In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the urgency and importance of spreading the gospel. He highlights the example of Jesus sending out his disciples as lambs among wolves, instructing them to go without any provisions or weapons. The preacher emphasizes the need for believers to have a deep understanding of the spirit of Jesus and the urgency of the task at hand. He also mentions a man who offers to follow Jesus, but is quickly told to go and fulfill his calling. The preacher encourages believers to passionately pursue the kingdom of heaven and be willing to make sacrifices for it.

Shall we turn to Scripture, beloved? I remind you that not so very long ago, or was it so long ago now, we were thinking about that wonderful word in Deuteronomy, where God said in the eleventh chapter, that he intended our days to be as the days of heaven on earth. That's not wishful thinking on God's part. It's a blessed intention, and it's a wonderful experience when you come there. I suppose that most people would say that they don't enjoy that at all. Most people would think they have to endure the misery of hell on earth. So many people one meets that talk about things like that, and indeed their lives seem to furnish good reason for such statements. It seems that all hell is let loose sometimes in some people's lives, and what's in their hearts, from what comes out of their mouths and so on like that, you know perfectly well that there's hell in their hearts as well. But God intends us to enjoy heaven on earth. And you may remember a statement by the Lord Jesus Christ, in Luke's Gospel, from chapter 10. Come on. At the end of chapter 9 you'll find the phrase, The Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God. Amen. Well, you can't dissociate the Kingdom of Heaven from the Kingdom of God. And the only way that we can really enjoy the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, is to know the kingship and sovereignty of God in our lives. But men and women don't know this. If I was to say to you all, and come round and ask you individually and say, Is God king of your life? Is God sovereign of your life? If you're well taught biblically, you could come up with the correct texts about it. But that doesn't alter states. Is God king in your life? Does he rule? What a blessed state it is. You'll surely know what it is to have heaven on earth there. And after these things in chapter 10, the Lord appointed other seventy also, because in this ninth chapter you will find that he appointed his twelve apostles. And he sent these seventy out two by two before his face, into every city and place, whither he himself would come. Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. I would make a little note here as we go through, beloved, that he didn't say to these seventy, now notice to whom he says this, it's important for you to notice when the Lord says anything, to whom he says it. He didn't say to these seventy, now all go home and pray, that the Lord will send forth labourers into the harvest. He sent them out and then said, now you pray. Hmm. Yeah. Has that sunk in? The only real people who can pray for labourers to be sent out in God's harvest, are those who have already gone forth to labour in it. The others. Just nice biblical ideas. He sent the seventy out two by two. And he sent them into every city and place, whither he himself would come. You think he dares send you somewhere in Scotland, because he wants to come there? What sort of a state would happen? I mean, would it be heaven on earth or hell on earth, when you got there? I mean, would you take heaven with you? Would you take the power of God with you? Would you? It's marvellous, this Bible of ours, you know. And as they go forth, he says, now you pray, the Lord of the harvest. I'll tell you why. It's only these that go out like this, whether they be weeping and bearing precious seed, or whatever they do when they go out. It's only these that really see that there is a harvest. The others only have the theory of it. And as they go, oh Lord, send forth labourers into the harvest. Lord, send forth labourers into the harvest. Jesus seemed to think it was a bit of a cheat to stay at home and say, pray for the Lord to send out harvesters. He seemed to think so. Mind you, it's based on sound psychological principle and spiritual action. He came down here himself to reap the harvest before he sent others out, you see. He prayed, sent others, now you pray. It seems to be a continuous, precious life, doesn't it? You know, say, you go, I'll stay away and pray. I'll stay at home and pray for you. It's very easy. It sounds good. It's very pious. Go your ways, he says in verse 3. I send you forth as lambs amongst wolves. Amen. Carry neither purse nor script nor shoes. Salute no man by the way into whatsoever house ye enter. First say, Peace be to this house. It sounds as though he's in a hurry, doesn't it? Don't say, well, no, I've got to prepare my kit. We're going abroad, six months' time. You know, I've got to prepare my kit. He says, go on, go your ways. Hallelujah. I send you forth as lambs amongst wolves. I haven't given you a missionary call. I'm sending you out. Amen. Don't carry a purse nor script nor shoes. Salute no man by the way. Ah, somebody's in a hurry here. I mean, you haven't got to stop saying, Good morning. Keep going. The Lord is revealing his heart. There's something desperately urgent about this. Desperately urgent. This is the thing that's got to sink into all our hearts. Let's go back into the end of chapter 9. Verse 57. It's coming to pass that as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I'll follow thee whithersoever thou goest. Are you sure you will? Are you sure you will? I mean, in about two minutes he's going to say to you, Go on out. Oh, well, I didn't come to be a missionary. I came to follow you. Why? You've only got about six verses in between. Do you know what you're after? Do you know what you're doing? I tell you, the Lord, he's absolutely explosive. He says, I'll follow you whithersoever thou goest. And the Lord knew perfectly well what he'd got up his sleeve for him. Where he was going to send him out in a hurry, he wouldn't find a hole or a nest to go to. There's something about this blessed gospel, beloved, that's got to click home in every heart in this room tonight. There's something that's got to come to us, deeply within us. We've got to see the spirit of this man, this blessed Jesus. He'd been talking about that a little higher. Let's go up into verse 51 of chapter 9. It came to pass when the time was come that he should be received up. He steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. And you can see another reason why he set others out. He was in a hurry. The time had come. He was going to go up there. And he wanted to lead down here on the earth a people with the urgency and the urge in their hearts and the spirit about them to get this glorious gospel over to the hearts of men. We'll read this thing because we're going to come across another revelation here. And the messengers went before his face and they went and entered into a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him. You see the connection, don't you? He said you're to go. He sent out the 72 by 2 before his face. Now his face was steadfastly set to go to Jerusalem in verse 51. And he wanted them to go into every place where he wanted to come himself. Verse 1 of chapter 10. You see? He sent the messengers before his face. Verse 52 of Luke 9. And they went. And they entered into a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him. And they didn't receive him. Because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. Amen. There's something about a face, isn't there? Let me have a look at yours. Come on, hold your head up. Don't you try and hide. Let's have a look at yours. We recognize faces, don't we? Don't look somewhere else. Look at me. Just let me look at you. I'll know you right down to the bottom of you. Just let me look at you. Amen. His face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. You could read the intention in his face to go to the cross. There's something about that lovely face. There's something fixed about Jesus. Hallelujah. They could read it. The mystic signs on his face. They could read a sweet, persistent love. They could read a transcendent thought higher than theirs. It's all there, it shows on the face. Amen. It all shows on your face, beloved. And the longer you live, the more plainly it shows. It's as inescapable, beloved, as the judgment seat. It all shows there. And you can't cover it up with a pot of cream and color for your eyebrows or wherever else you put it. Or aftershave lotion. His face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples, James and John, saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elijah did? But he turned and rebuked them. And he said, you know not what manner of spirit you're of. There it is. The manner of your spirit. The urgency that was in him. Your face. Your spirit. Your urgency. Oh, glory be to the name of the Lord. This is it. You know what's happening now, don't you? He went to another village. End of verse 56. And that's when they come to him in the way. And he says in verse 58 to this man who says, Lord, I'll follow you. Jesus said, foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the son of man hath not where to lay his head. He says to another, follow me. He said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, let the dead bury their dead. Go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another said, Lord, I will follow thee. But let me first go bid them farewell which are at home at my house. Jesus said unto him, no man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. Now we're introduced then to this tenth chapter. You might have thought it was a strange way to introduce ourselves. The great urgency of it. Go on, he says. What's this thing that's spurring him on? I hope that it lies hard upon our spirits tonight that God should teach us the truth. Go your ways, he says, verse three of chapter ten. I send you forth as lambs among wolves. Carry neither purse nor script nor shoes. Lambs among wolves. Don't fight anybody. Don't bark at anybody. Don't run away from anybody. It's no good a lamb trying to escape a wolf. Don't run away. Don't fight. Don't do anything. Just go. Hallelujah. When you get to a house, verse five. Whatsoever house you enter into, say, peace be to this house. If the Son of Peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it. If not, it shall turn to you again. In the same house remain eating and drinking such things as they give. For the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house. And into whatsoever city ye enter and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you, and heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come now unto you. Into whatsoever city ye enter and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say, Even the very dust of your city which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you. Notwithstanding, be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come now unto you. But I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in thee, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shall be thrust down to hell. He that heareth you, heareth me. But he that despiseth you, despiseth me. He that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me. And the seventy returned, again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devil is a subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions. And over all the power of the enemy, nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding, in this rejoice, not that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered to me of my Father, and no man knoweth who the Son is but the Father, and who the Father is but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. And he turned him unto his disciples and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see and have not seen them. And to hear those things which ye hear and have not heard them. Amen. You see, the Lord in dealing with these men of his, he had to get them to this glorious place, beloved, where they saw something of what their ministry was all about and what God was really wanting. You see, when they came back and made their reports about devils being subject to them and everything like that, he said, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Amen. You see, this is what happened. Satan was cast out of heaven, and he smoked the earth through Adam, and heaven or paradise on earth turned to hell on earth. God made Eden a paradise, a heaven on earth, a garden, and put man in it. He came down and walked in the garden himself with man. Satan, as we were thinking more directly this afternoon, he turned this planet into a hell on earth. And the Lord called these seventy disciples in the urgency of his spirit that these should go out in his name and by his precious appointing and anointing and bring something of heavenly blessing, heavenly good to the earth, as he himself had done. You remember that when John Baptist, the great forerunner of Jesus, introduced him, he started off talking about the kingdom of heaven is at hand. That's how John Baptist came. And that is how the Lord Jesus himself started up in his earthly ministry. Repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And he proceeded to move on that tremendous ground of bringing heaven to men, heavenly states to men. Oh, he didn't change their surroundings. Time is not yet, nor was it then, when he should make a new heaven and a new earth, that on that new earth they should enjoy heaven on earth. A new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Praise God. Peter tells us about it. And you will know that when he first began his great moving out, this is why you will see how we were saying this afternoon how the scripture is so gloriously, inherently true and wonderful. It was Peter was the first one he called when he was walking by the sea. You read it in Matthew's gospel. He saw Andrew and Peter called them. And it's Peter who talks about the heaven and the earth state in his epistle. It's marvellous how this thing goes right the way through scripture. You must get to know your Bibles. You must let the Spirit teach you the spirit of the scripture. The glorious rightness of it all. Not a word out of place. Not a word spoken by one writer in the plan that should be spoken by another. One of the most wonderful things about the Bible is this, that Jesus gave Mary to John to look after. He said, son behold your mother, mother behold your son. Now you would have thought that John would have had first hand knowledge about the marvellous conception and birth of Jesus. But he doesn't talk about it. Doesn't talk about it. Yet he was the one with whom Mary would have talked it over again and again and again. But God didn't want John to talk about the natural birth of the Lord Jesus. He wanted him to talk about another birth. You must be born again. So he goes a long way back before the angel came to Mary and said in the beginning was the word. And he just says, well the word was made flesh. That's it. That's John's account of the virgin birth. The word was made flesh. Isn't that a precious thing. He passes it over in a verse. You see, God controlled this tremendous thing. But anyway, Jesus is walking by the sea of Galilee and he's saying, repent, the kingdom of heaven's at hand. Hallelujah. And of course people began to follow him. But what he was wanting was that these men, not only the 12 privileged apostles of chapter 9, but also the 70 quite non-entities if you like to put it like that, like you and me, these 70 that are not named, that they should go out too, so that you and I should say, well it's all right for John Baptist and it's all right for Jesus and it's all right for these 12 marvelous men that have this glorious privilege, but how about us? Jesus has a genius for anticipating all objections. Hallelujah. That these 70 unnamed people should go out two by two and they should begin to learn of the glory of the kingdom of heaven coming onto this earth. Go to those houses, says Jesus. If there's anybody in the house sick, you heal them. Hallelujah. Let them know that I'm not the author of sickness. Let them know that this is a devilish thing. Sickness is a hellish thing. Praise God. You see, the trouble with so many of us is that we can't learn the high great spiritual lessons, but we do very much understand, well I don't know whether we do, I was going to say we understand these bodies of ours, but you know what I mean. We understand when they don't feel too good and we understand when they're sick. At least we think we do. And this is how it goes on. And Jesus said, just go out, heal them. Oh, he said, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. You men don't see the grief of God's heart. You see, it was Jesus who threw him out of heaven. It was Jesus that turned him out. And just to think that this devil was going to come down and victimize and fasten on mankind. You know, it's for this reason that the devil's got to go to hell. You know that, don't you? It seemed that when he rebelled against God, that was all right, he was turned out of heaven. But once the devil fastened on man, you've got to make a fire now, devil. You see, hallelujah. You know, God does love men, don't he? Jesus absolutely loves us, beloved, absolutely. And he wants us to come into and enjoy the heavenly states. The first hint of it, I suppose, really, in these verses is that he said you ought to go to these houses and you ought to say, peace be to this house. Peace be to this house, hallelujah. Oh, that's a marvelous thing. When you have real peace in your home, isn't it? You've got peace in your home, real peace in your home. Hallelujah. No warfare, no fighting, no bickering, no talking about one another behind your backs. None of this. Peace in my home. Praise God. Real peace. Hallelujah. God wants us to have that. He didn't say now go and preach the gospel to them or anything like that. He said just go there and say peace. If the son of peace is there, your peace will rest there. If the son of peace isn't there, it'll return to you. Can't have any peace wasted. Peace is a precious thing. Peace is a precious thing. And the thing that he said, beloved, and you and I had better take this so deeply into our hearts that we never lose it out of the leaky vessel. He said that we are to say peace. In other words, we've got to give them our peace. Here, dare Jesus send you your peace. You got any? I mean, Jesus doesn't want you to ask the bandy about him or say peace be to this house, you know, in a sort of an Episcopal state or something like that. No, it's not the pronunciation of a blessing. It's the impartation of the thing. Peace be to this house. Oh, glory. Be wonderful, beloved. People said that man's a benediction in our home. That woman thanked God as soon as she came across the doorstep. Marvellous. Peace settled down on us. Amen. Isn't this precious? You know, beloved, these things that God has given us have got to be so real in our lives. We've got to get beyond just the words of things, just talking, talking, talking. The whole secret of living in the kingdom of heaven is living. That's the secret of it. Just living. A man living a heavenly life. A woman living a heavenly life so that everybody can see it and everybody can know it and everybody can partake of the blessings. And when you come to consider it, beloved, that these people at that time weren't born-again people. Nobody born again before Calvary. Yet they were his people. He called them and he expected them to be able to take peace to these homes. Precious, isn't it, that the Lord should do this? Oh, Lord, they said, the devils are subject to us in thy name. Hallelujah. You know, this is another thing I've discovered about Jesus. I don't know whether you've discovered these precious things about him they may seem very little things, but it's these little things that prove to be so great. When the Lord blesses you, when the Lord ministers to you, when the Lord does anything, you always have more than you think. Always. See, he said, now just go, don't take any purse, any script, anything like that, don't stop for anybody, just go to a place and say, peace be on this house, you see. Stop there, eat everything they get, a labourer's worthy of his hire, and he seemed to think that the hire of a labourer was just the food and the house he got, the comforts of the home, that was sufficient for him. Apparently, he said, don't take any script, you haven't got anywhere to put money then, have you? You see. But you've got a stomach that can be filled up, that's plenty. Amen. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, that's right, isn't it? He didn't say take your bank book with you, or anything like that. And he said, just stay there, eat the things they put before you, that takes a bit of doing in India, I tell you. Did I tell you the secret of eating Indian food is very simple? You do know, don't you? You push the next mouthful in to stop the last one coming up. That's the secret. That's the secret, isn't it? You stuff in the next bit before the last bit comes out. Well, of course, some people, they seem to be born to be able to eat it, but others are decent. Just eat what they sit before you, he said. That's all, hallelujah. Heal the sick that are therein. Hallelujah, isn't that marvellous? Just heals, that's what he said. And as they just did, as Jesus said, they found they'd entered into a world that they never dreamed. I've discovered that, you know. I know this. The Lord will take a nobody, and his name's not known anywhere. You just get sent out, you just do that to which he sends you, and you're fine, beloved. More and more and more. God, just, I don't know. And when you go back to give your report, you go back, and he says, The Lord, they said, even the devil is a subject unto us through thy name. And he said to them, I behold, Satan is like before from him, but I give you power. Now, you see, the right use of power, the correct obedience to Jesus will bring you to the place where you'll receive more power. This is why people don't get more power, because they're not faithful in what they have. If you're saying, if you're one of these Christians and you say, I don't seem to be getting on, I don't seem to be getting more love, more peace, more power. You're not being faithful in what you've already had. It's as simple as that. If you use what you've got, you'll find it's greater than you thought it was. And when you go back to your Lord, and how quickly you can get to the Lord now. I mean, you haven't got to go and find him somewhere in a village over there. You go back to your Lord, he'll give you more. Give you more. The only one thing he's concerned about is, don't start rejoicing in your own exploits. Don't start rejoicing in that. You just keep rejoicing that your names are written in heaven. I give you power, he said, to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. And nothing shall by any means hurt you. Your names are written in heaven. What a precious thing, you see. And all this is hidden from the wise and the prudent. It's only revealed to the babes. It's a revelation. And when the revelation comes to your heart, and it's revealed to you, not just as a revelation to the heart, Mark, do, because this wasn't a revelation to the heart. It was a revelation to the life. You see, they went out and did it. And as they did it, the revelation came that their words were effectual. That their works stood and were established. Amen. Have you had that kind of a revelation? Now, old Peter had a marvellous revelation. He was up on a mountain. He said, when Jesus said, Whom do you think I am? He said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living and blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah. Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father, which is in heaven. He had a revelation on the person of Jesus Christ. That's a marvellous revelation to get. But when you get revelation in your own works, and the things that Jesus has said are working all around you, that's the kind of revelation you've got to get. It's all right to have a secret revelation from Father in your heart. But He wants to get us in the place where we find out that this thing works. The revelation's got to be all around us. Everywhere. When we've been somewhere, and we come back home, it's all there. In that village where I've been, there's the revelation. That place I've been working in, there it is. Blessed be the name of the Lord to move into this state of heaven on earth. Now, beloved, that's one side of the picture. It's not all of it. There's another side to it entirely. I like the Lord Jesus very, very much, and I love His methods of doing things. And for my own part, I try to move in this as much as possible. I don't know whether you do. Often you'll find in reading the Scriptures that Jesus, He would talk to His disciples in the presence of the multitude. There were times that He took them on one side and He talked to them. But there were others when He talked to the multitude and He wanted everybody else to hear what He had to say to His disciples. Hallelujah. He didn't want His disciples to be on sort of secret orders, you know, like the Masonic people, or like the buffaloes, or whatever they are, or the royal ancient order of foresters, or something like that. Do you have them in Scotland, these buffaloes? And free Masons. And all this business. God's heart loathes Masonry. Absolutely loathes it. And all secret societies, God hates and detests them. No secret society can exist without oaths and execrations. They can't exist without oaths. That's why, you know, you're not to swear anyway. You can't turn one of your hairs white. All mine have gone white, but I didn't do it. You can't do that. All these things where there have to be are hidden things and secrets and I don't know what, beloved, God detests them. I'll tell you this, seeing that I was touching a little on this subject this afternoon, not from this angle, that all exclusiveness provides the ground for demonic activity. All exclusiveness, whether you call yourself exclusive brothers or sisters, or whether you call yourself exclusive Masonic this, or exclusive that, or exclusive something else, it all provides grounds for demon activity. Let's get out in the light. Amen. That's what Jesus is all about. Let's get right out in the light. If you belong to any kind of secret, exclusive body, get out of it, as you value your soul. If you lose your job, or lose your reputation, all the better. It's about time you lost your reputation. The whole thing, beloved, is that we've got to be right out here in the light. And Jesus often used to talk to his disciples, right out there in the light. I've got nothing much secret to say to you. When he really wanted to talk secret to them, secretly to them, you want to go to sort of chapters like 13, 14, 15, 16 of John. These are the chapters to go to. He wanted to talk love to them. Hallelujah. He wanted to talk love to them. The blessed, glorious, shared life. That's why he wanted to talk to them. But otherwise, he set it all right up for everybody to hear. In fact, one of his disciples said once, Lord, are you saying this to all men, or are you saying it to us? Because he was announcing right out in public. He said, who then is that faithful and wise steward? Do you remember? Do you think it's them, Peter? Or do you think it's you? Amen. Right out for the public they are. And so tonight, I've set this thing right out clear about the real relationship of disciples to the Lord and their call. He wants the world to know. He wants everybody to know what they should expect of a church. This is the trouble. The people in the world, they don't find these things in the churches. They don't find these things in the places where they go. Bless the name of the Lord, beloved. God wants the whole wide world to know the kind of people that he commissions and sends out. But the other side is this. We'll turn to Matthew's Gospel. And then we're going into Matthew chapter 11. And in Matthew chapter 11, we read these words. He's saying almost identical things as he said in Luke 10. For instance, he talks about Chorazin in verse 21, Bethsaida, Tyre, and Sidon, about the works being done, and so on. But little higher up in the chapter, this is what he says. Speaking of John Baptist, he says in verse 11, I say unto you, among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist, notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. That's the other side of it. Some of you probably are not in the kingdom of heaven because you've never taken it by force. What does that mean? Does that mean that I've got to sort of wrestle it out of him and fight him for it and get it from him against his will? Nah, it doesn't mean that at all. For what the Lord Jesus is making us understand, beloved, is this, that in the kingdom of heaven, only the violent approach will bring us into it. That's all. It's true he sends out his people to minister the things of the kingdom of heaven. It's true that he wants heaven to come into our lives. But until we understand, beloved, that the whole basis of the kingdom of heaven is violence, we shall never enter in. Everything's violence but the kingdom of heaven. It's based on violation of the things that people accept as normal. Let's see this. Let's ask ourselves a question. Is God be God? Could he be a man? No. God is not a man that he should repent. Then how could God be a man? By violating the laws of reproduction and biology. He violated it. Hallelujah. It's based on violation. Until we begin to see these things, we shall never get in to the heavenly states that God wants us to get into. Amen. I tell you that the kingdom of heaven is a kingdom of marvelous law by its violation of things that are merely earthly. Oh, hallelujah. Don't you understand that sin was a violation of God's law and holiness? Don't you see that a creature in the beginning violated the heavenly state? His name was Lucifer. And we've accepted the violation as being normal. We've accepted the abnormal as normal. That's our tragedy. You talk with people, even think back into your own life and you'll think this is exactly what they have. You know, I meet people again and again and again and here's a poor man who can't preach out of the background of case history, if you like to put it that way. You see, I've met people and they've been saved with psychiatrists or they've been to somebody and they've been treated as the best that these people can treat them. And they turn around and say, well, you'll have to learn to live with it. It's the status quo. It's the condition. You've got to learn to live with it. So they say. And most times people do learn to live with it. Human being has marvellous powers of adaptation. But you see, beloved, God broke into this state. Amen. He broke into it. I can just imagine the devil. He thought he, if I may use this term, got God sewn up. He introduced sin into the human race. Now, then he can't get in. You see, oh, talk about the subtlety as I was saying this afternoon. But was more subtle than any beast of the field. He thought all this out. He got a marvellous brain, the devil. All our modern things, they all stem from this, that the mind of the devil. See? And he got him now, got him now. He knew that God could appear on the earth as what they call a theophany. You know, he could appear on the earth as an angel or he could appear on the earth as this or that and the other. But to be born on the earth as a man, got that sewn up. Man's damned forever! Hooray! That's the devil. The rotten devil. He's the one that's brought hell into your life. He's the one. Now think of God. There never was a bigger fool than Satan. Never. Never been such a big fool as Satan. Never. He's no brother of mine, so I can call him a fool. I mustn't call my brother a fool, but I can call him a fool. Threw away heaven. But anyway, the whole tremendous thing about him, beloved, is that God just sort of, he that sits in heaven, just laughed at him. He got a virgin birth plan. The devil can't read God's thoughts. Hallelujah. The devil can't read God's heart. And that was something locked up in the glorious trinity. Yet if he'd only had common sense, he could have seen it. If the devil had only had common sense, two penny worth like I have, perhaps I've only got two penny worth under 2D and not 2P. But I could see this. Easy. Wasn't Jesus always the eternally only begotten Son? Now that should have given him a clue if he'd have got eyes to see it. And because he was always the eternally only begotten, he was the firstborn of every creature. He was going to be. Praise the name of the Lord. What a marvelous thing worked out. Became Mary's firstborn. Firstborn from the dead. Became the leader of a whole church of firstborn ones. Marvelous. The devil couldn't see this. Blind as a bat. So clever. This is the trouble with all these people. They're so clever. They're blind as blind as blind. And it says that the devil has blinded the minds of them that believe not. Amen. That's the whole thing, you see. But God had got this violation of all these things. Just one little word. That was it. God, it's marvelous. To bring heaven on earth. Down came the man from heaven. Hallelujah. Everything was perfect and wonderful. This kingdom of heaven on earth. Soon as he gets moving, moving the Lord Jesus. He does it everywhere. He heals the sick. Help go the devils. He calls people lunatics, etc. I tell you. He starts to move. So that onto earth come the heavenly states. And you and I have got to know that everything is based on violence. And there are people who don't get into the kingdom of heaven. And they don't know the heavenly states because they're too passive. They're very polite young ladies. And very reserved and refrained young men. And they've been brought up in the proper academies. And I don't know what. I don't know how you'd name them. Or anything like that. They're very nice. They belong to a good family. There's nothing violent about them. Except their own wretched filthy heart. That erupts in violence. In their bedrooms. Or in some classical drawing room. Or something. Rotten to the core. Everybody is. With violence. One of the keystones. In psychiatric treatment. Is to recognise the principle of aggression. And then on aggression comes another favourite word that they use. Repression. They're only just beginning to discover things. That's all. Hallelujah. We could have told them all about this. Praise the name of the Lord. And isn't this principle inherent in everything about Jesus Christ? Violated everything. Hung on a cross for instance. He said he was alive. I'm alive. He said. He went and died. What do you think of that? How can life die? Violated everything. Put him in a tomb. He rose again. Hallelujah. Go for a walk with him. Follow him out to a mound of olives. And you see him start to rise off the earth. And he violates the law of gravity. Everything is built on this principle that God is going to violate. These are the words that you might find in scripture. I will overturn. Overturn. Overturn. Until he come. Whose right it is to reign. Amen. And the Lord moves in this principle of violation. Absolutely. Got to be done. And unless you're prepared to come on this basis. You'll never get anywhere in these great things. Never. It's the violent who take it. The man who says Lord. I'm going to have it. The woman who says. I'm not lying down under this. I'm not taking this thing from Satan. The person who says. Do you know what manner of spirit you're of? Do you? What sort of a spirit's in you? Lord, I'm going to have it. Lord, I'm going through. Glory be to the name of the Lord. When God can get hold of a man like that. Or a woman like that. There's no telling to what lengths he'll take him. I'm going through. This is the spirit of everything. Not having this. Don't have to shout. I only emphasize it in preaching. Glory be to the name of the Lord. You can sit there and not move an outward muscle. Glory be to the name of the Lord. Father. Oh, but this. Look at the state of my home. Look at the state of my friends. Look at this. I'm sick. I'm down. I'm poor. I'm this. I'm that or the other. Lord. Glory be to the name of the Lord. Have you ever heard? Have you ever heard? Of a cockney parlour maid. Named Gladys Aylward. Have you ever heard of that? Of course you have. These are the people we talk about. The people who believe in violence. She's violated everything. She wasn't educated. She wasn't trained. She hadn't got any money. No misery society would even think of looking at her shadow. Leave alone her. We're talking about her. Not the societies and the boards that rejected her. We don't even know their names. Somebody. Little. Tiny. Thing. Who? Praise God. Miracle. Miracle. Miracle. Devil. Subject to her. They were subject to her. She didn't even know they were subject to her. Like those that went out originally. Listen. Well the devils are subject to this. The Lord said well of course. It's all in my heart. Praise God. Once a person touches this realm. Once they're here. Once the revelations come. Once their eyes have been opened. Once their hearts rise to God. And stop trying to give God a squeeze out. A little bit of faith. A little bit of faith. I think we've done something wonderful. Lord. Lord. Don't we love that text which talks about faith as a grain of mustard seed. We preach sermons about it. A grain of mustard seed. A grain of mustard seed. You nearly need a microscope to see it you see. But I would like to remind you that Jesus wasn't talking about size at all. He didn't say if you have faith as small as a grain of mustard seed. He said if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed. Even the tiniest things got life in it. That's what he's talking about. You see he wasn't talking about size at all. Hallelujah. It's about the smallest thing you could think of as having life. If you've got a speck of life in you. Life. Life. I want to tell you if you've got faith in you. Faith is life. And you live by faith. That's what the bible says. You've got no life if you haven't got any faith. And this was that beloved. That God said. We're going to violate everything. Of course it's all based on violation. You people. I'd like to think it was everybody here. I don't know whether I dare presume that. In this room you say that you're born of the spirit of God. And that you're filled with the Holy Ghost. What would you do tonight if suddenly now. You heard a trumpet start to blow. What would you do? And a voice shouting. What would you do? You'd go straight up to that roof. Wouldn't you? That's violation for you. You try and put your head through that roof and see. Jesus wouldn't say. Or walk out the door. Caught up. Meet the Lord in the air. He's coming. I'm coming. He's coming. Alleluia. It's based on faith meeting faith. Heart meeting heart. Even in the sublimest rapture it's that. And it starts down there. Here on this earth. On that same basis. You go out he says. Preach the kingdom of God. Go on. Tell him the kingdom of God's at hand. Amen. And he's expecting you to say. Lord. Where is it? What is it? I'm having it. That's what he's expecting you to say. Don't sit back and say. Well you see. I'm a Scot you see. We Scots we're not like you English people. You see. I'm sorry for the English people. That you should think of us like that. The whole tremendous truth about it beloved. Is that you got to come on out. Let's have some violence. Violate your Scots nature. Violate it. Amen. Yeah. Yeah. Oh I don't believe in that. Do you? Have you ever heard another story I've told? I said this. My brother Kelly would have heard me say this. I said this in quite a few places in India. It's right down to earth. It isn't a false story I've manufactured. It's a story that's true. I've often thought I'm near. I've been as near as a point getting thrown out of some of the meetings. So I've got to get ready to run tonight. I've often stood up and said. There aren't any Indians in heaven. You can see the change. There aren't any Indians in heaven. And when they're just about ready to say. I said it's alright there aren't any Englishmen either. If you persist in being an Indian you'll go to hell. You've got to be a new creature to go to heaven. Hallelujah. Then they get calm again. But that's the truth. That's the wrong time to get calm. That's the time to leap up with joy. A new creature. Amen. Oh hallelujah. You've got to violate everything darling. If you're not prepared to violate everything. You'll not get very far. See it's only the violent that take it. By force. Amen. By force. Say force. You don't mean any of this personality stuff do you? Oh no. Not that force. What kind of force is this? This beloved. That when God comes and speaks to you. You should be rejoicing Lord. I've never seen this happen. But it's sort of a colloquialism. In our language. And they talk about a dying man. A drowning man. Clutching a straw. I've never seen this happen. Force. Hallelujah. Clutching a straw. Won't he? That's force. Lord praise God. I'm going to have it. I'm going to have it Lord. Praise God. What do you say it is? I'm going to take it Lord. Take it by force. I'm going to do violence to my own nature. I'm going to do violence to my background. I'm going to do violence to my family. And I'm going to do violence to my reputation. I'm going to do violence to everything. Come here father. I'm having it. What is it you're talking about? What is it you're talking about? Listen. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. It's right at your hand. It's right at your hand. Amen. You've got two hands in there. In here. You've laid your hands on lots of things that have been illegitimate for you. These inward hands. You've grabbed with these inward hands of yours on things that are desperate and dark and devilish in your time. You know you have. Those clutching hands inside of you have taken liberties and wrought monstrosities. Haven't they? I've heard perfectly respectable women sitting opposite me in a chair. I've said this to several because it's so true. They've said they've had some tragedy in their family. Lovely women. They look marvellous. Beautifully dressed. And I don't know why. Sure they've got sorrow on their faces. But they've said to me, after we've been through all that, Mr. Nord, I've got to kill them. This is what he's done. Those two hands in there are already murdered. This man's done it. Murderess. Sitting in front of me. Very respectable. Yeah. That's it. That's your inward hands. Violence. You believe in violence. The basis of your life is violence. How did you come out of your mother's womb? Violence. You began it. Oh, you say, well, that's perfectly natural. Violence. Praise God. Violence. Has it sunk in? Oh, our violent God. Wasn't Calvary violence? If it wasn't violence, then I'm not saved, for I needed someone to come violently for me. I was so rotten, and so far gone. Praise God. Ooh. He plucked me. It's a brand from the burning. Is that right? It's violence. It's all violence. You see, we preach a nice lovey-ducky gospel to do with anti-Macassars and Aspidistras. That's what we do. Beloved, we preach a nice, nice sort of smooth down thing like the beautifully planed crosses that we wear around our necks or something like that. Nothing like that about God. Nothing. Calvary's violence, absolutely. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. To bring you and me into the order of God, into the beauty of the Lord, into heavenly states. But you've got to act. You've got to act. Go on. Out you go. Out you go. Hallelujah. It's plain. It's in the book. The heaven, the kingdom of heaven's at hand. You can get in, but you can't get in for sitting back and doing nothing. You've got to act. That's what you ought to pray.