In this sermon, the preacher begins by praying for God's guidance and acknowledging that he is nothing without God's words. He then discusses the dangers of pride in one's Christian experience and the impact it can have on one's power with others and with God. The preacher shares the story of Henry Murat, a young man used mightily by God in revival, who experienced a moment of no action in his preaching. Murat realized that he had been seeking power before crucifixion and surrendered himself to God, leading to a powerful transformation in his ministry. The preacher concludes by asking the audience if they have been seeking power before crucifixion and shares a personal story of pride and the importance of humility in seeking help.

Good morning, excuse me, I've got a slight cold and I felt sick this morning, but I wanted to come. Could we please open up our Bibles in Acts chapter 12, I think, yes. You know that verse in John, in John which says, I'll just read it to you. And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one. I sat down with a person, eighty-nine years old, Reverend Finneymore, recently. It was a privilege to meet him, still on fire for God at eighty-nine years old. In case you think you're too old to be on fire for God. And this man and me sat down, I spent my off time with him, and I enjoyed it so much, this young boy with an eighty-nine year old man. And we looked at a few verses in the Bible, and one of them was that verse, that God giveth us his glory. We wrote a song together, just for the fun of it. And that was glory. And let me ask you a question, is your life as a Christian glory? Or is it a dreary, day-to-day, carry-on thing? Is it glory? God says, in 2 Corinthians, the last verse of chapter 3, that the starting point is glory. And it goes from glory to glory. And there's one thing that keeps you back from that close walk to God, which makes your Christian experience glory. And that is pride. Now if we could turn to Acts chapter 12, verse 21 to 24. First I'll pray, Lord, thank you for the privilege now that I can speak to these people, Lord. And I know I can't say anything to them, I never ever could, and I never ever can. I don't mean anything to them except you speak, Lord. I give this short time over to you, and I ask you to work, Lord. And I know that you long to work in our lives. You long to change us more to be like Jesus. You long to do wondrous things in our Christian experience. You won't long to make it glory, Lord. And so I give this meeting over to thee, in Jesus' name, amen. Here we have a staggering piece in Acts 12, verse 21 to 24. And upon a said day, Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of God, and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory. And he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost. And here we have a glimpse of the hatred, the utter hatred that God has of pride. When this man did not give the glory to God, he was smote and dead, and eaten of worms. I wonder if Christians nowadays realize how terrifying, how fearful, how evil pride is. Satan fell because of pride. If you read in Ezekiel 28, verse 17, you'll see, speaking of Satan, Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness. And we know that a haughty spirit comes before the full. And Satan fell because of pride. The Bible says pride goes before destruction. And that pride is a terrifying thing. Many, many people on earth will be in hell because of pride. I nearly landed up in hell because of pride. I remember as a young boy, I was not right with God. I was not for sure of my salvation. And as a little boy, I went there in the sea, near Jeffrey's Bay, and also Port Elizabeth. But this when I was a little boy at Port Elizabeth, I went in the sea. And as you can see, I'm a thin person. And I was swimming there as a young boy in the sea. And suddenly I felt weak. And as I was swimming in the sea and felt weak and couldn't get back to shore, a terrifying thing happened. I was too proud to shout out, help. Pride in me would not allow me to shout out and say, help me. Because I didn't want other people to think that I was struggling. And I struggled more and more and more and more until I came to the point where I knew that in a few moments I would be out of control and I wouldn't be able to swim anymore and I'd be underneath the water. And in that state, I tried to cry out. And only a whisper came out because I was so weak at that point. And if my older brother had not seen me, if my older brother had not seen me and come into the water and drag me out on that day, I can almost guarantee you I would be in hell today because of that terrifying evil thing called pride. I would be in hell today and I would deserve it. You know, most Christians don't realize how God hates pride. And then Proverbs 8 verse 7 says, pride do I hate. I was at school once, I'd just gotten to high school as I understand it, and there they have what you call a CU, a Christian's union. The so-called Christians of the school come together. And I decided I would attend these meetings a little. And they would speak about this and they would speak about that. And one day I thought I'd say something. So I said, doesn't the Bible say that we must be humble? And oh, they laughed. And I was amazed as all these people who call themselves Christians, who are gathered together as Christians, said, that's going too far, even though the Bible said it, that we must be humble. And many Christians of this world do not realize, as I said, how much God hates pride. A man was killed because of his pride. Satan fell because of his pride. I was nearly in hell because of my pride. But most Christians are not as bad as that. They don't say that you mustn't be proud. But they do not realize what pride is. They do not recognize the seed of pride in their heart. I was at Bible College and there I was shocked. Because a person with wonderful zeal and humility as far as I could see, he wanted to serve others, he looked up at others. He worked hard. He looked up at me, for some reason. One day he changed almost totally. He didn't esteem all the other Christians above himself as the Bible says he ought to do. He didn't look up at other people as he used to. He wanted to go his own way. He still worked hard like he used to. But he didn't look up at other people. And I wondered what could have changed him. What could have changed such a wonderful person in such a short time. So terrifying. And something came into my mind which said, I said, go to him and ask him, Have you read through the Bible for the first time right through? Have you finished recently reading through the Bible for the first time once through? I said, okay, I can ask him. So I went up to him and I asked him, Have you recently for the first time finished reading your Bible through? And he said, yes. You know the devil, the devil uses little achievements. But if you've read through the Bible for the 200th time, he uses sacrifice in your life to sow that little seed of pride which God hates. God says, pride do I hate. What achievement in life or sacrifice can ever compare to what Jesus Christ gave on the cross? What achievement or sacrifice that a Christian can ever give, can ever compare in a slight degree to what Jesus Christ gave on the cross? You know I have been tempted at times to be proud. I hate it when those little thoughts sometimes come into your mind. But there's one cure that always works when the devil tempts me to be proud. And I just sing a verse of this song. When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my riches gained I count as lost and pour contempt on all my pride. And then I feel like I cannot touch the glory when I sing that one verse. I don't think it's ever failed that I could ever have another look at the glory after I've sung that one verse. So the devil tried to tempt. The devil sows seeds of pride to rob you of all power in your Christian experience. In all glory. I wonder if you realize how terrifying pride is to your Christian experience. And to the power that you have with other men and God. There was a man called Henry Muras, a young man, being used mightily of God in the, I think it was in the 1800s, and America, in revival, in a mighty way. And one day he came to a meeting, and for the first time, I think, since the revival started, nothing happened. There was no unction in his preaching, no souls responded for salvation. And he went to his knees after the meeting and he cried out, Lord, why do I not have unction? Why are souls not responding for salvation? And he got up from his knees and he walked down the street afterwards. He was broken, he couldn't understand why suddenly the revival should have stopped when it had been going so strongly for such a long time. And remember the words, God said, pride do I hate. And as he was walking down that street, he saw a billboard. And on the billboard were written these words, Come hear the greatest British preacher, Henry Muras. And he went straight from there, he said, oh, I've realized, this is why the revival has stopped. And he ran to the organizers of the meeting and he said to them, you know why there isn't a revival? Because they've called me the greatest this and the greatest that. I am but a voice, which says, behold, the Lamb of God. Jesus is the wonderful one. And after that, the revival, as I understood, started again. And it stopped, stopped, stopped. The seed of pride can come in so easily. I'm not giving the glory to God. Do you believe the verse Jeremiah 13, verse 15 to 16? It staggered me when I first read it. God will cause darkness in your Christian experience if you allow that seed of pride to take a hold of you in any way. But what is the answer to pride? The only answer to pride, as I said, is the cross of Christ. Paul states in Galatians 2, verse 20, For I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. In the life which I now live, in the flesh I live, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Are you crucified with Christ? So many people, they come with their offers to God. And they say, I've given so much. Some of them actually think they're crucified. Many people are. You can say with Paul, by their lives they are crucified with Christ. But many others say, which I do not judge, but I wonder. And there's an illustration of the Indians in America. The Indians in America were very poor at this stage in history. And they could not afford, like many churches, to bring money to the altar. They could not. They were way too poor. So they brought what they could to God. They used to dig up roots and shrubs and bring it to the altar to give something to God. But they couldn't afford to give money. They brought all they could. Everything they could, they brought. One day, one Indian woman came to the preacher. And in her hand, as I understand the story went, she had a gold coin. And she gave it to the preacher. And the preacher wondered, how could she afford that coin? And not just bring the normal shrubs. And then, in an inquiry, we asked her. And she said, when I looked or heard of how much Jesus gave on the cross, I could not give my shrubs. And I went and sold myself as a slave. I don't know where this was, but she sold herself as a slave to be able to give Christ something of true worth. She gave herself to God. And how many Christians, how many Christians bring all their shrubs, everything they can, everything they can, but they never bring themselves, their everything. What in life, what of life, what of yourself is not worthy of being given to God when He gave His Son? Mr. Friend of South Africa, when he was a young person, he had a problem in his life, which was pride. He was jealous. When he saw that someone else got to lead the meeting, this jealousy was in him, even though outside he smiled. He wanted to be there, to lead the meeting. He wanted to be chosen. He became a missionary in South Africa, in our mission. And as a young person, he was so disillusioned, with nothing happening, that he applied to the head of the mission, to lead the mission. And the head of the mission was very glad for him to lead, because the truth was, nothing was happening. The only reason he stayed in the mission was because a godly old lady begged him to stay. He carried on, and no souls were saved, not one. And he did what many Christians do. And God made it easy for him, Oh Lord, I need power in my ministry. I need power in my ministry. I need power in my ministry. And nothing happened. And then one day he realized his mistake. His mistake was this. I mustn't seek power. I must seek crucifixion. The killing, not the filling. Seeking power before crucifixion is like expecting Jesus to be raised from the dead before he died on the cross. And as soon as he started to seek crucifixion, souls started to be saved. This is his testament. But he could not come to that place of absolute surrender, of giving everything to God. And he realized at a point that the problem was faith. The problem was faith. He always wanted some kind of feeling. You know when the spirit of the Lord pulls you or something, controls you. He always wanted a feeling to happen when he absolutely surrendered. He never came not expecting any feeling, but just coming in a simple faith, accepting what Christ has already accomplished on the cross 2,000 years ago. When he nailed our pride in ourselves to the cross. There. You know that verse is precious. In 2 Corinthians 5 verse 14 to 15. For the love of Christ constrains us because he does judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead. And that he died for all, that they which henceforth live unto themselves, which do not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again. And so he came to a point where he, now down on his knees in a simple faith, he gave himself over to God and accepted what Christ had accomplished on the cross. And he stood up and testified of that. And from that moment, Orphan Emmanu-Raji became wonderfully used of God and became one of the most used preachers in our entire land in South Africa. And in Britain, and in Japan, internationally. And where was he before? He was a boy who asked his mission, Can I please leave? Because nothing's happened. Let me ask you the question. It's a simple question. Have you in any way been seeking power before crucifixion? Is more important than crucifixion, power in your spiritual experience? Or is the main focus of your entire attitude towards Christianity that I must become more crucified? That I must be, as Paul said, crucified with Christ nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me. Is this your experience? Are you crucified with Christ? If you're all on the altar, do you still bring those rags? Everything. You bring everything. If you've never brought your all, like that one Indian did, you do. Let us pray. I would like those of you who have never before come in simple faith and given yourself totally on the altar. If thus brought your rags, if thus brought so much, if you've never brought everything and said, Not my will, but thine be done. Anything. Whether men smite me on the one cheek, whether you take my house, whether you take my family, whether you take my reputation and make me the laughingstock of America. I don't mind, Lord. I want to give it all now. Not just the rag, but everything. Those of you who wish to say to God today, I wish to absolutely surrender unto God and give everything. Father, I wish you to raise your one hand. Thank you for those hands. I'm going to pray for you and then I ask all of those who raise their hands afterwards to come with me down to the room and we'll pray shortly together before you can come back to be with my father. There's quite a long time over. Father, thank you for those hands. And Lord, I ask that you will take their offer of themselves and let their lives be glorious. And let them be able to sing with me from now on, Lord, as they've given themselves. My all is on the altar. My all, my all, my all. And Father, I know that you long to take their offer of themselves. If you're ever willing and ever waiting to change lives and to take their all. And so I pray this for them, that you will take their all and now let them, their lives, cry out one thing, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And I ask this in faith, simple faith, not looking to the feeling for these people, but in simple faith, that when we come to God, he is faithful and just to do that which his word proclaims. In Jesus' name. Amen.