In this sermon, the preacher shares his experience at a convention in Germany where he witnessed a crowded and lively gathering of preachers and attendees. However, he noticed that many of the preachers were not truly preaching the indwelling life of Christ, which he believes is what people's hearts truly hunger for. He references the biblical passage in Jude about clouds without water and trees that are dead, emphasizing the need for genuine spiritual nourishment. The preacher also highlights the importance of allowing God to work in our lives, even when it may be uncomfortable or challenging, in order to be strengthened with the might of Christ dwelling in our hearts.

The Lord talks about the outward man and He talks about the inward man. And it's a very wonderful thing when Christ dwells in the heart by faith. When He lived there, when Brother Bob and I were in Yugoslavia in Osijek, we, there was just one place where we could lodge, hotel in town. The only one that we got quarters that were pretty dirty. Generally speaking, the communists are pretty dirty, at least where we've come around. Alles verlotert. You know what that means? Es alles verlotert. Everything is kaput. You know what that means? Everything. They move into these fine palaces built by the Germans. In Zagreb, for instance, there's a hotel that covers almost the city block and shows the beautiful architecture and beautiful appointments, staircases and fixtures and so on. But it's now in charge of people who wouldn't even be able to take a pig's pen properly. And everything is full of dirt. The walls and the stairways, the rugs are torn and curtains, there are no curtains on the windows and so on. Everything was verlotert. But the clerk said, now if you can get hold of that second floor suite, that's beautiful. And when nobody was in there, he showed us that place. Oh, my, was it rich. It was made for a king. But he said, you can't get it now because there's a commission from Russia here, from the Kremlin. They're occupying this place. And before they came, the place had to be cleaned up. And the fixtures had to be repaired. And everything had to be tough. When God says, guard thy heart with all diligence, it means to make it ready for the king to move in and to dwell there. And before the king can dwell in my heart, it must be made ready for the king. It must be made ready for a king. He says that you might be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man. Unfortunately, most of us are satisfied with the outside. Like the Pharisees, they were perfectly satisfied. And the Bible says they worked day and night to whitewash the outside and keep it whitewashed. That's all they cared about as long as men would see a whitewashed sepulcher. They never opened up and the stench never got outside. They had it carefully sealed. But God says, God knows your heart. God knows my heart to say. Is it a habitation of the king or do I drive him away? He says the poison of asps is under their lips. Inside they're full of dead men's bones. They've committed murder. Don't let that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. Murder? I was talking in a church in Switzerland about the text, if ye forgive not from the heart. And he that hates his brother is a murderer. And one brother got up and he said, folks, I confess that I am a murderer. Why that's an awful confession to make. And yet it's a good confession to make if it's true. God knows your heart. And in these days, God wants to restore something. He wants to fix up this inside habitation of the king. And an exterior religion won't do. A superficial knowledge of divine things won't do. It just won't do. Jesus says for a long time it may seem all right. The house is built on sand. But is that the day comes when the rains descend and the floods rise and the winds beat upon that house and it fell and great was the fall thereof. Oh, for God to search deeply, to search the inside, to cleanse the inside, to restore that inner man. How little attention we pay to the inner man. I tell you, beloved, this is the great need of our hearts. Outward things attract people so quickly. My, how quickly they run if there's some entertainment someplace. Something to satisfy the senses. And a lot of people have no other spirituality but that which satisfies their senses. They'll tell what a blessing they got. But if it hadn't satisfied their senses, they wouldn't recognize the blessing when God brings conviction or he brings quietude or poise or calmness. They don't recognize that. Outside everything is beautiful, but inside there are dumps or dumplings or shadows, little depression, little sensitiveness, question marks, unbelief, anxiety, fear. All these things are so destructive and the devil will find a way to introduce them if the doors open. If I don't guard my heart with all diligence, that's why God offers us powerful weapons that are not carnal, but they're mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. And to bring into captivity to the obedience of Christ every thought. Oh, then the King shall dwell in my heart. Then faith shall spring up within my heart. Glory to God. And the Spirit of God will be Lord within me. And he will guide me into all truth. What a difference there is between truth and make-believe. What is the truth? Well, we have discovered the difference. We found out that one can know the truth intellectually, but unless I possess it, unless it has conquered me, unless it reigns within me, the truth of God is Christ is the life of the Son of God. The Word of God brings to me the very substance of the Son of God, for unless I receive Him, and that's why God makes such a job of it. Remember in Ephesians, in the third chapter, how he prays that wonderful prayer. And what is he praying for? Who is he praying for? I remember praying for a brother one time, and God let me pray something like this, Oh God, strengthen this man with might on the inside. Give him true humility. Bring him down at the feet of Jesus. And you know, he got real angry. He piped up and he said, Do I need all that? Well, but if you don't need it, wouldn't it be wonderful to have it just to say, Glory to God. Praise the Lord. If somebody proposes marriage to you and brings you an engagement ring with a 12 carat diamond, you might say, Well, I don't need as big a one as that. But isn't it nice to have one that big, instead of one just one-eighth of a carat? Why not have a, Oh my God, and he prays for the Ephesians. He says, We've heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and love unto all the saints. And they had the baptism according to Acts 2.4 a long time ago, and they had faith, and they had thrown in faith, and love to all the saints. Did you get that far? Love to all the saints. Why, I ought to be quite a perfected Christian if I'm thrown in faith and love to all the saints, and there isn't anybody in the world or that I don't love. I can honestly say before God, I love all the saints, and I also love my enemies. Why, that's quite a diploma, isn't it? And now the Apostle Paul prays for them, that the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of glory, may give unto them. Why do we need all that? Well, you don't have to have it, but you can. That he would give to them according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. All the wealth, the unsearchable riches of Christ, and here I allow this vermin to crawl around on the inside. Well, nobody sees it. Brush it under the carpet. Company is coming. The King is coming. Just brush it under the carpet. Put it in the closet. Put your skeletons away so he won't see them. Ah, beloved Jesus Christ wants to dwell in my heart. Live there. Hallelujah. Oh, wonder of wonders, but I'll have to take a different road from the way most people have been taking and I took in the past. There is only one way, only one way. I cannot go that way. That way is you, Jesus. It means that I allow myself to be imprisoned, to become a prisoner of Jesus Christ, a captive of the Son of God. We thank, Sunday night, true-hearted, whole-hearted, Savior all-glorious, take thy great power and reign thou alone over our will and affections victorious, freely surrendered and wholly thine own. People don't pay attention to anything like that. You talk about divine healing or you talk about some apostolic office or spiritual gifts, they're all a garb, but to talk about the exceeding greatness of the power of one who is able to crucify that place, who is able to deliver you of your dumps and shadows, who is able to cleanse you from all unrighteousness and to be within your soul a righteousness that avails before God, most people are not. I've often found it out. Soon as I begin to talk about these things, they begin to yawn. They mention, well, you know, they're very spiritual. My, when we pray, they screw up their faces. They peek a little bit once in a while, too. We're like that, too. Oh, yes. Oh, we can look very holy, but beloved, unless Christ is the way, unless he has his way, his way is the way of peace, that you might be strengthened with might. Oh, when that happens, then your love will never fail, no matter what happens, no matter what happens. That love is God himself. Oh, the wonder of salvation. Isaiah 12 tells us, behold God. Psalm 27, the Lord is my light and my salvation. It isn't something I pumped up myself or something I thought of myself. You don't pump up a little faith. No, it's God dwelling in your heart. It's Christ dwelling in your heart. Real love, thank God, is my portion if I let Jesus Christ have his way. But if you let him have his way, it may be a laborious job. It may take some time. He may request time. Maybe he'll want you to pray and to wait upon the Lord. Maybe he'd like you to take off a whole. Why should you give him a chance to readjust that interior of yours? It takes something. I told the other day how the Lord delivered me of my dump. And I tell you, when I found out that it was the devil, I got frightened. I said, now or never, this thing has got to go. I was bound inwardly. I couldn't rejoice in the Lord always. There were times when I was discouraged. And there were times when I was power on the inside and sensitive, awfully sensitive. And when I found out it was the devil, it wasn't God, I said, I got to get rid of it. How? Well, I suppose Jesus could have performed a miracle and cast that devil out. People like that. They'll come and they say, please cast the devil out. Well, you can cast him out and tomorrow seven others will come in. Your heart isn't clean. You wonder why you have so many pesky flies in your house. There's too much dirt there. Clean out the dirt and the flies will go by themselves. But if you don't, you can kill all the flies and for every fly you kill, 50 others come to the funeral. They'll try. They can smell that dirt. And oh, when God delivers you of the chance and the opportunity of the devil to trip you up, he wants to clean out that heart. Glory to God. I tell you what I had to do to get rid of my dump. Praise the Lord. Rejoice in spite of everything. I would spend hours just walking up and down somewhere in a basement or in a cellar or someplace where people couldn't hear me with a praise dance and shout, hallelujah. Praise the Lord. And it felt as if I was being choked. But one day that thing went. The devil couldn't stand it anymore. And in place of this enemy, Jesus Christ came in and put the glory there. And it's been there ever since. He strengthened me with might by his Spirit in the inner man. But I had to make my choice between Christ and self. We ought not to talk about the devil so much. Once that self is crucified, the devil's defeated. He's gone. And as long as self reigns, the enemy will always find a stamping ground. But oh God, to strengthen me with might by his Spirit in the inner man, as the man thinketh in his heart. What are you thinking right now? Oh, we should sit down. Talk of the same thing all the time. I'm tired of hearing that, one woman told me. I'm sick and tired of hearing about getting down. I don't want to get down, she told me. Well, you can go somewhere else. Go to a Christian science lecture room. They'll tell you that you're God and goodness knows what else. Some other churches too, they'll sprinkle rose water over you. That's nice. But oh beloved, that Christ might dwell in my heart. Isn't it wonderful? Christ himself living there, abiding there, pulsating within me, supplying me with all the grace that is necessary. He says, my strength is made perfect in witness glory. And my grace is sufficient for you. That's what I need and that's why I'm here this morning. And that's what I'm looking to God to do for me, to restore that castle, wherever there may be a break or some damage done. Hallelujah. As we wait upon the Lord, he renews our strength. And how quickly he'll do it and how gladly he will do it. Why, he is the good shepherd. He goes after that which is lost. And we generally think of sinners as being lost sheep. Did you ever read the last verse of Psalm 119? Lord, I am like a lost sheep. Seek thy servant, for I do not forget thy law. There was a real Christian and he wanted to be sought and found. And Jesus is after me this morning and it's after you. Oh, but with what divine love, with what imperial love, with what deep desire does he think of us? His brother posted there a while ago. With what a cry in his heart does he seek his wandering child? And we wander and we run away from him and we give him no chance if we only gave him... All for a Pentecostal assembly that's set in. For a Pentecostal assembly where people are holy on the inside, not on the outside. Not with Acts 2.4, but John 7.38. I was preaching at a Pentecostal convention. I said, why don't you get the baptism according to John 7.38? And one of the preachers came to me after the meeting and said, why did you... You mean to tell me that you don't know a Pentecostal preacher? Why, he that believeth in me, as the scripture says, from his belly shall flow rivers of living water. And it doesn't mean the stomach. He means your heart. That word belly is an obsolete word. It refers to your heart, to your innermost being. It refers to... I need that. I need this word. I need this help. Christ is here to help every one of us. And beloved, I am more serious today about it than any time before, because I've seen such awful defeat. I've seen beautiful edifices, nicely, nice architecture, wonderful spiritual intentions taken out of Madame Guyon's books and Ter Stegen's books, and nothing, nothing wrong to find with it on the outside. But Christ has never been allowed to take his sword and plunge it into the heart of that dragon. He's there wriggling on the inside. He's hidden. Oh, we have a wonderful way of hiding those inner feelings, those inner fleshly things. And we give them spiritual names, and we get a coat of paint and put it on thick. Now it looks very spiritual. It looks very wonderful. Beloved, if it isn't Christ Jesus, it's deception. This heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. I'm so afraid of it that I say, oh God, search me, oh God. Try my heart, know me, and try my way. And when God does it, he uses fire. Don't be surprised if the fire gets pretty hot. Don't be surprised if he uses awfully strong acid. I've seen my boss in the jewelry business refine gold and platinum, and I saw the process he had to put that thing through, many, many processes. Not only all kinds of chemicals, but finally the strongest acids known. I used to handle these acids and I was afraid that one drop would be enough to make you sick. And the very smell of them, and those metals had to go, they had to be absolutely pure. They had to stand every test. And when Jesus Christ gets on the job, he says, I counsel thee to buy of me gold that is tried in the fire. And he will try it in the fire. I tell you he will, if you give him a chance. If you don't, he won't. We can run away. I was in a place one time where people came to me and they said, why don't you run? Why don't you run away? We ran away. Nobody can take it. But God had me bound. I couldn't. I couldn't run. I was so glad that he finds the sacrifice to the horns of the altar. Now he can't get away. Now the fire begins to burn. Oh, to be strengthened with might that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. I thank God for these conventions because somehow the Lord gets at us, doesn't he? Oh yes, he digs deep. Praise God. He finds the lair of the dragon. What if he didn't? Where would we be at? How would we ever appear before our God? He's a spotless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. I was in a convention in Germany. There was a place that was so packed with people. They loved conventions over there. You could hardly find your way through. And there were so many preachers and people were preached. Tired, heartless, ministerial courtesy, of course, demands that every preacher get a chance to preach. And these folks had come from Sweden and from Germany. And when you ask them to make a remark, they'll preach a sermon. They'll preach for an hour just to make one remark. And I tell you that was a convention. And so ministerial courtesy demanded of them to give me a chance. It was the last one. And God made me sail into that convention and talk about things in very clear language. And this is the result. A woman who was a stranger to Pentecost came weeping. She said, Brother, you started something. You talked about the indwelling life of Christ. We don't hear about that. That's what our hearts hunger for. Oh, tell us more about it. We're hungry for it. But the leaders of the convention ruled me out. They thought that I had attacked them. I never thought of such a thing. Never dreamed of it. The text was from Jude, where it talks about clouds without water. And of course, I refer to these big movements that make big names for themselves. Clouds looks as if there was a terrific downpour coming. There isn't a single drop for your soul. Trees that are twice dead, plucked up by the roots. I was in that convention. I said, God, what are they doing here? What are they doing? It was nothing for my soul. The Lord said they're trimming their Christmas tree. That's just the answer I got. Something to show. And God says that's the way it's going to be. Wherefore, contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. Set him on the throne of my will and of my affection. Oh, I thank you, Jesus. That's what I need. That's the salvation I need. And in that very chapter, it's only one chapter, the epistle of Jude, he talks about a group of people. And I want to belong to that group. It seems to be a small crowd. And they're going to be presented spotless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. Can you picture the joy, the joy, the joy? He is able to take you from some place and to present you spotless. But I tell you, there's no one able to do that. And when he presents me to the Father, I don't want to. Ich will nicht auskramen and find a lot of vermin in my heart. Do you? I want to find nothing in my heart but Jesus Christ. Ich bin klein, mein Herz sei rein, soll niemand drin wohnen, als Jesus allein.