In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of surrendering to God. He shares a story about a drummer who fell off a cliff during a march and was left behind by Napoleon's army. The drummer, realizing he would not be rescued, played his own death march. The speaker then discusses the significance of personal accountability and the need for men to meet with others to discuss their relationship with God. He highlights the importance of experiencing God's peace and rest, referencing passages from the book of Hebrews and Romans. The sermon concludes with the speaker encouraging the audience to seek the freedom and light that comes from God's word.

The entrance of thy words giveth light. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold, altered or changed in any way. You are welcome to make copies in its entirety for friends and neighbors. For additional cassettes and a catalog, call 1-800-227-7902 or write to Charity Gospel Tape Ministry, 59 South Groffdale Road, Leola, Pennsylvania, 17540. I just felt after last night in the way that God has met with us and the way that He helped us to become honest with Him. And I would like you to know this afternoon that the things that is coming from my heart in these evenings as we share in the Word of God comes from my heart because God has first dealt with me. So I got the first blow before you got the second one. And I can also say that it comes from a broken heart. So nothing whatsoever that is coming from my lips these days are coming through a heart that is not broken before God. If I won't preach at night, I'd probably stand here and weep for an hour and 15 minutes, and I'm sure you wouldn't like that. I need to share what is on my heart because I believe it's important for us as men. We have made copies of a list of questions that I give to men when I am involved in a conference for men on personal accountability. Now let me ask you, how many of you sit here this afternoon, meet with someone on an accountability basis? Will you put up your hand? Yeah, just a handful. There are five people, five men that I meet with who ask me questions about my relationship with God out in Western Canada. And these men are not impressed with what I'm doing for God, but they are interested in what God is doing in my life. I mean, I can come back from a conference and say to one of them, you know, I've just preached 14 times in seven days, and he would say, so what? What does that mean? And I have an accountability relationship with my wife that when I arrive back next Monday at home, that one of the first questions she will ask me is, she said, Daddy, what has God done in your life last week? See, I don't go to meetings like this without meeting with God myself. And God is doing some precious new things in my own life. When God does these things in my life, I see some needs in the life of my family, and then I'm praying for them. I prayed for them this afternoon about things that God has been speaking to me about. But I want you to take a list like this, and if you don't have someone with whom you meet, maybe on a weekly basis or once every two weeks or so, I would encourage you to find someone that you feel you can trust. And these are the questions that we ask one another. Where are you presently in your personal relationship with God? And then we talk about it. So we ask these questions to one another. The second question that we ask is, what have you been reading in your daily devotions this week? Let me ask you a question. How many of you that sit here this afternoon have a time where you meet with God every day? Can you put up your hand? That's wonderful. Now, I don't want you to misunderstand me, but how many of you find it possible to spend more than two hours a day in the presence of God? Can you put up your hand? Okay. How many of you spend an hour every day alone with God? Okay. How many of us spend a half an hour every day? Put up your hand. Okay. That's wonderful. I mean, that is 75% above than I'm used to at men's conferences, which to me is a wonderful testimony. And I think maybe in some way, Brother Denny, it's going to give me an opportunity to talk to you about that time that you and I need to spend alone with God. So what have you been reading in your daily devotions this last week? What has God been saying to you during those readings? Are you making notes of what God has been saying to you? Have you been consistent in your times of prayer? I wonder if you will allow me to say to you that it has taken me 19 years in my relationship with God to come to the place where I don't miss a day without meeting with God. And I'm not saying this to try and impress you. I'm just saying to you that it just doesn't happen overnight in our relationships with God. Which areas of your relationship with God do you experience resistance? Are there any unresolved issues in your life? So we talk about it. What are the general and specific things that you are praying about? What habits are you struggling with as a Christian at this time in your walk with God? How are you doing regarding to your spouse and your children? What general reading are you doing these days? If Satan would try to evaluate you as a person or as a servant of God, how might he do it? You know, I met with a pastor some time ago out in Western Canada and I spent 90% of my time with these men. And when I came home, I ran into the kitchen and ran into the arms of my wife and just wept. And she said, what's wrong? I said, well, I had lunch today with a man that scared the life out of me. He's got a church of about 2300 people. And we sat around the lunch table and there was nothing that he didn't know. I mean, he knew everything. And the longer I spent in his presence, I tell you, the more scared I became. And I said to my wife, I said, that man is going to be in trouble very, very soon. So it's wonderful to become vulnerable in the presence of God. And whenever someone comes to me and says, you know, will you pray for me in this area of my life? I'm struggling and I'm so scared I'm going to fail God in this aspect of my relationship with God. And I'm in fear and tremble about it. I'm delighted to meet people like that because as long as they keep that attitude, I've never come across a man that has failed God in that area of his life when it comes to that. What is the state of your sexual perspective? Are you tempted? Are you struggling with fantasies? Or are you entertaining evil thoughts? They say to us today, and I don't know if it's true or not, but they say to us today that there are almost 70 to 80% of men that have got a problem in this area of their life. And maybe you're one of those men. I want to encourage you, the more you pray for your wife, the more you will appreciate your wife. And I have dealt with many, many men that are hooked on pornography. And do you know what? We dealt with a man some time ago and God set him free from the curse of that thing. And after God set him free, he turned to me and he said, when I was a youngster, he said, I was the drug addict and he was on crack cocaine or something. And then he said, I became a Christian and then I was hooked on pornography. And he said, Gerard, I want to tell you that this is worse than drugs. And if it's an area of your life that you need to protect and an area of your mind that you need to protect, it's the realm of your mind. And we're living in a time that we are exposed to an enormous amount of things. And God needs to keep your mind clean as a believer. Where are you financially right now? I wonder if you realize that the way that you and I deal with our finances is a reflection in our relationship with God. A friend of mine who was a pastor was asked to leave his church about 18 months ago, not because he fell into immorality or because he messed around with the finances of the church or any of those things, but he dealt with his own finances in such a way that his house was sold out under him. And the board and the church got together and they asked him to resign from the church because of the testimony. Do you have someone to whom you are accountable? Have you spent time with a non-Christian this last month? I don't think God wants us to have worldly friends, but if you don't have friends in the world, you're pretty dead in the water. I trust God every year to bring 12 men across my path who do not know the Savior. And I pray for these men every day. And I have befriended these men. And God gives me opportunities to share the gospel with them. And sometimes three or four of these men would come to Christ every year, and I long for the year that every one of the 12 that God brings across my path will find the Savior. But it hasn't happened yet. So I wonder if you've got non-Christian friends. God doesn't want you to compromise with where they are, but God wants you to get alongside of them and show an interest in their lives and win these men for the Lord Jesus. You have a prayer list where you pray for non-Christians. What are the kind of challenges that you're facing right now? What's the greatest desire in your life? What are the three things that you are most thankful for? What areas of your life is the Holy Spirit of God working on? And I have this in my quiet time every day. And when I meet with God, the Spirit of God sometimes lets some of these questions out without me even looking at this list. And it just becomes a real blessing to my own heart. One other little thing that I would like to suggest to you, that we have three... I brought three cassettes, messages by Duncan Campbell, that many people do not have. And I've got about 17 of these messages in my library, but I brought three of those. And the one is where he did a lecture to the students in Edinburgh. He was the principal at our Bible college. And he took an hour to do a lecture on the Lewis revival, where he in detail shared some of the things that happened in the Lewis revival. And the second one, did he give his personal testimony, how God dealt with him prior to the Lewis revival, and how God met with him in such a deep way and prepared him for the Lewis revival. And the third cassette is dealing with a message that he preached in 1976 or 1974 at Prairie Bible Institute on the nature of a God-sent revival. And I've asked John if we can make copies for you. Now the only thing that I need to say to you is that those messages are copyright. It's just because I'm part of the organization. So you will not be allowed to go and make copies of that and distribute it, unless we can get permission to do that. So I just mention that. Let's just pray. Just sit as you are and we're just going to pray. Father, we thank you so much this afternoon for the session that we can spend together after you have met with us in such a wonderful way last night. We thank you for the way that you have worked in our hearts. And Father God, thank you for the way that you've worked in my own heart. And thank you for the tremendous, precious burden that you have given to me for these men. And Lord, I pray that in these minutes that we will spend together this afternoon, Father, I pray that as we talk about this great, sanctifying work of God's Spirit in our hearts, that you will help me to be so simple in explaining what God is able to do in our life. And that you will apply this to every one of our needs, we pray. And cover us under the precious blood of Christ. In Jesus' name. Amen. I want to say to you at the outset that I don't know if you realize this afternoon that God's plan for every one of us who know the Lord Jesus as our personal Savior, that His plan for our lives as men is that every one of us will be able to know that we are filled with the Spirit of God. And in saying that to you, I also need to say to you that just as sure as you sit here this afternoon and you say, I know that I know Jesus as my personal Savior. I know that He is in my life. I know that He has saved me. Just as sure as that, then you know that you are full to the Holy Spirit of God. Now let me clarify myself. I personally believe that from God's perspective, is it possible for you and for me to trust Him to save us and at the very same moment that God saves us, is it possible for God to fill us with all the fullness of the Spirit of God? Now I believe that. I tell you what is my problem. I have found very few people who can say that God has done that for them. So from God's perspective, is there not the slightest uncertainty? And I think if I think of the household of Cornelius, you remember in Acts chapter 10, I believe that it is possible for us to say that Cornelius was probably saved and sanctified and full to the Spirit of God at the same moment. And you remember, for instance, when the people of God came out of Egypt on their way to the Promised Land. My brethren, it was not the will of God that they spent 40 years in the wilderness. God wanted to bring them into the Promised Land in about 11 and a half days. But the Bible says, in fact you remember God says in the Old Testament, He brought them out. And why did He bring them out? For one simple reason, so that He could bring them in. But my problem with men today and just Christians in general is that the majority of us, and the unfortunate thing is it happened to me, but the majority of us, and the majority of us that sit here this afternoon, and things that you confessed before God last night, and things that you put right before God, the majority of us that when we trusted God to save us, is there are things in which we couldn't say that we were full to the Spirit of God. And God in His great love, in His Word has made it possible for us to look at the Scripture and find out what the Bible is saying to us about what we would consider as a defeated Christian life, or a carnal Christian experience, or a life where I find myself sinning as a believer, and find myself doing the things that I don't want to do, and the things that I do want to do, I find myself not doing those things. Many times the question comes to us, well, is this all, is that the only reason why Jesus has died for us on the cross? No, it's not the only reason, because let me give you a few passages from the Word of God. Do you remember the Son of God in John chapter 10 made a wonderful statement? He said, I have come so that you might have life and abundance of life. He said to us in John chapter 7, He said, ye that believe upon Me as the Scripture says, rivers of living water shall flow from the innermost of His being. Why did He say that? The Bible said that for the simple reason that Jesus was not yet glorified, and the Holy Spirit was not yet given. So God is speaking to us that His perception of a normal Christian life is a life, my brethren, where rivers of living water are flowing from the innermost of our being. That's God's plan for us. You remember in Luke chapter 24, He returned to His disciples and how did He say to them? He said, I want you to tarry in Jerusalem until you have received the endowment from My Father. And Acts chapter 1 verse 8, He said to them, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit will come upon you. So the Lord Jesus made it very, very clear that God's plan for you and for me as a believer is our inheritance in God, is the life and the fullness of the Spirit of God. That's what happened in Acts chapter 2 when the Spirit of God came. The Bible says they were all full to the Holy Spirit of God. Now if you look at those early disciples after the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 2, and if you look at those early disciples prior to Acts chapter 2, for instance in the four Gospels, maybe you will say to me, well Gerard, were they really saved in the four Gospels? Can we look upon those early disciples and say that they were born of the Spirit of God? I'm not sure if we can, but if you would allow me to suggest to you that, and what we would consider as, and I don't like to use this word, but what we would consider as in the dispensation of the Gospels, will you discover that those early disciples were in the context of the Gospels, were they born of God? For the simple reason that you remember in John chapter 17 when he prayed for them, he said to the father when he prayed, he said, Father, I prayed for them because you have given them to me out of this world. In John chapter 10, or rather in Matthew chapter 10, when the Lord Jesus sent them out, and you remember how they came back rejoicing because of what they saw happen as they were preaching the good news of the Gospel, and as they came back they were just thrilled by what was happening, and the Son of God turned to him and he said, I don't want you to be glad about what has been happening, he said, but I want you to be glad because your name has been written in the book of life. So in the context of the Gospels, if we can use this word, born again, are we allowed to say that they belong to the Lord Jesus? And I mean there were people in the Gospels whose lives were changed. I think of Nicodemus, you remember when Jesus said to him that you must be born again, and it's obviously that something happened to Nicodemus as you read through the rest of the Gospels, and I think for instance of Zacchaeus and the woman at the well, and John chapter 4, and many of those indications that people had a real encounter with Christ. Now if we are entitled to say that they were born of the Spirit of God or not, of course that is debatable, because there are some that say no, we can't say that they were born of the Spirit, simply because of the reason that the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost. And then there are others that would say that they were born of the Spirit at the end of John's Gospel. You remember when the Lord Jesus appeared unto them and He breathed upon them, and He said to them, receive ye the Holy Spirit. So when we discuss this whole concept of being born of the Spirit in the dead, and the context of the Gospels are the things that we are maybe not sure about. But I believe that they had an experience with God. And if you look at their lives in their relationship with the Lord Jesus prior to Pentecost and after Pentecost, then you see an amazing situation. You see Peter denying the Savior, cursing almost that he didn't know the Lord Jesus. You see the self-centeredness and the lies of those early disciples. You see that when the Savior asked them to pray that they fell asleep. You see how they were trying to surround the Lord Jesus that others were not able to. You see how they were so ambitious that James and John wanted to sit at the right hand and the left hand of the Son of God in glory. And you see that it was a carnal life, even within the Gospels. Then when the Holy Spirit of God came in Acts chapter 2, you see the tremendous difference that took place in their lives. Stephen was stoned in Acts chapter 7. Peter stood up. That man that crumbled in the presence of a servant girl at the end of the Gospels, suddenly stood up and he preached a sermon that three thousand people were converted. And something took possession of their lives to such a degree that the people recognized and they said, they must have been with Jesus. So what happened? They were full to the Spirit of God. And my brethren, if you want, and we never had time last night to be able to get to that, but if last night one of the points that I wanted to talk about was not only the importance of the time or the importance of the place and the importance of the people, but there was the importance of the manifestation. What happened when the Holy Spirit came? The Bible said there was the sound of a rushing mighty wind. But the Bible says that there were tongues of fire that came and sat upon each and every one of them. And the Greek word is very significant. It distributed itself upon each of those early disciples. And when the Spirit of God came, what did they do? They spoke in sixteen known different languages. The Greek word is the Greek word dialectos. Now incidentally, that never ever happened to them again. Why did they speak in those sixteen languages? Because there are three feasts in the Acts of the Apostle. There was the feast of the Passover in the month of April. There was the feast of the Tabernacles in the month of October. And then there was the feast of the first fruits in the month of May. That was the time when the Spirit of God came. And they reckon that there were about a million people in and around Jerusalem during the time of the coming of the Spirit of God. And when the Spirit of God came, those people were converted because what did they say to those early disciples? They said, we hear them speaking in our own language the wonderful works of God. They were not preaching the gospel, but they were speaking the wonderful works of God. And those people were converted, and they went back to those sixteen different parts of the world. And the only logical explanation that we have for the church that was found in the city of Rome was that there were some of those who were Romans on the day of Pentecost who must have been converted, and they went back to the city, and the first church was planted in the city of Rome. That was the manifestations. But my brethren, what was the evidence of what happened on the day of Pentecost? The evidence of what happened on the day of Pentecost was found in Acts chapter 15. And in Acts chapter 15, when the early church came together for what we maybe could call their first church council, or their first senate meeting as it were, there was a tremendous discussion going on because somehow God has poured out His Spirit upon the household of Cornelius, and the Spirit of God was pouring out upon the Gentiles. And being a Jew, these Jews could not understand how was it possible that God would pour out His Spirit upon the Gentiles. And Peter, who was the person that was used of God in the outpouring of God's Spirit upon the Gentiles, had to give account. And do you remember how he stood up? And he made a statement that gives us the heart of the evidence of what happened on the day of Pentecost. And this is what he said. He said, God which knoweth their hearts has given unto them, that was the Gentiles, the Holy Spirit, exactly as He has given it unto us. And he went on to say, and he said, God has made no difference between us and them because He purified their hearts by faith. Now there are four words that you need to remember. First of all, God knoweth their hearts. You see, when you responded last night and you sought God, God knew your heart. The second thing that Peter said, he said, God gave them witness, giving unto them the Holy Spirit, the same as He did unto us. He made no difference between us and them. And what did He do? He purified their hearts by faith. He would ask me this afternoon, he said, Gerard, if I want to trust God to fill me with His Spirit, that's my inheritance, as a husband, and as a father, and as a lay leader, and as a pastor, or whatever I find myself in this afternoon. That's the normal Christian life. And my brethren, you dare not be satisfied until you know in your heart that you are full to the Spirit of God. That's our inheritance as God's people. But you say, God wants to fill me with His Spirit in my relationship with God. What is there that God needs to do in my life? Well, what does the Bible say? Can God fill an unclean vessel? He can't do that. I mean, if I come to your house, and that's my problem with, and I don't want you to misunderstand me, but that's my problem with the people who are saying, and I'm sure you recognize that I don't use the word, the baptism in the Holy Ghost. And maybe some of you will not agree with me, but I don't find any reference in the Word of God for a Christian to be baptized to the Holy Ghost. Maybe that's debatable. I mean, I give you a piece of my mind that I can't afford to lose anyway. And if you don't agree with me, just come after us and say, Gerard, I'm sorry about it. God wants to cleanse us. I mean, why did John the Baptist refer to the fact that God sends fire? And when the Holy Spirit came upon the life of the Lord Jesus, there was no fire, there was no cleansing, because there was no need for cleansing. And I mean, if I come to your house, and we sit in the living room, and you and I say, your wife will bring us a cup of tea. I mean, your wife will not go into the kitchen and take a cup that hasn't been washed for three or four weeks, and I mean, fill it with tea, and then bring it, unless she wants to poison me and probably didn't like my preaching. But I mean, we won't do things like that. And my brethren, I have great difficulty in my heart to believe that God is going to fall someone of the Spirit if that heart has not been cleansed. Now, what is it that God wants to cleanse us from? Well, let's take a few wonderful examples in the Word of God. Let's go to the Corinthians. And you remember what happened in 1 Corinthians chapter 3? Now, you remember this. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse number 2, Paul said to them that they were sanctified. You say, what does that mean? You see, at our experience of conversion, we are positionally and potentially sanctified, set apart unto God, but not necessary experientially. So God wants to do a work of cleansing in my heart as a believer. You say, now what about the Holy Spirit, Gerard? Can you explain that to me? Well, let me make a suggestion to you. The Holy Spirit of God is not an influence or a manifestation or an experience. My brethren, the Holy Spirit of God is a person. And when you and I were converted, what happened to us, you and I received the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God witnessed to my spirit that I was a child of God. And the Spirit of God is a person. The Spirit of God never speaks of Himself or about Himself. He always brings me back to the Word of God and the life of Jesus. And when you and I receive God's Spirit into our lives, we receive the person of the Holy Spirit. And you can't divide our personality. You can't do that. So when you are saved, you receive that which there was of the Spirit. But you say, how is it possible that I can receive the Holy Spirit as a person in my life and I'm still defeated in my life? You know why it's possible? It's possible on this basis that, and that's why I said earlier on, I believe it can happen at my experience of conversion. I believe it's possible the day when I was converted, and I have, if I had the understanding of justification by faith and sanctification by faith, and I have an understanding about the Spirit-filled life, I would say to you, I believe that in one moment God is able to save me and cleanse me and fill me with His Spirit. But it happens so seldom. You say, well, what has happened to me? Well, we've received the Holy Spirit. But you know what has happened to the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is resident in my life and He's not precedent. I mean, if I sit here as a Christian husband this afternoon and I'm struggling with lust in my life, it means that there is an area in my life where the Spirit of God is not precedent. If you sit here this afternoon as a man and you're struggling with evil thoughts, it means that the Spirit of God is resident there, but He's not precedent. If you sit here and you struggle with anger or bitterness, or if you struggle with envy, or if you struggle with a sense of hatred, or if you struggle with a bad temper and those kind of things, it simply means that the Spirit of God is not precedent. He's resident in your life, but He's not precedent. You say, well, if that's true in my life this afternoon, I mean, you sit here and you say, I struggle with my prayer life. It's a laziness about my life, it's a lack of discipline. And I struggle with impurity and all kinds of stuff in the realm of my emotions. It simply means that the Spirit of God is like a little bird in a cage and He's in absolute bondage. There's no sense of freedom in your life. So the question is, does it mean that for the rest of my life I need to go on like this? No, it doesn't mean that. My brethren, I believe that the Bible is teaching to us this afternoon that it is possible that God, in a moment, can come to you in my life and cleanse us from that sin in our life. And the Spirit of God who's resident there in my life, as I trust Him to cleanse me and for God to fill me, that the Spirit of God who's there takes absolute control of my life and I begin to live a spiritful life. So 1 Corinthians chapter 3, what is it speaking of? It's speaking about strife and envy and the life of the people of God. 1 Corinthians chapter 5, what is it saying to us? It's speaking of a fornication within the church of the Lord Jesus. You say, how is it possible? You see, there is sin in my life, and some refer to that as indwelling sin, and others refer to that as the body of sin. I mean, people give different terms to something. I like to speak of the fact that God saved me and He has forgiven me for the guilt of sin, but I can still sit to the power of sin in my life. And if you look at the efficacy of the blood of Jesus Christ, my brethren, you remember in 1 John chapter 1 verse 7, what does the Bible say? The Bible says if we walk in the light, if God is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from every sin. 1 John chapter 1 verse 9 is saying to us, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And the amazing thing is that in the structure of the Greek tense, it's in the aorist imperative mood. It means a point where God can cleanse me from all unrighteousness. That's a strong term. You sit here and you say, Gerard, are you saying to me this afternoon that there is the possibility that God is able to cleanse me from all sin in my life? I believe that's what the Word of God is saying to us. You sit here this afternoon and you say to me, doesn't that sound like sinless perfection? I don't think so. Why is it that the Bible is saying to us in Hebrews chapter 9 verse 14, how much more shall the blood of Christ cleanse our conscience from what? From dead works to serve the living God. You see, if you and I sit in the service this afternoon and you say to me, I don't think God can cleanse me from every sin in my life, we are underestimating the efficacy of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. God wants to cleanse us. So what is the sin that the Bible is speaking about? Well, you remember what Romans chapter 6 is saying to us. In fact, turn to your Bible with me if you will and let's go to Romans chapter 6. If you want to understand justification by faith, don't pluck into Romans chapter 5 and think that's where it is. If you want to understand justification by faith, it's in Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 5 is the consequences of justification by faith. Now we come to chapter 6 and look at verse number 1. Paul said, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Now go to verse number 12 for instance. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lust thereof. Verse 13. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. And then verse 14. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law, but ye are under grace. Now verse 18. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. Now, come into verse number 6. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him. When did that happen? Two thousand years ago, I believe. That the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. You see, I think the Bible is teaching us that there is the possibility that you and I, that God can cleanse us from sin in my life. And my brethren, once God cleanses us from sin in our lives, it makes room for the Spirit of God to take full control of my life. You say, well, what kind of sin do you think the Bible is speaking of? Well, just pop into Romans chapter 7 before we go to the epistle to the Galatians. Let's go to verse number 15. Paul said, For that which I do, I allow not for what I would, that I not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that's what I do. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that is good. Now then, it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing, for to will is present with me. But how to perform that which is good, I find not. For the good that I would, I do not. But the evil which I would not, that I do. Now, if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but it is sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, so then with the mind I serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. And just go to chapter 8 verse number 1, because this is where the victory is. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law there. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in a place that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Go to Galatians chapter 5, if you would please. Galatians chapter 5, verse number 16. This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest. Which are these? Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, assiduousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, immolations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, enlies, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like, of which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Now let me ask you a question. These New Testament epistles, to whom were they written? To believers or unbelievers? They were written to the people of God. So the Bible is saying to us that these things that we've been reading about, that those things can be in the life of the people of God. That's what the Bible is saying. So what does it mean? It means God needs to cleanse me from those things. I don't know how many of you have read the works of John Bunyan. I've got all the volumes of John Bunyan in my library, and I won't sell them for a thousand dollars. I mean, don't test me with two thousand, but I mean, they're very, very precious. Because my works of John Bunyan were printed in 1711. I mean, it's just a treasure. And the day when I die, I want them out of the coffin. Anyway, if you've read John Bunyan's The Holy War, he used a wonderful way to explain to us what God is really trying to say to us in His Word. And Bunyan speaks of roads in the life of every believer, proclimated roads. And he used this illustration. He said that sin in the life of a believer, or what some would refer to as the body of sin, or this power of sin in my life, this something that caused me to do things, that I know that every time when I do those things, I feel so desperate about it, and I sometimes wonder if I'm really a Christian. And he said, those roads in my life. And he used this illustration. He said that when Adam and Eve sinned, before Adam and Eve sinned, Adam and Eve had what we would speak of as a perfect human nature, because they were sinners. They were created after the image of God. And then sin came in. And the Bible says to us, for as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men for all have sinned. When sin came in, Ephesians chapter 2 is speaking to us about this crooked, this warped generation. And if you look at that in the Greek text, you will see that he's speaking about a warped nature, a crooked nature. And because of the sin of Adam and Eve, every one of us that sit here and the services offered in my brethren, every one of us sit with a warped nature. I mean, if you don't sit with one, welcome to humanity. And within this warped nature dwells sin. Now when God saves me, He saves me from the guilt of sin, and I believe He can save me from the power of sin, but I haven't found people like that often. But this sin that dwelleth in me, God is able, through the precious blood, to cleanse me from this sin in my life. And when God cleanses me from this sin, you say, what is this sin in this warped nature? It's these works of the flesh. And you may be some of us that sit here this afternoon and say, well Pastor, I mean, I've never given into adultery or all those things that we read in Galatians 5. So it simply means that it never became a vehicle in your life. You never gave expression. But if you would allow me to say to you, if God has not cleansed us from sin, there is the potential that you and I can do those things. In other words, there is what I would refer to as proclimated roads in every one of our lives. You say, what is a proclimated road? If I have a farm here somewhere in Pennsylvania, and over my farm is a proclimated road, if I go and build a house there, the government could come and say, you can't build a house there, because if we look at the map of this area, you see these little stipper lines, as it were, these little dots. On this, there is a proclimated road. It means that if you are going to build a house there, we would be able to come eventually and say, we are going to send some bulldozers in, and we are going to push through your house, because there is a proclimated road. And my brethren, every one of us, because of the sin of Adam and Eve, these works of the flesh, maybe you have not given expression to that in your past life, but every one of us, we have these roads in our lives, and some of these roads have got little byways, and some of them have got little trails, and it's all scattered through humanity. And then Bunyan made this statement, he said, if you look at the concept of the cleansing blood, what God is able to do in my life, God is able to cleanse these roads out of my life, these sins, these works of the flesh, out of my life as a believer. Well, he said, Gerard, if God cleanses the principle or the power of sin out of my life, and He cleanses me in the Spirit of God, the Spirit of God is in full control of my life, does it mean that there is absolutely no sin in my life? Well, let me make a distinction. These roads that we are speaking about, because you see, after God has cleansed me and filled me with His Spirit, you will discover that the Spirit-filled life is not a goal, my brethren. The Spirit-filled life is a gateway. So why do you say that? Because in Acts chapter 2, they were full to the Holy Spirit of God. And you remember in Acts chapter 4, they were full to the Holy Spirit of God again. And you remember in Acts chapter 11, they were full to the Holy Spirit of God again. And you remember in Ephesians chapter 5, the Apostle Paul said to us, be not drunk of wine, wherefore there is an excess. He said, but be being full to the Spirit. There is one initial moment where God fills me with His Spirit, where He cleanses me, but subsequent to that, in my relationship with God, are there going to be many, many times that God cleanses and fills me with His Spirit again. Well, you say, God has cleansed me from the sin in my life. Is there then any sin left? Well, let me explain to you. These roads that we are talking about, God cleansed the sin out of those roads, these patterns in my life, these mind-settings that you and I have as a believer. Say, for instance, it was lust in your life, and Satan came, and the temptation came, and there was the sin of lust in your life. My brother, what happened to you and me? The temptation came to us, and it came to the mind, and once it hit the mind, it tried to go for the emotions, and once it got involved in the emotions, it tried to go for the will. And when does temptation become sin? When I yield to it. But if my will is in bondage, and if it is the sin of lust in my heart, when temptation comes, that temptation makes contact, and there is a civil war going, and I find myself absolutely impossible to resist that temptation. And I give in to it. And it has formed a mind-setting, and a pattern in my life. And I am in bondage as a Christian. God wants to come, and what does He want to do? He wants to cleanse that sin out, so that when the temptation comes, the point of contact is not going to be there. You say, oh, just a moment. Are you saying to me that if God cleanses me as a believer from sin in my life, that I will never be tempted by it? Can I tell you something? You are going to be tempted twice as much. You say, but if God has cleansed me, maybe I will never be able to give in to it. It is not true. You see, when we speak about the spirit-filled life, and my brethren, this is why I believe that the evidence of the spirit-filled life is not speaking in tongues, because I have met people that say that they are baptized in the Holy Spirit, and they are speaking in these unknown languages as they say it, and I saw them in a bachelor's estate, and I have seen them lying on their backs as drunk as can come, and they are still speaking in that whatever it is. You see, we are speaking about the life this afternoon, my brethren, where there is no counterfeit. And we are speaking about the life that if God is going to cleanse me and fill me with His Holy Spirit, and I will know, and I am going to explain to you how I will know that, and I will know that God has done that for me, then I have a responsibility and the pleasures of God to maintain and to retain the fullness of God's Spirit in my life. So God said, I want to cleanse you. You say, how did it happen with you? It happened with me three years after I went out into ministry. You say, did you have a great experience? Was there a big manifestation of the pleasures of God? No, not in my life. There are people, I mean, you think if you read the life story of D. R. Moody, and you read his life story, you see what Moody said. I mean, Moody was overwhelmed when God did the work in his heart. But if you read the life story of Hudson Taylor of a China Inland Mission, what happened to Hudson Taylor, it was a tremendous relief. You see, I was in such tremendous bondage in my life because I had tremendous struggles in my heart, and when these temptations came and they found a place of contact because of a sin in my life as a minister, I was in such bondage and I almost punished myself. I said, now I need to spend a week in fasting and prayer. And I spent a week in fasting and prayer and tried to punish myself and I couldn't get victory. So God spoke to me and said, your problem is not this. Your problem is I need to destroy that. You see, if there are things in my life that I need to give, that I need to trust God to cleanse me from, what is the very first step that I need to do as a believer? My brethren, the very first step that you and I need to do is not only to acknowledge it and say, God, I know those things are there. I mean, maybe you struggled with some of those things last night, but the very first thing that God wants you to do, my brethren, is simply this. He wants you to realize that you're going to acknowledge that, but He wants you to realize that God can only take that which you are prepared to surrender. I mean, it's like going into the hospital for an operation and if I were going to the hospital and they need to do some operation on me and the surgeon would come around the previous day and say, now, we need to do this operation on you, Gerard. I mean, this is serious stuff. And I would lie there in the bed and say, well, you know, when you do this operation, I would like to know what is going on. I would like to be conscious. I would like to see what you are doing. I want you to be aware. I mean, this guy would say to me, look at me and say, you know, you must have ants in the attic. I mean, you're not going to make it. He'd say, you pass out the first time when I cut you open. But what he's actually saying to me, he said, listen, you need to trust me. You need to trust my ability. I'm going to put you under an anesthetic and you won't know what's happening to you. But you trust him. And I would say, what do I do? I surrender. And I would like to say to you this afternoon that if you and I want God to cleanse us, and all I tell you, I said to Brother Denny earlier on today, I said, you know, after last night and my own heart was deeply affected, but my brethren, I'm so concerned that we can come out and we go and pray and we respond and we weep our hearts out before God. And next week and the week after next week, you're just going to be the same. And you lose the emotion of this week. And I mean, I tell you, you can't trust emotion. I'm speaking about an experience, my dear brethren, and I love you so deeply when I say this, I'm speaking about an experience of God cleansing you and the Spirit of God taking control of your life as a believer where in six years time we can meet and you say to me, Gerard, what God did for me at that conference there in Pennsylvania, I know that it's working out in my relationship with God. So you say, what do I do? I need to surrender to God. I need to put everything on the altar for God. And that cost, you know, means you need to put your wife on the altar for God because God is going to say to you, take your hands off. Stop trying to do the work of the Holy Spirit. God is going to say to you, put your children in the altar for God. God is going to say to you, put your ambitions in the altar for God. You know, when I went out into ministry, I didn't plan to stay in ministry. I mean, we were brought up in a cattle ranch and I wanted to become a vet. I mean, I love animals. Even these days staying with Brother Denny on the farm, I mean, you know, just being around there, it just, I love farming. One of the most difficult things that I had to surrender to God was the farm. And then God spoke to me to go to Britain. Mother died. Father was on his own. I was the youngest child and I was responsible for Father and I went back to South Africa. And eight months later, in my quiet time, God spoke to me and said, I want you to go back to Britain. And I had to go to my old father and said, I can't stay any longer. I can't stay any longer. And I didn't have the courage to go and say it in his face. I thought I'd prepare him and I talked to him on the phone. And as I was saying to him on the phone, I said, Papa, God wants me to go back to Britain. He was sobbing on the other side of the phone. I had to put the phone down in my father's ear. I couldn't take it any longer. I need to put my body on the altar for God. My mind and its thoughts, my will and its choices, my body and its instincts, my heart and its affection, the love that I had for my wife, I had to put it on the altar for God. Oh, you say, how can you do that? God needs to sanctify it. You see, God can only take that which I surrender. And Duncan Campbell used to say, Calvary can only cover that which I'm prepared to uncover. And my brother, if we're not going to become bankrupt, God is not going to do the work for us. You know why? Because the Bible says, He gave the Holy Spirit to whom? To those that obey Him. If there's one little area in your life, and this is where the price is coming in, if there's one little area in your life that you're going to hold back, I sometimes say to people, why don't you go and sit down and write down everything that needs to go to the altar of God. All needs to go to God. He's going to take it and He's going to sanctify it. And some of those things He's going to give back to you, but they're going to be under the control of the Holy Spirit. And some other things He's going to take away from you and He's not going to give it back to you. So what do I do? I surrender to God. I surrender. Have you ever played your own death march? And forgive me for this illustration, but Napoleon, the great French warrior, they were marching in the Alps and there was a little drummer at the front. And as they were marching, the little drummer on the cliff of the rocks slipped and he fell down some of those rocks and he fell onto another cliff and a little rock and he was still there. And he was alive. And he shouted out, please rescue me. And then the message came through to the great Napoleon that the drummer has slipped over the cliff and he's still alive and if we stop the convoy in the march, we would be able to rescue him. And Napoleon sent a message to the front and said, the march is not going to stop. And the little drummer got the word. They're not going to rescue him. And he began to play his own death march. Oswald Chambers asked a question. He said, have you ever been to your own funeral? Listen my brother, I want to tell you this afternoon and I tell you, God knows my heart when I say this. It's one thing for us to be saved, but it's another thing for us to die to ourselves. It means a total consecration. And I don't know how many of us are maybe ready for it. You say, if I'm ready for a total consecration of my life to God, what's the next step? Well, I tell you, it costs. I see faces here and you're going to be in ministry if you consecrate yourself totally to God. And you sit there and it scares the life out of you. But you know it. What is the next step? Cleansing. You're going to get alone with God and say, God, I want you to cleanse my heart from sin. You're going to say, God, if there's lust in my life, I want you to cleanse it. If there's bitterness in my heart, I want you to cleanse it. If there's laziness in my life, I want you to cleanse it. And you bring every one of those things to God. You confess it before God and you ask God to cleanse you. What is step number three? You're going to ask God to fill you with His Spirit. You say, Pastor, how do I do that? You ask Him by faith. You remember Acts chapter 15? God would snow the hearts, bear Him witness, giving to them the Holy Ghost, same as He did unto us, no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Not by how I feel. You know, the night when I trusted God to fill me with His Spirit, oh, my dear brother, I didn't feel that. I mean, I felt as dead as this pulpit. There was nothing. Maybe this pulpit is not dead, there's so much Christian behind it, full of life, I guess, especially with Brother Denny behind it. I mean, I was just... There was nothing. So you trust Him by faith to sanctify you. And then you ask Him by faith to fill you with the Holy Spirit of God. Now, I know you sit here and say, well, Gerard, if I ask Him by faith to fill me with the Holy Spirit of God, and I'm really serious of God, and I'm really honest of God, and I really in my heart, I really mean it, how will I know that God is going to do the work in my life? Now, listen to this very, very carefully. The only way that you and I are going to know it is through the witness of the Spirit of God. Well, you say, isn't there another way that I will know it? Of course there is. You're going to experience the difference. I remember when God did this work in my own heart, the release that came, the sense of peace that came. You remember the writer to the Hebrews wrote in chapter 4 of the epistle to the Hebrews, and he said, he said, there remained therefore a rest for the people of God. And you remember further on in chapter 4, he said, he that hath entered into his rest rest from his own work as God from His. There's a rest. There's a peace. There's a freedom. There is Romans chapter 8. What does it say? It says, there is therefore now no condemnation. All the condemnation is gone. To those who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. If you would allow me to define the witness of God's Spirit and the Spirit brought life to you, I like to do it in this way. I say to people, it's like a scale. And in the one side of the scale is your experience. The place where you got alone with God as a Christian man, where you made that surrender to God, where you asked God, and you were absolutely honest. I mean, God said, you will seek Me and find Me if you seek Me with all your heart. That's your experience. The place where you trust Him to cleanse him. And we say, God, fill me with Your Holy Spirit. That's the experience. That's the one side of the scale. It's what we can refer to as the indirect witness of the Spirit of God. That's my experience. Because my brother, on the other side of the scale, is the Word of God. You say, why do you say that? I say that to you because your experience of the Spirit brought life is going to be affected by how you feel emotionally and physically and spiritually and mentally. And if you want, psychologically, all these factors are going to affect your experience. And if you're just going to try and rely upon an experience, I mean, you're not going to get anywhere. But on the other side of the scale is the Word of God. If you ask me this afternoon and say, well, how do you in your heart know that God has filled you with His Spirit? And you know, people talk about the fullness of God's Spirit and they give you the idea that they're great and wonderful. I want to tell you something. When God filled me with His Spirit, I wept for weeks and for months. There's nothing to boast upon. I mean, one of the great consequences of the fullness of God's Spirit is that you learn that the ministry of humbling yourself is not a discipline, it's a disposition. So you say, what does it mean? My time is gone. God witnessed through His Word. So if I trust Him to sanctify me and fill me with His Spirit, there's a place where I trust Him. But you know what I do? I ask Him and say, God, I want You to speak to me from Your Word that You've done the work of my heart. I want You to speak to me from Your Word that You've done the work of my heart. My time is gone and it's time for supper. You say, this spirit-filled life, what is it? It's not a goal. It's a gateway. For every reference in the New Testament that speaks of the spirit-filled life or being surrendered, my brethren, listen, there are ten references that tells you what God is going to do in your life following being totally surrendered to God. You say, well, what happens then? When God fills me with His Spirit, my will becomes one with the will of God. And I will be concerned about God's will for the rest of my life. But if I'm not going to maintain a consecration, an obedience, a dedication in prayer, a commitment to the will of God, a vulnerability and an openness before God, is there the possibility that God, that I'm going to lose that which God has done for me? I want us to bow our heads before God. We're just going to take a minute or so more. And as we bow our heads before God this afternoon, I want you to think about this because my brethren, I don't want you to trust God this afternoon to take your life totally if you don't really mean it. I don't want you this afternoon to ask God to cleanse you and to fill you with the Holy Spirit if you don't really mean it because if you're going to say that to God and you're not serious about this, God is going to take you on your word. And in the days to come, you're going to have a very, very tough time because you said something to God that you didn't really mean. But I'm going to take a few seconds and I want you to think about it. I want you to count the price of what it's going to cost you to trust God for the fullness of His Spirit. In about 30 seconds, I'm going to pray a prayer. If you are ready, in your heart, and I want you to pray in the quietness of your heart those words after me. But I plead with you, if you aren't ready in your heart, you say, Gerard, I want to think about this more. I want to talk to you more about this. And I don't want you to pray that prayer. But if you are absolutely honest before God, God said, I give my Holy Spirit to those that obey me. But take a moment, and I want you to think about that. You talk to the Lord about it. Count the price. I'm going to pray a prayer now, and I don't want you to pray this out loud, just in the quietness of your heart. I want you to say, Lord Jesus, You know this afternoon that I love You. You know that I don't want to be a defeated Christian. You know that I'm sick of sin in my life. I come to You, Lord Jesus, just as I am. I thank You that I'm precious to You. I want to put my life on the altar for You. I give You my body, my mind, my soul. I hand over my world to You. I put my ambitions on the altar. I put my possessions on the altar of God. Lord Jesus, I put my wife this afternoon on the altar for You. I put my children on the altar for You. I put my church on the altar for You. I put my future on the altar for God. Lord, I pray that You will forgive me. I've gone my own way, and I choose this afternoon Your will for my life. Father, cleanse me from sin. Cleanse me from lust if it is lust. Cleanse me from my evil temper. Cleanse me from anger. Cleanse me from arrogance. I pray in Jesus' name that You will cleanse my heart in Your precious blood, that You will cleanse me through Your Spirit. Father, I pray in simple childlike faith that You will fill me this afternoon with Your Holy Spirit. I ask it in Jesus' precious name. Amen. If you've prayed that prayer, I would like you to pick up your Bible, and I want you to turn with me to John 6, verse 37. Can someone read to us chapter 6, verse 37, please? Anyone? You may be sitting here and you say, how do I know that God has accepted me? The Bible says, Him that will come upon me I will in no way cast out. Let's turn to Luke chapter 11. Can someone read to me verse number 13, please? How much more? Isn't that a tremendous promise? How much more? I mean, if your child comes to you and there is something that your child needs, but you hold it back from him, your child needs it, it won't do that. God said we are evil, and that's how we treat our children. We give them what they need. How much more shall the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? Turn to Acts chapter 5, if you will. Can someone read to us verse 32? We are His witnesses, and God give the Holy Spirit to them that obey Him. On to Solanus chapter 3, it's saying to us, this is the will of God, even your sanctification. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 10, would you? Listen to this. Hebrews 10, verse number 35. Cast not away, therefore, your confidence, which have great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive a promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come and will not tarry. Now the judge shall live by faith. If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. For ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive a promise. Go to Acts chapter 15, verse 8 and 9, if you will. Someone read to us, in fact, Brother Danny, can I ask you to read Acts 15, 8 and 9? God knows the heart, bears them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us, and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. God giving witness. I'm going to give you a little assignment after this afternoon. If you've prayed that prayer, God wants to give you the witness of His Spirit. What is the witness of God's Spirit? The witness of God's Spirit is the Word of God. If you've trusted Him, that's your experience. That's the indirect aspect of the witness. What is the witness? The witness is the Word of God. Let me tell you what happened to me 16 years ago. I trusted Him in the evening, didn't feel anything. I mean, I felt maybe like many of you who pray this afternoon. I said to God that night, I said, God, give me the witness of Your Spirit. And the next morning I had my quiet time. And as I was having my quiet time, going through the Old Testament, and I came across that passage that said, Jehi is King. Just a little sentence. And the Spirit of God took the Word of God and witnessed my heart. I knew the work was done. You say, how did you know it? The following day, when I wanted to do things that I normally wanted to do, I had no desire to do them. And I would walk down into a situation where I normally would lose my temper, and I'd just come and nothing happened. I thought, what's this? And I would normally want to say things of other people, and I'd come to just... there's no desire. And I would not think wrong of to use something that belongs to someone else. I mean, I was a minister. Something that belongs to someone else just for a minute.