In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the greatness and awesomeness of God and how it reveals that those who love the Lord will experience goodness in their lives. The preacher encourages the audience to never lose strength or be discouraged, but to persevere in following the Lord. He shares a story about a French minister who came to America in 1913 and preached the truth without fear. The preacher also shares a powerful testimony of a missionary lady who went to Africa and impacted the lives of many, leading them to repentance and faith in the Lord. Overall, the sermon emphasizes the importance of boldly propagating the gospel and trusting in God's provision.

I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. God begs, he beseeches, he says, that body that you have, donate that body. Present your body that it may be a living, holy sacrifice. Do not imitate this world. But be transformed, even if you are a young girl and you are walking in this world, that others can see that you do not imitate and are not conformed to the things of this world. If your body and your clothing is like this world, it cannot be of the Lord, it is wrong if it is like that. But let us put that aside. Here God, he beseeches, he says, present your bodies. So that the good and acceptable and perfect will of God may be accomplished through your body, that he may do as he pleases. In the year 1921, there in Sweden there were two young people who had just been married. The young man's name was David. The wife's name, the bride, was Fia. They had a young boy who was two years old. Then they felt the Lord desiring them to be and to mission in Congo, Central Africa. They then left Sweden and went to, then the country was called the Belgian Congo. They were urged by this word that says, present your bodies a living sacrifice. Then there was also another couple, the Erikson family, who also felt called to that area. So these two couples left Sweden and went to the Congo. People that remained were very happy that these people had given themselves over as a sacrifice to spread the gospel in Congo. They got to the Congo, they found a big mission there. So they were at this main mission station and then they felt rather than to sit here, let's go and do work in the rural areas far away and start a new branch of the mission. But that was a walk of faith. Because if you live by faith, you live like the birds of the air. God is the one that provides your every need. Going, trusting the Lord with all your heart. Yes, it was very difficult, but they said, Lord, you even sent the ravens to bring food to Elijah when he was there all alone. So they travelled very far, there weren't roads then, and eventually came to another king or a chief in a different area. Then they felt that they could build some buildings there because these people, they had never heard the gospel before. They then went to the king and asked him, your highness, can we as missionaries build buildings here, homes here? They said, your king, if we are not allowed to build here, can we build there on the hill? He said, look, I don't want you here close to where we are staying. You are welcome to go on to the hill. And why? Because we still worship idols and we still worship the ancestral spirits. You will disturb us when we do that. So they went to the forest and they chopped off trees and they started making rondavels and mud huts. But the king said, and he threatened, he said, on no accord does any one of my people have anything to do with those people. He said, if you don't have anything to do with those people, I will cut off your head. Now the bride of the one young man, Swaya, she was a very short little lady, about four and a half feet tall. She said, if you don't have anything to do with those people, I will cut off your head. Then there was a little boy who would come up there with eggs and chickens and say, wouldn't you like to buy some of these eggs and chickens? They bowed and knelt down and worshipped the Lord and said, oh Lord, you are truly providing for us. And they had food to eat and once a week this young boy would come up with his eggs and chickens and sell it to these missionaries. They prayed and said, Lord, destroy the walls of Jericho. Lord, work amongst these people. But mazing the walls didn't crumble. Then the Erikson couple said, look, we're sitting here like prisoners in this place, we can't preach to anyone, we can't testify, we're going back to the main mission. But David and Swaya, their surname was Flood. They said, no one, no accord can we go back. We felt and heard God's call to come here. The wife was a short little lady and I love these short people because very often they've got something strong about them. Don't cry when you are short that you say, oh Lord, I'm too short. I'll go and buy myself some high heels to be a bit taller. This Swaya, this short little lady, she said, on no accord will I leave here. You know, it's good if the wives of those that are called can be strong because some husbands are a bit weak. They must strengthen them. And they said, but to whom will you preach? They said, to whom will you preach? She said, I will preach to this young boy who sells us the eggs. So every time this young boy would come up to their house, she would take him aside, she would pray with him, tell him of the Lord and testify to him. She never left him out once. Every time he came, she would make use of that opportunity. And as they were there, an amazing thing happened. They said, well, what should we do? There's no medical world here, no doctor. We're out in the bush, in the jungle. What should we do? And on top of it, on top of And on top of that, they suffered terribly from malaria. There was a lot of malaria there. Even the other couple that had left them were weakened by malaria. And it is said that Africa is the continent of disease and sickness. What helped them a lot is if they were in their huts and they would make fire at night in the hut, that the hut would be just smoke and a lot of smoke and no mosquito could penetrate that. The dangerous thing is when you'd come out of your house, that you would then be attacked with mosquitoes. And now the Swaya was expecting, and she was expecting with a second child, and then she was attacked too with mosquitoes, with malaria, and she became very weak. And then the people, the local population realized that she was expecting, and then went to the king and said, Oh king, couldn't we maybe have a midwife that could help her as she's expecting? And then the time came and she received a child. And after the birth, it was very difficult, and after 17 days, she passed away. And it was terrible for the husband. And then he was terribly troubled, this husband, he was confused and he turned himself to the lord and said, Oh lord, I had given myself totally up as a living sacrifice to do your work and to be a missionary for you. He said, I'd rather turn back and go home. I'm exhausted. I came to Africa, but it seems as if Africa doesn't want the gospel. And then he began to find fault with the lord and say, Oh lord, why have you allowed this to come upon my way? I met up with a young person in Europe these days, and he came with these words and said, Why did God allow this to happen? It's terrible if you turn against God. He went to find another man, an assistant, a man. They sort of made a hammock or a stretcher type thing where they could carry this young newborn child. When this child was born, they gave it the name Ina. But it went so far that it was as if this missionary was affected mentally. And then he, with his assistant of his, they carried these two young children and they got to the main mission station and he took this newborn child and he gave it to the Eriksons. He said, Here, you look after this child. I'm going back to Sweden. He said he'll still take his two year old boy. It's old enough, but the young newborn child, he'll leave it with Eriksons. He was so affected, this man, that even it is said when he buried his wife, he didn't dig a proper grave and he didn't do it properly. And he just covered her up. He just dug a crude grave for his 27 year old wife. And he put a small white cross there on her grave and took his children and left. When he got to the Eriksons, he said, He said, I'm ruined. God has ruined my life. I'm going back to Sweden. He hardened his heart and just wanted to get away. He didn't just cast away his calling that God had called him with, but he cast God himself away. The Erikson couple then took on this small child and reared this child. After eight months, suddenly Mrs. Erikson gets ill. She passes on. And Mrs. Erikson gets sick and he passes on too. Now this child is an orphan. And it was decided, well, what do we do now? By chance, there were some American missionaries that arrived. They said, we will take on this child. They adopted this child, Ina, but they couldn't say Ina, so they called her Eggie. And while they were there, they realized, look, we have to go back to America. Eggie will just die here. And they loved this child. She was a pretty, beautiful little child. It was as if they took it on as their own child. They returned to America and lived there. And the child grew up two, three years and the parents still continued preaching the gospel in America. And then they decided, well, it would be too risky to go back to the Congo. The child might be taken away from them. So they continued to work in the city of Dakota. He became a minister of a church. And Eggie grew up and finished her schooling. And then she had a desire, that was the same desire which her parents had, to propagate the gospel. She went to Bible College in Minneapolis, there where Billy Graham has his offices. So then she went to Washington, D.C. and was also in Seattle. And when she was in Seattle, she marveled at the amount of people who came there from Sweden, from the Scandinavian countries. But she no longer could speak their language. One day, someone came to her and gave her a note. And when she looked at this note, she saw that on this note was a little white cross. And on this note, it mentioned her mother's name, the burial of her mother, Svea Flood. And then she took this note and she got into a car and raced back to Seattle, to the Bible College. And she said, I want someone who can read this for me. I want to know where my mother was buried. And she said, I want to know what does this say? I see the name of my mother. And then they read this booklet, this little notebook to her and read the whole story of how they went as missionaries to the Congo and how her mother had testified and preached to this little boy who always brought them the eggs and the chickens. And then the whole life story, how they had taken her from that mission to the other mission and how that young boy had remained and had a love for the gospel. And then this young man returned to his king and he said, oh king, give me a piece of land. I want to build a school and I want to teach and educate our people because Svea, this missionary lady, she taught me. And the king agreed, built a school and the children were taught. And then the young children going to school, the young boys and young girls began to repent and eventually it was like a church there. And then the parents even got converted. It's like Sipo Zonde, I spoke to him this morning here from the Thaleni area, from Pomoroi. He says, Uncle Elo, when can I bring some other young people? They are being converted one after the other. And they want to come to Sivzow, don't they? And I said, Sipo, I really don't know. I need a little bit of a break to gain a bit of strength because I have to now go to Korea and go to Australia and even Japan. And while he was with his school, the young people got converted. They went and spoke to their parents. The parents got converted. Eventually had a church growing there of 600 young people. Dear friend, you are educated, you are dressed properly. How have you gained 600 people for the Lord in your life? Yes, I have gained 600 people for the Lord in my life. How have you gained 600 people for the Lord in your life? Yes, I have gained 600 people for the Lord in my life. How have you gained 600 people for the Lord in your life? She said, Father, there in that area, in that same place, there's a congregation of 600 people of old people and young people who have forsaken their idols and ancestral worship and serving the Lord. I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith, I am a man of faith and she explained and shared with him gently the whole story of how things worked and how they developed and he became softer and softer and the Sun before the Sun went down he had given his heart anew to the Lord. The time came for her to depart for America. They were praying, worshipping and rejoicing in the Lord. Just after a few weeks thereafter, the Lord took the father. But he had met with God. They got to Merica, they shared with others that which they had met up with. And they arrived there, and while they were there, a big, strong man, an African man came to them. Where does he come from? The Congo. And this black man got an opportunity to speak, and then he testified how the gospel came to his place, in his area, and how the gospel is just expanding, and now there are 110,000 Christians in those areas, in those jungles, baptized Christians, born again. And then this young lady, Svea, went to him when he had finished speaking, and said, Sir, do you come from the Congo? Yes, I do. From what area, may I ask, do you come from? And he explained, it's from the Dolera area. He says, didn't you ever meet up with a white missionary, David, and his short little wife, who passed away in that area? And he said, those are my people, I was living with those people. Before you were born, I was there. I was the little boy who always brought the chickens and the eggs. And your mother, she died there with us, till this day, we honor your mother's grave. God has done a mighty work in that area. And then they embraced one another and cried when they realized that they were connected in such a way. And he said in French, there is no hero in this nation like her mother, because she led him to Christ. What was the Congo? He said, come and visit us in the Congo, I will personally take you, that you can visit your mother's grave. And she was privileged then to go and visit the Congo, and he took her and showed her her mother's grave. And on the grave, she knelt down and prayed and said, oh God, we didn't ever expect that this great work would be started by those people who began here. And then that minister, they immediately had a service and they opened to John chapter 12, verse 24. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it produces much grain. As your mother died, he said, it has brought forth much fruit. And then you read Psalm 126, verse 5. Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. Those who sow in tears shall reap in much joy. To me, this is something precious. It shows me the greatness and the awesomeness of God and that it reveals that all those that love the Lord, all good will become their way. Don't lose strength. Never be discouraged. Carry on always. Some backslide, some divert or go off on a tangent away from the Lord, but never give up from following the Lord. When I was preaching in the minister's conference, a certain minister came to me and said, This minister followed me and he followed me when I went out from the pulpit and he grabbed hold of me and he said, Brother, never lose strength, never lose courage, never be discouraged. Carry on, persevere. We need people in this world who are not ashamed and not afraid to propagate the gospel, the whole truth. We're sick and tired of ministers who are too scared to preach the truth. There's a French minister who arrived in America in 1913 and he resided with Dr. Walter Lewis Wilson. Walter Lewis Wilson, he was a Christian doctor. Yes, this French minister preached and he testified. The doctor would preach and testify, but yet the people weren't really converted under his ministry. This missionary that was visiting said, Doctor, what do you say about the Holy Spirit? Who is the Holy Spirit to you? He said, Oh, the Holy Spirit is one of those in the Trinity. He's a teacher, he's a leader, he's a third person in the Trinity. And the missionary said, But doctor, you haven't answered the question I asked you. And Wilson sadly replied, He said, The Holy Spirit means nothing to me. I have no contact with him. And I can easily get along my way without him. I have no contact with him. I can easily get along my way without him. I can easily get along my way without him. He was like a woman who never gave birth to a child. Many Christians are like that. Are there some here amongst us that are like that? And this missionary asked him again, Doctor Wilson, what does the Holy Spirit to you? He said, He's a third person in the Godhead of God. He's a teacher, he's a leader, a third person in the Trinity. And this missionary said, No, Doctor Wilson, you have not answered the question I put to you. And the doctor became despondent. Sometimes it's good if we are faced squarely with the truth. In the following year, January 1914, that was in the year of 1914, Doctor Wilson went to a service. The service that he went to was taken by a person from the Reformed Church. Who at the end of his term became also the leader of the Moody Bible Institute. And while this Doctor Wilson was sitting in the service, this preacher preached on this text Romans 12 verse 1. And he said to them, Have you also noticed that this text is not for us, but for ourselves, and for our flesh and blood? No, it's not like that. I know it. Everything is clear. And you can see it. It's not like that. It's not clear. It's not like that. He says, present your bodies as a sacrifice. The text? It says, present your bodies. It doesn't say to which person you should go to. He says, God is on his throne in heaven, he won't leave that throne. The word came to this world and he had a physical body. Jesus received a body of flesh. But there's someone that came to this world who does not have a body. He says it's not... He says, And he said, He said, it's a privilege for you to give your body, your body to the Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit does not have a body. Therefore, he wants to dwell within you, that as you walk this earth, this world, he is dwelling within you. He said, what a privilege, what an honor, what a glory, that we may be part of that. That he may use our bodies, that we may accept the Holy Spirit into us. That our hands may be his hands, that our eyes may be his eyes, that our feet may be his feet, that our body may be his body. For Jesus had a body. But the Holy Spirit descended, he didn't have a physical form. And when Wilson got back to his home around about midnight, He fell down on the carpet, on his knees. It was quiet, nothing was moving. He said, He said, oh my God, I treated you like my slave. I used you Lord, like a servant in my own home. If there was something I needed, I called you. And I would say, Lord, do this and that for me. He said, Lord, from this moment on, I give my whole body, my whole life to you, from the crown of my head to my toes. I give you my hands. I give you the members of my body. My eyes, my lips, my mind. He said, Lord, now you can take me, if you want me as a mission in Africa, you can send me. He said, Lord, if you want to riddle my body with cancer, that I'm stuck to my bed, Lord, your will be done. From this moment, this body is yours. From this moment, Holy Spirit, this body belongs to you. The next morning, two ladies came to his business office to speak with him and negotiate him with things that have to be sold. These were just worldly ladies that were painted and dressed up as the world. But at that moment, he led both of them to the Lord Jesus. From that time on, day by day, he led people to the Lord. That which was a problem for him before just flowed naturally now. And then so many people were converted that he eventually built a church, which is a central Baptist church in Kansas. And then he started up a missionary work among the Indians, a Flagstaff mission there. He opened a Bible college and called it Calvary Bible College. He wrote a book and this book sold like sweets. And then Dr. Wilson said, concerning my meeting with the Holy Spirit, on the 14th of January, 1914, the transformation that occurred in my life was far greater than my conversion. He says the transformation that he experienced on the 14th of January, 1914, with the Holy Spirit was far greater and surpassed his conversion years earlier. The Lord today is beseeching and begging us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to the Holy Spirit. Have you done that? Not half measure? Not half measure? Wilson said, I give my life to you. You can send me to any other foreign country. You can riddle my body with cancer. This body now belongs to you. Have you consecrated your body to him? To the Holy Spirit? This Dr. Wilson went to his home. Maybe there's some here who has not yet made that decision. If you have not yet made that decision with the Lord, I invite you today to come and kneel here in front. Don't be concerned what everybody else thinks of you or what they have to Do about you you come and make your life consecrated to the Lord Shall we rise? Kooloom kooloom tattoo moon Lord Jesus and God three in one Since we look nega work was nega Was neglected by it. We've heard your Lord beseeching us that we should present our bodies to thee Oh Good way. No more. No way. We empty. We are dingum Zimba We are turned to go to see me temple. Ilako When you study it, we have heard Holy Spirit that you desire our bodies You desire our bodies as a temple that you may in dwell in that temple Lord you desire ears eyes lips hands feet that you can work through Now Lord here are thy children who have bowed before thee basil nigga Consecrating and giving their bodies to you Would to my Tully Samoyed really? That you Holy Spirit would fill them Who peeled apart wobble and live in them Who would he say? You would kindle your fire within them What cuckoo loop bands about a local tattoo way that you would transform them Lord to be that which you want them to be Has moody's become a lock That your name may be glorified In tando. Yeah, can see with empyrean yabo. MZ. Benoit bow Don't worry that your will may be accomplished in their bodies and their lives as it is done in heaven