Well, today again, we're back on answering questions.
And if you have missed a part of the questions
that I've been answering, I want to tell you
the why of these questions. And I want you to
know that I'm enjoying it. answering them, probably
more than anyone who's sitting there listening
to them. And yet while you're listening to these
questions, perhaps they're questions you've been
wanting answered for a long, long time and you've
just never had the nerve to ask them. Or maybe
you felt that I wouldn't answer them even if
you did ask them. And so I want to personally
thank the... reporter who represents one of the
finest, one of the most evangelical religious
magazines in the nation today, for having written
42 questions, sent them to me, and asked me to
answer them for their magazine. One of these
days, you may see all of these questions and
answered in print. But you heard them first right
from me. We now come to the twelfth question.
How do you regard your relationship to the institutional
church? And what role and importance do you personally
assign to the institutional church? Perhaps I
can best answer the... first to this question
as to my relation to the institutional church
today by saying that I have a service in the
First Presbyterian Church here in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. Perhaps one of the finest numbered
among one of the most influential Presbyterian
churches in the nation today. And they come,
Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Lutherans, every
denomination, people from around the world, come
and gather in the sanctuary of the First Presbyterian
Church. Everybody forgets their denominational
ties. We worship together on the common ground
of Calvary. It's thrilling. And this should be
happening in every church in the United States.
This will soon be happening around the world.
I have a very close tie when it comes to the
institutional church. As long as I can remember,
Mama was Methodist. And I've always had a high
regard for the Methodist church. Papa was Baptist.
I am still a member of the Baptist church. I
have a very high regard for the church as an
institution. But what I... want to say is that
if our institutional churches are to remain influential,
if they are to carry out the work, the purpose
of the institutional church, they must open their
eyes and realize the day and the hour in which
we are living. We've come to the place where
literally the world is challenging the church.
The young people, the youth of this generation,
have every right to challenge the institutional
church. beg of you to please understand the great
opportunities that are yours this hour. This
could well be the finest hour of the institutional
church if they would only see it. If the institutional
church could only realize it, it could well be
its finest hour. But the church must do something
about the Holy Spirit. The mighty power of the
Trinity. The institutional church must realize
that we are still living in the day of Pentecost.
The institutional church cannot close its eyes
and say, we will accept only a portion of God's
word and forget the rest. Before Jesus went away,
and remember this comes from the highest authority
in heaven and earth, This glorious body of believers
that we call the church. Whether it's Catholic
or Protestant. Remember the church was the great
gift. This wonderful body of believers was the
gift that God the Father gave to his son. For
Jesus himself, in talking to the Father, referring
to this body of believers, said these that thou
hast given unto me. Before Jesus went away, he
gave to the church the greatest gift that was
possible for him to give. Love is something that
you do. That's the reason the Father gave to
the Son. The Son, in turn, gave to his own the
greatest gift that was possible for him to give.
For long before God gave his only begotten Son,
before Jesus came the form of flesh to carry
out redemption's plan, salvation's plan for man's
soul, the Word of God says he first offered himself
through the Holy Spirit to be given. He knew
the Holy Spirit better than you, better than
I will ever know the Holy Spirit. He knew his
power. He knew that he could not go in his own
strength for in coming to earth in the form of
flesh, he would be as much man as though he were
not God. In perfect knowledge and perfect wisdom,
he knew that the hour would come when he would
have to stand face to face with Satan. Had it
not been possible for him to have yielded to
the flesh, have yielded to temptation, then his
temptations in the wilderness would have been
a farce. The glorious power and the secret in
the ministry of Jesus as he walked this earth
was in the person of the Holy Spirit. He knew
it. He recognized it. And that's the reason I
say to every minister who stands behind the sacred
desk, if Jesus, the very Son of the Living God,
could trust the Holy Spirit, surely you and I
can trust the Holy Ghost. Don't be afraid of
the Holy Spirit. Don't be afraid of the power
of the Holy Ghost. In your ministry, Jesus trusted
him. Jesus had confidence in him. And he did
not fail Jesus. That is the reason before Jesus
went away, the very last thing that he did was
to give a gift to whom? To his church, this great
body of believers. And he said, and ye shall
receive power. To whom was he speaking? Not the
unbeliever, but to his own. And ye shall receive
power. After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon
you. What power? The same power that was manifested
in his ministry. There was no greater gift ever
given to the church than the gift that Jesus
gave. The Holy Spirit, this mighty third person,
the Trinity. And the hour has now come when every
minister is coming face to face with the Holy
Spirit. This great outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
I still say this could well be the finest hour
of the institutional church, but if the institutional
church will not accept the Holy Ghost, will not
accept the manifestations of the Spirit, then,
my friend, the Holy Spirit will continue His
work in spite. of the institutional church and
will carry out God's plan outside of the institutional
church. But it should not be. The institutional
church should still be so powerful that the world
can challenge it. and the unregenerated man or
woman should still be able to challenge it. God
grant that as a minister of the gospel, you'll
seek God's best and give to members of your church
the deep truths of the Spirit. For we're living
in a great hour when literally He is pouring
out of His Spirit upon all flesh. We're on the
threshold of the greatest spiritual awakening,
the greatest revival. If you're still praying
a revival in your church, if you're still having
members of your congregation praying for a revival,
my friend, You're missing it all. The revival
is here now. Let him that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith. May eyes be open
to the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And
look up and say, I do not want to be left behind.
If there's more for me, I want it. Question 13.
What do you think of the Jesus movement? The
strengths and the weaknesses? Well, I think by
now everybody knows what I think of the Jesus
movement. Don't underestimate the youth of today.
I know. I've gone out to sea for myself. Of course
there are weaknesses. Have you ever found a perfect
church? Have you ever found a perfect organization?
Have you ever found a perfect family? We'll only
have perfection when we get home to glory. And
so... If here and there, there are a few bad
apples in the orchard, don't keep your eyes on
the bad apples. That's what's wrong with the
news media today. They'll always take a youth
who is doing the worst things. Of course there
are dope addicts. I would not close my eyes to
these facts, and neither should you. But remember,
wherever there is a bad boy, there are hundreds
and hundreds of good boys that are never talked
about, that are never brought out by the news
media. Wherever you find a bad girl, are bad
girls. But instead of giving them so much prominence,
why not talk about the lovely young lady who's
living a moral life, a clean life? And that's
just the way I feel about it. And when it comes
to this Jesus movement, I believe that we're
so near the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I believe this is the last generation before
the second coming. And when the scripture says
in the last days he would pour out the spirit
upon all flesh, he spoke of the young men and
the young women. You will not be able to stop
this great spiritual wave among the youth today
because it's of God. But remember something.
In accepting Jesus, and we call it the Jesus
Movement, never accept Jesus just as a great
superstar. He's more than a superstar. He's more
than just an example. He will mean nothing to
you except... in the light of the Savior, a Redeemer,
one who will forgive your sins, one who will
blot out your every transgression. And he and
he alone can give you that glorious experience
when old things pass away and behold, all things
become new and you become a new creature in Christ
Jesus. The fourteenth question. How have you
overcome the disreputable cloud regarding faith
healers? And then it continues. Has a self -confessed
hypocrisy of Marjo affected you or your ministry
in any way? That question is so loaded. It's
the 14th question. I look up at the clock. I
had just two minutes left. I couldn't begin to
answer that question in two minutes. And so when
I answer questions again, it'll be the 14th question.
How have you overcome? the disreputable cloud
regarding faith healers. Has the self -confessed
hypocrisy of Marjo affected you or your ministry
in any way? You would miss our next questions
for anything in the world, and I would want you
to miss the answering. of this question. Father
God, make your word real. It's more than just
answering questions. Open our understanding to
the deep truths of the word for Jesus' sake.
Amen.