In this sermon, the preacher reflects on the impact of the Apostle Paul's teachings and the great things he accomplished despite facing numerous challenges. The preacher also mentions Jimmy Straggart, who had a consistent message every week but failed to capture the fullness of God's teachings. The sermon emphasizes the need for personal reflection and wrestling with the Holy Spirit's message, as each individual will be held accountable for what they have heard. The preacher also highlights the importance of loving God wholeheartedly and the urgency to bring deliverance to those who are captive to sin.

The fire shall try every man's work. Won't there be something? When we have to get there and it brings up everything we've done and the fire. Silver, gold and precious, what is silver? The tongue of the judge is a choice silver. Every word you've ever said over the phone, behind your back, critical, cynical, or Christian, is going to be tried at the judgment seat. Every word, every penny we've ever had, from the moment you were born again, every penny you had belonged to the Lord. Every moment you've lived, belonged to the Lord. You're not your only, what with the price, you went into slavery. Unconsciously, that was the preacher's fault. But Paul says, now let me finish up, I better learn this up, aren't I? If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. You know that's a hope, a message of hope that dear brother Joe here has. I think, that's a word you use a lot, isn't it? There's hope, there's hope, there's hope, sure, and there's hope for the hopeless. But Paul says, listen, he's able to save to the uttermost. That's why he went to the intellectuals, the rich, the poets, in the intellectual capital of the world. That's why he went in prison and sang, and he led the jailer to Christ. That's why he goes before a king and points his finger at him, and he doesn't start explaining Daniel's image. He preached, what did he preach? Of temperance, righteousness, and judgment to come. He goes to those brilliant men who knew everything in Greek history. They were super brilliant. And he says, now look, I see you've altered us to strange gods. Well, we've got them, but they don't trouble us. You go down the street and say, isn't that lovely? It's a Catholic church. It's not a nice church, it's a Mormon church. It's not a nice church, it's a kingdom, it belongs to Mormons. Does it stir you to anger? No. You see, there's something that has a right to exist in America or England. But Paul says, I see you men, and you make your altars to strange gods, and you don't know God. I'll tell you who he is. He's coming, and not only coming, but listen, your empires, your Roman emperors, your Caesars, your Alexanders, your popes, your kings, maharajas of India, kings of England, they're going to end up at the same place. He's appointed a day. I could tell you about a man, every one of you know him, you've read his books, he's lots of them. He said to me one day, I know I did something very, very unchristian, Len, but he said, it's months ago, the Lord hasn't judged me for it. I said, let's not give you some comforting news. He's not going to do either. He said, he's not. I said, no, he's appointed a day. He's going to bring the record of it and read it before trillions and trillions of people. Dear God, is God going to read my prayer life in front of men like David Brennan, in front of praying men like Cary? Is he going to read my little prayer life in front of all those awesome people? Sure he is. It's my fault I've lost sight of eternity, not God's. You see, nothing dimmed the vision of this man. He kept his eyes clearly on the cross. God forbid that I should glory. I have a bigger intellect than anybody. I've no pedigree than anybody. I've no authority. My richest gain I count but loss. And poor contempt on all my pride. Say, wouldn't it be something when some of those great Americans stand at a judgment seat? Can you imagine the trumpet sounding and Gabriel says, silent. Come forward, Pastor Russell. And Pastor Russell comes. He twisted the scripture and found it what? Jehovah's Witnesses. Every Jehovah's Witness that doesn't believe in hell will believe in his end. They'd say, Lord, cast him into the deepest hell. What do you think he's going to do? Paul the Apostle, with his withered body, his limp and lisping, stands before a king and what did he do? Felix trembled. My God, if he'd trembled before, Paul, what would he do before Jesus? Put those eyes aflame. Read him through. There's not a thing reserved in his being that God doesn't know. He's known every grief. He's known every twist. He's known every turn. He's known every deceit. He's known every time we backed down. He's known every time we pandered our flesh and stayed in bed when we could have prayed. He knows every time we bought things we didn't need to buy. We bought them because other folks bought them. Look at all the junk that was bought at Christmas. I've never, there's a text, I want to hear your brother break this. Preach on, but ye have a custom. Wasn't it Pilate said that? You have a custom, I shall release one to you. We have a custom. What's a custom? You have bunny rabbits at Easter. You have both, you have Christmas cards and Christmas trees which are totally pagan. But a Christian church has all had it. We put them up in church. We've drifted. We're afraid to stand clear of the world of flesh and the devil. The flesh and the devil yes, but the world no. And he says this, Paul says, if any man be in Christ, I've done some prison work and I, as far as I could by the joy, enjoyed it. Boy, I'll tell you, some of those fierce men, I was glad they were behind bars. Some of them would have snapped me over the knee and thrown me down. One guy used to come up to the bar and if he could have got bit my nose off, I'm sure he would. I always stood back. Boy, they used to get so threatening. But look, I want you to see a young man. If any man be in Christ, here's a young man coming across the quadrangle in Oxford University. He's tall. He belongs to the highest home in England apart from the throne, the King of England. And his name is Charles, not John Wesley, Charles. One day it dawned on him what redemption really meant. Do you remember a hymn of his? I'll tell you what he wrote. Love divine, all love excelling, joy of heaven to earth come down. Finish then thy new creation. He had the revelation of something of the majesty of God. I've got to be prepared for a prepared place. Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. I'm a Church of England minister. I can recite the 139 articles of the Creed. I can read Hebrew. I can read Greek. I have a lot of standing in the university. I'm a scholar. I have an arm full of Church history, another arm full of theology. And between his ears he's got the Athanasian Creed, the Apostles Creed, the Belgian Creed, and every Creed you can... and he's loaded. But one day he heard about a man called Jesus. He'd heard about him many times. And suddenly light came. I was going to say then he wrote his greatest hymn. I don't know. I know too many hymns of his in one sense. But he wrote that lovely hymn. And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood? Died he for me who caused this pain? A man who is as clean as anyone on earth. He never broke a commandment. He fasted. He prayed at four in the morning before he was saved. Can you imagine? Can you imagine John Wesley, Charles Wesley, John Newton, Wilberforth who smashed slavery? Can you imagine all those men meeting for prayer at four in the morning? Or as Wesley said, we prayed all night until four o'clock. Then we got up, washed our faces, and sang it up Saturday. Dear Lord, our preachers would need to go to Florida for a month to recover. But they were in love with Christ. It wasn't a theology. You can't love theology. You can only love a person. And Paul was sung like nobody else. As thou hast died for me, a great American hymn, my faith looks up to thee. As thou hast died for me, so may my love to thee, pure, warm, and changeless, be a living fire. If love isn't on fire, it isn't love. So haste this man, go and gossip, quadrangle. Light dawns upon him. And can it be that I should gain an interest? Listen to the second stanza. Can you think how it starts? Thank you very much, brethren of my students. Bless you. I'll give you an A plus for that. My imprisoned spirit, what do you mean? What does Paul say? If any man be incited in new creation, I'll tell you what happened. The very moment the light of God came on him, this book which had been as dry as dust became sweeter than the honeycomb. Prayer that seemed to be talked of somebody beyond the skies became intimate. And he loved to pray, and he loved to fast, and he loved to be proud himself of his right to feed the poor and clothe the poor. It was a practical holiness. Long my imprisoned spirit lay, being tied up in theology. Yes, he believed in the fundamentals, as we call them. But if any man be in Christ, all things pass away. The old book passed away, and he got a new Bible. The old prayer life passed away, and he got a new prayer life. The old love passed away, and he got a new love. He became a new creation. God isn't in the business of packing us up. What we leak is a creator. All things pass, all habits pass away, all interests pass away, all habits pass away, all customs pass away, all values pass away. Everything is new. Is it time to quit? No. Not just yet. Thank you. If it was, I was going to go on. Sure. I'm a new creature. It's called a new birth, isn't it? Born again of the Spirits of God. How thoughtlessly we sing hymns. Wesley's great Christmas hymn, how the herald angels sing. Did you know he wrote that? Mild he laid his glory by. Don't you think every angel in heaven staggered and said, did you hear the report? The one whom he bowed and cherubim and seraphim worshiped, he's going to earth. Where is he going? He's going from the blinding glory of eternity to be shot up in the belly of a woman. Ever think of that? Do you think of cherubim bowing down before him and seraphim, and a million million angels worshiping him? Because that's what it says in Hebrews 1, let the angel of God worship him. You see, that's why the devil wanted one thing from Jesus. I'll if you just bow to me once and say, I worship you. Worship is so wonderful, the devil offered the world for it. Worship is so wonderful, it's a full-time occupation of angels. They don't do it for an hour Sunday morning. A lot of this silly. I had a man came in my office recently. I get some oddball. He was too fat for one thing. He's a lovely three-piece suit. I said, where do you worship? Oh, I worship at the traditional church. And he told me, where do you go now? Oh, he said, I go to what they call it, it's a new church. Oh, it's a charismatic church. What's it like? He says, the happy and the clapping and the sloppy. That's the best definition I heard of a charismatic church. He said, in the old church there was dignity and authority and reverence. They don't have it where I go. They don't bow down and worship. They don't let the spirit overwhelm them until you want to tiptoe out of the sanctuary again for a word. When you worship God, you're worshiping in speechless adoration. And he said again, Dr. Chaucer told me one day, look at that rug, Leonard. I said, yes. He said, I get on that rug at eight in the morning. I'm there till nine, ten, eleven, twelve, and even one o'clock without saying a word of prayer or a word of praise. I just worship. I mean, not just slowly before God. My God, how wonderful thou art. Thy majesty, how bright. How beautiful the mercy seat, all decked in glorious light. How great are thine eternal years, O everlasting Lord, by prostrate spirits day and night, incessantly adored. That's all they do. Cry holy, holy, holy. People say about some old drunk, some old, oh, he's a nice man. I mean, he once gave John a dollar for Christmas. He was a drunk and a liar, but he's a nice, he's going to heaven. Is God going to take a man who can't stand twenty minutes of preaching Sunday morning? Is he going to take him and trap him in eternity for a billion years? He's in hell. The glory of heaven would kill him. We'd better learn to worship here. If I could take a course in anything, there aren't many that you can teach me. I've got to read the Word. I'll tell you how you worship the Lord. You don't worship him with banners and slapping. You're worshiping the beauty of holiness. That's a sanctified character. It's a life where sin has no victory. It's a life when you have purity. It's a life where you can pray before God and then it says what? Greater is he that ruleth his own spirit than he that taketh a sitting. You see, that's what this man Paul, he had everything under control, everything. I'm going to finish this message hopefully next Tuesday night. I'm going to tell you the other side of the story, if you want to use an old phrase. But could you imagine that when God met that man again, when Charles Wesley suddenly realized he had a home beyond the heavens, prepared in heaven for him, everything became new. It was no longer a drag to go through the ritual. The communion service became something living and glorious. And Wesley said we couldn't open our lips hardly. We were so amazed at the presence of God, the holiness of God, the beauty of the Lord, that we were in silence for an hour. We couldn't say a thing. Dear Lord, will you come in and take communion. You take the bread round, you take the wine round, give us an offering for the poor and each other. We don't know much about worship, I don't. How blessed are thine eternal years, everlasting Lord, by prosperous spirits day and night, incessantly adorned. Saviour's head of Hudson Taylor was Jesus, I am resting, resting in the joy of what thou art. And when his wife died in China, and his people at home were quarreling and arguing about him, and his staff was in rebellion and money had gone, his wife died. And he put all the servants out of the room. And they said, well his faith has cracked up. And all the Chinese there were looking through the keyhole. Let me look, let me look. And he was walking up now with his hands behind his back. And he was singing softly to himself, Jesus I am resting, resting in the joy of what thou art. I am finding out the greatness of thy loving heart. Thou hast bid me gaze upon thee. When we wonder the heaviness, we're going to gaze upon his face. What about the sixth chapter of Revelation? When those wicked men, they'd been the rulers of the world, the rulers of religious systems. And when they see his face, they call for the rocks and hideth. One of the rewards of the righteous is they shall see his face. Do you remember Eustace singing, I shall see him face to face, and tell the story saved by grace. Our dear Paul loves that hymn, face to face with Christ my Savior, face to face, what will it be? So number one anchor, I haven't got far, but the number one anchorage was this, have a home eternal in the heaven. Number two is, we're going to have a judgment seat of Christ. Number three is, if any man be in Christ. I'll tell you when that thing hit me today as I prepared, John Wesley, Charles Wesley with a badge as an archbishop of Canterbury, or some distinguished figure, and Jesus got hold of him and revolutionized his life, and he wrote three thousand hymns. Everywhere over the world, every Sunday they sing, love divine, oh love excelling. Do you get that? Read all the love stories you like. Was there ever love like that of Jesus? I sure would have loved to have seen him. But you know, it looks as though we're losing ground in this world, isn't it? There are four billion people without God and without hope. So do you think I go to bed happy? Do you think I sleep all night? I think there's something wrong with you if you do. I go to bed at nine, get up at eleven or twelve, stay up for two or three hours and hear more from God in those three or four hours in the morning than I have in days of Bible school. I was glad you read from Timothy tonight, brother. Greatly, I've been reading that every day for three weeks. The two epistles, they're awesome. Absolutely stunning. We don't know anything about Christianity, God pity us. The apostle Paul had physical pain. They beat him up, okay, to wind up. He had emotional pain. Do you know what happened? This man was so holy, so prayerful, he tired the young men out. He says, all my team, my revival team forsook me. Demas has forsaken me. Alexander's gone up somewhere and he said, I'm left alone there. What happened? When he lost everybody, he said the Lord stood by me. And you want God to give you revelation, but you want everybody around you. You want all your pets. You want to go on with the same little habits. Watch three hours of TV and two little minutes of prayer. Forget it. He says, all my friends forsook me. So then he's, physically he suffers. We've got chapters through at night and at the end of the week, in wellness, in fasting, 200 stripes, imprisonment. Listen, he says in death's raft, that could cover an acre. He could have written two books on that. What does he mean I die daily? What does he mean in death's raft? It's not going to church and getting versed and running out and having a good stew yourself up with food. Go to bed and say, Lord, that was a nice service and a good meeting. You see, Christ is living in this man. If Christ lives in him, Christ looks through him. I'll get to that next week, but wait a minute. Let's go back a minute here. Paul had physical pain. Paul had emotional pain. Everybody forsook him. Paul had spiritual pain. He says in 2 Timothy what? He says, I travel. Can you have travel without pain? He says in Romans 9, listen to this carefully. In Romans 8, he talks about the spirit bearing witness. In Romans 9, he says, I call the Holy Ghost to bear witness. I'll tell you this, if Jimmy Struggetston here, if Jim Bakerston here, and if Mr. Owen Roberts to be, I say, you say, I call the Holy Ghost to bear witness. What I'm doing is of God. It's not just of the flesh. But wait a minute. He says, I call the Holy Ghost to bear witness. I could wish myself a curse. They tell me by the, I don't know, Greek, but really he says, I'd be damned if need be. I could wish my, I travel and endure. My nation was born in victory. My nation was born when the sea divided and the world burned through it. My nation was born when God opened the windows of heaven and sent them new manner every morning. Sent them new flesh every day. Their clothes didn't wear out for 40 years. Their clothes, their shoes didn't wear out. In other words, my people were born in liberty and freedom and they've been enslaved in Egypt. And he says, they're still, look at the Roman soldiers going up the road. Our people are slaves again. I could wish myself a curse. That's the greatest pain of all. It's more than physical pain. It's more than mental pain. It may incorporate both. But you know, God has a wonderful way of doing his job. Two days ago, I got a call. No, Wednesday. Saturday morning, I got a call from a precious brother of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, Jim Simbler. I said, hello, who's this? He said, Jim. I said, Jim? He said, Jim, your prodigal son. I'm coming home. I said, good. He said, Len, I was thinking of you last Sunday. You know, we think sometimes, well, I know how the spirit moves, convincing men of sin. And the Holy Ghost is going to come when he likes. He isn't going to wait till the altar call. Sometimes you'll still get so smitten, because you know you can meet God here with praise, if you would come before the meeting through. And he said, you were just singing a chorus, he is Lord of something, last Sunday morning. And he said, I've got a new assistant pastor, a young fellow. Love God with all his being. And he said, he was at the side of me. And he said, he was singing a chorus. He said, he suddenly crumbled to his knees and began to travel like a woman just in the last labor pain. And he groaned, and he prayed, and he swore, and he called. And then he got up, and he staggered off the platform, and went to the front of the tabernacle and knelt there. And then he said, it really came on him, as though he was going to die in grief. Oh God, render heavens, please come, bring deliverance. He said, the captives freeze. And Jim, a wonderful preacher, I went and knelt at the side of him, it was awesome. And he said, I knelt there. He said, my friend was saying, Oh God, deliver the slaves. These captives in this meeting, these people are secretly hiding things. They've got bitterness, they've got jealousy, they've got pride, they've got laziness, they've got underneath, they've got blindness. God, come. And he said, I just knelt to the side of him, and he trembled and wept. And he said, he said, I just turned around on my knees and said, look folks, any of you who are, oh, and then he said, a woman cried out. Oh, he said, I said, look, if any of you are leaving a double life, don't dare leave this place. Meet God. A woman screamed out, God, I'll finish it now. I won't do it again. Lord, I'll stop. Lord, I'll stop. I'll stop. I won't do it, Lord. Please, please deliver me. And he said, look, if any of you are leaving a double life, come out and get, and he said, the whole place was full. He said, I didn't preach. I said, my God, I don't, I, I, I, I think you wouldn't. With God on the place like that, men felt God had shot arrows into the house, as though a key had turned open what was hidden there. I said this quickly. I've come to this conclusion there, Brother Brashey, this week, after thinking of men like Swackerton, who says he labored for three years fighting pornography. He's a liar. He didn't. If he says he labored for three years, he's denying the Holy Ghost his office. The Holy Ghost convicts of sin the first time we do it. And he says, for three years I fought it. The liar, he didn't. Once the Holy Ghost comes, you get so full of hatred for sin, you're so afraid to hurt God, you'll do anything rather than go into that devilish thing again. The Holy Ghost comes and bears witness. The sons of God are led by the Spirit of God into light, not into a harlot. Those men are going to have an awful judgment, God pity them. And here's a blind couple, Timmy and Jim and Patrick, whatever they call them, trying to start a game. God finish it, Brother. You've had your chance once. Isn't it awesome to think that men like Swackerton and Roberts and even Billy Graham, they get more money in one week than John Wesley got in his lifetime. And John Wesley built orphanages. John Wesley printed Methodist Bibles. John Wesley printed hymn books. These men have the private jets. Dear Lord, I can open the back of my Bible and see the, I can see the, what do you call it, the journey, thank you, the journey of the Apostle Paul and weep. The man had nothing, no plane, no tree, look what he did. You see, Jimmy Swackerton had a wonderful little thing going. Every time he went, he said the same thing every week within 60 minutes. He took it in a package to South America for one city he rented, rented a 747, took 20 of his people and 90 tons of electric stuff to go to Peru. From Peru he flew to Argentina, from Argentina to Brazil, Brazil and back home. It cost the king's fortune. No conscience about it. You see, there's no accountability. There isn't accountability. One day there's going to be a ledger in heaven for every penny I've ever had, for every moment I've ever lived, for every word I've ever said, for every prayer. And you know what terrifies me is, dear Dr. Taylor said, Len, he said, I'm not afraid to stand before God for what I've done, it's the things I haven't done that trouble me. If I'd been alert to hear his voice, if I dared to step out of the line and do something different. Dear God. You see, that's why I say, a critic said a few years ago, the trouble with modern preaching, modern preachers have forgotten the awesome beauty and thrilling majesty of the gospel. Paul hadn't. He says, there's a man in prison, if any man be in Christ, if he's a king, if he's a pauper, if he's a prince, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation, he gets a new heart, new habits, new interests, new language, new desire, he's new. I'll tell you what, if you get people born again of the Spirit of God, it's the most exciting church to go to. I was in the church for three years, where if only three or four people got saved at night, I didn't go to the prayer meeting during the week. Young people pray, Lord, do we need a new pastor? Does anybody getting saved this week? Boy, I went very cautiously to the prayer meeting. And do you know why the church passed them? Because we had seven prayer meetings a week, and I went to five out of seven, sometimes seven, because prayer is breathing. Prayer is where I acknowledge my word to know God. One of the most famous men in New York said to Jim Sembler the other day, he said, listen, my preaching is hardening my congregation. I preach sure they will, unless you're broken. Jim Sembler didn't say anything once that man got into trouble, and he says, oh God, please break the fetters on these people. They look free, but they're barren. They look happy, and yet there's no joy in the Lord. There's no eternity. I want to live on the edge of eternity. Well, next week I'm going to take another aspect in the life of this man while the Lord's coming for the bride. The bride is pure. He's not going to give you a week's notice. He'll come in a moment. If you're not ready, forget it. He won't matter if you're a preacher, a Sunday school teacher, or one of the big shots from headquarters. What will happen is that you're walking in purity as far as you know, cleansed by the blood, living in what you said tonight with the greatest secret, trust and obey. There's no other way. There isn't. No other way. It's all in this book. There's nothing to be added to it. I'm suspicious of all these guys that say we've got a new guy teaching us how everything for life and holiness is in this book. All I need to get to heaven is revealed in this book, and the provision is made by Jesus Christ that's a for any man. How can you go to prison with a message less than that, Joe? The most twisted man can be untwisted. The most perverted man can be purified. The most abominable man can be beautified. There's no beauty like the beauty of holiness, holy character, gentle character. Let people tread on you. What do you care? You have a home beyond the heaven? A city that has foundations, builder and maker is gone. We're going to the judgment seat. I used to think that the whole secret of the apostle was in that chapter because in verse, which verse is it? He says the love of Christ constrains me. It's not that. That's part of it. There's something more than that. I'll share it with you next week. So between now and next week, please pray. I suddenly realized there's a clock on here. I don't like this miserable pulpit anyhow. I'm afraid it'll fall over. I like to lean on him. Well, I don't know how fast it's going to finish. I want to sing a hymn. To God with the glory, great things he has done. Let's thank him for redemption. Let's thank him for what he's done in us and he's doing in us and he's going to do for us. To God with the glory, great things he has done. So loved he the world that he gave us his son. For he lived his life in atonement to sin. Thank you. Page 40. No, that's another hymn book. 18. Page 18. To God be the glory, great things he has done. So loved he the world that he gave us his son. Who yielded his life in atonement for sin. And opened the life gate that all may go in. Praise the Lord. Praise the Father through Jesus the Son. And give him the glory, great things he has done. Oh, perfect redemption, the purchase of God. To every believer the promise of God the vilest. Who truly believes that moment from Jesus a pardon receives. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Let the earth hear his voice. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Let the people rejoice. Oh, come to the Father through Jesus the Son. And give him the glory, great things he has done. Great things he has taught us. Great things he has done. And great are rejoicing through Jesus the Son. But purer and higher and greater will be. Our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Let the earth hear his voice. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Let the people rejoice. Oh, come to the Father through Jesus the Son. And give him the glory, great things he has done. Can we stand and sing the last stanza again? You didn't catch all of it enough. Great things he has taught us. Great things he has done. And great are rejoicing through Jesus the Son. But purer and higher and greater will be. Our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Let the earth hear his voice. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Let the people rejoice. Oh, come to the Father through Jesus the Son. And give him the glory, great things he has done. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I feel like that the easiest thing in the world tonight would be to come and make an altar here. And there's just something in me that says unless you want to come for all night, don't come. Go home. Find some place where you can rightfully wrestle with what the Holy Spirit has brought to us tonight from his word. And each of us individually will answer for what we have heard tonight. You decide yourself, was this of the Holy Spirit? Was this of the flesh? Was this of the will of man? Or was this a divine encounter with a God who's trying to prepare us for a time when we will stand before him and give an account. And I think that it's so sobering that we should just dismiss you each to your own individual closet, each to your own place, wherever it is that you want to wrestle it out with God tonight. God bless you for coming and bringing somebody that needs to hear this message next Tuesday night.