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Christ in Me
Hans R. Waldvogel

Hans Rudolf Waldvogel (1893 - 1969). Swiss-American Pentecostal pastor and evangelist born in St. Gallen, Switzerland. Emigrating to the U.S. as a child, he grew up in Chicago, working in his family’s jewelry business until a conversion experience in 1916 led him to ministry. In 1920, he left business to serve as assistant pastor at Kenosha Pentecostal Assembly in Wisconsin for three years, then pursued itinerant evangelism. In 1925, he co-founded Ridgewood Pentecostal Church in Brooklyn, New York, pastoring it for decades and growing it into a vibrant community emphasizing prayer and worship. Influenced by A.B. Simpson, Waldvogel rejected sectarianism, focusing on Christ’s centrality and the Holy Spirit’s work. He delivered thousands of sermons, many recorded, stressing spiritual rest and intimacy with God. Married with children, he lived simply, dedicating his life to preaching across the U.S. His messages, blending Swiss precision with Pentecostal fervor, remain accessible through archives
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In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of repetition in advertising and how it can be applied to spreading the word of God. He uses the example of a salesman who successfully sells a product by repeating its benefits and creating curiosity. The preacher then relates this to the power of the New Testament and encourages the audience to read it and make it their own. He shares a personal story of how his own understanding of the Bible was opened when he was a child. The sermon concludes with a reminder of the hardness of hearts when one does not diligently listen to God's teachings and a reference to Jesus choosing his disciples.
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Get through marveling at the hardness of our hearts. Beloved, we have no idea what happens to our hearts when we don't hearken diligently unto Him. I was recently reminded of a word Jesus spoke to his disciples when he said, Have I not chosen you twelve? It appears that he spoke those words just before he was going to be crucified. And he had these twelve around him. And the great multitude had forsaken him. They didn't like his preaching. It was too strong. Oh that, you don't have to take such strong teaching. My goodness, Dr. Levinsky Finkelstein, he preaches eloquent sermons. Go listen to him. He'll tell you all about the millennium. He'll tell you all about the tale of the barren Daniel's prophecy. And here he tells you to come down. He tells you to come as a little child. And they all melted away and they left him alone. And then he looked upon the twelve and he said, Have I not chosen you twelve? And one of you is a devil. I wonder if it's the devil in this meeting. Beloved, we meet hearts that are as hard as a rock. Christian hearts. Judas, don't tell me that Judas didn't do miracles. Sure. Sure, he went out with the other disciples, laid hands on the sick, anointed them. Sure enough. And yet he was a devil. Beloved, it means something to come down and to be filled with the Holy Ghost. It means something to be converted and to become as a little child. And only God can do it. And that's why I say I marvel constantly at the persistence of the Lord Jesus Christ. In many different ways, he brings the truth to us. And when I first heard it, it certainly did something to my heart. How many times I'd go out of the meeting, I'd go home. Sometimes I'd fast next day to be sure that I wouldn't miss getting that word into my soul. It changed me. I have nothing to boast of at all, but the mercy and the goodness of God. But I found out others came to the same meetings and they remained hard. You don't remain hard, but you become hardened. Oh, how different when God Almighty can talk to you and make you know his call and his gospel. I was so glad yesterday, coming out of the children's meeting out there, one of our brethren met me and he said, Now, wouldn't you rather have a Buick? Do you know why I was glad? Because I saw it sank in. And I don't mind to keep harping with my harp. I don't mind to keep repeating and repeating and repeating. Why, that's what that program of Lowell Thomas does. Five times a week he says, Now, wouldn't you rather have a Buick? And finally, I imagine they make a lot of sales, because that finally sinks in. The secret of successful advertising is repetition. You've got to repeat the thing. And the reason they repeat it, and very interestingly, they've got something to advertise. You know, if the people don't come and buy your product, build a better mousetrap and they'll come. But you've got to show them how that mousetrap works. Then they'll buy it. I knew of a salesman, came to the house, knocked at the door, the woman came out. I don't want nothing. He knew women. He said, Well, sister, you don't mind if I sit down. I'm very tired. I've been walking miles. And he let something hang out of his pocket. And immediately that got her curiosity working. And he sat down and she wanted to know what that was. Well, that was part of the article that he was going to sell. And so he began to advertise that article. And before he was through, she had bought a basketball. No, that's the secret of success in advertising. It's repetition. And that's why they say five times a week. Now, listen, wouldn't you rather have a Buick? And when they tell you that, they describe it. They tell you how much better this car is than any other car. They'll tell you about the transmission and they'll tell you about the gas line and about the ignition. And they'll tell you about the automatic windows and the power steering. And not only that, but body by Fisher makes it a better buy, you know. And so by the time they get through, you feel, well, yes, maybe I would like to have a Buick, but that's not the end of it. He finishes by saying, now, listen, you've heard all about that, but you'll never be really convinced until you get behind that wheel. Come on, walk down now to your Buick dealer and ask for a ride and get in behind that wheel and take a spin and you'll be surprised. And then you'll realize that, my goodness, really, Buick is a car for a king after you've tested it, after you have tasted it. And now, listen, God has something to advertise. He's got a wonderful and that's what Jesus Christ came to advertise. He said, I came down and I was born to testify to the truth. He says the whole world is full of lies. The father of lies has deceived the whole world and they're all on the way to hell. They're all walking on that broad way. And I've come to show them the truth and show them the way of life and accept to eat the flesh and drink the blood of the son of man. You have no life in you, but you will perish with all your religion, with all your civilization, with all your knowledge, with all your self-inflicted wisdom. And Jesus Christ came to advertise the real thing, but you will not know it. Oh, this wonderful book will that's what the preaching of the gospel is for, is to awaken in your soul a crying, Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death, from this bondage of sin? And when God has been able to create in you a real desire for holiness, then he says, now get behind the wheel. Come on, this thing is real. This thing is real. I'm come that they might have life and have it more abundantly. And you'll never have it until you get behind the wheel, until you get the feel of power. Talk about Buick having 235 horses in his schnozzle. Oh, would you like to step on the gas? And they talk about power. We sang about power in the blood, beloved, the exceeding greatness of his power is waiting for you, is waiting to be manifested in your life. That wonderful life that he speaks of abundance of life and of the gift of righteousness is waiting for men and women like we are to be received as many as received him to them, gave him power. Oh, that's the difference. And that's why I don't mind to repeat and repeat and harp with my heart and say the same thing over and over again, because hallelujah, I've been behind the wheel. I've been behind the wheel for a long, long time. I've enjoyed this power of his indwelling and you have, but some, some folks have, they've never been honest about it. They've never really seen the glory of it. They've never heard the advertisement of heaven. What does he say? We had it this morning in one lesson, a wonderful lesson from the beginning of Corinthians. God is faithful by whom you were called. Oh my God, Buick calls you to come and try it, but they won't give you that car until you pay for it. But here's something that's paid for. God is faithful by whom you were called into fellowship, into joint ownership. Oh, he that was rich became poor that by his poverty, we might be rich. Just think what will happen to us when we all receive him like that. When we give God almighty a chance to manifest the exceeding greatness of his power to us for to believe. And he tells us how it's done. He says to the world, it's foolishness. Don't expect your universities and your high school teachers to teach you those things. They don't know anything about it. Not only are they stupid, God says they're fools. The fool has said in his heart, there is no God, but they blubber it right out. Don't listen to them. Here is one that came out of eternity to testify to the truth, to speak to you and to me. And more than that, it's by the command of almighty God, who is not willing that any should perish. And if Jesus Christ says one of you is a devil, there was one, the son of perdition, and he could have had the kingdom of heaven, but he harmed his heart. That's what he did. He was a dumper to begin with. It doesn't take much to poison your blood. Just a little germ and your whole bloodstream is poisoned. That's how these German Nazis killed themselves. They had a little pill hidden in their, behind their teeth, so that if they got in trouble, all they had to do was bite it and one, two, three, they were dead. And you don't have to commit great sins. But oh my Lord and my God is not willing that any should perish, but he gave his only begotten son and God called us. That's the wonderful thing. Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it. He calls me to himself first of all. And he says, and this Christ is made unto us of God, true science. Oh, this marvelous science. Do you study science? Oh, you have to study sciences, but all these sciences are misleading unless they're based on the fear of God. That's the very fountain of true science. My Lord and my God knew that the thing that I need and the thing you need is not biology and not psychology and not phrenology and not theology, but you need something far better than that. You need himself, his own living spirit by whom he made the worlds. Oh, that's the Raja Kabai, the mystery that was hid from ages and from generations. But now God would make known to his saints what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles. Here is science. And he says the wise and prudent will never know it. It's hidden from them. You can't find it in their libraries, but God will make it known to you and to me. How? Why? He says by his spirit that searcheth the deep things of God. That's another thing I marvel over wherever I travel. I expect soon to take my third trip around the world and wherever I go among all the nationalities in the world, there are men and women that have received this life. They're changed. I found marvelous saints among the Chinese. Marvelous young men that are now in the army and they let the light shine and oh how they gave their lives to God. And what is that mystery? Why is the thing you need, the thing everybody needs, the thing without which nobody can be saved is to have God in my body and soul and spirit. Oh, it's to have Jesus Christ reigning within. We know something about the reign of sin. We know how it enslaved us. We know how it discombobulated our mind, our mental power. How oh my Lord and my God and people call themselves Christians and they entertain vile thoughts, unclean thoughts and they read unclean stories and they feed on the husks that the swine eat. I found out that wherever God really enters in, people stop reading that stuff. They stop reading novels and pornography and even good things. They stop it. Oh, you guard your heart with all diligence because you have a friend there. You've got a king and he dwells there and he is a jealous lover. Oh, how jealous he is. How with his own blood he purchased you for himself. Remember that you were redeemed, purchased, not with silver and gold from the vain conversation received by tradition from the fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. God, do I mean that much to you? Oh, if you want to know how much God thinks of you, look at the price he paid to have you. And unless he has you, the devil has you. I mean, we don't like to say devil. Let me see if I can find a Latin word for devil. Well, Lucifer is not so bad. Beelzebub is bad enough. But let's say the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, the works of the flesh are manifest. You can't escape knowing they're there. All these terrible things, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, covetousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, wrath, jealousy, pride. All these things have gripped you. They have enslaved you unless Jesus Christ enslaves you. Beloved, he says, if you knew the gift of God. Oh, if you knew the gift of God, it isn't a buoy that you have to pay for. It's something infinitely more marvelous. And thank God there are millions of people that are opening their hearts and opening their lives and paying the price. We were surprised when we came to Germany to find out how many true martyrs Jesus Christ had. And strange to say, some of the Pentecostal preachers became kisses of the beast right away. They became preachers for Hitler immediately. And then when Hitler lost his power, then they came back and became Pentecostal preachers again. Listen, one of you is the devil. Jesus knows them that are his. And let them that name his name depart from iniquity. But Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists. I know a preacher. I think it was a Baptist preacher. They strung him up because he wouldn't recant. He wouldn't give up his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then they doused him with water in 20 below zero until he was a block of ice. And that's how he died. And far worse than that, right in the city of Stuttgart, where we had our tent meetings, right under that tower where that main station is, they had a torture chamber. They took some preachers, some Lutheran ministers who refused to bow to Hitler. One man particularly, they whipped him to death. And there were 1,500 prisoners that had to stand there with their hands behind their heads and watch it. And his mother, his wife and his child had to stand there and watch their father being beaten to death like that because he was true to Jesus Christ. I tell you, the Lord Jesus Christ has men and women that appreciate him. How about you and I? How about you and I? Beloved, the fire of hell will be awfully hot in that day. But today the fire of the Holy Ghost is still warmer, still hotter. And we would know it if we gave God half a chance. He says he has made him to be unto us true wisdom, true wisdom. Oh, to know Jesus and the power of his resurrection. And you know what he says, what is made unto us. First of all, righteousness. Do you want to be righteous before God? Oh, to have Jesus Christ imputes to me his righteousness. I live no more, Christ live within me. And how does that happen? First of all, that I've repented of my sin. Do you know that sin shall not have dominion over you only as you allow it? You're making that choice. Somebody said, oh yes, it was this morning in a testimony. No one can get past the cross of Christ. Either you accept the crucifixion for yourself, you crucify your flesh with the affections and lusts, either one or the other. You accept his death to be the death of yourself and you reckon yourself dead indeed unto sin. That's what the blood of Jesus Christ does for me. Or you crucify him afresh. You say, we don't want this man to reign over us. Oh, the glory of the call of God by whom you were called into the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. And oh, how gracious that everyone can come to Jesus and meet him personally. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, speaks of intimacy, like the father kissed the prodigal when he came home. So Jesus Christ will meet me. I sometimes look into the books of the saints. Bumi and Chrysostom and whatever their names are, St. Augustine. And it makes me woozy. But when I read the words of Jesus Christ, I get light. Says, come unto me. It's as if we confess our sins, he takes over. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. Why do you carry your sins around with you? They'll curse you in the end. Jesus Christ has borne that sin away in his own body. And if you honestly face the issue, he'll forgive you every transgression. How wonderful. You don't have to weep over it anymore. But as you confess it to him. Oh, this personal interview with Jesus every day, every day I need him. Every day he waits for me every day. And not only does he forgive, but he cleanses me from all unrighteousness. Beloved, I need that experience, don't you? I need to experience Jesus like that. And it costs something. But look what men pay to go to hell. Look what they pay. I thought tonight when we dedicated or brought this child to the Lord. I wondered how many of you I had in my arms. And I kissed you for the whole assembly. And I wonder how many I've married. Only once, there must have been 100 couples I married. And only once did I get a letter from the bridegroom or the husband. Years later, and he told me I'd done a good job. Gave him a good wife. You know, that blessed me. Oh, praise the Lord. Hallelujah. And here, how many of us have faced Jesus in honest to goodness repentance? My beloved Jesus is here tonight. He is ready to forgive, ready to cleanse from all unrighteousness, ready to possess every heart. And I suppose everyone here has received him. But how is he in the heart? Do you allow him freedom? Does he speak to you from his word? When you read out of this wonderful word, does Jesus Christ make his life to flow within you? Does he unsheathe his sword and make this word a discerner of the thoughts and of the intents of the heart? Oh, beloved, he says, as many as I love, I rebuke and chase. And he won't let you get away with others get away with. He won't. You don't have to. Here's my righteousness. Oh, thank God. Not something that I imagined, but it's himself. Jesus is made unto me from God. If you knew the gift of God. And the reason we don't know how it is to drive a Buick because we've never been behind the wheel. And the reason we don't know Jesus is because we have not allowed him to do for us what he wants so much to do. Oh, just one surrender to him. Glory to God. Now I'm almost through. But listen, he is made unto us sanctification. That's the second step. Holiness unto the Lord. Oh, without which no man shall see the Lord. And what is that? Why? It's that wonderful life. We sing, live out thy life within me. Oh, Jesus, King of Kings. Has he promised to do that yet? Is that the world sees me no more, but ye see me because I live, ye shall live also. And I said, Jesus, I don't know how to live, but you know how to live now. Come on. Come on. Take over. Take over, Jesus. You live out your own life. And here he gives us a description. He says, now get behind the wheel. Come on. Let me manifest my power. As many as received him. That's where the power is. Oh, by faith, I have contact with him. By faith, I take him. Glory, glory to Jesus. What a wonderful offer. What a wonderful advertisement. Read that New Testament. Make it your own. Get interested in it. I'll never forget how God opened my understanding for the Bible. I was a kid then and I had a new Bible given to me. A brand new Bible. It was brand new for a long time. Until that period. And then in three months time, it came apart. I read this week, I think, in the Sunday school times of a church in Europe. And the people who don't belong to the church call that the Church of the Worn Bible. Because the people are poor. They treasure their Bibles. They can't afford to buy new Bibles. And so the Bibles come apart. But they treasure them. They tie them together and they bring them along to church, you know. And the people are known by their Worn Bibles. Wouldn't it be nice if everybody came to this church like that? With the Worn Bible under his arm. I see the Catholics go there with their mess books. I think that's wonderful. Or mess books, excuse me. I don't know what you call them. But anyway, they're not ashamed to show them to the public. And we ought not to be ashamed to show our Bibles to the public. And this is the Church of the Worn Bible. And so was mine. Oh, it was worn by. But it came to dwell within my heart. Oh, beloved, Jesus is a very wonderful, wonderful gift of God. And that's how he gives himself when you really want him. And the Bible is given to us to make us want him. To create desire within us. To make us know the things that are freely given to us of God. These exceeding great and precious promises. For instance, God says, I'll be your God. And you shall be my sons and my daughters. Hallelujah. And everything that Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount is based on that fundamental promise. Our Father which art in heaven. How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Ghost to them that ask him. And that has not reference only to the baptism. But it has reference to that breathing of that indwelling life of Christ. Now he dwells within. Now this new man is alive within you. He breathes. Oh, how restful is that kind of a life of holiness. There's no strain there. There's no effort on your part. There's an abandonment by faith Christ in me. The hope of glory. And even though he leads me to war, fair forth. He buckles my armor on. And he says, this battle is mine. I'll fight for you. You shall hold your peace. Oh my Lord Jesus Christ, you're too wonderful. And I think it'll take all eternity to find him out. I believe that all the ages of eternity will reveal more beauties and more glories. Else I think life in heaven would become monotonous. But you know, that's what makes it interesting here on earth. Jesus, all in all. And he's also made unto us redemption and beloved. Don't think of redemption as something future, but he works it now. That's where divine healing comes from. Oh, he breathes upon us. If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin. It means don't be surprised if this body squeaks. It's a broken down house. It's the body of our humiliation and it's dead because of sin. As long as we're in this body, the body will always be attacked and tested by the forces of hell. But the spirit is life. Christ is here. The spirit that raised Jesus from the dead will keep that body of yours in repair until the trumpets. Oh, how we need the Holy Ghost. Oh, how we need to open our heart. Beloved, we have no time for anything else. Let the world whistle or sing or blow their trumpets or play their hearts or do what they please. It doesn't touch us. You remember those Christians in Vanity Fair? How they tested them and tempted them. They said, we don't want any of your stuff. We buy the truth and we don't sell it. Glory to God.
Christ in Me
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Hans Rudolf Waldvogel (1893 - 1969). Swiss-American Pentecostal pastor and evangelist born in St. Gallen, Switzerland. Emigrating to the U.S. as a child, he grew up in Chicago, working in his family’s jewelry business until a conversion experience in 1916 led him to ministry. In 1920, he left business to serve as assistant pastor at Kenosha Pentecostal Assembly in Wisconsin for three years, then pursued itinerant evangelism. In 1925, he co-founded Ridgewood Pentecostal Church in Brooklyn, New York, pastoring it for decades and growing it into a vibrant community emphasizing prayer and worship. Influenced by A.B. Simpson, Waldvogel rejected sectarianism, focusing on Christ’s centrality and the Holy Spirit’s work. He delivered thousands of sermons, many recorded, stressing spiritual rest and intimacy with God. Married with children, he lived simply, dedicating his life to preaching across the U.S. His messages, blending Swiss precision with Pentecostal fervor, remain accessible through archives