In this sermon, the preacher discusses the kind of person that God wants Christians to be in light of the current national and international situation. He emphasizes the importance of studying and saturating oneself in the Word of God, just as a preacher named Watchman Nee did by reading the Bible 12 times. The preacher highlights the faith of biblical figures like Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthai, David, Samuel, and the prophets, who accomplished great feats through their faith. He challenges Christians to stop being passive and to actively build themselves up on the Word of God, as well as to have a clear understanding of the kind of church God intends it to be.

I would like to begin this address by quoting the following from the 11th chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews which we've just heard read. By faith, Abraham. By faith, Isaac. By faith, Joseph. By faith, Moses. And what shall I more say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Barak and of Samson and of Jephthah, of David also and Samuel and of the prophets who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. When did we as Christians last do that? Stop the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Or as one translation puts it, whole armies of aliens. Brethren, here we are in a Christian church in the early part or fairly early part of 1988. In a year which some have said may prove to be the most momentous year in world history. Here we are at a time when the world events are shouting at us that the coming of the great day of God must be very near. We've heard a lot about that this weekend. Here we are at a time when the events in the Middle East all point to the fact that the scene is fast being set for the last great battle of human history, the battle of Armageddon. Here we are at a time when Mr Caspar Weinberger, the United States Defense Secretary before he resigned, had been warning Congress that the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact forces could launch a fast-moving blitzkrieg type operation on the continent at any moment, thus defeating NATO quickly and decisively and thus taking over the whole of Western Europe, including the Channel ports and all the North Sea ports right up to the northern tip of Norway, which is their aim anyway. And they already have contingency plans for an airborne invasion of the United Kingdom when the time is right. Here we are in a Britain which is under judgment because of its tragic departure from God and because of its defiant rebellion against God. In a Britain which could be facing the judgment of being taken over by enemy armies from without and by the enemies within at any moment. And I understand that many of these enemies within are concentrated right there in the city of Manchester. Here we are with a church in the land in utter disarray, fragmented as perhaps never before, and with the majority of the people in England and Scotland and Wales well on the way to hell and to eternal destruction because there is no voice for God being heard in the land, nor any clear declaration of God's gospel of salvation being heard by the masses outside of the churches. Here we are in this Christian church at such a time as this, and the burden which God has laid upon my heart as I come amongst you at the close of this weekend is this. What kind of persons does God want us to be in view of all this that is happening around us and in view of the times in which we live? What kind of person does God want us to be? And so I come to my main theme for this evening. You know, as I view the disturbing national and international situation, and as I study my Bible, I come across this striking phrase in the Bible. There were giants in the land in those days. The first mention, I admit, in the Bible is of physical giants. They are referred to in Genesis 6 verse 4. These were tall men, muscular men, strong men, fighting men, warriors. They were men who towered head and shoulders above everybody else. But these physical giants are not the only kind of giants that we find mentioned in the Bible. For as we go on to read through its pages, we are very soon made aware that there were different kinds of giants, spiritual giants, giants of great spiritual and moral caliber. These were men and women who towered head and shoulders above everybody else spiritually. These were superior giants compared with the other giants that are mentioned, far superior. Because they were mighty men spiritually and mighty women spiritually. Men and women who were strong in the faith, giving glory to God. And brethren, these are the kind of persons God wants us to be today, as the people of God in the world, and the people of God in Stockport, and the people of God in Manchester. For that is what we are, the people of God in the world. And especially so as we are faced with all these challenges which are round about us, disturbing challenges. You know, somebody once said, a preacher from the continent once said, the mark, are you listening, the mark of a regenerate church is a supernatural people. Can I repeat that? The mark of a regenerate church is a supernatural people. I want to ask you in love, are you here in this church a supernatural people? Are you who have come all the way from Sheffield? You see, you find these giants all through the pages of the Old Testament. You find them also in the pages of the New Testament. And I hope that as a result of the challenge of this weekend, you will make it your business to read through all the pages of the Old Testament, that will give you something to do. And through all the pages of the New Testament, many times over, you know something? A man who was called Wang Bingdong, thank you very much, in China, was converted. And then God began to speak to him, and calling him to the preaching ministry. And he said, God said, now this is what I want you to do. I want you to go away to a quiet place, all alone, by yourself, with your Bible, just your Bible, no commentaries, your Bible. And I want you to read through the Bible, from Genesis right through to the Revelation, several times. He went apart into this quiet place, and that is what he set himself to do. And friends, he read the Bible through from cover to cover no less than 12 times, saturated himself in the Word of God. And as a result of doing that, he discovered that there were certain great basic themes that sprung out of the Bible. So he spent a further time studying these great basic themes that were lit up from the pages of the Bible. And having done that, he then went back to his home area, and he began to preach the Gospel, and he went to different parts of China, this is before the Communist takeover, and he went down in the history of China as the greatest preacher and exponent of the Gospel that China has ever known, including Hudson Tate, spiritual giant, saturated in the Word of God, anchored in the Word of God, rooted in the Word of God. And friends, what the Church needs today, what the nation needs today, what the world needs today, is people who are mighty in the Scriptures, well versed in the Word of God. Thank you for the Amen. You should make it as your prior aim to become mighty in the Scriptures, saturated I say, in the Word of God. I ask you, are you doing that? Think of some of the most well-known spiritual giants in the Old Testament. Enoch was the first one. Enoch was the first of the prophets in fact. Enoch the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints to execute judgment upon all, upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. Many of those ungodly sinners speaking against Jesus in Manchester. That came from Jude chapter, sorry, Jude, Jude, there's only one chapter, Jude verse 14 and 15. I want to ask, is that going to be your message in view of the days in which we live? Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints to execute judgment. It needs to be with Armageddon and the coming great day of God fast approaching. People everywhere need to be warned, warned to flee from the wrath to come, because it is coming. It is coming on Britain and it is coming on the whole world. How much longer are we going to confine our message within the four walls of our churches? Praise God they're going out to Stockport priesting. Next Saturday is it. Enoch was the first of the prophets and he was a giant of a preacher. And what we desperately need my friends today and what the world needs today and what this country needs today is true prophets and giants of preachers. And it says then Enoch walked with God. I want to ask you, are you doing that? Walking with God? I want to ask you, are you meeting with God? You see what the church needs today, what the nation needs today, what the world needs today is people who are walking with God. If you are not doing that as a Christian today, then there's something either, then there's either something wrong with you as a Christian or there's something wrong with your Christianity or there's something wrong with both. And if so it needs to be put right pretty quickly. Are you meeting with God here in this church? That's a question that needs to be put in many churches. With all that goes on, all this hi-fi equipment, hundreds of yards of electric flecks that people tip over, tom-toms, drums, guitars, ear splitting noises, the lot, where after all is said and done are they meeting with God friends? Needs to be asked. Then think of David for instance in the story of Goliath. You know David was the real giant as he went out there and confronted Goliath. Have you ever considered that? He was a mere boy but he was the giant. He was the real giant because his vision of Almighty God was so great that compared with God Almighty, Goliath was reduced in David's sight to a mere pigment. David looked at Goliath and he says, Peter, the trouble with many of us Christians is that today is our God is too small. How great may I ask is your vision of Almighty God? Can you sing from the bottom of your heart that wonderful hymn, O Lord my God, how I in awesome wonder consider all the works that thou hast made. They didn't come into being by evolution, all the works that thou hast made. I have to sing, my God, how great thou art. Is your vision of Almighty God so great that you are able to say with absolute faith and confidence, through God I will do great acts, with the help of my God I'll leap over the wall, that's what David was able to say. Through faith he subdued kingdoms. Then think of Abraham, think of Daniel, think of Moses, think of Joshua and Caleb, think of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, the three young Hebrew men who were thrown into Nebuchadnezzar's burning fiery furnace because they refused to bow down to his image and did not so much as have the hair of their heads seen. And they did it by faith, that's what Hebrews 11 says, who through faith quenched the violence of fire. Imagine, these among others all stand out as Old Testament guys, I trust you know all about them. For these are our examples today, they are the examples that the people of God today should be modelling on. Then there are these giants in the New Testament, think of Paul the Apostle for instance, that theological giant of the New Testament, so mighty in the scriptures that he could persuade the chief of the Jews in Rome concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets from morning until evening. Then, not 20 minutes on a Sunday morning, finished. Able to persuade them out of the law of Moses, that's the first five books of the Bible and out of the prophets, that's from most of the rest of the Old Testament, from morning until evening. He was reasoning with them out of the scriptures, trying to persuade them that Jesus was the Christ. I say can you do that? From morning until evening. In other words, how well do we know the books of the prophets of the Old Testament, all of them? How well do we know the law of Moses, that is the first five books of the Bible? Paul had it all at his fingertips and also in his heart, so also ought we. And furthermore my dear friends, may I remind you, I've been studying the book of the Acts of the Apostles recently, all over again, to discover how long these people spent, these spiritual people spent, in building the churches and then laying the original Christian foundations in different parts of the world. One example, Paul, in Ephesus, started preaching every day in a lecture room for two and a half years. Not a weekend's conference, not 20 minutes on a Sunday morning. Two and a half years, every day, in that lecture room, and it says as a result the whole of Asia heard the word of God. If you're playing at things today, then think of the fearless John the Baptist, the totally uncompromising John the Baptist. Then think of John the Beloved, think of the Apostle Peter after Pentecost. Think of Stephen, of whom it is written, they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. Think of Philip, a man who was led by the Spirit if ever there was one. Men full of the Holy Ghost and of faith, men who turned the world upside down in their day. And above all, think of our Lord Jesus Christ himself, who single-handed took on the devil and all his evil forces and won. Finally, triumphing over him and over them openly on the cross of Calvary, and then triumphing over death itself. There were giants in the land and in the world in those days, also New Testament day. Then there have been giants all down the years of our own British history. Outstanding men, powerful men, spiritual men, mighty men, men of powerful spiritual stature, men who under God turned the tide of events in the nation to offer. Think of Alfred the Great, for instance. No other king in our British history has been honoured with the epithet of Great, and what one historian has written, that we cannot understand King Alfred in his other capacities as an outstanding warrior, lawgiver, administrator, and as a man devoted to the revival of learning, unless we start by understanding that everything in his mind was dominated by his intense conviction of the presence of Jesus Christ in the world. That's why he was called Great. Alfred the Great. Think of Columba. Think of William Tyndale, who gave us our first Bible in the English language at the cost of his life, friends. What are we prepared to do for Jesus Christ today at the cost of our lives? Think of Ridley and Latimer, who were burnt at the stake rather than deny their faith under the pressures of the Roman Catholic Church. You know, those evangelical Christians who didn't so much lift up their voices in protest against the Pope's visit to England when he came. How do they stand in comparison with Ridley and Latimer? What would they have done in Latimer's day? Think of George Whitefield and John Wesley, who after the Spirit of God had come upon them in mighty power, as already born again, regenerate Christians and preachers, were used of God to bring about such a mighty spiritual awakening all over this country that the effects of it lasted well over 100 years, and caused this country to become a missionary-hearted country, sending missionaries out with the Gospel to the far corners of the earth. Hallelujah. Whitefield and Wesley turned the tide in England, if ever anybody did. As you know, it was largely due to their preaching and influence that divine providence exalted Great Britain to a height of prosperity and glory unknown to any former age. A fact that is engraven in marble for all to see on a huge memorial tablet just inside the north doors of Westminster Abbey. Think of Shaftesbury and Wilberforce also. On all the other great social reformers, think of the fearless John Knox, who was largely responsible for bringing the Reformation to Scotland, and whose preaching against the idolatry of Rome was so effective, listen, that on one occasion the whole congregation rose up as one man and swept all the idols and images out of the church. Hallelujah. And I had a letter from Scotland two days ago saying that the Baptist Union in Scotland is going over to Rome in April. What would John Knox have said? Then think of Robert McShane, who after the Spirit of God had come upon him as an already regenerated preacher and man of God, was used of God in a later day to bring revival to different parts of Scotland. All these and many another were mighty men, powerful men, clear cut men, totally uncompromising men, men who made a great spiritual impact upon the life of our nation. There were giants in the land in those days, also real giants, spiritual giants, giants who towered head and shoulders above everybody else spiritually. They were really great. And that, my dear friends, is the kind of persons God wants us to be today. These are the kind of people Britain needs today and the world needs today. But I have to ask the question, where are the giants today? I think I'm being, I'm being, actually I believe that there are giants in the making right here, tonight, and some of them are many for students, but the Lord, giants in the making. Listen, I want to say this, there is a tragic dearth of greatness in the land today. There is no dearth of smallness, but there is a dearth of greatness. Why is this, do you suppose? Well you could say, according to Isaiah chapter 3, which is a chapter you ought to study when you get back home, you could say, according to Isaiah chapter 3, that it is all part of God's judgment upon us as a nation, because we have forsaken him, because we have turned away from him, and because we are going against him. Because Isaiah chapter 3 says, for behold the Lord, the Lord of hosts doth take away from Jerusalem and Judah, and it has a list. And then it gives the reasons, because their tongues and their doings are against the Lord. Isaiah 3 verse 1 and verse 8. And then it lists all the things which the Lord doth take away. And it says this, he takes away the stay and the stop, for instance. Fence the stay and the stop are what people lean upon, what they depend upon, what props them up, leaving. He takes them away. The Lord doth take them away, it says, in judgment. And notice it says the Lord does it. Then it goes on to list the following. He takes away the mighty man, and the man of war, and the judge. Many of our judges today are becoming corrupt and have become corrupt. He takes away the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient. That is the giant, the great, the people that make an impact. He takes them away. Then the list continues. He takes away the captain of 50, and the honourable man. How many of those are there around today? Honourable men, honourable women. Somebody's taking their head, that's right, not very many. Honourable, so I want you to be honourable. Then it says he takes away the counsellor, that is the man who gives sound advice to people. Where are they? He takes away the cunning artificer, that means the skilled craftsman. And what a dirt of skilled craftsmen there is in the land today. Odds up jobs, that's all they can do. Then he says he takes away the eloquent orator. Britain hasn't had an eloquent orator since Winston Churchill. This chapter says the Lord does take them away, and it just happens then. And it says because, because my people have voices which speak against the Lord, and are rebelling against the Lord, he takes them away. And then it says in verse 2, 12 of Isaiah chapter 3, as for my people, children are their oppressors. That's what's happening in so many households today. Children run the house. Children dictate the policies. Children say, I want this, I want that, and I'm going to have the other thing. And that verse goes on to say, don't misunderstand me, I'm quoting the Bible, as for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. That's women's lives. And women's lives have reversed the divine ordinance. The divine ordinance is that the man is the head of the wife, just as Jesus Christ is head of the church. And until very recently, the leader of the house of the Lord was a woman. He doesn't say any more. And verse 8 of this chapter tells us why all these things have happened. For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen, because, because their tongue and their doing are against the Lord. That's why. And you can say the same for Britain. Britain is ruined, ruined. It is, isn't it? And her once proud empire is fallen, because, because their tongue and their doing are against the Lord. That's why. You don't have to look any further for an explanation than that. And the last part of verse 12 of Isaiah chapter 3 puts it all in a nutshell. Oh my people, they which lead thee, cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy past. They which lead thee, should. And the leaders of the church are leading us to Rome. They that lead thee, cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy past. My dear friends, Britain is doing the wrong work. And the more I study the situation, and the more I read between the lines, the more I am convinced that there is a conspiracy, listen, in the echelons of power to deliberately take her the wrong way. It's not all happening by accident. It's a deliberate policy. Oh my people, they which lead thee, cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy past. Very strong words. All this could explain the death of greatness in the mass, and why there is no death of smallness. The prophet Ezekiel says, and ye shall be diminished. And it has happened, friends. Now listen, there should be, there should be no death of greatness in the church, at a time like this, surely. Death of greatness in the land, maybe. But not death, not a death of greatness in the church. The church should be standing up, shining like some great beacon light in the land, at such a time as this, as this, surely. But why doesn't it? Why doesn't it? That is the burning question of the hour. Why isn't the Christian church making an impact on the nation today? Well, I believe that the answer lies in at least three directions. I say the answer in the first place is, because we have not the remotest conception, as Christians, of the kind of person God means us to be, as Christians. And if we have, we are not being those kind of persons. I believe the answer in the second place is, because the church is not spending anywhere near enough time building up her converts. If she is having any, that is. AMT is not spending anywhere near enough time building up the members of the body of Christ, and causing them to grow into spiritual giants. You see, you can't do that kind of thing on an hour and three quarters of anemic chorus and song singing, with only about ten minutes of preaching. And I would add to that, and Christians themselves are not spending anywhere near enough time building themselves up, on the word of God. And I believe the answer in the third place is, because the church hasn't the remotest conception today, as to the kind of church God means it to be. It has lost its original New Testament vision entirely. And it has largely lost its sense of direction. It is concentrating on the wrong thing. Thank you for the Amen. But let me deal with that first point first. What kind of person does God mean us as Christians to be today, and in any age? It raises the question, what really is a Christian? And we need to get the definitions right. For amongst all the categories of people that there are in the world today, all kinds of people are being classified as Christians, when they are not. So what really is a Christian? In a day when so many of our churches are so dead, so lifeless, so stagnant, so stultified, so hidebound by traditions, so imprisoned as in a straitjacket and tongue-tied by all kinds of non-biblical doctrines and notions, so lacking in essential power, the power of the Holy Ghost, there is a need to state all over again, the irreducible minimum of what constitutes a Christian. The irreducible minimum of what constitutes a Christian. And my dear friends, we need to go to the Bible for the answer. The Bible is our authority, our only authority. Do I have to say in this evangelical church in 1988 that the Bible is our sole authority in matters of faith and conduct? Praise God that you have a faithful pastor like this. The Bible is our Court of Appeal, friends. And where will we find us if we appeal to anything else as our authority or to anyone else? I say that is how Christianity conquered the ancient world and conquered these islands in the first place. And that is the only way in which Christianity can truly influence the modern world today? Thank you for the Amen. It needs to be stated very forthrightly that the lack of influence of the Christian church in the world at large today and in the nation is due to one thing and one thing only. That we are so unlike the description of the Christians that we find in the New Testament. We are as different from them as chalk is from cheese. There is no comparison. So we need to re-examine this matter. What really is a Christian? Now what I need to say straight away in answer to that question is that amidst all the filth, this pool of iniquity that is the world today, a Christian, listen, is a person who is different, outstandingly different from everybody else, or should be. Furthermore, I need to say that the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is an absolute difference. We only see that clearly when we consider the contrast between what the Christian was and where he was, and what the Christian is now and where he is now. When we see, in other words, what has happened to him, what has been done for him. Furthermore, we need to see what has happened to him and what has been done for him in terms of a great rescue operation. For that is how the Bible describes it so often. For the Christian is somebody who has had to be brought up from a deep dungeon, from a horrible pit, which is in enemy hands, where he was dead spiritually, dead in trespasses and sins, there was no life there. There he was, deep down in Satan's kingdom, way down there in the kingdom of darkness, well and truly under the dominion and power of Satan, as the hymn puts it, in Satan's bondage, held, gripped by Satan, controlled by Satan, directed by Satan, and furthermore controlled by sin, and under the dominion of sin, controlled by his own passions and lusts. As Ephesians puts it, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, that is where he was, deep down there in the depths, totally helpless and unable to help himself, and furthermore, doomed to an eternal hell. But he's not there anymore. He has been delivered. God has reached down and put new life into him. God did it. Then God has put him into Jesus Christ. Drafted him into Jesus Christ. Planted him into Jesus Christ. Baptised him into Jesus Christ. And then having put him into Jesus Christ, God has lifted him up out of Satan's kingdom and has brought him right over into another kingdom, into God's kingdom. Delivered him right out of the kingdom of darkness and translated him into the kingdom of light. He is no longer in Satan's hands, he is now in God's hands. Whereas he was once dead, now he is alive. And it is God who has done this. His deliverance is an act of God. It is God alone who makes a Christian a Christian, friend. It is God alone who can raise the dead, but he has done it. It is a most amazing miracle. It is a complete transfer. I rather like to liken it to the kind of thing that happens, or used to happen, when naval forces go to the rescue of a submarine whose crew is in danger of perishing, because their submarine is sunk at the bottom of the sea. I was in such a submarine once, so this is a very graphic illustration to me. You see, one of the methods used in such a rescue operation is for the rescuing officer to go down to them where they are perishing. And he goes down in what is called a diving bell, which is lowered down into the depths from the rescuing ship, which is up above. Then when that rescuing officer arrives down there where they are, they are transferred into the diving bell, one by one, put into it in other words. And then raised up with the rescuing officer and brought right up with him until they are safely landed with him on the deck of the ship, which is up above. And similarly, by this amazing miracle of deliverance, God has put the saved man into Jesus Christ. Has made him alive, has raised him up together with Jesus Christ, because he is in him, and has even made him to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. He has been brought up from the very depths, in other words, and has been raised up to the greatest heights. Hallelujah! That is the gospel, that is why it is called good news. Though he is not where he was any more. The Christian is no longer in darkness, he is now in light. No longer dead, he is alive. No longer under Satan's control, under God's control. No longer under the control and dominion of sin, now set free from sin. No longer in that kingdom, now in God's kingdom. No longer heading for destruction, now saved for all eternity. Hallelujah! He can say, that is how it was then. This is how it is now. In the past it was like this, now it is like this. Once black, now white. There is this complete difference, you see. The separation from the one to the other is complete. It is clear cut, it is definite, it is decisive. There has been a complete change. This is a tremendous thing which God has done for the Christian, and God has done it. And so he is of necessity, my dear friend, different, outstandingly different from everyone else by his very position. Now listen, then the next thing I must say is, that a Christian is someone who has been washed clean from his sin in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus. Because you cannot be a Christian without. Here is the very foundation, the central core of the Christian faith. It is the very heart of the Christian message. Blood is the foundation of it all, cleansing by the blood of Jesus. This is how this tremendous change has been brought about. This is what has made all the difference. Therefore there are these two central factors at the back of what God has brought about in this great deliverance. One is by being put by God into Jesus Christ, and the other is cleansing by his blood. You who at one time were far off from God are made near by the blood of Christ, in Christ Jesus. That is the teaching of Ephesians chapter 2, verse 13, and we have already heard it twice today. You have been made near to God. It is something which is done to you. You have been made near to God, brought near to God. It is not your activity, it is another, another's activity. It is something that has been done to you, that has happened to you. You did not do it yourself. And it is because that is true, that this is a gospel, this is good news, my dear friend. And it has been done by the blood of Jesus. For instance, as I quoted this morning, the opening chapter of the book of Revelation says, unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and has made us kings and priests unto God and unto his Father. Brother, if you are a real Christian, you are a prince in your heavenly Father's kingdom, a king who is meant to reign, and you who are a lady, you are a princess over there in your heavenly Father's kingdom. If you are a Christian, and you are a queen, meant to reign through Christ Jesus. He has done it, you see. He has done it to us, in his own blood. Blood is at the very foundation of the Christian salvation, for it is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul. But let me go on to say this, becoming a Christian is all about receiving new life, eternal life, new life from God. God has imparted new life in me, his own life. That is what makes me a Christian, that is what makes you a Christian. God has made me alive, whereas hitherto I was spiritually dead. I was physically alive, maybe, but spiritually dead. There was no life there. But God, by the exceeding greatness of his power, the power that raised the Lord Jesus from the dead, has quickened me together with Jesus. He has made me alive, and this new life which God has given me is a dynamic life, it is a powerful life, it is a generating source that comes from God Almighty. Brethren, we should be vibrating. Jesus said, I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10 verse 10, and David Gardner's translation of that verse is, I have come that they might have life and that they might be bubbling over with it. I sometimes wonder why it is that our evangelical churches are so dead, so lifeless, so without spiritual vitality, people sitting in the pews like so many sacks of potatoes. That is never going to make an impact on the world. These people are just displaying before the world that there is nothing in Christianity to get excited about. Christians, we are meant to be bubbling over with new life. We should be super abundantly exuberant. Is that how you come into the church and go back home, and into your kitchen, into the street, into a car, a bus, shops, train or wherever, super abundantly exuberant, bubbling over with new life? If we don't then there must be something seriously wrong somewhere. Furthermore, this amazing miracle means that God has put a new spirit of life in me. It is called in the Bible, the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, Romans 8 verse 2. And in doing that God has put a new disposition in me, a disposition to do good now, rather than to do what is evil. If you like, he has implanted in me a new bent, a new bias. He has made me to become a partaker of the divine nature. So that governing disposition in me is now making me holy, I hope. So the governing disposition within me is now towards producing holiness. It is quite the opposite to what applied before. That is how it is possible now to have holy people. Furthermore it says the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death, Romans 8 verse 2. This is real liberation theology, biblical liberation theology. I am free. And this is something that has been done to me. If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed, entirely liberated. And all this is something which God has done. For all this happens when a person receives new life from God. And we receive new life from God by receiving Jesus Christ into our lives. For the Bible says this is the record that God has given to us, eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life. And he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 1 John 5, 11 and 12. My dear friends, it is as clear cut as that. Do you begin to see now why a Christian is so different, so outstandingly different from everybody else? But now in the last few minutes I need to carry this a major step further. Listen, a Christian is a person who can say Jesus Christ lives in me. And that is what makes a person a Christian. Nothing else does. That is what makes him so different. That is what brings about this change. He has another person living in him. Now, that wasn't so before. He has been put into Jesus Christ, yes, but Jesus Christ has also put himself in him. There are these two sides to the same truth you see. In fact he can go further, the Christian can, and say it is no longer I who lives, but Jesus Christ living in me. That is what the Apostle Paul said, and he was a spiritual giant if ever there was one. He could say I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. Galatians 2 verse 20. Friends, this is phenomenal. This is amazing. I have the Jesus Christ who was here on earth, who did all those miracles and many mighty works. The one who lived a sinless life on earth, whom God raised from the dead, who ascended into heaven. I have this Jesus, this Jesus living in me. That is stupendous. But this is what the Bible says. Friends, it is really mind-boggling. You know in certain evangelical circles I hear a lot being preached about being justified by faith. Okay, but I hear very little being preached in those circles about the indwelling Jesus Christ. And yet this far surpasses the other. Justification tells me about my legal standing before God. But it tells me nothing about the life I have to live once I have been justified. But this does. The life is lived by the indwelling Christ. I don't have to live it, he lives it in me. That's the secret. So I hear so little about the indwelling Christ in Christian circles today. And yet to the Apostle Paul this was crucial. So crucial was it that he made this the acid test as to whether a person was a Christian or not. He said in 2 Corinthians 13.5 Examine yourself, whether you be in the faith. Prove your own self. Know you not your own self, how that Jesus Christ is in you. Except you be a counterfeit. It's crucial to know that Jesus Christ is in you according to the Apostle Paul. You see you can tell a counterfeit coin by dropping it on a stone floor. It is just a dull sud, it doesn't ring true. Drop a genuine silver coin or dish and you can tell it is real because it does ring true. So the acid test as to whether a person is a Christian or not, said Paul the Apostle, is whether Jesus Christ is in him. He said the same thing in the epistle to the Romans. Now if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Then he goes on to say, and if Christ be in you, then all kinds of things follow. That is the acid test, Christ in you. The hope of God. Can you say therefore I know that I am a Christian because I know Jesus Christ is in me? I heard a preacher say that once to his Friday night Bible study congregation. Can you say that you are a Christian because you have Jesus Christ living in you? And then he said I know you can't. Look at all your long faces. And so I want to come to the last point. I haven't even outlined what is a Christian in all its amazing fullness. A Christian is all these things I have mentioned and a Christian is a person who has Jesus Christ living in him. Do you know something? A Christian is also a person who has God the Father living in him. As God has said, I will dwell, I God the Father, I will dwell in them and walk in them. I God the Father will dwell in them. King Solomon in the Old Testament said now God indeed dwells with men on the earth. Why heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee much less this building that I have built. A stone. Can God indeed dwell with men upon the earth he said? The New Testament answer to that question is this. God not only dwells with men upon the earth. God dwells in men upon the earth, women upon the earth, boys and girls upon the earth who are true believers. As God has said, I will dwell in them. So a Christian is a person who is dwelt by Almighty God, the God the Father also. I just need to stop there. He said as God has said I will dwell in them and walk in them. Walk in them. My dear friends what does that mean? Are you a true believer? Are you truly born again by the Holy Spirit of God? Can you really say I have Jesus Christ living in me? Okay this is the message for you if you can. As God has said I will dwell in them and walk in them. My dear brother that means that when you get out of your seat when the service finishes in a few minutes and walk out of that door God walks out of that door in you. As true of you sister however young you are if you are a believer however old you are when you get out of that seat go down the road go back home God walks into your home in you. When you get on the bus in the morning God gets into the bus in you. When you go to work, when you go to the medical school or wherever God walks in there with you. My dear friends this should be revolutionary. Revolutionary. It was said of Bishop Ryle of former days whenever anybody went in to see him in his office or study they knew because God was so much indwelling in him they knew that they were coming right into the presence of God. When Charles Finney one day walked through a factory walked right through the factory he didn't say a word the presence of God coming into that factory was so great that people in the factory were converted one after another after another until the manager said stop the rollers I want this man to speak to everybody and a tremendous revival broke out in that factory. My dear friends have we got a clear conception of what a Christian really is? A Christian according to the teaching of my Bible is he is a person who is indwelt by God the Father indwelt by God the Son, indwelt by God the Holy Ghost he is in fact a man or a woman who encompasses God who is indwelt by God. Friends that should make such a difference that whenever people see you whenever people hear you they should say you know wrapped up in that person is a spiritual atomic bomb, nuclear bomb, cobalt bomb spiritual one wrapped up all in one and the name of the label on one side is God Almighty and the writing on the label on the other side is explode and you'll get a revival. Spiritual giants there were giants in those days Old Testament days spiritual giants there were giants in those days New Testament days Spiritual giants there were giants in those days all down the years of our history the kind of people God wants today the kind of people Britain needs today the kind of people the world needs today are spiritual giants of that kind of caliber friends and nothing less. I grant that such spiritual giants may be produced from amongst yourselves no matter how young you are no matter how old you are to his praise and to his glory and may God use you to bring a mighty impact for him upon the world and upon the area in which you live to his praise and glory. Amen God our Father you have unfolded tremendous things before our eyes out of your word tonight really when all is said and done your servant tonight has only just touched on the situation touched on it doesn't even begin to describe the kind of people that you want us to be and that you can make us become forgive us Lord for having such a small vision of your plan and purpose transform each and every one of our lives according to the likeness that you have planned and purposed for us and may we indeed become spiritual giants in the land today men and women and boys and girls mightily whipped by the power of the scriptures and well and truly blessed in the scriptures we pray for Jesus' sake Amen