Those wounds yet visible above in beauty glorified,
I thought of an old professor in the
University of Edinburgh.
He taught Hebrew to the seminary students, and
he always took the Bible as his textbook.
And one morning he read to them the
fifty-third chapter in Isaiah.
This man was a Scotsman, but they nicknamed
him Rabbi Duncan because he had such a
profound knowledge of Hebrew.
And he read this fifty-third chapter of
Isaiah one morning, read it in Hebrew, read
it in English, and when he got to
the place where, as you remember, it says
he was wounded for our transgressions, and he
was bruised for our iniquities.
And then he stopped and he said, listen
to this, it pleased the Lord to bruise
him.
We make a great deal about the sufferings
of Jesus, the physical sufferings, the bleeding wounds,
and yet it wasn't his body that was
offered, it was his soul that was made
an offering for sin, the word said.
And they said, the tears crossed down his
face, and he said, and his soul was
made an offering for sin.
Gentlemen, it was damnation, and he took it
joyfully.
The students were discussing this profound teaching, and
one of them said what I say about
every man I meet.
I'd like to hear him pray.
So at night they went up to his
bedroom, his dorm.
They looked through the keyhole, and they'd watched
him going to the bedroom.
He was kneeling there in his nightshirt, he'd
just had a candle at the side of
the bed, and he read his scripture quietly.
And then he put his hands together, and
the teller said, he's going to pray, he's
going to pray.
Well let me look through the keyhole, wait
a minute, here I was.
And they all wanted to just squint and
run, and squint and run, you know.
And this man with such profound knowledge, not
only of Hebrew, but of God, put his
hands together and said, gentle Jesus, meek and
mild, look upon a little child.
Pity my simplicity, suffer me to come to
thee.
And I'm increasingly conscious that with greatness there's
simplicity.
With the deepest knowledge of God, there's an
awful conscience of ignorance.
I want to share some thoughts with you
tonight on the, almost the greatest exercise we
can have as Christians.
As I've repeatedly said this week, that prayer
is preoccupation with our needs, and praise is
preoccupation with our blessings, and worship is preoccupation
with God himself.
And I think that praise should precede petition,
and I'm sure that worship should precede petition.
Men are always putting a label on the
age in which we live.
You know it's a scientific age, it's this
age, it's that, the other, and I'm quite
sure it's an age of rush, and push,
and crush.
And there are very few people that want
to wait upon the Lord and renew their
strength.
Wait upon the Lord.
And again I say, wait upon the Lord.
The classic prayer to me, the classic prayer
of the intercessor in the Old Testament, is
made by women.
The church is always described in the New
Testament as a woman, because she brings to
birth.
There are three phases in a child's birth.
One is conception, the other is gestation, and
the third is birth.
You can't change the order, it's not possible.
The same is true in revival.
There's a sense in which you can't accelerate
it, and you can't delay it.
I was thinking as we sat here tonight,
well let me say this, I'm glad I
got in here when the tidal wave came.
You missed the meeting last night, you missed
the tidal wave.
The glory of the Lord filled the temple.
By the same token, if people knew tonight
that God was going to fulfill his promise
and suddenly descend in majesty, not for a
rapture, but to visit us with revival, the
house would be crowded.
As I said, I hang on to a
word.
In Malachi it says, the Lord whom ye
seek.
I thought many other things for years.
I thought miracles and saw them.
I thought clouds and got them.
I thought friendship with famous people and had
some.
And there wasn't much in anything of it.
But the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly
come to his temple.
And remember those shepherds that night didn't expect
that the prophecy that had been said hundreds
of years ago would be fulfilled that night.
They were looking after their stupid sheep.
And the scripture says, suddenly there was a
sound of a heavenly host.
And those men in the upper room that
had been waiting there for ten days, suddenly
had an invasion.
It says that suddenly there was a sound
of a rushing mighty wind.
And Malachi says, the Lord whom ye seek
shall suddenly come to his temple.
And one day God is going to, just
as you pull a switch, he's going to
descend.
I mentioned this morning there was a revival.
It began just as the clock got to
eleven o'clock on the 13th of August
1727.
It began with a group of people being
quarrelsome and arguing about doctrines.
And somebody got them together and said, let's
forget our differences and unite here fundamentally on
the word of God, on the things we
agree on.
On the virgin birth, on the redemptive work
of Jesus by himself without any help, on
the physical resurrection and on the work of
the Holy Spirit.
And just as the clock got to eleven,
as though it was going to strike eleven,
suddenly God descended on a bunch of people.
One of the most unique things in history
happened there at Hernhut.
That prayer meeting lasted without a break for
one hundred years.
Never stopped.
The longest prayer meeting I can find recorded
in history.
Little boys and girls prayed in the spirit.
If you went into the sanctuary at two
o'clock, you might find thirty people there.
You went at two in the afternoon, you
might find seven or eight little girls there,
weeping, praying for revival.
They'd been born in that atmosphere.
They learned the vocabulary.
Somehow God invaded those tremendous little personalities.
That was the greatest move, revival move, the
greatest missionary move, through the Moravians.
John Wesley was really converted to a Moravian.
Peter Bollock.
The Moravians through Zinzendorf gave us some of
our greatest hymns.
You see, you take on the likeness of
the atmosphere in which you're born.
If you're born in a flimsy revival, most
likely you'll be a flimsy Christian for a
long while till you get your feet.
If you're born in a fire, you'll never
be satisfied to live in the smoke.
If all you have is water baptism, you
can swim the rest of your life, but
there's another baptism too.
A baptism of fire.
And there's another baptism which less people have.
Jesus says there's a baptism.
Are you able to take the baptism that
I'm baptized with?
The thing that the apostle Paul knew, and
yet he still desired that he may know
more of it.
The fellowship of his suffering.
I remember Mr. Chadwick said he'd often been
in prayer meetings with preachers when they would
almost scream, Oh, that I may know thee,
and the power of thy resurrection.
But that's where they stopped.
Would you like to know resurrection life?
It's easy.
I hear people saying, Lord, fill me, and
I think they should knock the F off
and put a K on it.
And if you let him kill you, then
he'd raise you up in resurrection life.
But you see, the only way to get
resurrection life is to die first.
And Mr. Chadwick said, well, if you're willing
to die, you'll get resurrection life.
God won't hold it back.
And then from there, it isn't just joy
bells necessarily.
You know, we'll have all eternity.
You won't be able to weep in eternity.
You'll weep at the judgment seat, most likely.
Revelation says there are no tears in heaven.
It also says God shall wipe away all
tears.
When's he going to wipe them away?
No tears in heaven.
Just at the judgment seat.
Our last regret.
Our last miserable looking back at all the
places we missed.
All the burdens we wouldn't carry.
All the spiritual pregnancies we wouldn't have.
All the loads we wouldn't lift.
All the disobediences.
All crowding on us.
The pastor prayed tonight so beautifully there.
Sure, it'd be wonderful.
I tell my crowd, my wonderful church, nearly
25 of us.
And I say to them, I don't get
too much inspiration looking at you.
You're not that bright and not many of
you.
But I keep looking at the end of
the journey when we sit down again with
Abraham and with Isaac in that great marvelous
banquet.
That's going to be really something.
A way there in eternity.
And there's just one horrible experience before you
get your seat at the banquet.
And that is that we all have to
go to the judgment seat.
That's about the only thing keeps me sane.
It's almost terrifying.
But by the same token, the word of
God says and how beautiful it is.
Shall not the judge of all the earth
do right?
Nobody will get a false deal or a
wrong deal in that day.
Well, it's been good to be with you.
I don't know whether you say that.
And I don't care whether you do or
not.
I told you what the Lord told me.
As I told you, I didn't have to
come here.
I'd much rather have gone to New Zealand
because my boy's there.
And there'd be about 3,000 people a
night that I just couldn't go, couldn't get
free to go.
My wife would have liked to have gone.
Bless her darling heart, but she wouldn't go
without me.
Sure, she's a wonderful woman.
Look what I've done for her for 30
years.
But I'm glad for the privilege of sharing
some thoughts with you.
And I don't ask you to believe all
I said anyhow.
I asked you to obey the life he
gave you.
That's all.
Whatsoever he said, unto you do it.
All right, the first book of Samuel.
We'd better start, shall we?
First book of Samuel, the first chapter.
I say this is the classic prayer of
an intercessor.
The intercessor is even beyond the person who
prays.
The intercessor is beyond the prayer warrior.
The intercessor is the one who himself will
take the load.
God said more than once that he marveled
that there was no intercessor.
Do you think that God has kind of
wound the clock up of the ages, you
know, and set the alarm and said it's
going to go off in say 1978 or
whatever happens?
Oh, I know he knows all things in
his foreknowledge.
But I'm asking you, do you think he's
wound up the clock of the ages and
set the alarm it's going to stop at
a certain time?
Does judgment come by reason of time or
by reason of temperature?
When judgment fell on Sodom, two things happened.
Abraham ceased to pray.
As I said maybe yesterday, that not only
was it true that the corruption of Sodom
was so great, but the salt had lost
its savour.
There were not ten righteous.
And if there had been ten righteous, judgment
would have been postponed.
While ever Abraham made representation with God, he
represented man before God and while ever, Abraham
yes, and while ever love was in Sodom,
God could do nothing.
Read the story, that's what he says, hurry
up and get out.
And then at that moment judgment fell.
In this chapter we have all the necessary,
I almost said ingredients, that sounds a bit
too like Betty Crocker.
It's not a mixture, all the necessary, what
do we call them?
Attitudes, dispositions, and the true intercessor are found
in this chapter.
When Norman Grubb wrote his book, Rhys Howells'
Intercessor, and if you haven't read it, you've
missed one of the greatest books of this
generation.
I said to him after, I said, Norman,
you are very daring to say that Rhys
Howells was an intercessor.
You don't find one intercessor amongst a hundred
thousand Christians.
But then he said he was an intercessor.
That's exactly what he did.
As I told you the other day, the
last time I preached at that school, Bible
School of Wales, I walked up some stairs
when Mrs. Howells asked me to, and she
showed me a door and said, my husband
went in that door at six o'clock
in the morning, and he stayed there till
six o'clock at night, every day for
eleven months.
Twelve hours a day along with God.
That's why afterwards he had authority.
As I said this morning, Elijah didn't say
there'd be no rain, according to God's word,
he said there'd be no rain according to
my word.
He knew the mind of God.
I'll shut up heaven.
I'll open heaven.
Now here is this wonderful woman, Hannah.
Let's skip over this quickly here.
Look in this chapter.
This man went up out to the city
yearly to worship.
Notice that.
He went to Shiloh and so forth and
so on.
All right.
Verse five, to Hannah he gave a worthy
portion, for he loved Hannah.
But the Lord had shut up her womb
and her adversary provoked her so for to
make a threat, because the Lord had shut
up her womb.
And as he did so, year by year.
Now this wasn't some sudden thrill she had
in a meeting.
It wasn't some quick, unpremeditated prayer.
She had been provoked.
Just pin that down will you.
There had been provocation.
It says in the middle of verse seven
that she wept.
It says in the middle of verse eight,
why eatest thou not?
So she was fasting.
It says in the same verse that she
would grieve.
It says in verse ten that she was
in bitterness of soul.
It says in verse ten again, not only
did she weep, but she wept sore.
It says at the end of verse fifteen,
she poured out her soul in prayer.
That always reminds me of Jesus.
Obviously he walked into the garden of Gethsemane,
and then he knelt in prayer, and then
he prostrated himself in prayer.
She prayed, yes, but she wept in her
prayer.
And not only wept in her prayer, she
wept until she ached.
She was sore.
And not only wept until she was sore,
she prostrated herself in prayer.
So here are the ingredients again that she
was provoked.
She wept.
She didn't eat.
She was grieved.
Verse ten, she was in bitterness of spirit.
Verse eleven, she vowed a vow.
The same verse, she had an affliction.
And in verse twelve, she continued praying.
And in verse fifteen, in the middle, she
had a sorrowful spirit.
And at the end of that verse, she
poured out her soul in prayer.
And in verse sixteen, she had a complaint
and a grief.
Now I suggest that's quite a mixture.
A complaint, a grief, a bitterness, a sorrow,
weeping.
For what?
Because she was a barren woman.
It was a reproach.
I remember going down High Holborn in London
some years ago.
There's a little woman there, looked very much
like Charlie Chaplin.
Her feet were out like this, and she's
a little old dresser, and she just walked
about at that speed, and she put a
letter in the mailbox.
And a friend said to me, do you
know who that is?
I said, no.
That's the widow of Hugh Price Hughes, one
of the greatest preachers London ever had.
And in the autobiography of her father, his
daughter says this, when my daddy came from
the sanctuary on a Sunday night, that great
big Methodist temple in London, it might be
packed to the rafters, right to the very
end of the high gallery, and the people
would hang on every word.
He was a master of preaching.
He was eloquent.
He was passionate.
You'd think he was seeing visions, although he
could see into eternity when he preached.
And at the end, he would sing, let's
sing a word of welcome, you know, I
hear thy welcome voice that calls me Lord
to thee.
And he would ask people to come, and
they wouldn't come, and he would put his
hand up and say good night.
And she said, daddy would come home and
take his coat off, I don't want any
tea, I don't want anything.
And she said, he would throw himself on
his bed and weep and weep.
Why don't they come?
It was inconsolable.
Not because it's fair to catch fish, but
somebody slammed the door in the face of
the Son of God.
In other words, he said, I'm going to
hell rather than repent.
Do you think it's fun to preach?
I go on many times, break my heart.
Every meeting is a favor of life unto
life or death unto death.
Somebody will die in this meeting tonight.
You might go to a hundred meetings after
this and almighty God has an obligation to
knock at the door of your heart.
Who do you think he is?
You notice what he says, behold I stand
at the door of not?
Now that isn't really at the heart of
man, it's at the door of the church.
There are some churches tonight, God can't get
in.
But he does give a knock at the
door of the hearts of individuals, sure enough
he does.
But he's not obligated to keep knocking, knocking,
knocking.
Now this woman is praying for what?
You say she prayed for a child.
No she didn't.
Well what in the world did she pray
for?
A man child.
And the Lord gave her a man child.
No he didn't.
Well he didn't give her a girl.
No he didn't.
But he gave her a child.
Yes he did.
Well if she didn't get a man child
and didn't get a little girl, what in
the world did she get?
She got a prophet.
God did more than she could either ask
or think.
And you see this little fellow was born
of prayer, conceived in prayer.
I see some of these young women going
around pregnant and smoking.
I feel, boy if you weren't pregnant I
could almost hit you on the jaw.
Do you know why?
Because that child in that womb has already
in its conception also conceived an appetite for
nicotine.
A pastor friend of mine told me in
England.
A while back he said you know we
had a problem here with a baby.
It was born and from the moment it
was born it screamed and screamed and they
did every jolly old thing they could do
to Christ.
Every old wise tale you know.
Give it some cinder tea and poor thing
they experimented on it more than a guinea
pig.
The only thing it yelled.
Morning, noon and night didn't seem to sleep.
Yelling, yelling, yelling, yelling.
And finally somebody said oh there's a new
doctor in town.
Now you bring him along he's got the
answer.
And in our homes of course we have
a fireplace and the young man was smoking
as he came in and he took the
last pull and he threw the cigarette in
the fireplace and he just leaned over the
crib and said well the baby quit.
Oh the mother said how wonderful.
What did you do?
Gave the baby what it wanted.
Didn't give it anything.
I did, I gave it a breath of
smoke.
The baby wanted to smoke.
Was born with an appetite for smoke.
You used to see gorgeous girls almost blinded
with their beauty coming to Teen Challenge pregnant.
The little baby already has a habit.
It's born handicapped.
It's got a drug habit.
So scream and cry.
The baby cries.
You can't console it.
Because it was born in the atmosphere of
drugs.
Conceived in the atmosphere of drugs.
By the same token this little fellow somehow
mysteriously you see he took on the nature
of his mother.
Now you women who are pregnant you better,
you ought to pray.
And my mother did that while I was
coming along.
She sang.
She was always singing.
Not for sorrow, don't think that.
For joy that I was coming along.
And she had a beautiful voice.
Oh how she used to sing.
I used to love to hear my mother
sing.
The result was I loved to sing.
For three years I traveled with a revival
party and I never preached once.
I just sang, sang, sang, sang.
Loved to sing.
What happened to this little fellow?
He became a man of prayer.
No she did not get a child merely.
Or a man child.
But she got what?
She got a prophet.
That's why right now to me disagree if
you like.
I told you the pastor would disagree whether
he was wrong.
But anyhow disagree if you like.
But you see every period of barrenness brought
forth a supernatural child.
Again there came a day when Rachel wasn't
happy to bear having the nicest clothes and
the jewelry.
One day she comes her hair's blowing in
the wind and she says to Jacob give
me children or I die.
I said to you and say to you
again whether you're a pastor or not.
The only reason you don't have revival in
your church is you're willing to live without
it.
When it becomes a matter of life or
death really in your life you won't care
about anything on earth.
What did Rachel get?
Did she get a child?
No.
Yes she got a child.
Did she get a prophet?
No.
God didn't want her.
Not a prophet.
You see very often when we pray and
God answers prayer we think that God's answering
our prayer.
God was solving his own problem.
He wasn't solving Hannah's problem.
He needed a prophet up the road twenty
years ahead.
And do you remember when they put him
out of office?
When they put this marvelous man Samuel out
of office he says alright put me out.
And there was no spirit in him that
rebelled either.
But he says God forbid that I should
cease.
That I should sin in ceasing to pray
for you.
And if you ask people to write a
catalogue of sins I guess that prayerlessness would
not be on the list.
You say thank God I've got victory over
sin.
I don't smoke.
I've no bad temper.
I don't have this.
Did you sin today by prayerlessness?
You find the case again of Samson.
His mother was a barren woman.
She was in great need of a superman
and she conceived and she brought forth Samson.
Go right down to the scripture.
The man we had the other night John
Baptist.
His mother was old.
Beaten up old woman.
You know we read the Bible often don't
we and just put it down it doesn't
thrill us too much.
I get awfully thrilled about it.
I think of Sarah going up to her
husband Abraham and says No he went to
her first and he says I've got news
for you.
Oh he says What's the news?
He says I'm moving again.
He says No dear we're not moving again.
I've just got over that trip from out
of the Chaldees it nearly broke my heart
and I've just got the garden set and
a few other things Oh we're not moving.
Praise the Lord we're not moving.
Well now what news is it?
Well he said Darling you're going to have
a baby.
Have what?
Going to have a baby?
Oh sweetheart she said I forgot to send
it.
Hmm I forgot to send your greeting card
the other day.
You're a hundred years old I'd forgotten about
that.
And I'm eighty and we're going to have
a Oh wait till I write home and
tell my mother about this she's going to
say something interesting.
I told him in the first place not
to marry a preacher that I'm not sending
help and he took you all that way
to out of the Chaldees and now you're
going to have a baby.
Marvellous.
Hmm But he came along alright.
What an amazing time.
You know talking of get well cards reminded
me just the how often as our dear
pastor said tonight we substitute as I said
this morning in the Christian life you watch
this write it on a piece of paper
maybe the good is the enemy of the
best.
Satan won't tempt you to get well he'll
tempt you to go to the smiths up
the road and listen to two records and
somebody's tape when you should be making intercession.
It's the good that's the enemy of the
best in the Christian life.
Books are alright mine particularly but anyhow good
books are alright but they're no substitute for
the word of God.
Records are alright but they're no substitute for
a song in your heart.
What writes me about a lot of the
modern singing is this when I was a
kid you know people used to have nights
of prayer.
They couldn't sustain a two hours prayer night
but they could stay all night at a
gospel sing and pray five books to go.
Yeah there are some wonderful songs that I've
lost pace I spit them out nearly do
you know why?
Because some folk that wrote them that were
unknown a few years ago they'll take a
trio to a church and ask five thousand
dollars for the weekend.
Forget it I'm not interested.
Not selling the blood of Christ as far
as I'm concerned.
Now I would go to a shop and
get a birthday card for my wife.
Sure.
I'd get a get well card for a
friend but I wouldn't let anybody else write
my love letters would you?
Supposing you were away and you said Mary
Jane I love you dear but I'm very
busy I've got two men coming and I've
got to play golf with a guy for
business this afternoon so I've asked the man
he was sitting there in the hotel I
said hey are you busy?
He said no I said would you write
a love letter to my wife?
Sure what's her name?
Sue and ooh he piles it on all
gooey and you know puts a lot of
barbed wire at the bottom and sends the
letter and you read it and say this
is fantastic my husband never did look like
this and he gets on the phone and
says hey sweetheart this letter what happened?
Have you had a baptism of love or
something?
This is an amazing letter and you say
well sweetie I didn't write it I got
a friend to You got a what?
Huh?
Do you want somebody else to write your
love letters to God?
All right this woman has prayed look at
the ingredients she's prayed with sorrow she's prayed
she's been provoked ha ha she made a
vow to the Lord don't make them better
not to vow than to vow and not
fulfill the vow the word give me the
child I'll give him back to thee are
you going to suggest she did that easily?
are you going to suggest every year she
made him a cod and took it to
the sanctuary her heart didn't ache as she
came back without the child she made her
vow she kept her vow the glory of
God had departed but read the book through
it before you get to the third chapter
God has come back again to the temple
why?
because one woman prevailed and travailed and God
God restored the authority of the prophet do
you know why she prayed the greatest prayer?
because she never said a thing do you
know why she prayed the greatest prayer?
because she lay there in her grief and
the man of God came and said you
know I don't like this woman coming every
day I think she's drunk she must have
never said a word the greatest prayers in
the word of God have no language there's
a poem that says what am I an
infant crying in the night an infant crying
for a light with no language but a
cry brother elder my wife was saying she
saw that baby today lovely baby should be
with a daddy like mummy like that supposing
how old's the baby six months five months
six months supposing in the middle of the
night the little boy little girl little boy
yells out elder I want the light he'd
say to his wife did you hear her
voice yeah well you better go in the
room a little fellow sticks up he says
hey dad I need the light think dad's
light would you ask you don't expect him
to ask for the light he's afraid and
he yells and not affect it's fear put
the light off quits crying night after he
cries and elder says oh what's wrong will
you leave the light on yeah he's hungry
what did he say no bring me a
bottle boy she'd be startled if he did
he has no language but a cry he
cries in pain with one voice he cries
for a feed with another voice he cries
for loneliness with another voice he has no
language but a cry but the instinct of
the mother knows the language of the child
we don't move God with eloquence some people
can paint stained glass windows nicer than these
things behind with words you don't impress God
I'm so thrilled it fills me to death
you can't impress God your prayers are not
more valid because you earn a thousand dollars
a day than the man down there that
sells newspapers at the corner you're not more
impressive to God because you have a PhD
or an XYZ don't make any odds to
God you see some people think that prayer
is a position you've got to kneel or
you've got to face to the east prayer
is not a position it's a disposition it's
not an attitude it's an attitude this woman
prayed why?
it wasn't really her badness but in Israel
the priests were corrupt and Eli refused to
deal with his sons and they corrupted further
this little woman cried this little woman prayed
she had no language oh you mentioned about
you shouldn't pray like that tonight you got
me excited sitting down with Moses I'm going
to talk to him for about ten thousand
years so if you see me would you
keep your nose out of it a bit
till I've asked him a few questions I
want to ask him a lot of questions
and about his prayer life when God said
Moses come here a minute let's talk to
him did God ever say that to you?
or are you too busy to listen?
Moses I'm sick to death of the corruption
of these people I've delivered them again and
again and again and every time now look
this is what I'm going to do I'm
going to rub them out just like you
rub them out off the wall rub them
out and out of your loins I'm going
to make a far greater nation if he'd
had half an ounce of carnality in him
he'd have said well hallelujah I've been waiting
for you to say that I can't wait
till I stand there tomorrow and say listen
you backslidden folk two million of you are
going to burn in hell forever and I'm
glad it's what you deserve but me I'm
so sanctified the Lord is going to preserve
me and not only preserve me he's going
to produce a new race out of me
and God says come out you see one
of the greatest things in the world is
when God reaches down and takes hold of
a man there's only one thing greater and
that's when a man takes hold of God
and there's a paraphrase in the old Methodist
hymn book about that situation let maltes in
the spirit grow and God cries out let
me alone that isn't that isn't maltes screaming
because God has a grip on him it's
God screaming because maltes has a grip on
him let maltes in the spirit grow and
God cries out let me alone you see
the prophet Isaiah talks about praying concerning the
work of my hands command me when were
you last in a prayer meeting that was
bathed with tears or somebody got angry over
the monopoly of the devil in the world
prayers don't move God because they don't move
us if they don't move us they never
move God again it doesn't necessarily mean exciting
language but deep down there in your spirit
what we said there in Romans 8 with
groanings which cannot be uttered it's the language
of the spirit the spirit groans the whole
creation is groaning we groan within ourselves it's
an orchestration of groaning we want birth without
pregnancy we want birth without pain there is
no revival that has ever been in history
that isn't preceded by traffic at least I
can't find one this woman doesn't care a
hill of beans about the man of God
she prays read to the end of the
chapter she comes in church one day with
a baby and she doesn't say any sarcastic
bit away she says for this child I
pray when you can produce the answer to
prayer does it matter what folks say for
this child I prayed and the Lord has
granted me the petition that I asked of
him yes she'd watched the other woman not
as attractive the other woman getting more clothes
but not getting as many clothes not getting
as much attention of the husband but she
did have a bunch of children around her
skirt and every time she heard the laughter
of those children she was sour in her
own spirit look at my sister's condition same
with Rachel wasn't it I think that's one
reason why it's good to read the history
of revivals they're provoking they get under my
skin they hurt me why is there no
movement of God today as in former days
this country has had some of the greatest
revivals in history because it's had some of
the greatest praying men in history told you
the other night when they buried Patience they
found at the side of his bed there
was a hard floor like this they found
two long grooves they found his kneecaps were
like a camel and the kneecaps had gone
hard by rubbing in those grooves at the
side of his bed where he used to
pray with fervency John Hyde the lady asked
me in a conference one day did you
ever meet John Hyde I said no I
wish I'd rather meet John Hyde than meet
the President of the United States did you
meet him yes I met him at the
Cyclops convention in India she said a friend
of mine she said they used to say
to him brother John you will be at
the conference next year God willing I can
remember when they used to invite me to
go to conferences to sing don't do that
anymore I'll tell you that and then they
invited me to go to conferences to preach
they didn't ask him to go to sing
they didn't ask him to go to preach
they asked him to go to pray and
one man said to him one day would
you grant me a favor could I pray
with you tomorrow and he said yes yes
you could pray with me about a quarter
to ten tomorrow morning in a little room
at the back of the auditorium the man
said I went along got there at quarter
to nine and he was praying and I
nestled up near to him and I waited
till ten o'clock and I thought oh
well he's waiting for me to pray so
he said I'd pray about ten minutes and
I was washed up worn out didn't know
what else to say so I quit apparently
you know what I'm talking about but anyhow
he said I'd pray about ten fifteen minutes
and that was it then he said John
began to pray oh my couldn't believe my
ears is this a man praying am I
imagining myself in Gethsemane isn't this man a
Hercules carrying the weight of the world is
this man filling up the sufferings of the
world and then he said no I'm not
going to the door I'll never get back
to pray with this man he'll never let
me I'm not going to the door I'll
keep knocking I'm not going I'm not going
somebody put their head round the door and
said brother hi you're to speak on prayer
you know this afternoon at three o'clock
ten minutes of free the man said ten
minutes of free that's stupid started praying at
ten o'clock it can't be much more
than eleven at the most Mr. Hyde got
up very quietly hadn't a word to say
walked out to the auditorium and he said
I looked at my watch five minutes to
pray from ten to eleven to twelve to
one to two to three he prayed all
that time sigh Ian
Bownes was very much the same Bownes said
that God killed a man in this country
to pray think he would I'll argue with
Bownes not me who did God kill Stonewall
Jackson right because every major prayer that he
prayed God answered then he was praying for
something God didn't want and God had to
break the man's heart to kill him and
so he killed him that's what Bownes said
little and prayed alright I said there are
three things about natural birth conception gestation birth
the same thing happened in revival conception why
did Jesus come through the body of the
Virgin Mary it wasn't spectacular he's going to
come with ten thousand of his saints why
didn't he come that way the first time
he had captured the world came to a
little maiden to everybody else a doubtful pregnancy
but she carried the child and brought forth
the Christ of God you see this figure
is carried out in the word of God
when Zion travailed she brought forth children on
one occasion the word says that she traveled
and she had no strength and brought forth
women but in the normal things travel precedes
the birth of the child I'm convinced with
all whether you agree or not doesn't bother
me anyhow but from history and from the
Bible and from the fact that every church
should have a little spiritual nursery it should
have mothers in Israel and fathers in Israel
that can get spiritually pregnant and bring to
birth preaching won't do it heaven knows if
preaching could bring revival we ought to have
revival years ago if singing could do it
with more singing groups we've ever had in
history but neither of them can do it
because again God has established the virgin was
a body and the Holy Ghost conceived in
the Virgin Mary alright the church is his
body and the church is always likened to
a woman because she brings to birth and
you can't say how long that period will
be in which there is a spiritual pregnancy
in a church but if the Holy Ghost
conceived it there will be birth now you
can't have birth in any normal way when
it comes down to this business I remember
in England we would read the newspaper and
it would say the Queen has cancelled all
her engagements for the next six months uh
uh there'll be a prince or a princess
in the Royal House I remember when Mrs
Kennedy the last child she had and it
said Jackie Kennedy has quit her social calendar
you say Mr Remy how would I know
if I'm really getting to the place where
I want to I want to as it
were carry a spiritual pregnancy I'm meaning that
for the birth of it how would I
know because your life will change all its
habits you'll quit doing the things you've done
you'll start doing things you never dreamed of
very often a woman expecting a child suddenly
there are things she's liked all her life
she doesn't like and there's something she's never
liked that she wants as it gets nearer
to the time of birth so much more
does the pattern of life break up Mrs
Kennedy wouldn't go water skiing because she might
hurt herself she didn't ride horses she might
go over a fence and fall and injure
the unborn child and as it gets nearer
and nearer to the time of birth she
sits up at night she can't sleep and
there are all kinds of inconveniences she can't
go where she used to go she sleeps
when she didn't want to and she's awake
when she'd rather sleep and the whole pattern
of life is broken up and by the
same token when a church begins to feel
the birth pangs of revival everything's broken up
once you get the real birth pangs of
revival in this church those lives won't go
out for months not necessarily in this building
but in financial groups there'll be a group
of people who agree to pray some say
from twelve at night till two in the
morning some have already prayed from nine till
twelve and there'll be an endless chain just
as in the case of revival in Hermholtz
when little boys and girls prayed in the
anointing of the spirit of God prayed for
hours didn't want to play with dolls didn't
want to play with toys didn't want to
play with Indians and cowboys they were taught
the world was lost they were taught that
this was one of the final hours and
as a result of that those little things
grew up in the nurture and admonition and
the fear of God they grew with the
concept of God's majesty and God's holiness and
God's power and the only reason they were
in the world was to serve God I
wonder if that would be foreign language to
your children would it maybe it's foreign language
to some of their daddies and mothers you
see there is no way to get you
can't organize revival you can't say revival will
be born there for if you do it
will be born there you can't say that
the man is the revivalist because he'll come
from here all right she suffered all these
things Eli thought she was drunk well have
you discovered the church never does anything when
it's sober anyhow what did it say about
the men that came out of the upper
room said run I remember the first day
of World War II I was in Scotland
at the head Nazarene church holding a meeting
and the warning came out everybody must stop
and get a gas mask going home and
the pastor there James Baxter McLagan said I'm
picking up a gas mask and I said
well the only reason you're getting it it's
free that's why you're a Scotsman no he
said we should carry one and I said
I'll get mine when I go home well
he said do you mind if I go
in this building this is where I said
go ahead he said now look when I
come out of that light room I won't
be able to see it would you stand
against this lamp post I know where it
is when I come out of that door
I'll walk straight up there and you'll be
there I said fine he went in the
room quite a lot of people scrambling for
gas masks a street car came up the
street without any lights on and a Scotsman
got out he was filled with a spirit
it was a long spirit and he staggered
across the street you know and he caught
his foot and he put his arm round
the lamp post and me as well suddenly
realised that was a ah he said how
are you I said fine he says well
who are you so I told him ah
you're not a Scotsman no he says can
you sing I said no oh he said
listen to me he began to sing Maxwell
Tom Bray the bonny wedder he called the
dew he meant the dew but it was
good enough for a drunk man he got
near enough any and he sang it and
when he sang he rolled his feet and
he said can you say it I said
no no no I can't do that who's
your favour told him all my father was
ah he says my favour and he goes
on with a long pedigree put his hand
in his pocket got a handful of money
out when a Scotsman money you know do
you want the money I said no yeah
he said you're no good you keep singing
you don't want and you're not a Scotsman
and he went down the road singing Maxwell
Tom Bray the bonny now that was about
ten minutes past nine at night in the
dark if I'd met that man at ten
minutes past nine in the morning he wouldn't
even have acknowledged me he wouldn't have spoken
to me isn't it amazing that those two
things are put together be not filled with
wine where is an excess but be filled
with the spirit you know why because when
people are filled with the spirit there's a
recklessness and you better watch out because a
lot of sharks around take advantage of the
recklessness too I don't care if an evangelist
gets a thousand dollars a day some of
us is worth it but it's not what
you earn it's what you do with it
I can't wait till I get to the
judgment and God rolls the book out to
see how much some of these guys have
earned a friend of mine was preaching in
his native church a while ago he's the
he's the favorite son he's the only preacher
that's come out of his church and he
went back to his church and had an
amazing week and they took a love offering
they gave him a nice fat cake a
professor said I want to tell you something
it's only half the offering when you told
people you'll give me the offering yes but
it was it was such a big offering
we didn't want to give you it all
you see so much money's been taken three
weeks ago some people came here I wouldn't
tell you who the happy bunch were but
there were two of them and they were
only there three and a half days and
they got three thousand five hundred dollars for
three and a half days that's not bad
pay maybe your pastor gets more I don't
know but a thousand a day isn't bad
pay for evangelists they took it without a
bless we deserve it of course I mean
we're hard to get you know very grateful
we even came for three days you know
the hindrances to revival the greatest hindrance to
revival made in America is evangelism singing groups
teens that go and raise money live like
kings one bunch opened me first but they
made a million dollars in a year one
singing group you know what I always thrilled
me while evangelism costs a lot of money
revival doesn't cost one red cent while red
cent while evangelism has to be organized revival
cannot be organized while revival is always turning
around a pardon me while evangelism spins around
a famous personality revival doesn't do that very
seldom has an outstanding well known man become
a revivalist the revivalist has made the man
famous in that in one sense it's not
a famous man that brings revival I don't
believe anybody knew Hannah until she conceived and
bore this wonderful child and bore a prophet
but you know what happens I'm not going
to be a there would be many prayer
groups and they prayed and prayed and got
nearly to the place of birth and then
the devil got in and discouraged them and
there was a there was a miscarriage a
spiritual miscarriage you see the thing is the
hard thing is the woman it doesn't matter
how painful it is doesn't matter how lonely
it is doesn't matter how sick she gets
doesn't matter how it breaks up the program
she has to stay with that pregnancy until
there's deliverance and the devil's cute enough to
get us to the place where we get
weary in well-doing and suddenly comes along
and says you're on the wrong trail and
somebody else comes up with another argument and
we give in sometimes I think this is
the reason why many of the great prayer
warriors today are women they know more about
patience and travail and waiting so the men
do Hannah prayed and it says she rose
up and she worshipped too and she prayed
for a child and God gave her a
man in her another woman prays God doesn't
give her a prophet he gives her a
prime minister because that's what God needs up
the road and she prays for an old
woman prays and God violates every normal law
and Isaac is born and then to show
that it wasn't kind of an impossible thing
or an isolated thing you get the same
thing again when John Baptist is born of
an AIDS woman I remember preaching in an
alliance church some years ago in Louisville Kentucky
the church there is a big fine church
and the front of it has a huge
communion rift and I spoke on Hannah one
morning the pastor of the church was sitting
halfway up the aisle and when I finished
he walked down the aisle on his hands
and knees and I can see him coming
down he grabbed hold of the communion rail
and he said oh God don't let this
church get too old to conceive you see
there's a period in a girl's life she's
too young to conceive and there's a period
in a girl's life when she's too old
and churches get too old they get stagnant
and relief gets in they have no expectation
they become weary but when there's an expectation
when there's a laying hold of the word
of God the promise of the Lord exceeding
great and precious promises I remember years ago
a man who put a slogan outside of
his church when he realized there was balance
there a number sure sure money yes but
not life the proof of this church's life
is how many young men and women you
get to the mission field with a burning
vision that they don't care whether they live
or die our dear boy came home from
mission field not long ago he should have
been home a year to eighteen months he
hadn't been home for over a year and
he stayed home five weeks and his mummy
was talking to him one day and he
said you know I may never come back
again do you know originally we're in the
Roman Catholic church before a missionary went to
another country furloughs are a fairly new thing
in missionary activity we spend fortunes bringing people
home before a man went to the mission
field or a nun they took their appendix
out all the bad teeth everything they thought
would need repairing and shoved them on the
mission field gate go away and die and
they did it God helped the church that
gets too old it's our God helped the
pastor that's afraid to put a slogan at
the door like this man did this church
will have a revival or a funeral he
said but you better not devout you see
she made a vow you think her heart
wasn't torn when she took that child to
Eli and said here he is this is
my contribution to the temple and I just
want to come and see him every year
I bring him a new suit and she
saw him blossom into a fine young man
I don't know when she died maybe she
saw him with the anointing of God he
was the one that went and anointed the
king and she could say my God I
remember the hours that I traveled I remember
my misery I remember the place where I
said listen give me a child or I'll
die I said this will you understand it
God does not N.O.T. God does
not answer prayer he answers desperate prayer and
I said the other day again I can
find no trace of Jesus ever praying with
his disciples he prayed for them but not
with them they wouldn't understand his language people
in the Chicago church didn't understand Joseph and
he quit going to prayer meetings why because
nobody would pray to Joseph and then when
he prayed nobody dared pray he prayed in
a dimension he prayed with an anointing he
had a language that came from of God
he had a groaning in his spirit his
last message to his own church was Christ's
reigning authority in his church I've been with
many famous men great men prayed with them
taught with them my most happy memories are
when we were meeting in his office which
was about from here to there I was
up behind his church there in Chicago and
we would talk for hours then he'd say
let's pray let's really speak God Maccafee was
with him at the time man to hear
that man pray that was before tape recorders
if we'd had one I'd have smuggled one
in my shirt and switched it on you
know and said man I'm going to keep
this man's prayer I get a little suspicious
and weary of people who talk about the
baptism of the Holy Ghost and it didn't
revolutionize your prayer largely you'll miss it somewhere
we talked about tongues we talk about interpretation
we talk about prophecies you know Jude says
the epistle of Jude that little book before
the revelation is a whole epitome of the
whole Bible and it talks there about praying
in the Holy Ghost I believe in an
eternity that's going to be an instant replay
of all our lives my my my I
I boy nobody will dare talk to me
then I'll dig him in the ribs if
he does no nobody will talk we'll be
too we'll be too amazed when we're in
eternity.
Now and I'll be sitting on my chair
or throne I might have a throne how
do you know somebody's going to roll over
the some sections but I'll sit there on
my chair and the Lord said now now
Gabriel let's have a replay of the prayers
of that little man David Brainerd.
I was in a church not long ago
and I and I mentioned I didn't know
a thing about the church and I mentioned
in that church I said you know we
went to a house and and the man
was sitting in a preacher's chair you know
lazy boy's chair and I said you know
I said the congregation laughed they said Mr.
Brainerd we just bought him a lazy boy's
chair last week for his birthday they bought
the pastor a lazy boy's chair how would
I know that?
No he had no lazy boy's chair.
He had a coat do you know what
it was?
It was the skin of a cow that
he had beaten out till it was supple
and soft and he wrapped it round himself
and he had a piece of corn and
he wrapped it round himself and he had
a Lincoln Continental it was a little mare
about this size and he was sitting little
horse he rode everywhere and he said he
prayed when the snow was up to his
chin and pressing on his breast and he
was in protagonist for those Indians that when
he finished praying he should only touch the
snow with the tips of his fingers.
So he was a strong man he weighed
about a hundred pounds.
He had a bark like a wolf he
was torn with tuberculosis.
So were many of the greatest men in
history sick men, weak men.
The comparable figure in in in the history
of Scotland was Robert Murdoch McShane.
He died at the age of 29.
But he didn't die till the whole city
had been moved under the power of God.
A whole city.
They prayed.
I I I I say before God it's
a language we don't know.
It's an experience we don't teach.
Travail of spirits, praying with groanings that cannot
be uttered.
But all these mixtures are found here in
this marvelous marvelous chapter.
Read them.
Meditate on them.
You know there's prayer and there's supplication and
there's petition and there's intercession.
There's praying.
Jude says praying in the Holy Ghost.
When you pray in the Holy Ghost you
never pray a thing for yourself.
When you grow up in spirit you never
say Lord bless me.
Because you don't care whether he blesses you
or not.
What you pray is make me a blessing.
And in the process of making you a
blessing you're blessed.
You can pray until you want to be
blessed.
You're blessed like a little child wants to
get every time it comes home.
Every time daddy comes home.
This same type of praying, let me finish,
this same type of praying was known to
the Apostle Paul.
That ninth chapter in Romans to me is
always a staggering chapter.
Do you remember what he's praying?
He's praying for Israel and he said I
could wish myself a curse.
Do you know what the real word is?
I said I'd write an article on it
but I don't know if any editor would
take it.
I'd write an article and I'd give it
this title.
He said well I'll be damned.
That's not good language is it?
Scriptural language.
That's what he says.
I could wish myself a curse for my
brethren.
Madame Guillaume says if the faith in heaven
is restricted well send me to hell and
let somebody enjoy Jesus in heaven.
I've enjoyed him so much I know the
memory in hell will be sweet.
Little petite beautiful French lady praying like that.
I'm not suggesting I've got there, don't think
that.
I'm not suggesting that.
But I'm telling you that such was her
love for Christ, such was her love for
lost people.
They'd miss so much.
Let me go to perdition if need be
in the memory, the hangover, from all the
ecstasy.
You see she knew how to worship.
She knew what adoration was.
She knew what travail was.
People said when she wrestled in prayer she
literally wrestled with the devil.
And if there was something on the floor
in the room upstairs that she wrestled.
Now I don't care who you know.
If you don't know God.
As I said in that majestic prayer of
Jesus, one of the great themes in the,
what we call the high priestly prayer, John
17, he says Father that they may know
thee.
Does it matter who you know if you
don't know God?
Does it matter if you don't know if
you do know him?
Now I don't care who you know if
you don't know God.
And I don't care where you're known if
you're not known in hell.
Particularly as a preacher and evangelist.
If you're not known in hell, I don't
think you worth a hill of beef.
I read it this afternoon.
Nineteenth chapter in the Acts of the Apostles.
So men tried to get in on the
deal.
Have you heard what happened?
Now to make money cast out demons, heal
the sick.
Okay.
These seven brothers got together and decided they'd
do it.
And they found a man demon possessed and
so they went up to him and they
tried, it's the exorcist.
They tried to get the demons out.
And even demons have a bit of respect.
Do you know what they did?
Just what I'd do if I were demons.
They jumped on the guys and beat them
up.
Isn't it amazing invisible demons tore the clothes
off them and wounded them?
And they fled out of the house screaming
and naked.
Even the demons were insulted because somebody tried
to put someone else on them.
They used the name of Jesus and they
had no authority.
And they got hold of those men and
they stripped off their clothes, those invisible fingers,
clawed the clothes off the men and then
they beat them and wounded them.
And when the men ran out of the
house the demons screamed out to them, Paul
I know and Jesus I know but who
are you?
In other words they said you've no authority.
We've suffered at the hands of Jesus, we've
suffered at the hands of the apostles.
So we talked with Jamie Buckingham today.
He's writing a book on angels.
I said after Billy Graham wrote his book
on angels we'd get a dozen.
You know somebody writes on demons you get
fifty books on demons.
But Buckingham had started his book on angels
five years ago, long before Billy Graham started.
And I went and had a little time
of prayer for him.
And the word that came to me as
I prayed was this.
I sent a telegram to him.
I said Father help him to write a
book on angels that will scare demons.
Write a book on angels that will make
demons mad.
You say will they read it?
I don't know what they'll read.
I'll tell you what they can feel the
effect of it.
That's why God brought him here this afternoon
because his book was biased.
He said oh now I see the other
side what we have to do.
We've got to deal with fallen spirit, evil
spirit.
If you knew what was going on in
the heavenlies right now, either as a Christian
you'd just say hallelujah I know what God's
doing.
Oh you'll be scared to death.
Do you believe that there is a demon
power that rules over Titusville?
Do you think all you have to do
is just say Lord Jesus bless Titusville today.
Bless the pastor and let him help the
choir to sing and bless Bill as he
leads the song.
We enjoy it so much ain't we?
Do you think that scares the devil?
I doubt if it does any good to
be honest.
One of the perfect characters, the most perfect
characters in the bible was Daniel.
I'd like to have heard him pray wouldn't
you?
Do you know what he says?
He says the prince of Persia up in
the sky there resisted him for three weeks.
Did you ever pray and feel you haven't
gotten through for three weeks?
Most of us we don't get through in
three minutes.
We're ready to cry and call the pastor.
And he resisted and he resisted and he
resisted and all the time he fought straight
and fought back.
And the prince there in the air resisted
but he got through.
I said to Jamie, I said Jamie you
know one of the staggering things about the
word of God to me is this.
Oh it may not affect you, I don't
know.
But you know Jesus said you say you've
saved them through the spirit.
Well you've got a lot more responsibility than
anybody else.
And one thing that Jesus says, I give
you power over the enemy, no over all
the power of the enemy.
I said to Jamie too, I said you
know Jamie a lot of sermons that are
born die.
A lot of them are still born.
A lot of them shouldn't be born.
But I'll tell you what.
You may have prayed a prayer ten years
ago and it hasn't been answered yet.
Now let me tell you something, God's got
it on file.
How do you know?
Because Revelation says what are these under the
altar?
The prayers of the saints.
You never prayed a prayer that God didn't
register.
Did you ever pray the prayer of the
psalmist when he said store my tears in
my bottle?
Hmm?
You never shed a tear, but what an
angel picked it up your cheek and stored
it up there in eternity for the record.
One hymn writer talks of Jesus who every
grief hath known but wrings the human breast
and takes and bears them for his own
but all in him may rest.
One thing I'm sure, we were talking about
Duncan Campbell this afternoon.
The man that had revived in the Hebrides.
He was in a church one night that
was packed.
He tried to preach.
God seemed a million miles away and he
called on a boy sixteen years of age.
John Smith.
That was Israel day.
John Smith.
Would you pray?
There were deacons and elders there from the
Presbyterian church and a free church, but he
wouldn't ask them.
He asked a sixteen year old school boy
to pray.
The boy got up and said, Ah, what's
the good of praying if we're not right
with God?
And he read and quoted the twenty-fourth
psalm.
Who shall ascend into the hill of the
Lord?
Prayer is the most demanding thing in the
world.
Before you can go to God you have
to clean hands.
That's a relationship with the world, a pure
heart relationship with God.
Holiness is a right disposition in our spirits
toward God.
Righteousness is right relationships with men.
The boy stood up and quoted psalm twenty
-fourth.
And when he finished he started to pray
in that crowded church.
He prayed ten minutes, fifteen minutes, twenty minutes,
thirty minutes, forty minutes, forty-five minutes.
And when he finished it was just as
though God pulled a switch in heaven.
God came down on the community.
Not on the church.
Do you notice what I said?
He came on the community.
He came on the dance hall at the
end of the road.
He came on the tavern at this end
of the road.
He came on the home.
The disciple was brought.
And Duncan had such amazing stories of how
God answered prayer.
There was a girl in Africa this evening.
Her name is Mary Morrison.
She's married now.
She wasn't then.
She worked with a space mission.
And she had a girlfriend called Wilson.
And they sent them out two by two.
Two men, one area, two girls in another.
And these girls went to an island and
they weren't there for eight years.
Hardly saw a concert.
There were some big rocks like this at
the seashore and those girls would go behind
the rocks and groan.
The waves would spray over them.
The sun would blister them.
They stayed praying year after year after year.
One day their superintendent came and he said,
you girls, you're even noted for your piety
here and you're praying.
And we're going to move you to another
island because you've broken up the fallow ground
and you've sowed the seed and you've been
so faithful we thought we'd send you to
another area where you can reap.
That's about as stupid as you can get,
isn't it?
If you took a piece of virgin ground
up there and you tore all the trees
up and you got the rocks out and
you fertilized it, would you go to Arkansas
to reap your harvest?
You'd stay there where you'd broken up the
fallow ground, where you'd sowed the seed, hauled
plants to polish waters.
They begged to stay in the island and
they stayed eight years, nine years, ten years,
eleven years.
It got to twelve years.
They decided to have a conference.
They brought Duncan Campbell over to speak and
the people crowded in.
One night while they were sitting there, Mary
had had a marvellous meeting with God.
She was a brilliant dancer.
She danced on swords, you know, with a
kilt.
She was, she was that and she could
sing.
And when she was on stage, somebody asked
her to go ahead and, Ah, she says,
I'm not going to Kirk.
I'm not going to the church.
There were five of the girls.
The other four said, where are you going?
She says, well, I'm not going.
Why not?
Ah, she says, if we go to the
Kirk now, it's late.
The Kirk is the church.
They'll take us right up to the front
pew, stick us right under the preacher's nose.
You see, five of us go in.
I do say, Ah, the Lord has somehow
told me tonight to pray on the, to
preach on the five foolish birds.
The girls say, Oh, don't be silly.
He wouldn't do a thing like that.
Oh, well, I've got to keep it quiet.
They marched in and sat there and old
Duncan gets up and he says, it seems
very clear tonight.
I had a word from the Lord early
this morning that just knew.
He told me to preach on the five
foolish birds.
Oh, terrible.
And she thought she resisted God.
She didn't go back for weeks.
And she went back one night under pressure.
Her name was Mary.
And again, they had to go up to
the front.
And he said, tonight the Lord has changed
my message.
I have to preach tonight on Mary.
The Master has come and called us for
this.
Getting a bit personal, isn't it?
Got down from five to one.
She got saved that night.
She's a fantastic preacher.
So, she can't preach.
If you're a Baptist lady, you can't preach.
He just let them go to the missionary
and tire themselves out to preach.
They can't preach in our focus.
Miss Bertha gets away with it.
That's all right.
I'm glad she does.
All right, Mary Morrison has been on this
island with this other lady for twelve years.
Duncan Campbell has preached in the power of
the Spirit.
They've sung their hymns and as they're singing,
he nudges Mary Morrison and he says, I
have no words from the Lord.
You'd better preach.
No, no, no.
This is a conference.
You came from Scotland.
You've got to preach.
No.
He says, I have no anointing.
You talk about John Knox praying, give me
scarf and or I die.
I think the greatest thing he ever did
was when the cathedral was packed out in
Edinburgh and he went to all the preliminaries
and they sang the hymns and they took
up the offering and he stood up and
said, would you kindly stand?
I have no word from the Lord.
And he dismissed them without a sermon.
That takes courage.
You'd have warmed an old one up, wouldn't
you?
But anyhow, he says, I have no word
from the Lord.
And that was it.
And Mary stood up and she said, I
have a word from the Lord tonight.
And she preached on David and Lazarus.
And Duncan Campbell said you could almost see
God walk through the door while she was
preaching.
God came on that hymn.
Twelve years of weeping behind rocks.
Twelve years of loneliness.
Twelve years of criticism.
And God put it all together one night.
People were marvelously, marvelously saved by the Spirit
of God.
See, God is never in a hurry, but
he's never late.
I've been praying for revival for fifty years.
I feel more thrilled about it now than
ever.
Despite world conditions, despite the laziness of the
church, and that's the crying sin of the
church, the laziness after God.
Not because I'm an optimist, but because I've
got a book here and I stand on
the book.
God's going to pour out his Spirit on
all flesh.
Not just all denominations, all flesh.
I had a talk last night on vision.
The young men shall see vision.
Shall all men dream dreams.
On my servants and my maid, he's going
to pour out of his Spirit.
It's all possible again because he died.
Not only died, but he rose.
Not only rose, he ascended.
Not only ascended, he liveth to make and
to take.
I've said the longest prayer meeting in history.
Lasted a hundred years.
Well, of course, that's the prayer meeting amongst
men.
The longest prayer meeting in history is from
the time Jesus rose to this moment, because
he's been praying for two thousand years.
And God's going to answer his prayer.
And the world is going to see the
power of the risen Son of God poured
out through the revised, quickened church that's going
to conceive in his And bring to birth
a Pentecost that without Pentecost, Pentecost.