To The Church: Accept the Holy Spirit or Be Left Behind! Kathryn Kuhlman 42 Questions Part 4

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.