I was thinking, as you said, Brother Roy,
which reminds me of my childhood days.
And you don't know how it feels.
My dad speaks to thousands of people about
the Lord.
And he says to many of them, oh,
brother.
And the other says, oh, brother.
And it gets very irritating.
And on the phone, he speaks to you.
And suddenly, he says, oh, brother.
And he forgets to do his son.
I was in Africa.
And I used to, as I was traveling
about, I used to look at the people.
And it amazed me.
I'm very proud of you people this morning
that you're not all sitting at the back.
Because it's amazing.
Across the world, you'll find that when there's,
OK, this is reasonably full.
But when there's half a hall or something
like that full of people, then people like
to fill in right from the back row.
And then I stand up.
And I have to look at them back
there with my eyes.
And I either ask them to come to
the front, or I say to them, please,
the next meeting, can you sit in the
front?
And I once came to a town, Armelo,
in Africa.
And I came there.
And someone said there was a prayer meeting.
I thought, that's wonderful.
There's a prayer meeting on Wednesday night.
And it seems there's quite a few people
come to this prayer meeting.
And I went to that church.
And I didn't know the people there.
I don't think I knew the minister.
And I walked to the front.
I thought, you know, I'm going to practice
what I preach.
I'm going to sit at the front.
So I walked right to the front.
Everybody was sitting at the back that came
to the prayer meeting.
And I sat right in front.
And that minister stood up.
And he said, you know, there's only two
people that are at the front in a
meeting.
He said, it's the pastors and the Pharisees.
So I said, then, I thought, OK.
But anyway, I think the Lord has got
a sense of humor.
With all reverence said.
Could we turn to Romans 8, verse 15,
please?
Romans 8, verse 15.
Now, this is one of the most wonderful,
beautiful, precious, and lovely verses in the entire
Bible.
I'm sure you all know it.
But I'm going to read it again.
It goes like this.
Romans 8, verse 15.
For you have not received the spirit of
bondage again to fear.
You have not received the spirit of bondage
again to fear.
But you have received the spirit of adoption
whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
And you know, this verse is very, very,
very, very precious to me.
It's one of the most precious verses that
you can ever read in the entire Bible.
I was once, actually this year, sitting in
my bed and reading.
I don't know if you do that.
And I was reading this little book about
the Muslims, All You Want to Know About
Them, something like that.
And I came to a section that made
me cry.
It was when I started to realize what
we've got as Christians compared to them.
You know, they've got 90-something words for
their God.
Beautiful words, they call it.
And not one of them is love.
Not one of those words is love.
They would never dare to call God a
God of love.
He's a sovereign God that predestines certain people
that he chooses to do enough good works
to one day face judgment day and get
through.
There's something out there that you can never
know.
And they find it very hard to understand
how Christians can call God Father.
How Christians can call God Father.
This verse is precious.
For you have not received the spirit of
adoption, abonded, sorry again, to fear, but you
have received the spirit of adoption whereby we
cry, Abba, Father.
You know, I've met people, we travel across
South Africa and you meet many, many, many,
many Christians.
And many of them, it's amazing how the
devil does it.
There were once three wonderful Christians.
I'm not talking about freedom to sin, no.
But they had a freedom in Christ.
And now they're in bondage, they're in darkness.
Some people of them for years had a
wonderful Christian life and then for ten years
they were in darkness.
Other people were greatly used of God.
I know one who was greatly, greatly used
of God.
In between the devil came and made him
go through patches, long patches of darkness and
bondage.
The devil doesn't want us to experience our
freedom in Christ Jesus.
I know a person, a preacher, he's in
a hut now.
He was a wonderful, wonderful preacher.
And now he lives there in a little
hut in the wood.
So the devil got him into darkness.
And I'd just like to bring a few
illustrations to illustrate how the devil works.
How the devil works.
You know at college, Bible college, it's a
wonderful, wonderful place to be.
I've been there for two years, the best
two years of my life.
I can say that with all my heart.
And when I was there, well apart from
missionary work.
But when I was there something very interesting
happened.
Somebody read about Charles Finney.
I know the person, he was an ex
-policeman.
He got saved right over the world.
And he read that Charles Finney stood up,
and in the early days he just took
a verse, and began to preach.
And God came down.
Wonderful.
And he had no preparation.
And so he went to the jail where
we preach on Sunday sometimes, and he said,
this is the way to do it, we're
gonna take a verse and I'm just gonna
preach.
And he enjoyed that.
And a very interesting thing happened.
The other students looked at him, and they
felt so bad if they did any preparation
for their sermon.
They went into bondage about that.
I had one student sitting in front of
me.
The person said, is it wrong, I feel
so bad that I'm quoting from a book.
The devil is fearful in him.
I mean, think of Moody and, the difference
between Moody and Finney.
I read in a book once how Moody
made his sermons.
He used to, on a topic, totally different
to Finney, he used to gather together everything
he could find, quotes and illustrations on a
topic.
He didn't use all of them, he used
to pile them together for hours, and put
them eventually together after hours of preparation in
the sermon.
He used to have a bible, which I
was quite amazed to hear about, that he
cut out of, and he pasted it down,
so that he didn't have to look it
up in the bible.
And yet God used the old Moody, and
he used Charles Finney, totally different.
I think of George Muller, George Muller, it's
wonderful to read of his books of how
he prayed before he did anything, many times,
he used to have a few rules, that
if it wasn't, that this didn't come into
place, then he wouldn't do something.
He wouldn't do something.
And he many times would pray for a
long time, now I've met people that are
on bondage, and I mean bondage, well after
reading George Muller, some people are so blessed
by him, but they are scared to give
out a tract on the street, in case
it's not the Lord's will.
I know people that have prayed for seven
months before they are charged with church council,
and I don't say that that was wrong,
but it's amazing how long they took.
If I think of Samuel Morris, he was
a bit different, he was a bit like
Peter, impulsive.
And he heard there was someone in America,
he didn't know who it was, he was
an expert in the Holy Spirit doctrine, and
he decided I'm going to run it, it
was a hard journey, he came to the
beach there, he asked the captain of a
ship that was landing, can I go on
your ship, he asked the next day, and
eventually got on that ship, he knew nothing
about being on a ship.
He was impulsive, and he didn't, the wonderful
thing is that God didn't say, oh look
at this impulsive person, that's trauma, by meaning
I can't use him, he didn't pray seven
hours like George Muller, before he decided something,
oh he prayed a lot, he prayed a
lot.
But if you read Samuel Morris, you'll see
that when he came to America, he stood
up in a meeting and he began to
pray, and God came down, just by praying,
and those people in brokenness.
I think it's Ezra and Nehemiah in the
Bible, if you want to have different personalities,
he's the one, when the people mixed themselves
with the people, with the wrong people, wrong
wives, that the one of them, he started
to tear out his hair, I don't know
if you've ever done that, it's not nice,
don't try actually, but he started to tear
out his hair, and I think it was
about 50 years later, the other one was
faced with the same situation, and he had
all these people mixing themselves with the wrong
people, wives, and you know, he must have
known about that, but he didn't tear one
hair off his head, he had a different
personality, he ran among the people and he
started to tear their hair out, so you
can see there are different personalities, and they're
both with the same result, the people repented
at the moment, you know, and this is
with all respect, because you don't speak lightly
of the devil, but the devil is like
a murderer, the devil is like a murderer,
and let's say that murderer is in front
of you and he's got a gun, but
he doesn't have any ammunition, he's just waiting,
just waiting, he hates you with a passionate
hatred, and he's waiting for ammunition to put
in that gun that he can shoot at
you, and hurt your faith, and if you
give him ammunition, he'll use it, every last
bit of ammunition that you give to him,
he'll use in your life, 1 Peter 5
verse 8 says, be sober, be vigilant, because
your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion,
walketh about seeking whom he may devour, and
I think one of the most dangerous, one
of the most dangerous pieces of ammunition that
you can ever, ever place in the devil's
hands, is your feelings, one of the most
dangerous ammunition that you can ever put into
the hand of the devil is your feelings,
I used to say, there's two things in
the Bible that as far as the east
is from the west, one is your sins
from God if he's forgiven you, but the
other thing is your feelings from your faith,
your feelings from your faith, and the devil
wants you, he longs for you to connect,
and many, many Christians do this, they connect
their feelings to their faith, and they feel
up, I've got faith, when I feel down,
I've got faith, and if you do that,
I can guarantee you I've met many, many,
many, many, many, many people, going through hard,
hard, people come up to me in tears,
because of this, connecting their feelings to their
faith, you will go through struggles that you
never had to go through if you do
that, I was in America, 3 years back,
and I remember being a forgetful person, I
got out of bed, and I forgot to
eat, I thought I'm going to go down
the street, and I'm going to praise to
the Lord, and I'm going to pray, and
I went for this walk, and as always
happens when you don't eat, after a while
of praising, my stomach started to speak to
my head, and it said there's something wrong,
and I was trying to praise, but I
didn't feel good, it didn't feel terrifying, and
I didn't remember that I hadn't eaten, and
I was praising and praising, and it just
didn't work, and suddenly the devil came and
he said there's something wrong with your faith,
look at you, you're praising, you're doing it
in the flesh, or something like that, and
you know then I remembered I hadn't eaten,
so I went back after I prayed a
bit, and I ate, and I felt great,
and you know I believe God was there
when I praised, not because I felt he
was there, but because he said he would
be there, I remember I was once in
an all night prayer session, and it's wonderful,
you read of those people who cry, after
about 3 hours, and I say this with
reverence, I was crying before the Lord for
the souls of men, but at about 3
o'clock in the morning I was yearning,
and I could hardly see what I was
reading when I read a bit of the
Bible, but you know what I believe, with
all my heart, God answered those prayers when
I was yearning, as much as he answered
those prayers when I was crying, even when
I didn't feel much.
R.A. Torrey, R.A. Torrey said do
not look at your feelings, do not look
at your feelings, but at God's promise.
Dale Mooney writes, do you think you can
control your feelings?
Do you think you can control your feelings?
Bear in mind Satan can change your feelings
50 times a day, but he cannot change
the word of God.
He isn't in that situation, it was for
salvation, but I think it applies right across
your spiritual life.
He said that if you are drowning, and
you want to be saved, the devil will
come often with a plank of feeling, and
he'll say put your foot on the feeling,
and you'll put it on there and he'll
slip out under your back in the water,
very soon.
But he said I can give you something
much better, I'll give you the rock of
God's word.
Stand on that, and you won't fall.
You know Charles Spurgeon, you think of these
great preachers and revivalists who had power with
God, and the feeling comes often, or the
thought, that these people had wonderful peace all
the time.
They had something that drove them to their
knees, and as they stood on the pulpit,
this wonderful feeling came across them, this power.
But do you know what Charles Spurgeon said,
or wrote?
He said I do not always even feel
saved, but I know I'm saved because God's
word says it.
I do not always feel saved, but I
know I'm saved because God's word says it.
And many people think because they don't have
a wonderful feeling that they don't have faith.
They don't have faith.
And because they do not have faith, the
Lord is angry with them.
He's always displeased in some little way.
I mean Hebrews 11 verse 6 says that
without faith it is impossible to please Him.
Without faith it is impossible to please Him.
And then you sit in your quiet time,
and at the beginning you don't feel this
amazing wonderful feeling coming, and the devil comes
and he says, there's something wrong with your
faith.
I mean if you were truly a great
man of God, then this wonderful feeling would
be coming upon you right now.
And do you know how many people are
short, short quiet times?
Shorter quiet times, because they're waiting for some
amazing feeling.
Let me read to you a verse in
the Bible that you all know well, and
then I'd like to ask a question.
1 John 5 verse 14 to 15, and
this is the confidence that we have in
Him.
That if we ask anything according to His
will, we know that He will hear us.
And if we know that He will hear
us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we
have the petition that we desired of Him.
Let me ask you a question.
Did this say, and this is the confidence
that we have in Him, that if we
have a wonderful feeling winding up through our
ears, that He will hear us, and whatsoever
we ask, we know that we have the
petition that we desired of Him.
No.
It doesn't say that.
It says that if we ask according to
His will, He will hear us.
Now let me ask you a question.
What is it in us that makes us
want to feel before we believe?
What is it in us that wants us
to make us feel before we believe?
And I believe it's the flesh.
You know, Naaman, I don't know what you
call him in America, in Africa we call
him Naaman, he was with Elisha, he was
the soldier who had leprosy.
And he came to Elisha, and Elisha didn't
even come out, and he wanted to be
healed.
And of course the servant came out and
told him that he should go and wash
himself in the Jordan a couple of times.
And then something in him made him get
angry.
He said, why didn't the prophet come out
and stand before me and smite the air
or something, and call upon his God?
Oh, he wanted lots of things.
And then there came his servants and said
to him, but you know, if you asked
a big thing, you would have done it.
Why don't you just wash and be clean?
Why do you have to make it complicated?
You see, the flesh wants to feel before
it believes.
It wants to have a sign before it
believes.
It wants to understand before it believes.
And you must watch out for this.
This is the reason why many people never
get saved if you speak to them.
1 Corinthians 1 verse 22 says, for the
Jews, the Jews require a sign, and the
Greeks seek after wisdom.
The Jews require a sign, and the Greeks
seek after wisdom.
I am very glad that I was also
a baby once.
And I did terrifying things in church.
Some of them, my dad says, probably I
must never ever say what I did.
But I might say that one day.
1 Corinthians 1 verse 22 says, for the
Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek
after wisdom.
You see, the Jews want to have a
sign before they believe.
They want to understand.
You have to explain to them logically, and
if it doesn't make perfect sense intellectually, they
are not going to believe you.
Believe Christ.
And sadly, the saved fall for the same
trap.
They, before they believe, when they go to
their knees in a quiet time, when they
seek the promises of God, they want to
have a feeling, a sign, or to understand
it perfectly before they claim anything from God.
Many people fall for this trap.
Now, it's at this point that I'd like
to give you a little illustration.
It's precious to me.
Many people are like a little child.
And this little child, like me many times
when I was a little boy, kicked the
ball on the roof.
And when the ball is on the roof,
you have to get it off.
And let's say the father came, like my
father wouldn't always do, and he said, child,
you must get that ball off the roof
before I come back, because you're getting a
big, big, big, big spanking.
And the little child looks up and he's
scared of the spanking.
And the dad goes away.
And he goes, my daddy's away for ten
minutes.
And he looks around the house, and there's
nothing to help him to get to the
top.
There's no ladder, there's no ivy, there's no
whatever.
And he's getting more and more scared.
And eventually his father comes back, and his
father said, did you get that ball from
the roof?
He said, but daddy, there was no way
up.
There was no ladder, there was no nothing.
How could I get that ball from the
roof?
And you know, many people are like that.
They read in the Bible, rejoice in the
Lord always.
They see a standard, we are more than
conquerors.
They read in the books of how people
used to pray for hours.
And they see this wonderful, great standard up
there, and they feel, wow, but I don't
know how to get up there.
There's no ladder, there's no ladder.
Like the little child.
Here's another illustration, a little child comes to
his father.
You know, little child love imagination.
Oh, I used to, I used to have
a toothbrush, lots of imagination.
And the little child, they want to fly.
I want to fly.
And comes his daddy and says, daddy, little
child, daddy, I want to fly, but I
can't fly.
I tried.
And then the daddy looks down at the
child, and for a few months this child
just wants to fly, but he can't fly.
And eventually the daddy comes home, and he
says to that little child, little child, I've
got a treat for you.
You're going to come with me.
And he gets in the car and he's
excited.
And they start the car, and they drive
all the way there to the airport.
And he gets out, and there he's arranged
with someone, and he gets him into the
aeroplane.
He says, now we're going to fly.
And the little child's big eyes are open.
And the daddy's excited too that his child
can be excited about what he wanted to
do.
And there they go, up into the air.
And they're flying high in the sky, and
it's just wonderful for the little child.
And the answer to that little child is,
when he asks, how can I fly this?
In an aeroplane.
In an aeroplane, but not in yourself.
And if someone came to me and said,
I want to have victory, I want to
have faith, I want to claim the promises,
I want to approach God with boldness.
I say, but I can't.
You know what I tell him?
You can't, but in Christ you can.
The devil wants to keep us ignorant of
our position in Christ.
Colossians 2 verse 6 says, As ye have
therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk
ye in him.
As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the
Lord, so walk ye in him.
And at the first glance many people think
this is only speaking about a standard.
A standard of walking as Christ Jesus.
But I disagree with that.
1 John 2 verse 6 says, we should
walk as Christ Jesus.
The Bible cries out, we should walk as
Christ Jesus.
That's the standard.
But here it says, walk in Christ Jesus.
Walk in Christ Jesus.
You know Paul in the New Testament used
the words, in Christ, more than 70 times.
More than 70 times he uses the word,
in Christ.
It was Paul's message, in Christ.
And I want to read to you just
a few of the verses concerning our position
in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 1 verse 12, In whom also we
have obtained an inheritance.
Ephesians 1 verse 7, In whom we have
redemption through his blood.
Ephesians 2 verse 8, For through him we
both have access by one spirit unto the
Father.
Ephesians 3 verse 12, One of the verses
I love in the Bible.
In whom we have boldness and access with
confidence by our faith, by the faith of
him.
Read carefully, it doesn't say we do anything.
It just says, it says we have, we
have, we have.
And I'd like to read that verse to
you again.
All this is ours in Christ Jesus.
As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the
Lord, so walk ye in him.
And with all reverence said, I liken it
unto a motorcycle.
Let's say you bought your child a motorcycle.
I wouldn't do that too easily.
Americans are more brave with their children.
I suppose they've got more children, I don't
know.
But imagine you said to your child after
you'd given him a motorcycle, after one week
he hadn't ridden that motorcycle.
And I would say to my child, you
know, as you have received this motorcycle, now
you must ride it.
You must use what you've got.
And I'd like to ask you, do you
make use of your position in Christ Jesus?
As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the
Lord, so walk in him.
Colossians 1 verse 3 says, for in him
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
Colossians 1 verse 9 it says, for it
pleased the Father that in him should all
fullness dwell.
Now it's at this point that I'd like
to tell the story of Mr. Bramwell.
Mr. Bramwell.
I don't know if you've probably got a
book of Mr. Bramwell somewhere.
He's one of those famous old preachers.
Somewhere.
But Mr. Bramwell was a person who was
very wonderful by God's grace.
He used to pray six hours a day.
He went to many places and God came
down and many hundreds of people turned to
God.
And you wonder how did he do that?
He must have been a wonderful man, in
touch with the Lord.
And true he was.
But you know what he said, which amazes
me?
He said, I always, always went up to
pray reluctantly.
I had to force myself to pray.
And then he said, I went through many
dry seasons when I felt nothing.
Six hours of prayer day.
Now how did he do that?
How did he know that God would answer
his prayers?
Well, Ephesians 3 verse 12 says, in whom
we have boldness to act with confidence by
the faith of him.
You see his boldness was in Jesus, not
in his feelings.
His boldness was in Jesus, not in his
feelings.
And you know I walk down the streets
many times when I'm praying to the Lord
and I feel nothing.
I feel nothing.
And I say to the Lord, and I
claim his promises, thank you Lord.
I feel nothing.
But I know you're going to answer my
prayers.
Because in Christ I have boldness to act
with confidence by the faith of him.
Not in my feelings Lord.
And you know the more I do that,
the more God answers my prayers.
The more I ignore my feelings and simply
come in Christ Jesus to God, the more
God answers my prayers by his grace.
And I can say this to you, the
more you pray, not worrying about your feelings,
simply coming in Christ Jesus, the more God
will honor your prayers.
I can guarantee you that.
Tried and tested.
I can make lists of miracles that have
happened.
Not that you talk of miracles.
You don't need a sign.
But God answers prayers that doesn't look to
feelings, that simply trusts him.
I'd like to read with this thought, there
is lots of things that are ours in
Christ Jesus.
The Bible, in the New Testament, as I
said Paul says the words in Christ more
than 70 times.
So I've only mentioned a few verses.
It is ours.
Things that are freely given of the house
of God, says Corinthians.
But I'd like to read 2 Peter 1
verse 4.
You all know this verse.
And then just a little thought before I
close off.
2 Peter 1 verse 4.
Whereby given unto us exceeding great and precious
promises, that by these you might be partakers
of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption
that is in the world through lust.
That by these promises.
Now I'd like to turn to 2 Corinthians
1 verse 20.
Now you all know this verse as well.
2 Corinthians 1 verse 20.
For all the promises of God, in him
are yea, and in him are men, unto
the glory of God by us.
Every single promise in the Bible is yours
in Christ Jesus.
Not in feelings or waiting for a sign.
Charles Wesley said faith, mighty faith, the promise
sees and stands on that alone.
Laughs at impossibilities and cries it shall be
done.
I'd just like to end off with this
thought.
If you are a child and you see
a ball on the roof and you've got
to get the ball down and you haven't
got a ladder, then it's, whose fault is
it that you can't get the ball?
It's not your fault.
If you don't know the way up.
But if you do have a ladder and
you don't use the ladder, then it's not
someone else's fault, it's your fault now.
My longing for my heart is to see
people spend more and more time in prayer
and praise and truly live in victorious lives.
And if you've got, if you know that
in Christ Jesus it is yours and you
can spend much time in prayer now and
praise, not worrying about your feelings and soaking
yourself in the word of God and you
don't do it, then that daddy should have
come home and given that little boy a
hiding.
And I, I, I don't know why people,
when you think of the cross and if
they know how, and God gave so much
to them, how they can lay their lives
on the altar and give everything back to
them and seek Him with all their heart
and spend much time in prayer and praise
and seeking God on your knees with the
Bible, if you know how, your position in
Christ.
So now, it's an old expression, the ball
is in your court.
If you're worrying about feelings, you don't have
to, but it's your fault now if you
don't discipline yourself to seek God, not God's
fault.
And with this thought, I've said right through
the week I can't sing, but I'd like
to sing you a little song that the
Lord gave to me, I believe, I don't
know, I do trust He did, after much
prayer, in a country in Africa called Namibia.
And I'd ask you to close your eyes
as I sing this prayer.
It goes, like a child in the hands
of its father, I'm safe in the hands
of my Lord.
Through the storms and the trials I may
pass through, I can stand on the rock
of His word.
Precious hands, precious love of my Jesus, same
hands that were pierced for my sins, they're
the hands that will hold me and keep
me as I live for my Savior and
King.
When I think of the way that He
suffered on Calvary's cruel tree long ago, of
the blood that was shed to save me,
of His love never ceasing to glow.
Precious hands, precious love of my Jesus, same
hands that were pierced for my sins, they're
the hands that will hold me and keep
me as I live for my Savior and
King.
When I think of His hands
that were
enfolded in fervent prayer to my King.
Precious hands, precious love of my Jesus, same
hands that were pierced for my sins, they're
the hands that will hold me and keep
me as I live for my Savior and
King.
Well, now you know, I hope you knew
before, what is ours in Christ Jesus.
I challenge you, as Christ's hands were pierced
for you, as they are beautiful for you,
so let your hands be beautiful and pray.
If I can dare to make that comparison,
in seeking God and living for God, let's
pray.
Father, I'd just like to thank you from
the bottom of my heart for so many
things, but for our position in Christ, it's
just too precious, Lord, as rich as its
glories.
It's wonderful, the victory in Christ Jesus, the
authority, what is all ours, the boldness, Lord.
I just thank you, Lord, that we can
come with boldness to access with confidence by
the faith of Him, in Him.
And Lord, I ask today for every single
one of us, I beg you, Lord, I
beg the people before me, that we would
spend much time, Lord, seeking thy promises, making
them part of our lives in Christ Jesus,
and spending much time seeking God.
In Jesus Christ's name, I ask this prayer.
Amen.