In this sermon, the preacher begins by referencing Luke chapter 8, where Jesus goes throughout every city and village preaching the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. The preacher then reflects on a previous event in chapter 7, where Jesus confronts Simon about his lack of hospitality compared to a woman who washed Jesus' feet with her tears. The preacher emphasizes that while there are legitimate pleasures in life, believers are called to be seeds that fall into the ground and die for the sake of the kingdom. The sermon also discusses the different responses to the Word of God, highlighting the importance of having deep roots in faith to withstand temptation.

I want you to turn with me to Luke chapter 8. It came to pass, afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him. Well, we may ask ourselves the question, after what, if it came to pass, afterwards? After what? After this. 44 of chapter 7. Jesus turned to the woman and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet, but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss, but this woman, since the time that I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. And I want you to know that Jesus only used that phrase, this woman, because he was answering the thought of Simon. When he said in 39, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner. Jesus wasn't using the derogatory term, this woman, except as in answer to Simon's sneering, cynical thinking. Verse 47, Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, He never bothered to answer that kind of question. He just kept on saying to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee. Go in peace. And it's after this, when a woman, who had been a sinner, had been forgiven by Jesus, and expressed her love in tears, and in anointing, and in kisses. After he had said to her, Thy faith hath saved thee. Go in peace. After this incident, all right. And verse 2 of chapter 8, And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, and Joanna, the wife of Chusa, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others which ministered unto him of their substance. And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable. A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside. And it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock, and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bear fruit, an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Verse eleven. Now the parable is this. The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are they that hear. Then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which when they hear, receive the word with joy, and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation, fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares, and riches, and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. There on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. Amen. Then I want to consider with you for a while, the simple truth of this lovely parable, that the Lord Jesus himself told. God's great intention for you and for me, is that he should sow his seed into us. He wants that seed, as Norman has already pointed out, to become flesh in us. In other words, he wants us, we people here, all of us, to receive the great word of God, and so bring it out in daily living, in bodily actions, in soul feelings, in all the wonder of conversation. He wants us to bring out the great word of God. He wants us, if we use well-known Bible phrases, to be living epistles. He wants us to be God's word, manifest in the flesh. Now that's what he wants us to be. A message written by God. And you know, when messages are written, they take on a degree of permanence. And that's the marvelous thing. God wants us to be permanent. He wants us, where we go, to be forever the same glorious word. That's one thing about a letter, isn't it? That when it's written, it's written. It's unalterable. You can't say, well, let's change the words of it. You can't say, let's alter it at all. There it is. It's written. It's exactly the same 20 years after if it's written on incorruptible material. It's the same 30 years after, 40 years after. Norman was speaking about that great monument called the Taj Mahal in India. I went there. And you know, it was built, I don't know how many centuries ago. But the Arabic letters written all over this tomb are the same as the day in which they were written. They're there. Hundreds of years have passed by. You know, the Indians like to think that it is a monument to love. In fact, one of the great tragedies I felt of the jacket of a New Testament that they printed in India, one of the great tragedies was that they put the Taj Mahal on the front of it as a message of love. If ever you can think such things, this shows you the sort of syncretic thinking that's going on in the minds of Christians. You know, one of the curses of India is syncretism. And you've got it in the mind. Had I better explain what syncretism is? Some of you are looking quite blank, aren't you? Well, well, I'm sorry about that. It's only because I learn words as I go around. And like that great man Churchill, I mean amongst statesmen, I don't know whether he's great in heaven, when I was quite young I fell in love with words. He says there's something lovely about words. It could have been a snare for me, like music. God had to steer me quite clear of it. And syncretism is this curse that takes a Hinduism, it takes Islam, it takes Buddhism and Christianity and mixes them all up and says, there you are, you see. Syncretism, putting them all together. So they're all the same. That's it. And so, upon this great cover, they put this monument which is, the Indian minds like to think is a testimony to love. It's a testimony to untold deception, hatred and murder. Did you know that? That the great man that had the tomb built, one by one killed his workmen. When they'd done the job he killed them, so they couldn't do it for anybody else. It had to be, that was his pride. Killed them. And yet they put that on the front of a Bible. If ever you did, God save us, talk about blind leaders of the blind. Well, anyway, God wants us, beloved, to live this glorious life out. And you people, young people and old, you must remember this, that in the great thrills of a conference, and I trust you've been as thrilled as I have, and God has blessed us. God moves upon us. But we are to go home and we are to live this thing out. You know, I couldn't help think, remarking it in my own mind, in other words, thinking, call it talking to yourself, I know I didn't mutter into my beard or anything like that. No, no, I don't look at Norman, I'm not suggesting that's what he does. It's a figure of speech. The whole glorious thing is this. He said about women, you know, if the Lord gets hold of them, and He saves them, and He does a wonderful work with them, that they are to go home and they are to live with their unsaved husbands, if they have unsaved husbands, and they are to win the husbands without the word. And you might have thought, oh no, that's a tremendous thing. She's got to read a Bible every day? Hasn't she got to read Watchman Me as her morning portion? Hasn't she got to have the daily light or the SU calendar or something like that all over the house? Anything like that? No, that's not what he's saying. What he's saying is, now listen, you women, and of course it applies specially to women, I think. All right, I won't look. You women, you mustn't think that if you don't preach the word to your husband, he won't get saved. He's going to be saved without the word. Husbands will not have their wives preaching to them. That's one thing a husband will not have. You can ask my wife. She never preaches to me. Well, except slyly. Well, you know what I mean. Well, he says I shall be in trouble. Well, I don't know how she manages to listen to me so much preaching to her. But this is what he's saying. People can be one without you keep preaching at them. Don't think you've got to get up every morning and either give him or her a text or something. You've got to do nothing of the sort. They've got to be one by your life. You know, I love the old English version. You know I do. And people have sly digs at me now and again. But I don't take any notice. I'm as thick-skinned as anything. And all this. But you know, when the old translators used that word conversation, I know now of course we have this as manner of life or behavior. But what they were saying was the thing that holds conversation with people and talks to people is your life. I think it was a marvelous choice of a word. You see, they taught truth as well as just copied out letters. And that's the important thing for us all to remember. You can't translate without interpreting. Be careful if you have the business of translation in hand. And you see, this is what it's all to be. And Peter was only saying this very thing. You, my beloved, are to go home and you are just to live. That's all you're to do. And of course, I suppose, Peter had to tell the women because they're more particularly bent on preaching. But the whole glorious truth is that God wants us to see this thing so clearly, beloved. It is His intention that you should be the seed of God as Jesus Christ was the seed of God. That's what He's intending you to be. And all seeds have to do this. They have to fall into the ground and die. All seed has to do that. Or else, it will bring forth no fruit at all. Be sure if you have been born again in this conference or before this conference, be absolutely sure that God's intention in saving you was not to save you from death. It was to save you from yourself, another kind of death. It wasn't to save you from all these things. It was in order that you might fall into the ground and die. If you're a seed, you've got to be planted. Do you understand that? This is the law of spiritual life. You have to be planted. Hallelujah. And what a glorious thing that is. But let's follow the truth, shall we? When the Lord interpreted this parable, He's very clear in verse 11. The seed is the Word of God. And then, He gives these different kinds of ground into which the seed falls. You may have been surprised when you read verse 12. Those by the wayside, are they that hear? Then cometh the devil, and listen, he taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. Did you think that the devil could come and take the word out of your hearts? You see, God is aiming at our heart all the time. When He comes and sows the seed, and you say, well, no, I didn't sort of see this in this parable. Perhaps you're quite aware that in Matthew, there is this seed sown by the wayside and it doesn't enter in, you're told, and the birds come and scoop it up. It's right off the surface. You see, it doesn't seem to have entered in at all. Yet, you're saying that it's gone in. I'm not saying this, except that I am. It's Luke that's saying it. I'm repeating it. And you may be sure. Now look, every one of us in this room tonight, you may be sitting there thinking, well, I'm one of these hard-hearted people. I'm one of these people. I'm not this. You may have been a hippie or a happy or something else. And you might have got yourself filled up with drugs and devils and I don't know, all sorts of things. Now listen, when you come within the range of God speaking, and God speaks His Word, whoever you are, however hard you are, whatever be the sin you've come through, think of the story in the preceding chapter. Whatever you've been up to, if you've been a woman of the city, as this woman was, it doesn't make any difference at all when you come within the sound of the Word of God and God is speaking, that seed goes into your heart. There's no devil that can keep it out. None. He puts it in. Amen. That's right. Well then, what's this hardness then, that's inside? What is this wayside seed? Just this. The key of course is in the verse, it always is, if we read. The devil comes and takes away the Word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. Why is it that the devil can come and take the Word of God, the seed by which God intends you should enter into fullness and fruitfulness of life? Why is it that the devil can do that? Simply this, because you have not received it with faith. That's why he takes it away. That's the reason. You see, after these things, what things? He said to the woman, thy faith has saved thee. God always puts the Word in the heart. Bless Him. Always. The devil is waiting to take it out. But if you will believe it, and believe faith is the only thing that can associate your life with it. The only thing that can associate your character, your morality, the only thing that can associate and link your spirit with the Word of God is faith. The seed had the same potential in it as that which brought forth the fruit in the last mentioned ground. Same, exactly the same. God does not favor one above another of us. Perhaps over 500 of us here in this room tonight. I want you to know that God is not favoring one of us above another, not one. The fact that some seem to be in greater blessing, greater liberty, greater this or greater that, doesn't mean that God has favored them above you. It means that there came a time when they heard the Word of God. You heard what Brother Norman said about himself upon that occasion in a women's institute. Would be a women's institute, wouldn't it? And when he received the Word of God, you heard him. God does not favor one above another in these things. It's whether a man or a woman, and I charge you all, every one of you in the sight of God. It's how you listen to and receive the Word of God. It's what you do in response to it. Whatever you do, stir yourself up now, where you're sitting. Open yourself up to the depths of your beings by the grace of God. Devil or man, doesn't matter who you are, devils have got to go. When a man starts listening to God, then no man say, well I've got this, somebody told me I've got this, devil, somebody says this, somebody says the other. When Jesus Christ comes, it doesn't matter what anybody said. Much unless they've said what Jesus Christ says. He comes and He invariably puts the seed into the heart. Why did you think, before He interpreted the parable, He finished up the actual telling of the story with these words? And He cried them. Apparently He'd been talking, must have been in a wonderful voice. I'd love to hear the voice of Jesus. I'd love to have heard Him preaching. And when He finished, He stood up and He cried. You ought, if you're a Bible student, to go through your Gospels and find the occasions when it says, Jesus cried. Really cried out. He cried. If you've got ears to hear, hear, glory be to God. As sure as a man lends a listening ear to God with concentration, meaning that His Spirit is brought to bear upon it, Jesus will do wonderful things in that person's life. And the devil will never be able to take the word away. Isn't that a tremendous thing? I'd almost forgotten the occasion that Norman spoke of. In those days, I don't know whether I'm sorry to have to say it, but in those days, I was the only one that did the preaching. I can remember. I used to preach morning and evening. And I'm ever so glad that Norman preaches now. I'm ever so glad. What a tremendous thing it is. You know, earlier today, I didn't quite know what I was going to preach to you about tonight. God decided it when Norman was speaking. I turned up some verses in Isaiah. And I want you just to look at a couple of them with me. These verses are some of the treasures of my heart. In the end of the 59th chapter of Isaiah, bless the name of the Lord, verse 20, The Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord, as for me. This is my covenant with them, saith the Lord, my spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and forever. Glory be to the name of the Lord. When a man's mouth is full of seed, when he is speaking through from the very spirit and marrow of God, if I may use that term, and his mouth is full of seed, glory. I read it again today, and I thought, Hallelujah, Lord. Hallelujah. I remember the days when God gave me that promise, way back in a city in the northeast of England. When God gave that promise to me, and how truly it's working out. When it's seed, and it goes into hearts, in the days when God was opening up to me the wonders of his great covenant. Amen and Amen. God's out to sow seed. The seed is the word. Is it going into your hearts tonight? Right deep down inside? Are you receiving it with faith? Do you know, beloved, I'm constantly dealing with people. Their trouble is that they do not receive the word with faith. I had a precious man, a vicar of the Church of England, came to see me the day, I won't say where from. He came, a long standing engagement that he should come. He sat up there, I wished I could have come to the baptism, I couldn't come to the baptism, for these prior engagements. And we sat and we talked. And he hadn't as much faith in him as that microphone has. Not a bit. And he didn't know how. And he didn't know, he couldn't receive. He didn't know what it was to receive. Think of it, think of it. He knew before he lived. But, but, but, that's not the point. Not really, it is a point. But the thing is this, they don't know how. If I said to you, man now be honest, woman, do you know how to really take the word of God? Do you know what faith really is? Do you? This is the great thing of God. Let's move on. Faith, we are told in the first instance here, in that verse 12, is that you should be saved. That's faith. I'm reading Luke 8 verse 12. Take it for granted that we're back in the original chapter, if I just say the verse. Luke 8 verse 12. You must have faith to be saved, but listen, that's not the end of the story, just sort of S-A-V-E-D. It's, that's it. You must never think that salvation is the mere moving of God upon you to forgive you your sins. This is following after that. Woman, thy sins be forgiven. Now listen. Sometimes I have a little dig at the scientists. I want to put them on up tonight. Luke was a scientist. He had a scientifically trained mind. He was a doctor. He was not a Jew. He was Greek. Lucas is not a Jewish name. And this man was scientifically trained. When you read Luke's gospel, you must allow the logical outworking of truth. Chapter 7 brings you to forgiveness of sins. And the response of the forgiven heart. After these things, now he's moving on. The next revelation. Luke, this will explain to you the different methods of the gospel writers. And what lies beyond this forgiveness of sins, this salvation. I'll tell you, listen. This seed, which upon first reception and through reception will save your souls, is intended to bring forth the hundredfold fruit in your life. That's what God is aiming at. Hundredfold fruit is not getting you saved so that after living 40 years on the earth, you'll go to heaven instead of hell. Fruit for God is a whole nature, a whole life, one hundredfold brought back into and up to God. The whole range of human personality, possibility, potential, filled with the power of the Word and life of God and producing fruit. That's what God's after. Amen. But let's trace down as Jesus goes His steady way, His infallible way. And He passes to verse 13. Now, they on the rock. These are they which when they hear receive the Word with joy. And these have no root. You can tell the people who have no root, just read, here it is, for a while they believe. In time of temptation they fall away. Always these are the people, they have no root. They use this term saved and yeah, I'm saved. I'll tell you they went to a rally and that they put their hand up and that they signed the card or something like that. Now, name the famous or not so famous preacher and that's it. You see? And they receive the Word with joy and they think, isn't it marvellous? I'm going to heaven when I die. I might not die. Jesus is coming back. And you see, it's right. It's absolutely right. It's so marvellous. In fact, most evangelistic campaigns turn round this, that you come to Jesus and you get your sins forgiven and you're saved and you go to heaven and then they're nearly always, if they're of the proper school, will preach the second coming before they're through. And it's right. It's glorious. Because in the end, though we may not believe we're going to hell when we die, we still don't like the article of death, so it's nice to think we may not die. And it's all gloriously true. But listen. Have you got any root? Have you allowed, and you've got to, you've got to allow the Word of God to stay there long enough to get rooted in you. Because there are some people who believe the once saved, always saved theory. You know, that they put their hand up in a meeting and they got forgiven and it was marvellous. They felt as light as thistledown and so on and so on and so on. And they believe then that they can fall back and they can go and you know, all the whole stuff. And so, once saved, always saved. You see? An absolute abuse of a sacred gospel truth. An abuse of it. You must not abuse the Word of God. Paul so sacredly shouted this in 2 Corinthians 4. Not handling the Word of God deceitfully. You mustn't do that. You can hand the Word of God to deceive yourselves on pucker doctrines. The whole glorious truth is, beloved, that you've got to let this Word you've heard take root. It is not something just for mental mulling over or milling around. It's got to get root right down there in your heart where character flows from. Where personality is built up. It's got to get root in you. Right down there. Some of you will have heard me tell this story but pardon me if you will keep coming where I go preaching. You're bound to hear some of the stories again. I was at a conference in a certain city in England. And it was lunch time and not like this marvelous stew we have here. It was a typical fellowship conference where you grab a plate and some forks. You file in, you file out. If you're like me, you take a spoon. You don't worry about knife and fork. It's not usually the kind of meat you can cut up. You can scoop it all up. And that does for your second course too. And I give you a tip. Well, anyway, I got my plate and went and sat down in this room and sailing in merrily, you know, eating my lunch and had to look up. I've learned to eat lunch twice as fast as most people because I've usually got a long list to sort of chop on to immediately. But I happened to glance up instead of looking at a wolf, looking like a wolf looking at my plate. And I looked round the room a bit and there was a young lady about three, four chairs up and she was looking at me with everything in her eyes. So I looked back again and when I looked, the tears started to sort of form here and I got on a bit and looked again. No, she meant it. They were really running. So I said to the people in between, I said, Would you mind moving and letting this young lady come and sit by me? So they did it and we sat together. I said, What's the matter, love? Oh, you see, I can't repeat or I can't reproduce this. But she said, She said, You've changed. I said, I beg your pardon? She said, You've changed. I said, What do you mean, dear? I've changed. I don't think I have. She said, Yes, you have. And out came the story. She said, Two or three years ago, whatever it was, she said, I came to Brawler and God was so wonderful. He did such marvellous things to me. He said, You were so wonderful. You were lovely to me. And down ran the tears down her face, you know, and it was marvellous. And so I had to sort of say, Yes, that was true. I recalled the occasion when she'd come and she'd been in deep distress and I'd given her a hug, you know, and said, That's all right, love, you know. And she said, You've changed. I said, No, I haven't. I haven't changed. I said, But look, you mustn't get your roots into a man. You've got to get them into God. I didn't shout it like that. I whispered it. I shouted it for you. You've got to get roots. See, rather like Norman when he said, All alone, he thanked God for those lonely years. I know what he means. That's how I was brought up. I reckon he must be my seed, don't you? That's how it came with me. Absolutely alone. Except for my wife. One period of my life I had no one. No one. Because of the truth that God had poured into my heart and I wouldn't let go for any man. You're all here as a result of it. This is the tremendous thing for you to see. You've got to get roots. And the best place to get roots is away down there in the cold dark. Amen. I wonder if in the end we won't kill everybody by our wonderful fellowships. I wonder. Alright, don't write letters to me. I know all the answers to that one. But I'm still sure that there is a danger. I'm still sure. I'm sure the danger need not happen. Need not come to pass. But beloved, you've got to get roots. And unless you let this word of God get root, root, root in you right down into the fibre of your being you'll never stand. Never. Nothing will happen. For a while, joy, hallelujah. Well where are they when they have no moisture of their own? They really got their roots into your little pool. They're rooted by your river. They haven't got one of their own. And unless, my beloved, that seed is watered by the Holy Ghost unless the glorious showers come down from heaven unless this blessed moisture from on high comes there you'll die. Got to get root. If you want fruit get root. Amen. God, this is one of the things I cry out for more and more. Lord, at the risk of repetition because I said this earlier give us men. Take away effeminacy from us Lord. Give us men. Give us character. Give us life. Reality. Oh Lord. We've got to get some rootage. Listen. I mustn't stay too long on this point but I never promise to be through by any specific time tonight. The whole glorious thing is this that there are characters in the Bible from which we can learn so much. Have you ever heard about that wonderful character called Joseph? He was Daddy's favourite boy. He made him a lovely coat of many colours. So the Bible says Oh, and he really was the apple of his Daddy's heart, you see. But God had plans for Joseph. God wanted to make Joseph a man next to the King. But he couldn't be next to the King. He was too close to his Daddy's heart, you see. So God had to take him, put him down a pit sell him into Egypt push him through as a slave send him to prison make him the victim of forgetfulness make him the victim of malice and of hatred make him the victim, the undeserving victim of all these things and because he was the undeserving victim but there was no other way for God he just had to go through the fire. God made a man of him. Some people I know, their wives are more masculine than they are. Some men. I don't mean that in an offensive way. I heard somebody say once and this is why they're always very particular about me and my wife because they've got a theory that behind every decent man there's a good woman. So after a while they get fed up with seeing me and they say, why don't you bring your wife, you see. They want to see this good woman that's behind me. Well, this is the theory. I don't know how true it is. Get to know my wife, you'll see. And the whole glorious truth is here that you've got to get some root, man. You've got, listen, I'll tell you. You've got to go back, you've got to be hammered. You've got to go back where you haven't got this loving atmosphere where instead of someone hugging you regularly every morning before breakfast you're more likely, well I won't tell you. You see, this is the whole thing. I know there are times of refreshing. I know that all these things are good for us but you've got to go through the mill and you've got to get some root in yourself and you've got to be able to stand up to temptation and don't think that if you fall that you're lost. Get up again. Jesus Christ, the righteous, is your advocate. Appeal to him. Let the Lord have you. I never knew a baby that learned to walk without falling. It's all part of the process. I see some chappies, their legs are almost like circles because they will walk. Their mothers overfeed them for a start. I think they get too fat. But the great truth about it is if you stumble and all sorts of things like that, God's very sensible. Babies are never born big. They're born so low that they're almost as big around that way as they are that way so if they fall over they only just roll about. They never do anything like harm. You can nearly drop them twice a day and they come up alright. This is the big thing. God has to hammer us and he has to do things with us. Let's go on. Verse 14. That which fell among thorns are they which when they've heard they go forth they're choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to perfection. What a dreadful thing that is. Choked with the cares, riches, pleasures of this life. It's amazing how the Lord puts his finger on these three things isn't it. He's an absolute master at telling us the truth isn't he. All these people are weighed down by cares. Cares about this and cares about that and cares about the other. I can remember a lady coming to me one day. I learned a lot of my lessons you know right in the beginning of what we'll call my ministry, full time ministry. I was in a particular place up in the north east of England which should be nameless and a woman came to me and she was a precious soul. Really precious soul. She used to come and she'd say oh will you pray for me brother. Pray for our family, pray for our bill, pray for our birth. Pray for this, pray for that. And she used to be burdened and burdened with these other souls. And one day I got older I said now look here sister. The devil will kill you. You carry on like that. This isn't a burden from God that you've got. It's the devil trying to kill you. Making you weighed down with care for others. She said, she said right. I said absolutely right. I said now I'm going to pray that this burden will lift off you. She thought she got a great pair burden. She carried the weights and the sorrows of her brothers, of her husband. That was this, that and the other. So we prayed about it. And this burden that she thought was from God disappeared. It takes a man of stature to be able to say that he has continual heaviness for his kinsmen according to the flesh. That was Paul the great apostle. You can read some verses of scripture and kill yourself with them. Did you know that? God opened our eyes. It's good to be concerned about others. But watch this subtle devil. You get overburdened with these cares. Or of course riches or pleasures. I don't suppose any of us are overburdened with riches. We may be overburdened with a desire to have them. I don't know whether you are. And pleasures. Oh what a subtle thing is pleasures. Isn't it? The pleasures of this life. Did you notice? Didn't say of the world. Did you notice? The pleasures of this life. You see? There are some wonderful pleasures in life. And they're quite legitimate. That Norman was talking about. Absolutely legitimate pleasures. But watch it. You are here to be a seed to fall into the ground and die. That's why you are here. That doesn't mean to say that when you become a truly born again child of God you have to eat your porridge with salt. Instead of sugar. Or that every bull you see you have to take it by the horns. It doesn't mean to say that you have to wear a hair shirt and not a nice air-tex vest. What is it I've got on? I... It doesn't mean that. It doesn't mean that you must wear black all the time. Unless of course you may be one of these people that black suits. And... You don't have to do these sort of things. You don't have to shave your head. Or anything like that. You don't have to do that any more than plait your hair. But the whole glorious thing, beloved, is that you have to see that there is a joy and a glory in living for Jesus that far surpasses anything that the world can give you. That isn't to say that occasionally you aren't to walk out and see how the water flows under the bridge in Calvert. Or watch a sunrise and take pleasure from a gorgeous painting. That's not what it means. It means this, that you, beloved, can come to the place where these glorious people were, if I may read about them, again in the opening of chapter 8, that He went through every city and village, verse 1, preaching, showing the glad tidings of the Kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him and these women also, hallelujah, they went with Him. End of verse 3, they ministered to Him of their substance. Now what pleasure is there greater than that? In the whole wide world. Leaving everything else. You see the wife of Choozer, Herod Stewart, had left the court life. She'd left that. Praise God. She wasn't fascinated with the courts of Herod any more than Moses was overburdened in the end with the courts of Pharaoh. You and I have to endure seeing Him. Now He's invisible to us. They endured us seeing Him in that age it was visible to them. They went with Him. They gave over their lives to Jesus. You and I have to see that there are greater pleasures than listening to a violin sonata by Beethoven. Though they're very nice. You and I have to see these things. Have you seen them? I'll tell you when you'll see them. When you've received the Word of God with faith in your heart. When you've handed over your whole heart to Jesus. When your whole life is handed over. When you've let that seed take root in you. That's when you'll begin to see it. Not until you can preach what the brethren used to call separation and what the holiness people liked to call sanctification. You can preach it. Separation. Sanctification. Two parts of one thing really. God sanctifies me wholly. I separate myself unto Him. Two parts. Glorious and wonderful it all is too. But beloved, you've got to let that blessed Word take root in you. It will get so rooted in you that you'll start to think it. You'll live it. Nothing will touch you then. More and more you'll want to live exclusively for the Lord. There are pleasures, beloved, that have no equal in this life at all. Pleasures that are of the life given entirely over to the Lord Jesus Christ. Hmm? I sometimes say to people, you know, along these lines, it's amazing. I suppose we get a bit boring in the end. But if you live your life down with talking to people who are on basic needs, you don't have a lot of time to get flighty in your ideas. These are the repetitious things that come up. And I suppose some of you have heard me say this before. That God, you see, He doesn't bring you to a development of your own tastes. The man that sat up in that room the other day told me this. He said, I know that if I save my life, I'll lose it. He said he knew it. You save your life, you lose it. That's what you'll do. You save it and build it up and minister to your own pleasures and that. You'll lose it. It'll all go in the fires, beloved. When it's put in the fire, it will be wood, hay or stubble. You'll lose it. You think you've got it now. But in the day when everything goes through the fire, you'll suffer loss, though you yourself will be saved. So says the scripture. You've got to let it go, your earthly comforts. You've got to let them go. Don't excuse yourself saying, well I give 50 pound a week to the missionaries. That doesn't let you off. You understand this? Each one of us, there's no deviation. Take a woman, here she comes, she sets us the example. She's a woman of the city. Jesus has forgiven her. She only needed assurance when he said, thy sins are forgiven thee. He pointed to her love act as the proof that she was forgiven, not the reason for her forgiveness. And then he gave her the assurance after, your sins are forgiven you. Poor woman, she wanted assurance, weeping. Her heart pitied Jesus. And she cried over him. And she washed his feet. And she wiped them in her hair. And she said, an alabaster box of ointment, what's that? Away went her treasures. Put her head to his feet. Poured her treasure upon his feet. But what's alabaster box of ointment as compared with the precious tears that came up out of the well inside her at the way they treated her Jesus. Nothing is worse when a person lays themselves down at the feet of Jesus and weeps over his feet for whatever reason. I'll know the fullness of it in that day when I meet her in the glory. The treasures have been opened. What worse spikenard. Where's anything that's compared with that. When you say you've laid your life at the feet of Jesus, everything else must come into line consistently. You can't weep over his feet and tuck a box of ointment away back there as some guarantee. All the schizophrenia that ruins the Christian life. My prostrate form at the feet of Jesus is saying to him, everything Lord, everything, everything. And he'll come along one day and he'll say, I want it. You know, my wife and I, of course, are always the most privileged people. You are all struggling in and out of little narrow cots. We go up in this lovely flat up there. We have lashings of milk and we drink coffee. And we... Our host and hostess receive us with joy and think they're most privileged. Poor thing. It's us that's privileged. They don't understand. And we go up there and we talk, you see. And we share our nothingness, you see. And we say, we're about to set another, about giving all to Jesus. Bless their hearts. Fancy letting a couple of rapscallions like the Norse come and live in their flat. So, I said, well, you see, well, I can remember. They said, we've given our home to Jesus. I was ever so glad that led us in. And then I talked about the day when we were first married. My wife and I, we managed to buy a rug and we put it on the floor and we did all sorts of things. And then people used to come in, they used to come in, they used to come in, come in, walk all over our carpets, all over our nice things, sit on our chairs. We never used to say, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. We never used to say anything. We didn't say, oh, it's lovely to see you. And then when we were, they said, oh, they're ruining our carpet. Or anything like that. That's hypocrisy. You humbugs, stop it. God will hear you. He'll stop it. But they used to come in and it wasn't long after. We hadn't been there so very long before our carpet, which wasn't an absolutely fabulous one, but we managed. It was worn out. It was worn out, our carpet was. We hadn't been able to afford an underlay like you do. I mean, you're born in affluence now and say you've got nothing and call yourselves very poor. Well, when our carpet was worn out and getting pretty threadbare, the delights of our heart was this, that one and another would say, I knelt there when God saved me. Another would say, did you? Well, that's where I knelt when God saved me. Well, I knelt down there when God filled me with the Holy Ghost. I was a Baptist pastor then. You see? These are the great things of God, beloved. Bless the name of the Lord. Ooh. They never did like old William P. Nicholson, you know. Did you ever hear about William P. Nicholson? Terrible man. He went to a holiness convention and he stood up and he said, the Lord Jesus had a tongue like a cow. Whoo! That's disgusting. Well, what he meant was it was rough when he spoke to hypocrites. That was his Irishism. Fancy saying the Lord Jesus had a tongue. It upset all the sanctified old ladies. They didn't like it. Fancy saying that in a holiness convention. He used to stand up and say, your money will perish with you. That's right. What do you think about it? Glory be to the name of the Lord. It's so wonderful. That God takes his people round. People of character. People out of whom the devils have gone. People who've received his word. People who find pleasures in other things than courtly company. Walking with a king of kings. Amen. Lastly, well I suppose I ought to say this really before I leave that verse. You've got to see that it's God's intention in your life, in this life, please listen, to bring fruit to perfection. In this life. You have to bring forth fruit to perfection. You say, what is this perfect fruit? You know what perfect fruit is, don't you? I'll tell you what perfect fruit is. It's fruit that has come to complete maturity. You young people listen. Some of you. Under twenty, perhaps. How many of you are under twenty here? My, isn't that wonderful. How many of you are under thirty? Keep your hands up you under twenties. Now isn't that wonderful. I won't go much higher. How many of you are under seventy? Ah, isn't that marvelous. That we, thank you all you elderly people for coming. Isn't it nice to have young people. Now listen. You're under twenty, some of you. You may have fifty, sixty years ahead. And what God has sown in you today, or yesterday, or during these weeks. He's expecting to remain in you and develop through forty, fifty years. And come to maturity. That's right. In other words, He's not expecting you to have a start. Come back next cliff, because you've lost and got to make a fresh start. Have another go. Come back next cliff, have another start. See? See? And if you do that for the next twenty years. Oh, that fruit never came to maturity and you did it. That was sown this year. It's got to go on through the decades. It has to go on through the scores of years. Bring forth fruit to perfection. Hallelujah. What's that lovely verse in the Psalms? It says, He shall still bring forth fruit in his old age. Still. Did you ever see a farmer farming his land? I thought this was crazy, but there was a certain period in the history of England when I worked on the land. And in the history of me too. But I learned the ways of farmers. And I saw this farmer when I first met him. He'd got a field of corn, also nice and green. And I went, lovely field, I used to pass it. Next morning when I went, I saw a sheep in this field. I didn't know what to do. I hadn't got a sheep dog or anything like that. So I was dashing up to the farmer, telling him. And then I learned that he turned the sheep into the field to nibble off the wheat that was growing. And I wanted to know why, wasn't he? Yeah, he said. You see, you nibble off just this, one stem has come off, you see. And then it shoots two. See? Perhaps three. And from one grain of corn. Oh. Pardon? It tillers out. Tillers out. There's a farmer for you. He was listening very closely to me then. I'm glad I didn't look at him. I might have been afraid. It tillers out, whatever that is. Now I'll know. If I say that next time, if I talk about this, I'll think I'm really knowledgeable. That must be because he comes from near Tillingham. But the great truth about it, beloved, is that God is after fruit in your life. And if some old sheep comes and nibbles you down to the ground, don't worry. And you're just about shooting up nicely and here comes a big old hoof in you. Boom. What have I done to deserve that? I've only laid here and grown. Yeah, I know. I've been through it all. I've had hoofs in my face. I know all about it. And from other, and from sheep too. This is a tragedy. But you and I have got to bring forth fruit to perfection. That's what God is aiming at in your life. Did you realise that? He is not just aiming at giving you joy. Marvellous fruit for your faith. You believed God when the going was hard and when the devil was saying no and a voice kept saying in your mind you don't believe. It isn't true. And all this business. Well, I'll never know. How did he know what was going on in my mind? Well, that's just what happens. You see. And you struggle, you struggle, you struggle and then you believe, you see. And then you get peace as a reward for your faith. An investment of your heart in truth. And you get peace, you get this, that and the other. Well, that's all for you. That's lovely. But Father is looking for a harvest. You see. It isn't the investment of your faith in the seed, via the seed in Christ for your peace, joy, happiness and what not. It's that you invest a life for God. Norman, it was, no it wasn't, it was Sandy this morning who told us quite correctly that he thought the last verse of John 14 stated this. That Jesus said that he was going to the cross to show the world that he loved the Father. That's it. He invested for God. And that's what God's looking for. You've got to bring forth fruit to God and to perfection. You've got to weather the storms. You've got to stand up under the hurricanes. Have you ever seen when a sudden storm has whipped across a wheat field just when the poor farmer thought he was going to have a gorgeous crop. And down it goes flat. Now there mustn't be anything of that. Not in your life. Nothing of that. You don't go flat. You don't go black. You bring forth the fruit of God. Amen and Amen. And you say, oh but look we're at the mercy of everything you're talking about. A little seed it falls into the ground. Little poor thing. It sort of grows and then it gets piped. And then the rain comes and the wind comes. Look, look, look what a picture. But I want to tell you beloved. God's kept you weak and poor and nothing so that he should be your support. Why didn't Jesus tell a story of an acorn falling into the ground and dying. Why didn't he tell something about coconuts or something. And great strong trees growing up that could stand anything. Because he wanted to show you that you've got to be utterly dependent upon God. That's what he wanted to show you. Have you got an ear to hear him? And lastly. On the good ground, verse 15. Are they which in an honest and good heart having heard the word, keep it and bring forth fruit with patience. Hallelujah. Honest, good, patient. Now don't be impatient love. Don't be impatient. My mother used to say to me the world wasn't built in a day. I reckon she knew her son. And of course she told me the truth. The world wasn't built in a day. Was it? No. I mean God even took six days to create. You can't do and be everything all at once. Potentially it's in the seed. But let the seed just go deep, right deep down into your heart. Let it get right through your whole nature. Let the blessed sunshine and the rains come and the wind blow. Come snow, come hail, come frost. Let it all come. Praise the name of the Lord. God knows what he's doing. You won't be a Norman Meaton overnight even though you love him so dearly. You won't be that. He told you what he had to do. I could have explained a little bit more about the things he did at that time. He didn't go into details. You see it's these kinds of things my beloved whether or not you've got it in you to go through with God. How many of you in this conference are going to go through with God whether men approve or disapprove. Whether you lose your job or whether you don't. I said to that man today at vicar you can know the terms I said. If you want to be right with God you've got to be prepared to give up what you're doing. Oh he said. You've got to be prepared to come out of the ministry. Everything. Do you know what you're doing? Do you know what this thing is that God's talking about? Do you see this man, this Nazarene carpenter as they thought walking round the countryside? Do you see him? Do you see these disciples? Do you see these women? Do you see these people who've left everything to follow the Lord? Do you see what it's all about? And do you think that you can temporize? Do you think you can use the gospel as a sort of a fire insurance policy? Do you see that God invested a life? Do you see that Jesus Christ didn't just hang on a Roman gibbet to take away sin? Do you see that He was a seed that fell into the ground and died? Do you see that? It wasn't a life thrown away, it was a life sown. Do you see that when you receive the seed, your relatives may think it's a life thrown away, but it's a life sown. Do you see what it's all about? Hallelujah. As I said to them, it's alright, you may not have to come out of the ministry, but you've got to have a spirit that's prepared to give it all up, anything. Everything for God. That's what God's demanding of us all. But, you see, when you produce a fruit a hundredfold, oh, a hundredfold, what an investment. You can't find an investment like that anywhere in the world. Can you? If you get a hundred percent, that's marvelous. That's only one for one. If he'd have planted one seed and got one seed in return, that was a hundred percent. If you get a hundredfold, I think that's ten thousand percent. Can anybody tell me where you get anything like that in the world? Do you know any bank? Do you know any building society? Does Ernie do it? Do you know Littlewoods, whether they do it? Or any of these people? Ten thousand percent? Ten thousand percent for my little life? Oh, God, take everything off me. Take it all, Lord. Everything. If you can do that with me, reproduce me ten thousand times. We sometimes say, I wish I could cut myself up into ten, or I wish I was ten men. Ten thousand. A hundredfold. God, when you take me, if there should be ten thousand ministers of this precious gospel left on the earth, if there should be ten thousand seed with the precious seed in their mouths. Oh, God. That's the covenant. That's the covenant. It'll not happen. Norman, meet me, unless your life falls into the ground and dies. Won't happen, Sandy Frame. Unless your life falls into the ground and dies. Won't happen. For me. Won't happen to you. The seed. The sower sows the seed. And a real sower always reaches hearts. The devil will only snatch it away from you if you will not react or respond in faith. Take it away. You'll have lost it. Cliff, 1972, will have been wasted on you. Lord, I believe. Glory be to the name of the Lord. Hallelujah. Oh, Father. Father. Are you like that? Are you going home like that? Twelve months, ere we meet again, if it be God's will that we meet again. Will you have fruit in your life? Will it be there? Amen. Let's pray.