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I have a very somber message for us

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this evening, friends.

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It deals with our usefulness to God while

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we are still in this world.

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We're gonna be camped out in John chapter

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15, which I call the pruning chapter, because

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if you desire further usefulness to God, you

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will be pruned with a very sharp knife

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that cuts deep.

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Before we begin, let me pray.

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Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my

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cry come unto thee.

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Great is your mercy toward them that fear

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you, great God in heaven.

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You are a dynamite God who does super

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duper things.

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Lord Jesus, you are altogether lovely.

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You are chief among 10,000.

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There's no one like you, Jesus.

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You are utterly singular and spectacular and preeminent

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above all things.

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You are the most faithful friend I've ever

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known.

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You're always there for me.

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Give me the grace now, I pray, to

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deliver this message that is burning on my

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heart for your people.

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Saturate me with your Holy Spirit, Lord, I

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pray, and use this time to bring us

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to the very verge of eternity where we

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are confronted with the God of that eternity.

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Come among us by your Spirit and disturb,

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folks.

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I pray these things in the strong name

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of Jesus.

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Amen.

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Years ago, I was teaching the Wednesday evening

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revival class at the Stephen Olford Institute for

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Biblical Preaching in Memphis, Tennessee.

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My homiletical mentor was Dr. Stephen F.

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Olford, and I had been the first part

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of that graduating class of his school of

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preachers.

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In that particular Wednesday evening at the Olford

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Center, I was addressing a group of pastors

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on the subject of revival.

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There were about 20 men there that night,

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and I brought with me that evening to

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that revival lecture two men whom I had

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been discipling.

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Their orders were that evening to sit at

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the back of the room and pay no

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nevermind to me what I said, but just

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to focus and to pray, to pray for

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those men during that evening.

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Their objective was to be entirely engaged in

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prayer.

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While Finney had Abel Clary and Father Nash,

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who were his prayer warriors during his early

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revivals, so I stationed those men at the

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back of the room because I needed help

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that evening as I walked up to the

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podium.

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My text was John chapter 15, which I

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called the pruning chapter.

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As I brought out my text, I told

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those men, I said, John 15, 1, in

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the Greek states, I, in contradistinction to anyone

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else, am the genuine vine, and my father

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is the tiller of the soil, meaning Jesus

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was declaring that he alone was the true

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vine.

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He alone was the genuine vine.

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All others were frauds and fakes.

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There was no one like him.

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He stood alone with no competition or comparison,

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and he makes a remarkable comment about God

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the Father.

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He says, my father is the tiller of

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the soil.

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Well, this whole aspect, friends, of the Father

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as the vinedresser, as the tiller of the

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soil, is rich as it is deep, and

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I don't think we can fully grasp the

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depth of John chapter 15 without a proper

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understanding of Isaiah chapter 5.

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Let's take a look at Isaiah chapter 5,

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where we find the parable of the vineyard

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and a detailed description of God as the

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vinedresser.

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We read in chapter 5, beginning in verse

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1.

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Now will I sing to my well-beloved

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a song of my beloved touching his vineyard,

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my well-beloved at the vineyard in a

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very fruitful hill?

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And he fenced it, and gathered out the

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stones thereof, and planted with the choicest vine,

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and built a tower in the midst of

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it, and also made a winepress therein.

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And he looked that it should bring forth

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grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

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This vineyard that God planted had the most

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fertile ground, and choicest vine, and the most

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favorable conditions for growth.

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The fallow ground was broken up, and the

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stones were removed, all obstructions were taken away.

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With loving care the vinedresser plants this vineyard.

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He planted it.

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He maintained it.

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He watched over it from a nearby watchtower.

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He pruned it.

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He watered it.

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Just look, friends, at the Father's care over

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that vineyard.

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He planted it.

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He watched over it.

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He had great expectations for it.

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This whole aspect of God the Father exercising

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great care over his children with only their

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best interests at heart, this is the imagery

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and the thoughts that must be brought to

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bear on John chapter 15 if we are

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to understand this aspect of God the Father

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as a vinedresser, as a tiller of the

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soil.

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Jesus is declaring that he is the true

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vine, and we are the branches.

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Anyone that has ever tried to live the

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Christian life knows what failure is like.

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The Christian life is an impossible life to

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live in the flesh.

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It's often like an elevator.

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One day you're in the penthouse sweet, enjoying

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sweet fellowship with God, and then incredibly the

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next day you're down in the basement of

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defeat.

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The average Christian has an up-and-down

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walk with God.

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There's little consistency there.

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Well, that's why Jesus took the time here

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to teach his disciples about the abiding principle

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of the vine and the branches.

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There is victory here, friends.

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In John chapter 15, we not only have

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the key to a consistent walk with God

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by abiding in him, but we have great

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usefulness to God as we abide and live

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and serve him.

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John 15.2 states, Every branch in me

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that beareth not fruit, he taketh away, and

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every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it,

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that it may bring forth more fruit.

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This is the central theme of John chapter

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15, which I term the pruning chapter, where

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God, as the tiller of the soil, takes

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his divine pruning knife to the life of

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a believer.

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If you recall over in Isaiah chapter 5,

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the vinedresser was looking with great expectation on

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the vineyard to produce fruit, to produce luscious

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grapes, but in the case of Israel, it

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brought forth wild grapes.

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In John chapter 15, in verse 2, the

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meaning in the Greek language is, and he

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cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues

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to bear fruit to make it bear more

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and richer and more excellent fruit.

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When the text says he cleanses it, that

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means by his spirit he sanctifies us, sanctifies

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us for further fruitfulness, sanctifies us for wider

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usefulness.

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Do you desire wider usefulness, friend?

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Then you must submit to the divine pruning

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knife.

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God must take a knife to your life

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and cut away all that stands between you

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and him in all further fruitfulness for God.

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You cannot expect to go further with God

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without giving him the whole of your life,

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lock, stock, and barrel.

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How can we hold anything back from him

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who gave his all on Calvary?

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In John 15, 5, we read the words

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of Jesus, I am the vine, ye are

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the branches, he that abideth in me and

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I in him, the same bringeth forth much

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fruit, for without me ye can do nothing.

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We feel we're not a success unless we're

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running 3,000 on Sunday, but Jesus poured

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his time and life into 12 men and

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one of them was a devil.

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Jesus is saying we can't move one skinny

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inch apart from him and our utter reliance

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is on him.

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Oh friends, a self-reliant church is a

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Laodicean church in need of nothing and a

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self-sufficient Christian is an oxymoron and you're

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a moron if you try to live the

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Christian life in your own strength.

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It can't be done.

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The only way to live the Christian life

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from God's perspective is to remain in a

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vital love relationship with Jesus.

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A young Billy Graham who was saved under

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the preaching of Mordecai Ham came to him

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as a mentor.

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He asked Mordecai Ham, he said, Brother Ham,

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do you have any words for this young

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preacher?

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Some advice for this young preacher?

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And Mordecai Ham looked him in the eye

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and he said, Billy, don't ever lose your

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sweetheart love for Jesus.

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Friends, it's our objective to stay in a

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vital love relationship with Jesus and that means

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he must have preeminence in our daily living

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and to get that you'll have to submit

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to the divine pruning knife in your life

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to cut away all obstructions that inhibit that

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intimacy with him.

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The great truth of John chapter 15 is

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we were never ever meant to be fruit

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producers but fruit bearers.

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If we are a bearer then the fruit

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is not ours.

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It is of the Spirit and this is

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how we bring glory to the Father by

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being fruit bearers that he can flow through

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as a means of blessings to others.

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We see this as so, friends, in verse

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8 that states, Herein is my Father glorified

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that ye bear much fruit.

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But if you are bearing fruit then it

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is apparent that you are being pruned for

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it is the prune branch that bears the

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fruit.

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So we must ask ourselves the following two

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burning questions.

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Do we want to go deeper with God

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and are we prepared to submit to the

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divine pruning knife?

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I recall years ago I was standing on

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Round Top at D.L. Moody's grave in

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Northfield, Massachusetts and as I stood there I

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was reflecting on Moody's large life for Christ

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in the gospel and I recalled the story

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Moody told of one day he was sitting

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next to a British minister who remarked to

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him, The world has yet to see what

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God can do with the man wholly consecrated

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to him.

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And Moody walked away muttering under his breath,

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Oh God make me that man.

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And God answered that prayer and Moody did

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more for God than all of us put

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together.

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Well that's the story I was thinking of

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as I stood atop Round Top that sunny

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day and as I slowly made my way

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down the hill toward the little birthplace home

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of Moody tears streamed down my face as

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I said with Moody, Oh God make me

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that man.

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Sometimes it takes 20 years for prayer to

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be answered but God does not forget our

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desperate prayers.

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That day God began to get out his

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pruning knife out on me and he's never

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put it away since.

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It's been an ongoing painful process I can

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assure you friends and as I related these

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stories in this passage from John 15 about

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God's divine pruning knife to that group of

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00:15:48,180 --> 00:15:52,840
pastors their faces suddenly became altered.

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Those men were disturbed.

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In Job we read, Therefore I am troubled

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at his presence when I consider I am

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afraid of him for God maketh my heart

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soft and the almighty troubleth me.

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Well those pastors were confronted with the felt

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presence of a disturbing Christ.

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Christ in his earthly ministry was disturbing.

284
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The spiritual world was disturbed by him.

285
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Devils cried out in Bethesda to possess a

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herd of swine that ran violently into the

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sea and because of that the citizens of

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00:16:40,780 --> 00:16:44,220
that coast were so disturbed they came to

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Christ begging him to leave them.

290
00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:51,040
Everywhere Christ went there was a disturbance.

291
00:16:51,900 --> 00:16:56,080
The complacency of towns and villages were disturbed

292
00:16:56,080 --> 00:17:00,120
by him to where the multitude thronged him.

293
00:17:00,540 --> 00:17:03,300
He disturbed hearts and consciences.

294
00:17:03,980 --> 00:17:06,859
He disturbed the woman at the well until

295
00:17:06,859 --> 00:17:09,079
she felt her sinfulness.

296
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He disturbed religious traditions.

297
00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:15,940
He disturbed the religious leaders of his day

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to where they wanted to destroy him.

299
00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:21,220
He disturbed lives.

300
00:17:21,819 --> 00:17:26,680
Christ disturbed physical nature in healing the lame,

301
00:17:26,980 --> 00:17:29,280
the sick and the blind.

302
00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:32,780
He disturbed death in raising the dead to

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life.

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00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:37,380
He disturbed one's entire course of life.

305
00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:41,800
He disturbed Saul of Tarsus by confronting him

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smack dab in the middle of the road

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00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:50,180
and blinding him, changing his life's entire direction

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and purpose.

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God can do that to any man.

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He disturbed Herod's rotten heart.

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He disturbed the physical laws of nature by

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00:18:02,220 --> 00:18:03,820
walking on the water.

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He disturbed reality by multiplying the loaves and

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the fishes and feeding 5,000.

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In truth, when Jesus passed through towns and

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00:18:16,780 --> 00:18:19,660
villages he disturbed things.

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He disturbs consciences.

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00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:27,760
He disturbed religious pandering by overturning the tables

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of the money changers in the temple.

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He disturbed the Philippian jailer who cried out,

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What must I do to be saved?

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He disturbed the Roman centurion who cried, Truly,

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this was the Son of God.

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He disturbed his first hearers, bestirbing, stirring animosity

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00:18:52,060 --> 00:18:54,780
in their hearts to want to hurl them

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headlong down a hillside.

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He disturbed the devil wherever he went for

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00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:04,860
demons cried out, Son of God, don't torment

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us before the time.

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He disturbed the religious crowd who said he

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was possessed by a devil.

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He taught by parables because bare, naked truth

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would have been too disturbing for his hearers.

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He disturbed all things from the touch of

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00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:28,840
a woman's hand to his garment that disturbed

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00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:31,740
the flow of her plague and healed it.

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00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:34,880
He disturbed the touch of his hand on

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Jairus's daughter which disturbed death by raising her

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from death to life.

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He disturbed the very atmosphere on the Mount

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of Transfiguration where he spoke with Moses and

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Elijah.

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He disturbed reliance upon material possessions by disturbing

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the rich man's priorities.

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He disturbed blind Bartimaeus who cried out, Jesus,

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thou Son of God, have mercy on me.

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And he disturbed the darkness of his sight

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00:20:10,620 --> 00:20:14,060
and made him see light on the cross.

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On the cross, Christ was disturbing.

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00:20:19,820 --> 00:20:22,520
It was disturbing to look at him hanging

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there in the shame and pain of the

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00:20:25,420 --> 00:20:29,560
cross, writhing beneath the burden of sin.

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00:20:29,980 --> 00:20:33,100
It was disturbing to his friends to see

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00:20:33,100 --> 00:20:35,840
him bleeding and suffering so.

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00:20:36,220 --> 00:20:40,420
On Calvary, he disturbed the very elements of

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nature.

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The sky darkened.

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The earth trembled.

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00:20:45,100 --> 00:20:46,680
Rocks were torn asunder.

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00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:49,640
In the veil in the temple, which was

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00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:53,240
sixty feet high and four inches thick, was

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00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:55,820
torn right in two like it was made

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00:20:55,820 --> 00:20:57,140
of papier-mâché.

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00:20:57,820 --> 00:21:01,140
Christ disturbed things that day.

365
00:21:01,540 --> 00:21:06,260
He disturbed hell itself by reconciling sinners back

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00:21:06,260 --> 00:21:07,660
to a holy God.

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He even disturbed the dead in the graves

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00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:12,960
for reading Matthew.

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And the graves were opened and many bodies

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00:21:16,860 --> 00:21:20,460
of the saints which slept arose and came

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00:21:20,460 --> 00:21:24,360
out of the graves after his resurrection and

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00:21:24,360 --> 00:21:25,680
appeared unto many.

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There is nothing like the disturbing presence of

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00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:34,980
Christ in a day as fast approaching, friends,

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00:21:35,360 --> 00:21:38,960
where Christ will come again with his mighty

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00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:42,600
angels and disturb heaven and earth with a

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00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:43,040
shout.

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00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:49,300
In times of revival, there is a disturbing

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00:21:49,300 --> 00:21:50,860
presence of Christ.

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00:21:52,180 --> 00:21:57,440
When Jonathan Edwards preached his sermon, Sinners in

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the Hands of an Angry God, in Enfield,

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00:22:00,780 --> 00:22:08,220
Connecticut, on July 8, 1741, an eyewitness recorded

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in his diary, We went over to Enfield,

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where we met dear Mr. Edwards of Northampton,

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00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:21,060
who preached a most awakening sermon from these

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00:22:21,060 --> 00:22:23,320
words in Deuteronomy.

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To me belongeth vengeance and recompense.

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Their foot shall slide in due time, for

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00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:37,140
the day their calamity is at hand, and

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the things that shall come upon them make

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haste.

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00:22:41,540 --> 00:22:45,520
And before sermon was done, there was a

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00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:49,320
great moaning and crying out through ye whole

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house, What shall I do to be saved?

395
00:22:53,020 --> 00:22:55,180
O, I am going to hell!

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00:22:55,620 --> 00:22:58,300
O, what shall I do for Christ?

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To where the minister was obliged to desist

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00:23:02,780 --> 00:23:07,300
from preaching, ye shakes and cries were piercing

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00:23:07,300 --> 00:23:08,180
and amazing.

400
00:23:09,020 --> 00:23:12,240
Well, that's the report of that revival, friends.

401
00:23:12,620 --> 00:23:16,720
The disturbing presence of Christ in revival is

402
00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:17,520
a reality.

403
00:23:18,180 --> 00:23:22,680
And that night, as I was speaking to

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00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:25,820
that group of pastors, I looked around that

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00:23:25,820 --> 00:23:29,880
room and those pastors were visibly disturbed.

406
00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:33,820
God was dealing with them one on one.

407
00:23:34,300 --> 00:23:37,260
They were squirming in their chairs like they

408
00:23:37,260 --> 00:23:39,100
were sitting on a hot seat.

409
00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:44,020
God, in his disturbing presence, was at work

410
00:23:44,020 --> 00:23:45,140
that night.

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00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:48,680
And when I was through speaking, I closed

412
00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:52,240
my Bible and I stood there while those

413
00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:55,260
men got up and lined up to speak

414
00:23:55,260 --> 00:23:55,800
to me.

415
00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:59,520
One by one, they grabbed my hands and

416
00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:02,140
hugged me and thanked me for the message

417
00:24:02,140 --> 00:24:02,900
that night.

418
00:24:03,140 --> 00:24:06,000
But at the end of the line stood

419
00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:11,260
one man, an old elderly black pastor who

420
00:24:11,260 --> 00:24:14,560
patiently waited his turn to speak to me.

421
00:24:14,860 --> 00:24:18,340
And as he faced me, I noticed he

422
00:24:18,340 --> 00:24:20,100
had tears in his eyes.

423
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And in a determined voice, he said, I've

424
00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:29,280
been a pastor for 30 years, but tonight

425
00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:32,640
when I get home, I'm going to get

426
00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:36,460
down on my knees beside my bed and

427
00:24:36,460 --> 00:24:38,800
I'm going to ask the Lord to get

428
00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:42,040
out his pruning knife on me and my

429
00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:42,720
ministry.

430
00:24:43,460 --> 00:24:47,220
Well, that man was getting serious with God.

431
00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:49,360
And do you know what, friends?

432
00:24:49,700 --> 00:24:53,320
God gets serious with those who get serious

433
00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:54,040
with him.

434
00:24:54,460 --> 00:24:57,780
Let me ask you, friend, are you ready

435
00:24:57,780 --> 00:24:59,800
to get serious with God?

436
00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:04,540
Brother pastor, are you ready to ask God

437
00:25:04,540 --> 00:25:07,720
to get his pruning knife out on you

438
00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:09,020
and your ministry?

439
00:25:09,500 --> 00:25:13,140
Are you willing to submit to the divine

440
00:25:13,140 --> 00:25:15,160
pruning knife on you?

441
00:25:15,700 --> 00:25:19,200
What cost counts and what counts costs?

442
00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:22,440
Go dig up a biography on a George

443
00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:26,460
Whitefield or D.L. Moody or Sam Jones

444
00:25:26,460 --> 00:25:29,320
and read it and see what God did

445
00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:33,240
with men who were wholly consecrated to him.

446
00:25:33,540 --> 00:25:37,700
How God shook entire cities in revival under

447
00:25:37,700 --> 00:25:42,260
the ministries with the disturbing presence of Christ

448
00:25:42,260 --> 00:25:42,820
Jesus.

449
00:25:43,580 --> 00:25:45,940
And ask God to do that in your

450
00:25:45,940 --> 00:25:46,480
life.

451
00:25:46,860 --> 00:25:49,500
Get down on your face before God and

452
00:25:49,500 --> 00:25:53,240
ask him to make you a fruit bearer

453
00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:56,840
where the power of God flows through you

454
00:25:56,840 --> 00:26:00,680
as a means of blessing to others, bearing

455
00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:03,400
fruit and bringing glory to God.

456
00:26:03,780 --> 00:26:06,520
And let your prayer be, here I am,

457
00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:10,940
Lord, prune me, use me, fill me, and

458
00:26:10,940 --> 00:26:13,860
let revival begin with me.

459
00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:15,860
Let us pray.