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I want to pursue a little this matter

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of our vision and our expectation, our intention

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for doing what we're doing, our intention for

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gathering together, God's intention in the body of

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Christ.

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And God wants us to see the ultimate

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that he has intended for his people, for

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his church.

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Otherwise, where there's no vision, the people perish.

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And whether that refers to being lost or

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there's a perishing of God's purposes in us,

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there's no real vision.

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And so God wants us to see what

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he has in mind, and that what he

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does along the way is never to be

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considered in any sense an ultimate.

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But we're prone to make ultimates of experiences.

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We used to do it in the church,

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you get saved, and then days of Wesley,

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and after that, and I'm not denying the

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fact that God did do another work in

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people, and he called it sanctification.

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And then Pentecost comes along, and no, there's

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still the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

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And so now we've got the full gospel,

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it's saved, sanctified, filled with the Holy Ghost,

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and you've got the whole thing.

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And God wants us always to know there's

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much, much more.

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No matter how far we go, there's still

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much more.

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And when we pass into the great beyond,

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there's still much more.

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Heaven isn't going to be a boring place.

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It's not going to be boring.

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Oh, I saw that yesterday, I saw that.

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If God is God, there will be an

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eternal unfolding of his heart to his people.

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I have not seen nor ear heard, neither

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have I entered into the hearts of men

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the things that God has prepared for those

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that love him.

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But unto us God hath revealed them by

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his Spirit.

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The Spirit searches all things.

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Why is God's Spirit given to us?

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Well, going up in Pentecost to give you

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power.

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Well, that's one aspect of it.

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But you go through the Scriptures and you

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find that we're so inclined to say, this

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is what it's for, and then leave it

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at that.

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Instead of recognizing that anything that has life

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is unfolding, has growth, never stagnant if it

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has life.

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And the life of God is not stagnant.

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It's a continual growth.

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And it begins here.

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That's the thing we want to emphasize.

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It begins here, and God wants to continue

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it here, not just get a few experiences

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and then, okay, I'm ready for heaven, Lord.

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And then when you get older, Lord, please

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take me, Lord, please take me.

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And I realize perhaps the burden of old

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age has been heavy on many.

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You'd sooner go than stay.

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But I believe in God's ideal.

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You don't retire.

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Your work is done.

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And I know it doesn't happen that way

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very often, but you don't have to die

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of disease or shouldn't.

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But we're not blaming anybody.

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We just recognize that the church is not

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in that place where God wants it to

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be.

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Moses lived to be 120 years.

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And that was under the law.

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He was the minister of the law.

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Well, we're under grace that's far greater than

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what Moses had.

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And Paul says that.

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But then you talk about some of the

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things that Moses saw and experienced, some of

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the things that John of Israel experienced.

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If we had one-tenth of it, you

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say, why are we spiritual?

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For instance, the cloud of glory that hung

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over the camp of Israel every day and

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night for 40 years.

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And there was a camp up in Ontario,

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Canada, where I heard in the days of

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great revival at the beginning of this century,

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that light of God would hover over this

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tent.

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People coming from a distance would see it

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and come to it.

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I forget the name of it.

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And I heard about that.

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Well, how tremendous.

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That happened over the tent of Israel for

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40 years.

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Every day.

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It became so common it was no longer

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a miracle.

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It happens every day.

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You don't consider it a miracle.

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I mean, the very sun rising and setting

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is a miracle, but well, it's happened that

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way all our life, so it's no miracle.

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In the hearts of God's people, it becomes

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so hard.

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We get so accustomed to God's gracious benefits

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that it's no longer wonderful, no longer a

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cause for thanksgiving.

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It's there.

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It's always there.

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And so the constant burden of God's heart

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is to lead his people on.

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How far?

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As far as God will take you.

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But you say God only wants to take

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us here.

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Now, be careful you don't go too far.

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God doesn't lay out restrictions like, don't go

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too far here.

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He's always inviting us to come further.

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But you say I might get swamped.

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Well, that's what he wants, if you use

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an illustration.

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When he invited Ezekiel to measure a thousand

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cubits and took him through the waters, and

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the waters were to his ankles.

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He invited him to come another thousand and

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the waters were to the knees.

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Come further.

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And the waters were to the loins.

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Come further.

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But you know, it gets scary.

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You go too deep and you've got all

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kinds of people warning you, don't get deep.

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I remember a letter we got up when

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I was helping up in the school there

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many years ago, the time of the revival.

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Oh, I like some of these writings, except

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they go off to deep ends sometimes, but

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I enjoy the writings.

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I remember writing back and I told him

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the story about Ezekiel's vision.

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And he went on a thousand, and the

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water kept getting deeper and deeper.

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And then I says he went another thousand

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cubits and walked off the deep end.

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And he did.

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He got in waters to swim in.

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And that's what God wants.

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But we want to have a little bit

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of solid footing, you know.

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You just don't feel comfortable.

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You can touch the bottom.

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I remember once before, I can't swim very

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well, but when we moved to the coast,

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I read a book on how to swim,

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so I'd go down and I'd paddle around

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until I knew how to float, and then

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I lost fear.

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But boy, I remember one time the tide

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was coming in, and I could hardly touch

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bottom when I was going back to shore

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there.

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It's a little scary if you can't touch

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bottom.

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God wants us to come to a place

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where we can't touch bottom.

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And don't be afraid if it's in the

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river of life.

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Oh yes, if it's in some muddy stream

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that man has concocted, or some muddy cistern.

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Yeah, that's dangerous.

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But God wants us to flow in his

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river where we lose control.

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We lose control.

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Oh, that's scary, I know.

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But where the Spirit of God is in

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control, then that's not scary.

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Because he's the one who brought order out

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of chaos.

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He moved upon the face of the great

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deep in the beginning, and through the Spirit

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of God all things are held in their

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orbits.

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And we marvel at it, how universes and

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galaxies and planets and stars are all up

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there, and billions and billions of them, and

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yet somehow this little planet, this little speck

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of dust in which we live, it survives

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it all.

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You read of scary things sometimes, that what

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might happen if one of these big asteroids

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hits us, and what it could do could

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wipe out life on the planet, and that's

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so.

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It won't happen as long as God's in

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control, unless that has something to do with

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the burning up of the elements of this

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old earth that God might bring forth a

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new one.

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God wants to be in control.

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And when we say that, it's not an

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autocratic thing that we should think of, like

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we think of when we're under control.

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But we should think rather of being under

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the control of him, who is total life,

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total love, total light, total truth, the author

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of all peace and harmony.

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How wonderful to be under that kind of

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control.

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I remember once reading in a version that

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had marginal reference in it, and I came

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across this scripture here in Mark 1 where

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there was a man in the synagogue with

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an unclean spirit, and he cried out saying,

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let us alone, what are we to do

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with thee?

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And there was a note there, that word

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with, and it said, the Greek said in.

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And then the note said, he didn't just

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have his unclean spirit, he was in it.

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And he said in the note, that means

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he was dominated by it, he was under

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the control of it, he was in it.

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And I don't know if that thought remained

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with me concerning what I was to discover

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later, that the same word is used for

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those who are in the Spirit, in Christ.

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Not just that they have the Spirit, but

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we're in the Spirit.

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And if that's true of that evil spirit,

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and people recognize how awful it would be

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to be under the control of an evil

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spirit, how beautiful to think that God wants

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to take away that evil spirit of control

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and cause us to live in another spirit,

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the Spirit of Christ, where he's in control.

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And yet it still seems abhorrent in the

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minds of most Christians.

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I must always have control of myself.

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God wants to be in control.

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Not in an autocratic sort of way, but

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in the Spirit of life.

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How healthy we would be if the law

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of the Spirit of life and Christ Jesus

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had control of these mortal bodies.

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And I believe God wants to do that.

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I believe he will yet do it before

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immortality.

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I'm not talking about immortality.

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God leaves us in a body of mortality

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that we might be able to suffer with

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Christ.

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But our Lord Jesus Christ did not die

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of any cancer or tuberculosis or some kind

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of disease that fastened itself upon him.

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Though he took that to become our salvation

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and our healer, but he lived in a

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mortal body.

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But nevertheless, a body that was healthy and

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strong.

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And the only time he became weak was

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when for our redemption.

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He who was the great and mighty one

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became weak for our sake.

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This just comes in passing here, but the

276
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law of the Spirit of life in Christ

277
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Jesus, God's full intention in giving us the

278
00:12:31,310 --> 00:12:32,950
Spirit is that it might become a law

279
00:12:32,950 --> 00:12:36,010
within us, not just something we have to

280
00:12:36,010 --> 00:12:39,810
possess to use, to administer by it, to

281
00:12:39,810 --> 00:12:43,230
do things for God by his Spirit.

282
00:12:44,450 --> 00:12:47,070
He didn't just give us his Spirit as

283
00:12:47,070 --> 00:12:50,630
something for you and I to control, as

284
00:12:50,630 --> 00:12:53,150
often seems to be the case, especially in

285
00:12:53,150 --> 00:12:57,210
ministry, where God has given certain authority and

286
00:12:57,210 --> 00:12:59,430
the thought seems to come, I'm in control

287
00:12:59,430 --> 00:13:01,630
here because God has made me to be

288
00:13:01,630 --> 00:13:03,130
apostle or prophet or whatever.

289
00:13:05,970 --> 00:13:08,030
But rather, the Spirit of God wants to

290
00:13:08,030 --> 00:13:08,890
be in control.

291
00:13:11,230 --> 00:13:12,890
And that no matter how great that ministry

292
00:13:12,890 --> 00:13:15,730
is, God wants that minister to be under

293
00:13:15,730 --> 00:13:17,190
the control of that Spirit.

294
00:13:18,910 --> 00:13:22,690
I believe that's what God means, where Jesus

295
00:13:22,690 --> 00:13:25,010
said, Abide in me and I in you.

296
00:13:26,370 --> 00:13:30,330
We read that, memorize it, very simple, Abide

297
00:13:30,330 --> 00:13:31,170
in me and I in you.

298
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Begin to contemplate that.

299
00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:45,440
I hardly touched yet.

300
00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:47,660
We know what it is for Christ to

301
00:13:47,660 --> 00:13:48,500
be in us, do we not?

302
00:13:50,100 --> 00:13:51,660
Christ in you, the hope of glory.

303
00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:52,840
Do we know?

304
00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:57,820
Can anyone here say they know in some

305
00:13:57,820 --> 00:13:59,660
great experience what it means for us to

306
00:13:59,660 --> 00:14:03,700
be in him in an experiential way?

307
00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:06,220
You say, What's the difference?

308
00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:08,200
There must be a difference.

309
00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:10,800
Jesus says, I want to abide in you,

310
00:14:11,700 --> 00:14:13,720
but I want you to abide in me.

311
00:14:15,900 --> 00:14:17,820
It's a simple illustration, of course.

312
00:14:19,300 --> 00:14:22,320
This person goes down to the river and

313
00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:25,480
fills up his glass with water, and he's

314
00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:27,680
got river water in his glass.

315
00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:40,570
But then he, and I won't And we

316
00:14:40,570 --> 00:14:44,770
make much of immersion in water, because I

317
00:14:44,770 --> 00:14:46,790
believe the word baptism implies that.

318
00:14:48,170 --> 00:14:49,870
Immerse in water.

319
00:14:51,490 --> 00:14:54,010
How much emphasis do we place upon this

320
00:14:54,010 --> 00:14:58,330
matter of being baptized, immersed in the river

321
00:14:58,330 --> 00:15:03,280
of God, immersed and living there?

322
00:15:07,510 --> 00:15:09,690
There are heights and depths in God that

323
00:15:09,690 --> 00:15:11,670
we haven't touched yet that God wants us

324
00:15:11,670 --> 00:15:15,090
to touch, to experience in this life.

325
00:15:16,170 --> 00:15:18,810
I have not seen, nor hath ear heard,

326
00:15:20,050 --> 00:15:21,730
neither hath entered into the heart of man

327
00:15:21,730 --> 00:15:23,530
the things that God hath prepared for those

328
00:15:23,530 --> 00:15:25,630
that love him, but unto us God hath

329
00:15:25,630 --> 00:15:26,950
revealed them by his Spirit.

330
00:15:27,090 --> 00:15:31,850
For the Spirit searcheth, searcheth all things, yea,

331
00:15:31,990 --> 00:15:33,290
the deep things of God.

332
00:15:33,370 --> 00:15:37,430
And I believe, Brethren can confirm it, that

333
00:15:37,430 --> 00:15:40,290
we use the word deep things as a

334
00:15:40,290 --> 00:15:44,290
translation of a word that, it's one word,

335
00:15:45,790 --> 00:15:47,290
the all things.

336
00:15:47,770 --> 00:15:49,410
I don't know Greek very well.

337
00:15:50,390 --> 00:15:52,830
And I believe that word says, not in

338
00:15:52,830 --> 00:15:55,850
deep things, as if we've got to know

339
00:15:55,850 --> 00:15:59,150
these deep things of God, but the depths

340
00:15:59,150 --> 00:15:59,730
of God.

341
00:16:00,230 --> 00:16:00,890
Look it up.

342
00:16:02,630 --> 00:16:04,970
We might know the depths of God.

343
00:16:05,650 --> 00:16:07,450
Give me a new thought.

344
00:16:07,750 --> 00:16:09,110
The depths of God.

345
00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:13,620
And we're born for the depths of God.

346
00:16:15,970 --> 00:16:18,650
And I'm not talking about deep mysteries of

347
00:16:18,650 --> 00:16:21,570
the scriptures or theology, but the depths of

348
00:16:21,570 --> 00:16:23,870
God, the deep things of God, the depths

349
00:16:23,870 --> 00:16:27,570
of God that God wants to bring us

350
00:16:27,570 --> 00:16:27,950
into.

351
00:16:29,710 --> 00:16:31,990
And how Paul prayed for the Ephesian church

352
00:16:31,990 --> 00:16:36,930
that they might, like the book of Ephesians,

353
00:16:38,090 --> 00:16:42,430
where Paul would begin to utter these unsearchable

354
00:16:42,430 --> 00:16:47,890
things, and yet using the Greek language to

355
00:16:47,890 --> 00:16:50,890
portray it, to say it, and yet knowing

356
00:16:50,890 --> 00:16:54,390
that there is a language beyond any Greek

357
00:16:54,390 --> 00:16:57,290
or Hebrew or Spanish or English or German

358
00:16:57,290 --> 00:17:01,070
that man cannot speak.

359
00:17:02,170 --> 00:17:04,910
Maybe in the Spirit, maybe in tongues sometimes

360
00:17:04,910 --> 00:17:06,329
we speak some of that.

361
00:17:07,390 --> 00:17:08,730
We call it the unknown language.

362
00:17:09,609 --> 00:17:12,990
The things that God is so far beyond

363
00:17:12,990 --> 00:17:15,690
us that they're unsearchable.

364
00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:21,790
And the heart of God, how is he

365
00:17:21,790 --> 00:17:23,890
going to reveal himself to us in my

366
00:17:23,890 --> 00:17:27,290
English language or your Spanish or your German

367
00:17:27,290 --> 00:17:28,090
or your Hebrew?

368
00:17:28,450 --> 00:17:29,750
How is he going to talk to you

369
00:17:29,750 --> 00:17:32,370
in the language of heaven?

370
00:17:33,210 --> 00:17:36,710
Use your language, but your language with 25

371
00:17:36,710 --> 00:17:40,190
letters, 26 letters, how can God reveal himself

372
00:17:40,190 --> 00:17:40,630
in that?

373
00:17:41,590 --> 00:17:44,010
There's another language that if we do not

374
00:17:44,010 --> 00:17:47,690
have, we cannot comprehend the things of God.

375
00:17:49,270 --> 00:17:52,090
And that's the language that God bridges by

376
00:17:52,090 --> 00:17:52,690
his Spirit.

377
00:17:54,230 --> 00:17:55,830
And so that's what Paul meant when he

378
00:17:55,830 --> 00:17:59,830
said, What things knoweth the things of man

379
00:17:59,830 --> 00:18:00,810
but the Spirit of man?

380
00:18:01,370 --> 00:18:03,610
What do you know about mankind if you're

381
00:18:03,610 --> 00:18:04,270
not a man?

382
00:18:06,260 --> 00:18:08,320
Very little does an animal know about any

383
00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:09,000
human being.

384
00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:13,680
Yet sometimes we say they're very intelligent, just

385
00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:14,940
somehow they can relate a little.

386
00:18:16,100 --> 00:18:19,440
But who knows what's in man except by

387
00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:20,280
the Spirit of man?

388
00:18:20,620 --> 00:18:22,440
Then he says, Then who knows what's in

389
00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:23,860
God but by the Spirit of God?

390
00:18:25,930 --> 00:18:28,210
That's why how vain it is to think

391
00:18:28,210 --> 00:18:31,270
that by intellectually we can figure out the

392
00:18:31,270 --> 00:18:34,590
heart of God, because only the Spirit of

393
00:18:34,590 --> 00:18:35,370
God knows that.

394
00:18:35,550 --> 00:18:38,750
So Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2, maybe

395
00:18:38,750 --> 00:18:43,950
we'll just turn to it a minute, 1

396
00:18:43,950 --> 00:18:48,070
Corinthians 2, Now we have received not the

397
00:18:48,070 --> 00:18:49,730
Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which

398
00:18:49,730 --> 00:18:52,510
is of God, that we might know the

399
00:18:52,510 --> 00:18:53,950
things that are freely given to us of

400
00:18:53,950 --> 00:18:54,330
God.

401
00:18:55,490 --> 00:18:57,890
He gives us the Spirit, not just to

402
00:18:57,890 --> 00:19:00,130
make us happy or jump or dance or

403
00:19:00,130 --> 00:19:04,950
preach or minister or, oh, you could go

404
00:19:04,950 --> 00:19:05,490
on and on.

405
00:19:07,010 --> 00:19:10,790
He gives us the Spirit of God that

406
00:19:10,790 --> 00:19:13,130
we might know the things that are freely

407
00:19:13,130 --> 00:19:14,430
given to us of God.

408
00:19:15,510 --> 00:19:18,390
He wants us to know what he's freely

409
00:19:18,390 --> 00:19:19,450
made available to us.

410
00:19:21,390 --> 00:19:23,410
He's already told us that eye hasn't seen

411
00:19:23,410 --> 00:19:26,090
it, ear hasn't heard what God's revealed, what

412
00:19:26,090 --> 00:19:27,550
he's prepared for us.

413
00:19:27,830 --> 00:19:29,970
But he says, God is revealed amongst us

414
00:19:29,970 --> 00:19:30,870
by his Spirit.

415
00:19:31,850 --> 00:19:34,110
For the Spirit searches all things, yea, the

416
00:19:34,110 --> 00:19:37,110
deep things, the very depths of God himself.

417
00:19:39,180 --> 00:19:43,120
God gives us, we're humans of the dust,

418
00:19:43,900 --> 00:19:47,080
nevertheless capable of receiving his Spirit because we're

419
00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:47,980
made in his image.

420
00:19:49,380 --> 00:19:51,560
He gives us that Spirit, and that Spirit

421
00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:53,720
might search out those things in God.

422
00:19:55,940 --> 00:19:58,440
And so here's Saul of Tarsus, knowing Greek

423
00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:01,120
and Hebrew to perfection and never really knew

424
00:20:01,120 --> 00:20:05,120
God, because he didn't have the Spirit.

425
00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:10,000
I studied Greek a little in time, and

426
00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:11,380
I wasn't able to pursue it.

427
00:20:13,980 --> 00:20:17,160
I often regretted it, and I still regret

428
00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:17,780
it in a sense.

429
00:20:18,580 --> 00:20:21,440
But I think God gave me courage to

430
00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:25,060
know and to understand that some of the

431
00:20:25,060 --> 00:20:27,680
great theologians that knew Greek and Hebrew to

432
00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:29,700
perfection yet never really come to know the

433
00:20:29,700 --> 00:20:30,900
Lord in great depth.

434
00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:34,120
And that to have the Spirit of God,

435
00:20:34,260 --> 00:20:36,780
he can reveal to you these unutterable things

436
00:20:36,780 --> 00:20:41,060
in the heart of God that no earthly

437
00:20:41,060 --> 00:20:42,440
language can unveil.

438
00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:46,440
And yet we're very thankful for our translators,

439
00:20:47,120 --> 00:20:49,860
for those who have given us the concordances.

440
00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:52,760
Those who know Greek and Hebrew, God has

441
00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:57,000
always provided those because he is concerned about

442
00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:00,560
maintaining the integrity of the written word of

443
00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:00,900
God.

444
00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:04,860
But let us never be disturbed if somehow,

445
00:21:05,220 --> 00:21:07,460
sometime the Bibles are all taken up and

446
00:21:07,460 --> 00:21:08,780
confiscated and destroyed.

447
00:21:09,300 --> 00:21:12,440
The living word, the true word, still remains.

448
00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:13,780
They're in steadfastness.

449
00:21:15,060 --> 00:21:17,520
And God could raise up someone to stand

450
00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:19,720
before the people and declare it if there's

451
00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:20,280
no Bibles.

452
00:21:20,340 --> 00:21:21,740
I know a man who would do that.

453
00:21:24,060 --> 00:21:25,620
A man who had the gift, you might

454
00:21:25,620 --> 00:21:26,360
say, of the Bible.

455
00:21:27,700 --> 00:21:30,740
Not that he could quote Genesis 1 right

456
00:21:30,740 --> 00:21:31,180
on through.

457
00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:33,000
He didn't read the Bible much.

458
00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:37,680
But when he stood to minister, he'd quote

459
00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:38,120
scriptures.

460
00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:39,760
That's about all he would preach for a

461
00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:41,200
half an hour, three-quarters of an hour.

462
00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:43,620
And he'd say, take your Bibles, and he'd

463
00:21:43,620 --> 00:21:45,040
be standing there without a Bible.

464
00:21:45,580 --> 00:21:47,040
He shall know that I am the Lord,

465
00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:49,020
comma, when I have opened your graves, comma,

466
00:21:49,140 --> 00:21:53,460
O my people, comma, semicolon, colon, just like

467
00:21:53,460 --> 00:21:53,880
that.

468
00:21:54,380 --> 00:21:57,760
I mean, accurately, a gift that God had

469
00:21:57,760 --> 00:21:58,280
given him.

470
00:22:02,390 --> 00:22:03,910
He wasn't walking with God.

471
00:22:06,580 --> 00:22:08,660
I'm going to, Lord willing, come back to

472
00:22:08,660 --> 00:22:09,560
some of that.

473
00:22:10,120 --> 00:22:11,700
I want to talk about going on to

474
00:22:11,700 --> 00:22:16,180
know God and not to stop short in

475
00:22:16,180 --> 00:22:19,900
any benefit he has given us, any blessing

476
00:22:19,900 --> 00:22:20,440
he has given.

477
00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:23,820
Never to think, I've got this blessing, I've

478
00:22:23,820 --> 00:22:25,520
got one, two, three, I've got the third

479
00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:28,320
blessing, and so finally I've got it.

480
00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:33,480
Because a blessing from God is not the

481
00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:34,940
fullness of God's intention.

482
00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:37,740
It's what that blessing will do.

483
00:22:39,730 --> 00:22:41,610
Let's take note in the scriptures when God

484
00:22:41,610 --> 00:22:43,330
says he's done this in order to do

485
00:22:43,330 --> 00:22:43,670
that.

486
00:22:44,870 --> 00:22:46,110
Pay attention to it.

487
00:22:47,330 --> 00:22:49,110
Because God does this with it, well, that's

488
00:22:49,110 --> 00:22:49,410
great.

489
00:22:50,150 --> 00:22:51,270
And it is great.

490
00:22:51,550 --> 00:22:55,130
It might be tremendous, but in order that

491
00:22:55,130 --> 00:22:57,870
something else might happen, we'd better see what

492
00:22:57,870 --> 00:22:59,350
God has in mind that might happen.

493
00:23:01,500 --> 00:23:04,140
So when he says, I've poured out my

494
00:23:04,140 --> 00:23:06,400
gifts upon the church, and I've raised up,

495
00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:09,140
I've given to the church gifts from my

496
00:23:09,140 --> 00:23:09,600
own heart.

497
00:23:10,260 --> 00:23:12,120
When he ascended on high, he led captivity

498
00:23:12,120 --> 00:23:15,060
captives and gave gifts unto men, apostles and

499
00:23:15,060 --> 00:23:18,180
prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers.

500
00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:20,580
Isn't that great?

501
00:23:20,700 --> 00:23:23,240
God's restored the apostolic, the fivefold ministry, and

502
00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:26,120
that has become the theme of the church

503
00:23:26,120 --> 00:23:29,200
in this last half century, almost 40, 50

504
00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:29,560
years.

505
00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:32,460
And God did emphasize it, because he did

506
00:23:32,460 --> 00:23:32,700
that.

507
00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:34,180
He restored gifts to his people.

508
00:23:35,020 --> 00:23:37,460
And when God restores anything to his people,

509
00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:39,800
for a season he'll emphasize it greatly.

510
00:23:40,780 --> 00:23:42,400
But he doesn't want us to stop there.

511
00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:48,780
So God's intention in giving the gifts of

512
00:23:48,780 --> 00:23:51,600
the spirit, precious as they are, his intention

513
00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:52,520
is something else.

514
00:23:53,700 --> 00:23:57,360
For the perfecting of the saints, for the

515
00:23:57,360 --> 00:24:01,430
work of the ministry, for the edifying of

516
00:24:01,430 --> 00:24:03,730
the body of Christ, till.

517
00:24:05,810 --> 00:24:06,190
Till.

518
00:24:07,470 --> 00:24:09,870
Well then, if it's till something, when that

519
00:24:09,870 --> 00:24:13,630
comes, well then these others somehow have got

520
00:24:13,630 --> 00:24:14,590
to be put in the background.

521
00:24:15,770 --> 00:24:17,590
So it hasn't come yet, so we shall

522
00:24:17,590 --> 00:24:19,430
thank the Lord that he's given us gifts

523
00:24:19,430 --> 00:24:24,130
and blessings and ministrations, and we anticipate he'll

524
00:24:24,130 --> 00:24:26,090
do much more in the days to come,

525
00:24:26,170 --> 00:24:28,630
because there's been a perversion of many of

526
00:24:28,630 --> 00:24:30,690
the gifts that God has given, there's been

527
00:24:30,690 --> 00:24:33,590
misuse of them, people have become disillusioned because

528
00:24:33,590 --> 00:24:34,870
of much that's gone on.

529
00:24:35,390 --> 00:24:36,910
Not that it comes from the gifts of

530
00:24:36,910 --> 00:24:39,130
God, but it comes by reason of the

531
00:24:39,130 --> 00:24:41,130
fact that those who have these gifts have

532
00:24:41,130 --> 00:24:44,310
not realized God's intention in giving them, and

533
00:24:44,310 --> 00:24:48,430
feel they're in control, rather than recognizing when

534
00:24:48,430 --> 00:24:50,590
God makes an apostle or prophet, he wants

535
00:24:50,590 --> 00:24:54,010
that apostle, that prophet to come under the

536
00:24:54,010 --> 00:24:56,070
control of the Spirit of God, and his

537
00:24:56,070 --> 00:24:57,270
ministry is going to be valid.

538
00:24:58,930 --> 00:25:00,770
And not denying that if he doesn't come

539
00:25:00,770 --> 00:25:02,950
under that control, that man might still have

540
00:25:02,950 --> 00:25:03,310
power.

541
00:25:05,500 --> 00:25:07,540
He may still have power without coming under

542
00:25:07,540 --> 00:25:08,760
the control of the Holy Spirit.

543
00:25:11,900 --> 00:25:13,740
But it'll be to his own loss.

544
00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:21,060
It might benefit the people of God, but

545
00:25:21,060 --> 00:25:22,700
it will not benefit the one who is

546
00:25:22,700 --> 00:25:25,580
manifesting that particular gift or ministry.

547
00:25:26,500 --> 00:25:28,880
It's necessary that we understand these things, because

548
00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:33,460
God's people have become so disillusioned in seeing

549
00:25:33,460 --> 00:25:35,480
mighty men of God, so-called.

550
00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:38,500
God says, don't call any man mighty.

551
00:25:39,100 --> 00:25:41,460
But we see these mighty men of God,

552
00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:45,380
and they become heroes, and men become totally

553
00:25:45,380 --> 00:25:47,520
captivated by the great things they do.

554
00:25:48,740 --> 00:25:51,220
And God's people have been disillusioned when after

555
00:25:51,220 --> 00:25:55,680
a season somehow, they fail, something happens, they

556
00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:58,080
get so disillusioned, many of them quit church,

557
00:25:58,240 --> 00:25:59,260
they don't want to go anywhere, they don't

558
00:25:59,260 --> 00:26:02,020
want to hear any more preaching, because they

559
00:26:02,020 --> 00:26:06,200
do not understand that you can have all

560
00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:08,160
the gifts of the Spirit, you can have

561
00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:11,420
all power, all wisdom, all knowledge, prophetic utterances,

562
00:26:12,180 --> 00:26:16,340
and if you don't have love, it profits

563
00:26:16,340 --> 00:26:16,820
nothing.

564
00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:18,340
Paul said that.

565
00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:21,260
We say, yeah, I know, but we don't

566
00:26:21,260 --> 00:26:22,460
pay much attention to that.

567
00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:25,600
We think, well, a man couldn't have all

568
00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:26,840
that and not have love.

569
00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:28,040
But he can.

570
00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:33,580
And so, if we know that God's ultimate

571
00:26:33,580 --> 00:26:35,700
intention for his people is to come unto

572
00:26:35,700 --> 00:26:38,100
love, then that's what we'll pursue.

573
00:26:38,940 --> 00:26:43,620
And Paul says, desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but

574
00:26:43,620 --> 00:26:45,060
follow after love.

575
00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:50,120
You don't follow after spiritual gifts, you follow

576
00:26:50,120 --> 00:26:51,040
after love.

577
00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:56,060
So let's continue a little, this message here

578
00:26:56,060 --> 00:26:59,940
in Ephesians 4, for the perfecting of the

579
00:26:59,940 --> 00:27:03,660
saints, for the work of the ministry.

580
00:27:04,340 --> 00:27:06,780
So then the ministry is given to minister

581
00:27:06,780 --> 00:27:09,580
Christ to the people, that the body might

582
00:27:09,580 --> 00:27:13,460
be edified, that they might impart to the

583
00:27:13,460 --> 00:27:15,400
people of God something to enable them to

584
00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:17,940
be ministering servants in the house of God,

585
00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:21,680
for the perfecting of the saints unto the

586
00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:22,440
work of ministry.

587
00:27:23,420 --> 00:27:26,400
So what we call fivefold is, in their

588
00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:29,420
ministration, to impart something to God's people that

589
00:27:29,420 --> 00:27:30,360
they might be ministers.

590
00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:34,400
And I'm not talking about anything clerical, anything

591
00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:35,220
to do with the clergy.

592
00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:38,900
The intention of ministry is to produce ministry

593
00:27:38,900 --> 00:27:40,960
in the body of Christ, so everyone in

594
00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:42,120
the body has a ministry.

595
00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:47,060
Everyone is called to ministry in the body

596
00:27:47,060 --> 00:27:47,600
of Christ.

597
00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:49,180
You can't make it happen.

598
00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:51,920
But that's the intention of ministry.

599
00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:55,120
And I say this, it's the ministry that

600
00:27:55,120 --> 00:27:57,520
God has sent for the edifying of the

601
00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:00,280
saints, for the work of ministry, and for

602
00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:01,640
the building up of the body of Christ.

603
00:28:01,740 --> 00:28:03,460
If it doesn't build up the body that

604
00:28:03,460 --> 00:28:05,960
every member has a vital function in that

605
00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:07,940
body, that ministry has failed.

606
00:28:10,310 --> 00:28:12,910
And I don't see much desire, as I

607
00:28:12,910 --> 00:28:15,790
hear and read of these big prophetic apostolic

608
00:28:15,790 --> 00:28:19,750
conferences, where thousands come to it to listen

609
00:28:19,750 --> 00:28:23,690
and to go away admiring the great teachings

610
00:28:23,690 --> 00:28:26,650
they got, the great apostles that spoke, the

611
00:28:26,650 --> 00:28:28,290
great prophets that ministered.

612
00:28:29,030 --> 00:28:32,470
No thought, it seems to me, in those

613
00:28:32,470 --> 00:28:35,210
great ministers of solely imparting something to God's

614
00:28:35,210 --> 00:28:37,790
people, that they become ministers in the body

615
00:28:37,790 --> 00:28:38,230
of Christ.

616
00:28:41,050 --> 00:28:44,310
I'm not saying that's universal, but that's the

617
00:28:44,310 --> 00:28:47,210
sense you get, that as long as you

618
00:28:47,210 --> 00:28:50,370
uphold this fivefold ministry, everything is lovely and

619
00:28:50,370 --> 00:28:51,270
that's magnified.

620
00:28:51,750 --> 00:28:56,030
And it's till this work has been accomplished

621
00:28:56,030 --> 00:28:59,470
in the body, and then the schism will

622
00:28:59,470 --> 00:29:00,830
disappear in the body of Christ.

623
00:29:01,650 --> 00:29:04,950
I discovered that recently.

624
00:29:06,810 --> 00:29:10,890
God has tempered the body together, giving more

625
00:29:10,890 --> 00:29:14,170
abundant honor to those parts which lack, that

626
00:29:14,170 --> 00:29:15,830
there be no schism in the body of

627
00:29:15,830 --> 00:29:16,090
Christ.

628
00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:19,420
How?

629
00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:29,600
We'll read 1 Corinthians 12.

630
00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:34,080
I cannot say to the hand, I have

631
00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:35,500
no need of thee, or again the head

632
00:29:35,500 --> 00:29:36,800
to the feet, I have no need of

633
00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:37,080
you.

634
00:29:38,380 --> 00:29:40,100
Nay, much more of those members of the

635
00:29:40,100 --> 00:29:41,800
body which seem to be more feeble are

636
00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:42,360
necessary.

637
00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:46,320
God looks down and he sees you when

638
00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:48,220
you say, well, I love coming to church,

639
00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:49,780
I love fellowship with God's people.

640
00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:52,420
I don't have anything, of course, but I

641
00:29:52,420 --> 00:29:53,560
love God's people.

642
00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:56,500
I like to hear the word that you

643
00:29:56,500 --> 00:29:57,720
recognize you're feeble.

644
00:29:58,140 --> 00:30:01,780
That's a good attitude to have.

645
00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:06,060
But God is not pleased until he has

646
00:30:06,060 --> 00:30:11,080
put such honor upon you that you become

647
00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:13,500
something that the rest of the body cherishes

648
00:30:13,500 --> 00:30:17,960
as being vitally essential in the body, instead

649
00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:21,060
of thinking, well, poor guy, nice guy and

650
00:30:21,060 --> 00:30:25,440
all that, but he doesn't have any great

651
00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:25,900
value.

652
00:30:27,500 --> 00:30:31,240
It might be so because of his neglect,

653
00:30:32,660 --> 00:30:34,600
but it might be so also because there

654
00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:36,960
hasn't been the ministration of the truth of

655
00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:39,980
God in power to these people to impart

656
00:30:39,980 --> 00:30:44,520
to them something that that feeble person needs.

657
00:30:47,820 --> 00:30:51,960
God's intention is to take those feeble members

658
00:30:51,960 --> 00:30:54,140
of the body and to put more abundant

659
00:30:54,140 --> 00:30:58,710
honor upon them, because those members of the

660
00:30:58,710 --> 00:31:01,490
body, that's verse 23, which we think to

661
00:31:01,490 --> 00:31:04,630
be less honorable, upon these we bestow more

662
00:31:04,630 --> 00:31:11,790
abundant honor, and our uncomely parts have more

663
00:31:11,790 --> 00:31:12,770
abundant comeliness.

664
00:31:13,890 --> 00:31:16,810
For our comely parts have no need, but

665
00:31:16,810 --> 00:31:19,190
God has tempered the body together, giving more

666
00:31:19,190 --> 00:31:22,230
abundant honor to that part which lacks, that

667
00:31:22,230 --> 00:31:24,190
there should be no schism in the body,

668
00:31:25,590 --> 00:31:27,870
but that the members might have the same

669
00:31:27,870 --> 00:31:28,810
care one for another.

670
00:31:30,930 --> 00:31:32,590
So you see the system we have, the

671
00:31:32,590 --> 00:31:33,870
care is on the pastor.

672
00:31:35,410 --> 00:31:37,530
If it goes and goes from 1,000

673
00:31:37,530 --> 00:31:39,050
to 2,000, well, you've got to build

674
00:31:39,050 --> 00:31:40,730
a temple to seat the 2,000.

675
00:31:41,170 --> 00:31:42,990
You'll go that, build one to seat 3

676
00:31:42,990 --> 00:31:43,370
,000.

677
00:31:44,050 --> 00:31:45,110
I don't know what you'll do if the

678
00:31:45,110 --> 00:31:49,410
whole city is converted to the Lord, and

679
00:31:49,410 --> 00:31:51,610
that's nothing to do with expansion in the

680
00:31:51,610 --> 00:31:53,870
body of Christ, nothing to do with enlargement

681
00:31:53,870 --> 00:31:54,850
in the body of Christ.

682
00:31:56,090 --> 00:31:59,410
We met a man from India a year

683
00:31:59,410 --> 00:32:04,370
ago, Pastor Joseph, he calls himself, from Bombay,

684
00:32:04,510 --> 00:32:04,750
India.

685
00:32:05,850 --> 00:32:08,110
Struggled away there for a year with a

686
00:32:08,110 --> 00:32:10,730
small group of people like any normal pastor,

687
00:32:11,370 --> 00:32:14,850
very concerned and interested in his people, and

688
00:32:14,850 --> 00:32:17,630
yet somehow, always with so many troubles and

689
00:32:17,630 --> 00:32:20,450
problems, he sought God in prayer and fasting,

690
00:32:20,630 --> 00:32:22,270
and God said, Don't try to build up

691
00:32:22,270 --> 00:32:24,750
this church, but establish home churches.

692
00:32:26,270 --> 00:32:27,990
Let the people gather a few in a

693
00:32:27,990 --> 00:32:29,990
home, and then when that home is filled,

694
00:32:30,110 --> 00:32:30,950
go to another home.

695
00:32:31,870 --> 00:32:34,310
I don't know when he started that, a

696
00:32:34,310 --> 00:32:34,950
few years ago.

697
00:32:35,590 --> 00:32:39,030
Last year when he told us this, he

698
00:32:39,030 --> 00:32:43,250
said, Today there are thousands of churches in

699
00:32:43,250 --> 00:32:47,310
Bombay, 15 people, 20 people, that's about it.

700
00:32:48,230 --> 00:32:51,150
They won't go to the Christian temples, because

701
00:32:51,150 --> 00:32:53,590
they've got their own temples, Hindu temples, Sikh

702
00:32:53,590 --> 00:32:54,890
temples, they've got all that.

703
00:32:55,710 --> 00:32:59,210
But the person living in this little humble

704
00:32:59,210 --> 00:33:01,210
cottage, a neighbor will go over and say,

705
00:33:01,290 --> 00:33:03,270
Come and visit us tonight, we're going to

706
00:33:03,270 --> 00:33:03,870
have a gathering.

707
00:33:04,770 --> 00:33:05,530
And they get converted.

708
00:33:07,570 --> 00:33:09,170
And the first thing you know, that house

709
00:33:09,170 --> 00:33:09,870
is filled up.

710
00:33:11,270 --> 00:33:13,670
And there's an elder in charge, and an

711
00:33:13,670 --> 00:33:15,330
elder might be in charge, when I say

712
00:33:15,330 --> 00:33:17,310
in charge, I mean hopefully under the Holy

713
00:33:17,310 --> 00:33:17,690
Spirit.

714
00:33:18,950 --> 00:33:20,650
Maybe two or three under him, and then

715
00:33:20,650 --> 00:33:22,650
there's another home, and another home.

716
00:33:23,730 --> 00:33:25,470
And a year ago, he said there was

717
00:33:25,470 --> 00:33:27,270
a thousand house churches, and he might go

718
00:33:27,270 --> 00:33:28,750
away two months and come back, and there's

719
00:33:28,750 --> 00:33:30,450
25, 30 more house churches.

720
00:33:32,850 --> 00:33:35,070
And I'm not saying that's to be the

721
00:33:35,070 --> 00:33:36,290
explicit pattern.

722
00:33:37,150 --> 00:33:39,250
I'm just saying that it's God's way to

723
00:33:39,250 --> 00:33:42,510
divide, in order that there might be true

724
00:33:42,510 --> 00:33:45,190
unity, and that the schism might be eradicated.

725
00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:50,160
To divide in segments, that there might be

726
00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:56,720
administration of the body, by God putting honor

727
00:33:56,720 --> 00:33:58,760
on all these members that sit there and

728
00:33:58,760 --> 00:33:59,480
say there's nothing to do.

729
00:33:59,520 --> 00:34:00,840
Oh, we'll make you a choir leader.

730
00:34:01,380 --> 00:34:02,840
Oh, you can be the youth leader, you

731
00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:04,700
can be the leader of the seniors, and

732
00:34:04,700 --> 00:34:09,400
creating ministries in order to keep a Babylon

733
00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:10,880
functioning smoothly.

734
00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:13,520
You want to keep all under control.

735
00:34:14,420 --> 00:34:18,060
The real reason for this, the megachurch system,

736
00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:19,699
is really to keep control.

737
00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:22,020
And you know that, and they know it.

738
00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:24,620
It's to keep control, because if it gets

739
00:34:24,620 --> 00:34:26,980
too scattered, we can't control it, they don't

740
00:34:26,980 --> 00:34:27,960
want to flow in the river.

741
00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:32,030
But this river of life is not dangerous.

742
00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:36,719
He will cause you to flow in his

743
00:34:36,719 --> 00:34:37,239
purposes.

744
00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:41,440
Thomas says it's full of water.

745
00:34:43,060 --> 00:34:44,280
What does man do then?

746
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:46,239
How come we end up in the state

747
00:34:46,239 --> 00:34:46,699
we're in?

748
00:34:47,540 --> 00:34:51,199
God said through Jeremiah, my people have committed

749
00:34:51,199 --> 00:34:52,400
two evils.

750
00:34:53,980 --> 00:34:56,060
They have forsaken me the fountain of living

751
00:34:56,060 --> 00:34:56,380
water.

752
00:34:57,620 --> 00:35:00,680
And they have hewn for themselves cisterns, broken

753
00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:02,980
cisterns that can hold no water.

754
00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:05,540
Now, I thought of those two evils.

755
00:35:05,700 --> 00:35:06,540
Which is the worst?

756
00:35:07,980 --> 00:35:10,000
To forsake him the fountain of living water,

757
00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:12,640
but if you recognize it, hurry back to

758
00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:13,020
the river.

759
00:35:14,100 --> 00:35:17,100
But no, we don't have the river, we

760
00:35:17,100 --> 00:35:18,820
don't have what we had in Azusa Street,

761
00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:20,380
we don't have what we had in the

762
00:35:20,380 --> 00:35:23,300
Great Awakening, or the Wesleyan Revival, we don't

763
00:35:23,300 --> 00:35:23,760
have that.

764
00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:26,160
But we want to retain some of the

765
00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:26,940
flavor of it.

766
00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:31,060
So when Wesley's dad, they organized the Wesleyan

767
00:35:31,060 --> 00:35:33,760
church, when he's dead and gone, instead of

768
00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:35,700
seeking God for a new river if the

769
00:35:35,700 --> 00:35:38,140
streams are drying up, not a new river

770
00:35:38,140 --> 00:35:41,000
but the opening of the one that they

771
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:43,500
channeled off into human cisterns.

772
00:35:45,020 --> 00:35:46,120
Which is worse?

773
00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:50,700
To forsake the fountain, or having forsaken the

774
00:35:50,700 --> 00:35:54,760
fountain to dig cisterns, holes in the ground

775
00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:57,960
to pour that pure water in, in order

776
00:35:57,960 --> 00:35:58,840
to keep it pure.

777
00:36:00,060 --> 00:36:04,160
Because we're always afraid of heresies and false

778
00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:04,660
doctrines.

779
00:36:04,860 --> 00:36:06,840
So if you have this little pool here,

780
00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:08,420
we can't control the river, but we can

781
00:36:08,420 --> 00:36:10,080
control that and keep it clean.

782
00:36:10,980 --> 00:36:12,560
And you know what happens when you pour

783
00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:14,560
water into a cistern to keep it clean.

784
00:36:17,130 --> 00:36:17,910
It doesn't stay clean.

785
00:36:17,990 --> 00:36:19,630
It might stay clean for a month, a

786
00:36:19,630 --> 00:36:20,190
couple of months.

787
00:36:21,230 --> 00:36:22,590
And they think they've succeeded.

788
00:36:23,150 --> 00:36:25,770
God is pouring out his Spirit upon all

789
00:36:25,770 --> 00:36:26,070
flesh.

790
00:36:27,650 --> 00:36:31,530
And the churches in this day and hour

791
00:36:31,530 --> 00:36:35,950
are excited about filling their cisterns with charismatic

792
00:36:35,950 --> 00:36:36,430
water.

793
00:36:37,090 --> 00:36:38,150
Excited about it.

794
00:36:38,710 --> 00:36:40,810
And there's a freshness about it for a

795
00:36:40,810 --> 00:36:41,110
season.

796
00:36:42,870 --> 00:36:44,410
And they call it a move of the

797
00:36:44,410 --> 00:36:45,930
Spirit that began, when was it?

798
00:36:46,070 --> 00:36:48,710
In the 19th, whatever.

799
00:36:49,770 --> 00:36:51,450
And really it began as a river.

800
00:36:51,990 --> 00:36:52,350
Boy, that.

801
00:36:53,330 --> 00:36:56,310
But what began back whenever it was, and

802
00:36:56,310 --> 00:36:58,710
what became known as the charismatics, was the

803
00:36:58,710 --> 00:37:02,890
channeling of this wonderful flow into their cisterns.

804
00:37:02,970 --> 00:37:04,950
Because they discovered it still works there.

805
00:37:05,490 --> 00:37:06,670
They can still talk in tongues.

806
00:37:07,350 --> 00:37:08,350
They can still heal.

807
00:37:08,850 --> 00:37:09,930
They can still prophesy.

808
00:37:09,930 --> 00:37:11,210
They can still preach.

809
00:37:11,790 --> 00:37:13,430
They can bring in the people.

810
00:37:13,730 --> 00:37:14,850
People are still blessed.

811
00:37:15,370 --> 00:37:16,890
And we're not denying any of that.

812
00:37:17,530 --> 00:37:19,950
But it's not God's order, and it won't

813
00:37:19,950 --> 00:37:20,370
last.

814
00:37:20,850 --> 00:37:24,510
Because God's intention is not blessing, but the

815
00:37:24,510 --> 00:37:26,530
fruit of this blessing.

816
00:37:31,330 --> 00:37:35,380
And so back to Ephesians 4, where the

817
00:37:35,380 --> 00:37:36,440
perfecting of the saints.

818
00:37:39,350 --> 00:37:41,510
And so there's a standard somewhere in Canada,

819
00:37:41,970 --> 00:37:44,810
no doubt here in the States, where this

820
00:37:44,810 --> 00:37:45,530
is the standard.

821
00:37:45,770 --> 00:37:48,770
And anything that's made in feet and inches

822
00:37:48,770 --> 00:37:51,770
has to be according to that standard.

823
00:37:51,930 --> 00:37:52,410
It's set.

824
00:37:52,590 --> 00:37:53,110
It's fixed.

825
00:37:54,170 --> 00:37:57,270
So anybody who manufactures tools or tape measures,

826
00:37:57,990 --> 00:37:59,390
it's got to be right on.

827
00:38:00,070 --> 00:38:01,350
Now let me tell you what the standard

828
00:38:01,350 --> 00:38:02,890
is when God says he wants to bring

829
00:38:02,890 --> 00:38:03,870
his people to perfection.

830
00:38:05,050 --> 00:38:09,030
And to the measure of the stature of

831
00:38:09,030 --> 00:38:14,100
the fullness I know it's too high, but

832
00:38:14,100 --> 00:38:15,940
it's something God's doing, not you and I.

833
00:38:16,020 --> 00:38:18,660
I wish somehow we could emphasize that.

834
00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:21,460
It's just as much a work of God

835
00:38:21,460 --> 00:38:27,580
as when God soothed down and molded together

836
00:38:27,580 --> 00:38:31,540
a bunch of clay or whatever and formed

837
00:38:31,540 --> 00:38:32,080
a man.

838
00:38:33,100 --> 00:38:36,660
And you know very well that if any

839
00:38:36,660 --> 00:38:38,820
other creature was around and says, there, that's

840
00:38:38,820 --> 00:38:40,120
the man that God's made.

841
00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:41,660
Stand up, Adam.

842
00:38:42,140 --> 00:38:43,360
You know it couldn't happen.

843
00:38:44,840 --> 00:38:47,240
But you don't have any trouble believing that

844
00:38:47,240 --> 00:38:49,680
God did that and then breathed into him

845
00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:53,120
the breath of life and became a living

846
00:38:53,120 --> 00:38:53,640
soul.

847
00:38:54,500 --> 00:38:56,280
And so, oh, God did it.

848
00:38:57,460 --> 00:38:59,780
Well, don't think for one moment that what

849
00:38:59,780 --> 00:39:01,540
we're talking about is something that you and

850
00:39:01,540 --> 00:39:02,740
I are supposed to do or that the

851
00:39:02,740 --> 00:39:04,620
Bible ministry is supposed to do.

852
00:39:05,940 --> 00:39:08,460
It's God who breathes in this life to

853
00:39:08,460 --> 00:39:10,960
bring us to the measure of the stature

854
00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:15,580
of the fullness of Christ, not the nine.

855
00:39:17,180 --> 00:39:18,860
God's people, I don't care if it's the

856
00:39:18,860 --> 00:39:22,440
humblest saint in the body of Christ, comes

857
00:39:22,440 --> 00:39:25,120
over to minister to one of God's needy

858
00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:25,420
ones.

859
00:39:26,420 --> 00:39:28,460
He can, as it were, by the Spirit,

860
00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:34,340
breathe that life into them, not of his

861
00:39:34,340 --> 00:39:37,380
own volition, but if God the Spirit is

862
00:39:37,380 --> 00:39:40,580
in him, God will enable that to happen.

863
00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:44,980
So we're not saying, well, oh, it's not

864
00:39:44,980 --> 00:39:45,540
possible.

865
00:39:45,700 --> 00:39:46,200
It can't happen.

866
00:39:46,220 --> 00:39:48,000
You know very well nobody can be perfect

867
00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:48,640
in this life.

868
00:39:48,660 --> 00:39:49,560
I know that.

869
00:39:50,700 --> 00:39:54,880
I'm talking about God the Creator, who, when

870
00:39:54,880 --> 00:39:56,660
you look at that human body of yours

871
00:39:56,660 --> 00:39:58,200
and you say, isn't it tremendous?

872
00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:01,420
You're amazed at the functioning of the human

873
00:40:01,420 --> 00:40:01,900
body.

874
00:40:02,300 --> 00:40:04,460
A famous doctor wrote a book on it

875
00:40:04,460 --> 00:40:05,760
and likened it to the body of Christ.

876
00:40:05,860 --> 00:40:09,720
I mean, you can't conceive of the wonderful

877
00:40:09,720 --> 00:40:13,700
unity and harmony and the ability to ward

878
00:40:13,700 --> 00:40:15,540
off disease and fight disease.

879
00:40:15,860 --> 00:40:21,220
I mean, David said, I was made in

880
00:40:21,220 --> 00:40:23,360
secrets in the lowest parts of the earth.

881
00:40:24,480 --> 00:40:26,140
I know when he said that he was

882
00:40:26,140 --> 00:40:28,600
speaking prophetically of our Lord Jesus and the

883
00:40:28,600 --> 00:40:31,700
body that he was forming for Jesus and

884
00:40:31,700 --> 00:40:33,480
ultimately for this body of Christ.

885
00:40:34,860 --> 00:40:37,320
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being

886
00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:37,860
imperfect.

887
00:40:39,160 --> 00:40:41,320
And in thy book all my members were

888
00:40:41,320 --> 00:40:45,420
written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as

889
00:40:45,420 --> 00:40:46,580
yet there was none of them.

890
00:40:48,120 --> 00:40:51,000
And David, I know, was speaking concerning the

891
00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:52,660
Christ and the body of Christ.

892
00:40:53,360 --> 00:40:55,580
It's something that God formed that we don't

893
00:40:55,580 --> 00:40:56,740
understand how he did it.

894
00:40:57,060 --> 00:40:59,380
We understand it concerning this human body.

895
00:40:59,620 --> 00:41:01,580
We don't understand it, but we believe it.

896
00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:06,180
How much more cannot the God who is

897
00:41:06,180 --> 00:41:08,480
the God of the spirits of all flesh

898
00:41:08,480 --> 00:41:12,360
at the appointed time stoop down and breathe

899
00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:14,780
into the body of Christ his own life,

900
00:41:15,660 --> 00:41:17,640
that they might rise up in the beauty

901
00:41:17,640 --> 00:41:19,220
of the stature of Christ?

902
00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:21,200
It's going to happen.

903
00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:23,040
I don't know how quickly it can happen,

904
00:41:23,080 --> 00:41:23,740
very quickly.

905
00:41:25,420 --> 00:41:26,500
Ezekiel saw it.

906
00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:30,180
God called him out to the boneyard, the

907
00:41:30,180 --> 00:41:32,260
valley of dry bones, and they were dry,

908
00:41:32,400 --> 00:41:33,840
and lo, they were very dry.

909
00:41:33,980 --> 00:41:35,800
I was thinking of my mother, come back

910
00:41:35,800 --> 00:41:37,720
from a meeting, and what was, oh, lo,

911
00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:38,640
it was very dry.

912
00:41:43,990 --> 00:41:46,130
And God says, can these bones live?

913
00:41:46,990 --> 00:41:50,370
I mean, imagine Ezekiel standing in a boneyard

914
00:41:50,370 --> 00:41:53,470
and saying to Ezekiel, Ezekiel, do you think

915
00:41:53,470 --> 00:41:54,430
these bones can live?

916
00:41:54,670 --> 00:41:55,530
What would you say?

917
00:41:56,630 --> 00:41:58,930
What he said, oh, Lord, I don't know,

918
00:41:59,790 --> 00:42:01,070
prophesy to them.

919
00:42:01,530 --> 00:42:02,990
I'm telling you, God is going to put

920
00:42:02,990 --> 00:42:04,710
a spirit of prophecy in his people.

921
00:42:05,270 --> 00:42:06,810
Thank the Lord for prophets he puts in

922
00:42:06,810 --> 00:42:07,150
the church.

923
00:42:07,190 --> 00:42:09,030
He's going to put a spirit of prophecy

924
00:42:09,030 --> 00:42:11,210
in the people of God, where when they

925
00:42:11,210 --> 00:42:13,070
gather together in his name and Jesus is

926
00:42:13,070 --> 00:42:15,710
Lord and the Spirit is in control, there's

927
00:42:15,710 --> 00:42:17,390
going to be a witness of Jesus, which

928
00:42:17,390 --> 00:42:19,350
God says is the spirit of prophecy.

929
00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:24,980
The spirit of prophecy went forth.

930
00:42:26,440 --> 00:42:31,000
And as he prophesied, behold, there was a

931
00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:34,470
noise, a shaking.

932
00:42:35,930 --> 00:42:38,890
I remember one time, because God emphasized that

933
00:42:38,890 --> 00:42:42,290
prophecy of Ezekiel very much back in 48,

934
00:42:42,390 --> 00:42:48,270
49, and with such emphasis that it somehow

935
00:42:48,270 --> 00:42:50,590
just sticks in everyone's heart that heard it,

936
00:42:51,730 --> 00:42:53,730
about the valley of dry bones.

937
00:42:54,350 --> 00:42:56,130
And years later, when it seemed to all

938
00:42:56,130 --> 00:42:59,830
peter out, which bothered me tremendously for a

939
00:42:59,830 --> 00:43:02,070
season, only for a season until I saw

940
00:43:02,070 --> 00:43:04,670
something else, which if we get time, we'll

941
00:43:04,670 --> 00:43:05,450
touch on it.

942
00:43:07,660 --> 00:43:10,060
But God emphasized that so is the church

943
00:43:10,060 --> 00:43:13,300
of Jesus Christ, like these dry bones, scattered

944
00:43:13,300 --> 00:43:14,080
about in the valley.

945
00:43:15,140 --> 00:43:17,420
How about that spirit of prophecy going forth?

946
00:43:17,520 --> 00:43:20,380
There's going to be a shaking and a

947
00:43:20,380 --> 00:43:23,240
moving and a movement together and so forth.

948
00:43:24,560 --> 00:43:26,580
And I remember years later, I thought, well,

949
00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:27,760
what did happen there?

950
00:43:29,120 --> 00:43:30,900
And I remember that prophecy, and I wrote

951
00:43:30,900 --> 00:43:34,580
down in my Bible somewhere, behold, there was

952
00:43:34,580 --> 00:43:35,100
a shaking.

953
00:43:37,630 --> 00:43:39,150
And I think I wrote, and bone came

954
00:43:39,150 --> 00:43:42,510
to bone a few years later as I

955
00:43:42,510 --> 00:43:45,570
saw that indeed God was drawing people together.

956
00:43:47,490 --> 00:43:48,650
And I stopped there.

957
00:43:50,050 --> 00:43:51,670
I don't know if I'll live to finish

958
00:43:51,670 --> 00:43:54,690
it up or not, but someday the next

959
00:43:54,690 --> 00:43:56,870
part of that prophecy is going to be

960
00:43:56,870 --> 00:43:57,150
fulfilled.

961
00:43:58,470 --> 00:43:59,750
There was no life in me.

962
00:44:02,780 --> 00:44:06,660
And then he said to Ezekiel, stop prophesying

963
00:44:06,660 --> 00:44:07,620
to the bones now.

964
00:44:09,000 --> 00:44:10,340
Prophesy to the winds.

965
00:44:12,800 --> 00:44:14,340
And so he prophesied to the winds.

966
00:44:16,520 --> 00:44:18,480
The time has come when God wants a

967
00:44:18,480 --> 00:44:20,100
ministration unto him.

968
00:44:21,900 --> 00:44:25,760
To people, yes, but they will only be

969
00:44:25,760 --> 00:44:30,900
truly impressed upon by God's Spirit as it's

970
00:44:30,900 --> 00:44:32,940
to God first and he hears it first.

971
00:44:35,220 --> 00:44:37,000
You see, I want to tell the people,

972
00:44:37,160 --> 00:44:38,380
God knows all about these things.

973
00:44:38,460 --> 00:44:39,600
Heaven knows all about it.

974
00:44:41,280 --> 00:44:42,860
God knows about it, but I don't know

975
00:44:42,860 --> 00:44:44,440
if all the angels there know about it

976
00:44:44,440 --> 00:44:46,200
or if all the angelic hosts know about

977
00:44:46,200 --> 00:44:47,880
it who are there to minister on behalf

978
00:44:47,880 --> 00:44:52,080
of the church because they're seeking to learn

979
00:44:52,080 --> 00:44:52,800
from you and I.

980
00:44:55,560 --> 00:44:57,480
Don't get too excited if an angel tells

981
00:44:57,480 --> 00:44:57,960
you something.

982
00:44:58,220 --> 00:44:59,660
I might believe it and I might not.

983
00:44:59,840 --> 00:45:01,640
Depends what you tell me he told you.

984
00:45:03,440 --> 00:45:05,560
When they start teaching you things from God's

985
00:45:05,560 --> 00:45:10,500
Word, I'd be very wary because they're ministering

986
00:45:10,500 --> 00:45:12,040
servants to help you and I.

987
00:45:13,740 --> 00:45:15,700
God hasn't set them as teachers in the

988
00:45:15,700 --> 00:45:16,080
church.

989
00:45:17,880 --> 00:45:20,360
They might be around here listening in to

990
00:45:20,360 --> 00:45:21,220
see what they can learn.

991
00:45:23,990 --> 00:45:25,510
You're getting a little arrogant now?

992
00:45:26,010 --> 00:45:26,690
Not a bit.

993
00:45:28,630 --> 00:45:31,410
Peter says, angels desire to look into these

994
00:45:31,410 --> 00:45:32,710
things that we're talking about.

995
00:45:34,930 --> 00:45:39,570
And they're peering, looking, wondering what's going on,

996
00:45:40,530 --> 00:45:43,570
because they don't understand too much about our

997
00:45:43,570 --> 00:45:44,570
glorious redemption.

998
00:45:45,930 --> 00:45:47,890
They're not the objects of redemption.

999
00:45:49,710 --> 00:45:53,050
Somehow God is using the church of the

1000
00:45:53,050 --> 00:45:57,280
living God to reveal his wisdom in heavenly

1001
00:45:57,280 --> 00:45:57,840
places.

1002
00:46:00,220 --> 00:46:02,400
I'm just interested in this earth.

1003
00:46:02,520 --> 00:46:03,400
Well, God's not.

1004
00:46:05,600 --> 00:46:08,600
He's interested in this earth.

1005
00:46:09,000 --> 00:46:11,660
Of course he is, but he's not concerned

1006
00:46:11,660 --> 00:46:13,800
about you and I just being earthbound.

1007
00:46:13,920 --> 00:46:16,060
He wants us to begin to hear what

1008
00:46:16,060 --> 00:46:17,780
the heavens are saying and to respond to

1009
00:46:17,780 --> 00:46:19,680
what the heavens are saying and to hear

1010
00:46:19,680 --> 00:46:20,600
what we're saying.

1011
00:46:22,680 --> 00:46:24,320
If we're moving in the Spirit, the heavens

1012
00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:26,540
will hear what we're saying and the heavens

1013
00:46:26,540 --> 00:46:29,880
will be alerted to war and good warfare

1014
00:46:29,880 --> 00:46:31,600
on behalf of the church if they hear

1015
00:46:31,600 --> 00:46:32,720
what the church is saying.

1016
00:46:35,680 --> 00:46:38,600
Imagine Moses standing there before the congregation and

1017
00:46:38,600 --> 00:46:41,140
saying, hear, O heavens, and I will speak.

1018
00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:42,660
Oh, shut up, Moses.

1019
00:46:42,720 --> 00:46:43,780
We're the ones listening to you.

1020
00:46:43,900 --> 00:46:44,200
No.

1021
00:46:44,500 --> 00:46:47,140
Heavens must hear what God's people are saying,

1022
00:46:48,440 --> 00:46:50,720
because we're depending on the forces of heaven

1023
00:46:50,720 --> 00:46:53,220
in this warfare that we're engaged in.

1024
00:46:53,920 --> 00:46:54,960
Spiritual weapons.

1025
00:46:55,900 --> 00:46:57,320
They're standing there in the heavens.

1026
00:46:57,520 --> 00:47:00,260
They're ready to be marshaled at God's command

1027
00:47:00,260 --> 00:47:02,640
and they're listening to what the church is

1028
00:47:02,640 --> 00:47:02,860
saying.

1029
00:47:02,920 --> 00:47:04,520
I mean the church that's walking in the

1030
00:47:04,520 --> 00:47:04,980
Spirit.

1031
00:47:06,500 --> 00:47:08,380
Hear, O heavens, and I will speak.

1032
00:47:10,670 --> 00:47:12,850
Give ear, O earth, to the words of

1033
00:47:12,850 --> 00:47:14,310
my mouth, Moses said.

1034
00:47:17,800 --> 00:47:20,520
Paul tells us that God gave him administration

1035
00:47:20,520 --> 00:47:24,400
of the gospel to the intent that he

1036
00:47:24,400 --> 00:47:27,300
might declare among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches

1037
00:47:27,300 --> 00:47:27,860
of Christ.

1038
00:47:28,000 --> 00:47:29,060
You say, that's what I want to do.

1039
00:47:29,240 --> 00:47:29,660
Nothing else.

1040
00:47:29,740 --> 00:47:29,920
No.

1041
00:47:31,040 --> 00:47:32,600
If you stop there, you don't have the

1042
00:47:32,600 --> 00:47:33,220
full gospel.

1043
00:47:34,500 --> 00:47:37,600
To declare unto the Gentiles the unsearchable riches

1044
00:47:37,600 --> 00:47:38,300
of Christ.

1045
00:47:38,380 --> 00:47:40,140
We can't go into that in detail, but

1046
00:47:40,140 --> 00:47:43,300
that's what has been going on.

1047
00:47:43,700 --> 00:47:48,160
People declaring these unsearchable riches that are in

1048
00:47:48,160 --> 00:47:48,920
Christ Jesus.

1049
00:47:50,260 --> 00:47:55,220
To declare these unsearchable riches of Christ and

1050
00:47:55,220 --> 00:47:58,620
to cause all men to see what is

1051
00:47:58,620 --> 00:48:02,520
the fellowship of the mystery which from the

1052
00:48:02,520 --> 00:48:04,500
beginning of the world has been hidden in

1053
00:48:04,500 --> 00:48:04,800
God.

1054
00:48:05,100 --> 00:48:13,410
Let me find that in Ephesians chapter 2

1055
00:48:13,410 --> 00:48:13,910
or 3.

1056
00:48:16,840 --> 00:48:19,460
Paul said God gave him the revelation of

1057
00:48:19,460 --> 00:48:22,400
the gospel as a mystery, a secret that

1058
00:48:22,400 --> 00:48:23,240
God revealed to him.

1059
00:48:26,530 --> 00:48:29,110
That he should preach among the Gentiles the

1060
00:48:29,110 --> 00:48:33,970
unsearchable riches of Christ and to make all

1061
00:48:33,970 --> 00:48:34,610
men see.

1062
00:48:36,410 --> 00:48:38,430
Aren't we trying to make men see?

1063
00:48:40,170 --> 00:48:42,750
Because if they don't see, they don't hear,

1064
00:48:42,870 --> 00:48:44,890
they don't know what the gospel is about.

1065
00:48:45,810 --> 00:48:46,790
So what do we have?

1066
00:48:50,820 --> 00:48:52,400
I don't like to always come back to

1067
00:48:52,400 --> 00:48:53,780
this, but it's so ridiculous.

1068
00:48:55,220 --> 00:48:59,280
People going around and dramas and puppet shows

1069
00:48:59,280 --> 00:49:02,800
and mime and pantomime to show people the

1070
00:49:02,800 --> 00:49:03,300
gospel.

1071
00:49:04,680 --> 00:49:06,620
This is what the gospel is.

1072
00:49:06,620 --> 00:49:07,500
We're acting it out.

1073
00:49:07,920 --> 00:49:10,660
Clowns there with their painted faces all white

1074
00:49:10,660 --> 00:49:13,580
and going through all sorts of motions to

1075
00:49:13,580 --> 00:49:15,240
show forth the gospel.

1076
00:49:16,600 --> 00:49:17,680
Men might see.

1077
00:49:18,880 --> 00:49:20,540
I think those things are happening in what's

1078
00:49:20,540 --> 00:49:22,260
called the church of Jesus Christ.

1079
00:49:25,180 --> 00:49:28,140
But Paul had a ministration of a living

1080
00:49:28,140 --> 00:49:32,080
word that when he spoke the gospel, the

1081
00:49:32,080 --> 00:49:34,720
same thing happened that when God said, Let

1082
00:49:34,720 --> 00:49:35,580
there be light.

1083
00:49:37,180 --> 00:49:39,720
And in that creative word that Paul sent

1084
00:49:39,720 --> 00:49:41,700
forth, it caused men to see.

1085
00:49:43,280 --> 00:49:45,640
And so if that creative word doesn't go

1086
00:49:45,640 --> 00:49:47,700
forth to cause men to see, they remain

1087
00:49:47,700 --> 00:49:48,680
in their bondage.

1088
00:49:49,820 --> 00:49:51,520
They remain in their blindness.

1089
00:49:52,520 --> 00:49:55,480
They can't see unless there is power in

1090
00:49:55,480 --> 00:49:58,080
the ministration of the gospel to open blinded

1091
00:49:58,080 --> 00:49:58,580
eyes.

1092
00:50:00,040 --> 00:50:02,300
Because the God of this world has blinded

1093
00:50:02,300 --> 00:50:03,040
their eyes.

1094
00:50:03,760 --> 00:50:05,400
Let the light of the knowledge of the

1095
00:50:05,400 --> 00:50:07,400
glory of Christ just shine unto them.

1096
00:50:09,520 --> 00:50:12,640
It caused men to see the fellowship of

1097
00:50:12,640 --> 00:50:14,700
this secret, the mystery which from the beginning

1098
00:50:14,700 --> 00:50:16,140
of the world has been hid in God

1099
00:50:16,140 --> 00:50:18,440
who created all things by Jesus Christ, to

1100
00:50:18,440 --> 00:50:19,060
the intent.

1101
00:50:19,780 --> 00:50:20,980
So you see, it's not finished.

1102
00:50:21,060 --> 00:50:22,600
You don't have the full gospel yet.

1103
00:50:23,720 --> 00:50:26,620
Preach the unsearchable riches, but in the power

1104
00:50:26,620 --> 00:50:28,640
of the Holy Spirit and going forth, shining

1105
00:50:28,640 --> 00:50:30,380
as a bright light, a light that will

1106
00:50:30,380 --> 00:50:32,840
remove the blindness, the darkness, but take away

1107
00:50:32,840 --> 00:50:38,200
the veil to the intent that now unto

1108
00:50:38,200 --> 00:50:41,660
the principalities and powers and heavenly places might

1109
00:50:41,660 --> 00:50:44,880
be known by the church the manifold wisdom

1110
00:50:44,880 --> 00:50:45,660
of God.

1111
00:50:47,160 --> 00:50:50,200
But why do I care about those things

1112
00:50:50,200 --> 00:50:50,600
up there?

1113
00:50:50,680 --> 00:50:51,820
Here's where the need is.

1114
00:50:52,000 --> 00:50:53,080
God knows that.

1115
00:50:54,640 --> 00:50:57,600
But unless the principalities and powers and heavenly

1116
00:50:57,600 --> 00:51:02,360
places, unless to them is revealed the mystery

1117
00:51:02,360 --> 00:51:05,220
of God, they're not going to be shook

1118
00:51:05,220 --> 00:51:05,560
up.

1119
00:51:07,120 --> 00:51:08,180
You say, what's the mystery of God?

1120
00:51:08,300 --> 00:51:09,940
What do they mean to know about the

1121
00:51:09,940 --> 00:51:10,460
mystery of God?

1122
00:51:10,520 --> 00:51:12,660
They know, and God wants you and I

1123
00:51:12,660 --> 00:51:15,160
to know, that the mystery of God is

1124
00:51:15,160 --> 00:51:16,580
the mystery of the cross.

1125
00:51:20,000 --> 00:51:22,140
Paul goes through that in quite some detail

1126
00:51:22,140 --> 00:51:24,680
in 1 Corinthians 1, that the mystery of

1127
00:51:24,680 --> 00:51:26,420
God is the mystery of the cross.

1128
00:51:27,900 --> 00:51:30,440
The Greeks seek after wisdom, and we preach

1129
00:51:30,440 --> 00:51:33,720
Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block,

1130
00:51:37,950 --> 00:51:45,910
and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them

1131
00:51:45,910 --> 00:51:48,730
which are called Christ, the power of God,

1132
00:51:48,890 --> 00:51:50,850
and the wisdom of God.

1133
00:51:52,770 --> 00:51:54,950
The wisdom of God and the cross.

1134
00:51:56,310 --> 00:51:59,470
They're at the cross by a man overcoming

1135
00:51:59,470 --> 00:52:03,110
evil with good, by overcoming darkness with light,

1136
00:52:03,610 --> 00:52:08,070
by overcoming hatred with love, by overcoming deceitfulness

1137
00:52:08,070 --> 00:52:11,630
with truthfulness, by overcoming everything that is evil

1138
00:52:11,630 --> 00:52:13,510
with everything that was good, for he was

1139
00:52:13,510 --> 00:52:15,230
the sum total of all that is good.

1140
00:52:16,190 --> 00:52:19,450
Hanging on a cross, he overcame those principalities

1141
00:52:19,450 --> 00:52:20,830
and powers and heavenly places.

1142
00:52:22,390 --> 00:52:24,150
And when that which God calls the wisdom

1143
00:52:24,150 --> 00:52:27,890
of the cross penetrates the heavens, it causes

1144
00:52:27,890 --> 00:52:30,450
them to be terrified, because they know they

1145
00:52:30,450 --> 00:52:32,790
were defeated at the cross, not at the

1146
00:52:32,790 --> 00:52:33,270
resurrection.

1147
00:52:34,510 --> 00:52:36,930
At the cross they made an open show

1148
00:52:36,930 --> 00:52:38,550
of principalities and powers.

1149
00:52:39,450 --> 00:52:41,790
And so that's why God wants the people

1150
00:52:41,790 --> 00:52:45,590
to go forth with the full gospel, proclaiming

1151
00:52:45,590 --> 00:52:49,550
unsearchable riches in the power and in the

1152
00:52:49,550 --> 00:52:51,250
anointing and in the light of God that

1153
00:52:51,250 --> 00:52:54,790
removes scales from eyes, and penetrating the heavens,

1154
00:52:54,890 --> 00:52:57,010
that the heavens might know that the victory

1155
00:52:57,010 --> 00:52:58,730
of the cross has been accomplished, and they'll

1156
00:52:58,730 --> 00:53:00,930
be aware of it and be terrified because

1157
00:53:00,930 --> 00:53:02,850
of it and will surrender because of it.

1158
00:53:05,080 --> 00:53:06,940
That's why the weapons of our warfare are

1159
00:53:06,940 --> 00:53:08,660
not carnal, but spiritual.

1160
00:53:09,180 --> 00:53:11,880
That's why the weapons are, as old Paul

1161
00:53:11,880 --> 00:53:14,620
uses the likeness of a sword and a

1162
00:53:14,620 --> 00:53:16,980
helmet and all that, don't go so much

1163
00:53:16,980 --> 00:53:19,220
by the likeness that he's using, he takes

1164
00:53:19,220 --> 00:53:21,900
a Roman soldier as a picture, but he

1165
00:53:21,900 --> 00:53:25,660
says that helmet is the helmet of salvation.

1166
00:53:26,840 --> 00:53:28,840
That breastplate is righteousness.

1167
00:53:30,500 --> 00:53:33,620
That girdle about their loins is truth.

1168
00:53:35,460 --> 00:53:38,140
Those shoes that they wear are shoes of

1169
00:53:38,140 --> 00:53:43,280
the preparation of the gospel of peace, because

1170
00:53:43,280 --> 00:53:46,600
the gospel must have a preparation made in

1171
00:53:46,600 --> 00:53:49,040
the hearts of those who deliver it and

1172
00:53:49,040 --> 00:53:50,940
in the hearts of those who receive it.

1173
00:53:51,700 --> 00:53:53,620
Say, just keep to the simple gospel.

1174
00:53:54,240 --> 00:53:55,620
Well, what is the simple gospel?

1175
00:53:55,740 --> 00:53:57,700
I don't know what that is, but the

1176
00:53:57,700 --> 00:54:01,020
gospel of God is the power of God

1177
00:54:01,020 --> 00:54:04,140
unto salvation, because it's not in our strength,

1178
00:54:04,340 --> 00:54:05,500
it's in our weakness.

1179
00:54:06,920 --> 00:54:09,420
It's not in confronting evil with forces like

1180
00:54:09,420 --> 00:54:12,780
he's got, that he can muster a great

1181
00:54:12,780 --> 00:54:14,460
army and a great rally and get them

1182
00:54:14,460 --> 00:54:17,160
marching in Washington and making a big show

1183
00:54:17,160 --> 00:54:18,440
of how strong they are.

1184
00:54:19,340 --> 00:54:22,820
But it's in a weak people, hidden away

1185
00:54:22,820 --> 00:54:26,080
perhaps on their knees, perhaps lamenting over the

1186
00:54:26,080 --> 00:54:29,880
lost condition of mankind, that the forces of

1187
00:54:29,880 --> 00:54:34,350
evil are weakened to the intent that now,

1188
00:54:34,430 --> 00:54:37,430
under principalities and powers in heavenly places, might

1189
00:54:37,430 --> 00:54:41,790
be known through the church the manifold wisdom

1190
00:54:41,790 --> 00:54:42,750
of God.

1191
00:54:45,700 --> 00:54:47,800
God wants to restore the full gospel to

1192
00:54:47,800 --> 00:54:48,260
his people.

1193
00:54:50,300 --> 00:54:53,480
He's going to do it when he has

1194
00:54:53,480 --> 00:54:57,860
the people walking in control and flowing in

1195
00:54:57,860 --> 00:54:58,820
the river of God.

1196
00:54:59,760 --> 00:55:01,800
Prophesy to the dry bones, and they came

1197
00:55:01,800 --> 00:55:03,060
together, no life in them.

1198
00:55:04,500 --> 00:55:06,460
But there they were in a form.

1199
00:55:09,250 --> 00:55:11,430
Then he said, Now prophesy to the wind.

1200
00:55:12,390 --> 00:55:14,030
And he prophesied to the wind and he

1201
00:55:14,030 --> 00:55:15,990
said, Come from the four winds, O breath,

1202
00:55:16,850 --> 00:55:19,370
and breathe upon these slain that they may

1203
00:55:19,370 --> 00:55:19,790
live.

1204
00:55:20,610 --> 00:55:21,830
He's going to take the breath of God

1205
00:55:21,830 --> 00:55:22,450
to do this.

1206
00:55:23,750 --> 00:55:26,350
He's going to take that same prophetic utterance

1207
00:55:26,350 --> 00:55:28,610
that we've rejoiced in when we hear it

1208
00:55:28,610 --> 00:55:31,430
given to us and send it forth to

1209
00:55:31,430 --> 00:55:31,910
the people.

1210
00:55:32,470 --> 00:55:34,750
The prophetic utterance from the heart of God

1211
00:55:34,750 --> 00:55:38,270
is going to take that same spirit penetrating

1212
00:55:38,270 --> 00:55:44,240
the heavens, that same prophetic spirit going forth

1213
00:55:44,240 --> 00:55:46,660
into the heavens, whether it be an intercessory

1214
00:55:46,660 --> 00:55:49,860
prayer or in a proclamation of the truth

1215
00:55:49,860 --> 00:55:52,540
of God that causes principalities and powers to

1216
00:55:52,540 --> 00:55:57,020
tremble from God's weak ones in the earth

1217
00:55:57,020 --> 00:56:00,820
as the wisdom of God penetrates the heavens,

1218
00:56:01,240 --> 00:56:02,480
the wisdom of the cross.

1219
00:56:03,660 --> 00:56:06,280
Don't think these things are strange.

1220
00:56:06,420 --> 00:56:09,120
They're only strange because we're not familiar with

1221
00:56:09,120 --> 00:56:09,740
such things.

1222
00:56:10,800 --> 00:56:12,660
Paul went forth with the full gospel.

1223
00:56:12,820 --> 00:56:13,640
The heavens heard it.

1224
00:56:14,580 --> 00:56:15,240
They heard it.

1225
00:56:15,360 --> 00:56:16,340
They knew all about it.

1226
00:56:18,300 --> 00:56:19,900
This one girl under the power of an

1227
00:56:19,900 --> 00:56:24,680
evil spirit, she spotted them because those principalities

1228
00:56:24,680 --> 00:56:26,420
and powers were aware of what Paul was

1229
00:56:26,420 --> 00:56:29,000
doing and the havoc he was working in

1230
00:56:29,000 --> 00:56:30,200
their kingdom in the heavens.

1231
00:56:31,560 --> 00:56:34,080
And she cried out, These are the servants

1232
00:56:34,080 --> 00:56:36,760
of the Most High God, which show unto

1233
00:56:36,760 --> 00:56:37,920
you the way of salvation.

1234
00:56:39,540 --> 00:56:41,540
Well, that's what Paul was preaching, eh?

1235
00:56:43,200 --> 00:56:45,740
Why would Satan use the same words?

1236
00:56:46,360 --> 00:56:49,600
Why would he magnify the Apostle Paul?

1237
00:56:51,920 --> 00:56:55,540
Satan wouldn't hesitate to magnify the Apostle Paul

1238
00:56:55,540 --> 00:56:57,940
if he could get a little footing there

1239
00:56:57,940 --> 00:56:58,680
in his life.

1240
00:57:00,720 --> 00:57:04,780
And he won't hesitate to magnify the greatest

1241
00:57:04,780 --> 00:57:07,180
preacher or apostle or prophet or healer on

1242
00:57:07,180 --> 00:57:09,460
this earth if he can get a little

1243
00:57:09,460 --> 00:57:10,380
glory out of it.

1244
00:57:12,510 --> 00:57:15,090
And he didn't hesitate to try to get

1245
00:57:15,090 --> 00:57:18,330
an edge in Jesus when he said to

1246
00:57:18,330 --> 00:57:22,290
him, When Jesus was hungry, take this stone

1247
00:57:22,290 --> 00:57:23,290
and turn it to bread.

1248
00:57:23,670 --> 00:57:24,570
You're hungry, aren't you?

1249
00:57:24,950 --> 00:57:26,050
Aren't you the Son of God?

1250
00:57:26,250 --> 00:57:26,950
You can do it.

1251
00:57:27,730 --> 00:57:28,910
He could have done it, couldn't he?

1252
00:57:29,530 --> 00:57:30,730
But had he done it, he would have

1253
00:57:30,730 --> 00:57:35,560
been responding to the challenge of the devil

1254
00:57:35,560 --> 00:57:39,960
instead of following the will of God.

1255
00:57:40,680 --> 00:57:41,800
And he didn't do it.

1256
00:57:44,460 --> 00:57:46,400
God wants us to be subject not to

1257
00:57:46,400 --> 00:57:50,680
the challenges of the devil, but to the

1258
00:57:50,680 --> 00:57:52,080
mind of God.

1259
00:57:54,200 --> 00:57:55,800
Not to show the devil I can do

1260
00:57:55,800 --> 00:57:57,320
it, how strong we are.

1261
00:57:57,700 --> 00:58:01,320
Not for these great men to show the

1262
00:58:01,320 --> 00:58:03,600
world or the church how powerful they are

1263
00:58:03,600 --> 00:58:08,840
to do what God says to do his

1264
00:58:08,840 --> 00:58:09,060
will.

1265
00:58:12,320 --> 00:58:13,740
I'm going to close shortly, but I want

1266
00:58:13,740 --> 00:58:16,560
to mention something about this whole thing that

1267
00:58:16,560 --> 00:58:17,420
we're talking about.

1268
00:58:17,460 --> 00:58:19,400
It almost sounds that no matter where you

1269
00:58:19,400 --> 00:58:21,660
go here, you can get into trouble.

1270
00:58:23,000 --> 00:58:26,400
And you can, if we don't go all

1271
00:58:26,400 --> 00:58:26,980
the way within.

1272
00:58:29,440 --> 00:58:32,020
I don't care how exalted a man might

1273
00:58:32,020 --> 00:58:34,800
be with gifts and ministries and power.

1274
00:58:36,580 --> 00:58:38,680
There's still a place that God hasn't fully

1275
00:58:38,680 --> 00:58:39,340
dealt with him.

1276
00:58:39,400 --> 00:58:41,280
There's still a place where Satan might gain

1277
00:58:41,280 --> 00:58:41,760
a foothold.

1278
00:58:41,900 --> 00:58:42,860
And we've seen this happen.

1279
00:58:43,840 --> 00:58:45,640
It's sad to say the church condemns them

1280
00:58:45,640 --> 00:58:47,660
instead of saying, God, search our hearts.

1281
00:58:48,540 --> 00:58:50,480
Because we're looking for more power than we

1282
00:58:50,480 --> 00:58:50,800
have.

1283
00:58:50,920 --> 00:58:52,660
We realize we don't have much power and

1284
00:58:52,660 --> 00:58:54,540
it bothers us because we don't have much

1285
00:58:54,540 --> 00:58:56,300
power to deal with a lot of situations.

1286
00:58:58,800 --> 00:59:00,420
God, why don't you give us more power?

1287
00:59:02,860 --> 00:59:04,360
God is saying I want a people who

1288
00:59:04,360 --> 00:59:05,040
will not fall.

1289
00:59:06,480 --> 00:59:08,920
God was to pour out upon this congregation

1290
00:59:08,920 --> 00:59:12,300
tonight a great manifestation of power that you

1291
00:59:12,300 --> 00:59:14,460
and I could go out and perform miracles

1292
00:59:14,460 --> 00:59:15,040
unheard of.

1293
00:59:15,680 --> 00:59:17,800
I wonder how many of us would survive

1294
00:59:17,800 --> 00:59:18,160
it.

1295
00:59:21,330 --> 00:59:23,070
I mentioned this man that had this gift

1296
00:59:23,070 --> 00:59:25,850
where he could stand up and quote scripture

1297
00:59:25,850 --> 00:59:28,550
after scripture after scripture from the authorized version

1298
00:59:28,550 --> 00:59:31,510
given in verse, where it is found, chapter,

1299
00:59:31,690 --> 00:59:33,710
book, comma, semicolon, everything else.

1300
00:59:33,810 --> 00:59:35,090
And the man was living and mourning.

1301
00:59:36,530 --> 00:59:38,390
The pastor that brought him in had to

1302
00:59:38,390 --> 00:59:40,250
tell him not to come anymore.

1303
00:59:41,950 --> 00:59:44,250
I mean, it's the saddest thing that a

1304
00:59:44,250 --> 00:59:47,470
man can have tremendous gifts from God, and

1305
00:59:47,470 --> 00:59:49,470
yet the heart not be changed.

1306
00:59:51,050 --> 00:59:53,030
Many people were blessed because of that.

1307
00:59:53,130 --> 00:59:55,290
Many people came and found Christ because he

1308
00:59:55,290 --> 00:59:56,310
was quoting God's words.

1309
00:59:57,090 --> 00:59:59,050
And under the anointing, you could sense it.

1310
01:00:00,840 --> 01:00:02,760
But it took some weeks or months to

1311
01:00:02,760 --> 01:00:04,160
discover he wasn't living for God.

1312
01:00:04,240 --> 01:00:04,900
He wouldn't read the Bible.

1313
01:00:05,000 --> 01:00:05,560
He didn't need to.

1314
01:00:05,720 --> 01:00:07,300
He'd stand there and the scriptures would come.

1315
01:00:09,620 --> 01:00:11,740
I don't like God doing things like that.

1316
01:00:13,780 --> 01:00:15,640
We don't like the way God pours out

1317
01:00:15,640 --> 01:00:17,100
his gifts upon the rebellious.

1318
01:00:18,220 --> 01:00:19,620
He said he's going to do it.

1319
01:00:20,880 --> 01:00:23,060
I'm saying this, and that's the substance, really,

1320
01:00:23,140 --> 01:00:24,380
of what I wanted to come to.

1321
01:00:25,620 --> 01:00:28,580
The blessing of God is not the fullness

1322
01:00:28,580 --> 01:00:29,580
of God's intention.

1323
01:00:29,780 --> 01:00:31,360
It's intended to bring forth fruit.

1324
01:00:34,900 --> 01:00:36,660
What became known as Latter-day Saints, the

1325
01:00:36,660 --> 01:00:38,560
intention was to bring forth fruit.

1326
01:00:40,000 --> 01:00:42,900
Apostles, prophets, gifts, ministry, yes, but the intention

1327
01:00:42,900 --> 01:00:43,960
was to bring forth fruit.

1328
01:00:45,780 --> 01:00:47,820
And where it did that, there was abiding

1329
01:00:47,820 --> 01:00:48,220
fruit.

1330
01:00:49,820 --> 01:00:51,500
Where the hearts were not right, it brought

1331
01:00:51,500 --> 01:00:52,620
forth kingdom building.

1332
01:00:53,220 --> 01:00:54,460
The blessing of God did it.

1333
01:00:55,840 --> 01:00:57,360
They wouldn't have done it if it wasn't

1334
01:00:57,360 --> 01:00:58,460
for the blessing of God.

1335
01:00:59,100 --> 01:00:59,800
I don't understand.

1336
01:01:00,120 --> 01:01:01,860
Is this Toronto blessing of God or not?

1337
01:01:02,200 --> 01:01:04,460
Well, God will bless wherever his people are

1338
01:01:04,460 --> 01:01:05,960
gathered looking for blessing.

1339
01:01:07,040 --> 01:01:07,620
He'll bless.

1340
01:01:10,040 --> 01:01:10,880
They say it's of the devil.

1341
01:01:11,040 --> 01:01:11,840
I say, no, it's of God.

1342
01:01:11,940 --> 01:01:13,020
Some say it's half and half.

1343
01:01:13,100 --> 01:01:15,900
One man said it's 23 percent of God.

1344
01:01:16,680 --> 01:01:18,200
Well, I don't know about all that.

1345
01:01:18,320 --> 01:01:21,740
I'm just saying that God will bless wherever

1346
01:01:21,740 --> 01:01:23,020
people need blessing.

1347
01:01:24,160 --> 01:01:26,900
He's a blessing God, and God's intention is,

1348
01:01:27,520 --> 01:01:29,900
don't you know, Paul says, that the goodness

1349
01:01:29,900 --> 01:01:31,740
of God is intended to lead you to

1350
01:01:31,740 --> 01:01:32,180
repentance.

1351
01:01:35,900 --> 01:01:38,060
So let's not get amazed about this matter

1352
01:01:38,060 --> 01:01:38,680
of the blessing.

1353
01:01:40,980 --> 01:01:42,340
The rain comes down.

1354
01:01:42,880 --> 01:01:44,460
Let's read it there in Hebrews 6.

1355
01:01:45,480 --> 01:01:48,300
For as the rain comes down upon the

1356
01:01:48,300 --> 01:01:51,780
garden of God, it's going to bless two

1357
01:01:51,780 --> 01:01:54,520
kinds of seed that are in the ground.

1358
01:01:56,740 --> 01:01:58,620
There's seed in the ground, and the rain

1359
01:01:58,620 --> 01:02:00,540
is going to bless both of them.

1360
01:02:06,410 --> 01:02:09,370
If the earth which drinketh in the rain,

1361
01:02:09,450 --> 01:02:13,290
Hebrews 6, that cometh oft upon us, and

1362
01:02:13,290 --> 01:02:15,210
bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom

1363
01:02:15,210 --> 01:02:19,290
it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God.

1364
01:02:20,150 --> 01:02:22,550
But that which beareth thorns and briers is

1365
01:02:22,550 --> 01:02:24,850
rejected, and is not unto cursing, who is

1366
01:02:24,850 --> 01:02:25,730
entered to be blessed.

1367
01:02:27,450 --> 01:02:32,290
The same rain that brings forth vegetables, your

1368
01:02:32,290 --> 01:02:36,350
tomatoes, your trees, your fruit trees, the same

1369
01:02:36,350 --> 01:02:41,550
rain nurtures your thistles and everything else that's

1370
01:02:41,550 --> 01:02:42,770
obnoxious in your garden.

1371
01:02:42,790 --> 01:02:43,810
The same rain does it.

1372
01:02:44,810 --> 01:02:45,910
Is it of God?

1373
01:02:46,510 --> 01:02:47,450
Well, I'm not sure.

1374
01:02:47,970 --> 01:02:49,410
Let's assume it's all of God.

1375
01:02:50,410 --> 01:02:51,590
What's it bringing forth?

1376
01:02:51,750 --> 01:02:52,970
That's what God's looking for.

1377
01:02:53,750 --> 01:02:55,150
What's it bringing forth?

1378
01:02:56,370 --> 01:02:58,390
If the seed is right, it'll bring forth

1379
01:02:58,390 --> 01:02:58,990
good fruit.

1380
01:02:59,490 --> 01:03:01,550
If the seed is wrong, it'll produce evil

1381
01:03:01,550 --> 01:03:01,970
fruit.

1382
01:03:03,860 --> 01:03:05,540
The blessing of God will do it.

1383
01:03:08,660 --> 01:03:10,180
Some of you find it difficult for that,

1384
01:03:10,580 --> 01:03:11,540
if you understand that.

1385
01:03:13,720 --> 01:03:15,560
Just before I close, Psalm 78.

1386
01:03:17,300 --> 01:03:18,720
I think it's necessary for us to know

1387
01:03:18,720 --> 01:03:19,020
this.

1388
01:03:19,580 --> 01:03:21,260
If God's going to pour his blessing again,

1389
01:03:21,320 --> 01:03:22,460
we sang about it, we need it.

1390
01:03:22,520 --> 01:03:23,300
We need that rain.

1391
01:03:25,000 --> 01:03:25,980
We need it.

1392
01:03:26,160 --> 01:03:27,120
It was God's heritage.

1393
01:03:29,720 --> 01:03:31,200
But that rain is going to feed any

1394
01:03:31,200 --> 01:03:32,400
seeds that are in your life.

1395
01:03:35,310 --> 01:03:36,930
There have been many a man who has

1396
01:03:36,930 --> 01:03:39,810
received great gifts of the Spirit, even in

1397
01:03:39,810 --> 01:03:42,810
those early days when prophecy came over people

1398
01:03:42,810 --> 01:03:45,230
and hands were laid upon them and great

1399
01:03:45,230 --> 01:03:45,910
gifts were given.

1400
01:03:46,010 --> 01:03:48,570
Many a man, that gift went to ruin,

1401
01:03:48,730 --> 01:03:52,850
ruination in their lives, because they thought, God,

1402
01:03:52,850 --> 01:03:54,230
he's going to give me this gift, so

1403
01:03:54,230 --> 01:03:55,710
I guess he figures I'm all right.

1404
01:03:56,690 --> 01:03:59,270
And maybe they go on living carelessly and

1405
01:03:59,270 --> 01:04:00,950
they still could perform miracles.

1406
01:04:01,150 --> 01:04:03,370
Well, that proves God thinks I'm all right,

1407
01:04:03,430 --> 01:04:03,850
doesn't it?

1408
01:04:03,970 --> 01:04:04,510
It doesn't.

1409
01:04:06,050 --> 01:04:12,030
We have no indication to believe anything else

1410
01:04:12,030 --> 01:04:14,350
but that when God sent the 12th voice,

1411
01:04:15,190 --> 01:04:19,190
Judas went out preaching the gospel, healing the

1412
01:04:19,190 --> 01:04:21,150
sick, casting out devils.

1413
01:04:22,070 --> 01:04:24,170
As far as we know, he did the

1414
01:04:24,170 --> 01:04:24,970
same as the rest.

1415
01:04:26,550 --> 01:04:29,670
And at the Last Supper, when the 12

1416
01:04:29,670 --> 01:04:32,490
were gathered around the table and Jesus said,

1417
01:04:32,570 --> 01:04:33,710
One of you shall be turned in.

1418
01:04:35,350 --> 01:04:37,770
You think there were 11 eyes suddenly turned

1419
01:04:37,770 --> 01:04:37,970
in?

1420
01:04:39,150 --> 01:04:40,090
I think he's the one.

1421
01:04:42,210 --> 01:04:43,890
Each one said, Lord, me?

1422
01:04:44,410 --> 01:04:45,470
Lord, is it I?

1423
01:04:46,610 --> 01:04:47,970
They weren't pointing fingers.

1424
01:04:48,810 --> 01:04:52,430
He passed off as a disciple, an apostle

1425
01:04:52,430 --> 01:04:53,310
of Jesus Christ.

1426
01:04:56,000 --> 01:04:56,960
But he was a thief.

1427
01:04:57,140 --> 01:04:58,740
He carried the bag, stealing with the money

1428
01:04:58,740 --> 01:04:59,360
that was put in.

1429
01:05:00,040 --> 01:05:03,840
Looking for enlargement in the kingdom of God,

1430
01:05:05,040 --> 01:05:05,700
a mercenary.

1431
01:05:07,940 --> 01:05:09,520
Why did Jesus choose him?

1432
01:05:09,900 --> 01:05:11,600
You ask the Lord when you get there.

1433
01:05:11,740 --> 01:05:12,380
I don't know.

1434
01:05:12,580 --> 01:05:15,080
He had to be there to fulfill the

1435
01:05:15,080 --> 01:05:15,380
Scriptures.

1436
01:05:16,280 --> 01:05:17,160
I'm saying this.

1437
01:05:18,180 --> 01:05:20,360
He had the same kind of power that

1438
01:05:20,360 --> 01:05:21,000
the rest had.

1439
01:05:21,120 --> 01:05:23,160
But that didn't make him any different.

1440
01:05:23,920 --> 01:05:24,980
It made him worse.

1441
01:05:26,700 --> 01:05:30,840
Don't pray for power, except the power that

1442
01:05:30,840 --> 01:05:34,300
Peter talks about when he says, According as

1443
01:05:34,300 --> 01:05:41,280
his promises have given unto us all things

1444
01:05:41,280 --> 01:05:47,340
that pertain to life and godliness.

1445
01:05:48,800 --> 01:05:51,020
That's the kind of power God wants you

1446
01:05:51,020 --> 01:05:51,860
and I to live for.

1447
01:05:52,420 --> 01:05:55,020
The power that will produce more of his

1448
01:05:55,020 --> 01:05:59,000
life, his real life, life of purity, holiness,

1449
01:05:59,720 --> 01:06:02,600
graciousness, bringing forth the gifts of his Spirit.

1450
01:06:04,300 --> 01:06:05,280
Power to do that.

1451
01:06:05,360 --> 01:06:07,200
But let's not pray for any other kind

1452
01:06:07,200 --> 01:06:10,300
of power until this has wrought its work

1453
01:06:10,300 --> 01:06:10,820
within us.

1454
01:06:11,180 --> 01:06:15,360
Pray rather, Lord, don't give us any more

1455
01:06:15,360 --> 01:06:17,440
power than you give us an equal measure

1456
01:06:17,440 --> 01:06:20,440
of grace to counterbalance it.

1457
01:06:22,660 --> 01:06:24,680
Because if we receive a greater measure of

1458
01:06:24,680 --> 01:06:28,160
power than we have grace and virtue to

1459
01:06:28,160 --> 01:06:30,000
counterbalance it, it should be to our own

1460
01:06:30,000 --> 01:06:30,220
ruin.

1461
01:06:31,300 --> 01:06:36,260
So before saying all this, after saying, According

1462
01:06:36,260 --> 01:06:39,260
as his divine power hath given unto us

1463
01:06:39,260 --> 01:06:43,920
all these things, add to your faith virtue,

1464
01:06:44,320 --> 01:06:48,320
virtue, knowledge, knowledge, temperance.

1465
01:06:48,440 --> 01:06:50,980
They say self-control, but let's understand it's

1466
01:06:50,980 --> 01:06:53,780
not our carnal nature being in control, but

1467
01:06:53,780 --> 01:06:57,340
the renewed man having control of that new

1468
01:06:57,340 --> 01:06:57,680
man.

1469
01:06:59,360 --> 01:07:01,680
And do the temperance, patience.

1470
01:07:04,080 --> 01:07:05,300
Did you pray for patience?

1471
01:07:06,000 --> 01:07:11,530
Well no, we want the greater things, but

1472
01:07:11,530 --> 01:07:13,270
God wants that patience, because that's part of

1473
01:07:13,270 --> 01:07:13,990
God's nature.

1474
01:07:14,130 --> 01:07:15,210
He wants us to have his nature.

1475
01:07:15,290 --> 01:07:16,030
He wants the fruit.

1476
01:07:16,630 --> 01:07:20,570
That's part of God's nature, patience, long-suffering.

1477
01:07:21,170 --> 01:07:22,670
Lord, make me like you, Jesus.

1478
01:07:23,990 --> 01:07:26,690
I mean, your power, even your love.

1479
01:07:27,790 --> 01:07:30,270
But I'm not sure about this long-suffering

1480
01:07:30,270 --> 01:07:31,490
and this patience thing.

1481
01:07:32,350 --> 01:07:34,370
But love, then, is long-suffering.

1482
01:07:35,330 --> 01:07:36,790
But you can't get away from it.

1483
01:07:37,010 --> 01:07:41,420
Yeah, one is love, but add to your

1484
01:07:41,420 --> 01:07:46,100
faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness,

1485
01:07:48,760 --> 01:07:50,400
the brotherly kindness of love.

1486
01:07:51,320 --> 01:07:52,460
A brother said to me, and it's a

1487
01:07:52,460 --> 01:07:54,180
very honest question because it's come to me

1488
01:07:54,180 --> 01:07:57,700
many times, after the message this morning, this

1489
01:07:57,700 --> 01:08:01,880
afternoon, Well George, if that's all you really

1490
01:08:01,880 --> 01:08:04,880
want, that love of God, what's all this

1491
01:08:04,880 --> 01:08:05,060
other?

1492
01:08:05,660 --> 01:08:07,180
Why bother with all this other?

1493
01:08:08,260 --> 01:08:10,200
And I had to reply with a question,

1494
01:08:10,460 --> 01:08:12,380
an answer, that I think the Lord gave

1495
01:08:12,380 --> 01:08:14,260
me many years ago when I pondered the

1496
01:08:14,260 --> 01:08:16,180
same thing, is love all we need?

1497
01:08:16,279 --> 01:08:19,520
Well, let's just have love, until I think

1498
01:08:19,520 --> 01:08:20,359
the Lord showed me.

1499
01:08:21,080 --> 01:08:24,620
It's the ministration of the truth of God

1500
01:08:24,620 --> 01:08:26,640
to the hearts of his people that causes

1501
01:08:26,640 --> 01:08:30,080
them to grow into maturity, the maturity of

1502
01:08:30,080 --> 01:08:30,479
love.

1503
01:08:31,479 --> 01:08:32,979
You don't say, let's have it, and here

1504
01:08:32,979 --> 01:08:33,340
it is.

1505
01:08:33,680 --> 01:08:36,359
We don't know the, we haven't begun to

1506
01:08:36,359 --> 01:08:41,819
fathom the power, the beauty, the authority, the

1507
01:08:41,819 --> 01:08:43,100
life that there is in love.

1508
01:08:43,240 --> 01:08:44,240
I mean, God's love.

1509
01:08:44,600 --> 01:08:46,240
And so that's why we don't evaluate it

1510
01:08:46,240 --> 01:08:46,760
as we ought.

1511
01:08:47,140 --> 01:08:48,340
It's the greatest thing in the universe.

1512
01:08:48,660 --> 01:08:49,479
There's nothing greater.

1513
01:08:50,380 --> 01:08:52,700
It's greater than all gifts and all ministries.

1514
01:08:53,620 --> 01:08:55,000
It's greater than all that.

1515
01:08:55,899 --> 01:08:57,080
And so if we could just have it,

1516
01:08:57,120 --> 01:08:58,720
say, okay, forget everything, I'll have that.

1517
01:09:00,100 --> 01:09:03,399
It doesn't come that way, because we have

1518
01:09:03,399 --> 01:09:04,600
to come to know God.

1519
01:09:05,560 --> 01:09:07,200
And before you know God, you have to

1520
01:09:07,200 --> 01:09:08,120
walk in his ways.

1521
01:09:09,140 --> 01:09:10,800
Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth, and

1522
01:09:10,800 --> 01:09:11,100
the life.

1523
01:09:11,160 --> 01:09:12,580
Well, Jesus, just give me the life.

1524
01:09:13,439 --> 01:09:16,200
No, he says, I'm the way, I'm the

1525
01:09:16,200 --> 01:09:18,500
truth, and I'm the life.

1526
01:09:19,580 --> 01:09:21,640
And so you can't, you can't take any

1527
01:09:21,640 --> 01:09:23,240
shortcuts in this thing.

1528
01:09:24,319 --> 01:09:26,399
God leads you in his way before you

1529
01:09:26,399 --> 01:09:27,660
come to the truth and life.

1530
01:09:27,979 --> 01:09:29,420
Oh yeah, you get truth from the Bible,

1531
01:09:29,540 --> 01:09:31,140
I know, but you never really know it

1532
01:09:31,640 --> 01:09:33,960
in any experiential way until you walk in

1533
01:09:33,960 --> 01:09:34,160
it.

1534
01:09:35,080 --> 01:09:36,660
And so if God says, I want to

1535
01:09:36,660 --> 01:09:37,939
lead you into truth, he leads you into

1536
01:09:37,939 --> 01:09:39,580
wilderness, the first thing he does when he

1537
01:09:39,580 --> 01:09:42,800
brings you out of bondage, what he does?

1538
01:09:42,920 --> 01:09:46,020
He leads them through the wilderness, to learn

1539
01:09:46,020 --> 01:09:47,080
God's way.

1540
01:09:47,540 --> 01:09:49,380
Because they were that wilderness and they didn't

1541
01:09:49,380 --> 01:09:49,720
know it.

1542
01:09:49,760 --> 01:09:51,359
They had to come to springs of bitter

1543
01:09:51,359 --> 01:09:53,420
springs of marrow, because that was them.

1544
01:09:54,360 --> 01:09:55,680
They had to come through all these hard

1545
01:09:55,680 --> 01:09:57,560
places to test them, to prove them, to

1546
01:09:57,560 --> 01:09:59,400
try them, to root out of them all

1547
01:09:59,400 --> 01:10:01,480
that evil that they might come to Canaan.

1548
01:10:01,640 --> 01:10:03,640
No shortcut to Canaan, which is the realm

1549
01:10:03,640 --> 01:10:04,600
of perfect love.

1550
01:10:04,980 --> 01:10:06,020
No shortcut there.

1551
01:10:06,340 --> 01:10:08,100
God didn't take them across the shortcut.

1552
01:10:08,300 --> 01:10:10,680
There was one there, but they wouldn't arrive

1553
01:10:10,680 --> 01:10:13,440
at the heritage God wanted them to have.

1554
01:10:13,620 --> 01:10:15,600
He led them a roundabout way.

1555
01:10:16,300 --> 01:10:17,800
God, why do you lead us in such

1556
01:10:17,800 --> 01:10:18,800
roundabout ways?

1557
01:10:18,920 --> 01:10:21,060
Because it's not in vain.

1558
01:10:22,280 --> 01:10:24,260
The roundabout way is intended of the Lord

1559
01:10:24,260 --> 01:10:27,120
to discipline us, prove us, try us, test

1560
01:10:27,120 --> 01:10:29,400
us, that at the end of the way

1561
01:10:29,400 --> 01:10:30,560
we might have found God.

1562
01:10:31,920 --> 01:10:33,480
We've come close to the end of the

1563
01:10:33,480 --> 01:10:33,620
way.

1564
01:10:33,680 --> 01:10:35,260
Oh God, why didn't you do this quicker?

1565
01:10:36,540 --> 01:10:38,560
Son, it took me those 75 years to

1566
01:10:38,560 --> 01:10:39,400
do it, that's why.

1567
01:10:40,420 --> 01:10:43,060
But don't be discouraged, young people, because God's

1568
01:10:43,060 --> 01:10:44,320
going to do a quick work in there.

1569
01:10:45,300 --> 01:10:47,340
And there's a people coming into Canaan, a

1570
01:10:47,340 --> 01:10:52,960
few old guys, but mostly younger ones, and

1571
01:10:52,960 --> 01:10:54,660
little babies are going into Canaan.

1572
01:10:56,440 --> 01:10:59,180
Because that doesn't mean that's the end of

1573
01:10:59,180 --> 01:10:59,580
it all.

1574
01:11:00,000 --> 01:11:01,180
There's warfare in Canaan.

1575
01:11:01,580 --> 01:11:02,980
There's lots of trouble there, too.

1576
01:11:04,920 --> 01:11:06,900
And so they're going on and they're going

1577
01:11:06,900 --> 01:11:09,280
on, never come to the place, God keep

1578
01:11:09,280 --> 01:11:11,040
us from ever coming to the place where

1579
01:11:11,040 --> 01:11:13,480
we feel finally I've arrived.

1580
01:11:14,920 --> 01:11:18,020
Because Abraham, though he'd wandered through the land

1581
01:11:18,020 --> 01:11:22,300
of promise roundabout for 100 years or more,

1582
01:11:23,660 --> 01:11:26,440
ended up living in the land of promise,

1583
01:11:26,560 --> 01:11:29,440
I think, for over 100 years, with Isaac

1584
01:11:29,440 --> 01:11:30,240
and with Jacob.

1585
01:11:31,480 --> 01:11:33,220
Because God told him to go, so he

1586
01:11:33,220 --> 01:11:33,580
went.

1587
01:11:33,820 --> 01:11:34,940
He said, I'm going to show you a

1588
01:11:34,940 --> 01:11:36,120
land I'm going to give you.

1589
01:11:37,180 --> 01:11:38,900
He found the land and he lived in

1590
01:11:38,900 --> 01:11:39,100
it.

1591
01:11:39,500 --> 01:11:40,960
But when he found it and lived in

1592
01:11:40,960 --> 01:11:44,320
it, a sense came to him, this doesn't

1593
01:11:44,320 --> 01:11:45,660
really satisfy me.

1594
01:11:47,380 --> 01:11:51,120
There must be something better, something you'll discover

1595
01:11:51,120 --> 01:11:52,040
in Hebrews 11.

1596
01:11:53,160 --> 01:11:56,120
He says, By faith Abraham, when he was

1597
01:11:56,120 --> 01:11:58,240
called to go to a place which he

1598
01:11:58,240 --> 01:12:00,400
should afterwards receive for an inheritance, obeyed.

1599
01:12:01,080 --> 01:12:03,620
He went out, not knowing where he went.

1600
01:12:03,820 --> 01:12:04,960
You want to be like Abraham.

1601
01:12:05,460 --> 01:12:06,680
Wouldn't it be wonderful to have the faith

1602
01:12:06,680 --> 01:12:07,180
of Abraham?

1603
01:12:07,660 --> 01:12:09,540
Then be prepared to go when you don't

1604
01:12:09,540 --> 01:12:10,260
know where you're going.

1605
01:12:11,820 --> 01:12:13,600
A young man wrote me a couple of

1606
01:12:13,600 --> 01:12:15,560
weeks ago, I want you to pray that

1607
01:12:15,560 --> 01:12:17,260
God will show me his plan for my

1608
01:12:17,260 --> 01:12:17,560
life.

1609
01:12:18,140 --> 01:12:19,480
I wrote back and I said, God won't

1610
01:12:19,480 --> 01:12:20,680
show you his plan for your life.

1611
01:12:20,740 --> 01:12:22,380
He might give you a few little indications.

1612
01:12:23,480 --> 01:12:25,320
Because if God showed you his plan for

1613
01:12:25,320 --> 01:12:27,160
your life, you'd be working on it.

1614
01:12:27,740 --> 01:12:31,040
You'd be working on it and you'd have

1615
01:12:31,040 --> 01:12:32,620
it all figured out and then you'd be

1616
01:12:32,620 --> 01:12:34,700
so frustrated because it wouldn't work out.

1617
01:12:35,580 --> 01:12:36,940
Because God won't show you.

1618
01:12:37,040 --> 01:12:38,340
He leads you in a way that you

1619
01:12:38,340 --> 01:12:39,280
never anticipate.

1620
01:12:40,200 --> 01:12:41,840
But he does give you a little indication

1621
01:12:41,840 --> 01:12:44,280
along the way and gives you a little

1622
01:12:44,280 --> 01:12:45,100
bit of a vision.

1623
01:12:45,540 --> 01:12:47,800
But no matter what God shows you or

1624
01:12:47,800 --> 01:12:49,340
tells you, no matter what kind of a

1625
01:12:49,340 --> 01:12:52,280
ministry God gives you, don't let that become

1626
01:12:52,280 --> 01:12:53,340
your vision.

1627
01:12:54,860 --> 01:12:57,460
Don't let the blessing of God become something

1628
01:12:57,460 --> 01:12:57,980
ultimate.

1629
01:12:58,720 --> 01:13:01,800
The blessing of God will produce hairs or

1630
01:13:01,800 --> 01:13:02,060
wheat.

1631
01:13:02,160 --> 01:13:03,120
I shouldn't say produce.

1632
01:13:03,300 --> 01:13:05,320
It'll nurture hairs and wheat.

1633
01:13:05,640 --> 01:13:12,680
In God's field, Jesus sowed good seed in

1634
01:13:12,680 --> 01:13:14,640
the field, the garden.

1635
01:13:16,140 --> 01:13:18,960
The enemy came and sowed hairs in that

1636
01:13:18,960 --> 01:13:19,320
field.

1637
01:13:20,260 --> 01:13:22,640
It received the water from heaven that God

1638
01:13:22,640 --> 01:13:25,380
sent, and that water from heaven produced those

1639
01:13:25,380 --> 01:13:25,760
hairs.

1640
01:13:27,200 --> 01:13:29,500
So the blessing is not a sign of

1641
01:13:29,500 --> 01:13:30,080
spirituality.

1642
01:13:30,980 --> 01:13:32,020
We'd better know that.

1643
01:13:33,160 --> 01:13:35,580
And don't get troubled about trying to analyze

1644
01:13:35,580 --> 01:13:36,500
these revivals.

1645
01:13:36,660 --> 01:13:37,740
Is it of God or not?

1646
01:13:38,100 --> 01:13:40,420
Let's assume God's blessing the hungry ones in.

1647
01:13:40,420 --> 01:13:43,580
Let me read you in closing, like one

1648
01:13:43,580 --> 01:13:44,900
man said the second closing.

1649
01:13:50,150 --> 01:13:51,770
Just in closing here.

1650
01:13:51,990 --> 01:13:52,950
Psalm 78.

1651
01:13:53,530 --> 01:13:54,790
I'm not going to read it all.

1652
01:13:55,970 --> 01:13:59,390
But he declares God's wonderful provision for the

1653
01:13:59,390 --> 01:14:00,150
children of Israel.

1654
01:14:01,810 --> 01:14:05,430
And yet, in spite of the fact that

1655
01:14:05,430 --> 01:14:07,770
God has blessed them over and over and

1656
01:14:07,770 --> 01:14:10,430
over and over again, they never came to

1657
01:14:10,430 --> 01:14:11,010
know God.

1658
01:14:12,370 --> 01:14:14,050
They tempted God in their will.

1659
01:14:14,310 --> 01:14:16,290
For all this they tempted himself.

1660
01:14:16,810 --> 01:14:19,690
Yet he was faithful, pouring out his blessings.

1661
01:14:20,990 --> 01:14:23,330
He rained down manna upon them to eat

1662
01:14:23,330 --> 01:14:25,970
and given them the coin of heaven.

1663
01:14:26,170 --> 01:14:27,650
That's Psalm 78, verse 24.

1664
01:14:28,470 --> 01:14:29,830
Man did eat angels' food.

1665
01:14:29,930 --> 01:14:31,190
He sent the meat to the foe.

1666
01:14:31,450 --> 01:14:32,590
Wasn't God doing that?

1667
01:14:33,950 --> 01:14:36,110
He was blessing them with bread from heaven,

1668
01:14:36,270 --> 01:14:37,850
with water out of the rock, with healing

1669
01:14:37,850 --> 01:14:38,670
when they were sick.

1670
01:14:39,050 --> 01:14:41,870
Not one feeble one amongst them, when that

1671
01:14:41,870 --> 01:14:44,350
nation walked in obedience to God.

1672
01:14:45,070 --> 01:14:46,090
Millions of people.

1673
01:14:46,710 --> 01:14:49,090
We've inherited all the diseases of Egypt.

1674
01:14:49,330 --> 01:14:50,830
We haven't got very far yet.

1675
01:14:51,570 --> 01:14:53,430
God says, I will not lay upon you

1676
01:14:53,430 --> 01:14:54,550
the diseases of Egypt.

1677
01:14:54,730 --> 01:14:55,610
We're not there yet.

1678
01:14:55,670 --> 01:14:56,490
We're far from it.

1679
01:14:56,990 --> 01:14:58,390
God wants to take us on.

1680
01:14:58,830 --> 01:15:01,210
But in the wilderness he wants to take

1681
01:15:01,210 --> 01:15:01,630
us on.

1682
01:15:02,150 --> 01:15:03,670
Say nothing of going into Canaan.

1683
01:15:04,850 --> 01:15:06,630
He caused an east wind to blow into

1684
01:15:06,630 --> 01:15:06,950
heaven.

1685
01:15:07,130 --> 01:15:08,770
By his power he brought in the south

1686
01:15:08,770 --> 01:15:09,070
wind.

1687
01:15:09,910 --> 01:15:11,490
He rained flesh also upon them.

1688
01:15:12,110 --> 01:15:13,490
Why did he rain flesh?

1689
01:15:13,630 --> 01:15:17,410
When he provided in the manna everything they

1690
01:15:17,410 --> 01:15:17,690
needed.

1691
01:15:19,270 --> 01:15:20,850
Because they cried out for it.

1692
01:15:22,840 --> 01:15:25,120
Ask God to check your prayers before you're

1693
01:15:25,120 --> 01:15:25,800
so insistent.

1694
01:15:25,880 --> 01:15:26,840
I insist, God.

1695
01:15:27,420 --> 01:15:28,840
By faith I claim this.

1696
01:15:28,900 --> 01:15:29,880
I've got to have this.

1697
01:15:31,320 --> 01:15:33,440
If you keep at it, if it's not

1698
01:15:33,440 --> 01:15:35,320
God's will, he might give it to you.

1699
01:15:36,780 --> 01:15:38,100
He might answer your prayer.

1700
01:15:38,220 --> 01:15:39,140
He's done it before.

1701
01:15:39,920 --> 01:15:42,460
He answered their prayer and along with answering

1702
01:15:42,460 --> 01:15:44,980
their prayer, he sent diseases into their midst.

1703
01:15:45,880 --> 01:15:47,980
It says, sent leanness into their soul.

1704
01:15:48,080 --> 01:15:51,100
One translation says, he sent evil diseases amongst

1705
01:15:51,100 --> 01:15:51,360
them.

1706
01:15:51,740 --> 01:15:53,800
He gave them their heart's desire and sent

1707
01:15:53,800 --> 01:15:55,260
evil diseases amongst them.

1708
01:15:55,600 --> 01:16:01,160
God did it because they wanted him, because

1709
01:16:01,160 --> 01:16:02,440
they insisted on it.

1710
01:16:05,310 --> 01:16:07,570
He blessed them in a way he didn't

1711
01:16:07,570 --> 01:16:09,710
want to bless them because they insisted on

1712
01:16:09,710 --> 01:16:09,870
it.

1713
01:16:12,040 --> 01:16:14,260
I'm not judging what's going on in these

1714
01:16:14,260 --> 01:16:16,920
different churches, because I've never been to hardly

1715
01:16:16,920 --> 01:16:17,540
any of them.

1716
01:16:18,600 --> 01:16:19,480
I'm saying this.

1717
01:16:19,800 --> 01:16:22,260
I'm prepared to recognize that God is blessing.

1718
01:16:23,480 --> 01:16:27,040
So this whole charismatic move or whatever is

1719
01:16:27,040 --> 01:16:29,100
going on in Toronto, I don't know, I

1720
01:16:29,100 --> 01:16:29,640
haven't been there.

1721
01:16:30,300 --> 01:16:32,060
I do hear people are getting saved and

1722
01:16:32,060 --> 01:16:34,300
healed, so God's blessing, God's meeting me.

1723
01:16:35,780 --> 01:16:37,880
But I recognize there's a lot of perversion

1724
01:16:37,880 --> 01:16:39,300
going on in a lot of places.

1725
01:16:39,560 --> 01:16:41,240
It depends on the state of the heart.

1726
01:16:41,360 --> 01:16:42,780
It depends on the kind of seed.

1727
01:16:44,020 --> 01:16:45,960
If you're insisting, I've got to have this

1728
01:16:45,960 --> 01:16:48,120
blessing in our church because they've got it

1729
01:16:48,120 --> 01:16:49,380
somewhere else, so I don't get it in

1730
01:16:49,380 --> 01:16:49,920
my church.

1731
01:16:50,620 --> 01:16:53,200
My pastor friend over there or enemy or

1732
01:16:53,200 --> 01:16:54,060
whatever will get it.

1733
01:16:54,320 --> 01:16:56,380
My people will go over there, so we

1734
01:16:56,380 --> 01:16:57,340
want the blessing here.

1735
01:16:57,340 --> 01:16:58,840
You're asking for trouble.

1736
01:17:01,010 --> 01:17:02,510
God will give it to you if you

1737
01:17:02,510 --> 01:17:03,470
insist on it.

1738
01:17:04,890 --> 01:17:07,390
They insisted on flesh because they got tired

1739
01:17:07,390 --> 01:17:10,670
of the provision that God had intended, the

1740
01:17:10,670 --> 01:17:13,070
word of God, the living word of God,

1741
01:17:13,190 --> 01:17:15,930
fresh manna from heaven every day, which when

1742
01:17:15,930 --> 01:17:18,130
they ate, it kept them healthy and strong

1743
01:17:18,130 --> 01:17:20,330
and they had the ability to hear what

1744
01:17:20,330 --> 01:17:21,090
God was saying.

1745
01:17:21,190 --> 01:17:22,070
That's why he gave it.

1746
01:17:23,530 --> 01:17:25,170
I said to you with manna that you

1747
01:17:25,170 --> 01:17:26,990
might know that man does not live by

1748
01:17:26,990 --> 01:17:29,350
bread alone, but by every word that proceeds

1749
01:17:29,350 --> 01:17:30,770
out of the mouth of the Lord does

1750
01:17:30,770 --> 01:17:31,670
man live.

1751
01:17:32,170 --> 01:17:34,750
And that morning God rained down manna upon

1752
01:17:34,750 --> 01:17:35,850
them and they ate of it.

1753
01:17:36,990 --> 01:17:40,050
That evening he sent an east wind to

1754
01:17:40,050 --> 01:17:41,850
blow in the heavens and rain flesh on

1755
01:17:41,850 --> 01:17:42,010
them.

1756
01:17:42,070 --> 01:17:43,710
He rained manna in the morning and that

1757
01:17:43,710 --> 01:17:47,210
evening he rained flesh as dust and feathered

1758
01:17:47,210 --> 01:17:49,010
fowls like as the sand of the sea

1759
01:17:49,010 --> 01:17:50,250
and it fell in the midst of their

1760
01:17:50,250 --> 01:17:53,430
camp and about their habitation so that they

1761
01:17:53,430 --> 01:17:54,990
did eat and were filled for he gave

1762
01:17:54,990 --> 01:17:56,350
them their own desire.

1763
01:17:58,560 --> 01:18:00,620
Another psalm says, and then sent leanness into

1764
01:18:00,620 --> 01:18:01,200
their souls.

1765
01:18:02,380 --> 01:18:03,980
But while the meat was dead in their

1766
01:18:03,980 --> 01:18:05,920
mouths, the wrath of God came upon them

1767
01:18:05,920 --> 01:18:07,340
and slew the fattest of them.

1768
01:18:07,680 --> 01:18:10,060
Don't talk about blessing and asking whether it's

1769
01:18:10,060 --> 01:18:10,420
of God.

1770
01:18:10,500 --> 01:18:11,360
God's a good God.

1771
01:18:11,480 --> 01:18:13,840
Ask what does God intend when he blesses

1772
01:18:13,840 --> 01:18:14,060
me?

1773
01:18:15,260 --> 01:18:16,380
We're looking for his blessing.

1774
01:18:16,500 --> 01:18:19,060
We must have the blessing that God help

1775
01:18:19,060 --> 01:18:20,840
us right now to have the right seed

1776
01:18:20,840 --> 01:18:23,440
planted within our hearts.

1777
01:18:23,980 --> 01:18:25,600
Ask him right now, God help me to

1778
01:18:25,600 --> 01:18:28,060
be with all these roots that are there.

1779
01:18:29,140 --> 01:18:31,480
Because if God blesses you with those roots

1780
01:18:31,480 --> 01:18:33,940
there, God's blessing is going to water those

1781
01:18:33,940 --> 01:18:38,500
roots of bitterness, lust, pride, arrogance.

1782
01:18:38,940 --> 01:18:41,040
The blessing of God will feed those things

1783
01:18:41,040 --> 01:18:45,260
and magnify it as truly as the rain

1784
01:18:45,260 --> 01:18:47,380
from heaven will cause those thistles that I

1785
01:18:47,380 --> 01:18:49,020
had in my garden before it was a

1786
01:18:49,020 --> 01:18:51,620
garden go six foot tall.

1787
01:18:52,340 --> 01:18:54,060
It's the same rain that I wanted to

1788
01:18:54,060 --> 01:18:56,740
have a garden there someday and I looked

1789
01:18:56,740 --> 01:18:58,620
so hopeless and the time came for me

1790
01:18:58,620 --> 01:18:59,320
to have a garden.

1791
01:19:00,140 --> 01:19:01,160
I kept working on it.

1792
01:19:01,360 --> 01:19:02,620
Got it pretty well under control.

1793
01:19:03,340 --> 01:19:05,640
The same rain from heaven watered my thistles

1794
01:19:05,640 --> 01:19:08,000
as it waters my corn.

1795
01:19:08,820 --> 01:19:09,540
Same rain.

1796
01:19:11,880 --> 01:19:13,280
These are awesome.

1797
01:19:13,400 --> 01:19:15,100
I keep repeating it because God's people can't

1798
01:19:15,100 --> 01:19:15,840
understand that.

1799
01:19:16,180 --> 01:19:17,900
That a man can stand and prophesy and

1800
01:19:17,900 --> 01:19:19,300
heal the sick or raise the dead.

1801
01:19:19,440 --> 01:19:20,520
It has to be of God.

1802
01:19:20,600 --> 01:19:22,620
Well, maybe that work is of God.

1803
01:19:24,140 --> 01:19:27,440
It doesn't prove that that vessel is in

1804
01:19:27,440 --> 01:19:30,100
harmony with God's plan and purpose or with

1805
01:19:30,100 --> 01:19:30,840
God himself.

1806
01:19:35,710 --> 01:19:38,630
And so God sends the rain to produce

1807
01:19:38,630 --> 01:19:42,340
the fruit and the fruit is that which

1808
01:19:42,340 --> 01:19:44,820
is akin to his own nature and life.

1809
01:19:48,290 --> 01:19:50,970
In springtime it's wonderful to see the fruit

1810
01:19:50,970 --> 01:19:53,390
trees where it's not too far from fruit

1811
01:19:53,390 --> 01:19:56,950
country and they blossom out and they're beautiful.

1812
01:19:58,390 --> 01:19:59,410
The rain did that.