Now a couple of times this week I've
reminded you that the Bible contains 70 books
and not 66.
All the good scholars divide the book of
Psalms into five books, so then of course
you have four extra books to the 66,
which makes 70.
70 is a biblical number, 66 isn't, 666
isn't, it's a bad one.
But 70 is a biblical number, there were
70 elders in the Old Testament, there were
70 that Jesus sent out, and so you
have 70 books.
The best used, the most used book in
the Bible unquestionably is the book of Psalms.
Go to Scotland where they, they won't even
use hymns, never mind choruses.
And they wouldn't defile the sanctuary with having
an instrument in it.
But if you go there and hear them
sing the Psalms, you'll never forget it as
long as you live.
They sing the Psalms metrical, not metrical, metrical
version, and they're, they're really very, very beautiful,
very inspiring.
So here you've got 150 Psalms in this,
in this book.
And out of the 150, roughly 75 of
them were written by David, and out of
the 75, 18 of them are autobiographical.
There are some Psalms prophetical.
You know the 23rd Psalm, that's the Psalm
of what we call the crook, the shepherd
having a crook to rescue his sheep.
But before that obviously comes the 22nd Psalm.
Well what's that, well that's the Psalm of
the cross.
And after the 23rd comes the 24th, and
that's the Psalm of what, the crown.
Oh I like some of these breathtaking expressions
of this marvelous and wonderful inspired man.
As I said the other day when somebody
said to Moody, how do you know the
Bible's inspired?
He said, because it inspires me.
I hope it inspires you more than giving
you merely knowledge.
And so you have 18 autobiographical Psalms.
And out of the 18 autobiographical Psalms, you
have 8 penitential Psalms.
And out of the 8 penitential Psalms, you
have one outstandingly great penitential Psalm, which is
of course this marvelous 51st Psalm.
It's marvelous in any way, it's marvelous in
its construction.
Because in the first three verses, you have
two different words for cleansing.
In verses 1 & 2, you have three
different words for sin in verses 1 &
2.
In this Psalm you have brokenness mentioned three
times.
In this Psalm you have sacrifice mentioned three
times.
In this Psalm you have offering mentioned three
times.
In this Psalm you have, what else?
Brokenness, sacrifice, offerings.
The Holy Spirit, or the Spirit mentioned three
times.
Twice of the Holy, twice of the human
spirit, once of the Holy Spirit.
And you could juggle around with that for
a long while.
It's, it's an amazing construction in the psalm.
And this psalm of course was born in
a crisis experience of David.
No man ever revealed his heart as David
did.
Not many of us keep a personal diary
of our spiritual lives do we?
Do you?
Got a diary on today how sweet-tempered
you were, how bad-tempered you were, how
gracious you were, how covetous you were, how
long you prayed, how selfish you were, how
you pushed other people around, how self-pity.
Do you keep a diary on your own
life?
Try it for a week.
Don't live any different from the way you
live last week.
Keep a diary on yourself.
You'll enjoy it.
But, but David here, he shows you every
range, every fluctuation in his spirit.
Oh there are some things you can't put
in these psalms.
You know the most controversial, it seems anybody
called Leonard is controversial.
And Leonard Bernstein, who until last year, where
are we, 70, 69, he finished his last
performance with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
And, and he broke about every law in
the book.
He did what he should never do.
Sometimes jumped off the podium, sometimes sang with
a choir, sometimes dipped his baton down, and
you should never drop the point of it.
And he just broke every law in the
book and enjoyed it.
And the more he did it, the bigger
the crowds were.
And he really went to town.
Now he had a friend who was touring
in Europe.
And he brought back a dog-eared manuscript
that he'd bought.
And he said to Leonard Bernstein, here I
bought this in Europe, paid an awful lot
of money.
It's a very old original manuscript.
It's over 200 years old.
Now, now Leonard, you just sit down at
the piano and play it for me.
He said, well how can I do that?
I can't play it.
He said, you can but you won't.
He said, I can't.
Well why can't you?
Look, he said, if you take my microphone
and head it behind that cathedral organ, or
behind that harpsichord, when this certain person was
writing this manuscript, and you could play it
over to me, and I could catch all
the cadences, all the moods, all the speeds,
all his emphasis.
If I could listen to that a dozen
times, I might go and present it to
you in a way that I just can't
do now.
Because I don't have the atmosphere, I don't
have the emotion.
Now I don't believe in building emotion in
meetings.
You may, I don't.
You know, the modern evangelist has to establish
a rapport with the people.
Condition you.
A dozen good jokes, or you know, feel
real good.
Get the folk on your side, you know.
Don't, don't have any sense of antagonism.
And as we drove up tonight, I thought
of Paul's words.
I, I rather like Paul.
And remember what Paul said, if I'm the
servant of men, then I'm not the servant
of God.
You can't have it both ways.
You're gonna please the crowd, you'll grieve God.
And if you please God, most likely you'll
grieve the crowd.
You've got to make a choice somewhere.
Now I don't believe in building emotion up.
But I'll tell you what, I do enjoy
it when the glory comes down.
Now, now, you can build emotion up, and
all be set.
I remember a lady who told us, you
know, I went to my previous church for
about 10 years.
And, and you know, I sat there like
a dummy every Sunday morning.
But this new church I go to, you
know, every Sunday morning I go, the first
15 minutes I cry.
I never cried as much in my life.
You know, the pastor gets up and he
says, you know, we're gonna sing that lovely
song, you know, I'm drifting like a ship
without a sail.
Have you noticed how many hymns are concerned
about me, not about him?
We don't give God much worship and glory
in a meeting, as I told you the
other day.
Buck Singh told me the one thing he'd
never seen in a church in America was
a church where they could worship God.
We try and work it up, prime the
audience, spend 10 or 15 minutes, clap your
hands.
Now I don't mind you doing that.
Do it, do as you like, you're free,
it's in the Fifth Amendment.
And you can do it as you like.
But I'm talking about real worship when the
glory of God comes down and you want
to shut your eyes because you think the
one who walked in the midst of the
seven golden candlesticks walking in the midst, you
wouldn't want to whisper a talk, or touch
anybody, or chew gum, or do anything.
You think God is in this place, and
I know it.
I can't, I can't play that music he
said.
Well how do you think you're going to
translate a psalm like this?
Now there's some emotion, but emotion and emotionalism
are very different.
Here's a fellow, and he's carrying a dish
of beautiful, wonderful herbs, spices, and meat into
his father.
And his father, blind there, says, come near
my son, come near.
And he says, Father, this is the moment
I've lived for.
I've come to receive my blessing.
What?
I've come to receive my blessing.
Blessing?
Well, who's the one I gave the blessing
to?
You mean my brother, he stole my birthright.
He's stolen my blessing.
I've found that one blessing blessed me, even
me or my father.
I've often wondered what happened to the dish
of soup, I guess it hit the deck.
But do you think there's no emotion in
an experience like that?
Hmm?
How did David write this psalm?
Well I'm sure he didn't write it on
a typewriter.
And when I read it, it's on nice
India paper with a very nice type, but
he didn't write it like that.
It's punctuated with periods, colons, semicolons.
What have you got?
No, no, no, no.
This psalm isn't written with ink, it's written
with blood.
It isn't punctuated with periods, it's punctuated with
groans and sobs.
Here is a heartbroken man.
Ah yes, the man that wrote this psalm
wrote the 23rd psalm, didn't he?
And when he was living so near to
God.
Ever tried to imagine him there with his
guitar, sitting on the hill outside Jerusalem, strumming
it away and sweetly looking over and saying,
when I consider thy heavens the work of
thy fingers.
Have you ever thought him peeping through that
little peephole on the door of time, looking
right down the corridors of time, and in
that 24th psalm where he says, lift up
your heads O ye gates, be ye lifted
up ye everlasting doors, the King of glory
is coming in.
He had a preview of what a hymn
writer says, from earth's wide bounds and oceans
farthest coast, through gates of pearls stream in
a countless host, singing to Father, Son and
Holy Ghost, hallelujah.
He's seeing the end time, he's seeing that
period when the trumpet has sounded, and the
dead have risen, and he's seeing the holy
dead.
Who is the King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord mighty
in battle.
Oh yeah, he had some of the most
amazing revelations and ecstasies any man that ever
lived ever had.
But you see he's not having them now,
he's down in the gutter.
He's a heartbroken man, a heartbroken man, a
broken and a contrite heart, a broken and
a contrite heart.
I will not despise, I have no offering
to bring.
It would be easy to give an offering,
sure it is.
See to put your hands up like that,
see to give God ten extra bucks.
Better get a heartbroken condition about your sin
or your separation from God, or the fact
that the church around you is paralysed, it's
something entirely different.
This man wrote the 23rd psalm, yeah?
He wrote the 8th psalm, what's his man,
he wrote the 139th psalm.
When he was living as near to God,
not only has he ever lived, but any
other man ever lived.
You've got to live awfully near to God
to say what he said in that psalm
139.
Do you remember how he winds it up?
He just takes his heart out as it
were, bears his heart and he says, search
me O God and know my heart.
Another hymn writer I quoted the other night
says, you know, how shall I, whose native
sphere is dark, whose mind is dim, before
the ineffable appear, and on my naked spirit
bear the uncreated being?
How can this corruption stand before a holy,
impeccable, infallible, ineffable God?
Another hymn writer rescues us maybe when he
says, you remember, thy kind but searching glance
can scan the very wounds that shame would
hide.
But here he's living right on the victory,
victory plus in his life, and he says,
search me O Lord and know my heart
and try me and see if there be
any wicked way.
I wouldn't want there to be one little
thing which is cutting me off from the
fullness of the blessing and the riches of
thy grace, search me.
He doesn't say that here, he says, hide
thy face from my sins, blot out all
mine iniquities, create in me a clean heart.
He's falling over himself to get restored.
Rather amazing the man that wrote this psalm
was a millionaire wasn't he?
And a monarch.
But he says, my sin is ever before
me.
Did yours ever come up like that before
you?
He'd seen a beautiful woman, he looked too
long, he coveted, he desired her and to
get her he had to commit adultery.
And now all the ecstasy is gone and
grief has come and darkness has come and
gods are far off.
And to me the most pitiful man in
America tonight is not a man in an
insane institution or a woman who's blind or
somebody who's crippled.
The most pitiful man may be a man
going into the Waldorf Astoria tonight and his
wife's dripping with diamonds and he has a
hundred million bucks to his name.
The most unfortunate man in America is the
man who brought us forsaken.
And for years I meditated over this phrase
and couldn't find an answer.
He says, take not thy Holy Spirit from
me.
Why?
And then I think I, I found an
answer to satisfy myself, it doesn't satisfy you.
Who was the king before him?
Well Saul.
Saul the anointed, Saul who had the holy
oil, Saul was elevated to be a leader
of the people.
And the Spirit was on him and not
only that he had gifts of the Spirit,
he prophesied, but he died a suicide.
Remember how Saul, when God had forsaken him,
went round and he says, you know I've
tried everybody and nobody gives me a word
of comfort.
If only I could, if only I could,
well I'll tell you what I'll do.
I'll go see that old witch down the
road, you know, they say she can deal
in familiar spirits.
And he went round and paid her some
money and he says, would you bring up
Samuel?
And maybe the only time in history there
was ever a genuine reincarnation.
Samuel comes up and David says, Samuel, oh
here's the prophet of God.
You know Samuel, you remember you anointed me
to be king, didn't you?
Yes I anointed you.
He said, but Samuel, God forsaken me.
And he thought Samuel would smooth it over
because he was a king.
But Samuel would say, no he's not forsaken
you, he's a little grieved with you, you
know, and like you don't have as much
favor as you used to have, but he's
not really forsaken you.
God has forsaken, God hath forsaken thee.
You notice what Saul said?
He didn't say call on our God, he
said call on thy God.
God hath forsaken thee.
And you end out and propped up his
sword and fell on it, and then the
Malachi had helped to put him to death.
The man who once had the anointing, the
man who once had prophetic gifts, and every
eye in Israel was upon him.
And he sees the danger now, the lights
are flashing, and he says, that's what hath,
take not thy Holy Spirit from me.
He calls the Spirit of God, the Spirit
of God, pardon me, the Spirit of Holiness.
And because he's the Spirit of Holiness, he
convicts of sin.
He's called the Spirit of Life, and therefore
he convicts of death.
He's called the Spirit of Fire, therefore he
convicts of coldness.
He's called the Spirit of Power, therefore he
convicts of weakness.
Oh, well we're living in a day of
course when we've rather rewritten the record, the
vocabulary, haven't we?
This man doesn't hide, he doesn't moderate, he
uses these bitter bit of phrases.
He says, restore unto me the joy of
thy salvation.
What's he saying in essence?
He's saying, I'm a, I'm a, well uh,
I'm a backslider.
Now we don't use that word anymore, that's
a dirty word, you don't use that anymore.
You just make it smooth and say, well
you know, John there, we need to pray
for him, he's out of fellowship.
Well I'll go for the Scriptures anytime and
use this bitter word, he's a backslider brother.
However, whichever way you look at it, he's
a backslider, isn't he?
Restore unto me the joy, we try and
get it some other way.
The joy of thy salvation, and uphold me
with thy free spirit.
You know this, this, this, Psalm again has
some amazing words in it.
But you see again, we, we don't do
what the Bible does.
The Bible talks about iniquity and we've modified
it.
We've kind of scaled that word down from
iniquity and we call it infirmity.
God says sin is enmity against God.
You see every man and woman, they're not
all prodigal.
Ooh some of them have too much respect
to go to the swine troughs and the
flesh pots and live in Sodom and Gomorrah.
But I don't believe God's first argument with
a man is he's a prodigal.
God's first argument with a man is he's
a rebel.
God's not going to rule my life.
Ooh you could live as clean as an
archangel and go to hell.
You don't have to trail through the sewers.
You don't have to go down Bourbon Street.
You don't have to go to the night
spots, the flesh pots.
Just refuse to let God have dominion over
your personality.
That's all.
No, no, no we don't call it iniquity,
we call it infirmity.
We don't call it wickedness, we call it
weakness.
We don't call it enmity, we call it
error.
But oh you know when I get down
to these words I find that these words
are really, really, really tough things to take
from the book of God.
It doesn't call sin a blunder, it calls
sin blindness.
It doesn't call sin lawlessness, liberty as we
do, it calls it lawlessness.
David doesn't try to modify it, he's prepared
to take all these stinging rebuking words.
And as the old hymn says, the cords
that were broken, he wants them to vibrate
once more.
The relationship is a broken and a contrite
heart oh God.
Did you ever break a limb?
1951 I did a two-week meeting for
Dr. Tozer.
And we had, he said, the best revival
in his church that he'd had in nearly
30 years of ministering there.
I'd never taken a soloist around with me,
other people can, or a song leader.
I've usually taken a prayer partner.
And I had a whole, I had with
me old Tom Hare, the Irishman.
And we had had morning prayer sessions and
we had had, he, on the, on the
Sunday, on the Saturday night when we went
to bed, Tom Hare hadn't been to bed
for five nights that week, he'd stayed up
and prayed through.
And when we went to bed, I tell
you we were tired that night.
And do you know what happened?
The hotel caught fire.
And we had to jump out of the
fourth story window down and hit the deck.
And Tozer puzzled it out and he said,
do you know what I think?
He said, I think we got so far
into the devil's territory this week that the
devil said, there's only one thing to do
and that's kill those two fellows.
So he set the hotel on fire to
try and kill them.
You know you better watch it.
If you want blessing, you're just asking for
the devil to chase you ten times hotter
than he'll chase anybody else.
Because if God opens the window of heaven,
the devil will open the door of hell
and you'll be caught between the two.
You've got no choice.
You know when I jumped out of that
window, I hit the, hit the sidewalk, broke
my back in three places and both my
legs and, and my, my feet.
And I just lay there in the gutter
three o'clock Sunday morning.
And no preacher should be out on the
street in his pajamas at that hour.
It's not healthy.
But there, there I was lying in the
street in my, in my pajamas and, and,
and I couldn't do a thing.
I tried to get up, nothing would respond.
Oh I knew my back was broken.
Tried to push up with my hands, couldn't
do anything.
And a fellow came around the corner and
I don't know where he'd been or what
he was doing, but he just looked and
he says, hi.
I said hi.
He said, what are you doing here?
I nearly said playing tennis, what do you
think?
He said, well get up.
He said, you know some traffic could come
around the corner and you'd get hurt.
Isn't that subtle humor?
I said, I think I'm hurt already.
No, no, get up he said.
I can't get up.
Well don't be stupid.
He said, you know something might come around
that corner and it wouldn't have chance, he'd
just run over you, he'd crush you.
I said, I'm afraid I'm crushed already anyhow.
He said, you can't stay there.
I said, I don't want to.
The lad said, I can't go.
Well he said, I'm not going to let
you lie there.
And he bent, I said, don't touch me.
I certainly will, he said.
And you know he put his, he put
his hand under my broken legs and he
put his arm under my broken back and
licked me all, lifted me up.
He thought he was doing me a favor.
I don't know what kind of a favor
because there was a snowbank at the side
of the street and he laid me in
that.
Whether he was putting me in deep freeze
just to start, I wouldn't know.
But he laid me there and then I
began to shake and to shiver.
You know I never lost consciousness one second,
but I'll tell you something.
As soon as that man picked me up,
and you may have had a worse experience,
I don't know.
But as soon as he picked me up,
every one of those broken bones rubbing together,
you know like you take two broken wires
of electricity and they spark.
Oh every nerve I had screamed out.
And my mother used to say, now always
be, you know, never be weak, don't shout.
And I bit my lip, as a matter
of fact I bit a hole right through
the inside of it.
I wasn't going to squeal, be a good
English bulldog and don't say anything.
I like saying a lot.
But the bones were broken.
Oh brother what a, what an experience.
And you know this song never meant too
much to me until I had that experience.
Now I hope you won't have to have
it to realize what it means.
But I can understand what David says, the
bones which thou hast broken, he hadn't got
a broken bone in his body.
He's a healthy vigorous young man, but his
relationship with God is broken.
And he says, oh the pain of it,
the agony of it.
More than once people have said to me,
well brother Amy what's the difference between the
sin of a sinner and the sin of
a believer.
So supposing for instance here is a man,
a Christian, he tells a lie.
Here's a man, he's a Christian and somehow
falls into adultery.
Here's a man and well he just does
some silly thing and didn't intend to do
it, but he got mad and hit a
man, he struck the wall and he died.
Well what's the difference in the sin?
No difference, not a bit of difference.
The difference is in the attitude of the
sinner.
This man will go and do the same
sin again.
But oh if the man is a true
man of God, when he's committed a sin
like that he's a heartbroken man.
Nothing satisfies him.
Oh don't take it too serious David.
Just look through the window, see that bodyguard
outside of you.
Every time I see those soldiers my sin
is before me.
I remember I put the captain of the
guard to death.
My sins before me when I look out.
Listen to that little baby crying in the
other room.
Yes that reminds me of the baby I
fathered to Bathsheba.
I can't turn one way or the other
way.
God has sent me in.
My sin is ever before me.
I've said more than once I think modern
evangelists are about the most stupid men on
earth.
How do you break up the fallow ground,
sow the seed, water the seed, and gather
a harvest all in an hour?
Do you know?
Because I don't.
But all the evangelists, we had a good
evangelist, he was a nice man in fact.
You know I think maybe a spiritual any
man.
But you know hardly anybody came to the
altar all the week.
You know what we should do in most
churches?
Burn the altar, it's become an idol.
Charles G.
Finney the greatest soul winner America ever had,
never made an altar call within 30 days
of starting a gospel crusade.
30 days he piled on the agony.
He didn't preach the love of God, he
preached the wrath of God.
He didn't preach heaven, he preached hell.
He didn't preach law, grace, he preached law.
He didn't say you know you're just a
poor little unfortunate thing born with a little
black spark in you.
And God loves you but hates your sin.
He really said what the Bible said.
God is angry with the wicked every day.
You can't separate a man from his sin.
You know the church is so sick today.
We need an evangelist to evangelize the evangelists.
We need some teachers to teach the Bible
teachers.
We need some counselors to counsel the counselors.
We've never been as sick as we are
now.
Somebody gives you a little tract with four
laws on it.
Do you believe this?
God wants to make you happy, has a
plan for your life.
All you have to do is say yes
Lord.
And I met a man he says I'm
going to Europe.
In fact he came to a crusade I
was having in Ireland and he said you
know I brought 500 of these tracts with
me.
Coming to breakfast one morning he said I
had a great time coming down the road.
Just left the house ten minutes ago and
I led six people to Christ in the
last ten minutes.
Boy you couldn't get it much quicker than
that could you?
Our old theological fathers used to talk about
prevenient grace.
Remember that funny old term?
The working of the Spirit of God may
be years before you ever came to him.
Oh what we need in America, what we
need in England, what we need in this
generation is a plague of Holy Ghost conviction.
Till men and women get sick and they
lower themselves.
Oh you can bend at an altar now
say sure I want to be saved.
Amen brother the Lord's bless you.
I want to be filled with the Spirit.
Amen amen yeah you got a manifestation fine.
Well come back next week.
Oh I can't I, I'm, I'm singing in
the Flamingo in Las Vegas for the next
month in a night spot.
I can't come I'm sorry I'd like to.
But I'm singing with those nudie girls in
Las Vegas.
Oh what about you?
Oh I can't come I'm just gonna make
a film you know I'm one of the
top entertainers in the country.
Just being filled with the Holy Ghost.
Who are you fooling?
You're not fooling me I'll tell you that.
Brother you can't be filled with the Holy
Ghost and live in a lousy world like
that.
You've got to beat it and get out
of it.
Is this vile world a friend to grace
to help me on to God?
Huh?
Why Jesus could have started off right away
and say hey you're a Pharisee you know.
Now I'm not gonna be rough on you.
Let's just find a little place.
We're gonna start an ecumenical crowd here in,
in, in Jerusalem.
And you know I'll come to terms with
you on this level.
And you're a Pharisee huh?
And you're a Sadducee.
Sadducees differed from you know the Sadducees didn't
believe in the resurrection.
That's why they were Sadducees.
But he didn't make terms with any of
them did he?
No he laid down the law of the
kingdom and when he needed followers the most
and they started to say well you know
I think you're a great fellow I'd like
to join you.
He says look you will you sit down
and count the cost and they did.
And they did not join him.
Oh David can't find any comfort.
Blessed is the man who receives a double
portion of Holy Ghost conviction.
Hmm?
I preached in the Keswick meetings in London
England.
And they had a desk like this a
little more ornate rather, rather beautiful desk.
And the church was Gothic it had gorgeous
stained-glass windows and it was an afternoon
meeting with a lot of wonderful people in.
And as I stood there just as we
were singing the hymn before preaching I kind
of fingered the desk like this and rubbed
my feet and, and felt kind of a
little happy not particularly inspired.
But I was thinking of a man who
used to handle that desk.
His name was Toplady.
Ever hear of him?
He wrote a hymn called Rock of Ages
Cleft for Me.
I've actually maybe you have either I've hidden
in the cleft of that rock down, down
near the city of Bath where we used
to live.
But you know one day he got an
overwhelming revelation of the sinfulness of sin and
of the holiness of God.
And he didn't talk in any terms about
it any easy terms any cheap terms.
He got to the place of David he
had a broken and a contrite heart.
And he sobs his heart out.
He forgets his intellectual standing and all his
culture.
And there with a naked broken spirit before
God he says foul I to that fountain
fly.
Wash me Savior or I die.
Your sin isn't some little virus that's causing
spots.
Your sin my dear friend is a cancer
that will burn in you in time and
it'll burn through you in hell if you
don't get rid of it.
I'm persuaded you may not be.
I'm persuaded our present Christianity is an embarrassment
to God.
We sickly compromises with the world with a
Roman Catholic Church with anybody as long as
we have a good time in a banquet
eh?
Maybe one night the Lord or let me
see I'll only be here next week.
Two nights next week to preach so I'd
better find out God's mind what he wants
those two nights.
One night I would like to preach on
John Baptist if he'll let me.
Another night I'd like to preach on the
judgment seat maybe next Thursday night if if
I can get permission from above and and
I'll have to do that.
But oh my I remember you know that
I ever heard a dear old Baptist preacher
called Vance Havner.
You ever hear him?
Isn't he something?
He's worse than me enough saying something.
But I heard Vance Havner over the radio
one day in a home in Chicago.
Do you know he was saying from Winona
Lake what America needs is a John the
Baptist to go through the churches.
You know pull down the hills, fill in
the valleys, make the crooked places straight, uproot
the trees.
And then in his own whimsical way said
but God help the man.
He'll need a fiberglass suit.
Sure you start exposing sin in the church.
Oh if you expose sin in sinners and
other that's all right.
You bring some kids converted from drug addiction
that's great.
But you start exposing the cancer in the
hearts of preachers and deacons and elders and
someone.
Why we were in a Southern Baptist church
two weeks ago we nearly had a riot.
We nearly had a riot.
Didn't we Martha just some nights?
Almost had a riot.
Brother, God came down some nights and those
people didn't know where they were or what
they were doing.
God just cut people's hearts open like that
and showed them what was inside and they
were so sick and they were so broken
and so contrite.
You know I like this little word that
David has here.
When he's recognized all his sinfulness and his
sin and his backsliding and his failure.
He comes and he says have mercy on
me.
That's a lovely word isn't it?
Huh?
When no built the ark there was only
one door wasn't there?
And if you come to the ark of
safety there's only one door that you can
get in and it's the door of mercy.
No other door.
Not if you're as rich as Creases.
Not if you're six old, all well into
Oklahoma and your granny left you a fortune.
That won't make any odds.
Just one door.
You know I've often, I wonder how Noah
got the crown.
How in the world did he get those
animals through that one door?
I can see him getting two or three
monkeys, though they'd be mischievous, that and getting
elephants.
But I sometimes wonder how he got the
giraffe in.
I think he maybe backed it in.
How did he get a giraffe in through
that door with a neck like that?
Boy that'll be as hard as God getting
you with your long stiff neck.
Maybe he'll have to back you in it.
Hmm?
How did he get all those animals?
There was only one door.
By which if any man entered it.
I remember one day teaching a team challenge
and before I spoke in the morning session
a little fellow, I forget his name, a
little Puerto Rican stood up and with the
tears running down his face he said, just
before Brother Abner speaks he said I, I
think we should sing, you know what, almost
our national anthem.
Amazing Grace, how sweet.
And you know those kids stood up.
And I sat there and looked till the
tears ran down my poor old heart cheeks
too.
You know every girl on this side of
that section of the church, almost without section,
exception, was a prostitute.
Oh they weren't five dollar prostitutes, they were
prostitutes to your darling ball players.
They gave me names of the guys they
slept with.
And that they got two thousand dollars for
a weekend.
And one girl had five full length mink
coats.
And a stack of jewelry in a box
this size and that depth.
And she drove up to the our office
in a white Cadillac.
But she said after a while, when she'd
been there and God saved her, she said
you know there wasn't one girl.
Though they went out looking like Marilyn Monroe
or someone else.
Gorgeous, beautiful girl.
Went to the leading hotels in the city.
But she said when they came home at
four o'clock in the morning or five
o'clock there wasn't one girl that didn't
cry herself to sleep every night of her
life.
Hmm?
I looked at the other boys.
Martha said to me one day, you know
that fellow Peppy looked such a nice fellow.
I wonder what his life is.
One day I was taking my dinner as
they handed it over the table.
I said hey Peppy you're a nice guy.
Say how long have you been in this
racket?
And he smiled.
He said well Brother Rayfield the first time
I carried a gun, I carried a 38
when I was eight.
In fact the first man I murdered I
was eight when I murdered the first man.
And I said how many more did you
murder?
Lost count.
I was in a double murder when I
was 12.
I was in another double murder about two
years after that.
And then I was in you know that
famous racket.
And he said you know I've not been
out of sing sing long.
I did ten years.
And every boy there you could write a
whole book on the lives of them.
And you know that, you've heard that hymn
many a time.
It never moved you to tears did it?
And I looked at that bunch of renegades
and rebels and sinners and dirty rotten critters
that they were.
And they were singing with tears running, amazing
grace how sweet the sound that saved a
wretch like me.
Once I was lost.
See we're trying to get people saved they
don't even know they're lost.
We're asking them that they hate sin.
They don't know what sin is.
It's a habit, it's a way of life.
And those prostitutes were rubbing tears away.
Big husky boys they were crying.
He says oh let's sing it again.
Brother Rayfield come and sing it.
Sing it twenty times before.
Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved.
I once was lost but now I'm found.
I was blind but now I see it
was grace.
It was mercy that came to me.
A few weeks after I went to a
stuffy church.
There's a pretty blonde here.
And I don't know why the preacher's a
silly guy.
He says that before brother Raymond speaks supposedly
sing amazing grace.
The answer to that is amazing grace how
sweet the sound that saves.
Saves a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now I'm found.
I was blind but now I see it
was grace.
I nearly said put a nail in it.
But she sang it, she sang it so
sweetly you know.
And it didn't mean a thing to her.
And I thought sister why don't you shut
up singing lies.
Yeah amazing grace you were never a wretch.
Not even when your husband told you.
You were never a wretch.
Oh this man is broken and burdened.
There isn't a clean air in his life.
I'm foul.
I'm full of sin.
I'm vile.
Have mercy upon me oh God.
And you know what he did.
Because afterwards he wrote that marvelous psalm.
He brought me up out of a horrible
pit.
And then he wrote the hundred and third
psalm.
Didn't he say oh forgive us all thine
iniquities who healeth all thy diseases.
Boy I'm glad he doesn't do half of
it and leave the other half to me.
Because I'd been a mess.
Across the main street of Andrew Burson years
ago there was a big sign.
Well about 1859 they had the big revival
in Ireland.
It was just before that.
Maybe a little after I forget which.
But a young man Brownlaw North whose grandfather
was the famous Lord North.
He got money.
Hit society.
Became one of the worst men.
Came just like Lord Byron.
Prodigal.
Handsome.
All the ladies fell for him.
His daughter had drunk everything.
And he got so bad that when he
got to Paris even wicked men left him.
They shunned him even the wicked shunned him.
His language was so vile.
Nobody would associate.
Even the harlots deserted him.
Everybody.
One night he stood on the edge of
the River Seine.
And he said nobody's written from home.
Nobody wants me.
Everybody's dropped off.
I'm alone.
I'm a derelict.
I'm going to jump in that muddy street.
And he got his hands up to jump.
And he didn't.
And now across the main street in Edinburgh
was a sign.
Brownlaw North evangelist.
And he had real revival.
One day a steward said you just give
this to Brownlaw North.
And they slipped it to him as he
was just going to come to the pulpit.
And it said on it.
Dear Brownlaw this is your old friend from
Paris.
How dare you preach.
Before you stand up tonight I'll recite all
your sins.
And show them what a dirty wicked villain
you are.
Your old friend.
And Brownlaw went pale.
Need a drink of water?
No.
Can I help you?
No.
Thank you.
Went in the pulpit.
Put his Bible down.
His hymn book.
And he said I have a note here
doesn't it.
I don't know in this vast audience about
twelve hundred people.
I don't know where my friend is.
But this is what he says.
Dear Brownlaw I'm your old partner in crime
and sin.
And remember we were buddies there in Paris.
And you're the dirtiest thing I ever saw.
You crawled through the sewers of hell.
You broke every law of God and man.
And tonight I'm going to expose you and
tell.
And he said now just before I even
begin the service.
Will that man stand up and tell this
audience my sins.
I said will you stand up and tell
the audience my sins.
Stand up.
He said you know everything he says on
this on this list is true.
Everybody quit.
Everybody forsook me.
And I was standing on the edge of
the river.
And I was just going to jump in.
And he said suddenly all my sin hideous
dirty filthy vileness came unto me.
But somehow I don't know why.
Suddenly I saw the cross.
And in the moment that my sin came
upon me he said.
I remember that very old hymn that he
used to sing.
And it was just as though a big
arm reached down because the hymn began to
sing in my mind.
In loving kindness Jesus came.
My soul in mercy to reclaim.
And from the depths of sin and shame
in love he lifted me.
From sinking sands he lifted me.
With tender hands he lifted me.
From shades of night to planes of light.
All praise his name he lifted me.
Have you ever noticed in this psalm that
this man doesn't make any reference.
He doesn't blame Bathsheba for his sin.
You say well he sinned against her.
No he didn't.
He sinned with her.
He's nothing to say about Israel.
This is a monologue.
Have mercy upon me O God.
According to the multitude of thy tender mercies.
Blood out my transgression.
Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity.
Cleanse me from my sin.
I acknowledge my transgression.
My sin is ever before me.
Against thee the only have I sinned.
And I have done this evil in thy
sight.
He's not looking for a scapegoat.
He's not saying well it's partly something I
inherited or it's my friends or environment.
He says I am a sinner.
And you'll get nowhere until you get the
whole catalog of your dirty rotten sins and
say look I'm the father of every one
of these sins that the Spirit of God
is accusing me of.
And I bring them all to God and
I say just as I am and waiting
not to rid my soul of one dark
blot.
That to thee whose blood can cleanse each
spot.
O Lamb of God I come.
And as soon as you get a broken
heart over it.
You see we've got a silly sickly philosophy
around.
It's I think they call it a creed.
But you better forget creeds that men made
because the men made them.
And maybe you'll stand up on Sunday and
say we sin every day in thought word
and deed.
Do we?
Do you really mean that?
Because if you do you could be awful
helpful to a lot of the kids.
If we have to sin every day in
thought word and deed will you write a
list of the sins out that we can
commit and then a list of the sins
we can't commit.
You'll help these kids who are very confused
right now if you do that.
Oh it's easy and glib to stand up
and sing it and say it isn't it?
All we like sheep have gone astray.
And we sin every day in thought and
word and deed.
Well I've got news for you the devil
couldn't do better than that could he if
he tried.
Why doesn't somebody get a trumpet voice or
Billy Graham or somebody that got all the
radio and money.
Why don't they get up and say in
big capital letters that Christianity is N.O
.T. Christianity is not a sinning religion.
It's not a sinning religion.
What did Jesus say to the woman that
was committed an adultery?
You are an adulteress.
Oh I admit I'm an adulteress.
He said well go and sin less.
Did he?
What did he say?
What?
Sin no more.
Oh you're putting an impossible standard before her.
Oh I didn't.
Jesus did.
Go and sin no more.
You never heard an evangelist yet at least
I never did and I just entered my
50th year preaching and getting antique.
And I've been around the world in all
kinds of and I've been around the world
in all kinds of conveyance.
I never heard a preacher an evangelist preach
through the one two three first three chapters
in the first epistle of John.
You don't preach that boy that that that
that that's the bible salvation.
And we've got something that just ain't bible
salvation.
As I said the other night until the
turn of the century Wesley says I offered
men Christ.
We don't offer men Christ.
We offer them heaven if they'll just say
I'm sorry for a few dirty sins.
We offer them heaven.
We offer them peace with God.
Don't we?
You know the Lord wants you to be
happy.
We offer them happiness.
Jesus didn't die to make you happy.
He died to make you holy.
Well Mr. Raymond you're not suggesting there's a
place in this life where where you can
really be born again and and uh and
then not commit sin.
No I didn't write the bible that's what
John says.
He that is born of God doth not
commit sin.
Well admittedly there's a little difficulty there but
you see actually what it says he does
not habitually commit sin.
If he commits sin it's by accident and
if he does it by accident he's repentant
and broken and sorrowful and contrite and he
doesn't esteem it lightly.
He says I've grieved God have mercy forgive
and cleanse me.
People seem to be proud to stand up
and say you know I'm just a saved
sinner.
Well that's a new one.
Are you a married brother?
Good.
Well I take his word.
He says he's a married man.
I believe him.
Take a good look at him.
Do you know he's a rather strange man.
I kept looking at him this week.
He's a strange man.
He's a married bachelor.
He's what?
He's a married bachelor.
Ask his wife but don't ask her when
I'm there.
A married bachelor.
He was a bachelor till he got married
and when he got married he isn't a
bachelor anymore.
And I I met some of these prostitutes
very beautiful prostitutes in uh teen challenge you
know.
And if I were to say to you
one of them was a lovely girl a
very rather unique character she was a pure
harlot.
And one of these boys over here he's
rather not bald too he's a truthful lawyer.
And that fellow there is an honest thief.
Hey you say come on don't murder the
king's English.
A man can't be a uh a married
man and a bachelor.
No he can't he's either married or a
bachelor.
He can't be an honest thief.
No he's either a thief or dishonest or
honest.
And uh this this fellow here isn't a
truthful liar.
He's either a liar or true.
Right.
Well if you can't be a truthful liar
and you can't be a sober drunkard and
you can't be an honest thief, how can
you be a Christian sinner?
You see holiness and sinfulness mutually exclude each
other.
But one cancels the other out.
I crossed the Atlantic many times.
I'm a man to ride across it now
have a peaceful trip.
And you know every time you get on
the boat you get on the boat and
you pull out uh say you've paddled the
boat's paddle across doesn't go too fast over
to France and you pull out of Cherbourg
and Le Havre and then a voice comes
over the speakers and says ladies and gentlemen
this is the commodore of the vessel speaking
the next voice will be that of the
captain telling you where to lift your life
jacket.
It's behind the door and the locker in
your stateroom and on that door there's a
red arrow with number nine.
Now you put on your life jacket not
till you get on the upper deck and
uh you you follow that red arrow up
the staircase a red arrow with a nine
and when you get to the deck you
follow the arrow red arrow with a nine
and you see a lifeboat red arrow with
a nine.
Now that's your lifeboat and you go stand
in front of it and you carry this
baggage up you know and when you get
there the officer says well lovely morning nice
to see you of course this is just
formality.
Now now this life jacket you have has
been tested by the American government the British
government and it's uh it's guaranteed to uh
to function perfectly.
Now you take it like this you throw
it over your head and you get the
uh tapes this way they thread it through
it you bring them this way and you
tie them just gently like that and some
of them you inflate you know and others
are the enormous things you inflate the ones
on the plane but the others are enormous
things.
You can't see over the top you just
get this thing up to your chin you
can't see and some little lady at the
back says what's this for?
Say we're gonna have tea what do you
think it is?
Gonna have crab so you won't drop anything
on your pretty dress.
Now you've got this enormous bulky life jacket
up and then the officer says now ladies
and gentlemen as I said this has been
tested by the American government the British government
it's the most perfect kind of thing there
is in the world right now and you
know we give you this in your stateroom
and this lovely thing is for when the
ship goes down.
Would you say that again?
I say this jacket that you have is
for when the ship goes.
I say hey just a minute when the
ship goes down.
You know if this ship goes down a
thousand miles from America it's two thousand miles
doing it.
Do you know I wouldn't even like to
try to swim with this thing on for
the next two thousand miles.
And listen if the ship's going down do
you mind backing it up and let me
get off because I don't want to try
this.
Oh he doesn't say that does he?
After all the Queen Mary did cross the
Atlantic more than 500 times and never had
any trouble even with the submarines and the
Queen Elizabeth too.
What am I saying it wasn't impossible for
those ships to sink it's not impossible but
it's possible for them not to.
Now the life jacket is not given for
when the ship goes down.
The lady said you know my favorite scripture
is in one John, when we sin we
have an advocate.
Doesn't say that it says if we sin.
The life jacket isn't for when the ship
goes up if the ship goes down.
The blood isn't there for you to run
every night and say Lord I've sinned all
day but you may as well be a
Romanist or a Buddhist or any if that's
the only victory of God you just don't
have Christianity that's all there is to it.
He that is born of God does not
habitually commit sin he hates it he despises
it he loathes it he shuns it and
he walks in victory because Christ died that
he might have victory.
There isn't a sin in your life tonight
that Jesus Christ can't forgive.
There's no area in your spirit that God
cannot cleanse.
What did he say to Israel in what
about chapter 36 of Ezekiel there?
I'll sprinkle clean water upon you and ye
shall be clean from all all your filthiness
will I cleanse you and from all your
idols will I deliver you and I will
put a new heart within you and give
you a heart of flesh and my spirit
within you.
I can't for the life of me understand
how some people talk so much about God
being sovereign and omnipotent and then saying he
can't cleanse the heart from sin.
It's a total contradiction and in other words
you're denying the cross of Jesus because the
word of God tells me that Jesus Christ
died and when he died what did he
do?
He destroyed the works of the devil and
in dying he said it is finished he
finished the plan of redemption.
What makes you think if you die with
some sin a carnality in your heart that
there's some magic in the grave?
If the sepulchre can sanctify then Jesus didn't
need to die for us.
Ah he not only prays the prayer of
a sinner there are three prayers in this
I've got to really hurry.
What's the other prayer he prayed?
He prayed the prayer of a backslider restore
unto me the joy of thy salvation.
Oh there's nothing ever makes up for the
joy of the Lord.
You can pack it with all kinds of
things you can run to the arena run
to the arena go see the ice follies
go watch a ball match go but you'll
never never satisfy the human heart with that.
Give me back the joy of thy salvation.
He knew it had gone and if you've
lost it you know where it's gone and
you know when it went and you know
why it went.
I was preaching in a large church one
of the alliance churches and there was great
blessing in the meetings and one night the
altar was lined from one end to the
other and about 11 o'clock I was
going home and somebody said could you help
us with this girl here and I said
well I'll try.
She's a lovely girl about 17 a big
golden plaits of hair down her shoulder and
she wept and wept.
I said my dear girl the scripture says
there's a time to weep and a time
to refrain.
Now you've been weeping an hour will you
turn the tears off and let's talk and
she said you know I've enjoyed every meeting
until tonight.
Oh it's been such a good week but
tonight right in the middle of the meeting
your voice died away and a voice started
saying swimsuit, swimsuit, swimsuit, swimsuit, swimsuit, swimsuit, swimsuit,
swimsuit, swimsuit.
I never heard another word you said.
Now I never mentioned swimsuits.
Who did?
Hmm?
The Holy Spirit.
Oh what happened?
Well I like to swim and I was
in a shop down the street it's very
expensive and they had a model there with
a mannequin with a swimsuit on and I
thought oh that would look good on me
and I went another day and looked and
thought it would look better on me and
I went another day and they changed it
and it was on the edge of the
counter and there was nobody around so I
picked it up and put it inside my
coat and I walked out and I said
mother what do you think?
Somebody dropped this in the street.
Oh I pushed it in a bag and
said somebody dropped this in the street.
Mother said well I hope it fits you.
Oh it fit alright.
Sure it was the perfect fit.
And she said while you were talking tonight
all I could hear was swimsuit, swimsuit, swimsuit.
You know I'm in the choir and I
teach a class and I collect permissions and
everybody thinks I'm so wonderful but you know
Mr Raven I've been keeping up appearances.
I haven't had the joy of the Lord.
I've no joy when I read his word.
I've no joy when I pray.
I've no joy when I witness his soul
mechanical.
No joy when I teach my class.
I've lost my joy.
I said oh well you know where you
lost it now.
I don't know about the swimsuit.
Uh I'll give you a dollar towards it
and somebody else will but let's get it
straight with the Lord and then we'll tell
your mother.
I'm not telling my mother.
You don't know my mother.
I said no I don't.
She's at the back of the church now.
She's got that big cartwheel hat on right
by the door there.
Yeah I can see the cartwheel but uh
well that's alright.
Let's deal with the and uh she said
hey I'll deal with the Lord but you
know the Lord's patient and loving of my
one mother's so proud and I didn't do
it.
I said you'll have to.
I don't want to.
I said well good night.
You're not going to leave me.
I said why not.
I'm not going to lead you into anything
false.
You don't mean business.
I'm going home.
I'm tired.
It's after 11 o'clock.
I'll tell my mother.
Right so she stammered the story out to
the Lord and then I said get a
mother and the mother came down and she
said oh um Margaret.
I don't know what Margaret's doing here.
You know she's the best girl in this
church.
She sings in the choir.
She collected more permissions last week.
She has a Sunday school class and the
kids adore her and you know she's just
the personality girl around the she she you
know I mean she's she's a kind of
an angel around here.
I said yes she is and she's a
thief.
A what?
I said she's a thief.
You say that about my.
No I didn't say that about your daughter.
I said your daughter told me.
What did you steal?
Mother you know that swimsuit I told you
I found in the street.
That's a couple of years ago nearly.
Well a year and a half yeah.
I I did I I didn't uh I
didn't find it.
I stole it.
You stole it.
I said well come on now forget it.
She did wrong.
She's going to put it right.
I'll give a dollar Mr. Brine.
The church will give a dollar.
You can give a couple of dollars.
Let's take the money back.
I'll go with her.
You can go with her.
We'll all go together down to the shop
and say look this girl found God and
this is what she's going to do put
things right.
My father said well that would be terrible
wouldn't it.
I said it would be terribly wonderful.
So mother look I said get on your
knees at the side of her put your
arm around her give her a kiss and
say well God's forgiven you I'll forgive you.
I said and otherwise unless you're bigger than
God.
So you know the stiff lady looked around
like this and then she went.
You know I I was sure she'd snap
before she got to the ground.
She was so stiff going down I was
sure she'd snap.
Well that was great.
The girl got up praise the Lord.
She ran back to the pastor and told
the pastor just just what was that happened.
And I got my hand in my coat
and was going out at the door and
somebody said there's a lady at the altar
needs you.
Oh there she was the lady with the
cartwheel hat.
And I came back I said excuse me
your daughter's very happy she's at the back
of the church and she's really rejoicing.
She said yeah it's me.
I said what do you mean it's you.
She said now she wasn't at the altar
when her daughter made a confession to me.
She said in the middle of the meeting
tonight your voice died away and I heard
a voice saying sewing machine sewing machine sewing
machine sewing machine sewing machine sewing machine sewing.
Now I never mentioned sewing machines.
Who did?
Holy Spirit.
And she said you know my daughter admitted
that she cheated for 15 months on me
and I've been cheating on my mother for
15 years.
I told her a lie 15 years ago
about a sewing machine.
You know a lot of people want to
get right with God vertically but they don't
want to get right horizontally.
You know if some of you thought paid
your bills you'll be respected a lot better
Christians than you are.
You make it a lot easier for your
pastor.
Your testimony would shine a lot more.
Oh no you've got your eye on something
else you're going to get a colored tv.
Why don't you pay all the other bills
up first and have a bit of honor.
You know the bible says oh no man
anything.
I have an idea that some of you
will be left behind and if the Lord
came tonight because you owe that much you
wouldn't dare take it to heaven anyhow.
There'd be nobody here to pay your bills.
Restore unto me that you know when she
got the joy back when she was willing
to make confession of the wrong she'd done.
Then the joy of the Lord came back.
And then briefly he prays a third prayer
which is the greatest prayer anybody could ever
pray.
What does he pray?
He says create in me a clean heart
oh God.
I don't want you Millie to deal with
the sins.
I want you to deal with the machinery
in here that made me do wrong.
Hmm?
And people say well you know after all
I don't know why I make so much
fuss about sin because after all I mean
sin's just human and natural isn't it?
No.
Sin is the most unnatural thing in the
world.
Adam was a perfect personality and he had
no sin.
As soon as he sinned he became unnatural.
It isn't natural to sin it's unnatural to
sin.
Now it's unusual not to be living on
the sinning level I admit that but it's
not unnatural.
It's the norm of Christian life to live
in victory.
There may be defeats there may be disappointments.
Oh well somebody comes and says you know
don't listen to this you know you need
a little bit of sin to make you
humble.
Well why not have a lot and be
real humble?
Hmm?
As far as I remember the devil has
no humility at all and he's got more
sin than anybody.
Why didn't make him humble?
And as far as I remember the most
perfect and humble man that ever lived had
no sin anyhow.
He didn't need sin to keep him humble.
Why do I?
I've only to look around and see how
little I am.
How how how little I do for God.
The job's so big.
Brother I couldn't get proud of it.
How could I get proud?
I do so little in one sense.
What is it get proud of that?
Well we've just pulled a two hundred and
fifty thousand dollar wing on the church.
So what do you think the they put
notice up in hell?
Watch out they've put two hundred and fifty
thousand dollars in bricks on that new church.
That doesn't scare the devil.
Hmm?
Well our church is going to have a
bowling alley.
Somebody told me a big church in this
city has a bowling alley.
Hmm?
Could you imagine they were all filled with
the Holy Ghost and went to play bowls.
Doesn't kind of fit in does it?
Fits in our life of course.
Doesn't fit in theirs.
Do you know the normal sign of health
in an individual is when we when we
strive and long for holiness.
We want to be like him.
Because he says create in me a clean
heart.
And as I quoted to you from Ezekiel
he says I'll give you a new heart,
a clean heart.
I'll put my spirit within you.
Are you going to suggest God will put
the Holy Spirit in a filthy unclean heart?
I just recently met a Pentecostal pastor deeply
troubled because some people had been to a
banquet and were all asked to come forward
and hands were laid on them and they
they spoke in tongues.
But the pastor said then they were still
filled with the devil.
They were full of lust and uncleanness and
pride.
And we've had to have a series of
meetings casting out devils.
And we've had 42 people in our church
and demons have come out of them.
After, as this person said, they claimed, though
this person was smart, said I don't believe
because they spoke in tongues they were filled
with the Holy Ghost.
They got tongues but they didn't get the
Holy Ghost.
What did they get?
Well they may have had a psychic experience.
There are three kinds of tongues.
Four kinds.
Natural, psychic, demonic, and spiritual.
And if the devil can cheat you on
any level he'll cheat you.
And this person said we have actually had
a series of meetings in our church casting
out demons and we've had 42 different people.
Some of them riding on the floor, some
of them with the most terrible screaming and
groaning and travailing, but God has delivered them.
And they claim to be filled with a
spirit.
Are you going to suggest that the Holy
Spirit and an unclean spirit can live in
a human personality?
You may but you'll never convince me.
As he who has called you is holy.
I speak on that I think a week
on Sunday afternoon.
As he which have called you is holy.
It's a related holiness otherwise we're fanatics.
I've seen men in India lying on a
bed of spikes at the side of the
river.
I've seen men in the river Ganges with
a cancerous sore on their backs as big
as my fist, standing there naked throwing water
over their backs, water that's as yellow as
brown as this golden colored water, filthy water,
running down the back of a man whose
sores were running with pus.
And they throw the water over like that
and the next fellow picks it up and
drinks it.
Why?
Because it's holy water.
This man lies on a bed of spikes
because he's a holy man.
This man hasn't washed for 10 years, he
lives in a cave there and he won't
come out, he puts his hand out periodically
and somebody puts some fruit or some berries
or something and he's a very holy man,
though you can smell him two blocks away.
Oh we've got such weird ideas of holiness.
Well the only way to be holy is
live in a monastery.
Well I've got news for you, the most
holiest man that ever lived mixed with the
crowd and with every Tom, Dick and Harry
and healed the sick and came in contact
with Leather's brother and there wasn't a spot
of sin on him.
How can I live in a world like
this and be pure?
Not often but sometimes my dear wife and
I go with a friend, he has a
very beautiful yacht and sometimes we have gone
off for a week with him when we've
been extremely tired and he lives, he has
another house on an island about 50 miles
from where we live and so we go
on this lovely yacht and he has a
crew and and just the three of us,
the two of us, dear Martha and I
and the and the captain and the owner
of the boat and and the captain and
the cabin boy and so forth and you
know sometimes we fish.
Now I'm not, I don't know much about
fish at all but but and and every
time I've gone, except the last time, my
wife always catches a big one.
I catch one about 23 pounds and Martha
pulls out one about 25 pounds.
I never can win but last time I
did.
I think it was very early this year
we went just for one day out fishing
and boy I got something and I wasn't
watching you know I nearly went out of
the boat and boy I pulled my thing
back and got it in the chair and
I struggled and I that was nearly as
hard as preaching but anyhow I really sweat
and struggled and and then the fish decided
to take a trip in the air for
once and up he went why he was
a beauty 52 inches long great big oh
he did fight he was a lovely fish
and somebody said now that's a good fish
to eat that's a king fish you'll enjoy
it and we did oh we really enjoyed
that fish and you know when I was
eating it I just tasted a piece of
that fish why it was good and I
said you know you know what Martha said
you need some salt oh now come on
I mean that fish has lived in the
sea for the last 15 years in salt
but it has no salt in it isn't
that amazing a fish can live in the
sea for 20 years and fish without salt
is the most tasteless thing there is isn't
it and when you get that fish on
the table whether you cook it or not
you've got to put salt on it to
give it some appetite so God can keep
a fish in the sea for five years
or a hundred years if it's a whale
and when you eat it the seed doesn't
penetrate that fish he can keep us fish
in the sea and the salt never enters
into it but he can't keep you in
the world and sin not enter into you
huh you mean the blood of Jesus Christ
isn't as as powerful that sin can come
out every side and yet while you're obedient
to God you can live in perfect victory
over sin and the Holy Spirit plus the
blood of Jesus Christ two agencies and then
a third agency a threefold code is not
easily broken three agencies to keep you in
victory one the blood two the Holy Spirit
three the word of God and if you
want a fourth one to wrap it up
prayer isn't that something you see there isn't
another religion in the world that offers victory
that first of all offers true forgiveness that
secondly offers cleansing and thirdly offers victory there
isn't one so again I say Christianity is
not a comparative religion it's a superlative religion
there isn't a religion that comes anywhere near
to it whether you say brother Avonlea you
know I've been out once or twice in
meetings I've been to this meeting I went
to a holiness meeting went to a penny
and I just don't feel right now that
the Holy Ghost really is resident I get
blessed and help but I would like to
say I'm filled with the Holy Spirit let
me give you a simple illustration and quit
let's go back to Noah's ark he had
one and everything has to enter by the
one door all right after the flood Noah
opened the window and he let out a
bird didn't he what kind of a bird
a raven boy I wish it hadn't have
been but anyhow it was but it was
a raven and he let it out and
it stayed out why because a raven is
a carnivorous bird it won't eat your crops
won't eat bread all it does is eat
flesh man alive when that bird got out
of that window he thought it was the
millennium everywhere he went there were carcasses bodies
animals floating whoa I got it made I'm
the only one out here it's gonna take
me forever and ever to eat all these
carcasses and he swooped down and had a
good meal there and he flew off for
a while not a good meal here and
he found something a little more dainty over
there and went over there he ate everywhere
and everything that was bloody and dead and
then a day or two after Noah opened
the window and he let a dove out
of the window and the dove went out
and he got a bit tired and he
said I'd better settle down oh no I'm
not settling I'm not putting my feet that's
a corpse but there's a big rock I'll
go oh that's the body of an elephant
I'll fly over there death now a raven
will only eat flesh and blood and a
dove will not eat flesh and blood it
will die before it will eat flesh and
blood it will only eat grain and pure
things the raven stayed out he never came
back the dove went round till he got
tired and he says I can't settle on
anything here this is all death and corruption
and if I if I don't get back
I'm gonna be in trouble and so what
did he do he flapped back to the
window and Noah said you're back and he
said he flapped and Noah said come in
why because there was nowhere for him to
settle except corruption the holy spirit comes and
he says well I'd like to settle in
that hut no I'm sorry I can't no
corruption there pride this heart jealousy this one
anger this one lust this one uncleanness this
one covetousness you know sometimes we call it
success God calls it covetousness well I'm not
much wrong with me I'm pretty stubborn not
the bible says about stubbornness there's what as
the sin of witchcraft hmm what's the other
thing it says in that same verse stubbornness
is as the sin of witchcraft doesn't it
pardon idolatry which is the sin of witchcraft
isn't that it and stubbornness which is I've
forgotten it myself but look it up it's
a terrible comparison now we excuse it but
God doesn't so the dove is going to
settle and and he says no I came
to this meeting down here at christian center
tonight and I was trying to get through
to that man and he's excusing his carnality
and this woman's saying well you know I
after all this is a false kind of
standard and and the dear holy spirit just
says well I'm sorry I wanted to settle
in your heart tonight but if you're going
to keep an unclean thing there I'm not
staying where there's uncleanness I'm going back to
heaven the last thing one minute a friend
of mine living in Manchester I was visiting
him and in those big old houses there
the chimneys you know the houses are in
rows and they have chimney pots and between
the houses they often build a row of
little houses where they keep pigeons and doves
and birds this man had some doves and
a friend came along and he said you
still got your doves he said not only
got them I've got one of the most
beautiful ones I've ever had I've trained it
you want to see it yeah well watch
that's a handful of grain he says you
see this grain now watch I'm going to
bring that bird down and you just watch
so he whistles and the dove came down
swooped on his wrist and was going to
peck in his hand and he closed it
quickly and the dove cooed you know and
he went back on the roof oh the
man said he shouldn't have done that well
it doesn't matter what I'll do it again
so then the dove came and he opened
his hand and just as the dove was
going to peck he had it quickly and
again the dove went back on the roof
oh he said you know that's not right
to tease a lovely dove like that why
don't you leave it alone it doesn't make
any difference done it before you just watch
the dove came gonna peck closed his hand
and the dove for the third time went
on the roof no it didn't this is
a true story it went over the roof
and you know he's never seen that dove
from that day to this why because the
dove can be offended more easily than any
other bird what does the bible say you
should do with the holy spirit grieve not
the holy spirit of god you can grieve
him you can resist him you can quench
him or you can obey him well
I didn't get an experience where I could
say god is indwelling me by his holy
spirit and therefore because as I said the
other night when Saul had an evil spirit
he did evil things when a man had
an unclean spirit he did unclean things when
a man has a holy spirit he does
holy things well if not will you go
home and do a bit of heart searching
again see I'm not married to all to
cause I think some of the dealings we
have with god should be in private they're
so holy you'd have to rush somebody's waiting
for me you go through a form say
lord I'm very sorry about this no go
home and let the lord search if it
takes an hour two hours three hours four
hours you don't but you know once it
really happens and you get all this dross
cleansed and the holy ghost really comes to
abide my old friend Tom Herbert traveled with
me for many years went to the Keswick
conference in England when F.B. Meyer was
there and Dr. Meyer would give his marvelous
bible readings and then he would say in
his sweet way my dear friends will you
go home tonight and don't talk go to
your bedroom ponder what I've said to you
ask god to search your heart ask him
to cleanse you ask him to fill you
with his holy spirit if it takes an
hour or two hours or go up the
hills it's a lovely night get up behind
a big rock and Tom Hare because he
wanted to pray didn't stay in the hotels
at night often he said Len I used
to go up on the mountain side to
pray on the hillside and I'd look back
at one o'clock in the morning and
all over town you'd see and hotels and
bedrooms and boarding houses the lights were on
I knew what people were doing two things
searching their hearts and searching the bible when
it came to Saturday night they used to
have a testimony meeting now other fellows had
altar calls and crowds came and so forth
but Tom Hare said I noticed this on
a Saturday night in the testimony meeting more
people testified to getting deliverance through Dr. Meyer
who never touched them let them go to
bed to the bedroom or on the hill
more people got delivered that way than all
the show and all the other stuff that
came up at the front now I'm not
trying to devalue anybody's experience or dechristianize them
but you know we're coming into some very
troubled times and if you don't really have
what you talk about brother you're going to
be in real trouble and god is wanting
to prepare a people a reviving before the
revival preparing some mothers in Israel some fathers
in Israel so that when the flood tide
does come in we won't be caught like
old mother Hubbard with a cupboard bear we'll
be stocked up we'll be ready we'll be
able to handle there aren't many people that
plan and get a baby and don't buy
anything for it until the day after it's
born they usually prepare a room and a
crib and some clothes and all the rest
boy they're excited about it coming I'm getting
a bit excited because our evangelism is bankrupt
we've had 20 years of mass evangelism and
the country is no nearer God in fact
it's further away not because of it in
spite of it but you know this book
never fails he a sovereign God jealous for
the glory of his son he's going to
pour out in spirit on all flesh your
sons and your daughters prophesy young men see
vision old men dream dreams and on my
servants and handmaids not necessarily on my bishops
and preachers on my it's going to be
that's just what Jesus did when he started
he didn't go to the pharisees he didn't
go to the Sanhedrin he didn't go to
the bible school in Jerusalem went to some
fellows with stunk of fish another fellow cheating
there filling income tax out but he got
them and saved them and trained them he's
going to do the same again I hope
you'll be numbered with them there we pray
we thank you tonight our father for this
meeting with thee we know lord that you'll
get out of this meeting what you want
for the glory of your son to the
praise of his name keep your good hand
upon us as we go from this house
may we do justly and love mercy and
walk humbly with our god we ask in
the name of the father and the son
and the holy spirit amen