In this sermon, the preacher discusses the limitations of our physical bodies in experiencing the power of God. He explains that no man can look upon the face of God and live because our bodies are not equipped to handle such power. The preacher also shares a personal story about his mother's experience of receiving the joy of the Lord, which transformed her life. He emphasizes the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit and the evidence of this being the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. The preacher concludes by cautioning against mistaking noise for power and encourages the audience to seek the genuine power of the Holy Spirit.

But when you read your scripture now in the light of that which I've been teaching you, life and life will come. You will glorify me. And always remember that the Holy Spirit will always glorify Jesus. Always. Jesus said he would. And the Holy Spirit always magnifies. That's the reason, I think, sometimes we get so involved with our own ideas. There are those who run such a hobby on the Holy Spirit that they have forgotten all about Jesus. They have forgotten all about Jesus. And Jesus made it very definite that the Holy Spirit will magnify and glorify me. It's still Jesus. But just before he went away, wanting to give you his Church. Now, whenever I speak of the Church, I'm talking about this body of believers, because there is only one who can say, My Church. Only one. When you say, My Church, you talk about the denomination to which you belong. But the one who can really say, My, who is Jesus, this glorious body of believers, and every person, whether they be Jew or Gentile, Catholic or Protestant, whoever that one may be, when they have this wonderful new birth experience, they are automatically born into this body of believers. My. These that thou hast given unto me. Jesus said, when he talked to the Father, there is literally this kinship, this relationship. We are a part of him, and he is the head of this wonderful body of believers. In this holy sanctuary this morning, it makes no difference who you are. And I dare say that we have practically every denomination represented here. It makes no difference where you have your Church membership. If you have had that new birth experience, then you are my brother and my sister. And we are a member of this great body of believers, this body of Christ. But remember, before he went away, he wanted to give to this body of believers the greatest gift that he could possibly give. The Holy Spirit had been so faithful to him. The Holy Spirit had come through every time. The Holy Spirit had been so faithful. He depended on him. He had not let him down. And so, knowing he was going to go away, he said, it is expedient for you that I go away. I have to go away, for I am soon to take the position of great high priest, ever living to make intercession for you. And that's the reason not one of us needs ever be defeated. Not one. There isn't one of his children that needs ever go down in defeat for one second. Not one second. I don't care what the temptation is. I don't care. Not one of us needs ever go down in defeat. We have a great high priest. We have one who ever living to make intercession for us. And he'll be right in there to give you the strength to come through victoriously. He says, I'll give you the gift. Now, remember, he came upon only a few in the Old Testament. But now, now it was different. Now. And ye shall receive power. And he's talking to his own. His own. His own. Members of this great body. You cannot limit it just to the few in the upper room. You cannot limit it to the hundred and twenty. For he was not speaking to just the hundred and twenty. And he made it known, the Holy Spirit made it known to whom this glorious power was to come upon. He made it known to the lips of Peter, to you, to this generation, to the generation that follows, and the generation after that, and the generation after that, even to that hour in the First Methodist Church in Tulsa. This promise is unto you and your children, and your children's children, and their children. And he included me. You dare not limit the Holy Spirit to just the early church. You dare not limit to this wonderful experience to just the hundred and twenty. And ye shall receive power. What power? The same power that was manifested in his life and ministry. The same and the greatest gift that Jesus could possibly give to his church was the gift of the Holy Spirit. It's a part of your inheritance. It's yours. It's a part of your inheritance. You don't know what you're missing. You don't know what you've been missing all this time. You don't know. You don't. It's a glorious experience. It's a marvelous experience. But you say, Ms. Kuhlman, how is one filled with the Holy Spirit? It's so simple. It's like that about everything when it comes to the spiritual things. Healing is so simple. There's some hard thing he'd asked us to do. It's so simple that most folk miss it. Now we come to the thing of tongues and the experience. First of all, let me answer. This is as simple as I can. How is one filled with the Holy Spirit? He is with you, the Scripture says, but he shall be in you. The Holy Spirit is with every Christian. If you're born again, the Holy Spirit is with you. He was even with you before you were born again because it's the Holy Spirit who convicts the sinner of sin and of judgment. The Holy Spirit is the mighty convicting power. Know that. If only you could realize the importance of the Holy Spirit. He is the convicting power. No man comes to the Lord of himself. If you're convicted, that is the Holy Spirit. He is with every Christian. If you're born again, he is with you. He's with every child of God. But when it comes to this experience, but he shall be in you. In. In. In. That makes a mighty curse. In you. But how? Let me give you as simple an illustration as I possibly can. When we're born again, let's say for instance our heart has four wounds in it. You want to know something? I don't think we could take it all at once. You know it? I really don't. Do you really want to know how powerful is the Holy Spirit? Do you really want to know? That's the reason when it comes to the slaying power of the Holy Spirit. And there are those who witness to the fact that it was like a bolt of electricity. Do you know what you're dealing with? Something greater than any electricity. These old physical bodies of ours can just take so much. They're not geared for all this power. You understand? That's the reason no man can look upon the face of God and live. All that Moses saw was the hinder part. That's the reason I know that God has a body. He's more than something ethereal. He's more than spirit. Moses literally saw. God is more than just spirit. Oh, I'd like to spend the next hour just on that, but can't do it. The four wounds of our heart at the time of salvation. We think we've given Him everything. We think we have. And we open, as it were, one wound of our heart and say, Come you Lord Jesus. But there's something about the next day, you know. It's a life. It's something that's constant. It's glorious. It's a definite transaction. That new birth experience is a definite transaction. The songwriter had it when he wrote the words in the first stanza. Some of self. And some. Then the next verse. Less of self. Then none of self. I can't put it better. None of self. But all of being. None of self. And it's the hardest thing in the world sometimes, I think. It's for men and women to die. To die. All of being. Remember, He comes in as you worship and adore Jesus. For Jesus said He'd magnify me. And you get exactly what you seek for. And many a person has sought tons. Tons. You cannot show to me from the word of God. You cannot. No theologian can show me and prove to me in the word of God that you and I were ever commanded to seek tons. And I believe in the speaking in an unknown tongue. I believe in it with every atom of my being. Don't you dare go out of here. Don't you dare. I'll pray conviction on you that you won't sleep. And no sleeping pill will help you out. Don't you dare. I believe in the speaking in an unknown tongue. I've got to believe it. It's here. In the house of Cornelius, I believe. But they were at no time commanded to seek tons. Never. Weep all himself. They were seeking the Holy Spirit. In the upper room is the 120. There was seeking Him, the Holy Spirit. And in the final analysis, my friend, when you talk about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, it's still just more of Jesus. And more and more and more. And more and more and more of Jesus. And what, my friend, is the speaking in an unknown tongue if you do not have the power of the Holy Ghost and the love of Jesus? I'll come back to that in just a second. If you seek tongues and you're not scriptural, you're absolutely not scriptural. If you get down on your knees and pray for tongues, you're not scriptural. You're not scriptural. You seek more of Jesus. And the Holy Spirit comes in through praise and adoration. You worship Jesus. He will glorify me. And when you get to the place where you love Jesus with all of your heart, it's so easy to die to self when you have Jesus, when you love Jesus. It isn't a matter of struggling. It's so easy when you love Jesus enough to surrender to Him. And you love Him. And you're adoring Him. And the Holy Spirit comes in. And He will announce His own incoming. It isn't that you seek any evidence. You don't seek the evidence. The evidence will come. And you don't have to seek the evidence. The evidence will come. How many understand? Put up a hand. And the greater of the two evidences is the power that's manifested in your life. For Jesus Himself said, And ye shall receive power. Don't let us put words in the mouth of Jesus. Don't go contrary to the teaching of the Master. His last words. He knew human nature so well. And ye shall receive power. And the greatest evidence of having been filled with the Holy Spirit will be the fruit of the Spirit. Yeah? I'm going to tell you something. When you plant a peach tree, and if that's a genuine peach tree, you're not going to get crab apples. And remember something else. Noise isn't power. Yeah? I had an old Model T Ford one time. First car ever. Oh, man. I'm going to tell you something. If that old Ford, if noise had been power, that would have been the most powerful thing that ever was on the road. Back in Idaho. Love is the only thing. I think I got it for $35. It's all I could afford. But say you drive one of Tinker Wilkerson's new Imperials. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I become a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, understand all the mysteries, read that 13th chapter of 1st Corinthians. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, though I gave my body to be burned, and have not love, it profited me nothing. Now, if you want to know whether one has really been filled with the Holy Spirit, there will be the evidence of the fruit. There will be the evidence. Love suffereth long, always patient, and is kind. Can your experience measure up with this? Endeth not. Sometimes I think we have more jealousies in our assemblies and in our churches than any place else in the world. The sin of jealousy is so prevalent. And it's the first sin that we have any record of whatsoever. That's what caused an angel to fall and become Satan. Vaunteth not itself. Is not puffed up. I've got to stop right there and say something. You do not have the fruits of the Spirit. Watch this. If you have spiritual pride, you say, I have been filled. And this gets me more than almost anything else. Somebody comes along and said, Oh, Miss Kuhlman, it's so nice meeting you. I want you to know that I've been filled with the Holy Spirit. I've been baptized in the Holy Spirit. I have all the gifts of the Spirit. And the more they talk, the more puffed up. I feel like taking a pin and just puncture the bone. And I get away from that one so fast. Because, beloved, the greatest of all Christian graces is humility. And if you have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, remember, one of the fruits of the Spirit is humility. And some folks, after they think that they've been filled with the Holy Spirit, you can't touch them with a ten-foot pole, they're so proud. Everybody else is on a lower level because they have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. How many understand? Put up a hand. I'll go a step further. When it comes to, and I'd like to think this whole thing, I'll go a step further. When it comes to, not only the fruits, but the gifts of the Spirit, if you have really received one or more of the gifts of the Spirit, you're not going to boast of it. You're not going to talk about it. Because these things are so sacred. These things are so sacred. They're so wonderful. Beautiful jewels. No one will ever hear Catherine Kuhlman ever admit that she has been given any gift of the Spirit. I would no more than anything in the world, I would no more, I would no more stand before an audience or even speak privately of any gift of the Spirit the Holy Spirit has ever given me. It's a gift. A responsibility that goes with it. And you guard it so carefully, and you guard it so carefully, and it gives you a reward for what the Holy Spirit has done and has given. I beg of you, if there's one in this place who's gone around boasting of some gift of the Spirit, be careful. Be very careful how you use it. Be very careful. It's a sacred trust. It's something so precious you don't know. Much that I've said this morning may be absolutely contrary to your theology. I'm not going to speak on tongues. There shall be no doubt in your mind. I believe in the speaking in an unknown tongue. But when the Holy Spirit does the speaking, it's going to be beautiful. And he speaks perfectly. He speaks perfect. Sometimes, in some of the actions of the people, you would almost get the idea that the Holy Spirit was illiterate. He's not an imbecile. The one through whom Jesus offered himself to perfect wisdom, perfect knowledge, perfect in all things. And when he speaks, he'll speak beautifully. I'll tell you my first experience when I was young. I was so young, not more than sixteen years of age, in Joliet, Illinois. And the things that I've been talking to you about this morning were so new to me. I knew nothing about them. Nothing. And all that I knew when I first started out in the ministry was just salvation. I knew nothing more. Nothing. I knew nothing more. I only knew that I'd been born again. That's all. And you do not give to anyone else any more than what you've experienced. It was in a store building. One night I'd given an article. My personal work, I wasn't too wise in it. I practically locked the door, and if there was an unsaved person there, they didn't get out until I had them down on their knees. I pounded the devil right out of them. The Lord didn't do it, I did it for them. Oh, so unwise. I'd given the article, and then the services ended. There were still about three or four who were still kneeling. This was my first experience. I was sitting back with Isabel Drake's mother. Practically all the lights were turned out. I was saving electricity. Isabel Drake, a schoolteacher, who would commute from Joliet, Illinois, into Chicago. A very fine young lady who's kneeling at the altar for salvation. And I was sitting there quietly talking with her mother, and suddenly, Isabel Drake put back her head, and the most beautiful singing, the most beautiful singing, as clear as a bell. I never hear an opera singer. I never. When they hit those Cs, I never. It was so deeply moved. That's been years ago. It was perfect. I think I know a little bit of what the music is going to be like in heaven. Remember when the Holy Spirit does it, it's perfection. There's never a wrong note. It's never flat. It's never sharp. When the Holy Spirit does it, it's perfection. And a mother grabbed my hand. She says, My daughter can't even carry a tune. That's not my daughter singing. Her face shone like an angel. And as she sang, oh, the perfection of it. She was glorified and magnified. And this continued. I heard the singing of the Holy Spirit. My mother had never heard me preach, and if you only knew Mama, if you only knew Mama, Mama has died since. Mama had never heard me preach. The very first time was when she came to Denver, Colorado. I've got to believe in the speaking in a non-tongue. I've got to believe. But what I'm trying to say to you, when He does it, it'll be perfection. It'll be perfection. Everything the Holy Spirit does is perfection. After I finished preaching, I said, Now there's a prayer room back here. And I thought, Oh, what'll Mama think? What'll Mama think? And I'd been preaching on the power of the Holy Spirit. I don't think Mama understood one thing that I said. I don't think she did. Mama knew nothing about the Holy Spirit. Mama was Methodist. She didn't know too much about the new birth experience. I said, Just slip back in the prayer room and I'll go back with you. And so they came. When I walked off of that platform, Mama was just sitting there. She didn't come. She didn't know what it was all about. After about 15 minutes, the door of the prayer room opened. There must have been about a hundred or more kneeling there praying. Everyone with their heads down. And I saw Mama come through that door. She only knew my Mama. You can't appreciate this. You could not have convinced my Mama of spiritual things. She was so stretched in her way. If the Methodists didn't believe it, then it wasn't so. It wasn't so. Her father, my grandfather, was so Methodist that when he died, he would have staked his life that only Methodists would be in heaven. I've often thought since then, think what a surprise that Grandpa Walker has got. And Mama knelt down. She hadn't been on her knees very long. I slowly walked over to her. Everybody was praying. And I laid my hands on her. She's such a quiet woman. When I touched her, my Mama began to speak in a heavenly language. Mama never knew there was such a thing. My Mama did not know there was such a thing as the speaking in an unknown tongue. She didn't know it. She had never read it. She had never heard it. She had no light on it. She was not seeking for it. Explain me things we can. We can. And my mother began speaking just as soft as they include. It was glorious. It was glorious. And I listened. I have to believe in the speaking in an unknown tongue. I have to. I have no choice. And she opened her eyes. She took my hands in hers and this was the first time that she had ever approved me being in the work that I was in. She took both of my hands in hers and she said, Catherine, preach it that others might receive what I have just received. You want to know something? My mother did not sleep for three days and two nights. My mother did not sleep. So great was the joy of the Lord. She couldn't sleep. There was no sleep in her. This joy, this joy, this joy. The next morning when they came to see her, that joy, it's a joy. It's something. Who can explain it? There are no words in the human vocabulary. My mother was never the same again. Never. The next day there was no sleep. This joy. I had a new mama. My mama was a new person. This love that radiated from her. This love. Nobody had to prompt her. Nobody had to teach her. This joy, this love, this love. My mother never, never, never, never again was the same. My own experience. When I died, and I told you last night, I came to the place of a dead-end street when I gave him body, soul and spirit. I gave him body, soul and spirit. And he came in and he spoke through lips of clay. It was not Catherine Kuhlman. But then I gave him myself. So natural. You do not have to seek the manifestation. You just surrender to him and he does the rest. You know not how to pray or what to ask for. It's the Holy Spirit over here in Romans. This is precious. I wish I had an entire hour on this. Likewise, the Spirit also. Help with our infirmities. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought. But the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us. With groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the heart knoweth what is in the mind of the Spirit because he maketh intercession. He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. You say, have you ever spoken in tongues since? There are times when in my ignorance, in my lack of knowledge, I know not how to pray. And a dear old Brother McLeod, when I was so young and he was in his eighties, took my hand in his ears and said, never get out of the will of God, girl. And I didn't know what he was talking about. I know now. My own nature is to be impulsive. But when it comes to the things of God, I'm so slow to move. I'm so afraid of getting out of the will of God. I'm so afraid of getting out of his will. I wouldn't get out of the will of God for anything in the world. And there are times I don't know. I don't know how to pray. I don't know. I come and stand in that moment of crisis and I don't know. And I look up and always remember, when you get to the place where you have no will of your own, you cannot miss the will of God. It's not an easy place to get. That's the reason why when you come to those places, you rush over to your neighbors and you rush over to somebody else and you want them to say what you want to hear. There is a place when you come, and this is where the speaking in an unknown tongue comes in my life. I know now. And remember something. The Holy Spirit is not given for our own pleasure and our own enjoyment. It is not. The Holy Spirit is given for service. It is not for our own pleasure. You're misusing the Holy Spirit. You're misusing this wonderful person if you're using him for your own pleasure. A little spiritual picnic when you get together with some of the saints of God. You're misappropriating the power of the Holy Ghost. But there is a time when you know not how to pray. But there is one who knows the perfect will of God, and he never works separate and apart from the Father. He never works separate and apart from Jesus. He has perfect knowledge as to the will of God. And when I get to the place I have no will of my own, and I throw myself upon the person who dwells within, and he comes before the throne and he makes intercession for me. And he speaks for me. And I can never miss the will of God, for he knows his will and talks to the Father for me.