In this sermon, the speaker shares a story about a couple who embarked on a Mediterranean cruise with other wealthy southern people before the Civil War. The couple, who desired a peaceful retirement, encountered various strange occurrences on the ship, including the disappearance of several officers. Eventually, they discovered a piece of jade that belonged to an idol in a village they visited. When the cannibals saw the jade, they worshipped the couple and spared their lives. The speaker emphasizes the importance of knowing Jesus and the power of his resurrection, stating that true victory and success come from seeking a deeper relationship with Him.

When we read the 91st Psalm, we think, well, isn't it wonderful what promises God has made to us? We can at least get a motto and hang it on the wall and remind ourselves of the fact that he that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Or we can put on our tombstones the Scripture, there is therefore a rest for the people of God. Oh, how far Christianity has departed from Christ. We've made a religion of it instead of a marriage. But when we realize what the Bible teaches about hiding, it teaches that hiding is absolutely inevitable. That's where we're safe from the wrath to come. God tells us to labor to enter into that rest where we cease from our own works. What a marvelous place. But it's inevitable, it's a command. It's the salvation Christ has provided for us. I go to prepare a place for you that ye may be where I am, or where I am ye may be also. Where is that? Why, in the bosom of the Father, that's where I belong. Do I have a choice? Why, no, I don't have a choice. He has chosen that salvation for me, and he has provided that place for me, and he has come to bring me into that place that where he is, I may be also. And St. Peter warns the church and says, see to it that when he comes ye may be found in him. And God's got to get the light into our hearts that there is no preparation for the coming of the Lord, but to be found in him, in him. We have often heard it quoted that when Jesus first set souls to loving him, he wants them to see him all the time. Oh, that looking upon him all the time is a job that the natural man doesn't like, but it becomes inevitable. It an absolute necessity, seeing him all the time. And then he begins to teach them how to practice the presence of God. And how do we do that? He tells us, every thought. Oh, how many of us blow out. As soon as somebody makes a suggestion, as I said yesterday, as soon as the door squeaks, half of the heads turn as if they were tied to a string. You know when you hide in the Lord Jesus Christ, your head hides too. Does. Your mind is hidden too. In other words, Jesus Christ controls it. Do you know anything about that? Why we should, why that salvation, when Jesus has you. Glory to God. And hiding in him is absolutely necessary, is my call. I belong there. That's the reason Jesus hides me. He tells us to hide, but he hides me if I let him. Oh, why don't we let him? Why don't we let him unite us to himself? He is striving. The Lord has said that he is waiting for us. He is waiting to do that for us. In these days of prayer, God wants to have charge of this prayer meeting. Now most people have charge of their own prayer. They never learn how to let go and let go. They learn that they don't know what to pray for, but that the Holy Ghost wants to pray for them. Why that's prayer in the name of Jesus. My, what a wonderful salvation. Hallelujah. Hid with Christ in God. I think no more of myself. And that's where we make our mistake. We get out, we leave that wonderful hiding place when we either admire ourselves. Oh God, could you cleanse us from that conceit? As soon as we have a little blessing, as soon as we've been made a little blessing, look God, how we blow up. It's unconscious. It's self. It's flesh. We're, we've not entered into rest. We've not ceased from our own works. Or if we don't blow up and admire ourselves, then we become thoroughly discouraged because we failed somewhere. And we go around looking for sympathy. I've seen ministers do that sometimes when they felt they didn't preach very well. Then they ask everybody how they liked the meeting. Or you ask about your testimony, or if your message is not received. But when you hide, you don't think of anything but Jesus. Jesus. Oh, attending upon the Lord without distraction becomes a habit, becomes your life. God wants us to work on it. God is working at it. That's what this week is for. I was glad to hear Sister Martha talk about those retreats. They're very much like Sister Greger talked of. A retreat is all right if it's a retreat into Christ. But you don't have to have a week of prayer. Did you find that out? You know that wherever you are, while place we seek or place we shun, the soul finds happiness in none. But with a God to guide my way, it is equal joy to go or stay. Could I be cast where thou art not, that were indeed a dreadful lot. Yet regions non-remote I call secure of finding God in all. And sometimes people lose God in the place of retreat, in the place of prayer. Their minds wander. But oh, Jesus is here. Jesus, you are here. You are hiding me. You are uniting me. You're showing me that there's only place for me. There's only one thing for me to do. And that is to do nothing and to be no place. It's to let him be, to let him do. Oh, the light is dawning. We're finding out, praise God, that we are complete in him. Oh, how we get kicked around until we find that hiding place. Before the Civil War, a strange thing happened I read about. A boat was getting ready to sail with a lot of wealthy Southern people to make a Mediterranean cruise. They were, they felt they needed a rest. They all had their plantations and their slaves. And so they all enlisted on this travel trip into the Mediterranean. And the boat was filled with people. There was one elderly couple who thought they would enjoy their retired years. And they got on this boat, man and wife. And they had a slave, a woman who loved them very much. And when they said goodbye to her, she produced a package, a large piece of jade. It was very large and very strangely shaped. On one side it was shapeless, and the other side was polished brightly. It was a real piece of jade. They knew that, but they didn't know what it was for. Well, she said, it'll, it'll protect you. It's a talisman, it'll protect you. As long as you have that in your possession, it'll protect you. See, well, she was quite superstitious. And so to please her, to took this piece of jade along with them. And many times on the journey, they wanted to throw it overboard because it was no use to them at all. They couldn't find any use for it. They didn't know what that piece of jade might be for. But anyway, they thought, well, Sarah will ask us what we did with it when we come home, and maybe she'll want it back. And so they kept it, they hung on to it. But strange things happened on the way. One day, one morning when they got up, they found the captain was missing. Next morning, the first mate was missing. Third morning, some other officers were missing. And there was consternation on board ship. And finally, there was a, a colored man on board who seemed to be affluent. He had dressed in the best clothes. And anyway, it developed finally that he had taken charge of the ship. He had ordered these murders. And now he took charge of the ship. And with all the protests of these white passengers, he steered the ship to a port in Africa and unloaded it there. And the cannibals were waiting to eat them all up. It was an act of revenge for the slavery they had driven their people into. And so these howling natives were waiting with bloodlust in their eyes to slay all these passengers. And they took them and bound them, and the fires were burning, and the pots were all ready for the stew. And, and they killed them one by one. But this old man suddenly remembered that piece of jade. He saw something right in the village. In the midst of it, there was a huge piece of jade. It was an image of a god, a deity. And he remembered that piece of jade, and he produced it. And when the cannibals saw it, they fell back. They looked at that piece of jade, and there was a jabbering among them. And presently they fell down before this white man and worshipped him. And they took the white man and his wife. And anyway, to make a short story longer, this piece of jade belonged to this idol. It had broken off. The ear had broken off. And these natives worshipped this idol, of course. That was their god. And they had a prophecy in their village that someday, some white god would bring that piece of ear back. And so it was fastened back onto this idol, and everybody lived happily ever afterwards. I suppose the others went to heaven. But anyway, this old man and his wife were safe. But that ear was put back where it belonged. And now it wasn't kicked around anymore. It was part of God, part of this deity. And when you and I find our place, we'll find that we are not. We're part of Christ. We're members of his body. We belong to him. He controls every member of his body. It's himself. When his hand moves, he moves. When his voice sounds, he speaks. When he walks, his feet walk. It's the son of man that walks triumphantly through this earth. And you and I are here with Christ in God. Whether you're in India or in Africa, anybody that touches you touches the apple of his eye. That's the place he has provided for us. That's the call that God gave us before the foundation of the world. He saved us and called us with a holy calling. And oh, how Christ is waiting for the members of his body to find their places in him. We don't know him well enough, else we'd realize that there is no place for us. No place at all. If my hand was severed from my body, it would soon corrode. It would be good for nothing. But united to my body, it's part of me. And united to Jesus Christ, you're part of him. And do you know that the whole creation is waiting for that revelation? And do you know that Jesus Christ is waiting for you and for me to reveal himself to me? Oh, how we waste our time in seeking all kinds of places. Men do that all the time. They seek a place in the kingdom of God. They seek to work for God. They see the need. They hear the call of the vineyard. Well, let Jesus tend to that. Let Jesus take care of that. That's the mistake we've made. When some young man shows some likelihood of becoming a preacher, we pat him on the back and you say, no, beloved, I've seen awful disasters happen. Never mind. Everybody's call is to be united to Jesus Christ, is to enter into rest, is to be healed, is to be subject to his will and his command, is to be so united to him that it is no more you. It isn't me. It's Christ. Christ really and truly. But that cannot happen in meeting alone, although in meeting Jesus blesses us abundantly. But it's got to happen in your kitchen and in your workshop and in the place of service where God has placed you. And we send them to the Bible school and we think now the Bible school shall make preachers out of them. They don't. Bible schools are wonderful, thank God. I wish I could have gone, but I couldn't. God put me into his own school. It was some school. In my jewelry shop, he gave me the worst boss that anybody could have had for a whole year. I chafed until I found out that God had a lesson for me in it. And when I learned my lesson and I got down, then presently my prison was changed and I got the best job in the city of Chicago. God did it. I understood it. And I realized that in order to polish this gem, God had to apply some very radical polishing powder. He had to do it. And in order to get you ready to be united to Jesus Christ, his school will be very different from the schools of men. He will teach you like Jesus taught his disciples to wash the disciples' feet. Elder Brooks told us one time that as soon as somebody stepped into the door of his meeting hall, he knew what they were like. He was so smart, he thought he had a spirit of discernment, a gift of discernment. Until the Lord showed him that he discerned like a smoked herring. You know, you don't discern with open eyes. And he found out that he was wrong and one day a minister walked in and he thought, goodness, what a stuck-up affair. Boy, I wish that man got his sermon this morning on humility, on getting down, and he was ready to preach it. And presently the Lord said, that's the way you are. Now you take that man in your room and wash his feet. Elder Brooks. That stuck-up preacher, yes, he had to beg him to come up into his room and take off his shoes and socks. And Elder Brooks went and got a pail of hot water and soap and maybe he used some gold dust powder, I don't know. But anyway, he washed that man's feet and he himself got a wonderful blessing. A blessing that he thought the other man needed. I tell you, God's schools are different from ours. Oh, how quickly, how swiftly he would teach us the lesson we need to learn. And there is but one lesson, it's Christ. Oh, to know him and the power of his resurrection. And the Lord has said, if you had any idea what lies in store for those that receive a larger vision of me, you would cry day and night to know me. You would make that the sole occupation of your life, to know me and the power of my resurrection. And if there's been any victory and any success and any fruitfulness connected with this work, it's been due to that one thing, that early in our experience God put us on that track. And we desired nothing in the world but to know Jesus. And we are ashamed today because we don't know him back there. But all the success and all the fruitfulness and all the victory we see has come from that union of the Son of God. Instead of seeking to open missions, we've never done that. All the missions we have opened were opened by the command of God and by the leading of the Holy Ghost. All the work we've been permitted to do in Germany has been done by the command of God and by the leading of the Holy Ghost. Oh, there have been so many calls for conventions. So many calls from here and from there. And those of you who were here in the early days of this work remember how many times I walked off the platform in the middle of a meeting. If there was another minister there, I'd turn it over to him because the call in my soul was so strong to find God. When I was in the faith home in Zion, that call became so mighty that many times I missed the best meetings to get alone into my room and cry to God that I might know Jesus Christ. I tell you it's different from anything you suppose. Hiding is a very different process from anything we suppose. We can never know what it is until God chooses us. And these things have been told us over and over and over again because we think that it's nice. We think it's good to talk about it and to hear about it and then that's the end of it. But where will God find a person that will actually hide and actually recognize that there is no place for me? There is no other place like that piece of a jade was good for nothing. It couldn't be used for anything in the world until it found its place and then it became a deity. It became a God. I shall be satisfied when I wake with his likeness and that's what he has called me for and I've got nothing in the world to do with saving souls. I've got nothing to do with praying. I've got nothing to do with working for God. That's his business. My sole business is to be united to him. I'm glad to hear you talk about the blessing I have been bestowing upon you during these meetings, but I want to anoint your eyes with ice and make you see that the greatest blessing is myself, that I have come. I have come to do my work. It isn't your work. I'm asking you to enter into my rest, to let go and let God and let me take you as you are to the place I have provided.