If we got to fight, 279 00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:20,800 I have no problem with that if it's important. You don't have to fight about everything. 280 00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:26,720 What people want to do, they want to fight over non-essentials. You could make up your mind, 281 00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:33,440 you know what? I am not looking to pick a fight with anybody. You could let go of some of your 282 00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:42,240 personal preferences. How about this? I'll give you a radical idea. What if you decided in life, 283 00:37:42,240 --> 00:37:53,120 I am going to be a blessing to everyone around me. I am going to be a blessing to my fellow 284 00:37:53,120 --> 00:38:00,640 believers in my home church. I am going to be a blessing to my pastor. I'm going to be a blessing 285 00:38:00,640 --> 00:38:06,640 to the other churches in our area. I just want to be a blessing. 286 00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:13,600 Our text says we could have a flow of anointing oil and supernatural power 287 00:38:14,240 --> 00:38:19,840 when we have unity. Our verse is again, behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell 288 00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:26,000 together in unity. It's like precious oil upon the head running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron 289 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:31,760 running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of her mom descending from the 290 00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:38,320 mountains of Zion. For there the Lord commanded blessing and life evermore. The dew of her mom, 291 00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:43,120 this is something our brothers spoke about in the desert, but they've had a little bit of rain. 292 00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:52,480 Even if it's weeds, now something begins to grow. The Holy Spirit can bring life to your soul. He 293 00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:59,440 can bring life to your family, life to your church, life to your church, life to your church, 294 00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:08,000 family, life to your church. But the Bible says unity is what brings that to pass. 295 00:39:09,280 --> 00:39:16,320 This is a promise that's actually connected to prayer. Matthew 18, 19, and 20, I say if two of 296 00:39:16,320 --> 00:39:23,200 you agree on earth concerning anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 297 00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:29,680 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them. 298 00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:38,000 Jesus says you could pray for anything if you would agree. 299 00:39:40,400 --> 00:39:49,200 Listen, that's powerful. Husbands and wives, if you would agree, if you would get on the same page 300 00:39:49,200 --> 00:39:54,960 when my daughter was backslidden, we were putting her out of the church and now we were putting her 301 00:39:54,960 --> 00:40:01,520 out of our house, and I took Lisa in the back room and I said we're gonna put her out. She's been 302 00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:06,480 living in immorality. We're gonna live what we believe for all these years. What I tell everybody 303 00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:14,640 else, we're gonna do it. And I said I want you to be with me on this. And she just said, Greg, are 304 00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:21,840 you sure? And I tell you, there was terror in there, but I said yes, this is what God wants. 305 00:40:22,640 --> 00:40:27,680 We're going, we're not gonna change our mind now because it's our daughter. My wife got behind me. 306 00:40:27,680 --> 00:40:32,960 She didn't, she didn't later on tell my daughter, you know, I never agreed with your dad. I always 307 00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:39,680 thought that was mean. This is the problem. There are couples here. God can't help you because you're 308 00:40:39,680 --> 00:40:48,000 not on the same page. If you were to get on the same page, the Bible says you could pray for anything. 309 00:40:49,280 --> 00:40:56,560 God could do a miracle for you. The book of Acts shows us what God wants when the day of 310 00:40:56,560 --> 00:41:04,560 Pentecost was fully come, Acts chapter 2 verse 1. They were all with one accord in one play. They 311 00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:11,360 all wanted the same thing. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind. 312 00:41:11,360 --> 00:41:17,280 It filled the whole house where they were sitting. There appeared to them divided tongues as of fire. 313 00:41:17,280 --> 00:41:22,640 It sat on each of them and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other 314 00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:31,760 tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. A supernatural dimension of life that immediately 315 00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:39,040 impacted the community immediately began to touch other nationalities. We are still feeling the 316 00:41:39,040 --> 00:41:47,360 impact of that when people got in one accord. So I ask again the question that I asked at the beginning, 317 00:41:48,480 --> 00:41:51,680 will the oil flow? 318 00:41:51,680 --> 00:42:03,120 I close this story. In 1907, 1500 men gathered in Pyongyang, Korea. They were going to have a 10-day 319 00:42:03,120 --> 00:42:10,960 Bible conference. The 1500, these were people representing the leadership of hundreds of 320 00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:17,280 churches. For six months, missionaries to Korea had been praying for a mighty move of God. 321 00:42:17,280 --> 00:42:25,360 Among the Korean church. So they come to conference. Everybody knew there were two 322 00:42:26,880 --> 00:42:35,840 men that had been fighting with each other. So God is moving on something and in their kind of 323 00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:43,520 tradition of the type of church it was, on Monday a man came to the microphone and he confessed. 324 00:42:43,520 --> 00:42:50,080 Mr. Kang confessed whatever he knew anyway. He had hatred in his heart for Mr. Kim. 325 00:42:51,040 --> 00:42:57,280 But Mr. Kim sat there and wouldn't say a thing. 326 00:42:59,840 --> 00:43:05,760 Some of the missionaries are very concerned about this. But suddenly God did something. 327 00:43:05,760 --> 00:43:12,880 Kim came to the pulpit and he confessed, I have been guilty of fighting against God. 328 00:43:13,920 --> 00:43:21,600 He said I've been guilty of not only hating Kang, that's the guy they all knew he was mad at, 329 00:43:22,560 --> 00:43:25,120 but Peng Mok Sa, which is the pastor. 330 00:43:27,360 --> 00:43:32,080 Turning to the pastor, he said, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. 331 00:43:32,080 --> 00:43:41,200 Turning to the pastor who was the missionary, he said, can you forgive me and can you pray for me? 332 00:43:43,120 --> 00:43:52,960 The pastor stood and he started to pray in Korean and all he got out was, father, father. 333 00:43:53,760 --> 00:44:00,480 And they said it seemed as though the roof lifted off the building and the Spirit of God came down 334 00:44:00,480 --> 00:44:06,960 from heaven in a mighty avalanche of power. Across the auditorium, hundreds stood with arms, 335 00:44:06,960 --> 00:44:12,720 stretched out toward heaven calling on God. Others lay prostrate on the floor. Hundreds cried out to 336 00:44:12,720 --> 00:44:21,040 God for mercy. Revival broke out. The oil began to flow. But not only while they were at conference, 337 00:44:21,040 --> 00:44:28,000 when they returned to their home, they carried that revival. They would stand and just tell people in 338 00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:34,320 their home church what God did in the conference. And the same thing would happen. The fire would 339 00:44:34,320 --> 00:44:43,760 fall. The oil would flow. And people began to get saved. Churches were revived. They were filled with 340 00:44:43,760 --> 00:44:51,280 a burning passion to reach the lost. In all of the churches, they started seeing drunkards, gamblers, 341 00:44:51,280 --> 00:44:58,080 adulterers, murderers, thieves, self-righteous people, people who were Confucianists, those 342 00:44:58,080 --> 00:45:04,320 involved in false religion, get saved and transformed into new creatures in Christ. Listen to this. 343 00:45:04,880 --> 00:45:11,920 By 1912, only five years later, there were then 300,000 344 00:45:13,760 --> 00:45:19,280 members of the Korean Protestant Church. And that was in a nation of only 12 million people. 345 00:45:19,280 --> 00:45:27,600 The oil flowed. 12 million people, 300,000. How many people live in Canada? 346 00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:37,760 36 million? Okay, so 36 million, do the math. That would be like 900,000 people being in our 347 00:45:37,760 --> 00:45:45,680 churches in Canada. What made the difference? The oil flowed. The oil flowed. 348 00:45:45,680 --> 00:45:53,680 The oil flowed. So I ask again, the question is, I know what God can do, 349 00:45:54,800 --> 00:46:02,960 but the question we have to decide is, will the oil flow? Let's bow our heads. Close our eyes all 350 00:46:02,960 --> 00:46:10,080 across this place. Thank God. Thank God for His goodness. I'm asking right now. 351 00:46:10,080 --> 00:46:15,200 There are people here, you don't know Jesus. You are not right with God. I want to challenge you 352 00:46:15,200 --> 00:46:22,720 about your great need. You need to be saved. You need to be born again. God needs to do a miracle 353 00:46:22,720 --> 00:46:28,960 in you. I am not talking about a program. I'm not asking, would you like to go to church? 354 00:46:29,920 --> 00:46:36,560 I'm asking, have you surrendered your life to Jesus Christ? That's what it means. We 355 00:46:36,560 --> 00:46:40,560 surrendered your life to Jesus Christ. That's what it means to be a Christian. 356 00:46:41,760 --> 00:46:47,760 God, I want you to rule in my life. I'm tired of living my own way. That's what sin is. It's 357 00:46:47,760 --> 00:46:55,280 rebellion, living my own way. God, I want to live your way. How many people here, you're not right 358 00:46:55,280 --> 00:47:00,800 with God tonight, as God would deal with you. You say, Pastor Greg, I want to turn from my sin. 359 00:47:00,800 --> 00:47:06,400 I need Jesus. I need a miracle. How many of you here lift up your hand, Pastor Greg? I need Jesus. 360 00:47:07,280 --> 00:47:11,360 I want to get saved. I want to get right with God. Or maybe you're backslidden. 361 00:47:11,360 --> 00:47:15,600 Praise God. That was another powerful message by one of our leaders in the fellowship. 362 00:47:15,600 --> 00:47:20,560 I just want to take this opportunity to quickly give you an invitation to Christ if this message 363 00:47:20,560 --> 00:47:26,080 impacted you in some way and you want to give your life to Christ. You want to know how to do that. 364 00:47:26,080 --> 00:47:31,600 It's pretty simple. All you have to do is say a quick prayer, something simple and short, 365 00:47:31,600 --> 00:47:37,200 just like this. Dear Lord God, I know that I'm a sinner and I know that you sent your Son, Jesus 366 00:47:37,200 --> 00:47:45,120 Christ, to set me free from my sin. He came to earth to die for our sins and he rose again 367 00:47:45,120 --> 00:47:50,960 so that we might be saved. I repent of my sin. I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. 368 00:47:50,960 --> 00:47:57,600 I thank you for the salvation you give us through grace. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 369 00:47:57,600 --> 00:48:00,880 Thank you for listening today and I can't wait for you to come back next time. 370 00:48:04,000 --> 00:48:08,800 Thank you for listening to the PHA Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. Be sure to follow us on 371 00:48:08,800 --> 00:48:13,440 Instagram at pottershouse underscore salmon arm to keep up to date on what we are doing, 372 00:48:13,440 --> 00:48:23,120 join the conversation and discover how Jesus Christ can revolutionize your life.