This sermon expresses gratitude for the warm welcome and joy of fellowship, highlighting the importance of God's Word and the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing revelation, understanding, and peace. It emphasizes the need to rely on God's power and mercy for transformation and comfort, acknowledging human weakness and the necessity of God's intervention. The speaker prays for God's presence to make His Word alive in the hearts of the listeners, bringing renewal, restoration, and salvation.

Thank you for this joy of being back with you. Thank you for your warm welcome. Thank you for the joy of singing with you, the lovely hymns of our faith. Thank you for the lovely blessing of that story, dear brother, to all of our hearts. And that lovely scripture the Lord Jesus gave us. And that lovely hymn you sang so preciously to us. Thank you very much to your dear pastor and his wife. And well, there's two pastors, to both of your dear pastors and both of their dear wives, for the joy of being able to be back here with you and that you trust me with your pulpit. I'm very grateful. God bless you. And thank you also to dear John and Lynette for all the arrangements they took upon themselves to get me to come up here. I was very moved and amazed at the way Lynette was so determined this was going to work out. And I admired her courage. And she really did well. And I, bless God, I saw the hand of God in coming up here at this time, which I only intended to go down to New York, to this convention. And somehow she realized I was going to be here at the same time as this meal. But it made this very, very special, coming to America, not just to those meetings I'm going to, but to come up here. I'm very grateful. And I sense God was in it very deeply. I was so tired the other night I hardly could speak, you know. I think it was jet lag. I'm not too sure. But the Lord helped me through. And I was very grateful and very conscious when I had my quiet time in the night that this was what God wanted me to come here for, very specially. And I felt a deep joy in my heart and peace, as weak as I was in delivering the message there at the couple's evening. Couple's evening, that's a beautiful phrase, beautiful. There's an inn. Oh my, what is it called? The couple's inn. Have you heard of that? Just for young, for married couples to get away with and have a fresh honeymoon. And they sent Jenny and I there. The first time we ever came to America, the only time we came together, really. And these dear folks sent us to this little cottage. I suppose they were hoping that if I needed to be starting over afresh, it would be there. And my word, it was romantic. Everything in the whole place was romantic, you know. The phrases, everything was meant to really give a married couple. But I think it was lovely to be able to concentrate on married couples the other night, and it was a great joy. Thank you for giving me that joy. Now let's have a short prayer, and then we'll turn to God's word. Our wonderful Father, we do thank Thee for Thy holy word. We thank Thee that we as Thy people can open it together and say from our hearts the things that God revealed to us. And we do thank Thee, Lord, that the Holy Spirit is given by God to make this book alive, to bring revelation and understanding and light and comfort and peace that passes all understanding. How it's possible, Lord, that in our darkest moment to open this book in just one verse or one phrase by the Holy Spirit's revelation to our heart, it becomes God's voice comforting us and flooding us with such peace and such joy that no words could describe it. It's all unspeakable, peace that passes all understanding. And so we praise Thee for Thy holy word and for the Holy Spirit, and we look to Thee and Thee only, O God, to come and make Thy word alive to our hearts in mercy. We look away from the weakest of men who would stand in the pulpit in their weakness, and only because of their weakness do we believe God would dare to come and reveal Himself. Come, Lord, in Thy goodness to all of us, for unless Thou dost come, nothing will change in our lives. No man can change us. No man can persuade us. No man can bless us. Only God. And so we look to Thee and Thee only. Our expectation is Thee and Thee only, especially in me, Lord. Come in mercy. Wash me in the blood. Fill me with the Holy Spirit. Wash us all in the blood. Come by Thy Holy Spirit and give revelation. Keep us under the blood of Jesus. Save from our only enemy, the devil. Put into flight God by Thy power. And come, brood upon this whore, upon this people, by Thy Holy Spirit, to make us Thine own and to bless us and to comfort us and to renew us and to restore us to the joy of salvation, to give us understanding and peace, even in our darkest moment. Come visit us in Thy mercy, through Thy Holy Word. Make it so holy, so sacred, it will burn, burn upon our hearts tonight. In Jesus Christ's name. In Jesus Christ's name. We all ask this of Thee, our Father in Heaven. Amen. I have loved, as I've gone through the Bible, one particular chapter from the very first time I read through this holy book. And I know that all of you that love God sincerely of all have come to love this chapter. Somehow, it remains in the heart where other chapters have not placed such an impression. And you all, I would say, know these words, John 15, where Jesus says, I am, I am the true vine, the true vine. And my Father, my Father is the husbandman, the keeper of the vineyard. Now the vine is where grapes come from. In our country, there are mighty vineyards. And it brings enormous wealth into our land, just the vineyards of the Cape alone of our country. And he's speaking of a vineyard, he's speaking of a vine. He calls himself a vine in that vineyard. And his Father is the keeper, the husbandman, the keeper of the vineyard, the one who tends the vineyard. Every branch in me, suddenly he looks to you and me. Suddenly he looks to you and I and he calls us branches. Branches. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit. He taketh away every branch in me that beareth not fruit. Is that you, young man? Who is God speaking about here, in this hall? Is that you, lady? Every branch in me that beareth not fruit. Is that you? With all your religion, with all your church attendance, is that you? Answer God.