In this sermon, the speaker shares a story about a cricket player turned Christian preacher named City Start. City Start spoke passionately about the crucified life and being sold out to Jesus Christ, creating chaos and tearing people's hearts apart with his words. After his speech, F.B. Meyer approached City Start and asked him if he had given all the keys of his life to God. The speaker then discusses the promise of the Spirit of God upon the life of Christ, emphasizing the importance of prayer in the life of a believer.

Luke chapter 4, verse 16 And he, that was Jesus, came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. As his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read. There was delivered unto him the prophet, the book of the prophet Isaiah. When he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and the recovering of sight to the blind. To set at liberty then that are bruised, to preach the acceptable here of the Lord. And he closed the book and he gave it again to the minister and sat down. And the eyes of all of them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is the scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bearing witness and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is this not Joseph's son? And Jesus said unto them, You will surely say unto me this prophet, Physician, heal thyself. Whatsoever we have heard down in Capernaum, do also hear in thy country. And he said, Verily I say unto you that no prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you the truth, that many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah. When the heaven was shut up for three years and six months. When great famine was throughout all the land. But unto none of them was Elijah sent. Save unto Sarephta a city of Sidon. Unto a woman that was a widow. There were many lepers in Israel in the time of Lysias the prophet. But none of them was cleansed, saving Nahum the Syrian. And all there in the synagogue when they heard these things, they were filled with wrath. They rose up and they thrust him out of the city. And they led him unto the brow of the hill wherein their city was built. That they might cast him down headlong. But Jesus passing through the midst of them went his way. And he came down to Capernaum the city of Galilee. And he taught them in the Sabbath days. And they were astonished at his doctrine. For his word was with power. My father as we bow this morning again in the greatness of what your presence has been about these days. Is there a sense in which many of our hearts has been humiliated before God. Lord it was such a searching reality to me personally in this time of prayer this morning. As we identify with one another. And I was reminded of this word in Matthew 5 when you said, Blessed are the merciful. And now in the beauty of the classical Greek language. Is he giving unto us the perception that I have come to the place where I see through someone else's eyes. And I have felt through his hands. And I have sensed the depth of listening through his ears. And the heart. And I have come to the place of absolute identification. And God the thing that broke my heart this morning is. I listened to my brothers and sisters pouring out their hearts before you. That I found my heart been broken again and again. Through little statements and cries. And longings and yearnings. That has been flooding from our souls in the presence of God. We want to say to you this morning Lord we do love you. In the light that you have given unto us. And the acceptance of the depth of the depravity of sin. And in the reality of what the life of Christ can be about. We want to say to you this morning that as we contemplate the fall. As we contemplate the future of this ministry. We want to be a people being intoxicated with God. And we want to yield ourselves to you and humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. And I thank you this morning for the blessing. For the privilege Father being entrusted to me. Something of the depth of the burden of this work. We pray that you will raise up intercessors in the days to come. We pray that all over this country. God there are men and women. Many of them may be on in years. But these people know what it means to get through to God in the place of prayer. This morning our Father we pray. That you will give us at least a thousand intercessors all over this country. Who in the days to come are going to climb underneath the burden of God. For life action ministries. And will systematically pray them through to you. Father on a daily basis. And Lord we pray that in these crusades. Through the different teams in the ministry of Nancy. And others who are going out proclaiming the truth of scripture. That you will help us to discern these intercessors all over the country. That you will help us to arrest these people. That you will help us to entrust unto them the burden of God. And so that in the days to come. That every aspect of this ministry could become saturated. In the place of intercessory prayer. Father we know this morning that the only way that we are going to go forward. Is going to be in our knees before God. Because we know in our hearts that you will keep us broken. And we know that you will keep us out of the way. And God our Father we know that you will take the glory. I pray this morning that you will protect this work. From the devices of the evil one. Lord there is such potential. But with the incredibility of potential. Are there some of the most incredible possibilities. Of downfall. And this morning God we pray. That in these coming weeks and months. That you will cover this movement under the protection of the blood. These young people that are going to go out in the days to come. We pray that you will so purify and cleanse them. And so wash them in the blood. That every one of these crusades will be places. Where God will come and help himself to the lives of people. Thank you Father this morning for your word. It's amazing how the word of God. Breaks us again and again. And whenever we submit under it's authority. And the spirit of God witness to the word. Do we find deep within our hearts. Something begins to crumble. And something begins to crush. Under the authority of the depth of scripture. Lord I was reminded of Charles Adams Spurgeon. That when he was asked. If there are times that we need to defend. The reality of scripture. How he rose to his feet. And said that there are times. When we do not need to defend the word of God. But that the word of God is like a lion. We simply need to let him loose. This morning we pray that you would let him loose in our midst. And God if you want to break into our hearts today. And if you want to put us in the midst of an organized disorder. If you want to send us all over this complex. Where broken hearts crush the spirit. Under the reality of the cleansing of the blood. We pray that you would help yourself to us. We say to thee this morning. We do not want to enter into the form ministry. Without being absolutely unctionized of God. And saturated to the depth of your presence and your brokenness. We do not want to do that. And so we pray. That as we ponder upon scripture. Father come to us today. In Jesus name. Amen. I love to read the old Puritans. Quite often in many of my times of personal reading. Of course we read all kinds of other valuable material. But some time ago I was confronted with. An incident that took place in the life of a man with the name of Thomas Boston. Thomas Boston was a Puritan. Boston one night had a dream. And in his dream he saw Satan preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Boston went up to Satan in his dream and said to him. Why are you preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ? Surely you are doing harm to your own kingdom. But the enemy turned to him and said no. He said I am preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ without the unction of the Holy Ghost. And he said I found myself being effective. Instead of bringing people closer to God. I found myself being effective. In actually driving people away from the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was said that the life of Thomas Boston after that incident was never the same. I want to speak to you this morning if I may. In the time that we have available. On this great subject. What does it mean for us to live a life under the unction of God the Holy Spirit. Whenever I study a subject in the New Testament. I always ask myself what is the Old Testament saying to us about this New Testament subject. Because of the fact that the Old Testament is revealed for us in the New Testament. And as you know the New Testament lies hidden for us in Old Testament Scripture. We don't have time to explore the depth of this in Old Testament Scripture. But let me mention to you that there are four words in the Hebrew text. Trying to communicate to us this word anointing. Or this word unction. Two of those words are found at two places. And then the other two words are found at something like 142 passages in Old Testament Scripture. And when you study it in very great specific detail. You will discover that there were no less than eight material objects that was effected by this word anointing. For instance the altar of God was anointed in the Old Testament. The tabernacle of God was anointed. You discover that there were a number of classes of people that was effected by this word anointing. For instance the prophet was anointed. So that he could become the mouthpiece of God towards the people of God. The priest was anointed. So that he could be holy set apart unto God. And the king in the Old Testament was anointed. So that he could become the leader of the people of God. And there were three different kinds of anointing. There was the anointing with spices. Then there was the anointing with oil. And then there is what we want to look upon as the anointing of God the Holy Spirit. I don't think it's possible this morning to be able to explore for us this concept from a biblical perspective. Because God always wants us to move from truth to experience. And not from experience to truth. And I don't think it's possible for us to explore the depth of what this life is all about. Unless you and I come to grips with it as it manifested itself upon the life and the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now maybe you are like me. I'm one of those people I consistently need encouragement. And when I began to study this subject in my library. And I never allow my library to interpret the word of God for me. I always want the word of God to interpret my library. I want my library to scream from the walls of my study. Saying to me what God has been saying to you is absolutely true. But I remember sitting in my library studying this subject. And the more I studied it the more I became crushed in the presence of God. Sitting in a corner and saying to the Lord. Lord I cannot compare my life ever with the life of Christ. Because He was not just sinless in His birth. He was supernatural in His life. And yet I don't think we will be able to come to grips with this. Unless we see how this reality manifested itself upon the life of the Savior. And I was encouraged by a little word at the end of the Gospel of Luke. You remember when Jesus turned to His disciples and He made His statement. And He said to them I want you to tarry in Jerusalem until you have received this endowment from My Father. And the word in the Greek New Testament for the word tarry is a very profound little word. He looked upon them and He said to them I want you to sit down. I want us to look at this subject this morning under three possible headings. I want us to consider the promise of the unction of the Spirit of God upon the life of Christ. If we will have time I want us to look upon the purpose. Why was Jesus Christ anointed with the Holy Spirit of God? And if time would have allowed us today we would have considered the power of the unction of the Spirit of God. You know my wife often say to me Daddy you are just like one of these 747 jumbo jets. You never have a problem to take off but you always have a problem to land again. I don't know how far we will be able to get with this material. But let me try and cover some of these great aspects of this life brother and sister that we are talking about. A life being unctionized of God. A life that you discover in the lives of some of the old Puritans. That when these people preached, I think of Jonathan Edwards and McChain of Scotland. That when they preached that the people were so vividly transparent. They became so vulnerable in the presence of God that they would say of McChain of Scotland that we felt that he knew absolutely everything about us. What was the promise of the Spirit of God upon the life of Christ? There are two essentials to this promise that I would like to bring under your attention. The first is what I would regard as the secret of this promise upon the life of the Savior. And secondly the symbol of this promise upon his life. You say Gerard what was the secret of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ? Why was it that people would listen to him and they would say no man ever spoke like this man? Why was it that his life made a lasting impression upon the lives of people? Why was it that they would say what gracious words would come from the lips of the Son of God? What was the secret of his life? The first thing I would like to bring under your attention and to me it's very very simple and to a degree but it was a life of holiness in the presence of God. I want to be absolutely transparent with you this morning my brother and sister. And I want to utter these words to the inadequacy of my own soul. And I want to say to you that there is no possibility whatsoever that you and I will know the depth of the unction of God the Holy Spirit upon our lives if we don't know the secret of the life of holiness. You say what about the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well you remember that marvelous statement in John chapter 17 when he prayed in his high priestly prayer and he made this great statement and this is what he said He said Father I sanctify myself for the sake of my disciples. You see the meaning of the word sanctification it's not so much for us to be set apart from this world as it means for us to be set apart unto God. You see when my life as a Christian is set apart unto God my brother and sister my life would be so saturated with the reality of the life of Christ that this world and its sins and its influences and its awful reality will not have an effect upon my Christian life because of the fact that I'm separated unto God. You say what about the life and the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well think of the words of the writer to the Hebrews when he made this statement about Christ and he said he was holy, he was harmless, he was undefiled and he was separate from sinners. You see in his relationship to his father he became the holy son of God. In his relationship to his fellow men he was absolutely harmless and in his relationship to his ministry he was undefiled and in his relationship to himself he became the prophet and the priest and the king. It was a life of holiness. There was the beauty of holiness. You see my brother and sister holiness it's not something that distracts people it makes them hungry for God. You say what about my relationship with God? Well let me take you to some New Testament passages of scripture. Do you remember in 1 Thessalonians that marvelous little epistle to the church of Thessalonica? And I often say to myself if I would ever pass through the church again that those are the kind of group of people that I would like to deal with. They were a witnessing church. They were a sacrificing church. They were a giving church. And yet Paul mentioned that in the 1st chapter and then when he came to the 3rd chapter he made this statement in the Greek New Testament it's so emphatic in its explanation of when he virtually said this he said there is a burden upon my heart. And he said I pray for you day and night because I sense that there is something that is coming short in your faith. Something that is lacking in your faith. And then he at the 5th chapter will bring that burden to a moment of a climatic reality when he prayed for them and he made this statement he said I pray that the very God of peace sanctify you through and through. I love a German translation because of my background. It says Heilig und druch und druch. Now when you go to the Greek text in the New Testament it's incredibly emphatic because you're dealing with two marvelous words. The 1st word is the Greek word halotilios. It means that God is able to sanctify me extensively. The 2nd word is the Greek word halotileros. It means God is able to sanctify me experientially. My brother and sister the construction, the structure in the text of the Greek language is very profound because it's what we would refer to as the eros imperative mood. It is what theologians would look upon and say it's not linear which is ongoing but it's punctiliar, it's to the point. I wonder this morning if I could ask you is God in the process of sanctifying us to the point? I think of the words of Urasius Bunar. He said I went to look for the world that I found there in the church. I went to look for the world, the church and I found it in the world. My brother and my sister listen, we are a distinctive society. We are not being isolated from this world but we are infiltrating this world with the distinctiveness of the reality of the life of Christ. And those of us who are out there in the ministry going to these churches and many of them are so sick and they are so dominant by sin. I mean I've spent 90% of my time with Paschal and if I would tell you this morning the things that is coming sometimes out of the lives of these men I'd just stagger. And it often happens when God begins to break their hearts in days of prayer and they just turned to me and they said I need to talk to you about something and you know I've come to the place that I can expect anything coming from their lips. And when I hear that little statement I need to say something then I sometimes just shudder and forgot what is this going to be. You see we are speaking about the life of holiness. I wonder my brother and my sister if I can ask you because I want to say to you that life action ministry will only be used of God to the degree that it is sanctified before God. You say why do you say that? Well God says be holy as I am holy. The writer to the Hebrews said follow peace with all men and holiness with which no man shall see the world. Listen my brothers and sisters this message of a holy life is not a popular message today. Because it breaks into every aspect of the self life. It brings the reality of the cross to us. And God said there is not going to be anything left of yourself. Someone said to me some time ago in these conferences on prayer and said why is it that you need to spend day after day in prayer? You know what I said to them? I said it's because we want to get out of the way so that God can do something. Can I ask you this morning my brother and my sister? Are we set apart unto God? You see it's possible to be set apart from the truth. I mean I deal with people like that sometimes. And I find these people all they believe in separation. And they stand for what they would consider as the doctrines of separation. But you know what I've discovered? They've never been separated unto God. And there is such a huge mess in between. I think of another great promise in the New Testament. You remember that great statement in 2nd Corinthians when Paul wrote to the church at Calvary. And he made this statement in the 6th chapter. And this is what he said to them. He said come ye out from among them and be ye separate sayeth the Lord. And he said that's not the unclean thing. And he said I will be a father unto you and you shall be my sons and my daughters. And then chapter 7 verse number 1 follows. And what did he say? He said having therefore these promises dearly beloved. He said let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and the spirit. Perfecting holiness and the fear of God. Do you know what you discover when you study that verse? When he said let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit. Those are two distinctives. The filthiness of the spirit. Those deeply embedded things that sometimes come to the surface. Not our actions but our reactions. Things that so often won't surface in normal situations. Because we have become masters of deception. But sometimes they are in the quietness of our own situations in the presence of God. Sometimes in the relationship with my closest family. These sins of the spirit they will surface. And Paul said having therefore these promises of being consecrated to God. He said let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and the spirit. It's again in the aorist imperative mood. He said let God through His work. You say Gerard how do I cleanse myself? You know the best way I can illustrate this concept. It's like if I come to your house and somehow my vehicle broke down in front of the house. And I've been in the engine trying to fix this. And knocked at the door of your house for a cup of tea. And you open the door and you say oh welcome. And I said you know I've just been working in the engine of my vehicle. And my hands is full of oil. And you would say I would say can I just wash my hands. You take me to a place and there's a basin and a towel. Some soap and you put some water in. And I would stand there and say you know I wish my hands was clean. I mean you look at me and say obviously you're from Africa. Just make yourself available. You see the efficacy of the word of God. You see people that I've met through the years who are sold out to God and His word. Are people who are living their lives set apart unto God. You see there's this washing efficacy in the word of God. Not just when we speak about salvation. I think that's when Peter made this statement. And he said you were born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible. Through the word of God which liveth and abideth forever. And we see the emphasis upon scripture when it comes to the concept of salvation. I often look upon John chapter 3 when Jesus spoke to Nicodemus. And he said to him unless a man is born out of water and the spirit he shall not see the kingdom of God. I often say to myself was he speaking about the water of the word of God? And here Paul comes in Ephesians chapter 5. And do you remember what he said? He said be not drunk with wine wherefore there is an excess. But he said be ye being full to the spirit. He said redeem the time because the days of evil. That means that time is a piece of eternity. But God wants us to analyze time. He wants us to maximize time. He wants us to utilize time. And then he makes this statement. When he speaks about the spirit worth life. He said be full to the spirit on a consistent basis. And as he explored that. And he said what is the spirit worth life? He said why submit yourselves to your husband. Well he said it's spiritual submission. He said sing to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. What's that? That's spiritual worship. He said husbands love your wives as Christ love a church. That's spiritual sacrifice. And then he made this statement. He said as Christ love a church. So that he might sanctify it through the washing of the word. I wonder this morning if I could ask you in this little gathering. In the presence of God. Is there a longing in my heart to live a holy life? Brethren and sisters I'm not speaking of extremism. I'm speaking about the beauty of the brokenness of holiness. That's something that makes people so hungry for God. I'll never forget you know my daughter. She came to Christ when she was three and a half years old. And we were on our back. My wife does children's work. And study under Ellie Maxwell at Prairie Bible Institute. And we were at a conference out in the prairies and driving back. And I was dealing with the adults and Janice with the children. Here was little Monica sitting through all these sessions. And we were driving back. And there was this little tap on my shoulder as we drove back home. And I said what is it? And she said daddy I want to know about being saved. And so I began to explain to her as we were driving. And you know she said but how will I know? And I said well you know you need to be born again. And she said what does that mean? And I tried to explain to her. And she said well how will I know that this has happened? And I said you know the witness of the Holy Spirit. And she said what's that? And my wife sat next to me and bumped me on my lips and said get down to a level. And I said why did you do that? I mean that's what my wife does. And she said no she's asking you. And so I tried you know. You know God uses straight line with a crooked street. You know God uses nobody. Isn't that great? And so I went on and as we were driving. She tapped me on my shoulder again. And she said will you stop? And I stopped. And we parked the van. And I said what is it? And she said I want to be saved. I want to be saved right now. God saved her. We saw the difference in her life. And so we came back home. And we were in our old house. And we had a basement. And a big area where I used to seek God. Before we moved to another house. And bed times in the morning with me. That's the early hours of the morning. No phone. Quiet and everything. And I would be there trying to seek the face of God. You see are you doing well there? I don't think so. I mean you just said Lord I've got nowhere to go. You need to come. And God does it. And I remember one morning. It was one of these mornings. You know when this sanctifying reality. Our scripture came. And there was this washing of God. Through the mind. The emotions. The heart. The body and its instincts. Just the word comes in. Washing. Washing. And I didn't want to go anywhere that day. And at 8 o'clock every morning my wife would send me down. And said go and call daddy for breakfast. And I was on my knees under this blanket in the winter. Just smashed up before God. And I heard the little footsteps coming down. And as I came the door opened. And there was this three and a half, four year old standing. And she looked at me just being saved. And she knew that I met with God. She didn't want to call me for breakfast. And I could sense the hesitation. And I look up as she was standing there. And our eyes connected. And I knew she didn't want to disturb me. And as our eyes connected, I looked at her. And I said, Monica, come here. And very carefully she came. And when she came close to me, I grabbed her. And I folded the blanket over her. And I said, God entrust unto her this something. You know Andrew Murray? Five hundred of his descendants were prayed into the ministry. Some of us are sitting here this morning. Brother and sister, you've got family. You've got children. Listen, no ministry goes further than our family. It's a light of holiness in the presence of God. Can I ask you this morning, are you yearning for... Why do you say that, Jo? Listen, the Holy Spirit in me is a Holy Spirit. He wants me to live a holy life. I wonder this morning, many of us who sit here, my brother, my sister, do we know the secret of it? Is there a yearning? Do you know it comes through in our ministry? The things that we are doing for God. Do you say, what is it? There's a fragrance about it. There's something about it. Brother and sister, we can't fool people. I mean, they look and they know if we are real. They know if there is a sense of reality. It's a light of holiness. I never forget preaching in a church out in British Columbia. End of the morning service. One of the largest churches in the Warwick service. Fellow in his late thirties came running down from the balcony of this church conservative congregation, if I may say that. Coming running down out of this conservative alliance church. Ran down the island. Running, running into my arms as I was coming down from the pulpit. And so I knew he needed help. Just broken up. We sat down and I said, what's it? He said, my name is Peter. He said, I got saved 24 months ago. And he said, I need help. I said, what's up? He said, Gerard, 22 months. He said, I was ablaze for God. I said, what do you mean? He said, I studied the Scriptures. He said, I pray. He said, I witness to people. He said, I couldn't wait for the services to start. And he explored the depth of his hunger that he had for God. And I said, so what happened? And he said, eight weeks ago after the morning service, he said, one of the older men in the church came to me and he took me into a corner and put his hand, arm around my shoulder and he whispered into my ear and said, Peter, it's time that you calm down. One of these days you're just going to be like the rest of us. He threw his arms in the air. Just becoming like the rest of them. Can I ask you this morning, are you a different organization? Is there a distinctiveness? Are there people that say, before you come to a church, maybe we shouldn't do it because it's going to cost us too much. I think of the pastor I met some time ago. We were discussing a prayer conference and he said to me, what is it going to cost? And I just said, it's going to cost you absolutely everything. I said, it could cost your ministry. Well, that scares the life out of the average American pastor. Brother and sister, we're dealing with reality. You say, why? Because we're standing for revival. I think of these schemes going out. Listen, this is not just crusades. Every crusade is the possibility that God could come and visit in such a way that it could affect the whole movement. It's something else. Do you know what it was? It was the life of yieldedness. Can I share with you something this morning? You know, this is the beauty of this secret in his life. Brother and sister, the spirit-filled life is never meant to become a goal. It's always a gateway. Do you know the beauty of this reality of what we are speaking about? It's that you can't sit here this morning and say, Gerard, you know what? There was a time in my life when I met with God in a deeper way of revival. And God did a work in my life and God cleansed me. And the Spirit of God was in my life as a person whom I received when I was saved. Somehow, instead of being resident, the Spirit of God became president. I yielded my life to Him. It was a reality. But you know what? It was never meant to become a goal. It was simply a gateway. So what about the life of Christ? Listen to this marvelous statement out of the epistle to the Hebrews when the writer to the Hebrews said this. He said, He learned obedience by the things that He suffered. He was tempted in all points just like we are and yet without sin. But He learned obedience by the things that He suffered. Brother and sister, it's not what happened five or ten or fifteen years ago. You know what? You and I need to ask ourselves this morning before we enter into the fall. You and I need to ask ourselves this morning. Is my life this morning at God's disposal? Yielded. I think a great statement by Thomas Brooks. Let me read this to you because it has to do with humility and yieldedness. This is what Thomas Brooks said. He said, Well, Christians, remember this, that God has always two strings to His bow. If your heart will not lie low and humble under the sins of an absolute trust in God and yieldedness, He will make you to lie low under the lack of the sins of His presence in your life. It's a lie. He said, Why do you say that? You see, when you study the doctrine of the Spirit-filled life and New Testament Scripture, do you know what you discover? And this is the beauty of what we are speaking about and this is the heart of revival. The heart of revival is a life in the fullness of the Spirit. And when you study this doctrine, do you know what you discover? For every reference in the New Testament that is speaking about a moment of crisis, a place where God has met with me, a place where God has dealt with me, do you know what you discover? There are nine or ten references that is speaking about the consequences of being full to the Spirit of God. I mean, think of the Acts of the Apostles. They were full to the Holy Spirit in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. And so what happened when they were full to the Holy Spirit of God? The Bible says there were tongues of fire that came and sat upon each of them. The Greek word is emphatic. It says it distributed itself upon each of them. What is fire speaking? Fire is speaking about cleansing. What was the manifestation? They spoke in sixteen known different languages. It's the Greek word dialectos. They never ever did that again. Why did they do that? Because there were a million people around Jerusalem. They were not preaching the Word of God. These people said they were speaking to us about the wonderful works of God. But in Acts chapter 4 they were full to the Spirit. So brethren and sisters, there is one initial filling of the Spirit of God. But my brethren and sisters, there are thousands of subsequent infillings of the Spirit of God. Now I want to share with you a secret. You say, how does it work? Let me take you back to Ephesians chapter 5. You know what? The sister epistle of the Ephesians epistle is the little epistle to the Colossians. Now in Ephesians 5, here comes the Apostle Paul. And what did he say? He said, be full to the Spirit. And we saw that it was spiritual worship. Sing unto yourselves hymns and songs, spiritual songs. We saw it was spiritual submission. We discovered it was spiritual sacrifice. But in Colossians chapter 3, because you study the laws of Biblical interpretation, there is what we speak of the law of parallels. Biblical truths that go together hand in hand. You can't separate them. They are like a railway track. And what has happened? In Colossians 3, the Apostle Paul made this statement. He said, let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. What are the consequences? Exactly the same. Singing. Submissiveness. Sacrifice in the presence of God. You see, it's a life of yieldedness before God. I was at a conference some time ago, and it was quite interesting. It was a conference for pastors. And for one reason or another, at this conference, there were men from... And I don't want you to misunderstand me, that they were men from a wild aspect of what is considered as the charismatic movement. And I spoke at the first session on the subject of expository preaching. This concept of the Word of God becoming part of your life. Tearing you apart and then speak through you. Systematically. And there was a presence in that gathering. And at the end of that session, I was so affected by this myself. And these men that were there, I just said to them, gentlemen, I said, I think we need to spend time alone with God. And I said, go and find a place somewhere to seek God. And I wanted to be in my own with God. And there was a man that came from one of these groups. And he said, can I ask you a question? And I said to him, no. I said, I really want to be alone with God. And he's insisting. He said, I want to know this answer. And there was a pastor. And I said, what is it? He said, I have one question for you. I said, what is it? He said, how many hours every day do you have to speak in tongues in order to preach like that? I said, I was just stunned. I said, what do you mean? He said, you can't preach like that if you don't have it. I said, he said, how many hours do you have? I said, not a minute. He said, what do you mean? I said, I don't have to do that. You know, I wasn't judgmental on him. I said, what do you mean? He said, and he got upset. You know, this just normally happens, you know. I mean, I tell you, there's a counterfeit for the spiritual life. There's no counterfeit for a life being absolutely full of Christ. He said, well, how do you say it? And he challenged me. He said, what does Paul mean when he says, I pray with the Spirit and I pray with the understanding? I said, you know, that happens to me every day. And he said, well, you just told me that you're not speaking in tongues. I said, you don't have to. He said, what do you mean? I said, it makes sense. I said, listen, I get on my knees before God, inadequate, unworthy. And I said, I begin to pray. And I said, I pray with my mind. And I said, God begins to break my heart. And the Spirit of God comes. And God, the Spirit of God, who feeds my understanding, and He leads me in the Word of God in prayer. And I said, I pray with the Spirit and I pray with my mind. Oh, brother. You know, he couldn't handle that. And that next session, he never listened to what I was saying. He was trying to figure out this thing. It's not what happened ten years ago. Can I ask you this morning, my brother and my sister, have you met with God these days? I mean, we can't go out into the four worlds without meeting with God. It's a life of beauty. You see, he stopped, marvelous, to get you to Africa, great statements that he made. Came back from China, he was so absolutely sick and so ill that no doctor in Britain would give him permission to go to Africa. He wanted to go to Africa. In fact, they called him a missionary with the Museum of Diseases. And he insisted. They went to him one day and said, you know, what is it about your life? And he said, this is it. If Jesus Christ is the Son of God and died for me, then there's no sacrifice to grace for me to give. People went to him one day and said, Scott, why do you want to go to Africa? What's it? Why do you want to waste your life in Africa? I tell you, he made a statement. I love that statement. Do you know what he said? He said, I want to go to Africa because I want to see God walking around in a black body. Boy, I like that. He went to Africa and he poured his life out in Africa. Brother, you know what happened? He came back to Britain on furlough and he was at the Keswick Convention in England. While he was at the Keswick Convention in England, the main speaker at Keswick was Dr. F.B. Meyer. And they asked if he'd start one night at this large Keswick Convention. They used to get 7,000, 9,000 people at this large Keswick Convention in a big tent. They asked if he'd start one night. He said, we'll give you 15 minutes. Can you talk to us about Africa? And do you know what happened? That long, tall, tall cricketer who was a cricket player before he became a Christian, that long, tall city Scott, he got up and he began to speak about Africa and he knew this crucified life. And all, brother and sister, the words that came from his lips just created chaos, as it were cutting people apart, tearing their hearts apart on the cost of discipleship, being sold out to Jesus Christ. And after 15 minutes he sat down and Dr. F.B. Meyer had to get up in prison. He could hardly, hardly open his mouth. But when the meeting was over, F.B. Meyer went to city Scott and he said to him, what is it? And Scott turned to him and said to him, I have a question for you. Have you given all the keys of your life to God? And F.B. Meyer got alone with God and his keys began to go. Key of his family, key of his future, key of his possessions. You see, all these things, brother and sister, all this stuff. You know when Hebrews 12 is saying the weight and the sin that so easily beset us, it speaks of an athlete that's not running with running shoes, he's running with boots. Weight. Stuff. One after the other these keys were going. There was one little key. You know what it was? It was the key of his popularity. Do you know the last thing that needs to go to the altar, brother and sister? It's our reputation. He was such a popular preacher. Such a marvelous expositor. And F.B. Meyer said, this is one key. I couldn't give it to God. Do you know what happened? The Spirit of God said, is everything or nothing? Partial obedience or disobedience? And he gave it over. Do you know what happened? When he gave that last key over, God met with Dr. F.B. Meyer. And Dr. F.B. Meyer and C.P. Stott became great brothers in Christ. And do you know what? They used to call one another C.P. and F.B. And years later, they were together at Keswick. C.P. Stott was back from Africa and F.B. Meyer was speaking at Keswick again. And they were in a little tent together. And early in the morning, F.B. Meyer woke up and he looked over to the tent, the little camp bed where C.P. Stott was, on his knees with his open Bible and the candlelight. And he turned to C.P. Stott and he said, C.P., what time did you wake up this morning? And he mentioned, it was three or four hours earlier. And F.B. Meyer said to him, what have you been doing? Have you been in the Scriptures all this time? What were you doing? And the great C.P. Stott turned to F.B. Meyer, tears streaming down his cheeks. And he turned to me and said, F.B., you don't understand. I was awakened early. And he said, the Word came to me. Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandment. And he said, there are so many that I've never obeyed. But I would insist that the Bible says, the fire must burn continually upon the altar. Freshness. Do you know, it's one of the great burdens of my heart when I go to a place. To say, God, I need to be fresh. It's a life of yieldedness. It's a life of holiness. It's a life of yieldedness. Do you know what it was? It was a life of prayerfulness. You study the prayer life of Christ? Reverend Sister, can I say this to you this morning? Listen. There's no possibility that I'm going to know the depth of the unction of the Spirit of God. There's something that cuts through in conviction. There's no way that I'm going to know it if it's not going to be resting upon my life, a spirit of prayer. Study the prayer life of Christ? How the Old Testament came, manifested itself. Every aspect of what Old Testament prayer was about came, manifested itself through the life of Christ. Seventeen active references to the prayer life of Jesus Christ in the four Gospels. Listen to that great statement in Mark chapter 1. Early in the morning, deep in the night, He went into a sovereignty place to pray. He prayed during the great events of His life. He prayed at His miracles. He prayed for His disciples. He prayed in moments of crisis. It was a life saturated by prayer. He was the only one that was ever able to say, Father, I thank You that You always listen to me. You remember in Luke chapter 11 when He was praying at a certain place. You remember what the Bible says that one of His disciples came to Him and they said, Lord, teach us to pray. Brother and sister, can I ask you this morning, because I'm convicted by that statement again and again. Can I ask you this morning, has anyone ever come to you and said, will you please teach me how to pray? It was a life of prayer. I came across a statement. I'm reading the life story of the great David Braynard again these days. And I came across this tremendous statement that came out of the life of Braynard. This is what Jonathan Edwards, or rather what Ian Bounds said about Braynard. Listen to this. He said, by night and by day He prayed. Before preaching and after preaching He prayed on His bitter straw. He prayed retiring into the lonely dense forest. He prayed and fasted hour by hour, day by day, early morning and late at night. He was praying, fasting, pouring out His soul, interceding communion of God. He was with God mighty in prayer. This is what happened. August 8, 1745. This is what Braynard wrote in his diary. He said, in the afternoon I preached to the Indians. There was much visible concern among them. God seemed to descend upon the assembly like a rushing mighty wind. And with astonishing energy bore down all before it. He said, I stood amazed at the influence which seized the audience almost universally. Braynard said, I could only compare it with a mighty torrent or a selling deluge. It's a life of prayer. I asked you this morning, I asked myself this question, do I know the spirit of prayer upon my life? Brother and sister, it's not spending hours in prayer, it's going every hour with, going never through an hour without praying. People ask George Miller of Bristol about the spirit of prayer. Miller said, I live in a spirit of prayer. Can I ask you this morning, is there a spirit of prayer upon your life? He said, well how do you know when there is a spirit of prayer upon your life? Do you know what I've experienced through the years, brother and sister? This is how I figure this thing out. The way that I know when there is a spirit of prayer upon my life, is that when any person can ask me any hour of the day or night to pray with them, then I won't feel uncomfortable. Ever felt uncomfortable? Paul said, pray without ceasing. The apostle Paul wrote to the church of Philippi, I tell you, you want to be blessed, you study the prayer life of the apostle Paul. You study the depths of the Greek text in the New Testament when it comes to his understanding of prayer as it's based upon the Old Testament. When you come to Ephesians, there are theologians that look upon Ephesians and they say, it seems that the whole book of Ephesians could be saturated or considered as a prayer. When you come to the first chapter of Ephesians, you know what happened in the first 14 verses? It's one sentence in the Greek New Testament, 144 words, no points, no exclamation marks, no commas. You say, what happened? You know what happened? He was so moved of God, he ransacked the Greek language. You say, what did he say? He said, be careful of nothing, but in everything, by prayer, in supplication, for thanksgiving, that your requests be made known unto God. He speaks about wrestling in prayer. He's using the Greek word, the root word, agon, where we get the word agonosphon. He speaks of the word in wrestling in the place of prayer. He said, what word is it? It's a word that's coming out of the Roman Empire of those days when the wrestlers would wrestle in the presence of the Emperor. And as they wrestled in the presence of the Emperor, brother and sister, there were times that they wrestled themselves to death. And they used the word agon. You've met people like that? I remember being in Northern Ireland for three years, and God used a man in the early 20's. He was an evangelist. His name was Double P. Nicholson. He was a proud Presbyterian evangelist. Do you know what happened? One day he was in an opening meeting of the Salvation Army in Belfast, in Northern Ireland. And as he was there, he was full of criticism, pride, the awfulness of an attitude of saying, we can do it and no one else can do it like we do. Oh, the sin of that. And he stood there. And there was a little drummer of the Salvation Army. His name was Darth Jimmy. And Nicholson stood there and he said to himself in his heart, and you look at Darth Jimmy, he said, this fellow, he doesn't have enough brains to give him a headache. That's what he said. And the Spirit of God convicted him and said, you know, your problem is pride. And God broke him right there in the street. And the Spirit of God said, I want you to kneel in the street and I want you to ask Darth Jimmy to pray so that I can kill you. God got a hold of him. And brother and sister, he preached the same messages. But you know what happened? Oh, God entrusted him with revival. Around 120,000 people over a period of 25 years were saved under the ministry of Nicholson. I came to Ireland in 1982 and all wherever I went I found the converts of Nicholson. I remember staying in a house in Newcastle in Aldwych Island and I wanted to know about this man and I came into a house with his family where I was staying and as I came into the house the lady, I said to the lady, Madam, did you ever know William P. Nicholson? And her eyes just lightened up. She said, Oh yes. She said, he stayed in this house? I said, tell me. She said, I was just a young girl. She said, let me tell you Gerard. She said, early one morning, she said, my mother and my father was up in a room there and early one morning we heard a commotion in that room and she said, my mother and my father and we all woke up downstairs and we thought maybe there was something wrong. Maybe he was suffering from a heart attack and she said, my mother and my father and myself, we stepped up the little steps to his room and when we got to his room we heard there was something going on. There was an agonizing what was going on and she said, my father opened the door and there was this man on his knees, his face before God and he was under a sheet and he was agonizing before God in prayer for souls. And she said, do you know what happened? Maybe we don't understand some of that aspects of prayer, I can't say that I do, but you know, she said, as he prayed he got so affected by the depth of the burden of God, she said, he began to tear the sheets into pieces as he agonized for souls. He was a Presbyterian. I told this in Dick Sipley's church one day when I went back to stay, his wife said, I put some old sheets in the bed in case you're going to tear them apart. Forget about the sheets. I'm speaking about the agony. Listen, when Zion prevailed she brought forth her young. Do you know what it means to prevail before God? I want to make a statement and I don't want you to misunderstand me, but you know, I think from God's perspective the only way that you and I, if we are out in the field preaching, the only way that we have a legitimate reason to continue to expect God to bless us is when on a consistent basis we see God breaking into the lives of people. Let me repeat that. The only legitimate way that I think we can anticipate and expect God to bless us is when we see God breaking into the lives on a consistent basis. Do you know, that's what keeps a movement going. I think of little John Greer who was a convert of Nicholson in Northern Ireland. I was a young fellow out in the ministry. Did two weeks of meetings for Christians outside of Bellarmine County Antrim. Every morning he spent mornings in prayer. And these were farmers. You know, they weren't theologians. They were not pastors or educated people. They were crafters. They had small little sheep farms. But they were saved under Nicholson. And they were steeped into the Scriptures. And they would pray with us as a young evangelist. And every morning we prayed together with these old men. And they knew the secret, brother and sister, of getting through to God in the face of prayer. And there was this little man, John Greer. He's in heaven today. Just a short little man. A bundle of flesh and bone. But you know, we would pray. And this one would pray. That one would pray. That one would pray. And then suddenly John Greer would pray. And all he would say, he would just say, Father. And there was a totally different atmosphere. And I would open my eyes and I would turn over and sit on my back against the wall. And I would look at him and I thought, I want to see this. And he had this understanding of the nature and the character of God in prayer. And brother and sister, he would begin to pray. And he would pray. And he would begin to remind God of His character. And he would take passage after passage of Scripture. And he would quote it in his time of prayer. And the Word of God. There was a rivetness of God's Word in the Spirit flowing through his life as he would approach God on the basis of His character. And he would bring the majesty and the omnipotence and the omnipresence and the omniscience of God. He would bring it into your presence. I mean, he didn't know a thing about theology. But he knew the Word of God. And he would move to the nature of God in prayer. And he would say, God, on the basis of who You are, these are the things that You have done. And he would take you through passage after passage of Scripture. And the Word would come. And you would see how God opened the Red Sea. You would see how God opened the River Jordan. You would see the fire of God falling upon the altar in the ministry of Elijah. And he would pray. And then he would say, God, on the basis of who You are, on the basis of what You have done, He said, God, I bring this burden to You. And I would sit there and I would say to the Lord, Father, You don't have an option with it. You laugh. I tell You, I went. You know what happened? When He would come to the end of His prayer, I would look at my watch. And sometimes my brother and sister, two and a half hours was gone. It felt like five minutes in the prison. You know, it's one of the greatest longings. And I know my time has gone. You know what's one of the greatest longings of these days? These two days that we were able to spend together. As we go away, praying for one another in the days to come, that if we ever meet one another again, that we will be able to look one another in the eyes and say, Brother, are you walking with God? It's a terrible thing to get stuck, you know. When God said, Break up your follow ground. You know what the Hebrew context is saying? It's ground that has been plowed, but it's not been fleshly tilted. And there will nothing be so rich in my own inadequate life in years to come. If I hear of life action meniscus, and people would say, Oh, those people, those are the people that are really seeking God, isn't it? That's it. Let me close. Let me tell you about her. Her name was Aunty Tuatiriso. She's a young evangelist in South Africa. My superintendent came into my room one day, and he said to me, I want you to meet this woman. And I said to him, What is her name? And he said, Her name is Aunty Tuatiriso. I said, Why do you want me to meet her? He said, She's one of the greatest prayer warriors in the country. She was a little woman. I don't want you to misunderstand me, because people love to exaggerate sometimes when it comes to illustrations. But she was a little woman that spent 12 to 14 to 16 hours every day, not praying or not eating and spending all those hours sitting in the presence of God. He said, What is that? You see, when you study the teachings of Christ in prayer, there are eight aspects of His teachings that come to the surface. You know what are those eight aspects based upon? They're based upon seven words in the Hebrew text that He's speaking about waiting upon God. And you make a beautiful connection in the teachings of Christ. And she sat in the presence of God. And there were around 400 people that she greatly interceded for every day. And He said, I want you to meet her. And He set up an appointment for me. And I came to the little house where she was with her daughter, living with her daughter in the front western gate. And I knocked at the door and He took His soul's daughter and I opened the door and I stood there a young fellow and I said, I have an appointment of your mother. She was about 81 years old or something like that. And she said, yes, my mother is expecting you. And she took me into Auntie Twitty Rezo's prayer room. She was sitting in a chair that her son made that was kind of high up and very comfortable and in front of her was a plexiglass table with the names of these people that she prayed for. And I don't know about you this morning but Brother and Sister, when I come into the presence of someone that worships God, you know what happens to me? Everything deep inside begins to break. And I feel so vulnerable and so transparent. And I came into that little room and there she sat and the moment when I stepped in the presence of God was there and something inside began to crumble. And I just went and sat on the floor and I would never forget this as a woman short gray hair a little ponytail thick little glasses she was sitting behind that table and she just looked down at me and those two little eyes pierced through me she just pointed her finger and she just said young man I have one question for you. And I said what is it? And she said do you mean the presence of God? And when I got myself together you see a moment like that you never should. When I got myself together I said I think God she just said I want to pray for you she wrote my name down and she prayed for me and I walked up. Three months later my supreme divine came to me and said to me Aunty Judith I want to see you. And I said why? And she said I don't know but you need to know. And I came I came into the room I sat at her feet she sat same position seeking God and she looked down at me and she said young man God has given me a special burden to pray for you and I looked at her and I said aren't you praying for me anyway? And she said yes I pray for you every day but you see here on this side of my table are the names of people that I sometimes pray three or four five times a day as God moves you see she left in a spirit of prayer and she said I want to tell you that your name is there and I walked out that day and I knew it was going to be different you know what happened there and she said I would go out to preach and evangelistically say and she would call and she began to call me that boy and she said I want to see that boy and I would come in every time fear and tremor and I would come and she said shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up