In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of seeking the best in the Christian life rather than settling for what is merely good. He highlights the need for God's intervention in the current critical hour of America's history and the necessity of experiencing a visitation of the Holy Ghost. The preacher describes a three-fold vision of height, where one sees the Lord high and lifted up, which has the power to transform a person's life. He also discusses the role of suffering in the life of a prophet and contrasts the achievements of men in science with the intimate walk that believers can have with God.

I'm honored to be able to bring this servant of God to you. About twenty-five years ago, I picked up a book in the bookstore, Why Revival Tarries, and I began to thumb through that book, and I didn't turn but a page or two, and I knew I had to buy that book. That book is one of the most used books in my library, and I said, Jesus, would you let me meet this man? I'd like to meet this man. And I began to pray about meeting Leonard Ravenhill. And I didn't know when or where or how. I didn't even know where he was at. And a few years later, God worked it out. When he was down here at the college at Kentucky, what's the name of it down there? Asbury. I heard he was at Asbury College, and when I got the phone call, I got in the car immediately and drove to Asbury. And was in a wonderful meeting with Brother Leonard Ravenhill. That was the beginning of a marked change in my ministry. And I'm thankful for that day, because in meeting this man, I met a man who was a prophet for the day, who was acquainted with prevailing prayer, and he's been such a blessing to our congregation. I can't tell you the blessing this man has been, who has faced death more than twice, and God has raised him up. Just two years ago, I was told he would never be back in the pulpit. They didn't understand that this was God's man for this hour. We've been laying on our faces for this meeting, that God would strengthen and help him. Tonight, I've asked for your prayers as Dr. Ravenhill comes, so I give you tonight, and I trust that he has your undivided attention and your prayers as he comes, my friend, Dr. Leonard Ravenhill. I had a man in my office just a few days ago, and he said, I'm not very ambitious. I said, what are you doing? He said, I'm running for the presidency of the United States. I said, well, aren't you a preacher? He said, yes. I said, well, why stoop to be a president? It's the biggest job in the world, preaching the gospel. A lady asked me a while ago if I, she said, we've got a new pastor, and he prays for the dead. Do you pray for the dead? I said, no, I preach to them every week. I preached in a church yesterday. The pastor said, Mr. Ravenhill is 80 years of age. I'm not. I begin my 80th year on the 18th of June. That's next month. 18th of June, that's the date. You can get my address from the pastor. But you know, there are benefits with old age, and there are some things that are not too good. There are three signs of old age. Don't forget them. Three signs of old age. Number one is loss of memory. I can't remember the other two. I want you to sing a hymn. Really sing it. I always like to do this because it kind of gives me a grip of the meeting before I get to preach. I think it's number three in this book. Look, I'm, so I'm almost 80 years of age. I've been preaching 66 years. And I'm still believing God for revival. You know, the charismatics have had their innings. They've run out. And they've failed. You know why? Because their basis wasn't holiness. We not only need a revival, we need a revival of holy living. And that could start right now. Now this hymn, Holy, Holy, Holy. Now, when we get nearly to the end, it says, Thou alone art holy. Well, that's true. Holiness originates. He doesn't have derived holiness. He's the source of holiness. Your holiness and mine is derived. So let's really sing it with real adoration to him. Holy, Holy, Holy. Number three in the book. What we're singing. Offer it in adoration. Holy, Holy, Holy. Lord God Almighty. In the morning, Our song shall rise to Thee. Holy, Holy, Holy. Holy, Holy, Holy. As we sing, Cherubim and seraphim. If you want to do it, raise your hands. Let's offer it. Let's give an offering. All the saints adore thee. Second stanza. Holy, Holy, Holy. All the saints adore thee. Casting down their golden crowns. A crown of mercy seen. Cherubim and seraphim. Falling down before thee. Which were turned down. Turned down before thee. In earth and sky and sea. Holy, Holy, Holy. Holy, Holy, Holy. Lord, we recognize as an old American hymn says that before thy never blazing throne, we have no luster of our own. We thank you that we have found the way through the blood past the veil to the holy of holies with God. We pray, Lord, as your shekinah glory came in those old days, that in the extension of your mercy and grace, that same shekinah glory, something of eternity, will steal into this meeting. Lord God, I pray, make this meeting a tragedy to the devil. Make this meeting something that angels would get excited about. May ripples go from this meeting, or sparks we would rather say, to the very ends of the earth. We pray, Lord, that young men shall see visions tonight. We thank you for this holy word. We think of how many times men have banned it and burned it and blamed it and banished it, but it's still here. Because your word is settled in heaven. We thank you, Lord, you don't need any public votes. We're glad, Lord, you've established it. And it's forever and ever the word of the living God. Lord, we ask, though we don't deserve this, but we ask, Lord, to do something that hasn't been done since the very days that Brother Bill talked about. Lord, drop a life coal from off the altar tonight. Not on one heart, on every heart. Preachers, pastors, deacons, Sunday school teachers, anybody. And everybody. As the old Salvation Army used to sing, look down and see this waiting host. Give us the promised Holy Ghost. We want, we need another Pentecost. God, we pray, you'll get the ice out of us tonight. Get the doubts out of us tonight. Get the fears out of tonight. Lord, lengthen our horizon tonight. God, take us to the edge of eternity, we pray. And grant that your word, which is the word of the living God, is quick and powerful. We thank you, the Holy Spirit, who wrote this book. And we know he used men, but Lord, we thank you, he used kings like David. He used Amos, the herdsman. He came upon Peter and made him an anointed prophet. And Lord, down the ages you've been gracious and you've done this. Lord, if it wasn't for your mercies, America would be burning like Sodom tonight. We've out sinned Sodom. They didn't have Bibles, they didn't have Bible stools. They ignored their prophets, sure enough. We think how they ignored Noah. We think about precious man Enoch. Almost at the dawn of creation, prophesying that Jesus would come with 10,000 of his saints. It didn't move them, it doesn't move us somehow. Lord, we know human zeal is not enough. Intellectual power is not enough. Correct theology is not enough. Sound doctrine is not enough. Lord, we may have all this, but you must breathe on them. Lord, I pray that old hymn tonight, breathe on me, breathe on me, breathe on each of us breath of God and fill us with life anew that we may love what thou dost love and do what thou dost do. Breathe on us breath of God till we are wholly thine. Till all this earthly part of us, all this earthly part of us, spirit, soul, body, our mind, our will, our affections, till all this earthly part of us glows with thy fire divine. Less than this will not meet this emergency hour in America or this world's history. We're asking for a divine invasion, not just tomorrow, but today. Lord, take us from blessing to blessing in this conference, from revelation to revelation, from faith to faith, from victory to victory. Lord, let every defeated soul here tonight go out in total victory. Let every preacher go home with a new heart, a new vision, a new passion, a new determination to do the will of God. Lord, we know this night cannot recur in the calendar again. And Lord, maybe you're not going to return in blessing if we don't obey you tonight. So give us the spirit of obedience. Give us a thirsting, a yearning, a longing tonight. Above all, we ask and pray and believe you'll take the veil from your holy word. We thank you for all who've prayed. I thank you for people here. I thank you for people who've written to say they were spending a week in fasting and praying. People that haven't been going to bed at night. They're so concerned. They're so serious about being serious. Lord, God, make us serious. It's a crisis hour. God, again, we ask that this will be the most wonderful meeting. I don't want people to hear me. I want them to hear you. I don't want them to remember I preach. I want them to remember that they met the Holy Ghost in a way that they'd never met him before. That suddenly this book burst open and completely through the Holy Spirit's work became a new revelation, a new vision, a new inspiration. We give you praise in Jesus' name. Thank you this evening. We're going to consider the sixth chapter in the... I was going to say it in English. You know, it's difficult traveling the world. Unless you're a genius, I'm not. I know of one man that at 16 could speak eight languages and before he died could speak a hundred. And you know, when you go to another country you have an interpreter or I prefer to call them interrupters. And then they interpret and then they interpret. But it's a great advantage being in America because while you don't speak English at least you understand it. Oh, by the way, I'm reading from the Living Bible, the King James Version. Just last night a man here asked me out the NIV. Do you read the NIV? No, I said, because I know what it stands for. NIV, yes, Nasty Imperfect Version. But you know, the worst thing about it it's almost an identical text to that of Jehovah Witness Bible. There's nothing beats the King James Version. And nothing beats English preaching. That's why Dr. Kendall had to go back to England to get polished off or polished up. Is he here? Don't tell him. If I'm not here tomorrow, you know I got fired. Isaiah chapter 6, verse 1. In the year that King Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims. Each one had six wings. What do you feel like that? Above it stood the seraphim, each one had six wings. With train or with two he covered his face. With train he covered his feet and with train did he fly. And one cried unto another and said Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. You know what, I believe there's going to be a revival that will fill the whole world with his glory. In every kindred and nation and people and tongue. Even where they don't even know how to Bible. God is jealous for his son. And if he has to bankrupt America to get glory here, he'll do it. And the sooner the better. Any country as far as that goes. In the year that King Uzziah died. OK, skip back a minute there, please. Into the second book of Chronicles. And chapter 26. And here we have a summary of the achievements of this amazing King Uzziah. Now if you say tonight, Lord open my eyes. I want something like Isaiah God. Well, maybe God will have to take the best friend you have. The scholars usually declare that Uzziah and Isaiah were what we call buddies. They were very close. Now look at the remarkable achievements of this young man. 2 Chronicles 26. Let me start at verse 3. He was 16 years old when he began to reign. Now what's your 16 year old doing? Collecting baseball cards? Huh? Oh, you're thrilled he's a quarterback of the high school? What's your 16 year old doing? I read just this week that the man who spends four hours a day with TV. And there are some people who spend six. If you spend four hours a day with TV, if you live to be 60, you'll have given ten years of your life to watching TV. An answer for that at a judgment. So he reigned. He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, verse 4 says. And he sought God in the days of Zechariah. Isn't that something? Uzziah and Zechariah? With their amazing visions and intimacy with God? I'd like to have been in a meeting with those guys. And he went forth and warred against the Philistines. Now look at his achievements. In verses 6 and 7 he subdued all his enemies. He broke down the wall of Gath. He broke down the wall of Ashdod. He built cities. Verse 7, God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabians. Verse 8, the Ammonites and so forth. And there he is. First of all he subdues his enemies. In verse 10, he built towers and digged wells and there was much cattle. This man had a kind of Midas touch. Everything he did prospered. God was with him. So here he has authority over agriculture. He has authority over his enemies. And then you come down into verse... Let me see here. Let me come down to verse 15 anyhow. He subdued his enemies. He controlled the agriculture. It prospered. And there was prosperity in the economy and everything else. Why? Because God was with him. He made great armaments. In chapter... Verse 15, engines and invented many cunning bulwarks. His confidence was like ours. You know what we sing? On our coins, in God we trust. We sure don't. The church doesn't, never mind the world. Go into 2 Kings. It says one angel was going home one night and he was a bit reckless and he dipped his wings down. One angel destroyed 185,000 people. And Jesus said I could have called 12 legions of angels and the smallest denominator in a legion is 5,000. So that would be 60,000 angels each with one wing killing 185,000 people. They'd wipe out the population of the world. You know where tax took to our ears? You know, for sin, for armaments, for police stations and all kinds of things that have come in. So this man is conqueror in agriculture. He's a great administrator. He's a great inventor. And his enemies tremble to hear his voice. Let me read through this in verse 15 again. And he made in Jerusalem engines invented by cunning men to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad for he was marvelously helped while he was strong. But when he was strong, he became weak. You know, more people can stand adversity than can stand prosperity. And that goes for churches too. When they're poor and struggling, people pray. When we get prosperous and satisfied, the temperature goes down. He was marvelously helped till he was strong. But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to destruction for he transgressed unto the Lord. So what? He says, listen, I control the economy. All my enemies are afraid of me. I've 350,000 men in my army. I've 25,000 captains in my army. I've got security the whole way around. I've nothing to fear. But there were some people who didn't take too much notice of him, got him pretty mad, got him pretty angry. Who were they? They were the priests. Well, he said, I'll tell you. You tell those priests I'm going into the sanctuary and I'm going to minister at the table at the Holy Altar. And God said he shouldn't do that. And if you read the story there, I won't take, I need the time. He said 81, 81 men, 81, 81 men tried to stop him and hold him back. He was in such a frenzy. He was so mad, I think, with demonic power that he pushed his way through. And he began to minister at the altar. And God immediately sent judgment. You know, people, they think they're getting passed. I'm not very bad. I mean, well, in fact, a world-famous preacher said to me a while ago, he said, well, Len, I know I did wrong. But he said it can't be too bad in the sight of God. After all, he hasn't punished me. He hasn't smitten me on the forehead like he did Cain. He hasn't sent leprosy like he did when the gossiping sister of Moses was there. God hasn't punished me. I said, brother, listen, he has appointed a day. He doesn't pass judgment now like he used to pass it. It's at the end of the line. And God pities us. I won't have time. I wish I had. I'd like to preach on the judgment seat. I'm trying to write a book on it right now. It's awesome. You know, I don't believe all the combined trouble in the world, all the churches so-called, denominations, you can take Mormonism, liberalism, moonism, humanism, the whole rotten bunch of damnation cannot stop revival. It's uncleanness in the church that's stopping revival. Those denominations or sects have no power. He's delegated power to us if we get the anointing of God. But anyhow he did that, which was right, in the sight of God. Everybody says, what a wonderful man. He never misses a service in church. He even takes part, this King Uzziah. He's got the mantle of his father upon him. He's a wonderful man. But then he gets arrogant and proud. And what happens, he's stricken with leprosy. He pushed his way there into the temple. And he took eighty-one men. They tried to stop him. Leprosy too. Over myself, so excuse that. Maybe when you're as old as me, you'll do that. Most of you all lived to be that age. Jesus will come before then. I know you want him to come. You're so much in debt. I'm not sure that you want him to come because you love him. You want to love him because the world's going to hell. And things are getting worse. And what Brother Bill said, I didn't say it to him, but I mean the same thing. I think you mentioned five years. I don't give America ten more years to survive. Either economically or morally or in any other way. The judgment of God will come. It must come. It's twenty-five years since one day, it wasn't Billy Graham talking to his wife. It was his wife Ruth talking to him. She said, Billy, if God doesn't send judgment on America soon, he'll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. That's twenty-five years since he said that. Where are we tonight? So he went into the temple, and he insisted on doing this dastardly thing. The remarkable thing in history I discovered recently, it quite stirred me. In 63 B.C., there was a Roman garrison in what we call Israel now, or Palestine. The garrison was led by a man by the name of Pompey. Pompey was a friend at one time, and then through marriage he got closer to Julius Caesar. And then he became his most fierce antagonist. They were competitors. But when Pompey got there to Israel or Palestine, they said it's the most unique country in the world. Why? God lives here. What? That big building there, it's where God resides. God? Yeah, God, you know. The God you read of in All His Majesty in Isaiah 40. They didn't say that, I did. But he's the God who flung the stars into space. Isaac Watts said he made the stars those heavenly flames. He counts their numbers, calls their names. His wisdom's vast. I read the other day about one of these little tin-pot scientists, you know. He talked as though he was there at creation, as though he helped to do it. He was so sure how old the world is. Mercy on us. Then he said, you know what? We have a new telescope that goes beyond all the stars. Do you know there are billions and billions of stars? Do you know there's more than one Milky Way? There are hundreds of Milky Ways. They all have billions of stars. I shouted hallelujah. What for? Because it says in the 40th chapter of Isaiah, he knows them all by name. Well brother, if he knows the stars by name, do you think he doesn't know mine? That's why I don't send out begging letters. I'm not a prophet or a synagogue. I never asked for a penny in my life. I've got three wonderful boys. One over here, a wonderful missionary. Another boy who's going to be a senior curator in the museum in Washington before long. Another one has a church of 1600 there in Christchurch. I never asked for a penny in my life. I never will. He knows my name. He knows my address. My mother used to take boarders into the house because daddy had a very poor job. I remember a man called Mr. Parker. Very nice man. One day when mother was out, I said, Mr. Parker, I think you're such a nice man. He said, well thank you Len. I said, would you give me a penny? Do you know that rascal did? He told my mother. My mother told my father, when my daddy came home he laid hands on me. But mother was indignant. She said, you ask a stranger for a penny? We send begging letters out to people. That's an insult to God. It slaps him in the face. He owns the universe. It's all his. How big is God? Bigger than all my needs. Not all my wants, maybe, all my needs. Anyhow, here's Pompey. He gets a garrison and they go sweeping up on their horses to see this great temple. And they say the holy being, God, he belongs to the Jews. He lives in a place called the Holy of Holies. He comes with she kind of glory, brighter than a million suns. I'm going to see that God. You can't. Well, he decided he would. So what did he do? While they tried to hold him back, he went through the court of the Gentiles. And then he went through the court of Israel. Then he went through the court of the women. And then he went through the court of the priests. Then he went to the holy place. And he went past that and he saw the curtain to the Holy of Holies. He said, sweep it back. And he stood back, thinking the blazing holiness of God would be there. And they pulled the curtain back. And he was frenzied. He said, there's no God here. There is no she kind of. As we say, I've come around the world to meet God and God isn't here. Tell me this honestly in your heart. Answer God. Did you come to this conference to meet God or to hear a sermon about Him? Ninety-five percent of people who go to church on Sunday go to hear a sermon about God. They don't expect a confrontation. Bob, Bill talked about, what did he say, 1860? 1860. That was a grandchild of the greatest revival ever as far as I'm concerned, Jonathan Edwards. And Jonathan Edwards' revival began in the ordinary course of a Sunday service. He could have said, now look, we're going to hold up. The greatest preacher in the world is coming. His name, George Whitefield. He's already on the sea. He'll be here in two or three. Well, the boat missed the port by 150 miles. It wasn't a planned revival. You can't plan revivals. You can plan crusades. Dear, Dr. Chaucer whispered in my ear once. He said, Brother Lane, remember this. Revival changes the moral climate of a community. Our revivals don't get under the door of the church. I don't know why people believe in internal security. They run to the altar every three months. If you're so secure, why in God's name do you keep running out? Notice, it's a Quaker meeting now. Here's a man indignant. But you know, when he went in, thousands of Jews outside fell on their faces and said, No, no, no, he can't desecrate the place. His hands are bloody. He's a man of war. He's a heathen. Don't let him into the holy place. But when he got there again, he screamed. He said, God isn't here. Where is this holy being? I'm going to paraphrase it for you. When our youngsters come to church, they come through all the courts. First they come through the baseball court. Then they come past the tennis court. And then they go to the basketball court. And then they go to the racquetball court. And they come to the sanctuary Sunday morning and say, God isn't there. Come on. You're trying to get them spiritual, silly, stupid games. I'll tell you when your youth really mean business with God is when they crowd prayer meetings. There's no church as far as I get invitations to all kinds of churches. They were saying, why are they here tonight? I don't know why they're here. No, I'm here. I refused to go to India. They guaranteed me crowds of 30, 40, 50, 60,000 a night. If you'd asked me that 20 years ago, I'd have been on the next plane. I was asked to go the other week to speak to 4,000 preachers on revival. I didn't feel I should go. Do not because you ask me. God told me to come. And I'm not stupid enough to look for accolades. I hope some of you go out to this meeting blazing mad tonight. I hope you can't sleep. I hope you feel your hands are bloody because you haven't preached the whole council of God. So our kids come through the outer court, the tennis court. They come to the basketball court. They come to the racquetball court. They come Sunday. I talked to an intelligent young man recently. He's going to inherit millions of dollars. I said, well, do you go to church? Church? Are you joking, Mr. Randall? I said, no, I'm not. I'm serious. He said, church is just about as interesting as a, what do you call it, a Tupperware party. The only thing is you've got to agree with him. Come on, when did you last tip out of the sanctuary? I don't even dare to go out of the sanctuary. I preached in Wales in 1949. There were some old people there that went through the revival of 1904 and 5. And after the fourth night, a lady said to me, Mr. Randall, this is exactly like the Welsh revival. I said, why? She said, because we walked up the hill last night. When we got up the hill, we said to Mrs. Thomas, nos dar, which is saying Welsh, good night. Mrs. Thomas said that to Mrs. Somebody else. And then, what does this remind you of? Well, the Welsh revival. For what reason? We walked out of the valley, up the hill, and nobody ever said a word. The Holy Spirit was brooding. Dear Lord, you can't get out of a church in our town, Dallas, almost any time in the year. You hardly get off the steps. They're talking about Dallas Cowboys or some other junk. I wonder do we know what we're asking for. When God comes in his blazing holiness, I say that every day of my life. Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote in 1908, his father before him was living in Westleast, he was a deist. Oliver Wendell Holmes was a born-again man. He said, Before thy never blazing throne, Lord of all life, below, above, whose light is truth, whose warmth is love, before thy never blazing throne, we have no luster of our own. Grant us thy truth to make us free and kindling hearts that burn for thee. Till all thy living altars claim one holy light, one heavenly flame. So this man is a prophet. The prophet Isaiah. As far as I'm concerned, the prophets are the most elite group of men that ever walked this earth. And when God is angry with the nation, they have no prophet. There isn't a prophet in America I know of. People advertise me as a prophet. I don't claim to be a prophet. Oh, he's a praying man. I don't want to be known as a praying man. I want to be known as a man of God, if I'm anything. We have no prophets. Prophets are terrible men. Prophets never beg for money. Prophets never seek the crowd. The crowd seeks the prophet. Think of John Baptist. He comes there in a terrible situation. Between Malachi and Matthew, there's 400 years of darkness without any prophetic light, 400 years of stillness without any prophetic voice, and then suddenly in the wilderness. What must the people have thought that went down the street in Jerusalem and there was a priest in garments of glory and beauty? The most exquisite garments ever, all handmade, and a plate on his forehead, holding a sentence. And then he goes to see a man, ragged, rugged, with a volcano in his heart, an incandescent man in the darkness, and they flock from north, south, east, and west. Listen, brother, if you forget everything, remember this tonight. I hope you remember something. You never have to advertise a fire. I don't care if it's a building or it's a church. Get a man on fire in your pulpit, you won't have enough seats. And the only answer to hell fire is Holy Ghost fire. Well, say amen, but meet the conditions before we're through. This man, again, is one of the most unique men that ever lived. He's a prophet. There was an old Jewish scholar in America years ago, he got converted to Christianity, and he said this about a prophet, if I can recall it, I think I can, he said it years ago. A prophet, by the very nature of his calling, is a tragic figure. He has a fierce loyalty to God, and he has a burning heart toward a lost world that he lives in, and he's torn between the two. The prophet suffers for the people, he suffers by the people, he suffers with the people. This last few weeks, if you've been living in America, you've seen your TV showing the tragic news about the rocket that misfired and killed Oswald, and it showed you pictures of men walking on the floor of the ocean. A few years ago, we were watching men walking on the moon. What's your choice? Science lets men walk in a world that they're not supposed to be in. Walking in another world they're not supposed to be in. They walk on the bottom of the earth, they walk on the moon, but they're not these men of God, do they? They walk with God. That's a global... Come on, grab your stand and sing. He walks with me and he talks with me and he tells me I am his own and the joy we share as we tarry there none other has ever known. Come to Isaiah 6 now, please. Society of ladies in England went, I have the life story. I've written this outline before, but not the message. It isn't my outline, it's the Spirit's outline. Verse 5, then he said, woe is me, I'm undone. So there you have it, verse 5, woe. Verse 7, he laid it upon my mouth and said, woe. Verse 9, and in verse 9 he said, go. Woe, lo, go. The first is the word of a man, the second is the word of a seraphim, and the third is the word of God. The first is the word of confession, woe is me. The second is the word of cleansing, lo, this has touched thy lips. The third is the word of commission, go. I believe the greatest thing, well at this moment anyhow to me, maybe the greatest need for every one of us is vision. Yes, sure, there's more vision in the church today than ever, but alas, it's television. He could preach hellfire and he kicked everybody else to the end of the earth. He said, darn you, how old you have inherited your mother's picture of the spider, and you know it's not fair to her that food isn't good. And there are wise people, she said, God is calling, and she went. And when she went, there was only a dozen of them, so they shall be poor. And before she died, there were 400. She established foreign newspapers, Christian newspapers, all out of one life, so he can bring to God. This is how you can bring to God. This is how you can bring to God. This is how you can bring to God. This is how you can bring to God. This is how you can bring to God. This is how you can bring This is how you can bring to God. This is how you can bring This is how you can bring to God. This is how you can bring to God. This is how you can bring to God. to God. This is how you can bring to God. This is how you can bring to God. this is how you can bring to God. This is how you can bring This is how you can I want to live in such a relationship with you that I'd be happy to step into heaven without a minute's notice. I'm not in to put right with anybody, no apologies to make, no sin to be repented of, I'm living in all the light God has given me. That's the only way to live. You know holiness is not a luxury, it's a necessity. This is a remarkable book, this book of Isaiah. How many chapters does it have? It has as many chapters of our books in the Bible. They say there are sixty-six books in the Bible, yes, and they divide it by thirty-nine with the Old Testament, then twenty-six. And this book is divided the same way. The first thirty-nine chapters make up, I believe, Isaiah wrote the whole thing, anyhow. But you'll find that forty times in the Old Testament God is called the Holy One. Twenty times he speaks of his Holy Name. In chapters thirteen, one to thirty-nine, you'll find that the Holy One is mentioned twelve times, the Holy God. And then chapters from thirty, from forty to sixty-six, twelve times he's called the Holy One. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. God is holy. The Holy Son is holy. The Spirit is holy. He wants a church that's holy. He's coming for a holy church. A church without spot or wrinkle, that's not a denomination, or as the old lady said, an abomination. He's coming for a... He's coming for everybody who's born again of the Spirit of God and walking in the light, walking in obedience. He's coming for a bride, not a bad woman. He's not coming for a crippled, lame, half-blind church. He's coming for a church that's been revived and purified. Oh, if you read Schuyfield, he's haywiring lots of things. But I'll tell you what he's haywiring. He says, you see, God is going to rapture the church and take it to heaven and purify it and get the bride ready. That's wrong. It says in Revelation 19, the bride hath made herself ready. I know girls wear all kinds of jewelry these days, but I've never seen a bride at the altar with turbans in her hair, have you? I've never seen a bride at the altar open her bag and start cleaning up her dirty fingernails. The bride, that girl's been trying to catch that fella for five years. She comes to the altar. She's dreamed about coming to the altar. She's put on that dress and put it on, and she's got herself ready, because she's going to meet the man she adores. I believe if you and I, well, it says that he that hath this hope in himself of hope purifies himself. I don't believe the whole church will be the bride. When God made the bride, he didn't take the whole of Adam. He took a part out of him. I don't believe the whole church will go. I believe only those walking in holiness, not holiness people. Somebody said, you're very interested in holiness people. I said, I'm not interested in holy people. You see, the holiness folk have gone down the drain as much as the Baptists, pardon me, I meant the Pentecostals, and the Charismatics, because we've lost sight of the holiness and majesty of God. One day in the city of Bath in England, where we live, a great Rolls Royce pulled up. A footman got out and he put a footstool there, and he helped a young lady out, then another young lady. And they walked across that square with no body protection, and I suddenly realized it was our present queen, at that time she was just a princess, Princess Margaret and Princess Elizabeth. But you didn't have to look at them hardly or get to know their names. They walked with some dignity. They walked in a way I've not seen women walk. And the Christian life is a walk, and we're to walk in holiness. Nothing else will satisfy God. It may satisfy you, but it won't satisfy God. You know, when Jesus was on earth, he cleansed the temple. If he came back, I think he cleansed the pulpit first. Then after the pulpit, he'd go after the deacons and the others. Well, now, shall I start preaching? Is it time? It was a vision of height. He saw the Lord high and lifted up. It was a vision of depth. He saw into the abyss of his own heart. It was a vision of breadth. He saw a lost world. It was a vision of deity. The cherubim were not singing omnipotent or omniscient or omnipresent. Oh, they're the attributes of God. They were singing about the character of God. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. It was a vision of holiness. It was an inward vision of helplessness. It was an outward vision of hopelessness. Deity, depravity, duty to a lost world. Do you know how the mission fields are bankrupt? Because we sent bankrupt people out. My dear son is sitting over there. He's back. He's been on the mission field 22 years without a sabbatical. And raised the world without ever asking for a dime from anybody. And he said, Daddy, when I come home, the culture shock is so terrible. A man wrote me a letter, a very intelligent Presbyterian brother from the north, wrote me last week. He said, you know, our missionaries are returning. They've been away five, ten years. And do you know what's happening? The wives of our missionaries are going into depression. They can't believe that America has fallen like this. The prayer meeting has no life. The young people come to church worldly, come in their slacks. Some of them come, boy, they're indecent almost. I don't think you're holy because of that dress, but I believe there's modesty and I believe a holy person wants to be holy inwardly and outwardly. Yeah, but they were all men that shouted that. It's a vision of deity, a vision of depravity, a vision of duty. A vision of height, a vision of depth, a vision of breadth. A vision of holiness before thine ever-blazing throne. If you had lived in England just over a hundred years ago, if you'd asked for a guide, he would have taken you to various historic places. But if he knew the city well, he'd say there's an intersection here. In the morning you'll see a man. He's oversized physically, he's oversized intellectually, and he's oversized spiritually, we think. His name was Thomas Binney. He wrote one of the most beautiful hymns that I think has ever been written. Eternal light, eternal light, how pure the soul must be. When placed within thy searching sight it shrinks not, but with calm delight can live and look on thee. The spirits that surround thy throne, these holy beings, they may bear that burning bliss, but that is surely theirs alone, since they have never, never known a fallen world like this. A fallen world a hundred years ago? You couldn't find a homosexual. Now they're running for office. Now those damned men are getting ordained in some denominations. We want to be kind to them. God's going to send them to hell. Are you more kind than God? Keep the dirty rascals out till they get repented and cleaned up. Thomas Binney says, how shall I, whose native sphere is dark, whose mind is dim, before the ineffable appear, and on my naked spirit bear the uncreated being? The spirits that surround thy throne may bear that burning bliss, but that is surely theirs alone, since they have never, never known a fallen world like this. And then he says triumphantly, there is a way for man to rise to that sublime God, an offering and a sacrifice, the Holy Spirit's energies, and advocate with God. These, these prepare us for the sight of holiness above. The sons of ignorance and knights may dwell in the eternal light through the eternal love. Isn't that something? There is a way for man to rise. But why in God's name is the church so carnal? If Jesus is so exciting to you, why do you get excited about World Series? Men that won't pay, go to the end of the street to a prayer meeting, they go hundreds of miles, pay thousands of more dollars to go watch the World Series, or watch whatever else they have in football and soccer. Do you know what? When revival is breathing in the air, I want to use this word, I don't like it too much, there's a divine excitement in the sanctuary. As Finney said, when God is in residence, we pull people in, they come to see what God is doing. When he isn't, the world pulls them out. A man came to our meeting in First Baptist Church in Fort Worth a few years ago. To cut a long story short, he wrote me about two months ago. And he said, you know, God changed my life in those meetings, I came home, God has changed the life of my son. And he said, the young people are gathering in what was an empty church up on the hill there. First of all it was the Methodists, and then the Baptists got it. But they don't use it except Sunday. So the young people asked, could we use it on Saturday, Wednesday night? Yes. They'd be meeting for prayer. And the glory of God has come down, that people can't even pass the door of the sanctuary. The most wicked men in town have been turning in. People who they thought were going to hell without question have been born again of the Spirit of God. But he said, down the road, a mile and a half, there's a man who's very retarded. He's a kind of village idiot. And somebody brought him into the Baptist Church, and somebody prayed with him, nothing happened too much. They took him to another meeting, I don't know what it was, I don't care. But the preacher said, come forward, I want to pray for your needs. And here's this man that can hardly speak his name, or put two words together. And he's standing there, and God came on him. And suddenly he poured forth a word of exhortation. They said it was like liquid fire coming out of him. And they said, it's the idiot. Now, you don't have to be an idiot to get the baptism of the Spirit, but he does baptize idiots, as some few preachers know. Isn't that wonderful? And he said, that young man, now when he comes in the meeting, people, shh, he's speaking with a prophetic voice that they've never heard. And it's all centering around Jesus. I don't know where Dr. Kendall is, I'll ask him tomorrow. But in America we're not preaching Jesus, we're preaching the theories. We're preaching about drugs, we're preaching about crime, we're preaching about abortion. We preach about the moral majority. Nobody's uplifting Jesus. We've got to get him so marvelous in our lives, so exciting. We live Jesus, we talk Jesus, we dream Jesus. We work Jesus. Read the Acts of the Apostles, it's all about Jesus more than about the Holy Ghost. In whose name did you do these things? His name, through faith in His name. If we rediscover the power and value and dynamic of the name of Jesus, we'll move America to God. If we don't, we're sunk. We can build our lovely churches, whether they're made of glass or anything else, it won't make any difference. I like that wonderful... I spoke of it yesterday morning in a Baptist church there in... for a few minutes anyhow, in Louisville. That precious young martyr, maybe not 20 years of age, Stephen, and he's being crushed with stones, his own body became an orchestra. His bones were groaning, his heart was torn, his emotions were torn. And he's standing there in front of the very men who crucified Jesus, and they say he's going the way of his master. He can't stand much more baptism with those rocks. And suddenly the little guy stands up, bloody as Victor, as Henley would say in his Victor, my head is bloody but unbound. And he stood there, he said, I see Jesus. They said he's an idiot. We killed Jesus, we buried Jesus. He said, you say what you like, I see Him. And the world can say what it's like, and the liberals can say what they like. I see Him. I walk with Him, I talk with Him. I see Jesus standing, he said. But the scripture says He's sitting. Do you know what, I think Jesus got so excited He jumped off His throne and said, come home. I want Him to meet me like that. Bill, you can do as you like, I know what I want. See Jesus standing. But notice, the heavens open. I don't believe there'll be a move of God until the heavens open again. And when the heavens open, this world will open, our hearts will open, our mouths will open. Doors that are shut will open. Doors open will be shut. When Jesus made His step into Jordan, that was the first step toward death. And the heavens opened, why? To let Jesus see up, nor let the angels see down. And see the Son of Man, the Son of God is going to walk and do His Father's will from here until they murder Him. But the heavens were opening for the first moment for Jesus. They opened at the last moment for Stephen. But what do you think happened? Don't you think those Pharisees and Sadducees, don't you think the high priests and others went home blazing mad? That young man said, I couldn't see anything but a cloud. But he said, I see Jesus. Makes all the difference in the world when you see Him. And there's a man standing there, his hands are bloody. He had a colossal intellect. He's going to be the greatest man in the world as far as I'm concerned after Jesus Christ, his name was Saul, Paul, he became Paul. And he gives consent to the murdering of this young fellow. They keep telling us on TV news that many of the veterans of Vietnam wake up in the night screaming. They relive those bloody scenes. One man said, yes I wake up shrieking, my bed is wet with perspiration. I was standing next to a man and a shell knocked his head clean off and blood gushed all over us. I saw another man, his legs were shot from off him. I saw all the hellish carnage. And I relive it. I tell you with all my heart, I believe that Paul, the apostle, saw the death of Stephen over and over and over again right through his life. And Stephen didn't know. You know, it's a wonderful thing when you think of it. When you die and go to heaven, you don't get your reward right away. We get our rewards at the judgment. I believe all the rewards are still piling up for John Wesley and Charles Wesley and I think even a few for Calvin. But anyhow, I think they're all going to be right. That's the payday. That's the final payday. It's not even a great judgment day. It's a greater size. It's the court of courts held by the king of kings. The decisions there are irrevocable, perfect. It's going to be a glorious day. I just hope I don't have to stand on the dais by myself with billions of eyes looking on when Gabriel says that the next person to be rewarded is Leonard Ravenhill. And the last man that was rewarded was the man by the name of, what's his name, Payson, praying Payson of Portland. I hear that Banner of Truth are going to put his diary out in three books. Buy it if you can get it when it's out. That man prayed, sure he prayed. Prayed, the floor was like this, he had no rug, and he wore grooves because when he prayed he always prayed this way. And he wore the grooves at the side of his bed. And he had great knees like a camel. You're going to be judged, your prayer life. You're going to be happy about it, preacher. I'll talk about prayer tomorrow afternoon, I think. So I mustn't get off. I've got to speak with my text here, if I can. Let's take the last vision first. Verse 8 says, Also I heard the voice of the Lord. He had a vision, then he had a voice, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I, send me. And he said, Go. Go. He didn't say, Lord, send somebody else. He has a better intellect. He has a stronger body. He has a stronger mind. He said, Woe is me. And God says, Go. Go into that lost world. Why did Gilmore go to Mongolia and labor seven years without one convert? Because God told him to go. He had a vision of a needy country. William Booth stepped out into the gutter in England in 18, was it 56? No, 65. His wife had a curvature of the spine. He had no money. He's half Jew and half Gentile. The Methodists put him out, and he started the Salvation Army. And the Salvation Army went into 70 countries in 90 years. Not 70 cities, 70 countries. People left their castles in England. Ladies who never put up their own hair may scrub the floors in some of the filthy halls they had in Paris. You see, God is looking for men. He dwelleth not in temples made with hands. I talked yesterday in that million or two million dollar new church, and I said, It's gorgeous. But if God the Holy Ghost doesn't come, what good is it? Solomon lined the walls with gold. And everything was gold. The most expensive building maybe in history. But he had sense enough. He said, Lord, unless your glory comes, we're finished. People say the fire falls on the altar. It does not. The fire falls on the sacrifice. And people come to the altar, but they want sacrifice. It's not your lousy sins he wants. He wants your heart. He wants your will. He wants your affections. He wants your determination. I get so mad when I read about that angry, holy anger. You see, in carnal anger there's bitterness. In holy anger there's sorrow. And I cry a lot, I admit that. I believe the one reason we don't have revival in America is we're content to live without it. And when we're not, when you say, Lord, break my lifestyle, do anything. Break my health if need be. As long as I see my children, my other people come to Christ. There are more lost people in the world at this moment than any period in history. We have a precious red Indian, a red guy, comes to our prayer meeting every Friday night. He's a full-blooded American Indian. I rejoice in that prayer meeting. Would you believe that people come, and I actually have an envelope here. It says, Jimmy Swaggart, and he's a good guy. We have people drive seven hours to the prayer meeting. We pray from half-past seven till half-past ten. And they've seven hours to drive home at night. And until last year, and of course they graduate and leave. We had young men driving every Friday night from, what's it called? Oral Roberts' place. We have people coming from Christ for the nations. We have people driving two and three hundred miles every Friday night. I give an exhortation, then we pray. It's wonderful, yes, but in God's name. Why do they pass two hundred churches to get to our fellowship? Why can't they stop in every town and say they have a prayer meeting here. The fire of God, the compassion of God, the love of God, the holiness of God is manifested. But my Indian friend, he prays with tears. He prays with brokenness. He breaks me off every prayer meeting I go to. He says, God, you know my grandfather's a drunkard. My grandfather's a witch doctor. My tribe is consumed. Do you know the rate of suicides amongst the American Indians? There are two and a quarter million of them. The rate of suicide is four times that of white men. He told me just before Christmas last year that in one tribe, nineteen young men under twenty years of age committed suicide. Do you know who's going in converts? Do you know who's going after them night and day? The Mormons. And he said, they've been to our tribe. They come and say to the chief, chief, oh big chief, if you bring your tribe in with our church, we'll fly you to America, we'll fly you to London, or we'll fly you any country. And they're falling for it. But he said, through his tears, he said, Mr. Raymond, why aren't Americans coming? It's exciting to go up the Amazon, get your picture taken with guys with feathers up in their hair. What about the American Indians? After all, it's their country, we kick them out of it. We've taught them our habits, we've taught them how to drink, we've taught them every lousy thing. We're obligated to tell them about the living Son of God. I'm praying God will send them their own Finney and their own Wesley and their own Spurgeons. That God will shock us in these sedate sanctuaries that we have by these men who are staying up, this young man now stays up at night to pray. In the last six months, four of his brothers have been saved. His mother has started reading a Bible again and saying her prayers. The whole family has been affected, but he said, Lord, it's not enough. It's not just to see my family in heaven. It's not just to see the Indians. He says, God, do something in our tribes that will shake America. And maybe God will make that amenable to provoke us. I hope he will. Okay, then we've got what? The greatest need in the world tonight is a Spirit-energized church. What's it going to take to move us? We've sinned beyond Sodom. We've sinned beyond Gomorrah. We've more gospel broadcasts every day in America than the rest of the world has in a month. We've more Bible schools in America than all the European countries. But to whom much is given, much shall be expected. Come on, I want to ask you again. What are you doing in your church? Are you raising saints? Are you raising people who've said goodbye to the world, the flesh and the devil? Or are you just getting nice church people to be members? It's our business to get people ready to be a part of the Bride of Christ. But let me say this swiftly. I had a letter just recently from a young man in Sweden. And he said, my partner just flew in from New York on the plane. It was a 747 with over 300 people in it. And out of 350, 220 of them were Mormon missionaries. And he said, they're swallowing up our country.