1 00:00:00,270 --> 00:00:02,290 I appreciated your prayer for Northern Ireland. 2 00:00:02,490 --> 00:00:03,750 I don't know if you knew it, but 3 00:00:03,750 --> 00:00:06,850 Mark Bahan, the president of Radio Bible Class, 4 00:00:07,530 --> 00:00:10,770 and myself, and the chief singer of the 5 00:00:10,770 --> 00:00:13,970 Discovery Singers from the television radio Bible Class 6 00:00:13,970 --> 00:00:16,510 program, Day of Discovery, we went over to 7 00:00:16,510 --> 00:00:20,070 Belfast in April and went into the prison 8 00:00:20,070 --> 00:00:24,950 at the invitation of both the IRA and 9 00:00:24,950 --> 00:00:28,830 the paramilitary terrorists to speak to them. 10 00:00:29,830 --> 00:00:33,570 And it was amazing to discover that they 11 00:00:33,570 --> 00:00:37,030 are reading the Our Daily Bread booklets, many 12 00:00:37,030 --> 00:00:38,850 of them on both sides, coming to know 13 00:00:38,850 --> 00:00:42,130 Christ as the Saviour while they're in prison. 14 00:00:43,130 --> 00:00:45,710 And when we finished the evening speaking, two 15 00:00:45,710 --> 00:00:49,190 of us, two very different people, Mark and 16 00:00:49,190 --> 00:00:52,410 I, there wasn't small talk afterwards. 17 00:00:52,550 --> 00:00:54,730 The prisoners were dashing up, asking us all 18 00:00:54,730 --> 00:00:58,250 sorts of solid questions, but even saying, you 19 00:00:58,250 --> 00:01:00,310 know, there's no excuse for us not reaching 20 00:01:00,310 --> 00:01:02,830 people in the prison, because there couldn't have 21 00:01:02,830 --> 00:01:05,370 been two more different people speak to us 22 00:01:05,370 --> 00:01:07,910 tonight with different personalities and characters. 23 00:01:08,530 --> 00:01:11,510 And yet, in both cases, God spoke to 24 00:01:11,510 --> 00:01:12,570 us through your hearts. 25 00:01:13,450 --> 00:01:14,950 Therefore, God can use anybody. 26 00:01:15,310 --> 00:01:17,410 And that was coming from IRA terrorists. 27 00:01:18,270 --> 00:01:19,970 And the whole reason that they've turned to 28 00:01:19,970 --> 00:01:22,450 the Lord and are appreciating the booklets is 29 00:01:22,450 --> 00:01:24,450 that one of them who's in for life, 30 00:01:24,950 --> 00:01:29,450 for bombing, he's an older gentleman. 31 00:01:29,610 --> 00:01:30,490 He'll never come out. 32 00:01:31,550 --> 00:01:33,690 Went into his cell one day and saw 33 00:01:33,690 --> 00:01:37,210 an old copy of Our Daily Bread lying 34 00:01:37,210 --> 00:01:38,350 on his bed. 35 00:01:38,690 --> 00:01:40,330 No idea who put it there. 36 00:01:40,930 --> 00:01:41,830 It was outdated. 37 00:01:42,510 --> 00:01:44,010 He could see that it wasn't the right 38 00:01:44,010 --> 00:01:44,390 month. 39 00:01:44,810 --> 00:01:46,530 But he picked it up and thought, today's 40 00:01:46,530 --> 00:01:47,250 the 7th. 41 00:01:47,610 --> 00:01:49,150 Let's look and see what it says on 42 00:01:49,150 --> 00:01:50,310 the 7th. 43 00:01:50,310 --> 00:01:52,630 And as he read it, it said at 44 00:01:52,630 --> 00:01:55,630 the top of the page, put off the 45 00:01:55,630 --> 00:01:59,130 old man, put on the new man. 46 00:01:59,630 --> 00:02:01,350 And he sat down with a bump in 47 00:02:01,350 --> 00:02:04,310 his bed and said to himself, I never 48 00:02:04,310 --> 00:02:06,910 knew there could be an alternative. 49 00:02:08,190 --> 00:02:10,430 He had grown up all his life knowing 50 00:02:10,430 --> 00:02:13,250 he was a killer at heart, and that 51 00:02:13,250 --> 00:02:15,910 he'd been evil as a boy, and that 52 00:02:15,910 --> 00:02:17,690 what he did, he did enjoying it. 53 00:02:17,910 --> 00:02:19,810 And he knows now and has confessed it's 54 00:02:19,810 --> 00:02:22,750 nothing to do with IRA, nothing to do 55 00:02:22,750 --> 00:02:24,950 with Ireland, nothing to do with politics or 56 00:02:24,950 --> 00:02:27,390 a holy war of Protestants against Catholics. 57 00:02:27,810 --> 00:02:30,050 I did what I did because I enjoyed 58 00:02:30,050 --> 00:02:30,870 doing it. 59 00:02:31,570 --> 00:02:34,010 But now I know it was sin, and 60 00:02:34,010 --> 00:02:35,770 that I don't have to be like that. 61 00:02:35,990 --> 00:02:37,370 I can become different. 62 00:02:37,470 --> 00:02:39,750 And he sat up the whole night, read 63 00:02:39,750 --> 00:02:42,550 the entire three months' readings, and put his 64 00:02:42,550 --> 00:02:44,790 faith and trust in Christ by morning. 65 00:02:45,430 --> 00:02:46,970 Wrote to us and asked where he could 66 00:02:46,970 --> 00:02:48,950 get an up-to-date book and more 67 00:02:48,950 --> 00:02:50,150 books to give to others. 68 00:02:50,790 --> 00:02:52,510 He even wrote on one occasion and said, 69 00:02:52,630 --> 00:02:54,210 I found a new text that says, go 70 00:02:54,210 --> 00:02:56,250 into all the world, but the police authorities 71 00:02:56,250 --> 00:02:57,250 won't let me go. 72 00:02:57,970 --> 00:02:59,390 And he says, so I reckon that this 73 00:02:59,390 --> 00:03:01,450 world in the prison is my world. 74 00:03:02,010 --> 00:03:04,110 Give me the materials to dish out inside 75 00:03:04,110 --> 00:03:04,630 the prison. 76 00:03:04,790 --> 00:03:06,050 So it was a delight for us to 77 00:03:06,050 --> 00:03:08,210 go over there and encourage him with a 78 00:03:08,210 --> 00:03:10,930 visit and to be able to minister to 79 00:03:10,930 --> 00:03:11,150 them. 80 00:03:11,830 --> 00:03:13,090 But that's the exciting thing. 81 00:03:14,130 --> 00:03:15,530 You can change. 82 00:03:16,690 --> 00:03:18,810 You can change. 83 00:03:18,890 --> 00:03:20,530 The idea that I'm too set in my 84 00:03:20,530 --> 00:03:23,190 ways is foreign to scripture. 85 00:03:24,250 --> 00:03:25,850 Now, let me read you a little reading 86 00:03:25,850 --> 00:03:28,470 before we commence our theme for the afternoon, 87 00:03:28,590 --> 00:03:30,250 which is practical holiness. 88 00:03:30,250 --> 00:03:35,170 And it's from Hebrews 12, and I'm beginning 89 00:03:35,170 --> 00:03:39,170 to read from verse five. 90 00:04:01,310 --> 00:04:04,710 If you endure chastening, God dealeth with you 91 00:04:04,710 --> 00:04:05,550 as with sons. 92 00:04:06,810 --> 00:04:08,830 For what son is he whom the father 93 00:04:08,830 --> 00:04:09,850 chasteneth not? 94 00:04:10,950 --> 00:04:13,690 But if you are without chastisement, whereof all 95 00:04:13,690 --> 00:04:16,950 are partakers, then are you illegitimate and not 96 00:04:16,950 --> 00:04:17,250 sons. 97 00:04:18,350 --> 00:04:20,890 Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh, 98 00:04:21,350 --> 00:04:23,670 which corrected us, and we gave them reverence. 99 00:04:24,190 --> 00:04:26,770 Shall we not much rather be in subjection 100 00:04:26,770 --> 00:04:28,950 unto the father of spirits and live? 101 00:04:30,130 --> 00:04:33,030 For they truly for a few days chastened 102 00:04:33,030 --> 00:04:36,570 us after their own pleasure, but he for 103 00:04:36,570 --> 00:04:41,010 our profit, that we might be partakers of 104 00:04:41,010 --> 00:04:42,430 his holiness. 105 00:04:43,330 --> 00:04:46,630 Now, no chastening for the present seems to 106 00:04:46,630 --> 00:04:48,090 be joyous, but grievous. 107 00:04:49,010 --> 00:04:52,350 Nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of 108 00:04:52,350 --> 00:04:55,490 righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. 109 00:04:56,450 --> 00:04:58,370 Wherefore, lift up the holy hands that hang 110 00:04:58,370 --> 00:05:01,530 down, and the feeble knees, and make straight 111 00:05:01,530 --> 00:05:04,330 paths for your feet, lest that which is 112 00:05:04,330 --> 00:05:06,510 lame be turned out of the way, and 113 00:05:06,510 --> 00:05:07,690 let it rather be healed. 114 00:05:08,630 --> 00:05:13,070 Follow peace with all men, and follow holiness, 115 00:05:14,590 --> 00:05:17,830 without which no man shall see the Lord. 116 00:05:18,590 --> 00:05:20,670 And I happened to mention that reference last 117 00:05:20,670 --> 00:05:25,150 night, that without holiness no man shall see 118 00:05:25,150 --> 00:05:26,030 the Lord. 119 00:05:26,770 --> 00:05:30,310 Now, it is rather interesting that the first 120 00:05:30,310 --> 00:05:34,210 mention of holiness and God being holy in 121 00:05:34,210 --> 00:05:36,390 Scripture was not by God. 122 00:05:37,690 --> 00:05:39,650 You know, sometimes we tend to think that 123 00:05:39,650 --> 00:05:41,810 the Word of God tells us that God 124 00:05:41,810 --> 00:05:44,310 said, I'm holy, so watch it. 125 00:05:45,250 --> 00:05:47,250 But no, in actual fact, the word holiness 126 00:05:47,250 --> 00:05:51,650 never appears until after the two and a 127 00:05:51,650 --> 00:05:54,510 half million people were redeemed out of Egypt. 128 00:05:55,390 --> 00:05:57,510 And when they passed through the Red Sea 129 00:05:57,510 --> 00:06:00,010 and came up on the other side to 130 00:06:00,010 --> 00:06:02,430 a new life through that miraculous passage of 131 00:06:02,430 --> 00:06:05,270 the Red Sea, they sang a great song 132 00:06:05,270 --> 00:06:07,830 in Exodus chapter 15. 133 00:06:08,590 --> 00:06:10,830 And in the middle of that song they 134 00:06:10,830 --> 00:06:14,110 sang, it was inspired in their thankful singing, 135 00:06:14,650 --> 00:06:18,250 the statement that God alone is holy. 136 00:06:18,870 --> 00:06:21,070 So the first people ever to say the 137 00:06:21,070 --> 00:06:24,390 word holy in Scripture was forgiven sinners of 138 00:06:24,390 --> 00:06:25,870 their God who had redeemed them. 139 00:06:26,790 --> 00:06:28,790 He never gave himself that title. 140 00:06:29,150 --> 00:06:32,670 They at last recognized that God is so 141 00:06:32,670 --> 00:06:34,650 supreme he could get them through an ocean, 142 00:06:35,690 --> 00:06:36,850 destroy their enemies. 143 00:06:37,490 --> 00:06:40,650 Therefore he is above their standard, therefore he 144 00:06:40,650 --> 00:06:41,270 is holy. 145 00:06:42,850 --> 00:06:45,270 And God in his word in Leviticus remind 146 00:06:45,270 --> 00:06:47,630 the people to be holy. 147 00:06:48,850 --> 00:06:51,210 Now, it's rather fascinating where that quote came 148 00:06:51,210 --> 00:06:51,550 in. 149 00:06:52,270 --> 00:06:55,750 In Leviticus 22 and 44, it says, For 150 00:06:55,750 --> 00:06:58,730 I am holy, so be ye holy. 151 00:06:59,030 --> 00:07:01,790 You shall be holy, for I am holy. 152 00:07:03,030 --> 00:07:04,890 Now, where would you tuck that in? 153 00:07:06,250 --> 00:07:08,230 Would you tuck in the holiness of God 154 00:07:08,230 --> 00:07:11,370 in a section of Scripture about making sure 155 00:07:11,370 --> 00:07:16,670 you're sexually pure, you don't commit adultery, there 156 00:07:16,670 --> 00:07:18,250 is no immorality? 157 00:07:19,310 --> 00:07:21,930 Well, in actual fact, in Leviticus 11, where 158 00:07:21,930 --> 00:07:24,470 the quote was first mentioned about you shall 159 00:07:24,470 --> 00:07:26,930 be holy, for I am holy, it came 160 00:07:26,930 --> 00:07:28,610 in the middle of talking about what you 161 00:07:28,610 --> 00:07:28,910 eat. 162 00:07:31,180 --> 00:07:34,100 And I find that rather intriguing, because we 163 00:07:34,100 --> 00:07:39,520 tend to classify sin and grade sin. 164 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:43,540 And we would say of a like homosexuality, 165 00:07:43,660 --> 00:07:45,340 that's an abomination. 166 00:07:47,100 --> 00:07:54,400 And yet God puts the word abomination with 167 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:56,620 an attachment to the word overeating. 168 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:00,920 And he calls people who overeat just as 169 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:01,700 abominable. 170 00:08:03,620 --> 00:08:05,860 Because you see, a shoe is a shoe, 171 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,020 whether it's size 2 or size 20, it's 172 00:08:09,020 --> 00:08:09,680 still a shoe. 173 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:13,940 And sin is sin, whether it's size 1 174 00:08:13,940 --> 00:08:15,420 or size 90. 175 00:08:16,100 --> 00:08:17,020 Sin is sin. 176 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:20,740 Therefore, one has to always keep in mind 177 00:08:20,740 --> 00:08:22,940 that we are wrong in saying what sins 178 00:08:22,940 --> 00:08:26,000 are deeper than others and more abominable than 179 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:26,360 others. 180 00:08:27,060 --> 00:08:30,180 Because if we start classifying what's worse than 181 00:08:30,180 --> 00:08:32,559 others, we're liable to make the ones we 182 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:34,860 like to do less sinful. 183 00:08:36,140 --> 00:08:37,700 And it is interesting that even in the 184 00:08:37,700 --> 00:08:42,780 New Testament, the word glutton and homosexual and 185 00:08:42,780 --> 00:08:45,560 murder all comes into the same text. 186 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:47,800 They're all an abomination. 187 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:50,840 They're all against the will of God. 188 00:08:51,260 --> 00:08:54,080 And it is possible for a person to 189 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:56,960 die of overeating who has never committed an 190 00:08:56,960 --> 00:08:58,160 immoral act of sex. 191 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:00,460 And that's just as bad. 192 00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:03,420 We all have our imbalances. 193 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:06,380 And yet the word of God is true 194 00:09:06,380 --> 00:09:10,700 and teaches us to be practical about the 195 00:09:10,700 --> 00:09:12,760 development of our holiness. 196 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:16,240 And in that text in Leviticus, it's stated 197 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:18,300 prior to the statement, you shall be holy, 198 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:20,980 sanctify yourselves to be holy. 199 00:09:21,900 --> 00:09:24,000 It's not something you just simply look up 200 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:25,760 to God and say, well, you want me 201 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:27,500 holy, get ahead and get it done anyway. 202 00:09:28,820 --> 00:09:30,240 And why don't you do it without me 203 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:31,040 even noticing? 204 00:09:31,220 --> 00:09:32,100 And then it would be done. 205 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:35,140 And God says, no, I cannot. 206 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:38,380 Because I've given you the biggest gift I've 207 00:09:38,380 --> 00:09:41,820 ever given anybody, the right to be made 208 00:09:41,820 --> 00:09:42,660 in my image. 209 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:46,440 And the thing that makes God, God at 210 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:49,120 all, is his right to be free. 211 00:09:50,540 --> 00:09:52,080 And God had no choice. 212 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:53,160 God would not be God. 213 00:09:55,020 --> 00:09:57,940 God is free to do as he pleases. 214 00:09:58,200 --> 00:09:59,560 And he made us in his own image 215 00:09:59,560 --> 00:10:01,300 and given us that right of choice. 216 00:10:01,620 --> 00:10:05,720 And therefore, until we make the choices to 217 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:09,040 have a better character, his divine power is 218 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:11,360 not released to aid us to be a 219 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:12,060 better character. 220 00:10:13,580 --> 00:10:15,320 And God is not there like a battery 221 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:20,340 of special electric power that's dished out willy 222 00:10:20,340 --> 00:10:20,560 -nilly. 223 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:23,840 No, we must be the people who release 224 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:26,640 the power of God by agreeing with him 225 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:30,000 that we want the change and that we 226 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:31,180 want to be different. 227 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:35,060 Now, Peter, in his first chapter of his 228 00:10:35,060 --> 00:10:38,980 first epistle, tells us about the need for 229 00:10:38,980 --> 00:10:39,340 holiness. 230 00:10:40,460 --> 00:10:44,080 And it's a rather interesting chapter, because as 231 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:47,980 a human being, we think in terms that 232 00:10:47,980 --> 00:10:51,040 if I was able to love everybody like 233 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:54,620 God loved everybody, then I would feel pretty 234 00:10:54,620 --> 00:10:55,000 holy. 235 00:10:56,300 --> 00:10:59,900 And if I felt holy, then I would 236 00:10:59,900 --> 00:11:02,220 be sure I'm a good Christian. 237 00:11:03,220 --> 00:11:05,560 And that's the order in which we tend 238 00:11:05,560 --> 00:11:06,540 to put things. 239 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:10,180 If I work at being loving and kind 240 00:11:10,180 --> 00:11:14,060 and gracious and good, I will feel very 241 00:11:14,060 --> 00:11:14,400 holy. 242 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:18,140 And if I feel holy, I'll be sure 243 00:11:18,140 --> 00:11:19,900 I'm a good Christian, and God will notice 244 00:11:19,900 --> 00:11:20,320 that. 245 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:23,220 But in actual fact, when you read the 246 00:11:23,220 --> 00:11:25,880 first epistle of Peter, Peter deals with the 247 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:27,980 three matters in the opposite direction. 248 00:11:28,860 --> 00:11:31,260 He starts out in that chapter by telling 249 00:11:31,260 --> 00:11:33,040 us, you are a Christian. 250 00:11:35,020 --> 00:11:37,880 You are saved with a security that is 251 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:38,360 firm. 252 00:11:39,980 --> 00:11:43,400 And because you're saved and sure you're saved, 253 00:11:43,580 --> 00:11:48,740 you can relax about that issue and rest 254 00:11:48,740 --> 00:11:50,640 in your assurance that you're a child of 255 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:50,960 God. 256 00:11:51,200 --> 00:11:53,200 And when you rest in that, you can 257 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:55,760 turn from constantly trying to prove you're Christian 258 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:59,080 by acknowledging you are, and now occupy yourself 259 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:02,360 to become holy enough to love another. 260 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:04,780 Now, that's interesting. 261 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:06,720 We think we've got to love to feel 262 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:08,680 holy to be saved, and he says, no, 263 00:12:08,740 --> 00:12:11,320 you're saved, so occupy yourself being holy enough 264 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:11,780 to love. 265 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:14,560 That's putting it in God's order. 266 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:18,380 For he states this in that first chapter, 267 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:21,860 we are elect according to the foreknowledge of 268 00:12:21,860 --> 00:12:25,120 God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit 269 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:27,980 unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of 270 00:12:27,980 --> 00:12:28,780 Jesus Christ. 271 00:12:29,060 --> 00:12:31,400 Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. 272 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:34,620 Blessed be the God and Father of our 273 00:12:34,620 --> 00:12:37,160 Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant 274 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:40,180 mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively 275 00:12:40,180 --> 00:12:42,980 hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from 276 00:12:42,980 --> 00:12:43,460 the dead. 277 00:12:44,820 --> 00:12:47,940 To an inheritance, something that's waiting in heaven 278 00:12:47,940 --> 00:12:50,800 for us that we're going to collect one 279 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:51,060 day. 280 00:12:52,060 --> 00:12:56,220 And it's there already, to an inheritance incorruptible. 281 00:12:56,220 --> 00:13:00,060 Nothing will ever touch it and destroy it. 282 00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:03,600 Undefiled, it will never get dusty and dirty. 283 00:13:04,860 --> 00:13:08,060 And that fades not away, it never evaporates. 284 00:13:09,020 --> 00:13:11,360 And it's reserved, where? 285 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:12,320 In heaven. 286 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:13,660 For whom? 287 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:14,420 You. 288 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:17,140 So right there in the presence of the 289 00:13:17,140 --> 00:13:20,460 Almighty is an inheritance of eternal life with 290 00:13:20,460 --> 00:13:22,500 Christ that's just waiting for you to go 291 00:13:22,500 --> 00:13:23,280 there and get it. 292 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:26,260 And if God was of the impression you're 293 00:13:26,260 --> 00:13:27,660 not going to get there, it wouldn't be 294 00:13:27,660 --> 00:13:28,040 there. 295 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:31,740 So our confidence is, hey, we're on our 296 00:13:31,740 --> 00:13:33,640 way to something that's waiting for us. 297 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:36,300 And God has said in his word, that 298 00:13:36,300 --> 00:13:38,160 which I have begun in you, I will 299 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:38,700 complete. 300 00:13:39,940 --> 00:13:42,500 Faithful is he who calls you, who also 301 00:13:42,500 --> 00:13:43,160 will do it. 302 00:13:43,980 --> 00:13:45,620 And he tells us here that we are 303 00:13:45,620 --> 00:13:48,540 kept by the power of God through faith 304 00:13:48,540 --> 00:13:51,260 unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the 305 00:13:51,260 --> 00:13:51,980 last time. 306 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:55,500 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a 307 00:13:55,500 --> 00:13:58,480 season, if need be, ye are in heaviness 308 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:00,780 through many temptations and trials. 309 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:03,760 That the trial of your faith, being much 310 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:06,000 more precious than that of gold that perisheth, 311 00:14:06,300 --> 00:14:07,900 though it be tried with fire, might be 312 00:14:07,900 --> 00:14:10,420 found unto praise and honour and glory at 313 00:14:10,420 --> 00:14:11,920 the appearing of Jesus Christ. 314 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:16,240 Whom, having not seen, you love. 315 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:19,480 In whom, though now you see him not 316 00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:22,800 yet believing, you rejoice with joy that you 317 00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:23,480 cannot utter. 318 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:27,360 That's full of glory, and I like that 319 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:27,820 text. 320 00:14:28,900 --> 00:14:30,960 It's a joy that you cannot utter. 321 00:14:31,740 --> 00:14:33,620 And all too often today, people are trying 322 00:14:33,620 --> 00:14:38,280 to prove their holiness and their spiritual qualities 323 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:41,220 by an expression of joy. 324 00:14:42,940 --> 00:14:48,680 And that is usually audible, excitable, emotional. 325 00:14:49,540 --> 00:14:51,760 Something that the ear and the eye can 326 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:55,460 see in a person as they excitedly express 327 00:14:55,460 --> 00:14:56,240 their joy. 328 00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:59,540 And yet, isn't it interesting that here we're 329 00:14:59,540 --> 00:15:01,180 being told that the real joy of the 330 00:15:01,180 --> 00:15:02,920 Lord is unspeakable. 331 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:04,540 You can't even say it. 332 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:08,040 You can't express it, but it's there. 333 00:15:08,980 --> 00:15:10,680 You can be a person in a hospital 334 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:15,580 bed and have a deep joy that you 335 00:15:15,580 --> 00:15:16,480 cannot even utter. 336 00:15:18,260 --> 00:15:22,260 Richard Dehan, the president past of Radio Bible 337 00:15:22,260 --> 00:15:27,060 Class, has unfortunately developed in the last years 338 00:15:27,060 --> 00:15:30,260 that stopped his ministry, Parkinson's disease. 339 00:15:31,380 --> 00:15:33,420 Now, it hasn't affected his body to the 340 00:15:33,420 --> 00:15:36,180 extent that he trembles like lots of people 341 00:15:36,180 --> 00:15:39,660 with that disease do, but it affected his 342 00:15:39,660 --> 00:15:41,220 face and his throat. 343 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:44,240 And when you see him, he tends to 344 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:46,640 give the appearance of being a very sad 345 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:49,840 person because the very skin of his face 346 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:50,680 just hangs. 347 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:54,800 And he can't utter much, but my, you 348 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:55,940 should see what he writes. 349 00:15:57,160 --> 00:15:59,380 And even at a Carnforth, we've had various 350 00:15:59,380 --> 00:16:02,640 letters from people who have responded to his 351 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:06,200 comments written within the individual packets they receive 352 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:09,320 as members, encouraging them in their faith and 353 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:11,940 sharing with them how he is just graciously 354 00:16:11,940 --> 00:16:14,780 plodding along, writing what he can write because 355 00:16:14,780 --> 00:16:17,780 he can't say it, but that he's full 356 00:16:17,780 --> 00:16:19,580 of the joy of the Lord. 357 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:22,580 And it's also interesting that the Bible tells 358 00:16:22,580 --> 00:16:24,320 us that it is the joy of the 359 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:27,360 Lord that is your strength, not your joy 360 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:30,460 for the Lord that's your strength. 361 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:34,080 So any joy that's manufactured by self to 362 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:37,320 impress the community or God is false. 363 00:16:38,580 --> 00:16:40,780 The joy the Bible speaks of is the 364 00:16:40,780 --> 00:16:43,060 very joy of the presence of Christ in 365 00:16:43,060 --> 00:16:45,480 his salvation within your heart, so that no 366 00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:48,440 matter what happens in life, you know that 367 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:50,440 you're safe in him. 368 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:53,840 And you will receive the end of your 369 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:57,380 salvation, your faith, even the salvation of your 370 00:16:57,380 --> 00:16:57,840 souls. 371 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:00,120 And it tells us there that even the 372 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:03,619 angels and prophets of past times were curious 373 00:17:03,619 --> 00:17:05,980 to know what all this salvation business was. 374 00:17:06,060 --> 00:17:08,640 They never understood what it was God was 375 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:13,460 preparing, and it was something tremendously unique that 376 00:17:13,460 --> 00:17:17,500 cannot be claimed by any other religion, where 377 00:17:17,500 --> 00:17:19,599 all other religions you have to obey the 378 00:17:19,599 --> 00:17:25,319 tenets, laws, regulations, rules, dress, attire, in order 379 00:17:25,319 --> 00:17:28,420 that at the moment of death you might 380 00:17:28,420 --> 00:17:29,120 meet God. 381 00:17:30,140 --> 00:17:31,520 Christianity is different. 382 00:17:32,420 --> 00:17:34,720 It is where the living God comes down 383 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:37,360 and comes into your life and mine while 384 00:17:37,360 --> 00:17:38,200 we're bad enough. 385 00:17:40,100 --> 00:17:43,620 He takes up residence within the life of 386 00:17:43,620 --> 00:17:47,300 a forgiven sinner, but still a sinner, to 387 00:17:47,300 --> 00:17:47,920 live there. 388 00:17:48,140 --> 00:17:49,180 Now that's a miracle. 389 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:52,480 And when people say to me, Brother Billy, 390 00:17:52,580 --> 00:17:53,560 are you into miracles? 391 00:17:53,700 --> 00:17:56,900 I always tell them, yes, I'm into practicing 392 00:17:56,900 --> 00:17:57,580 the miracle. 393 00:17:58,000 --> 00:17:59,520 And they say, oh what miracle do you 394 00:17:59,520 --> 00:17:59,960 practice? 395 00:18:00,100 --> 00:18:02,720 Do you make long legs shorter or short 396 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:03,480 legs longer? 397 00:18:03,580 --> 00:18:05,360 And I said, no, I don't deal in 398 00:18:05,360 --> 00:18:07,700 fiddly little miracles like that. 399 00:18:07,860 --> 00:18:10,700 I'm not into tiddly little things like curing 400 00:18:10,700 --> 00:18:12,000 cancer or the mumps. 401 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:14,480 I'm into the biggest miracle there is in 402 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:14,960 the gospel. 403 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:16,380 And they've said, what's that? 404 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:18,380 I've said, putting God the Father, God the 405 00:18:18,380 --> 00:18:19,960 Son, and God the Holy Ghost out of 406 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:22,080 heaven into the life of a forgiven sinner. 407 00:18:22,180 --> 00:18:23,080 Now that is a miracle. 408 00:18:24,860 --> 00:18:26,580 That's the one I am interested in. 409 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:28,760 That's the one I serve Christ to declare. 410 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:31,180 I'll leave the other pundits to play with 411 00:18:31,180 --> 00:18:32,320 the temporary things. 412 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:34,380 I'm into the big miracles. 413 00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:38,040 Oh, but Brother Billy, surely you must believe 414 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:40,220 that God is capable of working other kind 415 00:18:40,220 --> 00:18:40,660 of miracles. 416 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:41,460 Oh yes. 417 00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:43,480 Has he ever done one for you? 418 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:44,200 Yes. 419 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:46,700 What's your miracle? 420 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:48,880 Did he heal you of some sickness? 421 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:49,280 No. 422 00:18:50,740 --> 00:18:54,020 The biggest miracle outside of receiving Christ is 423 00:18:54,020 --> 00:18:56,460 that for the 38 years I've been a 424 00:18:56,460 --> 00:18:58,620 Christian, I've never cursed and swore in the 425 00:18:58,620 --> 00:18:59,000 pulpit. 426 00:19:00,580 --> 00:19:01,720 And they said, is that a miracle? 427 00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:04,080 I said, if you knew me before I 428 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:05,460 was converted, that's a miracle. 429 00:19:06,620 --> 00:19:08,800 I couldn't even ask you to pass the 430 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:12,540 sugar to sweeten the tea without describing the 431 00:19:12,540 --> 00:19:14,980 sugar in language that's not permitted even on 432 00:19:14,980 --> 00:19:15,880 BBC One. 433 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:19,420 And it's been an amazing thing to me 434 00:19:19,420 --> 00:19:22,160 all these years that each time I mount 435 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:25,780 a church platform and commit my throat and 436 00:19:25,780 --> 00:19:29,000 my voice to the Almighty God, he has 437 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:33,200 kept me from blurting out in my emotionalism 438 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:36,040 rotten words during the preaching of the Word 439 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:38,320 of God, because I've never forgotten any of 440 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:38,480 them. 441 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:42,140 And I never walk around pretending I don't 442 00:19:42,140 --> 00:19:42,600 know them. 443 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:45,600 In fact, I think I wrote the encyclopedia. 444 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:49,080 I'm just amazed that people still use the 445 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:50,800 language I used as a boy today. 446 00:19:51,940 --> 00:19:52,900 But I know it all. 447 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:54,480 I don't pretend I don't know it to 448 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:55,600 pretend I'm more holy. 449 00:19:56,420 --> 00:19:57,220 I know it. 450 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:00,080 And that to me is a great miracle 451 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:04,480 that he's controlled my tongue in the pulpit 452 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:05,300 all those years. 453 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:10,020 Yes, because sometimes you can get very emotional 454 00:20:10,020 --> 00:20:12,120 and carried away and just blurt things out. 455 00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:15,900 And even the angel said, this must be 456 00:20:15,900 --> 00:20:16,880 special salvation. 457 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:17,540 Yes, it was. 458 00:20:17,580 --> 00:20:19,120 It was God inside a person. 459 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:22,260 And so he says in the 14th verse 460 00:20:22,260 --> 00:20:25,060 of this first chapter, moving into his second 461 00:20:25,060 --> 00:20:32,500 section, "...as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according 462 00:20:32,500 --> 00:20:35,880 to the former lusts in your ignorance, but 463 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:37,720 as he which hath called you is holy, 464 00:20:38,620 --> 00:20:41,840 so be ye holy in all manner of 465 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:43,860 behavior." 466 00:20:43,860 --> 00:20:46,560 Now, it's interesting to note that he's speaking 467 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:51,080 here of practical holiness, something you have to 468 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:52,040 do for yourself. 469 00:20:53,220 --> 00:20:57,540 As obedient children, not fashioning yourself, which means 470 00:20:57,540 --> 00:21:00,160 you have a capacity to fashion yourself. 471 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:04,560 There are people who spend time fashioning themselves 472 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:06,920 into one kind of person or another. 473 00:21:08,580 --> 00:21:11,180 Putting on a role, playing a part. 474 00:21:11,980 --> 00:21:14,120 Sometimes we play so many parts, the part 475 00:21:14,120 --> 00:21:15,700 we play at church, the part we play 476 00:21:15,700 --> 00:21:17,820 at home, the part we play elsewhere, that 477 00:21:17,820 --> 00:21:19,320 we're never sure which one is the real 478 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:19,620 me. 479 00:21:21,460 --> 00:21:23,980 And too often there is role-playing. 480 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:26,880 I once heard two ladies in the streets 481 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:29,500 of Glasgow, since our brother mentioned the humor 482 00:21:29,500 --> 00:21:32,320 of the Glaswegians, and these two ladies were 483 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:33,920 walking down the street in front of me, 484 00:21:34,420 --> 00:21:36,260 and I could tell that they were laying 485 00:21:36,260 --> 00:21:39,600 on thick to pretend, and you could tell 486 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:41,500 from their attire and their dress that they 487 00:21:41,500 --> 00:21:44,160 were not from the most salubrious part of 488 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:46,520 Glasgow, but they were pretending they came from 489 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:48,940 amongst the wealthy up in Maryhill. 490 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:51,900 That's where the wealthy stayed. 491 00:21:52,420 --> 00:21:53,960 And so they were clip-clopping down the 492 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:56,180 street in front of me, conversing, and one 493 00:21:56,180 --> 00:21:58,040 of them was saying, Oh, I think Charles 494 00:21:58,040 --> 00:21:59,500 is simply marvelous. 495 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:01,760 And the other one said, Yes, I think 496 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:02,760 he's wonderful. 497 00:22:03,360 --> 00:22:05,600 And the other said, Yes, he'd do absolutely 498 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:06,680 oneth and far yeh. 499 00:22:07,340 --> 00:22:08,920 And she just let it slip. 500 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:13,520 And out came the gutter slang that told 501 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:15,140 you she came from the south side and 502 00:22:15,140 --> 00:22:16,060 not the north end. 503 00:22:17,120 --> 00:22:19,140 Yes, it's role-playing. 504 00:22:19,980 --> 00:22:21,320 And that takes self-energy. 505 00:22:22,980 --> 00:22:24,440 That takes self-energy. 506 00:22:24,900 --> 00:22:26,280 And that's why people get nervous. 507 00:22:26,420 --> 00:22:28,980 People often tell me they're nervous to speak 508 00:22:28,980 --> 00:22:31,460 for God, to be a witness of God. 509 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:36,560 Well, nervousness is indicating that you're utilising self 510 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:40,800 -energy, physical energy, and it's draining you fast, 511 00:22:41,360 --> 00:22:44,040 and therefore you do end up getting exhausted. 512 00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:46,860 And the people who are nervous and witness 513 00:22:46,860 --> 00:22:53,980 are people who are afraid to fail, afraid 514 00:22:53,980 --> 00:22:57,960 that their humanity will show through, that their 515 00:22:57,960 --> 00:22:59,540 cover will be burst. 516 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,960 That's why, as he is holy, lives within 517 00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:04,320 you. 518 00:23:05,300 --> 00:23:08,780 Instead of using your own energy to try 519 00:23:08,780 --> 00:23:12,600 to be holy, to please God, you thank 520 00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:14,740 yourself that you have the Holy One living 521 00:23:14,740 --> 00:23:19,140 within you, and allow him to release his 522 00:23:19,140 --> 00:23:22,000 kind of life and control and holiness through 523 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:22,320 you. 524 00:23:22,620 --> 00:23:24,500 And when you're allowing him to be your 525 00:23:24,500 --> 00:23:27,100 holiness, there is no nervousness. 526 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:30,620 There is no fear of failure. 527 00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:34,460 There is no draining of your own resources 528 00:23:34,460 --> 00:23:36,620 because you're drawing from him. 529 00:23:37,460 --> 00:23:40,660 But you have to obey to give him 530 00:23:40,660 --> 00:23:42,880 that right to be there. 531 00:23:43,900 --> 00:23:45,580 And he has to be allowed to be 532 00:23:45,580 --> 00:23:48,020 the life in every area in your life 533 00:23:48,020 --> 00:23:48,920 that needs adjusted. 534 00:23:49,060 --> 00:23:50,880 That's where the practicalness comes in. 535 00:23:53,010 --> 00:23:54,490 And it tells you here you have to 536 00:23:54,490 --> 00:23:55,510 fashion yourself. 537 00:23:55,750 --> 00:23:56,790 Now, that's a process. 538 00:23:57,250 --> 00:23:58,290 It's not Shazam. 539 00:23:59,750 --> 00:24:02,770 Too often we go to meetings in the 540 00:24:02,770 --> 00:24:04,730 hope that some speaker will be able to 541 00:24:04,730 --> 00:24:07,470 do some great magical miracle with the Spirit 542 00:24:07,470 --> 00:24:09,970 of God in your presence that will zap 543 00:24:09,970 --> 00:24:10,250 you. 544 00:24:11,310 --> 00:24:12,810 And from there on in, for the next 545 00:24:12,810 --> 00:24:14,490 90 years, you can relax. 546 00:24:15,250 --> 00:24:19,030 You'll have no problems, everything sorted out, life 547 00:24:19,030 --> 00:24:22,950 wonderful, no difficulties, and have a great time. 548 00:24:23,370 --> 00:24:25,250 And the answer is, that's not true. 549 00:24:26,570 --> 00:24:29,750 Fashioning is a process that takes place all 550 00:24:29,750 --> 00:24:30,430 your life. 551 00:24:31,690 --> 00:24:32,790 All your life. 552 00:24:33,750 --> 00:24:37,650 Fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts and 553 00:24:37,650 --> 00:24:38,170 your ignorance. 554 00:24:38,310 --> 00:24:39,730 In other words, you are personal. 555 00:24:40,030 --> 00:24:41,610 This is not a general thing to the 556 00:24:41,610 --> 00:24:41,930 public. 557 00:24:42,510 --> 00:24:44,350 You are a personal individual. 558 00:24:45,330 --> 00:24:48,130 And as an individual, you know what nobody 559 00:24:48,130 --> 00:24:49,150 else in the church knows. 560 00:24:49,230 --> 00:24:50,050 The vicar doesn't know. 561 00:24:50,130 --> 00:24:51,050 The curates don't know. 562 00:24:51,410 --> 00:24:52,830 The wardens don't know. 563 00:24:53,070 --> 00:24:55,430 Nobody knows what you are really like except 564 00:24:55,430 --> 00:24:56,430 yourself and God. 565 00:24:56,610 --> 00:24:58,570 And you're the only one that knows what 566 00:24:58,570 --> 00:25:00,710 you used to fashion yourself like in the 567 00:25:00,710 --> 00:25:01,150 past. 568 00:25:01,890 --> 00:25:04,410 The things you did and enjoyed doing them. 569 00:25:06,070 --> 00:25:08,850 The sins you committed and you plan to 570 00:25:08,850 --> 00:25:09,590 do it again. 571 00:25:10,350 --> 00:25:12,250 Now it differs from person to person. 572 00:25:12,590 --> 00:25:14,290 There are persons in the church that just 573 00:25:14,290 --> 00:25:17,530 cannot understand anybody that would ever be alcoholic. 574 00:25:18,310 --> 00:25:18,610 Why? 575 00:25:18,830 --> 00:25:20,250 Because they've never had a problem with that. 576 00:25:21,190 --> 00:25:22,530 They've never touched it all their life. 577 00:25:23,690 --> 00:25:27,230 And yet the alcoholic might not understand why 578 00:25:27,230 --> 00:25:29,550 a person like that is a gossip. 579 00:25:31,110 --> 00:25:33,050 Because you may find the alcoholic's a very 580 00:25:33,050 --> 00:25:36,010 discreet person that's never told another living soul 581 00:25:36,010 --> 00:25:37,810 something that that person ever received. 582 00:25:38,830 --> 00:25:40,910 You can have a person that's never gossiped, 583 00:25:41,050 --> 00:25:45,830 never got drunk, but that person can have 584 00:25:45,830 --> 00:25:47,550 an awful filthy imagination. 585 00:25:48,550 --> 00:25:49,710 But you never see that. 586 00:25:51,030 --> 00:25:51,990 You never see that. 587 00:25:52,050 --> 00:25:53,810 That's why sometimes the holiness of a church 588 00:25:53,810 --> 00:25:55,510 is determined by outward behavior. 589 00:25:56,030 --> 00:25:58,030 And when people see someone coming into church 590 00:25:58,030 --> 00:26:00,030 who's drunk, they're liable to say, I wish 591 00:26:00,030 --> 00:26:01,430 that person would straighten up. 592 00:26:01,430 --> 00:26:03,170 What they're saying, in effect, is you can 593 00:26:03,170 --> 00:26:04,090 see their sin. 594 00:26:04,430 --> 00:26:06,370 It's evident they're lying in the gutter outside 595 00:26:06,370 --> 00:26:08,570 the church, and it's an embarrassment to the 596 00:26:08,570 --> 00:26:09,150 congregation. 597 00:26:10,290 --> 00:26:11,750 But you know, we never say that of 598 00:26:11,750 --> 00:26:14,050 the gossip, the dirty-minded. 599 00:26:14,630 --> 00:26:14,870 Why? 600 00:26:14,970 --> 00:26:16,290 Because they can come through that door on 601 00:26:16,290 --> 00:26:17,630 a Sunday, sit down there, and you don't 602 00:26:17,630 --> 00:26:18,070 see that. 603 00:26:18,130 --> 00:26:18,950 It's not embarrassing. 604 00:26:20,630 --> 00:26:22,910 And yet it can be there and completely 605 00:26:22,910 --> 00:26:25,730 cripple a person from being a holy person 606 00:26:25,730 --> 00:26:27,630 of God to be a blessing in the 607 00:26:27,630 --> 00:26:28,090 community. 608 00:26:28,970 --> 00:26:31,230 So we all have our different weaknesses. 609 00:26:32,030 --> 00:26:34,230 We all have things within our lives that 610 00:26:34,230 --> 00:26:36,730 we know, that's me, that's what I'm like, 611 00:26:36,810 --> 00:26:38,370 and God and I knows that's what I'm 612 00:26:38,370 --> 00:26:38,590 like. 613 00:26:39,050 --> 00:26:41,870 And bit by bit, you can practice the 614 00:26:41,870 --> 00:26:45,370 fashioning of yourself into being a different kind 615 00:26:45,370 --> 00:26:45,910 of character. 616 00:26:46,230 --> 00:26:49,290 You can deliberately choose not to want to 617 00:26:49,290 --> 00:26:51,530 continue being this kind of a person or 618 00:26:51,530 --> 00:26:52,630 another kind of a person. 619 00:26:53,250 --> 00:26:56,750 And you concentrate on that by taking the 620 00:26:56,750 --> 00:26:59,930 power of God to occupy yourself with that 621 00:26:59,930 --> 00:27:01,710 each time it arises in your life. 622 00:27:02,550 --> 00:27:05,190 And when that comes under control and you 623 00:27:05,190 --> 00:27:08,190 think you're really improving, that's when God suddenly 624 00:27:08,190 --> 00:27:09,810 says, now let me show you what's next. 625 00:27:10,670 --> 00:27:12,430 And sometimes we get angry with God and 626 00:27:12,430 --> 00:27:14,250 say, how long have I been doing that 627 00:27:14,250 --> 00:27:15,510 all your life? 628 00:27:15,570 --> 00:27:16,810 Well, why didn't you tell me the first 629 00:27:16,810 --> 00:27:17,750 day I became a Christian? 630 00:27:17,910 --> 00:27:19,790 Look, it's taken us all these years to 631 00:27:19,790 --> 00:27:20,570 get you this far. 632 00:27:21,390 --> 00:27:22,890 And I'll tell you now, there's a few 633 00:27:22,890 --> 00:27:24,410 other things I'll be showing you before you 634 00:27:24,410 --> 00:27:26,090 go to heaven, but I'm not telling you 635 00:27:26,090 --> 00:27:27,070 now or you'd collapse. 636 00:27:28,030 --> 00:27:29,970 So we'll just do it an item at 637 00:27:29,970 --> 00:27:32,430 a time, an item at a time. 638 00:27:32,650 --> 00:27:33,690 That is God. 639 00:27:34,030 --> 00:27:35,150 That's God's process. 640 00:27:35,890 --> 00:27:37,870 I've always felt that my life was like 641 00:27:37,870 --> 00:27:38,870 a house. 642 00:27:39,570 --> 00:27:41,170 And when I got converted, it was as 643 00:27:41,170 --> 00:27:43,490 though I couldn't get my heels onto the 644 00:27:43,490 --> 00:27:46,790 very doorstep of my house for whiskey bottles. 645 00:27:47,570 --> 00:27:49,770 And when I received Christ in the military 646 00:27:49,770 --> 00:27:51,950 forces, it was as though God came along 647 00:27:51,950 --> 00:27:53,750 with a dust pan and a brush and 648 00:27:53,750 --> 00:27:55,710 swept up all the spirit bottles and lifted 649 00:27:55,710 --> 00:27:57,510 the lid of the trash can, put them 650 00:27:57,510 --> 00:27:58,690 in and slapped the lid on. 651 00:27:58,850 --> 00:28:00,710 And I had a clean doorstep for the 652 00:28:00,710 --> 00:28:01,610 first time in my life. 653 00:28:01,790 --> 00:28:03,170 And I was able to stand on it 654 00:28:03,170 --> 00:28:05,270 and thought, my, aren't I a saint? 655 00:28:05,870 --> 00:28:06,650 Hello, everybody. 656 00:28:06,770 --> 00:28:08,170 Look, I've got a clean doorstep. 657 00:28:08,230 --> 00:28:08,810 Have you noticed? 658 00:28:08,870 --> 00:28:09,450 No bottles. 659 00:28:09,790 --> 00:28:10,370 Isn't it nice? 660 00:28:10,430 --> 00:28:11,830 There's nothing on my doorstep. 661 00:28:11,950 --> 00:28:13,270 And I thought that was life. 662 00:28:14,190 --> 00:28:16,670 Till the spirit of God tapped me and 663 00:28:16,670 --> 00:28:18,810 I turned and I saw a door. 664 00:28:20,290 --> 00:28:23,130 And I thought, what's that door, Lord? 665 00:28:24,050 --> 00:28:25,570 That's the door to your life, Billy. 666 00:28:25,890 --> 00:28:27,150 You mean I have a life? 667 00:28:27,650 --> 00:28:29,150 I'm not just a doorstep? 668 00:28:29,630 --> 00:28:30,050 Oh, no. 669 00:28:30,690 --> 00:28:31,410 You have a life. 670 00:28:31,510 --> 00:28:32,310 Would you care to go in? 671 00:28:32,370 --> 00:28:32,970 Well, of course. 672 00:28:33,490 --> 00:28:34,450 I've been reading the book. 673 00:28:34,710 --> 00:28:35,390 Says I'm a saint. 674 00:28:38,030 --> 00:28:38,810 Says I'm saved. 675 00:28:39,410 --> 00:28:40,110 Says I'm redeemed. 676 00:28:40,250 --> 00:28:40,910 Says I'm forgiven. 677 00:28:40,950 --> 00:28:41,950 Go on, fling the door open. 678 00:28:42,010 --> 00:28:43,250 You'll find I'm fit to be a bishop. 679 00:28:45,770 --> 00:28:47,310 And it's as though the door opened and 680 00:28:47,310 --> 00:28:50,230 I looked in and I jumped in and 681 00:28:50,230 --> 00:28:51,950 slapped it shut, bolted it and threw the 682 00:28:51,950 --> 00:28:52,830 key over my shoulder. 683 00:28:53,190 --> 00:28:54,850 And I looked at the filth in the 684 00:28:54,850 --> 00:28:57,570 walls of the hallway and said, God, how 685 00:28:57,570 --> 00:29:00,450 long have I had a filthy hallway since 686 00:29:00,450 --> 00:29:00,790 birth? 687 00:29:01,990 --> 00:29:03,090 Why didn't you tell me? 688 00:29:03,170 --> 00:29:04,790 Look, I've been working on the doorstep. 689 00:29:05,830 --> 00:29:07,430 Now are you going to give me permission 690 00:29:07,430 --> 00:29:10,250 to empower you to get your sleeves rolled 691 00:29:10,250 --> 00:29:13,330 up and start in on your dirty mind? 692 00:29:14,730 --> 00:29:17,130 And as I cooperate with God in getting 693 00:29:17,130 --> 00:29:19,610 the hallway clean, I find that I'm even 694 00:29:19,610 --> 00:29:21,050 able to leave the door open. 695 00:29:22,070 --> 00:29:24,010 And as people pass, go, oh, so that 696 00:29:24,010 --> 00:29:25,670 they'll turn and look into my hallway and 697 00:29:25,670 --> 00:29:27,430 say, oh, what a lovely clean hallway in 698 00:29:27,430 --> 00:29:27,990 that house. 699 00:29:28,510 --> 00:29:29,890 And I begin to think, well, now I 700 00:29:29,890 --> 00:29:32,570 really must be a Christian until the spirit 701 00:29:32,570 --> 00:29:34,050 taps me and I look and there's a 702 00:29:34,050 --> 00:29:34,310 door. 703 00:29:35,130 --> 00:29:37,050 And I say, where did that door come 704 00:29:37,050 --> 00:29:37,370 from? 705 00:29:37,830 --> 00:29:42,240 Oh, that's one of the rooms in your 706 00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:42,660 house. 707 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:45,440 You mean I'm not a doorstep in a 708 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:47,120 corridor, a hallway? 709 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:49,320 There's actually rooms? 710 00:29:50,340 --> 00:29:50,800 Yes. 711 00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:52,880 On this floor. 712 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:53,720 What? 713 00:29:54,660 --> 00:29:56,260 You mean it's not a bungalow? 714 00:29:57,480 --> 00:29:58,940 No, you have a house. 715 00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:02,660 Well, you know, bit by bit, I've had 716 00:30:02,660 --> 00:30:04,300 to go into one room after the other 717 00:30:04,300 --> 00:30:08,180 and fashion it, not in the style that 718 00:30:08,180 --> 00:30:11,120 it used to be fashioned in, but to 719 00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:12,760 see that with the power of God who 720 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:15,320 is within me, I'm cooperating to get the 721 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:17,020 power I need to make things different in 722 00:30:17,020 --> 00:30:17,420 that room. 723 00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:21,500 Well, I don't know about you, but I 724 00:30:21,500 --> 00:30:22,220 know about me. 725 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:24,980 You know, there are times I feel that 726 00:30:24,980 --> 00:30:27,420 God taps my shoulder and says, going up 727 00:30:27,420 --> 00:30:30,060 and shows me an elevator, I think I 728 00:30:30,060 --> 00:30:31,620 must have the biggest building in the world. 729 00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:35,920 Because even after all these years, he's still 730 00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:39,460 showing me things that need adjusted, things that 731 00:30:39,460 --> 00:30:41,800 need to be learned, lessons that need to 732 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:42,340 be taught. 733 00:30:42,980 --> 00:30:45,040 And I have every time got to come 734 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:47,240 back to square one of when I see 735 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:49,840 something in my life that needs adjusting to 736 00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:52,400 decide whether I'm going to cooperate with God, 737 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:56,600 obey, to get the Holy One to release 738 00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:59,820 his dynamic within me every time that issue 739 00:30:59,820 --> 00:31:01,840 comes up so that it doesn't win. 740 00:31:03,220 --> 00:31:04,300 It doesn't win. 741 00:31:04,820 --> 00:31:08,280 You see, that practical holiness does take your 742 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:11,340 choice and effort, and that's why people would 743 00:31:11,340 --> 00:31:15,020 prefer to believe that they're saintly and that 744 00:31:15,020 --> 00:31:17,480 anything wrong in their lives is demonology. 745 00:31:18,500 --> 00:31:20,000 And I tell you, we're in a church 746 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:22,580 today where every sinful thing that Christians do, 747 00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:24,860 they're blaming on the demons, and the demons 748 00:31:24,860 --> 00:31:26,020 have nothing to do with it. 749 00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:29,720 The devil has never had to send a 750 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:31,580 demon into the heart of Billy Strachan to 751 00:31:31,580 --> 00:31:32,040 be rotten. 752 00:31:32,300 --> 00:31:34,340 I'm pretty good at being rotten all by 753 00:31:34,340 --> 00:31:37,500 myself, and I'm not giving the credit to 754 00:31:37,500 --> 00:31:40,020 any evil kingdom for the sins in my 755 00:31:40,020 --> 00:31:40,440 life. 756 00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:42,860 If I sin, I sin. 757 00:31:43,460 --> 00:31:44,860 Why do you think you have a church 758 00:31:44,860 --> 00:31:47,440 that gives you the opportunity every time you 759 00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:51,600 come together to admit that you've sinned and 760 00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:55,160 to show signs of penitence and repentance, and 761 00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:59,360 allow forgiveness to be reinstated and proclaimed, that 762 00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:01,220 you may step out into a new week 763 00:32:01,220 --> 00:32:06,200 in the process of becoming more holy? 764 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:09,540 Trying to cut down the number of occasions 765 00:32:09,540 --> 00:32:11,360 you do this week that you did last 766 00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:12,760 week and had to confess again. 767 00:32:14,180 --> 00:32:16,100 It's so much easier to say, oh, I'm 768 00:32:16,100 --> 00:32:17,100 all right, it's the demons. 769 00:32:18,060 --> 00:32:18,840 It isn't. 770 00:32:19,020 --> 00:32:19,800 It is self. 771 00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:24,220 And self finds it very difficult to agree 772 00:32:24,220 --> 00:32:24,860 with God. 773 00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:27,540 As I said last night, you fight holiness 774 00:32:27,540 --> 00:32:30,040 rather than be practical about it. 775 00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:33,040 And it's the practicalness of holiness that's needed. 776 00:32:34,740 --> 00:32:36,740 And you yourself will know the things that 777 00:32:36,740 --> 00:32:37,380 need adjusted. 778 00:32:37,380 --> 00:32:39,960 I don't have to guess. 779 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:42,420 I don't have to suggest. 780 00:32:43,860 --> 00:32:46,280 The Spirit of God is quite capable, even 781 00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:49,880 today, of drawing to your attention something in 782 00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:51,340 your life that he says, now, do you 783 00:32:51,340 --> 00:32:51,840 understand? 784 00:32:52,740 --> 00:32:53,500 This is next. 785 00:32:54,980 --> 00:32:56,640 Are you going to obey to be holy 786 00:32:56,640 --> 00:32:57,760 in that matter? 787 00:32:58,420 --> 00:33:01,800 Are you going to yield obedience in order 788 00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:04,320 that we may make progress? 789 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:06,980 Well, of course, when you begin to see 790 00:33:06,980 --> 00:33:10,240 the years and the patience and the long 791 00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:12,300 suffering of God to give you time to 792 00:33:12,300 --> 00:33:15,160 change and for your practical holiness to make 793 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:17,300 you a better character, do you know what 794 00:33:17,300 --> 00:33:18,860 the natural outcome of that is? 795 00:33:19,420 --> 00:33:21,960 You then turn around and see the new 796 00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:24,220 Christian that comes into your church, a mess. 797 00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:27,360 And instead of going up to them and 798 00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:29,080 saying, oh, so you got converted, did you? 799 00:33:29,940 --> 00:33:31,800 Well, we'll believe it on Sunday when we 800 00:33:31,800 --> 00:33:33,340 see you coming in here with your hair 801 00:33:33,340 --> 00:33:34,780 cut and all tidied up. 802 00:33:35,740 --> 00:33:39,240 No, you'll suddenly say to yourself, how many 803 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:41,020 years has it taken God to get me 804 00:33:41,020 --> 00:33:41,340 here? 805 00:33:42,680 --> 00:33:44,940 And if you say to yourself, well, like 806 00:33:44,940 --> 00:33:46,580 I have to say, it's taken them 38 807 00:33:46,580 --> 00:33:49,180 years to get me this far, then I 808 00:33:49,180 --> 00:33:50,900 always look at the new convert and say, 809 00:33:51,420 --> 00:33:53,100 just think what that person will be like 810 00:33:53,100 --> 00:33:57,280 in 38 years' time, not 38 seconds' time, 811 00:33:57,980 --> 00:33:59,260 38 years. 812 00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:00,760 And what does it teach me to do? 813 00:34:00,940 --> 00:34:02,240 It teaches me to love. 814 00:34:03,700 --> 00:34:05,500 It teaches me to love the very thing 815 00:34:05,500 --> 00:34:07,000 that we're trying to do to prove we're 816 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:08,260 holy enough to be saved. 817 00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:10,639 Peter says, no, you're saved, so practice your 818 00:34:10,639 --> 00:34:15,120 personal practical holiness, the process of agreeing with 819 00:34:15,120 --> 00:34:16,900 God what needs adjusted in your life over 820 00:34:16,900 --> 00:34:18,820 years, and that teaches you to look at 821 00:34:18,820 --> 00:34:20,600 the new baby in Christ and say, I'll 822 00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:20,960 wait. 823 00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:23,719 I'll wait. 824 00:34:25,179 --> 00:34:27,580 My own son, prior to his conversion at 825 00:34:27,580 --> 00:34:30,480 18, said to me, Dad, how long did 826 00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:32,020 you know I was leading a double life 827 00:34:32,020 --> 00:34:33,159 and going down the tube? 828 00:34:33,600 --> 00:34:34,840 I says, from day one. 829 00:34:36,679 --> 00:34:38,060 He said, why didn't you tell me? 830 00:34:39,380 --> 00:34:42,100 I said, because it was the hardest thing 831 00:34:42,100 --> 00:34:44,580 that I've ever had to do in my 832 00:34:44,580 --> 00:34:47,980 life is not tell you, because I knew 833 00:34:47,980 --> 00:34:52,320 you had to discover why you needed Christ. 834 00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:54,920 And if I had just stepped into the 835 00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:57,520 situation the first day and said, don't do 836 00:34:57,520 --> 00:34:59,900 that again, in your love for your dad, 837 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:02,320 you wouldn't have done it again, but you 838 00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:06,460 would have thought you were a Christian, because 839 00:35:06,460 --> 00:35:07,080 you didn't. 840 00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:10,740 And what you needed was Christ, not your 841 00:35:10,740 --> 00:35:12,380 father's warning. 842 00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:14,560 And it was the hardest thing Mother and 843 00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:15,960 I had to do, is to watch a 844 00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:17,200 life that needed Christ. 845 00:35:18,060 --> 00:35:19,460 And even for me to get up and 846 00:35:19,460 --> 00:35:21,620 preach in churches, knowing that some people were 847 00:35:21,620 --> 00:35:23,880 looking at me through one eye, as much 848 00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:25,500 as what right have you to tell us 849 00:35:25,500 --> 00:35:27,860 about sin when you have a nudge, nudge, 850 00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:30,860 wink, wink sunlight you've got that we know 851 00:35:30,860 --> 00:35:31,320 about? 852 00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:33,180 And we had to wait. 853 00:35:34,300 --> 00:35:35,400 And it took place. 854 00:35:36,500 --> 00:35:38,420 I had driven all the way to Belfast 855 00:35:40,140 --> 00:35:41,020 by car. 856 00:35:41,660 --> 00:35:43,480 I got there at 10.30 on a 857 00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:44,200 Saturday evening. 858 00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:47,360 I was going to begin 10 days of 859 00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:51,060 talks on the Sunday morning on relationships in 860 00:35:51,060 --> 00:35:54,760 a Christian family, when the phone rang, and 861 00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:56,160 it was my own boy on the phone, 862 00:35:56,900 --> 00:35:58,860 in tears to tell me his life was 863 00:35:58,860 --> 00:35:59,420 in a mess. 864 00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:02,060 I said, I'm coming home. 865 00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:04,480 And I did what you never do to 866 00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:05,240 a church committee. 867 00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:07,840 I cancelled the 10 days the night before 868 00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:08,440 they started. 869 00:36:11,340 --> 00:36:12,860 And I just came straight back home. 870 00:36:14,380 --> 00:36:16,780 We fell into each other's arms outside the 871 00:36:16,780 --> 00:36:17,700 house and just cried. 872 00:36:18,740 --> 00:36:20,460 I made him pack his bag and we 873 00:36:20,460 --> 00:36:20,840 left. 874 00:36:21,940 --> 00:36:25,180 And we spent a whole week together, just 875 00:36:25,180 --> 00:36:26,500 discussing his whole life. 876 00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:29,140 It was amazing the things that came out. 877 00:36:30,860 --> 00:36:32,700 You must have been disappointed, Dad. 878 00:36:32,720 --> 00:36:36,340 I said, no, you only disappointed yourself. 879 00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:42,500 He says, but I must have hurt you, 880 00:36:42,800 --> 00:36:45,100 not as much as I've hurt myself. 881 00:36:45,860 --> 00:36:48,720 I said, and don't forget this, your father 882 00:36:48,720 --> 00:36:50,360 did worse than you and before he was 883 00:36:50,360 --> 00:36:51,000 your age. 884 00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:52,780 Oh, he says, there was a difference. 885 00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:53,940 I said, what was that? 886 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:55,660 He says, you were a downright rotten pagan, 887 00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:57,080 but I was brought up in a Christian 888 00:36:57,080 --> 00:36:57,480 home. 889 00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:00,100 And he knew the difference. 890 00:37:01,060 --> 00:37:02,980 But he knew that Christ had forgiven him. 891 00:37:04,460 --> 00:37:07,020 And he began the process of change. 892 00:37:07,100 --> 00:37:08,640 It was interesting because even I had to 893 00:37:08,640 --> 00:37:10,100 sit back with my wife and say, now, 894 00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:11,360 has it really happened? 895 00:37:12,180 --> 00:37:13,480 And you know, one of the first things 896 00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:16,120 that convinced me that he really was born 897 00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:18,460 again, he got rid of the XR2. 898 00:37:20,990 --> 00:37:22,810 Unlike any boy that would want a car, 899 00:37:22,890 --> 00:37:24,230 he wasn't content to go and get a 900 00:37:24,230 --> 00:37:26,770 secondhand heap to begin with for a few 901 00:37:26,770 --> 00:37:27,110 pounds. 902 00:37:27,210 --> 00:37:30,550 It had to be vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom, 903 00:37:31,010 --> 00:37:32,170 the big XR2. 904 00:37:33,470 --> 00:37:35,430 When he got converted, he says, that's going. 905 00:37:36,270 --> 00:37:37,350 That's the first thing he sold. 906 00:37:38,690 --> 00:37:41,390 And later he told me, Dad, I'm happy 907 00:37:41,390 --> 00:37:42,730 with a pound in my pocket. 908 00:37:43,570 --> 00:37:45,510 And before that, money meant everything. 909 00:37:47,250 --> 00:37:48,430 Money meant everything. 910 00:37:48,530 --> 00:37:50,090 And he knew that Christ had forgiven him, 911 00:37:50,470 --> 00:37:51,910 but it was great to see the changes 912 00:37:51,910 --> 00:37:53,130 coming into his life. 913 00:37:55,130 --> 00:37:55,490 Marvellous. 914 00:37:56,410 --> 00:37:57,650 And the funny thing was, he said, you 915 00:37:57,650 --> 00:37:58,350 know, I love you, Dad. 916 00:37:58,390 --> 00:37:58,970 And I said, why? 917 00:37:59,330 --> 00:38:01,290 He said, because I knew when I let 918 00:38:01,290 --> 00:38:03,270 you leave the house to drive to Belfast 919 00:38:03,270 --> 00:38:04,550 that I was going to phone you that 920 00:38:04,550 --> 00:38:04,830 night. 921 00:38:06,570 --> 00:38:08,110 And I didn't tell you before you went 922 00:38:08,110 --> 00:38:08,430 away. 923 00:38:09,370 --> 00:38:10,370 I let you go. 924 00:38:10,990 --> 00:38:13,150 And I said to myself, I'll phone him 925 00:38:13,150 --> 00:38:15,030 tonight, and I bet you the old beggar 926 00:38:15,030 --> 00:38:15,790 won't come back. 927 00:38:16,610 --> 00:38:18,030 He'll say, son, I'll be home in a 928 00:38:18,030 --> 00:38:18,250 week. 929 00:38:19,210 --> 00:38:20,490 He said, but you came home. 930 00:38:22,250 --> 00:38:24,190 I was more important than the meetings. 931 00:38:25,630 --> 00:38:27,670 I had no recourse but to become a 932 00:38:27,670 --> 00:38:27,990 Christian. 933 00:38:29,930 --> 00:38:36,230 Yes, even he knew there's a difference, and 934 00:38:36,230 --> 00:38:37,830 there's a character to be developed. 935 00:38:38,730 --> 00:38:40,670 There's a new life to emerge. 936 00:38:41,310 --> 00:38:43,270 And I had to watch that change. 937 00:38:44,230 --> 00:38:46,770 He went with me to Michigan, and for 938 00:38:46,770 --> 00:38:48,190 a two-week stay to Vancouver. 939 00:38:48,350 --> 00:38:49,370 And on the way home, he said, you've 940 00:38:49,370 --> 00:38:50,630 three weeks to get me back there to 941 00:38:50,630 --> 00:38:51,150 Bible school. 942 00:38:52,390 --> 00:38:53,950 And we waved him away, and off he 943 00:38:53,950 --> 00:38:55,550 went for two years. 944 00:38:56,670 --> 00:38:58,690 And last March, he married a lovely Christian 945 00:38:58,690 --> 00:39:00,350 girl in Vancouver, and he lives there. 946 00:39:01,650 --> 00:39:04,970 What a change in a few years to 947 00:39:04,970 --> 00:39:07,570 a faith and trust in Christ, a Bible 948 00:39:07,570 --> 00:39:08,710 that's become alive. 949 00:39:10,370 --> 00:39:13,350 And even a speaker from this country, visiting 950 00:39:13,350 --> 00:39:17,290 that school, bumped into a lounge where Dixon, 951 00:39:17,410 --> 00:39:19,670 my son, was being made to give a 952 00:39:19,670 --> 00:39:21,510 Bible study on a chapter of Acts of 953 00:39:21,510 --> 00:39:22,670 the Apostles to a group. 954 00:39:23,450 --> 00:39:24,930 And they were all lying in the carpet, 955 00:39:25,470 --> 00:39:27,010 and he was lying in the carpet. 956 00:39:27,530 --> 00:39:29,430 And he had his Bible above his head, 957 00:39:30,190 --> 00:39:32,450 and he was telling them what he'd found 958 00:39:32,450 --> 00:39:34,470 in this chapter of the Acts of the 959 00:39:34,470 --> 00:39:34,930 Apostles. 960 00:39:35,610 --> 00:39:38,350 And when he finished, this preacher went up 961 00:39:38,350 --> 00:39:41,570 and said to him, Strachan, if that's how 962 00:39:41,570 --> 00:39:43,270 you sound, flatten your back, do you know 963 00:39:43,270 --> 00:39:44,630 what you would sound like if you stood 964 00:39:44,630 --> 00:39:45,890 up and said that in a church? 965 00:39:47,490 --> 00:39:49,430 Because he didn't realize it, but he was 966 00:39:49,430 --> 00:39:53,310 speaking the Word of God very effectively, but 967 00:39:53,310 --> 00:39:54,410 lying flat on his back. 968 00:39:55,590 --> 00:39:56,770 But it'll take time. 969 00:39:57,410 --> 00:40:00,370 He'll learn he's got legs, and he'll start 970 00:40:00,370 --> 00:40:02,030 to stand up to teach the Word of 971 00:40:02,030 --> 00:40:02,310 God. 972 00:40:03,050 --> 00:40:04,850 But we have to wait, if need be, 973 00:40:05,390 --> 00:40:06,270 30 years. 974 00:40:06,850 --> 00:40:07,470 I don't mind. 975 00:40:08,290 --> 00:40:10,070 God's been very patient with me and given 976 00:40:10,070 --> 00:40:12,170 me time to be practical in my holiness. 977 00:40:12,990 --> 00:40:15,170 He will give you time, and you'll begin 978 00:40:15,170 --> 00:40:16,830 to see others in the church that also 979 00:40:16,830 --> 00:40:17,570 need time. 980 00:40:18,030 --> 00:40:20,110 And as you give them time, they'll only 981 00:40:20,110 --> 00:40:22,730 come to one conclusion, you love me. 982 00:40:23,590 --> 00:40:25,590 That's why Peter says towards the end of 983 00:40:25,590 --> 00:40:29,170 this chapter in verse 22, seeing you have 984 00:40:29,170 --> 00:40:33,890 purified your souls in obeying the truth through 985 00:40:33,890 --> 00:40:37,250 the Holy Spirit unto unpretentious love of the 986 00:40:37,250 --> 00:40:40,530 brethren, see that you love one another with 987 00:40:40,530 --> 00:40:42,870 a pure heart like a disease. 988 00:40:44,110 --> 00:40:47,170 Yes, let it become an obsession to be 989 00:40:47,170 --> 00:40:50,010 as patient with others in this church as 990 00:40:50,010 --> 00:40:51,450 God has been with you. 991 00:40:52,510 --> 00:40:55,070 And as you give others time to change 992 00:40:55,070 --> 00:40:58,710 and develop their holiness, and you're developing yours, 993 00:40:59,250 --> 00:41:00,950 you'll find that out there in the community, 994 00:41:01,150 --> 00:41:02,970 people will be looking at all sorts of 995 00:41:02,970 --> 00:41:06,330 classifications of people in different stages of maturity 996 00:41:06,330 --> 00:41:08,570 coming in through the doors on a Sunday, 997 00:41:09,130 --> 00:41:10,930 and they'll be saying without you putting a 998 00:41:10,930 --> 00:41:13,110 tract in their hand or a campaign banner 999 00:41:13,110 --> 00:41:15,230 up, I think I could go there. 1000 00:41:16,250 --> 00:41:17,850 It looks like you can go in there 1001 00:41:17,850 --> 00:41:20,650 no matter what condition you're in, and they 1002 00:41:20,650 --> 00:41:24,430 give you time to change, and they love 1003 00:41:24,430 --> 00:41:24,690 you. 1004 00:41:25,510 --> 00:41:28,750 And that's the biggest attraction that there is 1005 00:41:28,750 --> 00:41:33,050 to the gospel, patience and love, which is 1006 00:41:33,050 --> 00:41:36,010 a manifestation of the holiness of God in 1007 00:41:36,010 --> 00:41:38,230 and through the life of a forgiven sinner. 1008 00:41:39,050 --> 00:41:42,050 Be practical about your holiness. 1009 00:41:42,910 --> 00:41:44,650 Let's have a word of prayer before we 1010 00:41:44,650 --> 00:41:45,510 hand back to our brother. 1011 00:41:46,550 --> 00:41:49,850 Thank you, Father, that you're so long-suffering. 1012 00:41:50,550 --> 00:41:52,970 If it's necessary, you'll give us 90 years 1013 00:41:52,970 --> 00:41:54,770 to make adjustments. 1014 00:41:56,190 --> 00:41:59,930 Teach us to so enjoy that quality of 1015 00:41:59,930 --> 00:42:02,850 yours within us, that others will see it 1016 00:42:02,850 --> 00:42:05,690 coming through to them, and they'll be being 1017 00:42:05,690 --> 00:42:09,370 given an equal amount of time to become 1018 00:42:09,370 --> 00:42:10,030 holy too. 1019 00:42:11,050 --> 00:42:13,250 May the signal from this church to this 1020 00:42:13,250 --> 00:42:18,450 community be patience and love and holiness, for 1021 00:42:18,450 --> 00:42:19,770 Jesus Christ's sake. 1022 00:42:20,610 --> 00:42:20,990 Amen.