The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit – Part 10 Lawson and Barbara Perdue

  Praise the Lord, friends, and welcome to the broadcast. I’m so glad that you’re with us, and I’m so happy to be sharing at this wonderful time of year about the good things that God has made available to us. Today, we’re talking about there is a divine appointment for your life, there is a divine purpose for your life, and the devil cannot stop it, so keep believing Jesus. Blessings. Friends, I’m so glad that you’re here today, and I’m glad to have Barbara, and this is actually our last broadcast on this teaching that we’ve been teaching on the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And we’ve actually been teaching through the Book of Acts and talking about not only the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, but what happened as the Spirit of God was poured out. So we talked about that initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, the continual outpouring of the Holy Spirit as, first of all, Samaria received it in Acts 8, the Gentiles received it in Acts 10, and then the Ephesian elders of John received it in Acts 19. So it was continually, in fact, we said this is for generation after generation because when the Holy Spirit was initially poured out in Acts 2:39, Peter said, “This promise is to you and to your children.” It didn’t stop there. And then he said, “As many as are far off.” It’s not only for generation to generation. It’s for nation to nation, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And God called everyone into salvation at the cross. In John 12:32 the scripture says, “If I be lifted up,” this is Jesus, “I will draw all men to me.” He’s talking about his death on the cross. And when Jesus died on the cross, he took the judgment for all of humanity, and you know what, Jesus called everybody into salvation, God called everybody into salvation at the cross. The Bible says, “That God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” That’s in 2 Peter 3:9. The Bible says in First Timothy chapter two, “That God is not willing.” Well, it tells us in First Timothy chapter two, “That God will have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” And so God wants everybody to be saved, he’s made known His will in his word, but you have to believe it to receive it. But when you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you become a candidate for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And you know what? You and I were both saved in traditional churches who did not teach on the present day ministry of the baptism of Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the, you know, the gift of faith, the working of miracles, the gifts of healings, tongues, interpretation, prophecy. Didn’t teach on those things. But yet when we got filled with the Holy Spirit, both of us got filled with the Holy Spirit in our teens, and it transformed our life. Praise God, and that experience is not just for us.

 

  That’s right.

 

  That experience is for everyone who has received Jesus as their personal Lord and their personal Savior.

 

  Well, it’s exciting, and then not only that, you’ve brought it out through this teaching, and I love it that when we receive the Holy Spirit, we get power.

 

  Yes.

 

  We get power. And you talked about how it opened up the scriptures to you and made them come alive, but I just like how the Bible says you will receive power.

 

  Yeah, that’s Acts 1:8 that we started when we started this teaching, actually just last week, at the beginning of the week. Jesus said this in Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power, special, wonderful, miracle, working power, dunamis the power of God.” The same power that Jesus had when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be witnesses to me. You know, before Jesus was baptized in the river Jordan by John when he was 30 years old, he never worked one miracle, he never raised one person from the dead, he never healed one person, but after he was baptized in the river Jordan by John the Baptist and the Holy Spirit came on him, the Bible says he returned in the power of the Spirit, and he began to preach. “The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he’s anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, and he sent me to heal the broken hearted.” Not only is there anointing to preach the gospel, there’s an anointing to heal the sick, and, you know, we’ve seen lots of people healed, we’ve seen lots of miracles, we’ve seen amazing things in the last. I’ve been baptized in the Holy Spirit for 45 years, I’ve been preaching for 43 years, and you know what? The word of God is still working,

 

  Praise God, I just feel like there’s a word for someone watching right now. It just keeps coming up to me as my husband’s testifying of the scriptures, and there’s someone, you have a lot of swelling in your lymph nodes throughout your body. And so we just agree with you for healing right now, that you just received that healing and that those aggravating symptoms just go away, and that you are completely healed, and you will get a report, a medical report that confirms that that condition is done with, gone, and over.

 

  So we agree with you in the name of Jesus, and I take authority in the name of Jesus over any disease that’s attacking your body right now, and I bind it up in the name of Jesus, and we praise you and thank you Father God for healing this person today. Thank God the power of God.

 

  Amen.

 

  It’s real. Amen, and thank God for Jesus, amen. Now, when we’re going on, we talked about last week or yesterday’s broadcast, the power of God is real and the preaching of the gospel releases the power of God. But the third thing we wanna talk about, lessons that we learn as we walk with the Holy Spirit is there is a divine purpose for your life, and with that purpose, are divine appointments. So Paul, after he began to preach, began to be persecuted specifically by the religious leaders. But after they had done this, and they were talking about killing him, and different factions of people wanted to kill him and have him put to death, Jesus, it says, this is Acts 13:11. “The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, ‘Be of good cheer Paul, for as you have testified of me in Jerusalem, you must bear witness also of me in Rome.'” So Jesus gave him a word. Now, you know, later we’re gonna see in this broadcast in Acts chapter 27, that Paul, as he was going to Rome, right, Jesus said, “Listen, there’s a divine purpose for your life. You’re gonna testify the gospel of the grace of God, not only here to the Jews in Jerusalem, but you’re gonna testify at Rome to the head of the Roman empire.” And Paul went, did you know what, he was tried before, you know, went from the religious leaders, to the governor, to the king, and then he was sent to Rome to testify before the emperor as a prisoner. And he’s on this ship, and do you know it looks like they’re gonna be shipwrecked. It looks like they’re gonna lose their lives. But you can see how God begins to give him revelation, and he as a prisoner begins to speak into the situation. At first they don’t listen to him, but later they begin to say, man, this guy he’s got hold to something. We better listen to what he has to say. Praise God. But the third thing I want you to realize, not only is the power of God real, and secondly, the preaching of the gospel, the grace of God, right, is what releases the power of God, and thirdly, there’s a divine purpose for your life. There are divine appointments for your life. You need to realize this about that, that the devil cannot stop you, and so the religious leaders couldn’t stop him, the government couldn’t stop him. The governor, the king, the emperor, none of these people could stop what God had in store for Paul’s life. And now he’s on the way right to Rome in a ship as a prisoner, and they get in a storm. And so Barbara, if you can read Acts chapter 27:7 12.

 

  Awesome. Okay, it says, “When we had sailed slowly, many days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, the wind not permitting us to proceed, we sailed under the shelter of Crete of Salmone. Passing it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens near the city of Lasea. Now, when much time had been spent in sailing was now dangerous because the fast was already over, Paul advised them saying, ‘Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives.'” In verse 11, it says, “Nevertheless, the centurion was more persuaded by the helmsmen and the owner of the ship than by the things spoken by Paul.” Things are gonna change, and they’re gonna change their attitude here in a little bit. In verse 12, “And because the harbor was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised to set sail from there also if by any means that they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, opening toward the southwest and northwest and winter there.”

 

  So, you know, Phoenix, I just, you know, I’ve always read this in the King James and it says Phenice. I never realized that Phoenix came out of the Bible. A warm place in the sun, a warm place to winter, but it comes right out of the Bible, and so, you know what? They were going and they wanted to get to a nicer place, but Paul told ’em not to go, but they didn’t listen. And so, you know, as they go forward, God continues to give Paul revelation, but because they saw, Hey man, this guy’s hearing from God, they were more willing to listen the next time. So go ahead, or I can read here in verse 13. “When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they obtained purpose losing from there, they sailed by Crete. And not long after, there came a violent wind called a cyclone, and when the ship was caught and could not bear up into the wind, they just let it drive. And running under a certain island, which is called Cauda, we had much work to come by the boat, which when they’d taken up, they used helps undergirding the ship fearing less they would fall into the quick sand. It struck sail and were driven. And being exceedingly tossed with the storm, the next day they threw out, you know, what they could of the cargo of the ship. And the third day were we cast out with our own hands, the tackle of the ship, and when neither the sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small storm lay on us, all hope that we would save was then taken away. After long abstinence, Paul stood in the midst of them and said, “Sirs, you should have listened to me.'” No joke. “And not to loose from Crete and gained this harm and loss. Now I exhort you to be of good cheer for there will be no loss of any man’s life except of the ship. For there stood by me this night, the angel of God, who’s I am, and who I serve, saying, ‘Fear not Paul, you must be brought before Caesar.'” This is exactly the word that Jesus had given him before he was, you know, tried before the governor, tried before the king, Jesus said, “As you have testified of me in Jerusalem, you’ll testify of me in Rome.” And so the Lord is actually confirming this to him, and he says, “Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer for I believe God. It will be even as it was told me. How be it we must be cast.” We’re gonna have a shipwreck on a certain island. And so, you know, as you walk with God and listen to the Holy Spirit, God will give you insight, but sometimes you don’t get all the insight at once. But as you continue to listen, and continue to walk with God, and you continue to walk with the Holy Spirit, he gives you more revelation, and as you obey the Holy Spirit, it leads you into the greater things of God. So God has great things.

 

  Well, I like what you’re saying talking about divine appointments in this teaching, and you’re of course reading about this amazing testimony of Paul, but it makes me think of a trip we went on a number of years ago and we were in another state, and we were actually in Hawaii. It’s a place we had wanted to go, but like I said, it had been our first time going there, and I had this thought, we’re on vacation, I should like go get my nails done. Something I normally just don’t do here, and it was what another thing that was interesting is you just pulled it up on your phone, and it was close to where we’re staying, and you’d never done that. You’d never made me a nail appointment before, and it’s just really interesting. But my point in saying that you dropped me off and then you just said, well, I’m gonna walk and look at some of these other shops in this like little strip mall area. And what was so awesome, you walked into a store and there was a young man about the same age as our youngest son, and as you began just to talk to him, he told you, he said, “I had just prayed the night before, God send me somebody 

 

  To talk to me about this.

 

  To talk to me. And I just thought that was so amazing. You’re talking about divine appointments and how God puts these things together.

 

  Praise God, and you know what? You know what, the first report is not the last report. You know, we have went through a situation about the last three and a half to four years of the church, and it looked like we were completely defeated, and I had sat in actually federal court and listened to all this stuff, all these lies, really, and I knew they were lies for four days and it wasn’t our case, it was somebody else’s case, but it had to do with the church. And then afterward, it looked like we were completely defeated, and I came home on a Thursday night and I was, you know, I was wore out, I was sleeping about three hours a night, had lost five pounds in four days, and the next morning you told me, “Call this couple in our church that had been with us for years.” They were actually in another state at that time, and I called them, and when I called her on the inside, I felt like it’s not over yet. And she just gave me a word and said, “Lawson, it’s not over ’til it’s over.” And I knew right then, praise God. And within one week, God had given us direction and told us what to do, and we went forward, and when these people who were some of the best attorneys in the world who are working for a building company, not for us, but they thought that all was lost, God’s turned this around and taken care of his church. And you know what? You may be in a situation where you thinks all’s lost. That’s what it looked like right here. But you know what, Paul kept listening to the Holy Spirit and giving them direction, and they were protected by the Holy Spirit, and this thing, actually, they lost the ship, they lost the cargo, but everybody on that ship was saved, and they brought great revival to this island, and Paul ended up in Rome with his own house, receiving everybody that came to him and preaching the word of God. Amen, so the gospel went forward. So we’re gonna be back after a short break. Stay tuned. We love you. Praise God, and the word of God is still true. Bless you, Friends, I’m so glad that you’re with us today, and I wanna tell you about a very special offer today, and this week we are offering, “Absolute Victory in Christ,” my book on salvation, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and believing the word for a donation of any amount. Plus, we’re offering our teaching on the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in audio or video download free of charge. Blessings. Sometimes you think, well now that I’m believing God, I’m not gonna have these difficulties, I’m not gonna have these problems. You said immediately after you, you know, the light turned on. When the word is sown in their heart, the enemy comes to steal the word. Satan is an enemy of the word. Remain bold in your confession of faith. Friends, I’m so glad that you stayed with us. We are right here, and, you know, Paul first of all, gave the people a warning in Acts chapter 27 and said, “Don’t leave, you need to stay where you’re at because if you go on this journey, we’re gonna have a lot of damage to the ship and our lives.” And then he gave him another word after they didn’t obey him, and they got in a terrible storm. They thought they were gonna die, and Paul said, “Listen, an angel of God appeared to me and told me, you know what, we’re gonna lose the ship, we’re gonna lose the cargo, but our lives are all gonna be saved.” And so, you know what? They were more willing to listen, but, you know, then it says they were, this was the 14th night so they’d been in this storm a long time. Man, I’ve been on a big lake in a rowboat when I was a kid, and listen, 20 minutes out there seems like a eternity.

 

  You mean getting tossed about like a ping pong ball is not very fun, is it?

 

  Yeah, I’ve been in playing things like that too, but anyway, I mean, they’ve been in this for 14 days and hadn’t seen the sun or the stars in many days that set before this, and Paul, there were some of the sailors on the ship were gonna throw out this rowboat in this storm and try to make for the land. And Paul just told the captain, “Hey, if they do that, their lives will be lost.” So they cut off the ship and let it go, the lifeboat. And anyway, Paul said that in Acts 27:31, “Except these abide in the ship, they cannot be saved.” So they cut the ropes and let it fall off. And then Paul came after they had been 14 days in this situation and said, “I pray you to take some food,” in verse 34, “For your health, for there will be not a hair fall from your head.” Man, that is amazing. Praise God. Nothing, the Bible says, nothing shall by any means hurt you. Jesus said that, praise God, to his disciples. I beheld Satan fall from heaven. You know what, the devil cannot stop you from attaining the purpose of God in your divine appointments. And so after Paul did that, he ate some food, and they were all of good cheer and they ate some food, and there were 276 people in that ship that they actually got in a shipwreck, right? And the back of the ship was beat off by the waves, but every one of those people on the ship, all the prisoners, all the soldiers, and every last person, the owner of the ship, everybody, you know, whether they on boards or on pieces of the ship, they all got to land and they landed on an island. Now when they got to this island, you know, it says that the people on the island were very kind to them, but it was cold. And so they were building a fire, and Paul wasn’t lazy. Did you know Paul said, “If a man doesn’t work, he doesn’t eat?” In 2 Thessalonians 3. And so he was gathering sticks, helping build this fire, and there came a snake out of the fire and it fastened on his hand, and when these people who were barbarians on this island saw this, they said, “This must be an evil man because he escaped the sea, and he escaped this shipwreck and the storm, but, you know, he’s not gonna escape this.”

 

  Isn’t it interesting how some people are superstitious?

 

  Yeah.

 

  And so these were super 

 

  Always trying to have judgment.

 

  Yes, super.

 

  Even people that aren’t religious.

 

  Yeah, superstitious about something, but then they saw, you know, something very 

 

  Yeah, Paul just shook it off, man. The devil may try to stop you, may try to kill you, but just shake it off. And he shook that snake off in the fire, and you know what? And when he should have swollen it says in verse six, or fallen down dead suddenly, but these people looked at him for a great while and saw no harm come to him. They changed their minds and said he was a god. It’s amazing how fickle the world can be. But it says in the same quarters, this is Acts 28:7 9, “Where possessions of the chief man of the island whose name was Publius, received us and lodged us three days courteously, it came to pass that his father was sick of a fever and a bloody flux. Paul entered in and prayed and laid hands on him and healed him.” You know, know those who believe are supposed to lay hands on the sick and see them recover. That’s what Mark 16 says. And so when this was done, others came also, which had disease in the island, came and were healed. You know, Paul took something that looked like was an absolute disaster, and turned it around and used it for good. And you know what? The gospel just kept going forward. And you know what? When the word of God is preached, do you know what signs follow the preaching of the word of God? So Paul, you know what? He had a captive audience. Everybody on that ship heard what he said. They were all, you know, they were all saved from the storm. I believe they all got born again ’cause they were ready to hear what Paul preaching. He’s preaching Jesus. Then he got on this island, and, you know, the devil tried to kill him there. Do you know the devil can’t stop you? The devil can’t stop God’s plan, and God’s people, God’s purpose.

 

  I like what you keep bringing out how the devil can’t stop you, the government can’t stop you from fulfilling the call on your life. Now I like how the Bible says, “He will complete that which he has started.”

 

  Amen.

 

  And so that’s a good word.

 

  So you know what, Paul got to Rome where Jesus said he was gonna get years earlier. So after Jesus told him, you know, he was being persecuted by the church, tried before the church, he went and he was tried before the governor. The governor didn’t stop him. He was tried before the king, the king didn’t stop him, and now he’s going to Caesar, he gets to Rome. And you know what? The storm couldn’t stop him, the snake bite couldn’t stop him. The devil couldn’t stop him. He was fulfilling his God given appointment. But you know, here’s one thing, Paul kept doing what God told him to do. So many people somewhere along the line, they get off course, they get off track, but notice what it says in Acts 28:23 24, “When they appointed him a day, there came many to him, to his lodging where he expounded and taught, testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses and the prophets from morning to evening.” Paul had his own house, servants that worked for him, and received all that came to him, kept preaching and teaching. And it says, “Some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.” Do you know God’s not gonna make anybody believe. It’s your choice, you know, and that you know God made the first choice in sending Jesus to the cross, and God’s not willing that any should perish but all should come to repentance. You know, God sent Jesus. We’re celebrating that right now. The gift of God to us Jesus, and in sending Jesus, God made salvation available to everybody, but people have to believe to receive it. And you know what? If you won’t believe, God will let you go to hell not because he wants you to go there. Hell was not made for mankind, hell was made for the devil and his angels, but there’s some people who are just hardened and they will not believe. And you know what? God will let you go to hell if you reject Jesus. And it’s not his will. He loves you. Praise God. Jesus is God’s gift to you, the Holy Spirit is God’s gift to you, the Holy Spirit has gifts to you, for you. Salvation is a gift of God, amen. The baptism of Holy Spirit is a gift of God. There are other gifts that the Holy Spirit has for you, but you wanna keep doing. Now it says at the end of this chapter, you know, look at this in verse 30, “Paul dwelt two years in his own house.” He had his own house, and received all who came to him. He had people who waited on him, who took care of the people that came to him, and he preached the kingdom of God, and taught things concerning the Lord Jesus. You know, King Agrippa kept Paul extra because he hoped Paul would give him some money. Paul wasn’t a poor man. Man, if you believe the gospel, you could operate in the blessing no matter how it looks on the outside. And Paul kept teaching those things concerning the Lord Jesus with all confidence, and no man forbid him. Man, he just kept doing what Jesus called him to do.

 

  I’d like to remind people of a scripture ’cause you’re bringing out, this is an amazing story of Paul, and, you know, that he was given a word, that he would get somewhere, and do what he was supposed to do, and just how all these unexpected things are, you know, God warned him, but people didn’t listen. But, you know, sometimes people think, why do bad things happen when I’m serving the Lord? And we’ve talked about this a lot here in our ministry, but in John 16:33 it says, “These things, I’ve spoken to you that in me, you may have peace in the world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I’ve overcome the world.”

 

  Yeah, and you know what? Why do bad things happen to good people? Because we’re in a world that’s been affected by sin and Satan, but Jesus came to redeem us from everything that Adam lost and if you’ll believe the Lord and keep doing what God told you to do, you’re gonna win. Paul faced some battles, Paul faced some difficulties. He faced challenges. Just don’t think because you’re facing a battle, facing a challenge, facing a difficulty, that God has forsaken you. I want you to know that God had not forsaken Paul, Jesus had not forsaken Paul, the Holy Spirit had not left Paul, and he kept doing what God called him to do, and he ultimately won the victory. You know, the conclusion to this is Acts 29. You say, well, that’s not in my Bible. Well, there’s no amen here. There’s no ending to this chapter. You know what? The Holy Spirit is still working, Jesus is still Lord, miracles are still for today. Gifts, healings are still for today. The Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues is still for today to people who believe on Jesus. Amen, this is God’s gift to you. The Holy Spirit. God gave us Jesus, Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit gives us gifts. So Acts 29 is you and me and all who will believe and receive, take the gospel to the world through the power of the Holy Spirit. Barbara, pray really quickly.

 

  Dear heavenly Father, we come into you in the precious name of Jesus, and Lord, I thank you right now that you are with the people who are watching right now, and Lord, that you have amazing plans and purposes for them. And I thank you, Lord, that they are being fulfilled.

 

  Praise God, and if you’re in Colorado Springs, we’d love to have you on church this Sunday. If not, you can live stream our services if you don’t have a church home. God bless you.

 

  Every born again believer should be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Jesus commanded his disciples not to depart from Jerusalem until they had received power from on high. If the Acts two church needed the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we still need it today. We’d like to bless you with the digital copy of the teaching, “The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit.” A $25 value free of charge. Download it today at charischristiancenter.com.

 

  Save the date for our Women’s Rejoice Conference February 8th through 10th, 2024.

 

  My house and everywhere I walk, there is bright glory and light shining because God is with me. This is gonna be a lot of fun. I’ve also invited you this year.

 

  We’re gonna have our very good friend, Cathy Duplantis, here with us sharing at our Women’s Rejoice Conference.

 

  It’s time to rejoice.

 

  Thanks for watching “Grace For Today.” This broadcast has been made possible by our faithful partners. If you would like to become a partner, need prayer, or have a question, please call us at 719 418 4000, or to partner online, go to charischristiancenter.com/give. You can write us at PO Box 63733, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80962. See you next time on “Grace For Today.”