In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit and allowing Him to work in our lives. He explains that the Holy Spirit's role is to make Jesus large in our lives and to transform us to be more like Him. The preacher also highlights the need for dealing with our sins and purifying our hearts, as everything that comes from a corrupt heart will bear its marks. He gives an illustration of a lady bringing beautiful flowers to church, but no one noticing or appreciating them, to emphasize the importance of having a pure heart.

Okay, keep in mind tomorrow morning, in our session tomorrow morning we discuss post-crusade teaching and preaching. What are the biblical truths that I think are so vital after coming through nights and days like this and material that you'll be able to have to relate for the future as far as ministry is concerned. Okay, all right, let's pray. Dear Lord, I pray that by your spirit tonight you'll just reveal your truth. Put a frame around it all for us so that we'll understand how we can move from here into understanding more clearly the pattern you have planned for us and what it takes to begin to walk in the spirit. And I thank you and praise you for it in Christ's name, Amen. I guess scripture-wise we could possibly read in Philippians chapter 3, Philippians chapter 3. I call it the way to live illustrated. I'm trying to illustrate what I believe the scriptures teaching about the way God wants us to live. Rejoice in the Lord always, must we, we say. People who look like that, you can happily talk them into doing the work of God. Anybody look like that? See, they must be revived first of all. They must be revived first of all. Oh, are these here, we're so excited being Christians. Look at that for a sight for sore eyes. Hmm, my, no wonder the world doesn't want our Christ. And there's another, he must be a Christian. Somebody said, I know a man, he must be a Christian. Say, how do you know? Because he has the same expression on his face as my mule does in my backyard. Must be a Christian. Oh, what must I do to be saved? Not only in the next life, but what about this life? So that I can deal with the greed and selfishness, all those things that are ruining my chance for a life of joy and peace and freedom. Hmm, there's the text, Apostle Paul, that I may know of. Well, if we were to read Philippians chapter 3, finally my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. And then without reading it all, you see the Apostle Paul gives his testimony of his religious background. Look at verse 4, though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinks that he has whereof he would stand a trust in the flesh, I'm more. You know what he's saying? If you want to have a boasting contest about who is more religious, you lose and I win. We say, hmm, I think as far as Lou and I are here concerned, maybe you lose and we win. See, Lou and I were supposed to be altar boys in front of the Catholic Church. Wouldn't that be cute, twin altar boys? You know, somebody told me yesterday at the church where I was, I didn't really put it this way, but actually you know that our name, almost as if it fits the message tonight and the truth that God's given us. Su-terra. Su means on or under and terra means firma, ground. So you know what we should be? Undertakers. And somebody said to me yesterday, that fits you right, because you're preaching about death to self. Death. And so did you realize, even in your name, God had you planned for it. Planned it for you. That I may know in. Well, you see, the Apostle Paul gives his testimony, but when he gets to verse 7, you know all his religious doings, when he gets to verse 7, he says, but what things were gained to me, I count them but loss for Christ. Doubtless I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things. Do count them but dung, a refuge, that I may win Christ and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through faith of Christ. The righteousness, which is of God by faith. And then he gets to the text, that I may know about him. Is that what it says? That I may know about him? Yes or no? That I may know him. How do you want to know him? How do you want to know him? Three ways. Power of his resurrection. Fellowship of his suffering. Being made conformable unto his death. That's how the Apostle Paul wants to know Christ. After all of his religious background, he said, that's nothing. The way I really want to know him. If I were to outline this chapter into one simple statement, I'd probably say, Philippians 3, 1 to 10, reviving as a crisis. And then Philippians 3, 11 to 21, reviving as a process. Continuing after. And the key verse, right here, right in the center. That I may know him. How do you want to know him, Paul? I want to know him. How? How? How do you want to know him? I want to know him in the fellowship of his sufferings. That is, Christ suffered for our sins. You want to know him that way? That means you have to deal honestly with your sins. Just the way he had to suffer for our sins. How do you want to know him, Paul? I want to know him being made conformable unto his death. Oh, you want to know him that way? That means a cross. That means agree with him about death. To your own rights. Death to self. How do you want to know him, Paul? In the power of his resurrection. Oh, you know what that is? That's the light that comes out of death. That's the accepting of the Spirit's fullness, which is the life side of the cross. The life that comes out of death. See, I call it a trilogy of truth, or a three-fold truth. What does it say? Deal with your sins. Agree with God about self. And accept the fullness of the Holy Spirit. And then, of course, continuing daily. Well, look at it again. Let me see it in several ways. Here it is. Just so it gets ingrained in our thinking. Deal with God about sins. Agree with God about self being crucified at the cross. And be filled with the Holy Spirit. Well, you know what that is? Sure it is. Fellowship of his sufferings. Deal with sins. And then, being conformable unto his death. Relates to self. And then, the power of the resurrection. The ministry of the Holy Spirit. Well, you say, is the power of the resurrection right for that point? Of course. Look what it says in Romans concerning his son Jesus. Christ our Lord, declared to be the Son of God, with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. With power, by the resurrection from the dead. See? Holy Spirit as type of the resurrection. When Christ left the earth, he said he would send another comforter. Literally meaning, one as myself. I'm going to send another one as myself. And so, the Holy Spirit represents the miracle aspect of the Christian life, when the Holy Spirit now, one as of myself, comes to our lives. Well, I said it's a trilogy of truth. That means threefold. Deal with our sins. Call it the detrimental power. Then, deal with the self-life or the disaster power. And deal with the Holy Spirit for the dynamic power. Let's go back. Here we go. Let's go back. Deal with our sins. That's where we start. Proverbs 28, 13. He that cometh to sin shall not prosper. But whoso confesses and forsakes his sin shall have mercy. 1 John 1, 7-9. If we say that we have no sin, we do several things. One is we make God a liar. Another one is the truth is not in us. Another one is we deceive ourselves. All that. See? But if we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us. And of course, Psalm 92 again is a reminder of the same thing. And of course, Acts 24, 16. A reminder of the importance of having a clear conscience towards God and man. Dealing honestly with sins. But that's not enough. What about self, the disaster, the devastating disaster power? And when you look in the book of Proverbs, you begin to see some verses that are interesting. The backslider in heart shall be saved from himself. Where does backsliding begin? It's in the heart. What does it mean? Saved from himself. Saved from himself. Romans 7, the Apostle Paul, the reminder of what a wretched man that I am. Who's going to deliver me from this body of sin and death? And he said, when I would do good, evil is present with me. Oh, I have a desire to do right, but I always end up doing wrong. What's wrong with me? And he recognized that there's another law in the system that's contrary to the law of God. And he prays, he said, I thank God it's through Jesus Christ, my Lord. And of course, he goes on in Romans 6, he reminds us that we reckon ourselves to be dead indeed under sin, but alive under God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Then the Holy Spirit, the dynamic power. See, the scripture makes it clear, Galatians chapter 5, that the flesh wars against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. And the two will never be able to coexist. Not on the same army. I love it in the Ephesians chapter 3. The first couple of chapters, I see the Apostle Paul, he gets really excited. He gets really excited about what it means to walk with God. And when you get to chapter 3, I get a mental picture of the Apostle Paul being so full that he finally said, Oh, that you might be filled, not just being forgiven. Oh, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. Oh, the wonder of being filled, fullness of God. Ephesians 5, be not drunk with wine, where it is excess, but keep on being filled with the spirit. And then it goes on and it talks about all the human relationships that come out of that thing, that experience of walking in the spirit. Husbands loving, wives submitting, children obeying, fathers provoking not your children, servants give your employer a good day's work, employers care for your employees. All the human relationships flowing out of being filled with the spirit. Well, let's see if we can put this in picture form. We have to start where God starts to deal with our sins. Dealing with our sins. All kinds of, whatever it might be. Critical spirit, hatred, drunkenness, jealousy, selfishness, murder, fighting, all kinds of things. Well, you say, mine is not up there yet. Well, give me time. Oh, there are some more. Guess what? They're the same ones. I just changed the picture a little bit so we could get envy, selfishness, impure thoughts, lustful pleasures. Oh, now it looks like all the branches of a tree. There you go. There they are, all the branches of a tree. Isn't that interesting? So, some of us this week have dealt with maybe jealousy, or maybe a critical spirit, or maybe selfishness. What branch did you deal with? We're dealing with sins, specific sins. What branch did you deal with? Well, see the Apostle Paul talks about the works of the flesh. He names them all, all kinds of them. Oh, you say, well, none of those are mine. Maybe hatred, wrath, maybe, or strife, envying, maybe, maybe, maybe. But maybe somebody's so good here, you say, well, mine's not there. Mine's not there. Well, just give me time. See? What about this one? Sensitiveness, bitterness, temper, self-vindication. I'm not always right, but I'm never wrong. Vindicating myself. Well, mine's not there yet. Well, there's slander, quarrels, anger, fret not, rebellion, praise of men. Just the different ways of seeing it. Yours is not there yet. See? Oh, there it is. It's rooted in the spirit of pride. And see? Talks about the flesh. And see? Rooted in the spirit of pride. God hates it. What if your mind's not there yet? Well, no, it's not there yet. Well, gossip. Oh, there's one. Filthy habits. Oh, there's one. Say, well, mine's not there yet. Well, let's see. You know, I get a mental picture of the Apostle Paul saying in Galatians chapter 5, if I put everybody's sin here, I'll never get to writing chapter 6. So, what does he do? He puts all of us in one category. Yours is not there yet. He says, and such like. There you go. And such like. And such like. He said, I don't have any more time. So, whatever it is. Whatever it is. Whatever it is. Whatever it is. We have to be absolutely honest with God about naming those things that we know are not pleasing God. Now, what am I saying to you? You see, when we deal with our sins, do you know what we are doing? We are destroying branches. We are destroying branches. And that's important. But sometimes people think that that's the essence of our revived life. No, no. It's merely destroying some branches. Merely destroying branches. We have to let God deal with us about all those issues, whatever they may be. See? It's like picking bad fruit off of a tree, one bad apple at a time. Only to find out that it seems like, you know, sooner get them off and they keep on coming. But, you see, some of us have the idea that, no, just think, just think. I dealt with a bitter spirit last week. I dealt with that spirit of pride, we said. And some of those other things that Lou was talking about. No, I dealt with that. Now I'm ready to fly. I've been patched up. I'm ready to fly. No, being patched up is not ready to fly. The problem is, the problem is what? We're dealing with branches only. We wonder why we don't walk in dynamic spiritual victory. The problem is the futility of all the self-effort to make the Christian life work. The problem is that the roots are still unattended. The roots, still unattended. And that's where we must come to grips with the issue. Well, why don't we just stop there, and then we'll move on to getting to the root problem. Are we on? Andrew Murray made this statement. Purity of heart must be the mark of the child of God. Cleansing from sin is only the preparation for holiness. When the blood of Christ works with power, there always follows what? Death to self. The flesh must be offered up and given over to death. Andrew Murray, great man of God of the past. Martin Luther said, I do not fear the Pope and all his cardinals as much as I fear the King that lies in my heart. So, see, even our daily bread that many people read every day. Look at the year, 1974. Some people think this must be some new theology thought. No, look at it. To be pleasing to God, we must come to realize that we are crucified with Christ and allow his indwelling spirit to take control of our lives. He went on to say, salvation from sin should be followed by a sacrifice of self on the altar. You cannot fully live for him until you have died to self. What does that all mean? What does it mean? God's definition of boasting and mine? Big difference. Yes, it is. Agreeing with God about self is what? It's actually agreeing with God about a death blow to the root of the problem, which is the spirit of pride. A death blow to the root. Agreeing with God about his death blow to the root of my problem of the self-life, the spirit of pride. Look at this. Now, how many like that picture? How many do not like it? How many do not know what you like? That's most of you. Well, well, let's see. Maybe here. Let's see. Oh, let's see. Did I skip one? There it is. There it is. Same one. Same one. And now a little bigger. OK. What's wrong with it? What's wrong with it? I'll tell you what it is. The implication is that when you die to self and there's a root, there's an ax to the root, the implication is that your life is gone. No more life. No, that's not it at all. Agreeing with God about self does not destroy the personality or personal capabilities. It does not even destroy your natural and normal responses to life. In fact, it's just the opposite. You will never be normal until you've entered into this kind of a truth and begin to walk it. Why? Because we are too self-centered by the flesh. The scripture says, no man has ever hated his flesh, but he loves and nourishes and he cherishes it. We thrive on it. So, it does not mean merely improving a few rough edges. Let me get back to this. It actually happened right here in Regina, 1971, December. We were in the A&W Root Beer restaurant one night after a meeting and a man came over to me and he said, would you come talk to my wife? I said, why? This was on a Friday night. Why? He said, well, she was in your meeting this week and on Tuesday night she came home and she said that she died to herself. She went to your prayer room and she said she died to self. Well, I said, well, there's a problem. Well, he said, the problem is ever since then she will hardly talk to me. She mopes around the house. I said, honey, what's wrong? What's wrong? What's wrong? I'm dead. I'm dead. I'm dead. I'm dead. She thought that death to self was a destroying of our natural and normal responses to life. Just the opposite is true. It doesn't destroy your personality. No, it doesn't destroy your personality. Not at all. Just the opposite is true. Your life hits its zenith. It hits the peak as it were. Can I say, you can finally be a fulfilled person when you begin to enter into some of this truth and begin to walk it. Not perfection of our actions, but a whole new lifestyle. Doesn't mean merely improving the rough edges. I'll never forget one night, man came to the prayer room. I'll never forget. I said, tell me, what did the Lord say to you? Well, he said, I heard your message tonight and I figured I just had a few rough edges that needed to be fixed up. I said, brother, you've missed the whole message. It's not the rough edges, it's the heart. It's the inside. See? And if you think you're just going to come to... And sometimes that's what happens when people only deal with their sins. Just improving myself a little bit. No, no, that's not it. See? Does not mean perfection of my actions. No, not at all. Because we're in the flesh. But it is perfection of my direction. It's a perfection of my affections. It's a perfection of my motivations. All that's perfect when I begin to walk with God at a deeper level. But because we're in the flesh, it's not always the actions. Agreeing with God about self. I agree with God and accept by faith that self is crucified with Christ. I agree by faith. Take that by vain. Self is crucified with Christ. I agree with God about the root of self, namely that spirit of pride. I agree. Yes, God, I see it. I literally bring my life under the domination and control of God's Holy Spirit. Agreeing with God about self. Bankruptcy is the way out. William Law, wonderful book he's written on the subject. He said, until the heart is purified to the bottom and has felt the acts of the root of the evil. Look at the next word. Everything, everything, everything, everything that proceeds from that kind of a heart partakes of its imprint and its corruption. What does he say? Until the heart has been purified and has felt the acts of the root of the evil. Everything that comes from that kind of a heart already has the marks of corruption on it. Illustrate, please. Here's a lady who brings lovely bouquet of flowers to church on Sunday morning. Beautiful bouquet. Nobody mentions it. Nobody says, oh, those flowers are beautiful. Who brought them? Oh, nobody mentioned it. So, she goes out feeling bad. She did that and nobody even said a word. Well, the next Sunday morning she brings flowers again. Nobody mentioned it. But, you know, being she is a baseball fan and she believes in three strikes and you're out. So, she figures she'll come the third time. Well, if they don't want my flowers, we'll see what happens this time. Nobody mentions it. She goes out saying, well, that's it. See what the church is going to look like next week with no flowers. And she's upset. What's the problem? You want to know something? Those beautiful flowers already have the marks and the imprint of corruption on them because those flowers were there not for the glory of God but for that woman to be recognized. That's what self will do. Until we've gotten to the root of our problem, everything that proceeds, all the good deeds we try to do already have the marks of corruption, already on them. That's what we're talking about. George Muller understood this. Here's what he said. He said, self-denial is not cutting off an indulgence here and there, but it's laying the axe at the root of the tree itself, of which the indulgences are only greater or smaller branches. Get to the root. Then he, oh, well, let's try it. Let's try it. Let's try it. He said, you've got to get to the root. Well, here's some of the branches. Here's some self-will, self-righteousness, self-vindication, self-confidence, self-glory. Well, I'll just use those. There you got some branches. He said, it's not just lopping off a branch here and there. Well, what does he say? See, what if, see, what if one or more of these be cut off? If such lopping off of some fewer branches only throws back into the others the self-like to develop more vigorously than them. Now, that makes sense. If you have a tree with five branches and you cut off two of them and the tree is still so much alive, what happens? The three branches that are still right there will get stronger than ever before because now the life-giving substance of that tree goes only into three branches instead of five. That's what he's saying. So, he says, so what if you cut off a few branches? Only throws back into the others the self-life to develop more vigorously in them. Well, there we go. There are those branches. Let's see if we can illustrate that. We took off self-will, knock that one off. We were in the prayer room one night or in the meeting. God dealt with us about that. No, self-righteousness. Oh, I can make it my own strength. God dealt with me about that. And which one was that? Self-glory. Oh, there we go. Self-glory went off. And look what remains. Self-confidence, self-vindication. Well, what's the next thing we see? Look at the now, bigger than ever. That's what he's saying. If we don't get to the root of the problem, those things that remain will get worse than ever. And we wonder why. We wonder why. We can't enter into spiritual victory. George Muller, when he was asked the secret of his service for God, he said, there was a day when I died. And he said, as he spoke, he bent lower. And as he almost touched the floor, he continued by adding, he said, I died. Died to George Muller, his opinions, his preferences, his taste. Died to the world, its approval, censure. Died to the approval. Died to the approval or blame even of my brethren and friends. Died to it all. And he went on to say, since then I have studied only to show myself approved under God. That's it. That's it. See, Christ says, give me all. C.S. Lewis said the same. He said, Christ says, give me all. I don't want so much of your money, so much of your time, so much of your work. I want you. I don't want to cut off a branch here or cut off a branch there. Hand over your whole self. That's the way C.S. Lewis said it. Everybody says it a little different way. Hand over your whole self. Now, just so we can see the difference. Just so we can see and understand the difference. You see, when we are dealing with sins, we're talking about the fruit. When we're dealing with the self-life, we're getting to the root of the problem. When we deal with sins, we're talking about our desires. When we deal with, and then those are the symptoms, the symptoms. When we deal with self, we're dealing with the disease and the source of the problem. Big difference. Some only deal with God on this level, and we wonder why they can't walk in spiritual victory. When we deal with sins, it's the practice of sinning that we're coming to grips with. And the outward acts in our lives and the outward manifestations of our lives that the Bible talks all about the fact that there's not any good in us. And a lot in Galatians chapter 5 gets into it as well. But when we deal with the root, we're not only talking about the practice of sinning, but now we're dealing with the process of sin within our being, the inner man. We're dealing with the fact that there is that disease that needs to be dealt with. The nature, that carnal nature that needs to be dealt with. We deal with that in Romans chapter 8, Galatians chapter 5. We talk about that. They that are in the flesh cannot please God. And on and on the scripture talks about it. But what does it say? When you deal with sins, you're talking about your thoughts and the words and the deeds. And when we move into this area, we're talking now about that proud, carnal, selfish spirit that controls and contaminates our being. And there are far too many of us who just live on this side over here and we keep asking God for forgiveness, but never come to grips with the root of the problem so we can enter into dynamic spiritual victory. Well, so that's why when Luth spoke the other night, he said that we've got to humble ourselves first. That's the first thing God says in 2nd Chronicles 7.14. And then turn from your wicked ways a little bit later. See? Deal with the root of the problem, the spirit of pride. See? Deal with the root of the problem. And then watch how you can be able to turn from your wicked ways. In fact, then watch how God can reveal things to you. The spirit of pride is a blinder so that you cannot see those things. When we deal with that spirit of pride, now God has access to our hearts and He can show us the wicked ways. Why do you say? I don't want to get that serious about my Christian life. You don't? Well, you don't want to agree with God about that? You will live with a false hope of being a spiritually mature person and it will never happen in the arm of flesh. You'll never become spiritually mature. You don't want to deal with God? You are incapable of total release from lots of fleshly habits. Merely asking God for forgiveness every time you do those things and you never expect complete freedom from Him. And you know, some people, without even trying, have made a life verse out of 1st John 1.9. Well, at least I can always be forgiven if we confess our sins. He's faithful and just to forgive us and cleanses us. Without realizing it, they've made that their life verse. Never expecting victory, but just keep coming to God all the time for forgiveness. Never maturing in the life of faith. Well, say, you don't want to get serious about that? Just keep on living in a mentality of despair with no way to cope with those sinful tendencies. Say, you don't want to deal with that? Well, I can tell you that you're surely on the road to shipwreck. And you read 2nd Corinthians 5.17, where it says, if a man be in Christ, he's a new creation, all things pass away, all things have become new. And you say, when, oh, when is that going to happen to me? I make a profession of faith. I keep on going through the same thing over and over and over again. When is it going to happen? It will never happen as long as self is in control. Never happen. Spiritual shipwreck. And you give up and say, oh, it just doesn't work. Just doesn't work. Just doesn't work. See? Until we agree with God about the root of self, ego, spirit of pride, contempt prevents the Holy Spirit from revealing God's truth to us. That's what I alluded to a moment ago. See? Now, agreeing with self does not mean a perfect daily lifestyle. I alluded to that. Rather, agreeing with God about death to self gives the Holy Spirit the opportunity to provide victory when the flesh operates. We don't have to live in that defeat. We can find the place of victory whenever flesh seeks to operate. Well, in the New England States, a number of years ago, a lady came to the meetings and God dealt with her so powerfully. And she wrote out her testimony. She said, my fear was rooted in pride. The fear, the sin of fear was rooted in pride. And she said, I see it as the bondage of self. See if we can relate to this. Watch this. Here's her words. I was afraid of many things since a child. I honestly thought these fears were personality weaknesses. And if I had more encouragement from godly parents, I wouldn't have struggled so much with it. Now, she's blaming her parents. If I would have had godly parents, I wouldn't have struggled with those things. That's what she wanted to say. God showed me that my fears were rooted in pride. Rooted in a heart filled with, oh, look at this, self-protection and self-preservation. Self-protection, self-preservation. In other words, I'm going to protect, I've got to guard myself from anybody getting near me. My fears were rooted in pride. I had previously known a measure of victory in many areas of fear. But, look at this, it wasn't until I saw self at the core that I believed God could totally remove the bondage that I never even knew I had. Well, my meeting with God was truly the most profound encounter I've ever had in my 30 years as a Christian. It was as if he was in the very room with me, speaking and laying out my heart before me. I could see myself. She went on to say, God has never dealt with me so heavily and yet so gently. He lovingly called me to let go of all that was keeping me from being a fit vessel in his loving hand. Praise God that he did not let me go until it was set up. Amen to that. Well, look at the list of fears I struggled with since a child. I want us all to watch this. You might see yourself and she saw it rooted in the spirit of pride. What are some of those fears? Fear of not being loved if I did or said the wrong thing. Fear of trying new things for fear of making a mistake or looking foolish. Fear of being criticized or told I was wrong. Calling people on the telephone. Oh, I was afraid of that. Being in unfamiliar circumstances. Death of a loved one. Oh, how I feared the possibility of a loved one dying. Meeting new people. Going new places. Fear of the unknown, the future. Changes. Fear of the dark. Fear of being alone. Hugging people and showing affection. Isn't that one? Hugging me. What will they think? Apologizing and asking forgiveness. I was afraid of that. Being hurt emotionally. Not knowing the answer when I'm being asked a question. I was afraid that if I got around people, they asked me a question, I wouldn't know the answer. I feared that desperately. Doing almost any one-on-one with people because of fear of saying the wrong thing. I couldn't relate one-on-one to an individual. Fear of saying the wrong thing. Not being in control of the situation. I was afraid whenever I could not be in control of the situation. Fear of sharing my faith with the unsaved. And she said they're all rooted in ugly self. No wonder God hasn't been able to use me to the fullest. See? And does not the Apostle Paul say, for God has not given us the spirit of fear. Well, if God hasn't given it to us, who has given it to us? Satan. But God gives us a spirit of power, whoops, whoops, whoops, of power, whoops, using the wrong thing. Power of love and stable thinking, soundness of mind, stability of thought. That's what God gives us. Fear robs us of it all. See? The point is, there must be vertical power before there can be horizontal power. In other words, there's got to be the power that goes up this way in order for us to have power this way. So, you see? It's not enough to deal with our sins and it's not even enough to come to the good and say, God, I'm sick and tired of self being in control. I surrender that at the cross. No more I but Christ. By the way, even going that far with God, do you realize that all that is negative? That's just getting rid of garbage. Getting rid of garbage, dealing with sin, get rid of sin, the contamination of self being in control, surrendering that, just giving God garbage, giving God garbage. And sure, we need to get rid of it all, right? But for some of us, all we ever do is give God garbage. But God wants to move us into the positive. Positive. What is he talking about? D.O. Moody said, you can breathe without lungs, you can see without eyes, you can hear without ears, as well as you can live the Christian life without the fullness of the Holy Spirit. You know what he's saying? He's saying, try to breathe without lungs. Try to hear without ears. Try to see without sight, without eyes. He said, that's how impossible it is to live the Christian life without being filled with the Holy Spirit. Dwight Moody. Interesting. The ministry of the Spirit. It's not a luxury, it's a necessity. It's power that's necessary to go. It's power we can count on. It's energy that is absolutely unlimited. Power of the Spirit. No shortage of it. In fact, no shortage of it will do in our lives. See? A witch doctor said to a missionary in Haiti, one difference between you and between us, is that Christians do not know the power they have. And we know the power that is ours. The witch doctor is saying that. Here we talk about the power of the Holy Spirit, and the witch doctor is saying, yeah, Christians, they don't even know the power they have. We know the power we have. So we ask, what's the key to the power? What is the key to that power? Well, here. Which one has the power? Which has the power there? If you look at that picture, which one has the power? Which one has the power? Which one? The poster. Well, you know, it's such a profound picture. So profound. The simplicity is, it's the one that's plugged into the source. And when I see a picture like this, look at that. Look at that. See? You can even have the Bible, but if you're not plugged in, the letter of the law can kill. But it's only the Spirit that can quicken and give life. Spirit quickens. So, can we afford to be without that ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives? There's no energy shortage here. Power to change a life, turns real life into real life, to real life. See? Look, I like that. See? To real life, into real life. See it? And John says, Jesus said, he that believeth on me out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. This he spake of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive. Well, if we're born of the Spirit, we've received. If we're born of God, we've received the Spirit. What's the problem? Here's the problem. Many of us live in such a way that the channels between us and God are so corroded, so corroded, that the power of the Spirit can't get through at an adequate level for the demands we face in times like these. In other words, we face such pressures and though the Spirit indwells us, our lives are so corroded with all kinds of things and garbage that the power of the Spirit cannot get through to us at an adequate level to meet the needs, the demands that we face. That's why we need to let God do it his way, in every way, experience it every day, experience it. Well, you say, I don't like that talk about the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. See? Why is it a fallacy to think you don't need to walk in the Spirit? The fallacy is to think that I can make it on my own and I expect to be consistent and witness in my own strength? What a fallacy that is! To believe I'm a good Christian when in fact I'm a hindrance and a contradiction to the true Spirit of God? Fallacy is that I seriously affect my family by a powerless lifestyle. Oh, the tragedy of children that are raised in a home where a father does not walk in the Spirit. To think what they miss, to think that they do not see the power of God function and they begin to think that materialism and everything from a human side is all that matters. Never see anything divine, seriously affect the family by a powerless lifestyle when we are not walking in the fullness of His Spirit. Well, how do we enter? How do we enter? Not profound, is it? Not profound. Go back to the cross. To be filled with the Spirit so that the fruit of the Spirit can begin to flow. And you know what that fruit is? Sure. Love and joy and peace and long-suffering, not short fuse but suffered long, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, not weakness but meekness, that strength that has grown tender, temperance or self-control, all there. And it begins to move all at once, it begins to grow and becomes like a fruit basket and the fruit keeps on growing and it's wonderful. And especially when we understand that we're connected to the Divine, Jesus Christ is Divine, and as long as we keep in that posture of brokenness and humility and on our knees in prayer and recognizing that it's not in our strength, watch it continue to grow. That joy and that peace and that love and that long-suffering, it continues to grow and the fruit of the Spirit is evident at a deeper level and it continues to grow. It's not only faith to die by but it's faith fit to live by and it's a meekness and it is that self-control, Christ the Divine connected to Him. But what happens when we get up off our knees and we think that we can begin to make it in our own strength, all at once, fruit vanishes, all at once vanishes. And we begin to say what happened? What happened? What happened? And when we go to praying it's almost as if there's something that's not getting through any longer and we lose sight of the cross and all at once we say where is God? Where is God? Where did He go? Did He forget me? And the sky seems to get blacker all the time. Where is God? Where did He go? Did He forget me? And He says draw nigh to God. He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He shall lift you up. There it is. We can draw nigh to Him. Come in cleansing. There's forgiveness of sins. Purify your hearts. There's the inner man. Double-mindedness. Humble yourselves. There's dealing with the spirit of pride. In the sight of the Lord. And He lifts you up by the power of His spirit. The promise of God for every single one of us. It's Andrew. The songwriter says it so beautifully. Spirit of God, descend upon my heart. Wean it from earth through all its pulses move. Stoop to my weakness, mighty as thou art. Make me love thee as I ought to love. I ask no dream, no prophetic ecstasies, no sudden rending of the veil of clay, no angel visitant, no opening skies, but take the dimness of my soul away. Is that our prayer tonight? Hast thou not bid us love thee, God and King? And all thine own soul, heart, strength, and mind, I see thy cross. There teach my heart to cling. Oh, let me seek thee. Oh, let me find. Teach me to love thee as angels love. One holy passion filling all my faith. The baptism of the heaven descended down my heart and altar. And thy love aflame. That's what it is. Let's make that our prayer, our concern that we enter in. Not only for sins to be forgiven, but to recognize the root problem. Self is still in control. If I've never come to deal with that spirit of pride, that contamination of that spirit of pride. Self in control. To be delivered from that bondage, so now a candidate to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. Amen? Let's pray. Lord God, I pray, now will just deliver us from half-hearted commitment. Deliver us from just wanting to deal with a few issues. May we come to grips with the true issue of self in control. Spirit of the lives. So that we can be candidates to be filled with the fullness of God. Filled with the Spirit of God. Empty the vessel. Cleanse it. Empty it. Cleanse it. And then fill it. We long for that fullness tonight. Have your way. Have your way. It is possible that some of us during these days have been dealing with some branches. And we wonder why we can't walk in spiritual victory. We've gotten victory over some areas. But other areas are more acute that have gotten worse than even other than before. But tonight we want to get to the root of the problem. We want to be set free from the bondage of self. Agree with God that it'll be no more I but Christ. Agree with God about that. No more I but Christ. Right where we're seated. Turn it into a prayer room. Ask God for forgiveness. Cleansing. Ask God to reveal any area that you've not seen clearly about your life and sin in your life. Ask Him to cleanse you from it. Even now. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. Look at the center section. Deal with self for deliverance from bondage. And then the third section. Deal with the Holy Spirit for victory and power. And then if you look on the back, continuing daily. See that? Continuing daily. Continuing daily. Got it? Okay. Now, what I want you to do is to take this home with you. And for the next several days, make it your own personal Bible study. With your Bible open, read all the scriptures. Let the Word of God saturate your heart. So that you can see that it's a truth experience. It's entering into truth that makes the difference. See? And if you come, if you need to come for salvation, you start on the left hand side where it says for salvation. If you are believer and you're making a full surrender to God, you start where it says for surrender and go down through it. In each section. Make it your personal Bible study for the next several days and then throw it out. No, don't do that. What you want to do is you want to keep on going over. Keep on going over it. It's a truth I can tell you. This folder has helped so many people. Pastors have written. Others have written. Thank you for this folder. That it sharpens the focus on how we not only deal with our sins, but we agree with God about that bondage of self and walking in the spirit. Very important. And if you look on any of the, all three of those sections, you'll see, you'll see thank and thanking and praising God. Thank and praise God. See? On the left hand side, right by the little dot close to the bottom says thank and praise God. Look in the center. The center where it says letter E, thank and praise God. Look on the right hand side, letter D on the bottom, by thanking and praising God. See? Why is that important? Thanking and praising God. Why? Why is it important? When you say thank you, you're saying God, I have received. When you say thank you, you say God, I have received. And you never say thank you until you receive something. And by faith, we want to agree with God and let him do his work in our lives. By faith, we enter into the truth. And then God will begin to do whatever he wants to do in our lives in the process. Just keep on thanking him. Now, let me just encourage you that the next several days, for the next three or four days, I don't want you asking God for anything. Just thank him. Thank him for your victory. Thank him for your cleansing. Thank him for deliverance from the bondage of self. Thank him for a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit. Just thank him. Just keep thanking him. We say, what if I have to have, what if there's a need? What if there's a request? What if there's a need? What do I do then? Well, the Bible says, let your requests be made known with what? Thanksgiving. So, instead of begging God to do it, thank him for doing it. Like what? Do you know that when you learn how to pray in Thanksgiving, it even changes your voice? Like what? Dear Lord, when are you going to get ahold of that miserable husband of mine? Oh, he's this. Oh, he's that. Oh, dear Lord, I can hardly put up with it. Oh, I've waited so long. Boom. Oh, but watch here. But watch when you start praying in Thanksgiving. Dear Lord, I thank you for what you're going to do in my husband's life. I thank you for the way you're going to get ahold of him. I thank you for the victory that's going to come See, my voice changed. Why? You know what? Praying in Thanksgiving will move you from a mentality of despair into a stance of faith and victory and assurance. Because now, you see, you recognize that God's going to do it. Not you try to twist your husband's arm, or anybody else. See? You move into a stance of faith and victory and assurance in Thanksgiving. So, go around. It'll change the atmosphere in your home. God, I thank you for this miserable husband. God, I thank you that you can give me grace to live with him. See? God, I thank you for making me angry. No, no, see? God, I thank you for the victory from that angry spirit. See? I thank you for setting me free. By faith, I accept that. Now, remember, it's not perfection of your actions because we're in the flesh. We're not perfect. But God sees the intention, and he sees the direction, and it's growing in grace. It's growing in grace as you keep on walking in the spirit. Watch. You keep on growing in grace. As long as you try to do it near the energy of your flesh, no wonder it never works. See? But now, when we begin to recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and give him room to function, it'll make all the difference in the world. Where you begin to enter into a lifestyle of spiritual victory. Very real. And then, in the packet, you have the reconciliation guidelines. If you need to make anything right with anybody, make sure that you read that closely so reconciliation is going to be a blessing, not a curse. Make sure it's a blessing, not a curse. Okay. Now, here's the choice that everybody has to make here. Either you're going to go from here, thanking God and accepting your victory by faith, or you will go from here saying, well, I just wonder if it works. What's that? See? But the point is, if you say, well, let's see. One night I asked a man, I said, do you believe God has given you spiritual victory tonight? He said, well, I'll know when I get home. I wasn't thinking fast enough that night. I should have said to him, well, what do you expect when you get home? If you see your wife all dolled up with an angelic look, then you know that you have victory? What were you waiting for? What did you want to see? I didn't ask him. But you see, you know what I said to him? I said, brother, you are already in defeat. Because you're not claiming that by faith right now. You see? You either will take the next step in victory, or you'll spend the rest of your life going towards victory. Do you hear that? The next step has to be a victory step. Why? Because you're accepting by faith what God is doing. By faith, I accept the work as done. And so I claim it, and I thank God for it. So the next step is a step in faith. It's a step in victory. Not, well, let's see, let's see, let's see. No, no. Now, because we are in the flesh, and our actions don't always measure up to it. Yet, you see, that's why 1 John 1.9 is in the Bible. That if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just. You know what the difference is? The walk in the Spirit, it's almost like, boom, a dagger in the heart. Whereas when you walk in the flesh, you could care less, you could sin and sin and keep on and upset other people, and the self-life is operating, and it doesn't bother you because the flesh just loves it like that. But now when you begin to walk with God in the Spirit, and you begin to sense his presence in your life, all at once when you do that, you know what you've done? You've grieved the Holy Spirit. See? And you've quenched the Holy Spirit. See? Now, let me give you a simple way that you can quench the Holy Spirit, and a lot of us do it. Do you know how it's easy to quench the Holy Spirit? Just don't recognize his presence in your life. I walk into a room, all kinds of people in the room, or no, no, no, one person's in the room, and I walk in the room, I go get what I'm after, and I pick it up, and I walk out of the room, and I never say a word to that person. I say, hello, how are you doing? I just walk in and out and never say a word to that person. You know, the person would probably say, I wonder, why didn't he speak to me? Why didn't he speak to me? The fact that I didn't recognize that person's presence, you know what I've done? I've quenched that person's spirit. I've quenched it. I've quenched his spirit. See? How did I do it? Just by not recognizing his presence. See? And it's easy for us to do it. That's why many of us, we say that we believe in the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the, we're not so sure about that third person. Holy Spirit. See? We believe in God the Father, God the Son, and Lou and I, it comes by, we get legitimately, just think of this, our parents were married on Halloween night. You talk about a witch's night. And so, whenever we were growing up, I can still remember growing up, we'd go to church, and when the pastor would preach about the Holy Spirit, he would use the word, the Holy Ghost. And all I could see was Halloween, a ghost. And growing up, I had a, ooh, that Holy Ghost. And I don't know how it affected you, but some of us live as if we're afraid of the third person of the Trinity. And you see, He's the source of our power. He's the source of our victory. He's the source of our growth. And He's the one who reveals Christ to us, who makes Christ large, who makes Christ large. Let me give you a little example of that. Watch. My, my, you know what just happened? It's amazing how much weight you just lost. You just lost a lot of weight. Look how thin you got. Yeah, look how thin you got. But, you can put that weight on pretty fast. Oh, how large you got. Look how large you got, without even going to, without even eating spaghetti. Look at that. See that? There you go. What did I do? You know what? These glasses magnified you, they made you large. Do you know what the Holy Spirit's work is? His work is to make Jesus large in our lives. See? That's why we have to have Him, and recognize His presence, and give Him honor, so that He can keep on enlarging Christ, and the beauty of Christ, and the Holy Spirit, and to be more like Jesus, like Lou was talking about, to be more like Jesus. That's the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Amen? Amen? Okay. All right. Let's take one, just a couple minutes. Tell me what the Lord said to you tonight. What did the Lord say to you tonight? Okay. Good. Okay. All right. What did the Lord say to you? How did you respond to Him? Just a few words.