In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of seeking Jesus and finding true wealth in Him. He shares a personal story about discovering electricity and how it relates to the truth of Jesus. The preacher highlights the significance of learning from Jesus rather than relying on worldly knowledge or achievements. He emphasizes the need for Christ to be formed within us and the joy and enthusiasm that comes from this transformation. The sermon concludes with a reminder that nothing else can satisfy our souls except for the likeness of Christ.

When I heard the Lord say some years ago a word like this, I have been ready for my people. And then he said, my people were not ready for just Jesus. It made me very sad. It made my soul grieve within, within me when I thought of that great call of the King. You know, there comes in every meeting, there comes a great call of the King to recognize him, to recognize his presence. But more than that, to recognize our deep need of him and then to recognize the unspeakable gift of God, Jesus wanting to come to me. We expressed it in a song a while ago. I found a friend and not alone the gift of life, but his own self he gave me. His own self is all the blessings of salvation rolled into one gift, one package, Jesus. And the great and wonderful simplicity of it is the fact that so many people miss him. They seek blessings innumerable, but the Bible tells us, delight thyself in the Lord. Isn't he wonderful? Isn't Jesus himself wonderful? And isn't he himself enough? Delight thyself also in the Lord. Jesus says, I'm ready for my people. What does he mean? Why stand at the door and knock? And if any men hear my voice and open the door, I will come in. And what is that in comparison to all the blessings you might obtain? All the gifts and powers you might crave? What are all these blessings and powers and gifts and thoughts and feelings in comparison to this one great offer that Jesus makes to me to come and sup with me? To come and to be my very life. To be my very life. Jesus, why does it take us so long? I tell you why it takes us so long. We love ourselves too much. And even in seeking God and seeking spirituality, we seek somehow to adorn self. We don't know we do that. But oh, when you begin to really want Jesus, really, when your heart is hungry for him and pants for him as the heart for the water brooks, then he will manifest himself in such a way that you'll be greatly surprised. You'll find out that to be spiritual is not to be spiritual. Now that's a paradox. You don't believe that. But if God has his way, he will lead you in paths that make you see yourself undone, utterly undone. Blessed are the poor in spirit. We heard a while ago about washing the Lord's feet. There was someone else that washed his feet. That was Mary Magdalene. Of all the people in town, the most despised creature. A woman with a red tag attached to her. A woman that men would get out of the way when they saw her coming down the street. Someone that the dog sparked at. And she came and washed his feet. And Jesus says, He's got a great deal more than the Pharisee because she hungered and thirsted after righteousness. Go in peace, thy faith has saved you. She loves much because much has been forgiven. Jesus is ready for us. And what does he want to do? Why, he wants to be formed within us. He wants to be glorified in us. He wants to be admired in us. It must be he and not myself until I learn the lesson of getting out of his way and making room for him. Oh, that's the thing Brother Bauer expressed the other day when he talked about Christ being formed within. Christ formed within. Christ, so that I don't think anything of myself anymore. I don't attach any importance to myself anymore. Someone else that is really important has taken my place. He has really come to be me. He has come to fill the vacuum. He has come to be formed within me. Some of you have gone to school. I went to school a lot of times too, but I didn't learn much. But you've perhaps studied that poem about the bell by Schiller. If you understand German, remember how he says, Wie sich schon die Pfeifen bräunen, diese Stäbchen taugig ein, Sehn wir's über Glas, da scheinen wird's zum Gusse zeitig sein. Aufgesellen frisch, rüft mir das Gemisch, Ob das Strenge mit dem Weichen sich frein zum guten Zeichen. He's got the form already. It was baked. A form. They're going to make a bell. They're going to pour the metal into this form. And in order to have a beautiful bell with beautiful designs, beautifully executed, there has to be a hole in the ground exactly the size of that bell. And wherever that bell is going to be, there has to be a hole. There has to be nothing. I remember in the jewelry business, when I first found out how to cast such things, I went to work and I made a nickel and I had to discover some things as I poured the metal into the mold. And then after a while, I tried to find my, my model. I found only half of it. And I tell you why. There was air in that mold and that air had to be eliminated before Christ can be formed within you. Everything that pertains to self has to be eliminated. And that's the work of the Holy Ghost who has come to shine through and through me. Oh beloved, we who have believed enter into rest. And we don't enter into rest as long as we try to rest in ourselves. As long as we seek anything in self, we will not have any rest but confusion. But we who have believed enter into rest. We cease from our own works because another one, a perfect one, has undertaken now to do all the works within me. This is the righteousness and the gift of righteousness of God. It's my Lord Jesus Christ. And he says, I'm ready to be poured into my people. But where's the hole? Where's the emptiness? Blessed are the poor in spirit. We're so full of spiritual intentions and plans and decisions and labor and zeal like Peter. And God could use Peter until he had thoroughly emptied him of his self-love and his self-esteem. Lord, I will go with you into prison and into death. And Jesus Christ had to help him down. He said, the cock shall not crow until thou hast denied me thrice. That was a great, a greater blessing to Peter than if he had gone into prison and into death for Christ. We don't know the abomination of this self-life. We don't know until we recognize that the cross of Christ is the wisdom of God and the power of God toward us. And until I recognize that there's no cure for me, even for my spiritual self, but to be crucified with Christ, I will not know the power of his resurrection. But that's the thing that Jesus wants to reveal to us. And he's here this morning. And he is ready for me. I'm so thankful for these times of silent waiting upon the Lord. I've often thanked God. I've been in meetings that were silent because nobody knew anything and nobody had anything to say, but it was a dead silence. But oh, how the silence lives when Jesus is here. How we drink, how we breathe, how we live because God's here. Praise God. And I know he has hidden these things from the wise and prudent men have been here and gone away disgusted because they did not want Jesus. Oh, beloved Jesus is here and he's ready for you and for me. And if I want him, the thing to do is to stop seeking and accept him. Settle it that I'm dead indeed with Christ and alive indeed. Jesus, are you alive? Oh, come on now. He is alive. He is the truth. And the wonderful thing is that God stoops to us to reveal to us his son. Oh, how wonderful is the word of God when he says of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us. When you have recognized your great need and you're not discouraged and you're not disgruntled, and you don't chafe and you don't murmur and you don't dispute, but you turn to him. Oh, how he is formed within. That's the glory of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has concluded all under sin that he might have mercy upon all. There is none righteous, no, not one. And if you want to know how unrighteous you are by nature, then read what God has to say about the most righteous, the most righteous, those that have attained to the highest form of human righteousness. God says the poison of ass is under their lips. They're white as sepulchers. They're full of dead men's bones. That's God's verdict over the very best. Where do we come in? Why we come in? Where we hear his voice saying, let me come in, let me. Oh God. When I read these spiritual magazines that are floating the country, I say, oh my God, I thank you for the light that has shown into my soul. How deeply satisfied my soul has been since Jesus Christ has come. And you know, you can't explain those things because the wise and the prudent, they want theology. They want psychology. They want phrenology. They want biology. They want all these sciences. And what in the world do these sciences do? They puff up. But there's one sign, one sign, and God says it's eternal life, that they might know thee. And you cannot know him until he is formed within you. Wonderful are the words of Jesus, coming to this earth. Blessed are the fool in spirit. Why didn't he go to the universities and who has worn a square cap and who has a doctor title and who's got a BA and an XYG. Come on, you wise folks. You've labored hard. You've swept over your books and now the kingdom. No, blessed are those that have learned at the feet of Jesus, that have received God's sentence. The sentence of death is in me that I might learn not to trust in myself, but in the living God who raises the dead. Oh, how does he raise the dead? By breeding his own resurrected life into me, by letting Christ be formed within me. You know, it keeps my soul so happy, so wonderfully happy all the time, so exuberantly enthusiastic. The Bible says, let the righteous rejoice, yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. If we don't rejoice exceedingly, it must be that we're at the wrong fountain. If you try to draw life and joy from yourself or men or anything that man can do, you'll be disappointed. But when you come to the fountain of living waters, it'll become within your fountain. You'll be a channel. Praise God. You'll be a member of his body. His very life will circulate within you and you'll be part of Christ. Ye are complete in him who is the head of all principality and power. Thank God. Colossians is the most marvelous book. If you want to study the sciences, study Colossians. You'll have everything there in a nutshell. Glory to God. He says in the second chapter, I would that you knew what grave conflict I have for you and for all them in love, you see, who have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love and unto the full assurance of the knowledge or the acknowledgement of the mystery of God and of the Father, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Beloved, he is here this morning. Jesus is here. I wonder if he's going to gain an entrance into my soul. I wonder if he's going to catch my attention. I wonder if he can grip me until I forsake everything and count everything but refuse for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. And if I do, and if he does, I will be greatly surprised to find out how very simple, how exceedingly simple the spiritual life is. Quite simply, Jesus, what do you want me to do? And the light shines. The Holy Ghost comes to be my teacher, to guide me into all truth. And what is truth? Why, it's life, life that's passed through death and has been exalted at the right hand of the Father and is now ministered to me. Hallelujah. Shall take of mine and minister it to you. And that's what he does all the time. Why do we waste our time? Beloved, God wants us to become exceedingly simple, Jesus. And Jesus Christ will make us simple like that. But you know he's here? He, Jesus. That's the thing you feel. It isn't something, it's somebody. Life, resurrection life. And as I take steps of love, Jesus. The Lord spoke to me years ago before I came to Brooklyn. And oh, it just melted my soul. He said, son, you're so dutiful. You strive so hard to please me and that does not please me. He said, I want you to be my lover. I want you to love me. I want you to live just for the love of me. And then he explained it. And I wish I had a copy of that message, but I don't. But he says, whatever you do during the day, do it for the love of me. Just for the love of me. When you shave yourself, do it for the love of me. Or when you pass out the books in church or whatever you do. Oh, if any man loved me. You know how different things are when you do it for the love of Jesus Christ. And because you're in his presence and because he dwells within you. And because you know that he does it for you. How different everything is that Jesus does. How different is the ministry that Jesus takes over. How different is your smile when Jesus smiles through you. How different when he talks through you. How often you hear the voices of men and women and there's a whirly twang in it. It hurts. It hurts. The devil's in it. How different when the unction of the Spirit of God is in your voice. I'm thinking of some people now that had a power voice. Whatever they talked about, God was in their voice. You could feel it. It would draw you to Jesus. Jesus did it for them. Beloved, he says that you might be rich. He wants you and me to be rich. We'll never be rich until he himself becomes the wealth of our souls. The Lord is my life. And that sun never goes down. The Lord. And you know to seek Jesus is the most successful, the most fruitful occupation anyone can be occupied with, because you'll find him. In the very seeking lies the finding. When I discovered electricity, I couldn't keep it to myself. I told a kid in school, I said, listen, see those wires there? They're charged. They're full of powers that go on. Who do you think I am? Think I was born yesterday? That's the way he talked. He derided me. I said, okay. I walked away and all at once I heard a howling. He was hanging on those wires and he couldn't let go. He had discovered the truth of it. It was there. You couldn't fool him now. This is 50 years ago. Still remembers it. Listen, Jesus is here. Jesus says, I'm ready for my people, but they're not ready for me. He said, he complained years ago. They were not ready for just Jesus. He came to them. He spoke to them in prophecy, in wisdom. He did signs and wonders. And oh, they took all these blessings and they made ornaments of them and hung them around their necks. Do you see them strutting around? You don't have to wear a heavy cross over your stomach to show people how spiritual they are. Get a diploma. You can go to California and get a doctor title for five bucks. Get a diploma with a gold seal. Verily behold, I say it unto thee, John Schnickelfritz is a prophet. Sure. But oh, how wretched, how miserable, how poor, how blind. I tell you, Mary Magdalene with that red tag was better off than the Pharisee with his self-righteousness. God delivers. God delivers from all that pertains to self. Call it what you will. Spiritual or not spiritual. Thank God he demands of me to deny self. I never knew this man. I don't know him. I don't want to have anything to do with him. I forget the things that are behind. Here is the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. It's a righteousness that availeth before God that has nothing to do with myself. It's the gift of God through Jesus Christ my Lord. And they that receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life. Here is the life that reigns. Here is the life that swallows up death. It's his life. And he says, I'm ready for my people. And you know, I believe that this week God has grand and wonderful intentions over this people. I'm sure he has. The meetings on Sunday, they were exceedingly marvelous. There was something different. If I mentioned the word intervention, two or three people here might know what I was talking about, but that's what it was. There was the touch of eternity on the meeting. Jesus was here. Christ had come just like he came to Joshua. Joshua said, who are you against us or for us? He said, nay, but I've come as the captain of the hosts of the Lord. Beloved, the captain of the hosts of the Lord is here. And you can fall in line if you want to, or you can go on picking strawberries if you want. But they that are with him are called glory to God. You know, I call praise God, holy brethren. We are made partakers of Christ. Nothing else will satisfy. Nothing else can possibly satisfy my soul until I wake with his likeness. God has made that heart of mine thirsty and hungry. And don't talk to me about anything else.