If you have your Bibles, turn with me
please to the book of Colossians.
I'd like to start reading in about the
10th verse.
That ye may walk worthy of the Lord
unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good
work, and increasing in the knowledge of God,
strengthened with all might, according to his glorious
power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness,
giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made
us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light, who hath delivered
us from the power of darkness, and
translated us into the kingdom of his dear
Son, in whom we have redemption through his
blood, even the forgiveness of sin, who
is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn of every creature.
For by him were all things created that
are in heaven and that are in earth,
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or
dominions or principalities or powers, all things were
created by him and for him.
And he is before all things, and by
him all things consist.
And he is the head of the body,
the womb, the church, who is the beginning
of the firstborn from the dead, that in
all things he might have the preeminent.
That in all things he might have the
preeminent.
For it pleased the Father that in him
should all fullness dwell, and having made peace
through the blood of his cross by him,
to reconcile all things unto himself by himself.
I say whether they be things in earth
or things in heaven.
And you that were sometimes alienated and enemies
in your mind by wicked works, yet now
hath he reconciled in the body of his
flesh through death to present you holy, unblameable,
unreprovable in his sight.
If you continue in the faith grounded and
settle and be not moved away from the
hope of the gospel, which ye have heard
and which was preached to every creature which
is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made
a minister, who now rejoice in my sufferings
for you, and fill up that which is
behind the affliction of Christ in my flesh,
for his body's sake, which is the church.
I wish you'd pay close attention to that
particular verse.
Whereof I am made a minister according to
the dispensation of God which is given to
me for you to fulfill the word of
God.
Even the mystery which hath been hid from
ages and from generations but now is made
manifest to a saint, to whom God would
make known what is the riches of the
glory of his mystery among the Gentiles, which
is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Whom we preach, warning every man, teaching every
man in all wisdom that we might present
every man perfect in Christ Jesus.
Whereof I also labor, striving according to his
working which worketh in me mightily.
Now pray that tonight that I'll have the
composure that I need to have to communicate.
And whatever composure that is, I'm not sure.
Sometimes what we don't say, but what you
sense in our lives may mean a great
deal more than what we say.
Now tonight I want to share just something
with me because this particular night, and it's
very hard for me to say this, is
so meaningful to me.
About ten years ago the Lord
Jesus let me come to
this church and most of the week
I spent alone in a
motel.
And the Lord spoke to my heart and
he said he was going to send revival
here.
And what I've seen in this church in
the last year, and of course it's been
going on longer than that, has been such
a fantastic answer after several years
that it's just hard for me to sit
here tonight because
this is just a little bit of what
I saw about ten years ago.
And there's so much more.
And the amazing thing about it is what
he starts, he'll finish.
This has been one of the most precious
weeks of my life.
Now I was supposed to preach according to
our planning several times, but about twelve years
ago God spoke to my heart one day,
something like this.
And I never had God speak like that
before.
But he said, Son, I'm going to send
a revival for this nation.
And he simply said, Do you want to
go along?
Early one morning in Houston, Texas, I told
the Lord and signed the Bible to the
extent that I wanted to go along.
And I took my hands off that day
and I said, Lord, have whatever it takes
for me to sit into your plan whether
people understand it or not, I'm ready.
And, folks, it's been one discipline after another.
And every discipline has brought me to see
one thing, and there's just only one answer
to every problem we have tonight, and that's
Jesus.
It's simply Jesus.
And I'm not supposed to be here tonight
physically, but I'm not weak, and I'm not
weary, and I'm not tired.
I could preach as long as Jesus wanted
me to.
But I asked Jack this afternoon, I said,
I just believe that the Lord just wants
me to get up there and just share
my heart in the way of a testimony,
and what I believe Jesus is doing.
And, folks, you've got to come to the
place where you take a sheet of paper
and sign your name and say, Now, God,
you write down the plan.
You won't bargain with God.
You won't get any sympathy out of God.
But, folks, if you incorporate with Him, you'll
get a committal from God.
And there's no greater, there's no greater experience
in this world is to have God to
so adequately know that you are so adequately
submitted that He Himself walks out of heaven
and makes Himself so real that you just
can't stand it.
And when this happens to you, folks, you're
not attached to the benefits and the blessings,
but you're attached to the person in such
a way that, folks, you just can't get
over it.
You just can't get over it.
God will commit Himself to you when your
commitment to Him is proper.
And this week, when I wanted to preach,
you know, so much, He said, When it's
time for you to say something, I'll give
you life to do it.
And He said, You can't say a word
until I tell you.
But, you know, I don't think I could
have stood it because it's been so sweet
in that room up there.
I could hardly stand it as it's been.
But, folks, tonight, Jesus Christ is a sum
total of everything we need.
And the Holy Spirit has shown me as
I prayed this week about this meeting.
And He said, Son said, He said, I
just want you to tell them one thing.
I've never been more mentally prepared to preach
in all my life.
I've never made notes.
Don't fool with them.
But I had them all typed out.
Had them all shipped down as already.
But, you see, I really have no choice
except just to obey Him.
But I believe the Holy Spirit showed me
this week that one of the prerequisites for
revival that I ought to mention tonight in
this testimony is, folks, you have to get
your eyes, your lungs, your ambitions, even for
revival, completely, completely secondary to the person of
Jesus Christ.
Folks, some of us have even made revival
an idol.
We have prayed for revival because we wanted
God to save America.
That's idolatry.
Unless that motive comes from Jesus after you've
met with Him.
Some of us want revival because of the
manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit.
And, folks, I tell you, Paul said there's
a greater way.
And you can put even the gifts of
the Spirit ahead of Jesus.
Some of us have wanted revival, prayed for
revival that we might see miracles from God.
But, folks, when you put those things ahead
of Jesus, you've made them an idol.
Some of us have wanted revival because of
the trouble and the difficulty it would take
us out of.
Somehow we would have some kind of peace.
But, folks, when you do that, pray for
such, you put Jesus secondary, it's become an
idol.
Folks, Jesus is the sum total tonight of
everything we need.
Now, when you get Jesus in His right
place, really get Him in His proper perspective
and let your life be so committed that
He'll commit Himself to you, then, folks, He
can trust you with these things.
And they, gifts and revival and all this,
and they won't hurt you.
They won't hurt you at all.
But, folks, they can't be put ahead of
Jesus.
They can't be.
And I'd just like to challenge you tonight,
just simply know by an experiential experience that,
folks, He's the sum total of everything.
Tonight you have no righteousness if you don't
have Him.
Tonight you have no peace if you do
not have Him.
And tonight, folks, you do not have any
power if He's not your power.
And tonight you have no joy if you
do not have Him in His proper perspective.
But, folks, when you get Him to where
He'll just come and commit Himself to you
and make Himself known to you like He
wants to, you'll realize that you have all
that you need.
And I pray that tonight you've heard so
much truth this week.
You've heard so much.
But, folks, it's time to act on the
truth that you have.
It's time to sign your name on a
sheet of paper and say, OK, God, however
you can bring me in to the full
knowledge of You.
Here I am.
Folks, you don't dictate to God.
You don't tell God what to do.
You can isolate scriptures and come up with
doctrines from a study of the Word and
think you have it.
And because you think you've got a doctrine
that's valid, because there's scriptures that would substantiate
what you confess, folks, remember one thing.
The letter, kill it.
But the Spirit, make it alive.
And you have no right to get up
and claim a promise from this book until
the Holy Ghost reveals that to you and
says it's yours.
And when He speaks, then you can say
anything He says.
And when you say it, it'll be done.
But, folks, you can't look through the pages
of this Bible and come up with a
conclusion that this is the doctrine.
Because there's scriptures that would verify it.
The Holy Ghost must make this truth alive.
For one solid year, I stayed alone with
God most of the time.
And I said, God, what in the world
are we doing so wrong in the church?
And the Lord said, Son, you'd get up
with others, thousands of others, and you'd fight
for the deity of Christ.
But He said, Son, you preachers across the
country that would defend the deity of Christ,
the virgin birth, and all of these great
doctrines, refuse to let the liberals and modernists,
atheists and agnostics, humanize Christ.
He said, What you fellows have done is
you've humanized the way to get to it.
And you teach a plan.
And you teach a program and a plan.
And if you'll do these things, you've got
that.
He said, In your search to help folk,
you've made things so simple that they can
understand it.
But do not have to go through a
divine revolution from a revelation in order for
a real genuine demonstration.
And folk, He said, That's where you fail.
You've given people simple plans of salvation.
They comprehend it with a mind.
But said, They never met the revealed Christ,
the Son of the living God.
And you've humanized the way to get to
Him.
And said, The result is hell regardless.
And folk, tonight, when God reveals to you
the person of this book, there's a great
deal of difference than when you just understand.
Most of us cannot say, If you don't
believe I live what I preach, come follow
me and see.
And if you see me not doing the
works of my Father, He said, Mark me
off as a fraud.
But folk, we ought to be able to
invite people tonight to follow.
But I'm telling you, most of us are
not willing to pay the price of this
one.
That it takes to bring us to revelation.
We're not willing.
We're just playing church.
We're just sitting around, living off the benefits
and the blessings, and not living off the
person of Jesus.
And tonight, it's time for us to act.
And most of us, I feel, never have
seen the economy of God in an area
like we ought to.
And I'd just like to refer to a
story in the book of 2 Kings, about
a city by the name of Samaria, and
four pitiful, leprous men, who were dying.
And the Syrian army, and just make this
mention to you, inside the city of Samaria,
they were having a famine.
In fact, it was so bad, they were
devouring each other.
At that gate was four men.
They were dying.
But somehow, someway, I'd just like to use
these groups that I'm going to mention as
a type, and make it applicable to our
hearts.
Because these lepers could go in or out
of the city, to me they had knowledge,
understanding, ability to act.
For the poor people in Samaria were so
blinded by their famine, that they were incapable
of really acting.
They were bound up.
And they were bound up within, and they
were bound up from without.
Because outside was an army, a mighty army,
that had come to captivate them.
Syrian army.
And I'd like to just picture Samaria tonight
as the church that's all bound up, and
all tied up to where they have no
strength against the forces of evil, the Assyrians.
And then I'd just like to picture these
lepers as being nothing but old rotten, rotten
sinners.
They were quite capable of knowing what they
were.
They knew they were dying.
And folks tonight, one of our biggest problems
is that we just don't know what kind
of sinners we are.
We don't know how worthless, useless, how much
nothing we are.
We just don't know how dead this old
life is.
You know in the King James it says
that Abraham considered not the deadness of his
body and soul, but in something that's a
little more original, he said he utterly considered
the deadness of his body.
And folks tonight, we've never seen like we
ought to the deadness of this life.
But at least these lepers were eaten up
with this leprosy, and they knew they were
nothing.
But they did have a freedom to act.
And you know they reasoned among themselves and
said why sit we here till we die.
If we sit here we're gonna die.
They said if we go in, go into
the city, we're gonna die.
They said that army out there, and somehow,
someway, they had a little ray of hope,
not much, that if they went out there
and faced that enemy, something might happen.
And somehow I like to picture these four
lepers as just old sinners, but they had
a little faith, had freedom to make a
choice.
Now the Syrians represent the devil and his
mighty army.
Now here's what I want to say to
you about the church inside.
The church inside the city of Samaria, the
people saw the devil out there as their
enemy that had come to kill them.
But you know, folks, what they didn't see
that that enemy out there that had come
to kill them was nothing in this world
but the delivery boy by which to bring
to them what they were in need of.
Amen.
They were starving to death in that city.
And folks, the Syrian army had everything they
needed.
But boy, all they could see was the
enemy, not the delivery boy.
Amen.
And somehow, someway, I don't know if these
lepers saw all of that.
I doubt seriously if they did.
But they made a choice.
And they said, man, we're going to face
the enemy.
And when they walked out there to face
the enemy, they made that decisive choice, sink
or swim, live or die, God hears my
name.
You write on it what you want.
Boy, they said, we're going.
And they moved out.
And when they did, God moved in.
And Pope God sent a little disturbance out
there amongst those devils.
And they got in such a flight that
when they went out there they found gold,
silver, barley, wheat, flour, all kinds of stuff.
And man, that bunch left there so fast
that as they followed their trails, they'd be
picking up a shoe here and a shoe
there and a robe here and a robe
there.
They ran out of their clothes.
They fled.
And what the church thought was the enemy.
What the church thought was his enemy.
Beloved was nothing but a delivery boy to
meet their needs.
Now, folk, you may not realize it, but
we're giving the devil so much glory today.
We're seeing him only as an enemy.
When, folk, all he's been allowed to do
is create a vacuum whereby you can find
Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God,
even so much God, folk, that the devil
is his servant.
He made all things, and all things were
made by him for him.
And, folk, when you let him have his
way, he'll show you this.
He'll take that vacuum and let you see
that the very need you have is God
in glory calling you up and sending you
a telegram and saying, Son, I've got the
supply.
But it takes discipline for God to get
you to see that.
And, folk, you say you love him.
You don't tell him that you love him
by singing to him, praying to him, and
all of that along.
You know how you show Jesus you love
him?
By doing whatsoever he commands you.
And tonight, we need to stop loving the
devil.
That's our problem, is we love the devil.
You say, Preacher, I don't love the devil.
Well, I'm not listening to you.
I'm just watching you.
You say, what do you need, Preacher?
You see, the only way you can love
Jesus is doing what he tells you to
do.
So if you do anything the devil wants
you to do, tell me, who are you
loving?
Who are you loving?
And, folk, if you're looking for a revival
in any way, except in Jesus, you're doing
what the devil wants you to do.
And you can be here pleasing the devil
tonight right in this fabulous atmosphere.
Tonight, what we need to do is ask
ourselves the question, why sit we here till
we die?
Why sit we here till we die?
Folk, I'd love to take you through history
tonight, and I swear if I got up
here and got started, I wouldn't stop them.
And, uh, but you know, as you study
history, you find just in the war, during
the states, during the war of, when America
got her independence, did you know each one
of those, in each war, you find a
fabulous revival.
History proves it.
The Union soldiers, Confederate soldiers, being on a
different side of a river, would make tracks
and send them across on chunks of wood.
Revival.
Thousands of people and thousands of people were
revived in those days.
And you know, we got into such a
state of prosperity after the war between the
states, that God sent along another war.
And that was God saying, I want you
back at the cross with the resurrected life
of Jesus in you.
And you know what, folk, a few people
prayed, a few people had revival, individually, but
our nation didn't turn to God.
They didn't turn to Jesus.
It's obvious.
And folk, right after that, God sent this
nation into a famine and said, uh, let
a famine come along.
But you know what we did?
As a nation, we didn't go to Jesus
for bread.
We took a new deal.
And when a human route, instead of seeking
Jesus and having revival, time rolled on a
few, just a few years, then another vacuum
was created.
God saying, folk, I want you, I want
you to come to Jesus.
And we had World War II, but you
know what, folk, people didn't turn to Jesus.
A few mothers, a few daddies, a few
brothers and sisters who had loved ones fighting,
they got a new touch of glory, but
that was about it.
God still was unable to reach the nation.
You know why?
They couldn't read what he was saying.
And my friends, in these last days, he's
allowed his servant the devil to be turned
loose on us.
For God's sake tonight, folk, realize what he's
saying.
He's not saying, you're defeated.
He's saying, I've got the supply.
He said, I'm the way.
He said, I'm the one.
Folk, the devil can't do anything to you
if you're walking with him unless God permits.
And when he permits, he knows it's just
going to turn to a greater revelation of
Jesus.
Right?
And his glory.
And tonight, why sit we here till we
die when God's making such a plea?
Folk, I'm not a fine reader.
I just want to read Jesus.
I'm not interested in being a prophet.
I'm not interested in anything tonight but just
Jesus.
And I told the Lord, as I mentioned
a while ago, 12, over 12 years ago,
that Lord, whatever it takes, whatever it takes,
I want you to bring it to my
heart that I might properly communicate Jesus.
And this has been one of the sweetest
weeks but it's been so hard because this
has been a vision in my heart for
a long, long time.
And see God do it in this church
and hundreds of people from all over this
country come here and many of you I
know so personally.
I just want to come down and shake
hands and fellowship.
But I think tonight that by any kind
of medical judgment at all that I shouldn't
even be right here at this point.
But folk, let me tell you something.
You don't need folk fellowship or anything yet
but Jesus.
And to see him do what he's doing
this week and to challenge you not to
sit one more night not to sit one
more night just flip out to Jesus.
Now what will be the manifestations after you
get to Jesus, I don't know.
But I'll tell you one thing.
I'm not worried about anything Jesus gives us.
And folk, he's adequate.
He's sufficient.
He's precious tonight.
And it's so beautiful just to be able
to know that he does all things well
if you just let him have you.
Right.
And I want you to know that he's
ready and he's waiting on you.
You say, Brother Manley, when will I adequately
when will I know that my commitment to
Jesus is adequate?
Folk, I'll tell you how can a holy
God consume your life on the altar of
worship and you not know it?
Well, it's impossible.
And I'll tell you when you'll know that
your commitment is adequate.
And that's when a holy God steps out
of glory and some way finds you in
such an adequate state of repentance and simple
trust that a holy God who can't stand
sin can consume you with himself.
And so consume you that he's so committed
to you.
It's one thing to know that the word
says Lo, I'm with thee always and I'll
never leave thee, never forsake thee.
But folk, it's something else to have that
holy God to so step out of glory
that he makes that reveal truth rather than
just truth.
And you know when it happens.
You say, Preacher, how long should I stay
on the altar till God commits himself to
you?
And folk, when he does it'll be different.
And you won't understand it.
You'll have to look back on past experiences
to even get a glimpse of what he's
doing.
Because you just can't afford to understand some
things till you've gone through them.
It'd be too powerful for you.
And so tonight, why sit you here till
you die?
There's enough folk in this place tonight if
they would so adequately commit themselves to Jesus
as that group did at Pentecost.
You would have a Pentecost that without Pentecost,
Pentecost as someone said.
Just this group tonight.
And I challenge you, why sit we here
till we die?
The devil's got you afraid.
Afraid of what's gonna happen to you.
He's got you up, he's got you to
stare and say, Boy, if I make a
commitment to God like that Lord, I'll lose
this, I'll lose that.
Folk, let me tell you something.
When those three Jews were placed in that
furnace the only thing that was burnt off
was what the world put on them.
When they came out of that they came
without the smell of smoke.
And by the way, did you know who
got down in there with them?
Folk, he walks with you in the fire.
Sometimes I think he speaks to the fire
and he says, now there's something else that
needs burning off of that fella.
And uh, I said, I want you to
know you can't touch him, I'm with him.
I'm in there with him.
Except he just touched that what the world
placed on him.
Folk, why sit we here till we die?
Why tonight would you waste your life?
Sometimes I thought it was so wasted.
But tonight as I sat here and just
this year on my fellowship and association with
Jack his family and the church family I
realized, folk that it's been worth everything that
I've ever gone through to stand revival.
And folk, I haven't learned the the only
answer I have is Jesus.
And I haven't arrived.
But I just want to share my testimony
tonight because uh according to the medical professions
of men who've been keeping me checked out
they don't have any explanation why I'm alive
but they feel like that I ought to
go back to the hospital in the morning
and have some tests run.
And I just kept asking God this week
for a while, Lord why do I have
to live here in this room and stuff
like that.
He just kept saying, son you mean to
tell me that I'm not adequate?
You mean to tell me that you'd rather
be down there fellowshipping with men than fellowshipping
with me?
And folk, it's hard to say, well Lord
I know.
But boy, when you surrender and say, Lord
it's alright I'll lie here in this bed
not preaching all week, not say a word.
And then folk, his fellowship becomes so sweet.
And you don't even understand.
But then step up here tonight and see
and sense what God is doing in this
meeting.
Oh, I'd spend another week in the bed.
In fact, if he wants me to I'll
just stay the rest of my life in
bed.
Just praying for Jack and these other fellows.
Of course, some say, well preacher, when are
you going to die?
When God gets ready.
And when he gets ready, I'm going to
be ready.
And it's been sweet.
Just a fellowship this week in the Lord.
But I challenge you tonight why sit we
here till we die?
Now I know some of us would like
to have the filling and fullness of the
Spirit.
For like tonight I know some of us
would like to see this manifestation.
But folk, for God can fill a lot
of us we've got to be disciplined to
where we have a capacity to take it.
And I challenge you once again why sit
we here till we die?
I believe tonight, just out of this testimony
God's talked to hundreds of hearts.
You claim filling of the Spirit.
You may be filled.
You claim this thing and that thing.
But let me ask you something tonight, a
little different.
Are you willing to commit to the sovereign
hand of an almighty God who by him
all things were created and for him all
things were created and allow God to discipline
you into revelation where you can have proper
appropriation so you can have a living demonstration?
Folk, are you willing to make that kind
of commitment to God tonight?
It's something to come down here and seek
an experience.
But folk, it's something else to come down
here and make such a commitment to God
that you allow him to discipline your life
until truth becomes total reality and you see
it every day get up out of the
pages of this book and move and work
through you.
I wonder how long will you sit there?
How long?
Will you sit there until you die?
You saw all that in him.
Folk, he's just a delivery boy.
He's letting you know that God is wanting
to do something for you.
How long will you sit there?
I just want to simply tell you there's
no telling what he'll take you through.
I will not offer you an easy road
tonight.
I just offer you Jesus who is our
glory on the road.
But what the road will be like, I
don't know, folk.
But I do know that he in his
boldness will inhabit you.
And it'll be glory even though it's a
rough, rough road.
Well, people tell me, they say, boy, I
get filled with the Spirit, it's all rest.
Well, since I met the Holy Spirit and
made such a covenant with him, it's been
all hell with me.
But it's been heaven in the midst of
it.
Tonight, why sit you there until you die?
God has given you an invitation.
I just wonder if you'll listen.
Will you?
The Bible says, be a doer of the
word, not a hearer of it.
And tonight, he's spoken to your heart.
Are you willing?
Ready?
Will you make such a commitment to him?
And when you do, and it's adequate, folk,
he'll make a commitment to you.
And it'll be different forever.
Would you just get up out of that
seat and come?
To who?
Jesus.
You prayin' for revival, you get to him,
you'll have one.
You'll have one.
You may have been to him before, but
you need to be to him.
Get to him afresh and anew.
Now, you folk think I'm foolin'.
But, folk, let me tell you somethin'.
You came here to learn about how to
have revival and all that.
I just simply told you that Jesus is
the way.
And I'm just wonderin' if you'll obey.
No music.
Nothin' else.
And I'm askin' you to commit to this
one.
And, folk, how he's gonna handle you is
his business and not yours.
Just simply, are you willing?