In this sermon, the preacher discusses the concept of love and its importance in the Christian faith. He emphasizes that love never fails and is not rude or selfish. The preacher also talks about the need for revival in the church and the importance of fighting against the unholy war waged by the devil. He encourages believers to have a gentle and meek spirit, and to seek a closer walk with God. The sermon concludes with a reminder that true joy and character can be found in Christ.

These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the words of God with all readiness in mind and searched the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so. There's some remarkable things in this chapter. We have a kind of a page out of the diary of the Apostle. He said in verse 1, When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, there was a synagogue of Jews. And Paul, as his custom was, or manner was, went in unto them and three Sabbath days read with them about the Scriptures. Now the Jews had three weeks. This horrible stunt of having a one-night meeting in a city, I'm not sure the motive is pure. But I wonder, being in a hurry to get somewhere and get a bigger offering tomorrow night. The Apostle could stay for three weeks to his French people, and on one occasion stay two years, in order that people might get a foundation. The other striking thing about this, it says that these, verse 11, were more noble than those in Thessalonica. That's amazing to me. Now what do you mean by noble? In England we have nobility, at least we call them that. And if people say, Americans say in England, we have no nobility, in America you say you hardly got film stars, you worship them like noble people, you pray them like noble. They don't always live that way. Don't you say those women in Hollywood have faces like angels, and morals like amicus. What do you mean by nobility? Again, it's a social standing in England, but he's not talking about that. He's talking here about spirituality. These people, what is nobility? I think nobility, my definition is not Webster's maybe, I think that nobility is dignity without arrogance, or dignity without snobbishness. But the amazing thing, he didn't say this as a Thessalonian. Look in Thessalonians for a minute. In the first epistle to Thessalonians, he gives us all the credits of these amazing people, just to skip through them quickly. In verse 3 he says, remember without ceasing, your work of faith, your labor of love, your patience of hope. Verse 4, your election of God. Verse 5, the word came to them not only in the word, but also in power of the Holy Ghost, in much assurance. Verse 6 he says, you became followers of us. But verse 7 clinches the thing, he says, you are samples. And yet it is not a Thessalonian that he says you are more noble. They were sampled beneath us these. If you read this chapter carefully, they had a passion for the Lord, they had a mystery in mind. They had all this identified with being really born again of the Spirit of God. If you step back, well if you go into chapter 3 of this same epistle. You see, this, every church that the apostle founded was blood and sweat and tears. He says in, well, 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 10. Night and day he prayed exceedingly. Wouldn't you like to hear this apostle Paul pray? I'd rather hear a man pray than hear him preach anyhow. I've been to some of the greatest churches in the world and met some of the greatest preachers in the last 50 years. But the outstanding men were men that I've prayed with. And Paul says I'm praying, I'm not only praying, I'm praying exceedingly. He's praying the effectual servant prayer. What happens? Well if you turn to the second epistle, chapter 1 and verse 3. He says we are bound to thank God always for your breath and as it is meat. Because of your faith brought exceedingly. What did he say in the previous verse he read? I want to supply that which is lacking in your faith. What did he say? Did he say to shrink and inject them? I think he's doing it by two things. By pointing out the history in the church of Jesus Christ. And I mean by example. To hear this man pray. There's nothing on earth more moving as far as I'm concerned. Than to hear a man who's really nicely praying. I mean I pray and I pray exceedingly. It's not something intermittent. I have a conscious burden for you. And I don't just pray in the day time, I pray in the night time. I want to see your faith. I want to supply that which is lacking in your faith. I want to see, to come to maturity. And God has answered his prayer in this second epistle. Your faith brought exceedingly. He doesn't talk about their knowledge. He's not talking about memorizing scripture. Again there's a world of difference between knowing the word of God and knowing the God of the word. We send fellows to school and send them to this. They get to know the word of God. Do they know the God of the word? How intimate are they? When fellows come to my office and tell me what distinctions they have in schools they've been to. They say, shall we pray? I say, go ahead, pray. What are they, trouble and sadness? I never heard how many of them said, no, that's God. But these people, he says, your faith brought exceedingly. Going back a bit now to this Acts of the Apostles, chapter 17 and verse 1. They were more noble, those eleven, they were more noble than those in Thessalonica. And they were the sample church. Why do these people stand head and shoulders? Why do they separate this church? Why not the Galatians? Why not the Ephesians? He says, these people, they are more noble. They bear more characteristic of Jesus Christ. Why were they noble? Well, I'm bloody thrilled as to why they were noble. Otherwise we'd say, I know, they had to be poor. Oh, what did they do? They were baby parents. We don't make our contributions. But he tells us why they were more noble. Because they received the word with all readiness. Now go back a minute in the same chapter, verse 2. Poor man is man of one. Went into them. And for three days he risen to again. After the scriptures, opening and alleging that Christ was made to suffer and risen again from the dead. Verse 4 says, some of them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas. The only thing is the microphone thing. David's voice is a better than mine. Through all, he did all these things. He doubted none of them. I know that. Ask him to breathe slowly. But he said in verse 4, some of them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas. And he now greets a great multitude. But verse 5 says that the Jews which believed not will move with envy. It's being said that there was absolutely watertight arguments that wherever Paul went, he and I had a revival or a riot. Sometimes we have both. And I've said before, I believe the number one enemy that the enemy had on earth was the apostle Paul. I heard this week that a man said to another man, profusely said, Hey, where are you going? He went to see the devil around and tell him I'm looking for him. He told the man about the passage. He said, no, you tell him I don't want to see him. The devil had messed him up. He took the challenge. We say some stupid things often. But some of the Jews believed and some did not believe. But these other people, it says a very beautiful thing about them, they received the Word of God with all readiness and searched. They didn't just read it. And they didn't read it Sunday morning. And they didn't read the scriptures Saturday night because they had to teach a class of two of them. They searched the scriptures daily. And because of that they got maturity. What would happen if you ate a meal only once a week? Lots of people, they don't walk with God. They live on the church. They live on meeting. And we're not to do that. I don't care how good your pastor is. We need a more intimate knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it's all about. As we said in Hebrews 12 and 2, looking unto Jesus. I heard somebody say that they were all our idols. They're all clay feet. But number one, you shouldn't have idols. And number two, if you meet all the men that you look to, don't all have clay feet. There's a quote that says, the dearest friend is one who knows the most about you and wants you just the same. There's only one who loves my man, and Jesus is his name. Wonderful, wonderful name. Well, that is true. But it's not true that every friend will fail you. I have some friends I believe will fail me if I go to the gallows, which I like. I don't want them to drop me immediately if I say something they don't like. You see, he's concerned about these people. He feels comfortable with them. They weren't swimming in strange waters. They were swimming in the word of the living God. And I'm still nervous. I mean this. I'm still fearful. But with all the word of God I've read, I'm still in water to my ankles instead of water to the knees, or water to swim in. Because if you water the ankles, your feet's not on the ground anyhow. Water to the knees, you're standing there. Water to the loin. Go on to get off that, and you're watered to swim in. It demands faith. Why were these people so precious? They were more noble. Why? In 2 Corinthians chapter 1, I think now, 2 Corinthians 10. Sorry. 2 Corinthians 10, verse 1. He says, Now I, Paul, beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. I'm convinced those people that he speaks of are the gentleness and meekness of Christ. We confuse meekness, or we think that meekness and weakness are synonyms, and they're not. But they're the opposite. The meekest man in the Old Testament was Moses, the man who got blazing angry when he saw the people stripping themselves, giving their gold and making a cast, and then going into idolatrous worship. The meekness went, and he comes down and with a mighty anointing, he's so angry. Why? Because he'd been on the mount with God. And he'd been near to God. He felt the heartbeats of God. He felt the anger of God. Let me warn you young fellows, it's very dangerous to get spiritual. It will so revolutionize your personalities and the engagement you place with anger against iniquity. Whether it's in high places or low places, whether it's theological, or sociology, or theology, any other thing. When you see wrong, you spark, you hurt. He said we have the gentleness and meekness of Christ. I'm sure he wouldn't identify them as being noble unless they had their holy dignity. How many people do you know who somehow seem to have a different walk with God than other men? A different disposition, a different attitude, totally unselfish, consumed with Christ, not with a theology, not consumed with their own preaching. I think preachers get lost in their own other circles, or their crowds. What am I going to do with this? There's an old chorus, I think it was last week, did you hear that chorus? Sweet will of God, still hold me closer. Where did you learn it? 20 years ago. So it's over 40, but anyhow. We used to sing it, I even lived that way when I was a child. Sweet will of God, still hold me closer till I am wholly lost in thee. You see, there came a moment when the Apostle Paul was obliterated. He said, it's not I, it's Christ that will amend me. I believe thousands, tens of thousands of preachers will be charged with the judgment seat of Christ with criminal negligence. What am I going to do? Preach the whole council of God. They don't preach that whole council. They preach what they learn at their headquarters and seminaries. The whole council of God. It's our responsibility. We cover up sin. They preach that we're only normal. We're only human. Well, we're not only human. A man who is filled with God is not only human. He's got a divine energy. He's got a supernatural power. And he doesn't go running to the end of Romans and saying, well, let me go back. I listened to G. Campbell Morgan very often, a wonderful preacher. He preached to many down in Hollywood and it was a mess of his place. There were hundreds of preachers there. Well, I couldn't hold my peace. You know, most of our people can't squeak an amen on Sunday mornings. They're so hoarse shouting for a football match for 94. Or something else. They haven't a squeak. Or they can't say amen in our church. Well, change your church. Go away. Can't squeak. Or shout. G. Campbell Morgan preached this wonderful message. Boy, I was having a rolling time. I fell in love and I was in agony. I kept saying, very good. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Finally he said that. Then G. Campbell Morgan said to the Englishman, I'm not preaching sinless perfection. He said, remember the apostle Paul. What is his achievement? Yeah, look at them. You think a man that walks with an apostle Paul walks without secrets in his life? Nothing in life. No, we go back and cover it up. You turn to your pride and anger. You go back to Romans 6. And what is it? It's not I. Oh no, it's not me. What is sin that drove us into it? Something that mother passed on to me. It's sin that drove us into it. Paul doesn't say that. He said it there. He did not end up there. He ended up there. Where? Where he said, it's not either Christ living in me. You can't be having him drowning in Christ and then drowning in sin for nature. Does that mean it's impossible to sin? No, it means it's possible not to sin. We are more than conquered. What does more than conquered mean? Somebody asked him. He hadn't made any speech about it. He said it means shooting 12 persons and killing 13. Well, that's not very good. But what he meant was that it's not getting up at the end of the day exhausted. Lord, it would have been 25 hours in this day and the kingdom would have fallen apart and I think I would have lost all my strength and faith. Doesn't mean that. It means there are no more abandoned and who proves it more than this precious man? As I said to you there are only two kinds of people in this world, not black and white, not Indians and whites, but all these dear Indians here and they're lovely people. We know them Indians. We love them. Two kinds of people in the world, not black and white, not rich and poor, not free men and slaves. Just two kinds. Those who are dead in sin and those who are dead to sin. When temptation what do you think of that? I need the every hour most gracious Lord. Is that not enough? We need to look it up sometimes. Well, if one stands in the hymn and says, I need the every hour, stay down near by, temptations lose their power when thou art nigh. Well, if he said my calling, just say Christ is nigh. He didn't say Christ is for me. He didn't say Christ is with me. He said Christ is in me. I'm not walking this chosen way alone. The road is too steep. The hostility is too great. The opposition is too heavy. But he said with Christ indwelling me, I can be more than conqueror. And we can be in that place, that situation by faith, where Christ is indwelling us. And my appetite that Christ inspires. Well, as the Quakers used to say again, you can know what they call an authentic gospel. The gospel is not something just to believe. It's something to behave. You have to translate creed into covenant. These people are beautiful in their spirit. Boy, what a day this is for beauty, isn't it? Everything's beautiful. You poor ladies, good night, you have so much problem these days. Go to bed, they have to wash off what they put on their little morning. Poor lady went to bed and she lifted her hands to the wheels she discovered she left her finger nails at home. Then she looked in the mirror and found she hadn't put her eyelashes on. That poor thing. All the bits and pieces these poor ladies have. I don't see any improvement. Naturally we're attractive. We don't need to make up. What does Scripture say? Scripture says the king's daughter is all glorious within. I get a message from people next Sunday when I come and they speak on spiritual cosmetics and they say what in the world is that? The king's daughter is all glorious within. There might be a few men who say what about the king's daughter? The king's daughter is a message when I come and they speak on cosmetics say what in the world I get a message from people next Sunday when I come and they say what in the world is that? The king's daughter is all glorious within. I get a message from people next Sunday when I come speak on say what in the world is that? The king's daughter is all glorious within. I get a message from people next Sunday when I come say what in the world is that? The king's daughter is all glorious within. I get a message from people next Sunday say what in the world all glorious within. I get a message from people next Sunday when I come and they in the world The king's daughter is all glorious within. I get a message from people next Sunday daughter is all glorious within. I get a message next Sunday Don't say now where are the old ones, I'll buy you the new ones. By the way, I take 39, thank you, but anyhow. But if you take, if you take that marvelous, he's an amazing, we talk about the Apostle Paul, so he's always a warrior, he isn't always a warrior. To the text of onions, he's a nerd. I care for you like a nerd. To Timothy, he says, come on, I'm not going to nurse you, you're old enough, put on the whole arm of a job. When he comes to it, you may say John is the Apostle of Love, and I won't argue with you, but he didn't write the greatest hymn of love. The greatest hymn of love was written by a man who was half crippled with stones that slid his cheeks, a leg that he dragged along like Jacob did, a body that was more than safe. Once I was stoned, twice I suffered children, once I was stoned, a night and a day in the deep, 36 hours hanging on a piece of wood hanging on a piece of wood in the water, and here he has a body that's been mutilated, and yet there was something in him, the words couldn't, he was lashed 195 times, and he pulled his shirt back, it was like a ploughed field, they couldn't beat it out of him, they couldn't flatten it out of him, there was nothing they could do, they put him through endless tortures, and yet that love still burns in him. So he can write the most majestic hymn ever written on love, childbirth day hymns on love, love divine, all love excelling, he wrote that wonderful hymn. And we sang tonight, O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast and measured, false as I would like you to know the love of Christ, which passive knowledge, that is something you can't put into language, there's no vocabulary for it, I mean the deepest form of worship is speechless, just like prayer is the greatest form of prayer, it's speechless. Hannah, the priest, her lips were open, her body was never hurt, but she got what she prayed for. You take 1 Corinthians 13, again you take that chalice out, that old English word, chalice, and instead you put love there, love suffers not of this kind, love envies not, love offers not itself. I hope you'll record translations, but Moffat's translation, very beautiful there, love never faileth, love beareth all things, he says love is never rude, love is never resentful, love beareth all things, the authorised version says love is not easily provoked, easily isn't in the Greek, he says love is not provoked. How many times do you think you've been God? How many times have you just upset God? You've made vows and not kept them, what have you done? Did he whip you? Not necessarily. I remember one day when our boys were small, they showed the newspaper, it was like a big figure eight, and David used to love drawing, by the way I'll be here only 2 weeks tonight, so come and hear a good preacher, and I said to the boys, Moffat this is a track, they're going to race around this track, it went like a letter eight, then on this little pier, there's a rock straight down, I said what's that for? Well really that's an emergency exit, if this guy can't get round the bend, he can go straight down, he'll be out of the race, but it's there for expediency, you know we make an excuse that, I can bear anything but this, but the Greek says not, it's not easily provoked, it's not provoked, so you take out love and charity you put in love, you take out love, and then what do you put? You put Christ, 1 Corinthians 13 in my opinion, is a full length portrait of Jesus Christ, then you take the name of Jesus Christ out, then it gets tough, what do you do? You put your name in, I suffer longer than Christ, I envy not, I'm not crushed out, I don't go up and down, I'm stabilised in the Lord, I can bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things, after reading the word of God, the most exciting thing for me to read is biographies, or better still autobiographies, I keep looking at my shelf, I think about preciously Irish lady, I was going to say Eva Stewart, Amy Wilson Carmichael, she took a single ticket to India, stayed there 40 years, gathered 400 unwanted children, she had a curfew and a spike, the last 3 years of her life, they put her in a bed after that, she was almost helpless, and then she burned with holy fire, even in her total weakness, she wrote this marvellous thing, that I pray of many times, give me a love that leads the way, a faith which nothing can dismay, did you get that? A faith which nothing can dismay, it defies everything, a love that leads the way, a faith which nothing can dismay, a hope, no disappointment, a passion that will burn like fire, here's a 95 pound weak woman sitting there, and he says, a passion that will burn like fire, let me not think to be a child, let me die pure flame of God, at the end of the day, it was a Norman girl, he used to be a fireball, he's older, about 50 years older than I am, but he mixed up, he married a daughter of C.D. Sturt, and he knew some of these characters, and I tell you, they were characters, you know today, we talk about personalities, all you can make personalities, all you have to do is get some friends and fathers, but it was the thing they used to say in England, what was it? Isn't that the power of little drops of pain, make a girl's complexion funny one day? Isn't that the power of little drops of pain, make a girl's complexion funny one day? You can do almost anything with powder and a wig and a few nice clothes from the spheres or somewhere, you just talk about characters, the joy of my life until I was 40 years of age, every Tuesday night I went to the Methodist class meeting, boy, I started writing my autobiography, boy, I swear when I think of those nights, those old characters that were there, men that prayed, women that prayed, they chanted, they sanctified with joy, we don't get characters anymore, we got personalities, your hairstyles, the men and women, the boys, the clothes you wear, pure nonsense, it's character that got that and you don't make character in a weekend, you make character not by knowledge, you make character by perfecting and trial and persecution and not always what's thrown on you, better by what you decide that you let God do in your life and what you'll do when you follow Him. What did they say here? They were more noble than the other people. With all readiness in mind, they searched the scriptures, what our pastor used to step into and he didn't have them very much, but 2 Timothy 2.15, studying the show line, not read the word of God, studying, searching, compare scripture with scripture, after all these people, all those prophets, I know they have no interpretation, or at least they have no written New Testament. They said, on God's faithfulness with Abraham and Isaac and those great, fabulous characters in the Old Testament. Sometimes we sing the hymn, Our Firm Foundation, there's a phrase in that, particularly, what more can he say than to you he has said. I said to the young preacher in my office the other day, and look at all these folks, not one of those men had a bigger Bible than I have, they just used it better. They didn't have a back door, a secret way to God, but they knew God better. I don't care how much a man knows of Hebrew and Greek, I wish I knew them. I mean the languages. But when it comes to knowing God, that's something entirely different. These people knew the word of God was a lamp to their feet and a light unto their path. And the Psalmist says, I will meditate in thy precepts. We've lost the art of meditation. Oh, be still with the Holy Ghost. The same scripture that says be still with the Spirit, says be still and know that I am God. And you won't know God in the rush. I think of a brother, every time I went to his place, he had music in one room and there they'd kind of study in the other. Do you know why, dear, you want to keep listening to music all day? So God won't get in your mind. You crowd it out, crowd it out. We don't have any music in our house, except when we want to, but I mean we don't have it anywhere night and day. You know, it's meaningless. In fact, the guys are telling us now, these guys are always wearing these earphones. Ten years from now, they'll have fondles because the noise is going directly to the eardrum. They're going to suffer for it. But these people are noble. They were studying so discreetly about their close walk with God, their intimacy with God. I'd love to have heard these people pray, too. You couldn't go to a school of prayer like the Apostle Paul had and not mature in faith and vision. It's nothing talking about vocabulary. I'm afraid sometimes we need to be praying long and loud down here, just don't necessarily. We can pray long and loud if that's God's will, but not to always do it Friday night. Do some at home as well. Not many mighty men. What is this? When Corinthians 1 and verse 26 Paul says, not many mighty men, not many wise, not many noble of God, are called. Have you really followed correctly? Shall we get down to that? Not many wise men after the flesh. Not many mighty. Not many noble. There's a lady by the name of Lady Pumpington in England. And she was the one that financed the trips. I think there were four of them that you can ask for. A poor preacher by the name of Whitfield across the Atlantic. She put it in bills. And one day when they asked for a testimony, she said, I was reading in Corinthians today. It said, not many mighty, not many noble. She said, I'm glad there's a name on it. Otherwise, you would say not any. She was now a becoming cultured lady. A scholarly person. And yet, she put all her money, if you go in the south of England now, some of the old old churches. They were built 200 years ago. They're still there. She financed it. She did like Wesley. She put her money into the hen book. She put her money into all churches. She put her money into the Bibles. I believe that's a ministry God gives to some people. There are not many, but there are some. Some of the greatest intellects of the world were very devout Christians. If you go down the main street in Edinburgh, where I went some years ago, do you see? The super monument there is to that chief poet, Scott. Sir Walter Scott. There's another monument there. And the people don't know it. It's not in so many books. But it's there to the, what was his name? F.W.H.? No, N.Y.S. Simpson. He was a keen Christian. He loved the Lord. And he experimented with anaesthetic. He kept finding it unconscious, wondering what it was. One day they came in and it was difficult to get him round again. What did he do? He invented the anaesthetic. Have you ever thought about doing a surgery? I guess you have. What would it be like having surgery with anaesthetic? Somebody pulling your leg off or something else? Well, he made that comfortable to be messed up by the doctors. So Queen Victoria heard about this and she asked him to come to London and make thanks to all the scientists in Europe and in the States. Come and hear Professor Simpson. This man has experimented in his own cost, on his own body, in his own time. And he's sort of being relieved of millions of people down the ages. Come and meet this famous man. So there he was, of course, all nicely dressed up. And the audience stood where they stood and now Professor Simpson is going to tell us about the greatest discovery he ever made in his life. And he stood to the podium and everybody stood. He said, Gentlemen, I would obey this prayer to all doctors and scientists that we have. He said, Gentlemen, I want to tell you about the greatest discovery I've ever made in my life. One day I discovered I was a sinner and I needed a saviour. Boy, they all sat down. I was a sinner and I needed a saviour. And God marvelously transformed other people through that man's life. Not many like him but there are mighty men. Wesley might have been the Prime Minister of England. He might have been the Archbishop of Canterbury. Thank God he wasn't either of those backsliders. He got kicked out of the church. They crossed his name He was an Oxford dog, Oxford teacher, Oxford University. And then he rejoined. He went to Ireland and he said, Oh, I could get in Ireland. I ate acorns off the tree and I ate blackberries. And he marched to Ireland and slept anywhere he could. You know, it's amazing what people God is making today. I saw a little thing on TV of TV news and faith about a couple that lived somewhere near the side of Dallas. And I was humiliated on the verge of tears. A couple who were six years ago, I think, took in a child that was very retarded. Now they have a set of eight of them. They took one when she was about four. Her parents had deserted her. Now she's 12 years of age. They said, We'll keep her until someone will adopt her. We don't want to adopt him. And there they are. They're giving their lives to show the most distorted little things you could ever imagine. And every day and night they bathe them, they wash them, they clothe them, they do everything they can for them. There's some people doing wonderful acts of mercy. Everything is done from the pulpit, all guided from the pulpit. But the best thing, the man called me earlier today. I forgot the word he was called. I'm sure they've called the dog all in a row. He said, I want to tell you something. I said, everybody knows what they want to tell me. I want to tell you something. I said, what is it? He said, Mr. Redding, we have a bunch of young people in our church who have got such an appetite for prayer. You wouldn't believe it. I said, that's the best news I've heard this week. I love you so much. I'll give you a thousand dollars. Then just as we were coming out a man rang up from New England and he said, are you Leonard Redding? I said, yes father, oh yes. He wrote some books, I think I did. Then he dropped down. He sobbed and sobbed. He said, excuse me, we're leaving. I said, go, go ahead. He said, I want you to know there's a bunch of young people here. Say it again. There's a bunch of young people he said. We've got the same vision. We've got the same burden. I honestly thought he said the burden was lifted. Did he say the burden lifted? No, it's not lifted. He said, Mr. Redding, I think there is a chance that God may grant the church in America repentance, but I don't think he'll bother the nation. The nation sent his mayor away. He may grant a little more mercy to the church. I told him I was going to a prayer meeting. Oh, he said, I'm sorry. I said, okay. I said, you didn't drop me. You fired me. He said, we're meeting a bunch of us young people. We every Saturday morning at six o'clock and we're really praying. He said, brother, they're praying. I said, we've got a bunch of men that pray too. Pray with tears. Pray with brokenness. You think I'm throwing stones? Okay, what do you think? All over the nation now, there are people going almost every night to church. What to do? Rehearse a passion play. What if they put all those souls into passion of praying? How can everyone take the place of Jesus Christ on the stage? You want God Almighty to strike him dead for blasphemy. But anything is easier than prayer. Oh, this young man said, Mr. Regan, I've been reading about the Puritans. I said, so have I. And then I was astounded. They all have no lighting, no heating, they have no amplification, they have no music, they have no choirs, they have no advertising, they have no overtones. And yet people came by their hunger, by their palms, their hair of preach of light. I said, well, they got me this big day in Mississippi and came down to earth on Sunday with an amazing and indescribable power. That's why they went through rainstorms and they had raincoats. That's why they packed 2,000 people to hear in Cheltenham always. And they had no transport systems. And yet you never have to have a time of fire. I think God is the mother of America. He may grant us a little breathing time in the church and after all, I'm not asking you to pay. I'm not asking you to pay. I'm not asking you to pay. I'm to pay. I'm not asking you to pay. I'm not asking you I'm asking you I'm not asking you to pay. I'm not I'm not asking you to pay. I'm asking you to pay. I'm not asking you to pay. I'm to pay. I'm not asking you to pay. I'm asking you to pay. I'm not asking you to pay. I'm not asking you I'm not asking you to pay. I'm asking you I'm not asking you to pay. I'm not asking you to pay. I'm not asking you to pay. I'm not asking you to pay. I'm to pay. I'm not asking you to pay. I'm not asking you I'm asking you to pay. I'm not asking you to pay. I'm asking you to pay. I'm not asking you to pay. I'm not asking you to pay. I'm not to pay. I'm not asking you to pay. I'm not asking you to pay. I'm not I'm not asking you to pay. I'm asking you I'm asking you I'm not asking you to pay. asking you to pay. I don't know what it is, it doesn't come in a moment, or let us say we have all of that. I'm glad for the intensity that I find amongst many of God's people there. Without being linked up with any prayer needs, or would you pray 15 minutes a day for the nation or something, there are people whose hearts the Lord is touching. And they can't get away, and they don't want to get away. They want to get nearer, they want to be stronger, they want a closer identity. It's only this for the determination around. There's no one else to look. I pray to God, I trust you'll remember tomorrow to pray for that group and in New England again. And again for this church, thank God for the privilege of using the facility. Next Friday night we'll be back in our old place, which is down the road if you don't mind. At last day, we'll be there at 7.30. And the rest of the list, I hope. The rest of us, you know. This will be God's. Well praised God. All the wisdom we can't throw away now. You know, I've said to my partner since we got together, we don't count our blessings in each room. So the lesson today, they're trying to socialize in a tremendous way, they're trying to socialize in England. And just one thing, they're trying to pass a law now that when you die, you can't pass your property on to your children and go to the state. They're trying to abolish all the foundational things that we're getting rid of in this country. They're trying to set it up to be taken over by these painters. And this is a general trend. You know, if we knew how little time we had left, all of us, boy, we'd shoot down this house if it worked. We'd be more intense. We wouldn't care if people made a fanatic move or prayed to God, we've only got one string, what do I care? I'm going to keep playing that one string. I want you to pray. Please don't pray a lot. I've not told you to pray twice, show rather than once. It gets entirely... And you know I can stop. As soon as you start repeating yourself, I'm going to quit. Because told God once, you've told Him. Are we ready to pray now? Not right now. Well, let's just pray. Let's pray, gentlemen. As we go back down there, gentlemen, give us a new lease. Give us energy and strength for this coming period. The nation, I want to say there are 54 nations at war right now. Nothing can stop it except the Holy Ghost. Every form of sin is advancing. You can talk about AIDS, or herpes, or abortion, whatever the word you like. They're all advancing because the church is sleeping. Some of that religion has to sleep at least. But we have to work with this little body that we have. But let's pray and train. Forget others, but please remember something I taught you, pray too. Don't pray for the others. I mentioned that prayer meeting, that's tomorrow, let them do that. Let's pray that God will allow us to pray. Day by day, say, Lord, touch my eyes with your eyes barred. I need to see more clearly. I don't want to see midnight trees waltzing around. I don't want to get caught up in churchianity, because Lord, I've had enough of that. I'm not going to raise up uncured people. They may be poor as well as pure. What does it matter? They think what's rich isn't a matter. They think what's beauty isn't a matter. They think what's strength isn't a matter. All the external things don't matter. Well, let's go to prayer. Let's pray for a while. If you want to meet me, find me. Lord, I pray that you would show me a new path, a new manner. Let's see, as you see, a little more, at least, how you see it. How you perceive what is going on in our world, in our land today. Lord, we thank you for backing the Old Testament. I love you. You raised it and gave it to me. There's a desire for peace. People turn to you. I love you. Even save that old city for just a few people. I love you, Lord. Lord, we thank you for various examples. I love you. Even save the children of Israel when they've gone off into adultery. I love you. Lord, we pray, Lord, that you've heard him in you. You've changed the course of events when you've heard his prayer. We know, Lord, that you're receptive to our prayer. Lord, I pray that you would hear us here tonight as we pray. May we get a new sense, a new vision of your heart, Lord, and your desire for this nation, for this people, for your church. Lord, how excited we were as we sang this moment of faith in the early part of the service. We just wanted to shout. Yes, Lord. At the same time, Lord, we thank you for those thousands and millions of people going to hell today because they do not know you. Yes, yes. Lord, I pray that you would energize us by the way we feel as you feel us. Yes. I pray that myself, Lord, Yes. show me new ways, things that you would have me do so I could live what time I have left. Thank you for living in faith, Lord. You've changed it. Show us the way, Lord. We know that it's up to us individually. We don't live on what I pray to do in faith. We live on faith that we have what you did. Lord, may we study you.