In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of being chosen by God to do His work, even if one feels insignificant or weak. He uses the analogy of wearing multiple layers of animal skins to illustrate the weight and responsibility of preaching the word of God. The preacher also highlights the need for a burning enthusiasm for God, rather than just a superficial love for Him. He warns against being complacent in one's faith and encourages listeners to seek a double portion of God's blessings through obedience and a willingness to be used by Him.

Thank you, dear friends. You know, it's a queer kind of a meeting, this. All right, not for you folk there, but it's a kind of a mingling of joy and a mingling of sorrow in our hearts. I'll never see you again until we meet at Jesus' feet, those of you who are born again. And if you die before you're saved, I'll never meet you again. For glory to God, there never was a child of God in hell, or a child of God on the road to hell, either. But to those of you who are saved, washed in His blood, and born of His Spirit, you and I are parting tonight, and parting as far as time is concerned. Never to meet again, but we'll meet around the throne. And it's a queer kind of a feeling, that, for all the years that I've known now, way back in the 20s, yonder, when I came here under the providence of God to recuperate after a major operation. I was on the faculty of Dr. Torrey's Bible Institute at the time, and after I'd got over a wee bit, I said, I'd like to get home and see my old mother. The father had passed away at ninety years of age, and my mother was getting on that side, too. And so they allowed me to come. And under the providence of God, that was just exactly what the Lord wanted, and what began to happen here. First of all, in Bangor, and then we went over to Glasgow for six months there. Lord MacLeay had lost two boys during the war, and he said he wanted their memory not in brass tablets, but in rodeen blades. And so he got me to come over to Glasgow, and six months in and out through that city, winning men and women for Christ. And then we came back to Forty Down, and that began our continued work there. Forty Down, and Lurgan, and Lisburn, and the Shanklin Road. Marlborough! And then over to Newington, yonder, and up into Ballymena, and Londonderry, and so on. It was just a glorious time, to meet my own countrymen and countrywomen, and find such joy and gladness as we fellowship together, and win one man and woman to Christ. And then when we came back again, after going back to do our duty over there, came back here to find you all again. And now here we've been for the last six months, nearly six months. We came here about the middle of April, and we've been taking a week's meetings. You see, I used to go four or five, and Newton Ard's was nine weeks, we were there. But I'm not fit for that now. When you get to be an octogenarian, you know, you can't do all you'd like to do. In Forty Down, yonder, there was a wee girl, she went home and said, Mama, what does Mr. Nicholson mean by an octogenarian? She says, you look up the dictionary. So she looked up the dictionary, she says, I got it. It means octopus. But when you become an octogenarian, you're not able to stand very many meetings. And just Sunday to Sunday was just about my limit. And in fact, I'd just been going over my limit a wee bit, and they told me I was an old man with a tired heart. Now, you know what that means. And so they dug me into the hospital there for three weeks, and mind you, that's a dangerous place to be, for you're always in your bed, and there's more people dying in your bed than any other place. My wife said, she asked, it's about time you're getting out. And so in spite of everybody, she got me out, and has been looking after me ever since. And it's so nice, you know, during these days, week-to-week meetings that we've had up and down up there. While in Forty Down there, there was 200-odd, and we had a tea party, a welcome tea party before the meeting. And the chairman said, how many of you here in the last 35 years, how many since that time have been converted in our meetings 35 years ago? How many do you think turned up? Sixty-five. That's a good proportion after 35 years. Glory to God. They say that the converts wear well. No, they don't, but boy, they keep on going. They're not good at the stopping, but going on well. And like the skin of their feet, they wear well too. And so we've just been a delightful time mingling among them. And you know, the Lord always keeps to His word. The last meeting I've had has been in Bangor. That's where our people are all buried in there since 1604. And it's our own hometown. And the Lord said in His word that a prophet is of no honor in his own country. Well, I suppose that means the city too. And I didn't get on very well in Bangor. They're nice, and there are a lot of nice folk there. And I've known them for a good many years. But they don't like the second blessing down there somewhere or another. They don't like that. They say when you get converted, that's all you need to bother your head about, and wipe your nose and say your prayers and give you your best. And then I suppose you get them on a wee bit further than that, and get in and possess the land, and get out and enjoy the Lord, and get spoiled for the world, and a delight to the heart of God. And somewhere or other, they don't like that. They don't like that. And of all the meetings we had in Ulster, that's just the one somewhere or other was the hardest and the least that we saw results. But there you are, there you are. The Lord holds His word. And glory to God, He kept us good in spite of all that. And we're here tonight by the grace of God and by the help of God. And so, dear friends, we're glad. And I want to introduce you to one. I don't believe that I'd be here if it hadn't been for her and her standing by me, not only in this particular time when I was laid aside there with my heart, but I've had a heart for about 15 years. They told me when I had it that I'd never get better. I had a thrombosis or whatever they called it. Boy, that's a good name to have. But I'll tell you, when you've got it, it's like the flames of hell on you. And the doctor gave up and said, you'll never, you know, this fellow's gone. His time's up. But she stuck in and stood by and did her best. You know, she's a graduate nurse. And you nurses, you know, you're the boys. And, boy, she stood by me until that clock got through the blood of her 7 o'clock in the morning. And, man, I began to feel fine. When the doctor came in the next morning, he came up to view the corpse. Glory to God, I was sipping a wee drop of tea. I hope the day will never come when I say a bad word about a cup of tea. Man, I loved the tea. And she stood by us all down and down through these years. She stood by us and, man, kept us going and keeping us going now. Now, I'm going to ask her to say a wee word. And maybe she's a good honoree. Come on, Betty. Just be a brief word because my husband is following teaching. And I'm not a teacher in our family. What? Teacher. You're getting a term in a lot of people in this country. Mr. President and Christian friends, it's been our high privilege for these months to work together with you here in Ulster. And we've had some great battles and some glorious victories. And the Lord has undertaken in a wonderful way. And we do praise him for all that he, by his Holy Spirit, has accomplished in and through the preaching of the word and then the praying friends behind. Oh, how we thank God for our prayer friends. We always say that we never know how much they really count. And we never will know until we reach beyond. And eternity will reveal all that they have accomplished by their faithful intercession. So we thank God for all of you who have been holding on in definite believing prayer for us and the Lord's work wherever we have been. And I was thinking as we opened the meeting tonight, the verse of that hymn was so well suited to God be the glory. Great things he has done. And if there is anything that we have been able to do, it has been all of his grace. For he has enabled us just to witness for him in the various places where he has placed us. And as we part one from the other, we covenant with you that we will continue to pray for this beloved land of Ulster. It has such a warm place in our hearts and always will. And we hope that you will continue to pray for us as we go. We don't know just how and where the Lord will be leading us in the future days until he comes. But we want to be found faithful witnessing for him until he comes or else take us home in the natural order of things. When we were here in April, some of you may remember I quoted a few lines. And I want to quote them again if I may. They are by J. Hudson Taylor. And I quoted them then when I was speaking. God's wisdom, God's grace, God's grace alone can suffice. But they will suffice. And tonight we can say praise God they have sufficed. And they will suffice in the days to come until he comes. Thank you for all your love and your kindness shown to us here while we've been in Ulster. We always say that the Ulster people are the warmest-hearted people on the face of the earth. And if you travel round and round the world as we have done, you would know just how true that is. And what a refreshment it is to come back here to this land of Ulster and meet with the loyal, loving Christian friends. May God bless you. Thank you. Thank you. I'll tell you, when a woman gets on the talking all right, and a fellow comes, a very poor thing after is over. We want to thank you dear friends with all our hearts for your generosity during these days. Meeting with our traveling expenses, and mind you they were pretty heavy. Coming 3,000 miles across land and 3,000 miles across water. And back again, that's 12,000 miles. And every penny paid into your generosity that made it possible to get that done. And we do sincerely thank you for it. But above all that is these prayers and your love and your esteem that you've shown to us in the days that have gone by. We thank you sincerely and with all our hearts. You know whenever this boy talked about me coming over here, they kind of scared me a wee bit because I'm not able to walk as much as I used to do. My tongue can wag a wee bit there without knowing much tiredness. But my limbs, like my bit of my fetishes there, they're not very good underneath. And a good friend of ours, Mr. Tommy Thompson from Garland. He's got a, he's an agent for cars there. And Manny got a nice Hillman Minx there. And got it all fixed up. And a heater in his suit. And warms our old blood in these cold days. And he provided that for us. And that's been our use all right down since we've been here. And is to be until we leave. And that'll be on the 21st TV. Our good brother and sister, they've entertained us in one way or another too as well. And we do want to say, make this public acknowledgement of their kindness and goodness to us. And to share that it has been in the work. I couldn't have done it, dear friend, if I hadn't have had some kind of transportation. And so they've supplied all that. Now the Lord bless you, dear friend. And keep us all this much in love with each other. And not only that, but very much in love with the Lord. And never getting used to men and women going to hell. But by all means trying to save some. I want to bring you a message. Would you turn to 2 Kings, if you've got your Bible. 2 Kings, chapter 2, and verse 1. 2 Kings, chapter 2, and verse 1. And it came to pass when the Lord would take up Elisha into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elisha went with Elisha from Gilgal. And Elisha said unto Elisha, Carry here, I pray thee, for the Lord hath sent thee to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the Lord liveth and does thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel. And the sons of the prophets. You see, in those days that Bible screws like what they have nowadays. And so the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head today? And he said, Yes, I know it. Hold your peace. And Elisha said unto him, Elisha, carry here, I pray thee, for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the Lord liveth and does thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. And here's the old sons of the prophets again. The sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head today? And he answered, Yes, I know it. Hold your peace. And Elisha said unto him, Elisha, carry, I pray thee, here, for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the Lord liveth and does thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they too went on. And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood to view afar off, and they too stood by Jordan. And Elisha took his mattel and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they too went over on dry ground. They not only dried up the water, but they dried the ground. And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elisha said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And Elisha said, Thou hast asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee. But if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass, as they still went on and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, a horsemen of fire, and parted them both asunder, and Elisha went up by a quarter wind into heaven. Here's the verse. First line. And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elisha said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. The double portion. Elisha wasn't satisfied with the first portion. He was plowing one day with a yoke of oxen, that's ten oxen, and Elisha passed by and put his garment on him, said, Follow me. And he left his plowing, and he left his oxen, and he left his family, and he came out to Elisha. He had the single portion. He had the spirit, undoubtedly, as he followed this man of God. Not only to be a follower, but to become his successor. But he wasn't satisfied with that. And when Elisha asked him, What shall I do for you now that I'm going? He says, Let me have a double portion of thy spirit. Let me ask you, dear friends, the majority of us here tonight, we know something of the single portion. You've been to Calvary for the cleansing power. You know the blessing of sins forgiven. You know the joy of the possession of eternal life. You have the assurance and witness that you have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Tell me, have you got the double portion yet? Jesus said, I came to give you life, and life more abundant. It's one thing to be born again of the Holy Ghost. It's another thing to be baptized with the Holy Ghost and to live a spirit-filled life, doing delights of God and increasing in the knowledge of God. So many have been to Calvary, and they know the blessing of the cleansing of their hearts, the salvation of their souls. But they've never yet got to Pentecost. They've got stuck. They've got stuck between Calvary and Pentecost. They've got stuck in there. Some are stuck in there by tragedy. I was talking to a friend the other day there, and another friend was talking to him about this matter. His friend said to him, Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? And he said, Oh, that's not for us. That's dispensational. Money requires a lot of people, and they don't like anything the Lord's got, and they get into the dispensationalism. And what God did to old Abraham, He can't do to us. And what God did to David or the rest of them, He can't do to us. What they got in Jerusalem, yonder in Mrs. Mark's trouble room, we didn't expect to get in our day or away with us. My dear friend, that's handling the Word of God deceitfully and playing into the hands of the dirty old rascal, the devil, and robbing your life of the blessing that Jesus purchased with His blood that you might have so that you'd walk worthy of God unto all pleasing and fruitful in every good work. So let me ask you, dear friend, have you got the double cure? Have you got the double portion? Do you know what it is? Not only to be baptized with the Holy, we're born of the Spirit, but be baptized with the Spirit. Have you got life? Have you got the abundant life? The one comes at Calvary and the other at Pentecost. Have you been there? Seated up tonight. This is the last night you and I'll be together and it would be a tremendous joy to my heart to see many of you, especially you younger men and women. I'm at the end of the road, boys. I don't know what step, my next step will be the last, but they're getting fewer. They're getting fewer. And you young fellas and girls are just at the beginning of the road. Oh, let me ask you, man of old Elisha needed and felt the need of this blessing, this double portion. Do you not need it today? Are you quite satisfied with the way you're living? Are you quite satisfied with the up and down nominal negative life you live? Kind of a dry, barren, dissatisfied, disgruntled kind of a life. Joy, joy in reading the Bible, absolutely unknown. Praying a kind of a perpetual penance. And they're getting the means of grace in your church stone instead of bread. Miserable, wretched, up and down, defeated, although devoted life. Tell me, dear friend, is that what you want? Is that what you mean to continue to the end? So that when it comes to the end, you'll be saved by the skin of your teeth. Merely get into heaven, and that's about all. Know nothing of the full joy that might have been yours if only you'd known the double portion and entered and possessed it when it became the time and presence. So let me ask you, dear friend, don't let any prejudice come in. Don't let any preconceived, unscriptural notions come in. Don't let some of these old fellows, you watch these old Christians, bald-headed, grey-headed old rascals like myself, you watch to see whether they're right or not. You remember that young prophet that God said, I want you to go to the king and deliver a message. And don't take a drop of water, or don't take a bit of his bread, when he gives the message, you come and get out and come back. And you remember, that's exactly what the young prophet did. But the old prophet, backsliding old rascal, he heard about this thing, and he says, I'll stop this. And he sent a messenger after the young prophet and said, I'm a prophet as well as you. God has spoken to me as well as you. And he tells me, you come back, and I'll give you a feed back in here. And he came back and brought a feed, but he got his grave. And he was devoured, or he'd be killed by a lion. And as a result of the old fellow's wrongdoing. You watch these old fellows. You watch them. And say, I've been 23, 34 years converted. And when I got converted, I got everything. And don't you go in for this double fuel business, or this second blessing business. Have you? You watch that rascal. He's handling the word of God deceitfully, and he's lived a barren, useless life, right up through his days. But friend, you go in for it. I thank God I was born again on the 22nd of May, 1899, at my mother's by the fireside, yonder in Bangor. Half-past eight in the morning. And suddenly, and consciously, and powerfully, converted. One minute go to hell, and the next minute go to heaven. One minute a child of the devil, and glory to God, I became miraculously a child of God. Man, it's wonderful. And then I lived that kind of a nominal life, a good Presbyterian, God bless my heart. If you saw me on a Sunday, there was Presbyterian faith, and the Sunday closed on you, you'd have thought I was all right. But if you'd have lived with me, you'd have known that I was all wrong. And if you'd have been a Pinker detective, you wouldn't have discovered that I really was a Christian. But thank God, under Mr. Montgomery, he used to have in Bangor yonder, and a lot of you Bangor folk will remember, he had a convention for the deepening of spiritual life. And that's where a lot of us got started, and out, I suppose, 30 out of Bangor alone, had us in all-time service all over the world. It was there, they got saved first, and got blessed there, and baptized and filled with the Holy Ghost. But the very thing that was started there in Bangor, the Christian Workers' Union, and the message that was given, it's the nightmare, and the pride there. It's an awful thing, dear friend, when you get into a condition like that. You watch anybody that tells you, you know you're going to live a holy, victorious life. It's not by might or by power, it's by my Spirit. You can't substitute sacraments and ceremony, and your honest endeavor and churchianity for the work of the Holy Ghost. He alone can sanctify. He alone can endure with power for that man or woman to live. And so you watch. Now, but you don't let prejudice come in. Don't let preconceived, unscriptural notions come in, and rob you of the blessing that Christ purchased for you by His death and dying. And so Elisha cried out. He says, Elisha, I want you to give me the double portion. The double portion. All right, says Elisha. You see me go. You see me go. Stand by me. Stick to me. Doesn't matter what it costs. You stand by me. You see me go. You'll get the blessing. And he stopped by him in spite of these old Bible prophets. Will you remember that? These Bible schools, the Jericho, Jericho, and Bethlehem, and so on. These fellows, they're doing all they could to keep that man of God from getting into the double blessing. But he stuck to Elisha. He believed he was going to get it, and he stuck to him, he stuck to all Elisha. And when he saw Elisha go up, glory to God, the power came down. So they went to the Jordan himself, and the same miraculous power that Elisha had, he possessed there. And friend, let me say to you again. If a man like Elisha needed this double portion, where do you come in? Where do I come in? Because there's a way back a thousand years before Christ, and now it's two thousand years and he's reliving. Have you got something better for a substitute? Can you do better, can you do without it? Do you not need it? Can you just basically get saved by the grace of God and sanctified by the works of the flesh? Beginning in the Spirit, says Paul to the Galatians, are ye now made perfect by ceremony and by sacrament? You haven't, there's no, there's no substitute, dear friend. There's no substitute. God gave Jesus Christ to be the Savior of the world. And there's no substitute for Jesus Christ. You can do as you like, you can live as you like, you can act as you like, you can believe as you like, unless you repent of your sin and accept Him, you'll die and be damned sixty fathoms in hell after you're dead. No substitute. And Jesus Christ, when He went up yonder to the Father's right hand, He said, I'll pray. I'll pray to the Father. And He'll send you the Holy Ghost. And when He comes to you, then He tells you what will happen. And there's no substitute for the Holy Ghost. All your sacraments and ceremonies, all the doing of your bed, all your fundamentalism, you can be as orthodox as the devil himself. There's no substitute for the work of the Holy Ghost. As we sang there tonight, thy Holy Spirit, Lord alone, can turn the heart from sin. His power alone can sanctify and make us pure within. But it's His power alone. When you got to the end of your tether and you're willing to come as a lost sinner and say, Lord, not the labor of my hand can fulfill thy lost demand. Thy blood and thy blood alone can atone for the soul. He got saved. And when you as a born-again one get to the end of your tether, if I'm to live a God-fearing life and a God-delighting life and a soul-saving life, there's no substitute for the Holy Spirit's work in that matter. And yet I'm going to make every excuse under heaven. So let me say to you, friend, again, have you got this blessing? Have you come to the place where you really try to your best to live a Christian life amid a muggle, that's all, defeated by the devil and defeated by the flesh and defeated by the world and made a dirty coward by a man-fearing spirit? No testimony. Nobody converted. No nothing, nothing, nothing else, not for the Lord. Ah, friend, listen. Listen, it's what you need what George Gibson, the Bishop of Crossgar, used to say, you need the second touch. And if you haven't got that touch, then what? I don't care who you are, whether your collar's in the back side of your neck or whether you're in the foot but you're only a session or the jack in it or whether you're a Sunday school teacher or whether you're a Plymouth brother or whether you're a small bee, it doesn't make one bit. There's no subject. No subject. And so all Elijah says, Elijah, I want the spirit, the double portion, the double portion. Why did he ask that? Man, he saw what a creature he was. He was a ploughman. He wasn't a prophet. He was a ploughman. He wasn't a preacher. And if he's to succeed the Elijah and follow Elijah, then him and God, what could he do? He could plough, but he couldn't preach. And so he said, look here, Elijah, we don't know a thing about Elijah. He just jumps on the sacred pigs there and up with a fiery chariot after it. And when he said, if God's going to bless you, I'll need a double portion. And when he looked at the surroundings all around him, the backsliding condition of the people of God, the awful idolatry that was abounding, the dirty old Jezebel with all her heather and pitch. Will you remember that? She was the first woman that started to paint and feather and puffer. Some of you old women there, God help you. You're supposed to be the bride of Christ and you're decorated with all the adornment of the old Jezebel, the whole mountain and the rest. You can't understand it. But they, Ken is scared. Ken is scared. Why do you mean all Elijah got scared to death? Elijah did. He lived for his life and run for his life. And you see, his fear of man, he lost to God using him. And he became disgraced. And Elijah took his place. Because he failed God, he failed God and ran for his life because of a woman's threatening of him. But you see, when old, old Elijah looked around him and saw it, and Elijah took to his heels and run, where am I going to do anything? Oh, Elijah says, I need a second portion. I need the double portion. And when he thought of following and succeeding Elijah, why dear me, what a wonderful man he was. And he said, there's no hope for me. And so, give me a double portion. If I'm to succeed you and if I'm to follow you, give me a double portion. And friends, isn't that just exactly what you're in today? You know what you are. Your strength is only weakness. You can't, you've fought the devil and you've tried to resist him. And like your father, you said you can resist anything, only temptation. And you've done your best one way and another. And in spite of it all, you've just made a mess. But you know you've done that. I did that for seven months. Up and down and more down than up. Like sitting in a rocking chair. Any amount of emotion, no problem. And that's the way so many are today. Are you satisfied, young people? Are you satisfied with that negative, nominal, sick, anything? Are you? Do you mean to say that you haven't got a hunger in your heart or a thirst in your heart that's discontent with this and a real thirst and a hunger to know this blessing in your own heart and life? Surely if you look in and see what you've got there and see what there is around you and the difficulty that's going against you and the world, flesh and the devil all around, infernal and external, I'll tell you, it is not enough. See, an arm of flesh will fail you. You dare not trust your own. You need the double portion. And when you see what you've been called to be, a follower of Jesus Christ, so that men and women will take knowledge of you that you belong to Christ, is that the way you follow? I was greatly struck in reading this last while back about old Paul there. He talked of great things. You follow me, he said. Would you like anybody to follow you? You'd lead the men to the picture shows. You'd take them out to smoke cigarettes. You'd take them out to belong to some old sinful secret society. You'd take them to anything but God's house except how to know the Word of God and how to pray and how to live a sanctified life. Well, friend, listen. If you're to walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of the Lord, how are you to do it? It's not by might or by power, says the Lord, but it's by my spirit. And you need, you need the very circumstances around you and the difficulty and the weakness of your own heart. Surely it compels you to say tonight, well, I need this too. If he needed it that day, how much I need it in my day too, that I need the double portion. Now, do you notice how the Lord tested him through Elijah before he got this blessing? First of all, he came to Gilgal. Now, what does Gilgal represent? Well, when the children of Israel left Egypt, every one of them was circumcised. That was the token. That was the token of them that they were in God's favor and in God's covenants. But when they were 40 years in the wilderness, all those people died. They got up as far as Kadesh Barnea and wouldn't go into the Holy Land. And God swearing these were up, if one of them should enter in, they all were there carcasses in the wilderness and their bones bleached in the desert. But the generation that was born in the wilderness, they had no token or sign of their covenant relation with God. And so the Lord said to Gilgal that this reproach must be removed. And they were circumcised as a result of Gilgal and delivered from the reproach of Egypt. And friend, if you are seeking this double portion, it means that you've got to make a clean cut for the world. It means that you've got to come right out from among them and touch not the unclean thing and God says I'll be a father to you and you should be my sons and daughters. The way the world today has got into the lives of God's people and the way the world today has got into the church, it's terrible. Old Bonner's 100 years ago said if you want to find the world, go to the church. And he said if you want to find the church, go to the world. I wonder what he would say an hour ago between the campaign and Beetle Bugs and God help us and everything under God's heaven they carried in the house of God. Jesus said my father's house is not a den of thieves and not a house of robbers. And get how much of it it is today. See dear friends, you've got to come to that place which is called represented by Gilgal. You've got to turn your back on the world in every shape and form. To be in the world but not of the world. To come out from among them if you're associated with them. Come out from among them and be separated from them. And God says he'll cleanse you and then there'll be a father on you. And then from Gilgal when they got that settled then they went on to Bethlehem. That is that they got to the place of absolute consecration where they laid their everything as our sister has said everything on the altar and consecrated themselves anew to God. Are you willing to get that there? Are you willing to say goodbye world? Goodbye my friends. Goodbye these old worldly pleasures and these sinful pleasures. Goodbye! And they went on and now you'll come to Bethel where you'll lay your all on the altar. Not a thing kept back one way or another. So many are like Ananias and Sapphira they give a good deal but they keep back part of the price bringing judgment upon their own lives. Oh dear friends don't keep anything back. Don't keep anything back. Don't rob God! Malachi said would a man rob God? Yes! Yes God! You've robbed me. Robbed me of time. Don't rob God! Don't rob it. You belong to God. He bought you with his precious blood and you don't belong to him. Why should you keep it back from anything? Make the consecration complete. Here I am Lord. I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your body a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Will you take that place? Will you come to that place? Right here tonight. Lord I turn the back on the world and all the gangs that have been mixed with it and now here as far as I know everything in the books and on the map without any image without any reservation to be thine you thine alone Lamb of God I come. And when they left Bethel they went to Jericho. Jericho was the place where God showed men that the foolishness of God was wiser than men and the weakness of God was stronger than men. 64,000 people no not 64,000 640,000 people 7 days marched around that city and never said a word never said a word how foolish the whole thing was to go to Conqueror City and march round and round right round day after day right round never said a word trumpeters blowing one thing or another and nothing else and God would let them see that Joshua with all his skill as a field marshal and all the wonderful army that the Israelites were that they were absolutely without any possibility of conquering that city it was to be God and God alone and the last day they went round that city twice and I laughed at some of these commentators they said because so many hundreds of thousands of men and men trapping the ground the ground began to shake as if it was an earthquake and shoot the walls down ha ha ha ha God bless it those old modernists they believe in miracles more than the real miracle itself but the other way they got round they went round the walls there and when they let the shout when God said it then down came the walls why what is God doing there he says not many mighty not many noble not many intellectual are caused who are caused the despised things the nobody the nothing things that are not God has called these to be his followers and to carry on his work why that no flesh should be glory they should glory in his presence why you see when you put a a DD and an LLV and an MA and a QPC in the fellas name and put a a whole lot of black night shirts on him and two or three rabbit skins round his neck there get that fella get that fella up to preach God bless him he's not an ordinary man any longer when you get a when you get a fella and dress him up like a policeman he's not like an ordinary man any longer he's a policeman and when you get these fellas with all these piggish rags on them and get them up to the pulpit there you can't expect anything but what you get from them I was listening last Sunday to a fella and he had a dorm there and he looked to be as if he was breathless he couldn't raise his voice a wee bit of a church couldn't raise his voice well well well just like patting like a frog in a pit you get somebody to put all that gear on you and stick it round you two or three old rabbit skins or cat skins round your neck there and try to preach you try to preach and gee what a job he's got you want to pity these poor fellas but it's those that were nobodies those that were despised those that were weak these are the ones that were called to do God's glory to do God's work why? that no flesh should be glued to glory in God's presence man has seen how easy it is to sing oh to be nothing nothing only to lie at his feet a broken and an emptied vessel for the masters you've made me emptied that he should fill me as forth to his service I go broken that so unhindered his blessing through me with me my flow man has seen he's in but oh boy it's hard it's hard it's hard dear friend to get to the place where God's to be everything and Christ is to be preeminent and you and I are just to be nothing that's all despised ones forsaken ones weak ones these are the ones that God has called and when you get to when you get to Jericho dear friends that's the lesson you learn that's the lesson you learn that it's not by might or by power in spite of all your learning in spite of all your yet not I but Christ limited me and the life which I now live I live by the faith of the Son of God who gave himself and loved me man that's a big thing I'll never forget the day in my life when I put my finger on that person John except the corn of wheat falls in the ground and dies it abides alone says I Lord I don't know what that means I don't know what it means but I'll leave it to you it's a big thing to me to die to die to self to die to public opinion to die to the customs and conventionalities of your church to die with the traditions of elders to die with preconceived notions to die die real death when you get there dear friends you're not far they didn't move very many yards along until the whirlwind come along and the two chariots were there up went Elijah and down came the power on Elijah and that's exactly how you can get it it'll cost you it'll cost you they'll sneer at you they'll tear at you they'll mock at you they'll revilify you they'll call you Pentecostal that's a good name anyhow they'll call you fanatic anything on the God's head well they spat on the face of Jesus they put a mocking crown on his brow they battered his face and it was more than the visage of any man's face couldn't reconcile it it was battered they derided him they got on their knees and mocked him and he says you're going to follow me and you'll get it in the world and you'll get it from these carnal Christians they're the boys that'll come on you and these fundamental fellows boy they'll come on you and man they'll go for you but you see I've been 15 nearly 60 years now and my skin's as thick as a donkey's ear they've called me everything under God's help but that's a lie you'll get it you'll get it you'll get it you'll get it it'll be in your family it'll be in your home it'll be in your church it'll be with those you're mingled with in society you'll get it you'll you'll get it you'll you'll you'll you'll get it you'll get it you'll get it you'll get it you'll get it you'll get it you'll you'll get it you'll get it and a joy that's unspeakable and full of glory. How many of you are living a life of civil war against God? How many of you are fighting against God? How many of you are quarreling with God because God took your baby? Boy, he's heard about it since then. Because he took your health and you become semi-unbelieving? He's heard about that already. Because you got kept in pride and you got persecuted and you didn't deserve it. God, God, God, God has earful on that all right. My, what a miserable thing to live. Charging God with folly. Making a doubt that you could do far better than even God did. And if God allowed it, it showed that you would never have done it if you'd have been in his place. What an awful attitude to take. But whenever you've got the double portion, you know the joy of full salvation, of absolute surrender. The joy and blessing of being in the center of God's will. Not only that, but you have implicit obedience to God. I think always about old Abraham. He was the biggest cattle dealer in the world. Boy, he knew something about a flock of cattle. Every kind of cattle. The girls, the acres and acres of food wasn't big enough for him. Took the side of a country to hold all that he had. And in spite of all, you couldn't do that without a whole lot of business. And you couldn't do that without a whole lot of work. And God says, Abraham, he says, that's me. Jacob, that's me. How many times has God called? You never answer. Two minutes. Your ear's full of everything, except check it clear till you hear the voice of God. Whenever you get this double portion, dear friends, it's a life of obedience day in and day out. Implicit obedience. God can call you at any time. God can always tell you what to do at any time. What he wants you to do. What work he wants you to engage in. Where he wants you to go. Here am I, Lord. Send me. When you get this blessing, glory to God, there is a burning enthusiasm in your heart and legs. It's not merely that you're earnest, but you're enthusiastic. Earnest, you may be, like a nice bird. Enthusiasm is about jealousy. You're on fire. You remember what they say about John the Baptist? They say that he was a burning and a shining light. He wasn't burning merely, but he shone. There's many a lamp and it burns, but it's stinking because it's smoking. Some of you state partners are the same game at that too. Oh, you're a good boy at burning all right, but man, you've got the globe all smoked out there. But he was a burning and then he was shining. He didn't shine and didn't burn, and he didn't burn and not shine. But he was a burning and a shining light. And bless the Lord, whenever you get this double portion, brother or sister, you become a burning and a shining light. A burning enthusiasm for God. You know, there's some people who say, oh yes, I love the Lord. I do. I love the Lord. But man, I like, when Jesus said to Peter, lovers, tell me, he didn't catch it on at first. And then he said three times, lovers, tell me. Peter said, Lord, I am in love with you. I love women all the day. My mother taught us to respect women and respect our sisters and that. But boy, the day when I fell in love with a woman that became a wife, that's a different story. You all bachelors don't know your limits. And when a fellow falls in love, there's only one way to save him and that's marry him or bury him. But I tell you, when you get the double portion, you not only love the Lord, but you're in love with the Lord. An enthusiasm of fire burning within your soul. And then again, when you get this double portion, you know something about the intense work of intercession. This wee man of God, Elijah, could sit there with his head between his knees and he could pray until there wasn't a drop of rain or a drop of water come from heaven for three and a half years. And he was a man of like passions, like as yourself. Might think that he was some other buddy, but we're told that he was just a man of like passion. And he prayed, and as he prayed, not a drop of rain. And at the end of three years and a half, he prayed, glory to God, the flood gave to rope and rain deluged the land. And friend, you and I have got to know something of that. How God can trust us in this ministry of intercession. How we can pray through for God and know that God is hearing and answering prayer and things are accomplished by prayer in that way. My word for eternity will reveal and God will reveal to us in the days how many have prayed through for us in the years that have gone by. I said to a friend of mine, in fact he was a brother-in-law, principal of a theological cemetery. And when I was pastor of a church yonder in Glasgow, we used to have a night of prayer every month. He says, well, what do you do all night in prayer? Because I've never been 15 minutes in prayer. How long do you spend in prayer? Do you know anything about waiting on God? Do you know anything about this intercession? Jesus prayed so that the very blood dropped, the spots of blood dropped onto the ground as he gave himself up. And friend, you and I will be brought into fellowship with him in his sufferings. And we know something of what it is to pray and pray through and know what it is to pray through and see things accomplished as a result. And then at last, whenever you get this blessing, dear friends, it's good by itself. Utter dependence upon God, not depending on the arm of flesh, not depending on your bed, doing your best, not depending on organization and all the rest of it, but an utter dependence upon God for everything as you journey day by day. Man, isn't it drunk? If the big fella had five million, a real multi-million fella, and he says, now I want to be back with you. I want to be back with you. I'll treat every bill straight and I'll gag you and keep you from doing any harm and all that. Would you turn him down? Jesus Christ, the very incarnation of all wisdom, all knowledge, the counselor, the mighty God, the faithful, perfected one. And he offers you and me to stand by us and counsel us and guide us and protect us and provide us and bless my heart, we'll do anything under God's heaven except trust Him. Oh, the peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything, everything to God in prayer. Why not refuse? But when you get this double blessing, you see the arm of flesh will save you. All your best endeavor is only bunkum, hot air, and you'll let the Lord have complete control. He'll gag you about your home. He'll tell you how to spend your money on your groceries. And I was going down with a friend the other day there, and he said, you know, Nicholson, I've got a friend here, and he's a queer fella. So I said, what's so queer about him? He talks to the Lord about what side of the street he's on and what he's going to the shop to do when he gets his haircut. He asks that God will keep the barber to cut his hip. This other Christian thought that was tomfoolery. But you see, dear friend, whenever you get this double portion, God becomes your companion. God becomes your fellowship. And man, there's not a thing that you don't share with Him, and He shares with you and carries you on day by day. Now, let me ask you, dear friend. Oh, let me ask you, you younger persons, people especially, let me ask you, are you tired of that old single portion? Are you willing tonight to come in and be a candidate for the double portion, where you'll have life and life that's abundant and abounding? Are you willing tonight? Will you take these steps? Will you come to the place where you'll take goodbye to the world and the world's ways? Will you turn yourself up utterly and unconditionally into the hands of the Lord? And will you say, Lord, no dependence on the flesh, no independence there, but to the place of death, death to the self and death to the reputation, death to what the world says and death to what the world could do, but man alight to Christ and the smile of Christ upon you? Will you? What I've been telling you will be the result. Oh, man, that's only just a wee bit of a beginning. No tongue could ever fully tell, no human heart could ever conceive and hold all that God has for them, that God has got for them, who will let God have His way. Will you do that? Will you do it? Shall we have a wee word of prayer together? Blessed Lord, if thou would save us and took us to heaven the moment we got saved, we couldn't have growled one bit or complained one bit. Glory to God, we're saved and we'll never be in hell, and there's no condemnation, and there's no guilt and all that's done away with. But thou hast made provision that we might have victory over sin, that we might live a life lived in the center of thy will, and the blessing of God upon our lives and upon other lives through us. Oh, Lord, forbid that any here tonight should low their pride or preconceived notions unscriptural to rob them of their birthright blessing. We pray that tonight here in the secret of their heart, maybe on the road home in the car, in the bus, and especially as they kneel at their bedside, Lord, grant that many of these young especially may say, Lord, here I am, thine alone. Oh, God, granted we pray thee so that there may be as a result in the days to come young men and women out yonder in the foreign field, multitudes of them in all time service here and there, men and women on fire for God and for the salvation of lost men and women. Lord, bless a whole lot of us old fellows. Oh, God, we want to finish our ministry with joy, and they know that we've got the smile of God upon us right up to the end. Keep us from backsliding and drying up like an old wart. Lord, deliver us and keep us on fire right to the very end. You're able to do it. We trust it in Jesus' name. And everybody said, oh, that's like a Quaker's meeting. Could you not lift a wee bit of me but a old-fashioned Methodist on that? And everybody said, that's better. And everybody shouted, all right, here's a benediction. Down in the dumps I'll never go. Joy. Here we go. I hope you'll get home safe.