In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of salvation through Jesus Christ as the gift of God. He acknowledges that before accepting this gift, people were in a mess, whether it be a wicked or religious mess. The preacher highlights the need for repentance and surrendering to God's teachings, as written in the Bible. He encourages joyful worship and rejects the idea of somber prayers and hymns, emphasizing the gladness and joy that comes with salvation. The sermon concludes with the promise that God will teach and guide believers in all aspects of life.

I came to some conferences where I happen to be, and he said to me, after about two or three days, he said, I just found the secret. I said, what is it? He's a doctor of philosophy, a very, very well-educated man, socially well-placed and everything that you could ever wish for, and he said, I see, he said, we've been going off to church. He said, somebody chooses a sad hymn, we all sing it, he said, and somebody prays a sad, solemn prayer, he said, and they announce another sad, solemn hymn, he said. He said, I just realised, I just realised how deceived we all are. This is a glad thing, a joyous thing. We join with the angels. You see, if I said, let's all pray, what would you do? You would all go. Who said that was the right way to pray? Did you know what the Bible says? Now, let me quote to you directly from your scripture. If I quote the scripture to you exactly, will you believe it? Now, be careful, because believing is committal. It isn't the acceptance of an idea. You understand? Are you ready? Don't let me catch you and trap you, for that's not what my ministry is. But if I, I'll even tell you the very verse to look at, but I can quote it, and it's the whole theme of scripture and true church worship. Will you believe it anyway if I quote it to you? Will you? I will, that men pray everywhere, all right, lifting up holy hands without prayer, without fear and doubting. Did you see that praying with uplifted hands is not a Pentecostal gimmick, it's the command of scripture. You see? That's why I said, now, be careful about believing, because you can't believe without committing. I will, that men pray everywhere, who, tell me who said it? It was Paul to Timothy, our apostle, the apostle, our apostle, so the scripture says. Are you ready to receive the commands of the Lord? You say, but I was taught to pray like this. I will, that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands. I trust your elders give you the lead here. I trust they do. If they can't get away from their background, well, you ought to have a little talk with them. The scripture's the background, not traditional. Lifting up holy hands without fear, without wrath, without doubting. And the earliest pictures of the church of prayer are to be found in the catacombs of Rome. They were inscribed in those grey caverns there where Christians had to go when they were under persecution, before the religion became popular in Rome, and the emperor said that everybody was to become a Christian, and pagan rites were adopted into the Christian tradition, because you can't order people to become Christians, you can't change lifetime of habit by an edict from some temporal throne. But nevertheless, the true children of God, they used to gather in the catacombs, and they prayed, and the pictures of them at prayer, how would you, anybody been in the catacombs of Rome? Alright, did you see them at prayer? You didn't, you didn't look in the right direction. That's right, that's how they prayed, now that's how the early church prayed, they obeyed the scripture, that's how they prayed, see? That's the earliest known pictures of people at prayer, that is. You see, heaven's opened, God their father, their faces are shining up to him, they aren't looking down into the tragedy, they're looking up to the glory, Lord, hallelujah, see? Now if I passed on the apostolic command to you this morning and said, you've all got to lift your hands up in prayer, would you start measuring the distance between you and the door? What would you do? Lord, hallelujah, what would you do? Say, well I wasn't brought up to pray that way, I'm sorry you were so terribly trained, the bible should be our handbook, I was brought up to pray the other way, doesn't mean to say I've always got to walk about with my hands up like this, and be some scarecrow, but there are these great moments when the soul knows it's in touch with God, when it's free from tradition and it's free from everything, and when the soul is free from tradition, you know where it will go? Straight to what the book says, because the book has put the principle of worship and prayer there, it's imprinted there, you will always do what the scriptures say, when you become true, always. You don't set out to do it just because it's written in the book, but be sure that what's written in the book is basic life, true principles of worship, that's what's written in the book, hallelujah. Isn't that right? Long before God established a code of worship through Moses, the earliest people were found doing the thing that he was later going to command, what? Building an altar, making a sacrifice, it was there, it was a basic principle, later God codified it, said that's what you're to do, you see, but the work of the law is written in everybody's heart, so Romans says, but when they're born, it's all here, and so we come back to basic things, God's written them in the book, but the principle is always there and you'll always come in the end to the Bible position, hallelujah. Do you believe that? I believe it with all my heart, alright, sorry I didn't mean to preach to you, it's with gladness we worship, praise God, we rejoice as we sing, free hearts and voices, oh, that's what we do, and that's what we will do, shall we? Would you like to play us the opening chords again? With gladness we worship, rejoice as we sing, free hearts and free voices, our pleasure to bring, beyond life or story, just here by your Lord, the King of all glory, the Fountain of Life. Our hearts here this morning we want to talk to the Lord, God's been doing something really Now let the hearts be poured out, prayer is not a monopoly, just let's move in, just outpouring our hearts, understandably. Father this morning, you can all pray in your mother tongue, God understand. Mind of the spirit that is given unto thee, and if thou wilt obey the workings of the spiritual mind, thou shalt never stumble, neither shalt thou fall, neither shalt thou ever turn thy back and retreat, but thou shalt go forward in an unhindered way, and thy path shall be light, yea it shall be bright, with the glory of God, and all that the Lord hath spoken unto thee shall be established, not in promises, but in thy life, for it is when the promise is established in the life that it is really established, and the heart doth know it to be true, and not an idle or boastful word from God, but the truth. Sin could have no more place in your heart or dominion over your life if you yield your will to God, you yield your will, come out of your fancy beliefs and yield your will, God hasn't got you because you recite your beliefs to him, if you will, all the bases of God's covenant with his ancient people Israel, or with the spiritual Israel of God today, are on this great basis, I will give you a new heart, I will put my spirit within you, I will take away out of your flesh a stony heart, and I will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spirit within you, and call you to walk in my statues, and because I will, ye shall keep my commandments, and do them, and ye shall dwell in the land that I have given unto you, see, and you shall be my people, and I shall be your God, God is only the God of the people who have yielded to his will, I will, all God's people have new hearts in them, all God's people have had the stony heart taken away out of their flesh, he was prophesying this in Ezekiel, because the stony heart went with the stony covenant that was given them on two tables of stone, God had to write, showed them even in doing that, that their hearts were like flint, a hard, cold, stony, unresponsive heart, see, God said, I'll take it away, I'll take the stony heart out of your flesh, give you a heart of flesh, hallelujah, all God's people have new hearts, all of them have a new spirit, that determines your attitude, your spirit determines your attitude to anything and everything and anybody, your spirit, that determines it, and I'll put my spirit within you, he says, I will do it, I'll take responsibility for doing it, amen, I love this God, I praise him, he doesn't let us off our responsibility, but he takes the major responsibility, your responsibility is to yield your will utterly, come off it, you don't even believe your own arguments deep down, and nobody else does, nobody, you yield your will, when a man yields his will, that's when God takes over, and it is a takeover by God, that's what it is, it isn't a little forgiving that he gives you, it's the complete takeover, the emancipation of the personality, the redemption of the soul, the regeneration of the spirit, the utter conversion of the total life, that's what it is, amen, are you ready for that, isn't it great when you come here, my stubborn will at last is yielded, it's all done there when you yield your will, not until you hand yourself over with your will, you did in the marriage service, you said, I will, that's right, and God knows that, amen, it's amazing when you hand over your will, how your beliefs change, once you hand over your will, that's right, glory, you cling to your old beliefs with your will, you see, don't let those go, where will you be, if you let your real deep down beliefs go, what's happening, you're like a paper bag in the wind, when you yield that will, hallelujah, now you'll all be taught of God, this is another condition of the great new covenant, you shall all be taught of God, isn't that an amazing thing, hey, they teach you how to live, teach you how to behave yourself, teach you how to run your home properly, you don't know until he teaches you, teach you how to treat your wife, teach you how to behave towards your husband, teach you how to treat your children, he'll teach you how to behave towards your parents, he'll teach you how to behave towards the nation, or any situation in politics, economics, education, military spheres, anything, teach you how to behave yourself, nobody knows till God teaches them, they've all assumed a lot, everything, teach you to behave yourself in every way, isn't that marvelous, it's so wonderful to let him teach you, mind you it takes a lot for a man to do that, it's harder for a man than a woman, because a man is so proud of his intellect, whereas women have seen the nonsense of all that, they see that life lies deeper than that, on proper basis, real life, but a man is very proud of his intellect, oh my, isn't he, come on all you men, you be honest, that's right, hallelujah, you see, we yield everything, other than the Lord, he takes right over, it's the complete takeover, and know what it's all about, it isn't a system, religion provides systems of coming to get some forgiveness, it isn't a system of religion, it's the revelation and manifestation of the Son of God, Christ Jesus, in a man or a woman, that's what it is, amen, and in he comes by the blessed spirit of the Lord, and he takes up the citadel of a man's soul, that's why he was born on the earth, he despised a palace to be born in, and was born in a stable, he despised all those other things by which men set such great store, and chose to reverse, and as we were thinking about last night, violate everything, and that's how he came, and even the wisest men on earth, the magi, went wrong, they went to the palace, wisdom can't find him, true wisdom will know he must be somewhere, true wisdom, true wisdom doesn't think he sprung up out of a lump of jelly floating about somewhere, not true wisdom, true wisdom knows that the watch it wears on its wrist isn't a fortuitous coming together, there was a complete accident, and lo, a watch appeared, saying oh no, that was made by a mind, a thinking person, well, apply the lesson, a true wise person knows this, but wisdom won't take you through, the wise men went wrong, but simple men out there looking after sheep, received the word from heaven, and said to him, lo, unto you is born this day in the city of David a saviour, which is Christ the Lord, and I expect they thought born unto us, we don't talk like that, if somebody has a baby, it's born unto that man, and born unto that woman, but the angel said born unto you, born unto you, good tidings of great joy which will be to all people, a great universal saviour, isn't it marvellous, and they just went and found him, amen, we hand over everything to David, are you ready to do that, no secret reserves, nothing, you can't hide anything, there's no need to beloved, if he looks at it, he looks at it with eyes of perfect love, purest desire for your ultimate good, and that's what love is, it desires the highest and ultimate good for the object it loves, even to the point of self perishing, that's true love, and that's what Jesus did, and when he looks beloved, he doesn't look with somebody who's prying into your private affairs, he looks and he sees and he understands, and he knows even more than you do about it, the way you ticked inside, the malfunction inside you that made you do it, he calls it sin, but as I said the other day, he never once called anybody a sinner, not Jesus, never once, isn't he lovely, do you know why we love him, really love him, you see he is the embodiment of all my ideals, if I think of what truest goodness is, he embodies that, if I think of what truest justice is, he embodies that, if I think of the kind of mercy I should like to find in the highest power, he embodies it, Jesus, you see, this is what we're told in John George, we know what we worship, we know what we worship, and all that we worship is embodied in one glorious person, Jesus, that's right, we don't worship love for the sake of worshipping love, nor do we worship tenderness and grace or power, that's what men in the world do, they worship power and you get a megalomaniac, he might come from Germany or Russia or England, that's what we get, you see, you get people that just worship love and you might get a Dante or you might get some of these other Florentine or English or American people that just worship love, you get a Maurice Chevalier for instance, who said that he who hath not loved has not lived, but he worshipped his kind of love and it ran out to lust, you see, we don't just worship things, it's him, he has embodied, we know what we worship, this morning, utter purity in the person of Jesus, as demonstrated in life, because if we worship its and things, we're worshipping idealistic things and we're just dreamy-eyed, get nowhere, float above reality, but when we worship Jesus, we worship a man of life, we worship a man of death and sweat and blood and tears, we don't worship heroics, we admire them wherever we see them, but we worship Jesus, Hallelujah, do you? Now the only way to worship, beloved, is to give everything, worship is uttermost, it's the peak, worship. Recognition of this superior one, yet had he remained aloof in his superiority, we should have been going to hell, but worship him who came down, made it all understandable to me, praise God, I'm so glad he did, has he made it understandable to you? Do you now understand what love is and how to love? Do you now understand what purity is and live pure? Do you now understand what righteousness is and live righteous? Do you now understand what holiness is and live holy? Do you now understand? If not, you haven't met him yet, for he has come by the Spirit to make all things understandable, clear, real, so that now I can live. He generates me by his own power, miraculously rising from death, with that power he generates me, Hallelujah, and now I can live as he wants me to live. I still want to live better, in me, to take up an expression used in prayer, I may be a baby sucking my thumb, but I've got an eternity of development in front of me, Glory, Amen, wonderful isn't it? I want to live better, I want to live fuller, I want to really live, in him, perfection, in me, a perfect beginning, going on to utter perfection, Hallelujah, isn't that right? Praise God, isn't that right? You don't know anything about salvation if not, this is what it's all about, I feel it, I know it, I can sing it, I can shout it, I pray it, I live it. The rest is starry eyed nonsense, the best aspirations of men, but this is the gift of God, it's the eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, have you got it? Have you got it? See what a mess you had yourself in before this, it might have been a wicked, debauched, lecherous mess, it might have been a very highly cultivated, civilized and religious mess, might have been that, but it was a mess, that's why Jesus came, that's why he came, we were in such a mess, weren't we? Come on, be honest, you might as well be honest now, you'll have to be when you meet him, we were in such a mess, but he's come, hasn't he? Yeah, he's come, if I said put your hand up, every one of you that could say he's come, he's here, I'd put both mine up, you see, he's here, he's come, glory, I know thee Jesus who thou art, I know thee, do you? Yeah, I know thee, that's eternal life, knowledge of God, religion is groping for him, eternal life is knowing him, I'm not out here now, he's here, and all wrapped up in love I am, is that right? Praise God, absolutely right, I tell you what I've discovered, I tell you I want to discover a lot more, but we're going on, and there's a chorus that we sing, it says from glory to glory he's changing me, changing me, changing me, that's right? His likeness and image to perfect in me, the love of God shown to the world, do you know this chorus? Ah, that one row said yes, will Yorkshire please keep quiet, do you know this chorus? Is there anybody else here who doesn't come from Yorkshire, it might be interesting to find out how many nations, are there any Scots people here? You're in the minority, you're in the minority, any English people here? How many other nations have we got with us, put your hands up, Irish? Who's hungry? Oh, hungry! Amen, are there any Americans here? Hallelujah, anyone else? Look at that, Sudan, Danish, French, that's right, Marie, Ahad, Pascal, Ireland, yeah, is there an Irish person here this morning? Oh, brave, any half-breeds? Scots and English I am. Oh, hallelujah, I want to tell you that in Christ I'm a new creation, amen, new creation. We're originals, that's right, everybody has been original, God doesn't have any grandchildren, he begets everyone himself, I can't beget again, we're each one an original when we're born again. God does not have grandchildren, he begets every child himself, isn't that marvellous, we're all originals, that's so we can't pass on our own defects, that's right. The longer a race goes on, usually speaking, the weaker it gets without the artificial aid, say, of medicine or science and so on. Is that right, doctor? That's absolutely right. So, you see, we're not here to pass on our defects, everyone has to be born directly of Him, isn't that lovely? Glory, I wonder you don't shout. Hallelujah, that's right, directly from God. You know, when I was a boy, I was brought up a rabid Protestant, and they used to teach that one of the men that had very much of my sort of shaping in the beginning, he used to, well, he used to belong to the Kenseth people, he got thrown out of Brompton Oratory for sketching confessional boxes, and I don't know what he, because I was a strong Protestant, so was Winston Churchill, by the way, mind you, there's no reflection on me or him. And he used to teach, they used to teach us a chorus, I have no priest but Jesus, I want no priest beside, for He is ever near me to succor, save and guide. There's only one other person in the room who knows that, that's my wife, you see. But what they were trying to get over was that the system of priest craft, wherever it is, is wrong. Needn't have been so rabidly concerned with it, but how wonderful, no mediator but Him, marvellous, glorious, just directness of access, why don't you take advantage of it, eh, or do you? Hallelujah. Praise the Name of the Lord. God is directly responsible for me. He undertook to save me, He undertook to redeem me with the blood of His Son, He undertook to call me, He didn't allow another man to call me, He undertook to cleanse me, give me new birth, He undertook, oh, He's undertaking all the time, He's the greatest undertaker I know. And when He undertakes, human beings overcome. Amen. That's marvellous, when He does this. He's the undertaker without black crepe and certain size boxes. This is right. He's the undertaker that hasn't got a tomb. It's all over. Isn't it glorious? Praise God. Well, I mustn't preach, I think we'll read a scripture or two, shall we? Yeah, we'll sing it, Simpson's great hymn. I take, He undertakes, 491. Don't find it yet, we're not going to read from the hymn book, but from the Bible. Amen. Hallelujah. I'm going to read a psalm that we read last evening, yesterday afternoon, was it? 87. Just a lovely psalm, just a short one. After this, we'll break bread. Oh, excuse me, I'm going to read two. I'm going from 87 to 133. Psalm 87. I love this psalm. His foundation is in the holy mountains. The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God, Selah. I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me. Is that right? Will you do that? Rahab. Rahab was the harlot, figurative name for Egypt. When I'm talking to all the harlotry and all that comes under that name. When you're talking to the world, talking to people, I'll make mention. I lived a harlot life. Oh, not outwardly, but I did. Did you? You flirted with the world, did you? There's a greater scandal in all our lives than the scandals that have been revealed in the paper lately. Rahab, Egypt and Babylon, that's religion. I'll talk to religion. I'll talk to the world. I'll talk to it all. Behold Philistia and Tyre. That's the seat of Satan. With Ethiopia, this man was born there. Hallelujah. I was born in the city of God. Praise God. And Isaiah and it shall be said, this and that man was born in her. And the highest himself shall establish her. The Lord shall count when he writeth up the people that this man was born there. As well the singers, as the players on instruments shall be there. All my springs are in thee. Praise God. That's right, is it? All your springs are there in Zion, city of our God. All your new life comes from there. There's nothing in the world. There's nothing in Rahab. There's nothing in Babylon. There's nothing of this new life or for this new life in Philistia. Nothing in Tyre. Nothing. Everything from Tyre. All my springs are in thee. Hallelujah. Psalm 133. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It's like the precious ointment upon the head. It ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard. It went down to the skirts of his garments as the dew of Hermon and as the dew that ascended upon the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore. That's why so many of our hearts can testify to blessing during these past days. This is the reason. That's why life has come, springing, abounding, gurgling. Whether it's thumb-sucking life or shouting, glorying life. Whatever it is. Hallelujah. There he commands the blessing. Life forevermore. Isn't that tremendous? Where brethren dwell together in unity. Amen. Oh, this is the real anointing. This is the true anointing. When they dwell together in unity, it's just like the anointing of precious oil. It was the beginning of Aaron's ministry. You know that, don't you? When the high priest of old was anointed, this was his ministry. It was the everlasting covenant. Moses had to bathe him first, wash him. And then he stripped him off and scrubbed him. Moses had to do it. The mediator of the covenant has to do it. You understand that? And then he clothed him in these wondrous garments. And then he put the jewels on him. Everything. Put the mitre on his head and had the golden plate tied to it. Holiness unto the Lord. You say, now isn't that perfect? Then he had to pour the oil on him. And upon man's flesh we are told that this oil must never be poured. So it went on his mitre, down his beard. It never penetrated through to his skin. Down his garments. Never touched his flesh. Went right down there over the golden bells and the pomegranates. Came from the music of God and the fruit of God. The golden bale and the pomegranate at last. And musically dripped off down around. Unity. Hallelujah. The unifying oil. They were all separate things so that his hat was separate from his beard and his beard was separate from his cloak and his cloak was separate from his ephod and everything was separate till the oil joined them all together. He was saturated in it. Hallelujah. Oh glory. It's the anointing that makes us dwell together in unity. It's the anointing that is our sacred priesthood. And there God commands the blessing. That's why there's so little blessing in so many churches. Because they're not dwelling together in unity. There are a lot of disjointed people that see each other for an hour on Sunday morning. They're not dwelling together in unity. They're odd bods that come from different districts and places. That's what they are really. But when the church was formed it was formed in the same way. If you like the oil was poured on our glorious head on the day of Pentecost. Ran down onto the 120 all scattered different disjointed odd bods and the church was born. They came together in the unity. Hallelujah. Then they got born again right left and center everywhere after when they were together in one body dwelling together in unity. Isn't that marvelous. That's where God commands the blessing. We've had life in these days. We've had a bit of a demonstration of it this morning. It's going to get better. Do you believe that? All right. Praise God. All my springs are in thee Lord. And all the precious oil is from thee too. Just running down. Hallelujah. Thank you Lord for your love. Thank you. Precious God. Hallelujah.