I hope it doesn't happen here, but it
has happened where to prove it the Lord,
I'm embarrassed.
But if he has to do that, it
would glorify him to do that, that's what
I think.
Jesus, the Son of God, said, I can't
do anything.
I can do nothing of myself.
Have you ever wondered if he was maybe
just trying to be a little humble?
I can do nothing of myself.
But there's a simple reason that he came
to earth to be a man amongst men,
to take the lowly position.
I better read the passage concerning it first,
in Ephesians and Philippians chapter 2.
It starts out by exhorting the Philippian Christians
to take the humble position, not to strive
after anything that's inglorious, to be lowly in
mind, and considering others, and being concerned for
the welfare of others.
Then he says in verse 5, let this
mind be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus, who being in the form of
God, thought it not robbery to be equal
with God.
I never come across a passage in the
Authorized Version like this, and I use the
Authorized Version, but God never allowed any man
or any group of men to make an
absolutely perfect translation.
So I don't object to certain modern translations,
and I'm quite confident that other versions bring
this out more clearly.
It speaks of grasping, and therefore they use
the word robbery.
But what Paul is saying, who being in
the form of God, did not consider it
to be a matter of grasping to be
equal with God.
He did not consider he should have a
grasping attitude to be equal with God.
And the context bears that out.
Rather than having a grasping attitude to assain
to equality with God, he went the opposite
direction, and made himself of no reputation.
The literal rendering, I understand, being he emptied
himself.
It was on him the form of a
servant, and was made in the likeness of
men.
And so Jesus is saying, Paul is saying,
have the same mind that was in Christ
Jesus, who in the form of God, he
was, I'm not sure just the implications of
all that, but there was the form of
Godhead in which he lived.
We mentioned this morning, the word was with
God, the word was God.
The Logos was with Theos, and Theos was
the Logos.
That's literally the way it reads.
He was with God, and God was the
word.
The word was with God, and God was
the word.
And so I also encourage you not to
try to figure things out when God purposely
leaves it in the realm of mystery.
With God he was God, and so he
was in that form of God as the
Logos.
So what is your word?
Is it not the expression of something that's
within you?
You want to communicate that to somebody else?
And so you try to find the right
word.
And hidden in the heart of God were
all the attributes of deity, including wisdom, knowledge,
love, truth, power, you could go on and
on.
And God wanted to express that, and he
does so in the Logos.
Just as you would express the best you
know, something that's within you in a word,
God expressed himself in the Logos.
Of course, in the Old Testament he expressed
himself so many different ways, through angelic visitation,
even taking the form of an angel this
time, and other times speaking through angels, speaking
through the prophets.
Paul says in diverse ways and in diverse
manners, he's spoken to the fathers by the
prophets, but in these last days he has
spoken unto us through his son, or literally,
two Greek words, in son.
The son being that spoken thought of God.
The son himself being that, not just that
Jesus spoke God's words, but he was the
full intention of everything that God had in
his heart.
The written word was inadequate.
The word on the table of stone was
not sufficient, wasn't enough.
The words of the prophets wasn't complete, but
the son was the complete unfolding of the
heart of God.
But he came down to earth to make
that revelation here in the earth, so that
the Logos was not really God the Son.
God the Father stayed there.
God the Son came here.
But rather God the Father spoke a word,
the Logos, and that Logos, that thought of
God, that very expression of God, came down
to earth.
There wasn't another God.
The son was the incarnate expression of God
the Father.
The very expression of God's heart, yet coming
from the Father, and then in the fullness
of redemption going back to the Father.
Now, I'm not trying to explain that, but
I'd like to, and I'm not trying to
be theological or doctrinal in mentioning that the
son was the expression of God the Father.
I just, to me it's the most beautiful
thing.
You go up to the Pentecostal, you get
the thought that there's almost like three gods
in heaven, and they had a discussion, and
they decided the son would be the one
to come down and redeem, and the other
two persons wouldn't, you know, they'd be involved.
And so we get the notion that there
was a difference somehow, that God remained intact,
but the son didn't have horrible manner of
suffering.
And one man told me, he said, I
always loved Jesus.
He said, I never had a problem loving
Jesus, but he said, I always had a
problem loving the Father.
The Father seemed so distant and so cruel
and so harsh, and a good friend of
mine, and I never said anything at the
time, but I loved Jesus, I always loved
Jesus, but I found it difficult to love
the Father.
But when you see that when Jesus came
down to earth, it is God Almighty humbling
himself in the Logos, his son, and that
the son was the expression of everything that
was in the heart of the Father.
And he was humbling himself and coming to
earth to reveal the Father as a man,
because man was made in God's image, and
Adam was supposed to have been that expression
of the Father in the earth, but he
spoiled that image through disobedience.
And so we have the story of the
havoc that went on in the human family
awaiting the day of redemption, something that God
had preordained and something that was in his
plan from the beginning, because only in redemption
could the fullness of God's heart be revealed.
Only in redemption could the fullness of God's
heart be revealed.
Those attributes of love and mercy and sacrificial
giving and forgiveness, he couldn't manifest it amongst
angelic hosts.
He could only manifest the fullness of it,
the depth of his eternal heart in a
man born in the earth from God, in
the form of God, but coming down to
earth, emptying himself so that he could go
into the very depths of humility on earth,
showing that God is loving and true and
kind and merciful and patient and longsuffering.
Whether or not you understand fully what I
mean, I think you understand what I'm trying
to say.
And therefore, if you have any questions in
your heart concerning what God might do, you
just come to him in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ, because he came to
earth to reveal the heart of the Father.
Don't think for one minute that the Father
is up there just waiting for a chance
to cast you into hell, but the Son
is here to love you, as if there's
any difference.
He came here to express the very heart
of the Father.
Jesus talked about the Father, the Father so
much that it comes to him once, he
says, well, you've been talking about the Father,
show us the Father, and that's all we
need.
So he says, show us the Father.
See, if I've been with you these three
years, you haven't realized that what I'm saying
is the words of the Father, that the
works I'm doing are the works of the
Father.
In other cases, the Son can do nothing
of himself.
Why?
If he came forth from the heart of
God to reveal God on the earth, why?
Because the Word was made flesh and tabernacled
among us.
We were the ones whom he would redeem,
and therefore he took our flesh, our helplessness,
our weakness, took upon himself even the likeness
of sinful flesh, and Paul is careful to
say that, the likeness of sinful flesh, because
he never sinned.
It was the same kind of flesh that
Adam had before he sinned.
And he had to come down into that
state of humility to bring about our redemption.
God took that.
And so I'd rather mention how it boggles
your mind that you think out and out
and out there and then how telescopes have
been able to reveal some of those distant
galaxies that are so far from us that
a mind can't even begin to be boggled
with it.
The infinity of God.
And yet, one of the early Russian astronauts
who went up there was able to come
back boasting, I was up there in space
and God wasn't up there.
I never found God up there.
You know why?
Too far away.
God, just as God might have revealed himself
on the earth, down here, humbled himself and
took upon himself the form of a man,
once a man, like the similitude of man,
in every respect, except for sin, that he
might be our redeemer as well as our
example.
And I know that was always a great
barrier to me, that, yeah, I could say
that he could be my redeemer, but my
example, when he was sinless and I'm a
carnal soul under sin, until I realize that
in the fullness of redemption there's such a
dealing with sin and the carnal nature that
we are as he was in the earth.
Not that we have attained to it, but
that redemption is not completed here in our
mortal flesh until the sin principle will have
been crucified in the flesh.
And we can live and move and walk
on the earth like Jesus walked when he
was here.
Paul says, have this mind in you that
within Christ he emptied himself, he emptied himself,
poured himself out, emptied himself.
I don't, I can't, I can't grasp the
whole meaning of it.
I can hardly say that he was no
longer God, but he emptied himself of every
prerogative that God had in the heavens.
He was down on earth as a man.
He wasn't in a position, half God and
half man, where, oh, I'll go out and
visit those people that are going across the
lake in a boat.
The storm has come up and so he
walks on the water and therefore he was
God.
And then on another occasion he got tired
and he slept and so he must have
been man.
I used to have that sort of a
thought.
He's half God and half man.
He could step out of one or into
the other at will.
I think many still have that concept.
And I realized he emptied himself of all
those prerogatives of power and authority and to
become a man in the earth, but a
man in total dependence on the Heavenly Father.
Total union and dependence on the Heavenly Father.
Never stepping outside of that total dependence on
the Father.
And because of that, he became our Redeemer.
I say because of that.
It's because he went to the cross, I
know, but he went to the cross because
he was totally dependent on the Heavenly Father
for every word he spoke, every healing he
performed, every miracle he performed, and totally dependent
on the Heavenly Father for guidance.
He knew he came to die, but he
must die in the will of God.
He did not just go on and go
on and commit suicide.
Some, you know, have that thought.
He committed suicide.
He came to die totally misunderstanding the nature
of redemption.
As we start to point out, he came
a light into the world to confront the
darkness.
Darkness and light won't mix.
One must confront the other.
And if the light is strong enough, it
dies out the darkness.
He came to confront the lost, sin, and
death.
He came to overcome the lost, sin, and
death with the law of life that functioned
within him.
It was life against death.
It was righteousness and holiness against sin.
It was truth against error.
It was good against evil.
And that's what brought his cross.
Because when he came a light into the
world, immediately evil sprang up against him.
Hatred sprang up against him simply because he
was God revealing himself in a man in
the earth.
Jesus said, the world cannot hate you.
He came to his own brethren.
But me it hateth because I testify of
it that it's work for evil.
Or you say, I tell the world that
there's work for evil.
That's not what this testimony was about.
He was such a living expression of the
righteousness and holiness of God that by his
very presence he testified of the world that
it was evil and they knew it.
They hated him for it.
So it's not just a case of marching
on Washington and saying we don't agree with
this thing.
That's not the kind of testimony that God's
going to raise up.
I'm not condemning them for doing that.
There's not a change in anything.
When God has a people who are the
living testimony of Jesus Christ in the earth,
you'll be hated by the world.
You think you've got freedom down here in
the states and up there in Canada?
And because of your form of government?
Let me tell you, it's because that presence
of God is not permeating the church of
Jesus Christ.
That's why we're not persecuted.
That's why we have this false freedom.
Freedom to do anything you want.
They don't care what we do.
They don't care what the church does.
As long as the church leaves them alone,
we're not making any inroads into the areas
of darkness in the earth by marching, by
protest, by getting involved in the political scene,
getting involved in social things.
We're not making any impact on the powers
of darkness.
I know I get into trouble saying things
like that.
What are you going to do at all
these things?
Are you just going to sit there and
let them do it?
Are you just going to let them do
it?
Are you going to object to it?
I'm not talking about being passive.
I'm talking about unless the church of Jesus
Christ comes to a place where they're in
union with the Son and are walking and
ministering in union with the Son of God
in heaven, I don't care what kind of
political power you've got on the earth, you're
not going to change it in this nation
or in any other until we come to
the place where we have power against those
principalities in the heavens.
They're the ones that hold the stronghold over
the affairs of man.
You can get in the White House or
you can get in the judicial system or
in the Supreme Court.
You can fill it with Christians.
But until you have a voice that penetrates
the heavens to shake those principalities and powers
there, you're not going to change any situation
in this country or in the world about
us.
So we're not talking negatively.
And I know, I tell you that because
although of course we can't see that, and
so you can go on your hopeless way
trying to resolve things by getting in charge
of the government and you won't succeed.
But when we come into union with him
who is king of all kings and lord
of all lords and do what he says,
we will accomplish in the earth exactly what
Jesus wants accomplished for this day and hour.
And I qualified it for the simple reason
it's not a case if we come into
union with Jesus we'll just go forth over
the land and wipe out all the evil
and establish the kingdom of God here or
any other nation.
I said according to the mind and the
will of the Son of God we'll do
anything he wants us to do.
Because Jesus himself has been reigning on the
throne of glory for 2,000 years almost
with all power in heaven and earth and
still the world is full of evil.
For the simple reason that God told him
to rule and reign in the midst of
his enemies until all enemies are exterminated.
He gave him a mandate, you rule in
the midst of your enemies.
Rule in the midst of it.
I'm not going to destroy all enemies yet.
It's going to be little by little.
It's going to be according to my plan
and purpose.
But the time is coming when the Father
said all enemies are to be put under
the feet of Christ.
And he reveals to us that glorious mystery
which we only see in part.
That we are to be joined unto him
in that one body.
And that we are to be his hands
by which we would serve him.
We are to be the feet by which
the gospel of peace will go to the
nations.
And that when the kings of this world
are put under the feet of Christ we
are to be under the feet of the
church because we are that.
Those members of the body of Christ.
All according to God's timetable and God's schedule.
Away with the thought that once we get
this great power we're going to go forth
into the earth and make things really work.
Jesus himself with all power in heaven and
earth has allowed, permitted the evil to be
in this earth for these two thousand years.
And yet all through that time there has
been a people.
Sometimes Very insignificant.
Sometimes it seemed that there was no real
church in the earth.
But all through church history God had a
people who so walked with him and learned
obedience that they were able to shake those
powers of darkness and to bring forth the
mighty work of God that God intended for
that day and hour.
Yes.
Amen.
It fell short of total conquest.
Because God says you rule in the midst
of your enemies.
We're anticipating ultimate triumph And I don't know
what might immediately happen in the earth in
the church in the next year two or
three years.
We expect mighty things from God.
But far be it for any of us
to say once that thing comes we're going
right on and we're going to subdue the
whole earth for Christ.
There's no room for any of that kind
of boasting.
God just wants the people to know his
voice so clearly that if God says to
a group of people and it doesn't have
to be a large group that God will
be able to speak clearly to his people
I want you to stop this whatever's going
on whatever it might be in your city
or in this nation I want you to
get together and speak my faith in intercession
that you might overthrow those principalities that are
controlling this horrible evil whether it's abortion or
homosexuality or anything else if God indicates his
will I want you to deal with that
then the spirit of God hears what the
son says and the spirit of God communicates
it to his people and because the spirit
of God communicates it to you and I
it lays upon us the burden that's on
the heart of Christ and it comes forth
in intercession to pray to God to do
that thing and it's done and it's happened
all through church history and it'll happen again
God just wants the church walking in union
and harmony with the son of God in
the heavens he's king don't think he's coming
back here to be king he's king there
in the heavens hallelujah he will be king
when he comes back but he's king now
consternation and amazement and dismay and perplexity When
he rose from the dead or before he
rose from the dead.
He says I'm not going to be here
long I'm going back to the father and
it devastated them Holmes is good that he
was going back to feed it for them
that he said he should go back Because
God hadn't just appointed him to subdue the
Romans in Palestine but to subdue sin in
in this world and to subdue principalities and
powers in the heavens and And therefore he
gave him a stone higher than any stone
in the earth and higher than any stone
in the heavens He might have authority over
the whole realm Isn't that much better than
if they build a throne room over there
in Jerusalem or in England or here in
the United States?
There's some believe it's going to happen Getting
in the white house, what does Jesus want
to get in the white house for?
When he's seated on the highest throne in
that universe Authority over all that and if
people have it in union with him, but
they've got to come into union with him
God's way And he shows us the way
and the mind in you which is in
Christ Through though he was in the form
of God did not consider His quality with
God something to reach out after to strive
after But emptied himself and took upon him
the form of a servant a do-lot
a bond slave And was made in the
likeness of men Coming in the form of
a man was great humiliation for God But
God is a humble dog, I don't know
if I've ever read that in the attributes
concerning God The humble does he humblest himself?
To behold the still in a man and
he humbled himself You can go and identify
with you and I Let's say it's a
high and holy one that inhabited the eternity
I dwell in the high and lofty place
with him also that is Humble in the
country and so you go up there and
you see the high and the holy one
But you can't really find him there.
You know, he's there And like we were
talking today as kids, you know, and I
get it too you just think about God
where he comes from and How big is
he in you your mind goes out and
out and out and oh I don't know
billions of miles few more billion till you
you have to stop thinking and and then
still you're not there high and Holy one
the lofty one that inhabits eternity, but he
says I dwell there.
I know but he says with him also
that it's Contracts of a humble spirit To
revive the heart of the contract ones and
to revive the heart of the home.
That's as I dwell there Do you want
to find God?
First of all, be sure you have a
humble heart And then he will show you
that humble place where God is because God
is going to reveal himself in the earth
once again And people will be traveling to
and fro when they hear of great things
happening God's working over there.
I've got to get down there if I
can scrape up a plane fare I've got
to get there because I hear God's working
there And they go and they say God's
working there.
All right, but does it find God?
You say surely if I go where God's
working, I'll find him That's what Job's up
Sitting there in the ash pile Devastated lost
everything.
He says I go forward.
I can't find him.
I go backward.
I can't find him I go to the
right hand where he's working.
I can't find him.
I go to the left hand.
I can't find him But right where God
is working didn't find him people can sit
in a meeting where God is working.
They don't see God Then something came to
Job that encouraged him.
He knows the way that I take When
I'm tried I still come forth as gold
God was leading Job to a place where
he would find God and so he led
him this way God led him that way.
I know you're saying your faith healers.
I Could to point out that Job brought
his troubles on himself Because it said he
the thing that he feared came upon him.
So he brought it all in himself.
Don't fear anything Then you won't have it,
but God didn't witness that way.
He said Job has spoken, right?
He's turning in God did that which was
right with Job And What he did was
in response to a challenge from the devil
He said Job is serving you because you're
good to him When you take away what
he's got then Job will persecute faith If
God challenged him, if God hadn't challenged him,
the devil probably wouldn't have done anything about
it.
God literally started this thing Satan appeared one
time with the other sons of God I
shouldn't say the other sons of God.
He appeared with the sons of God before
the throne and God says, where are you?
He's going through and through on the earth
and walking up and down in it God
says while you were doing that, did you
ever notice Job my servant?
He says Job, did he serve God for
nothing?
He made a rich man out of him.
He's wealthy Prosperous, good family, everything lovely God
whispered that into Satan's ear For his own
honor and glory.
So God says go ahead and we won't
go through the show you're doing, but you
know what happened So Satan kept coming back
to get more and more authority and God
let him have it so far.
Don't touch his life Wonderful to know that
God puts his constraints on the devil Only
do what he permits him to do.
He's not all-powerful.
He doesn't have the mastery.
Jesus is his Lord But for a chance
to feel the impact of Satan, recognize that
God let him do it Jesus said to
Peter Peter, Simon Satan has asked for you
I'm told the Greek says he has got
you because he asked for you So I
pray for you that your faith stand out
So God didn't hesitate to let Satan have
a time there with Peter because he knew
he was going to come out all right
Didn't come out the better for it?
So did Job come out the better for
it?
And unknown to Job, God's purpose in it
all was that he might reveal himself to
Job in greater fullness And I think unknown
to many, many of God's people, many of
whom I know Some are severe, severe
trials.
People I know, I just, I see them
coming forward It's great, but I see them
coming forward knowing God as they never did
before So we don't ask for suffering.
We just ask the Lord to lead us
in his way and to bring us to
a place where we will know him And
to do that, God may use any instrument
he chooses But Lord, we want to know
you better.
Lord, we want to know you.
Lord, it is all over God lifted his
heavy hand up to us So we're going
to say, I heard of you before, but
I never saw you before I have heard
of you by the hearing of the ears,
but now might I see you And I
repent of my sin.
I've heard of you, now I see you
I really believe that God has a revelation
of himself that's far beyond what was known
We rejoice in the word, the written word,
the word we hear, which Paul calls the
word of hearing The word of hearing.
In other words, it's the word that God
has given us spiritual hearing, to hear Because
there's such a thing as having ears and
not hearing.
And we rejoice in that hearing that God
has given us.
I know you have it But there's something
better.
He says, I heard of you by the
hearing of the ear, but now might I
see you see And therefore I abhor myself
and repent in death and life See you
now I'm talking about seeing him and I
don't mean in a vision.
I don't know really what form It will
be, but in a manner so clear that
when we see him, we'll be able to
say to one another I've seen the Lord
I've seen the Lord Don't think for one
minute Because we're 2,000 years removed from
the day of resurrection That we lost out
On that great visitation of Jesus after he
rose from the dead when Peter saw him
when the women saw him at the tomb
and they told Peter and John went down
and they saw the empty tomb Came back
and they gathered together and the Lord appeared
somewhere to Peter and to James and then
all the apostles and they shot him He
said, what what a marvelous experience.
He used to think I probably missed out
by not having lived in that day I
believe the Lord Jesus had the revelations himself
for you and I Just as great and
just as glorious as any visitation that they
had in the early church Paul had a
visitation that was just as real to him
as the one that came to Peter and
James and John Because it seems that the
It was recognized for a man to be
an apostle he had to have been with
the Lord Jesus and seen him Paul wasn't
around those days.
Yeah, he was made to be an apostle
Paul Paul said writing from Trachean But the
Lord Jesus when he rose from the dead,
he was seen of the apostles and five
hundred brethren at once And he says I
saw him too.
I Saw him I saw me.
This is really a Peter song He took
that as a credential for his apostleship because
they said well Peter's an apostle.
He saw Jesus Paul said I saw him
too That same Jesus appearing in glory From
light with which he's enthroned in glory.
God let that light come down to earth
and he saw him as truly as Peter
saw him and That was after the resurrection.
It wasn't that the first appearing of Christ.
It wasn't the second coming of Christ.
He's in between There was that glorious appearing
of the Christ And so he did it
once he can do it twice and he
can do it again And I believe that
before that open manifestation of the Lord from
heaven, which is certainly going to happen There's
nothing to hinder him from appearing to God's
people any time.
He wants to right that same Jesus And
I anticipate He walked with his disciples there
prior to his ascension, I believe he will
walk with her once again prior to his
coming again Jesus was taken up from you
into heaven shall so come and like manners.
You've seen him go He was with them
before he went communing with them talking with
them revealing himself and went I believe he'll
come back and reveal himself to them and
talk with him before he's openly manifested to
the inhabitants of the earth But we have
to be prepared to see him you have
to be humble to see him Humble shepherds
saw him in a major and knew he
was the king of Israel wise men came
to me Without very intellectual humble They came
to me he saw his star, where is
he called the tribes and the thirties together
to inquire Where Messiah was to be born
because Herod was afraid if another king is
due to be born.
He did Or they said in Bethlehem of
Judea for that that is written in the
prophets and all Bethlehem Judah of Assyria and
Bethlehem Bethlehem of Assyria Howard know the least
of the tribes of Israel to thee shall
come forth a governor who shall rule my
people Israel Had the scriptures right in there
right on their tongue.
That's all right And so he told the
wise men to go down to Bethlehem and
find him I've been modest in that dream
They weren't humble The hearts were humble.
They would have said the Messiah is born
in Bethlehem.
We're told that's so So he grew up
in their midst and they never saw him
Well, still a baby was taken into the
temple and there were prepared hearts prepared hearts
and they saw him Simeon saw him Anna
saw him Marian Joseph, of course And speak
of him to all those in the temple
area milling around in the temple area So
busy with their religion bringing the goats and
the bullets and the pigeons Dedicating their babies
and everything carrying on this is glorious institution.
Haven't we got a great church to know
see what's going on here Hi, I was
there in the midst and they never saw
right Simeon came along and put some office
in the Messiah.
Let me die now look He literally said
that Thank you.
Awesome.
Sparks pointed out that it is a burden
upon because God has said you're not gonna
die for this even Messiah So apparently he's
getting older and older and getting more people
and wish they could die, but you couldn't
die Because God put a burden on you
can't die you see the Messiah Now Lord
the word is spotted from which we get
the word death but Not that he was
calling God Almighty a death pot in the
way we use it, but it does signify
an authoritarianism You put me under this burden.
You gave me this vision that one day
I would see the Messiah now Lord.
I've seen you Salvation of the Lord a
life that you're prepared to invite in the
Gentiles now, let me go and die in
peace Release me Release me Lord, I fulfill
my duty in the earth Not only with
the Vision of living to see the Messiah,
but with any vision you have It's God
-given be it of a lower plane or
a higher plane I don't care what Category
you might put it in because God does
give and expecting people's vision and hope And
we only pray that God will increase and
enlarge and purify it and clarify that vision
that it might be the vision He wants
us to have But with that vision there
comes with it a burden which you must
carry It sounds good when you see it
when you hear it's great Lord my son
now shall be a great prophet of the
Lord now shall stand and prophesy my you
know, he gets up quite With that vision
they'll come a great trial fire protection That's
good.
He killed That's Jeremiah.
That's Isaiah.
That's you on the Baptist I Say true
prophet of the Lord they didn't ask to
be a prophet.
They would gladly lay down a minister any
time Jeremiah later time He means that he's
going to bring forth the people walking in
the footsteps of Jesus graciousness But to do
that he means that there's a humble himself
as he did no matter what their calling
is No matter how great they might be
in the eyes of men a prophet that
can speak forth words that reveal the secrets
of men a healer that can Heal the
sick and raise the dead and no matter
how great it might seem in the eyes
of men God says That ministry must humble
himself Become a bondservant.
We're in the likeness of men by birth
so we don't have to be made in
the likeness of man, but Be made in
the likeness of bondservant Regardless of your calling
Talk to Paul that says Paul a bondslave
of Jesus Christ Paul a bondslave
of Jesus Christ.
I therefore Paul a prisoner of the Lord
prisoner of the Lord He took the humble
position Did you say God led him that
way?
I know but the reason God was able
to lead him that way was because Paul
had said like his master Lord, I will
follow you Let this mind in you which
is also in Christ Jesus You read that
and you stumble over it because we say
Lord, I'd like to I'd like to be
humble and meek and lowly as my master
Help me to do that.
Show me the way and So then he
begins to show us the way And he
reveals to us that he's the way I
Am the way the truth and the light
Life, that's what we want truth.
That's what we want.
Well to find truth and to find life
We must know Jesus as the way in
other words.
We must walk in his way If we're
going to know truth if we're going to
know life We must learn to walk in
his way And as we walk in his
way God's way brings us down to humanity
Because God's a humble God and God wants
to walk on earth with man But he
will not walk with the proud or the
scornful Humble I shall to walk with God
All him that the Easter thing and really
can't be found Leave all him humble.
I shall to walk with God Just as
a stream finds a bed that is lowly
So Jesus walks with the pure and the
holy Cast out thy pride and with heartfelt
contrition humble I shall To walk with God
we talked about the River of God that
God's gonna release a river that flows through
the land It's gonna flow in low places
The stream always seeks out the lowest place
And so Jesus said have this mind Paul
said have this mind that is in Christ
Jesus Seek out the lowly place.
The apostles argued amongst themselves.
He's gonna be the greatest.
I don't know Jesus hurt us Physically or
hurt it in the spirit But they were
lagging behind a little and when they drew
up close.
He said what was that you're talking about?
It was on it give a little child
and send them in the midst He would
be great amongst you Let him be as
this little child.
He would be great in the kingdom of
God.
Let him be servant of all Let him
take the lowest position You come into the
banqueting house.
You don't know where you're to sit.
Well You're down to the end of the
table sit there at the back and that
if the Lord be said to promote you
He'll call you up Take the lowest position
brother here was saying just before the meeting
Why is it that men can be used
so mighty of God Man is towards the
end of their life.
What a tragedy that somehow You seem to
get away from that original humility.
They had We've got a walk in God's
way Haven't they walked in God's way who
might have judged but it must be that
somewhere along the line They listen to the
voice of the tempter Because they had a
great ministry, we've got to keep it going
if God is saying let it dry up
But it pulled up.
Oh, that must be the voice of the
devil God doesn't do things like that man
has a great ministry of healing and God
comes to him and says you've been healing
the sick now these many years.
I'm gonna lay You aside as far as
that ministry is concerned and speak my face
and walk with me and let me be
against I wonder if God has said that
whispered that to many of these some of
these who have fallen and They were not
prepared to do it.
I know a prophet that went to some
of these outstanding leaders Warned them that they
were on the wrong road They didn't listen
So God does give warning He gives opportunity
To humble ourselves and by his grace he
has given us the ability to humble ourselves
Because he leads us in the way.
He wants us to go and if we
walk in the way he wants us to
go and Avoid the pressure that because we
have something from God we could enlarge our
ministry and void that avoid that pressure.
That'll be faithful To leave you and I
in the right way and so before our
Lord Jesus Before the father permitted him to
go forth in ministry For one thing he
was 30 years of age.
I'm not saying that's a pattern in any
sense of the word Nevertheless he was mature
Even though he had the gift of God
even though he was God's gift in the
earth Even Though as a young boy, he
was able to confound the doctors of the
law with his wisdom It wasn't the father's
time for him to go forth in ministry
I've always Felt very sorry when I hear
of some young child that it's in gifted
of the Lord Like a young man I
heard of back when I was younger a
real prophet as a young lad And they
organized his itineraries and had him preaching all
over the nation thousands of people Because he
was a prophet ordained of God had his
true prophetic ministry Maybe God will raise him
up.
Yeah, as far as I know he may
still be living But the Son of God
Went back and went to work with his
father until he was 30 years of age
when the father released him And then he
gave to John the Baptist the word that
when you see one coming and You baptize
him And as you baptize them, the Holy
Dove will come down from heaven and rest
upon him.
That's the one That I sent you To
introduce Israel, he's the one and John recognized
him even as he saw him walking up
He told the Lamb of God was taken
away the sins of the world And he
baptized him and the dove came down from
heaven and a voice from heaven said this
is my beloved son in whom I'm well
pleased Did Jesus go from there to hold
these big evangelistic crusades?
Because he was anointed with this mighty power
and anointing He was driven by the spirit
of God into the wilderness to be tempted
of the devil God was going to lay
upon his son the greatest ministry this world
has ever seen Forever will see The ministry
of Messiah the Son of God But because
he came as a man he had to
live as a man Totally dependent on the
father couldn't rely on his deity and laid
aside all that What shall I say?
I don't know how to express it the
prerogatives of deity to live as a man
in the earth in Union with the father
that he might be a pattern and example
for you and I to show us Who
are not divine?
He came to the place where he put
himself in our position.
It's not only as a man, but as
a bond slave And a bond slave is
one who simply listens to the call of
his master does nothing except what the father
says Doesn't try and do all sorts of
things and then is subject to the correction
of the father But waits for the father
for the master to tell him what to
do.
Yeah a bond slave and before God as
a bond slave here with the father has
to say Jesus was that Paul became that
also and Until we become bond slaves of
the Lord God prevented from going out into
any great ministry I figure that's much of
the problem.
I got filled with the Holy Ghost.
I got this gift from God I can
heal the sick away.
I go to change the world Without having
been driven into the wilderness to be tempted
of the devil Say well a man he
can't go into the wilderness and find that
I'm just saying That if he has this
knowledge of God and this understanding of his
word, he will say to God God Don't
send me forth in ministry until you have
proved me and tried me Don't send me
forth in ministry until You prove me and
tried me without knowing these truths that I'm
speaking as a young man.
I Did pray to the Lord Lord.
I know you have a ministry for me,
but don't let me go forth If you
know, I'll make shipwreck until I'm ready That
means maybe two three more years And I
was ready and willing to go but I
still say that And I go out very
little I Thank the Lord for when he
does release me because I feel there's a
purpose and I think I know his voice
and I pray that I'll always know his
voice Cuz I like going out when he
sends but I've got frustrated at times when
I went when I thought maybe he was
sending wasn't sure and I don't want to
go through that I Want to know when
he sends I want to know his voice
clearly and I I felt I heard his
voice to come here So I was coming
with anticipation But it's not that I'm trying
to get on the road traveling in ministry
I thank God don't send me out if
you know what pitfalls that are there I
don't want to go out Lord if I'm
gonna make shipwreck at this late stage.
I Nearly made it younger years.
I could have made shipwreck very easily and
I started out in ministry and I Couldn't
find that over that anointing.
I couldn't find that pleasure of God in
it and Decided I'd go back to work
and I stayed at my job But I
could see if I just tried to continue
on I could have very easily made total
shipwreck Because of the temptations round about you
if you're not walking in God, I don't
think ministry is a place to make you
spiritual Ministry is not the place to go
if you want to be spiritual You stay
in your home church and seek God and
love him and do his will and learn
his voice very clearly until you're ready Till
God's ready Until there's a standing by a
spirit that you're aware.
It's the voice of God here and God
will be pleased and he knows where you
are Trying to prod me all my life
to get out minister because you've got this
word for the church I say God knows
where I am Just one man friend of
mine he used it against me.
Oh, what's George doing?
Oh, he's up there in Canada and carpentry
and he told me God knews where he
is if God wants it But I didn't
say it that with that thought for that
attitude There's only one thing I ever had
in mind to do in my life and
that was to be a minister of the
gospel of Jesus Christ God I don't want
to go forth unless I'm prepared of you
and anointed of you and led of your
spirit.
I still say that Let her the spirit
of God Wherever I go And I want
to be confident God is leading me He
gave me this verse one time as I
anticipated ministry several years ago and I was
out for two months and I thought maybe
now is the time when I'll be out
full-time and I was out for two
months and came back and I Didn't see
really that Depth of anointing didn't see any
particular fruit from it.
Not that that always matters.
I didn't feel confident that I that it
was a profitable thing that I did and
I had left my job to do it
and Came back in the bar third of
its home and phone me and took me
back into the Cabinet shop so I'm working
from then on.
I don't think I was anxious to get
out And that's why I said to my
friend God knows where I am and I
want to be hearing from him and I'm
glad to go but you know, she's got
my address and Someone says well, maybe you
should be out there and you can't hear
God.
He wants you to go out I'm sure
but you can't hear his voice And the
answer is so clear if I can't hear
his voice telling me where to go I
don't want to stand before the people Declare
God's way to them That's right.
I can't hear his voice leading me where
to go.
I Don't want to go to ministering Made
himself of no reputation and to himself to
perform in the form of a service which
made him the likeness of men This is
the pathway that Paul says I want you
Philippians to take Compare that with any other
pathway that you have in mind that will
lead to success That will lead to the
fulfillment of your vision That will lead to
an enlargement of your vision thoughts will come
people will come The sensor will come to
show you how you can enlarge what you
have Isn't it logical to enlarge what you
have?
You increase what you have.
Isn't this a day of big things?
Isn't God a big God doing big things?
God is a big God doing big things
But the big things are insignificant in the
eyes of the people And the great things
in the eyes of the people are insignificant
in the mind of God What are great
things?
Is John the Baptist a great prophet?
Yes, how do you know?
But if he hadn't said so And you
just heard that there was a John the
Baptist a voice crying in the wilderness calling
the people to a sentence Just had that
written account of it.
Would he go down and preach history as
the greatest prophet that ever lived?
He performed no miracle.
He didn't go around holding crusades He went
out in the wilderness and can't tell it
there Somehow the word spread around there was
a strange prophet out there in the wilderness
and people began to go down to see
He's the one to go down to see
We've taken in the wind He just said
among those born of women there hath not
arisen a greater prophet than John the Baptist
We're quick to add, but least in the
kingdom of heaven is greater than he It
was never a greater Prophet than John the
Baptist.
Jesus had reminded his disciples of that and
it didn't appear that way He started to
get disciples around him and all of a
sudden they started to leave him Because he
said here's the Lamb of God and they
started to leave Jesus, leave John to follow
Jesus And they come to him.
Aren't you concerned about this John?
He says I must be preached But he
must be preached.
Increased Jesus said he was the greatest prophet
of all He had the right attitude.
I must become small that he might become
big.
I must come to nothing that he might
be everything The Son of God said of
mine own self I can do nothing As
I hear I judge and my judgment is
just But because I seek not my own
will but the will of the Father that
sent me The Son of God said that.
So it mattered not that Jesus if he
preached to 15-20,000 people if he
did on occasion Or go and sit down
at a well at Samaria and minister to
one poor old devastated lady That God arranged
to be there when he got there shortly
after It's the same to him Because in
either case this is the will of the
Father To do the will of the Father
and to know that the Father is pleased
with it ought to be our greatest joy
our greatest pleasure God no doubt looked down
and thought that that was a great meeting
you had there for that old man and
his daughter I think God would take notice
of that Because God takes notice of little
things that people do in his name Because
we're a people that want to do big
things for God That are big in the
eyes of men God wants us to do
things that are big in his eyes whether
they're big in the eyes of men or
not And so if they stood there in
the temple doorway and The people were throwing
their money into the treasury and little lady
came along a widow woman Didn't have much
She threw in two mikes Jesus gave attention
to it Jesus gives attention of his disciples
To this little woman that put in two
mikes.
The other said we see what about it.
She put in more than all the rest
Going in their gold coin.
She put in most of all.
That's God's estimation of greatness So let's carry
God's estimation of greatness Because God's idea of
greatness So far above our thoughts It's amazing
You can hardly believe it How far is
God's estimation above ours?
Just by natural reasons I mean the natural
Reasoning we have As the heavens are high
above the earth So are my thoughts higher
than your thoughts And my ways above your
ways That's the chasm that exists Between God's
way and God's thought And your way and
my way as man sees it The thing
is he's successful Go down to any Christian
bookstore And you can find all kinds of
books On how to be a successful Christian
A successful leader A successful pastor A successful
preacher A successful apostle or whatever If you
want to know the roadway to success Go
down to the Christian bookstore And it's flooded
with books along that line If you want
to know the pathway To success in the
mind of God Read this passage over and
over Let this mind be in you That
was also in Christ Jesus He did not
think it To be a thing to grasp
after To be equal with God But emptied
himself Took upon him the form of a
bond slave Was made in the likeness of
man And being found in fashion as a
man He humbled himself How can I humble
myself Just walk in God's way If we
knew the secret of humbling ourselves I think
we'd do it Heat ourselves with a whip
Or walk on fire Or put stones in
your shoes Like they used to do in
the Catholic Church You know to do something
To make yourself humble But if you walk
in God's way He leads you in a
way that leads to humility So when he
led them out of the wilderness On the
way to Canaan He led them in the
pathway that would humble them They thought they
were on their way to Canaan And they
were But what's the 40 years all about
then And that's the thing that bothered them
Tormented them No Canaan here, no figs, no
pomegranates, no flowing rivers No fruit trees No
houses built As God promised A waste and
howling Wilderness is what Moses called it And
after it is over God tells them why
he led them that way The wilderness that
you and I are called to go through
Be it long or short That's all in
God's choosing And all according to his plan
for your life But it's the way intended
of the Lord To humble you To the
point where you'll hear his voice So clearly
Having been obedient To walking his way He'll
lead you in pathways Which will produce humility
And so God said 40 years later I
have led you these 40 years in the
wilderness And I fed you with manna And
I caused you to hunger As you might
know that man Does not live by bread
alone But by every word that was speaketh
Out of the mouth of the Lord He
led them that way to humble them To
prove them To know what was in their
heart To manifest what was in their heart
Not to torment them But to show what
was there That he might deal with it
That he might prove them Humble them Leading
them with man all along the way That
they might know that man does not live
By bread alone but by every word That
was speaketh out of the mouth of the
Lord That he lived So God is leading
you that way So that you'll know his
voice To know his word His living word,
the word that proceedeth Good to have this
word Which is written But God's intention is
to take this word Which is written and
make it alive Till it proceedeth Present tense
Every word that proceedeth Out of the mouth
of the Lord that man liveth This is
the way Jesus went Learning obedience Became obedient
How far?
Unto death What kind of a death?
Even the death of the cross That's the
pathway to the throne Oh you just wonder
What people are leading them With all these
thoughts of We're the church of Christ, we're
going to take over the kingdom We're going
to knock Satan's throne under him We're going
to sit there in the government's place We're
going to take over the White House We're
going to get Christians there in the Supreme
Court You're going to do nothing of the
kind If you're going to come to God's
kingdom You're going to go the way of
the cross If you're going to come to
God's kingdom And the cross will be one
that the world about you That you're trying
to reform Is going to form for you
to die on If you're truly that witness
Of Christ in the earth to do that
They will make that cross for you Upon
which we will suffer Disappointment, perplexity, Trial, testing
Out of which Will come The assortative king
Obedient unto death Even the death of the
cross Wherefore God Hath highly exalted him Oh
how strange that people Can somehow get those
crazy thoughts We just, because we've got the
doctrine Of the kingdom, we're going forth and
we're going to take it In Jesus' name
This is how Jesus died Do you think
you're going to get it an easier way
Yeah Yeah Therefore, said Paul, if they suffer
within We shall also reign Wherefore God hath
highly exalted him And given him a name
Which is above every name That is the
name of Jesus, every knee should bow And
every tongue shall sing to heaven And things
in earth and things under the earth And
that every tongue should confess That Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory Of God the
Father The reason Jesus Is enthroned in the
heavens With all power in heaven and earth
Is not simply because he lived a good
life here in earth Because he was the
Messiah from heaven Because he healed the sick
Or raised the dead Because he evangelized the
crowd And preached good tidings To those who
were in prison And set the prisoners loose
All of these things he did Because of
his anointing that he had But the reason
he was exalted To the throne was because
he humbled himself And learned obedience to the
Father In learning obedience he became a bond
servant A bond slave And in learning obedience
he became obedient unto death The very end
And not an ordinary death, the death of
the cross That's why God exalted him And
gave him a name which is above every
name He wasn't exalted because he was the
Son of God Because he was the Messiah
Because he was the King of Kings And
Lord of Lords by divine election He was
exalted to the throne Only because He learned
the Father's way Walked the Father's way Learned
obedience, humbled himself Went down as low as
any man could have gone By way of
learning obedience Therefore, therefore, wherefore God has highly
exalted him I can't just
somehow Compel my mind to do it But
I can walk in obedience I can do
what he says God is faithful Let us
know the way we should walk If we
really want to know But having been saved
in the Spirit And getting a few gifts
I've got to plan my life And I
I want to get in ministry And I
want to be a successful minister And I
want to do this I want to have
a ministry Like Oral Roberts I want to
have a ministry like him Don't have any
such ideas Because God has made each One
of us distinct A distinct Creation of God
I know in speaking about the Body of
Christ we think of the beauty of The
Oneness and all that And that's true But
the difference between this and this As a
society is that Or a commune or communism
Is this that each Member is distinctly the
Creation of God Distinct Gift Distinct place in
the earth And in the body We're not
seeing too much of that That's what it's
all about And before it's over we're going
to see Every member of the family of
God Something so special and distinct from the
hand of God That every other member will
recognize it We're quite a ways from there
yet But that's what God has in mind
That there'll be no emulation, no striving to
be Something that you're not No vision to
be anything but To do the will of
God And recognizing Christ And how Christ moves
in other lives As they will recognize the
Christ Living in your life We long for
that, but it can only come As God
tempers the body together We make way for
it And we're pleased to see from time
to time A little of the gifting of
God's spirit On the congregation But the Bible
says It'll come with the tempering of the
body The tempering of the body together With
the holy oil of His anointing God has
tempered the body together Giving more abundant honor
To those parts which lack That there be
no scissors in the body But that the
members might have the same care One for
another We've had large movements started up And
some of them still exist Showing how to
eradicate Scissors in the body of Christ It
will come under certain systems We'll be pretty
consistent Because you've got leaders at the top
And leaders below them, and below them, and
below them And the people under them And
if you follow this particular pattern We'll eradicate
the divisions and scissors in the body of
Christ God has a way That's very simple
And He says when He puts His honor
On the individual members in the body And
you know God has given me this You
don't desire to be anything else But this
thing that God has given me Because then
you'll have a care one for another You've
got something that you can minister to somebody
else I think God's starting to do that
Let's look for the fullness of it For
God has tempered the body together Giving more
abundant honor to those parts Which lack that
there be no scissor in the body No
scissor in the body But that the members
will have the same care One for another
A caring church Church full of the love
of Christ Each one caring for the other
God's working towards that end This is the
way Take the humble position before God I
can lead you in this way and He'll
lead you Into the humility of Christ May
the Lord bless us with your heart Amen
Amen I believe
we have to acknowledge That we've heard the
wisdom of God haven't we?
I was just thinking Oh dear God if
I'd had somebody to tell me this When
I was a young man The grief and
the things They would have kept me from
But even that worked out for good I
just think of all the tragedy out here
In the land of Christianity All the havoc,
all the shipwrecks That could be averted If
this knowledge of the coming of God Was
known Really known, really believed Amen Are you
writing a book about this?
There's a book here Well There's things here
That's not brother There's some things here That
I believe are books I just want to
say that There's a book here Amen Amen
I just want to mention that I know
you'll be better than the Lord in it
But the Lord wants me to say something
And I don't want to take away the
Word That's impossible But the Lord's been speaking
to me To say to you To be
careful That you don't strain your neck And
swallow a camel We know there's giants in
the land right?
There are false apostles and prophets And a
lot of times your people are so afraid
That they can't enter in They can't even
let their weight down And the problem is
They don't trust the Holy Ghost with them
You've got to trust that Holy Ghost That's
coming to you He said what?
He would lead you into all the truth
He'd testify of that which is of God
And you've got to trust that inward witness
That inward voice You know what?
The way I've always heard truth that God's
given to me I've heard it in my
innermost being And my spirit has leaked And
done handsprings and shouted In the burning sensation
of God And sometimes when I was hearing
truth My mind was saying This don't agree
With what I've been taught This don't agree
with what I've heard This isn't mainstream Christianity
And what this leads to is confusion And
people not letting their weight down in God
Not ever putting their hands to the plow
Confusion, always off balance It's like sometimes God
will lead you to a place But because
you're so suspicious And so afraid of being
deceived That you strain in the neck And
you swallow a camel And you can be
deceived My brother mentioned God led him by
a pillar of fire And a cloud A
pillar of fire by night and a cloud
by day And he went to seek out
a place for him Didn't he?
But when that cloud or that pillar stops
What it is we'll know Camp out Now
can you imagine the whole camp Of Israel
free man or whatever it was Wandering around
every day saying I wonder if this is
it Can I really put my tent up
here Can I really get my suitcases out
And really unpack What did they do?
When that cloud stopped by the leading of
God What did they do?
They set up a tabernacle They pitched their
tents God had an order of how they
were to be pitched And say when God
leads you trust the Holy Ghost And then
let all of your weight Down in him
in that thing That God is telling you
to do And where he's telling you to
camp out He knows where you are And
when he's ready to move He's well able
to tell us isn't he This is a
tragedy Like one brother said that church growth
in America Is just fish changing tanks Amen
Well I encourage you because I know a
lot of you Are skeptical even this church
And you may be skeptical brother Is this
a man of God I'm not here to
defend myself I'm not here to prove anything
about brother Warnock We can't But hear what
the Spirit Is saying to your heart And
then let your whole weight Down in God
In that water He will not let you
down He will not lie to you If
you simply obey him and love him And
are sincere he will not let you down
He will not let you I'm a testimony
To the grace of God I'm a testimony
to his faithfulness And his power and his
leadership Because in the beginning God, I was
one of those young men Brother that God
gifted At times God would confirm Every word
I said was fine and solid And I
thought I was ready to go But God
in his mercy Pulled the rug up from
under me It wasn't that he told me
to let down I didn't have no choice
God just pulled the rug up from under
me And took it And put it in
a safe deposit box Why couldn't I?
Men wanted to promote me I had people
offering to take me around the world They
would rent auditoriums for me And it was
so exciting Oh man, you know what I
mean?
You want to go, brother Robert Tom One
of the greatest prophets I've ever known I
know he didn't mean to do it But
dear God he said come Calvin Come with
me And I wanted to quit my job
Oh I came I don't know every time
he came I would come that close To
quitting my job And I would have missed
God I would have missed God But the
Holy Ghost within me That faithful witness Would
always say uh uh I didn't know why
But thank God Because I tell you I
was a loaded shotgun And I would have
blowed people's heads off And mine too And
I would have I don't guess about it
I know I would have been shipwrecked And
I would have made multitudes of people shipwrecked
I'm so thankful tonight That he kept me
from my father in my youth It's good
to wait on God I didn't know it
was going to be this long But thank
God However long it takes As a young
man I used to grieve Sometimes I didn't
like to read about Moses Because I'd hear
those words 40 I'd hear 30 about Jesus
And 30 about Joseph And I'd hear this
And I'd think oh God I'm 26 years
old I thought dear God 30 years, 40
years I'll be an old codger Watching an
old codger Because now I am an old
codger But I saw something in the Lord
God sent me Moses A meek man A
most humble man by God's own words Look
what on the face of the earth And
God told me that a man or woman
That will wait on God That when God
does bring him forth Prepared and equipped And
clothed with his authority Look what Moses did
Not Moses But God what In Moses He
brought down the mightiest nation on the face
of the earth Didn't he Never to rise
again in one day And I saw that
I saw dear God And I saw I
saw Oh God I saw by the grace
of God One man That's waiting on God
And comes forth Only at God's bidding Can
do more in one day Than ten zillion
of these so called Preachers including this preacher
here And that's not a passivity That's not
a cop out That's the ways of God
So I want to encourage you What God's
bringing We're not saying you to come here
If God sends you here great But if
he sends you here Put your whole weight
down Connect yourself to that Not to me
but to him Amen And so I just
feel I had to say that And so
Lauren I pray that the young people will
hear this word I pray that you get
these tight Because I don't think you hear
all this In one city But if you
live in Safari If you've got a long
time in here You might hear all this
But get these tight in here and here
and here Amen How can I stand Amen