In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of relying on the Holy Spirit to convict people of their sins and bring about transformation in their lives. He reminds the audience that it is not their responsibility to convince others, but rather it is God's sovereign work. The preacher then focuses on the parable of the prodigal son, highlighting three actions of the father: clothing the son, completing his work in the son's heart, and commissioning the son. He draws parallels between the father's actions and how God looks upon our relationship with Him. The sermon encourages believers to trust in God's love and grace, and to embrace the transformation He brings.

Join with me tonight, if you will, to that well-known passage in Luke chapter 15. We're going to read from Luke chapter 15, reading from verse number 11. The 15th chapter of Luke's Gospel, reading from verse number 11. And he said, A certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. Not many days after the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country, there wasted his substance with righteous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land, and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would have fain have filled his belly with the husk that the swine did eat, and no man gave it unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many I have servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare? And I perish of hunger. I will arise and go to my father and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and I am no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose and came to his father, but when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and his father had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and I am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best rope and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet, and bring unto the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and be merry. For this my son was dead, and he was alive again, he was lost in his sound, and they began to be merry. Now his eldest son was in the field, and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing, and he called one of his servants and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry and would not go in. Therefore came his father out and entreated him. And he answered his father and said unto him, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgress I at any time thy commandment. And yet thou never gavest me a creed that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And the father said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry and be glad. For this thy brother was dead, and he was alive again, and he was lost in his sound. Shall we just bow in a moment of prayer? Now, Father in Heaven, we do thank thee this evening for the tremendous blessing for us to be in thy presence again. We thank thee for this wonderful day which thou hast given unto us and for the way in which we have sensed thy presence with us. And we confess again tonight that we do not take thy presence for granted, but we want to humble ourselves again under the mighty hand of our God. Father, we pray in this final night as we turn to thy precious word that by thy Spirit thou would come and minister to us again from the Word of God. Lord, thou hast done it night after night, and we have sensed the stirrings of thy Spirit. But we ask that in this final meeting that we will sense thy presence again and that we will be able to come and give ourselves afresh to thee. We ask that you will bless us tonight. We thank thee for so many young folk tonight in our service, and we bless thee for these young people. And we know that they are precious in the sight of God. And we pray this evening that you will bless them in a very special way. Cover us under the protection of thy precious blood. And give unto us the gracious unction and the anointing of thy Spirit. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. If you study the four Gospels, especially the Synoptic Gospels, in other words the three Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, then you will discover that the Lord Jesus told 38 parables during his ministry in the three Gospels. Now if you study the parables of the Savior, you will discover that 29 of those 38 parables are found in three of the Gospels. Then you also discover that three of the parables are found in two of the Gospels. That means that there are six parables which we will come across only in one of the Synoptic Gospels. It seems to me that when we turn to John's Gospel, which is very much a devotional Gospel if I can use the word, that there is hardly a parable in the Gospel of John, although there is a possibility of maybe one or two, it depends on the way that we look at it. But there was a reason for the Lord Jesus to give unto us these parables, so that we would be able to understand the things of the Kingdom of God. Now when we turn to this parable which we have read about tonight, is there a sense in which I must confess that whenever I've heard someone preach on this parable, that we always focus our attention upon what they would call the prodigal son. But I wonder tonight if you realize that within these verses, do we not only come across what I would call the life of the prodigal son, or a life of a wretched son who has almost wasted his life, but the Bible also speaks of his brother. Some years ago I was asked to speak at a conference with a minister who is a friend of mine, and we had to share in both, in the one service, two messages. And I wanted to speak on the work and the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of this prodigal son, in the sense of bringing the rest of the teachings of what the New Testament said about this specific situation, into this passage. Well to my utter amazement when my friend had to preach first, and he got up in the pulpit, and to my utter amazement and shock, his passage was this very same passage about the prodigal, and he was preaching about the prodigal son. Well you can imagine, I sat behind the pulpit in such agony, because this man took my message. And while he was preaching my message, I thought, well, if I'm not going to preach to the prodigal, then I'm going to give his brother a shot. While he was preaching, I worked out the sermon on his brother. And the very interesting thing is that sermon had four points, and it became four sermons, which became a tremendous blessing to my heart. And you know it's very significant that if you study what I would call the work of the Spirit of God, in the life of someone, it depends how we want to look at this, who has been enlightened by the Spirit of God, or maybe someone who has been indwelled by the Spirit of God. And come back to this passage, it's very significant, to see that there are a number of things which correspond in the teachings of God's work, in the life of someone who has sensed something of the grace of God. But the Bible speaks about his brother, you see. Now, his brother never went into the far country. His brother was always in the presence of his father. And yet his brother was in the very same sense of need. Because the moment when the prodigal came back, the Bible speaks about the radical change in his attitude. The Bible says he refused to go in where his brother was. There was not only the radical change in his attitude, but the Bible speaks of the righteousness, the self-righteousness which came from his lips. He said to his father, I spent so many years with you, and you never gave me something that I could be with my friends. And my dear friends, may I say tonight, that it's not necessary to go to the far country, and find yourself being miles away from God. But you and I can slip within the very presence of God. In fact, the revival amongst the Zulu people, I'm almost afraid to say this, but sometimes we've got such a distorted view of revival. But in the revival amongst the Zulu people, in the southern coast of Africa, there was a missionary in the midst of a revival. And God's Spirit was dealing us something in his life. It happened seven years ago. And when the Spirit of God dealt with him, he kept that something back. And God was speaking to him again and again. And one morning in one of the prayer meetings, in the midst of a revival, this missionary got up and he started to pray. He prayed the normal prayer which we would pray every day. And there was a moment that he stopped within the middle of his prayer. And he said in his prayer, he said, there is something that is piercing me. He said, there is something that is piercing me. And the first time that he said that, he dropped down dead and they carried him out. My brother and sister, I sometimes feel that we speak so easily about the concept of revival. I don't know what will happen to us if God will send revival. You see, we can slip within the very presence of God. That's what happened with the brother. But you know, the most amazing thing about this whole passage of Scripture is the fact that the Bible does not only speak about the son or his brother, but the Bible speaks about the father. You see, behind these two sons, there was the father. And it seems to me that in the life of a father, we see something about the heart of God. I wonder tonight if you sit here in the Sunday night service, and you find yourself wondering sometimes, we say, well, somehow there is something wrong in my life. We've all seen you, Stephen. He's coming to fetch the tissue. You say, well, there is something wrong in my life. And we are concerned about that which is wrong in my life. But my dear friends, have you ever asked yourselves, how does God feel about my life? What is there within the heart of God? What is there tonight as He looked upon my life? How does God look upon my relationship with Him? I would suggest that if we looked upon the life of His father, are there three things which I would like us to focus our attention upon? It seems to me that the father did three things. First of all, the father clothed the son. Secondly, it seems to me that the father completed his work in the son's heart. And thirdly, it seems to me that the father commissioned the son. So, why do I say that the father clothed the son? Well, you see, there was a moment when the Bible says, the son came back from a far country. And he said to himself, how many hired servants of my father's got bread enough? And he said, I perished of hunger. And he said, I will arise and go to my father and said, father, I have sinned against you and in thy sight, and I am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the Bible says the moment when he came back to his father, was there a moment that the father said to the servants. In fact, it seems to us that the father day by day was waiting for the son to come. But the moment when he came back and the father saw him, the Bible says the father as he looked upon him, he had compassion upon the son. And he went and when the son came, the father said to the servants, bring unto my son the best robe. I wonder tonight if you sit here in the service and you ask yourself, well, what is the Bible really saying to us when it speaks about this reality of the robe? What does the Bible say about this garment which God has promised to us in his word? My brother and sister, it seems to me that if I would be allowed to take this out in this context and looked upon this in the context of the rest of the scriptures, is there a sense in which I need to say that whenever the Bible speaks about a garment or a robe or something which God has promised to us, that it seems to me that in the spiritual sense of the word, is it always connected with the righteousness of God? Can you remember Job when he spoke in that wonderful book? He said, I've been clothed with the righteousness of the garment of righteousness. The psalmist again and again, as we read through the Psalms, speaks of this great robe of righteousness. As you remember in the book of Revelation, the Bible speaks of those who came out of the great tribulation. And when the question was asked, where does these people come from? Then the answer came. These are those who came out of the great tribulation. Those who have been washed in the garment in the precious blood. Those who have washed their garments in that wonderful blood. In other words, it seems to me tonight, it's right to say that when we ponder upon this robe or this garment in the Bible, well, first of all, I would like to suggest that it's a righteousness, my friends, which comes from the Father. You see, there is nothing in ourselves that we can offer to God. The Bible says our own righteousness are like faulty racks in the presence of God. But we are speaking about the righteousness of God. We are speaking about the reality of imputed righteousness. The fact that Jesus can become a reality in my heart and in my life. Isn't it wonderful that the very same word when the apostle Paul said, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. Then he used that precious little word. He said, behold, all things have passed away because all things has become new. You see, my brother and sister, the moment when the righteousness of God becomes a reality and we face our own righteousness and the fact that we come short of the righteousness of God, that moment we sense that our salvation is from God. And my brother and sister, may I say, that there is a sense in which you and I can do absolutely nothing about our relationship with God. Because it's the righteousness of God which we are... We've got a responsibility. God has given us a will and a choice which we need to make. But the righteousness which comes, comes from the heart of the Father. I wonder this Sunday night if you sit here in the service, would you allow me to ask you, have you experienced or rather sensed something of this great righteousness of God? My word, I remember that night when I was converted in that theological college in Southern Africa. You know, for three years I preached God's Word. The Bible was precious to us. I grew up in a circumstance where we had to read the Bible every day. Every night, us children, we would confess our sins before God. I find myself in a theological college, studying the Word of God. No one ever asked me if I was born again of the Holy Spirit. My word, the night when the challenge came, I sensed that what I need was something of a righteousness of God. And all my friends, what a difference it made. Outwardly there was no difference. Somehow because our lives were so protected. I never heard people swearing in our house. I never saw my father with a drink in his hand. We were so protected as children. But my word, I missed the righteousness of God. Isn't it a great thrill tonight to sense that here is something which came from the Father? All my friends, that thrills my heart. Because the Apostle Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the Gospel. He really said to us in the Greek text, I'm absolutely... Why is it? He said, it's the power of God. And I would like to say to those of you tonight, who somehow find yourself in full time ministry, or maybe in the days to come, my dear brother, when God is going to give you a ministry, this righteousness of God is going to be precious. It came from the Father, you see. The Father said to His servants, bring unto my son the best robe. Not something which you buy second hand, not something which is cheap, not a sense of an easy work, but something from the heart of the Father. He cleared the sons. But I would like to go a little bit further. You know, it's an amazing thing, that this promise of the righteousness of God, that it seems to me that the Bible makes a distinction between imputed righteousness and imparted righteousness. Somehow I can receive this wonderful garment, my brother and sister. I sit in the Sunday night service, and you say, well, isn't it wonderful to know something? Isn't it a great blessing to say that the Father has come? It came from the heart of the Father. I responded to it, and somehow I experienced it. Can I ask you this evening, my brother and sister, where do we stand as far as this garment is concerned? Do you know the world in which you and I find ourselves? Do you know what happens to us, my dear friends? As they looked upon us in the spiritual sense of the word, they see a garment. They looked upon our robe of righteousness. They said, this person is different. He belongs to a different kind of people. He is one of those who has been adopted into the family of God. Would you allow me to ask you this Sunday night, my brother and sister, when last has that precious garment been cleansed? Why is it that there is such a tremendous emphasis upon the ministry of the blood? Why does the Bible say, how much more shall the blood cleanse my conscience from dead works to serve the Lord? He is speaking about the bride, you see. My brother and sister, we are serving a bridegroom. One who is going to come. One who gave himself to the church. And he looked upon the church. And he looked upon that beautiful garment, and he said, is that garment clean? You know, it's interesting that we remember the things whenever we see something. We always remember the bad. In fact, if I may say, use the illustration, say well, if you and I would go to a wedding, and the lady would stand in front of the pulpit with her beautiful wedding dress, and just three, four, five minutes before she walked into the church, something happened, and some dirty spot came upon that wedding dress. And she would stand there. We would sit in the congregation. And you and I would see that. I tell you, in ten years time, you would beat me down the street. And you would say to me, Gerard, do you remember that wedding which we've been to? I would say, well, which one? I've been to many weddings in the last ten years. I say, you remember it was that dirty spot upon the wedding dress. I said, I remember that, you see. My friends, that's what happened. You see, the world in which we live, the world in which you and I minister, it's a world which is looking upon us, and a world which is asking us, is this a life which is being controlled by the Spirit of God? You sit here this evening, I would never forget, you know, I think it was about eight years ago, speaking one Sunday morning in a Baptist church in the town of South Africa, and God, in His Spirit, in an amazing way, swept into our midst. And I was dealing with something similar. And it just seemed that morning, when God came upon us, that we saw our garments. We sensed this reality of the righteousness of God. We sensed these great promises. In my work, I remember when God broke into the service, the very first one at the altar was the minister and his wife. And we in the congregation, we just sobbed our hearts out. Oh, my brother and sister, can I ask you tonight, is there maybe something upon our conscience? Somehow, when that garment is lifted up, we say, God, how will I stand one day before Thee? The great A.W. Tozer said, you know, when he was asked one day, he said, what is the greatest fear in your life? When it comes to the judgment seat. Tozer said, I'm not concerned about the things which I've done for God. He said, but today, the thing which I fear is when I need to stand before God. And He shows me the things which I should have done. And he said, I've never done those things. Do you remember Joseph and his brethren? The Bible says Joseph had that beautiful garment which his father made. Do you remember Joseph when he came to his brethren? They said, here is this dreamer coming. They couldn't stand the very face of Joseph. Do you remember how they took Joseph and they threw him into the well. Then they took him out, sold him to those men of Midian. And they took that precious garment of Joseph. And the Bible says that they killed one of the goats and dipped it into the black. They took it back to their father. They said to their father, Jacob, does this belong to thy son Joseph? Ah, Jacob. He said, this is my son's. And he stopped. Do you know what his sons did? It seems that they surrounded him. And they wept for their father. But they were the ones, you see. My friends, I want to say to you tonight, you know, we are living in a time, and this is the greatest concern of my heart. It seems to me that you and I are living in a time, and we are living in a time where everything is instant. As you go through this world, everything we try to do things as fast and as quick as possible. Sometimes the fear upon my heart, say, oh my God, don't let me get involved in that. Don't let our relationship with God be something which is cheap, something which is on the surface, but bring something of the depths of thy love. You know, in South West Africa, it's an amazing country. There is what we would call the Kalahari Desert. I stayed with a Christian farmer some years ago, and I was preparing for a convention. And one night when we had our family prayers at the table, he turned to me and he said to me, Gerard, he said, here on my farm, or in the Kalahari Desert, he said, we've got a very interesting plant. He said, it's a poisonous plant. I said, well, please tell me about it. Well, he said, brother, it's like this. He said, it only comes out during the rainy season. They don't get a lot of rain, September and October, maybe half an inch at the most, or sometimes a little bit more. But he said, it only comes out during the rainy season. And he said, you know, when anything of a cattle, sheep, or anything of a game, the deer would eat that. He said, within about 24 hours, you would find those animals lying dead all over the place because of this poisonous plant. And I was fascinated. I said, Gerard, so what do you do? He said, brother, you can't do anything. He said, you're not going to see that plant again. Somehow once it's been cut up, you don't see it until the next rainy season comes. So I was very interested. I said, so what happened? Well, he said, you see, you wait for the rain to come next year. And he said, once the rain would come next year, he said, you, the moment when it starts to rain, you get a horseback with a spade and you start to clear the camps. And he said, you start to go through the camps and there you come across that plant. I said, you can cut it off. But he said, as you cut it off, he said, maybe for a year you're not going to have any trouble. But he said, brother, once you put the spade in, about 18 inches under the sand, there is the roots of this plant. He said, it's the size of a tennis ball. And I remember his words. He said, brother, it's as red as blood. He said, that's where the poison is lying. I was saying to Dr. Turner tonight, you know, just before I came to his service, in more than one sense, I do not belong to the Free Methodist Church, but in more than one sense, I feel absolutely at home because I love Wesley and that which John Wesley stood for. Some of my dear friends, we are sitting tonight in this service. Listen, your life is precious to God. Listen, my brother and sister, the normal Christian life is a life in the fullness of the Spirit of God. That makes the difference. That's how people looked upon our lives and they say, there is something precious about this life. Promise of a righteousness. God said, I promise that you see. You know, sometimes the Bible says, be not drunk of wine, wherein there is success, but be full to the Spirit. The great CH Spurgeon said, that's not just a promise of God, it's a command to obey. The great C.T. Studd was at a convention, as you know, early in the morning he was with F.B. Meyer. And early in the morning, F.B. Meyer woke up and he saw C.T. Studd was on his knees with his little candle and his Bible in the stink at a Catholic convention. As he turned to C.T. Studd, he said, what time did you wake up? Oh, he said, about three o'clock. He said, so what have you been doing? Oh, C.T. Studd said, from three o'clock till now. He said, a word came to my heart. He said, I remember Jesus saying, if you love me, will you keep my commandments? He said, I've been going through the commandments of Jesus. And he said, there are so many of them, which I've never kept. My brother and sister, can I ask you, this is my final opportunity. Maybe some of you would say, well, thank God, we never want Him back. Listen, are you full to the Holy Spirit? I don't ask you if you had certain manifestations. Has the Spirit of God revealed Himself to you, not as an influence or experience, but something as a person? Never forget, you know, just a young fellow preaching out, and you know, when you just come out of college or seminar, my work, I tell you, you just think, you just, you feel you just know about everything. After three months, you realize you just know about nothing. And it was after those three months, that I found myself struggling away, boy. Find myself trying to read sermons, and praying, and seeking the face of God. And you lose concept of many things, you know. Sometimes you forget that you need an introduction, because you're so concerned to get through to the people. And I remember one night, I was in a meeting, intense battle, and it was just with God speaking to my child, listen, it's not your responsibility to convince people. The Bible says, when my spirit come, he will convince the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. He said, it's a sovereign work of my spirit. Oh, my brother and sister, that's the promise of God. Secondly, and finally, because my time is gone. The father completed his work in the son's heart. He said to him, bring to my son the garment. My son, my son's life is going to be different. I'm going to bring a transformation. He said, I'm not going to stop there. He said, bring unto my son the ring. I wonder if you have ever asked yourselves, what is the message of this ring? Is it possible that from this parable, you and I can say that in the spiritual sense of the word, is there a message for us as the people of God? My friends, as we look to the scriptures, as the whole, do you know what's the message of the ring? It speaks of something of God's separation. Do you remember Mordecai? Do you remember when Mordecai received the ring of the king? It gave unto him a sense of authority. The same in the book of Daniel. Once the seal of the king's ring was there, there was no way that they could change it. The same in the life of Joseph. And you know, when I ponder upon this in the Old Testament, I thought, well, in the Old Testament, the ring speaks of authority. It speaks of a reality of that sense of authority which was given to a person. Then we came to the New Testament. I don't know if I'm wrong in this, and if I'm wrong, please forgive me, but this word ring, as far as I can gather, is only found here in Luke chapter 15. And when I look up the text, I came across two very interesting words. I can't clarify this tonight, I trust that what I'm saying is right. But you know the Greek word for ring, for finger, is the word aktylos. And I discovered that the word for ring is the Greek word aktylos. And as I thought of this, I wonder, is there some sense of connection? Isn't that maybe the reason why the Lord Jesus said, it is through the finger of God that I cast out the demons? Wasn't that maybe why those sorcerers, the magicians, in the book of Exodus, responded when the plagues came, and they said to the king, this is nothing else than the finger of God? Authority, my friends. I wonder tonight, if you sit here as a believer, as a young person, as a student, here at the college, in a class, in a seminar, do you know something of the authority of God? Somehow when you get there and you're facing your knees before Him, sense the reality of His authority. We were talking this afternoon about students, you know, and I must say, it's a tremendous challenge to see the young folk. And I always thank God for every single one of them. But you know, I was saying to Mr. Brown that sometimes my experience of theological colleges is that some of those students, you look at them, and you say, you know, there's tremendous potential. God is going to do a great work in this life. He's got wonderful abilities. And boys, he came to the end of his study, and he made a mission. Sometimes you look at a little insignificant student, and you say, oh, I wonder what's going to come from this. And there is a sense of trusting in God. And God take that little insignificant life and use it. Well, lastly, you know, when I was a student, and she was precious, you know, but I often thought when I look at her, well, you know, she's a wonderful girl, and it's a great blessing, but I could never see her becoming a missionary. I could see her being the secretary of a minister, or doing this, or doing that. Never. And one night, in the testimony meeting, she got up, and she said, God has called me to Spain. I just about fell from my chair, and I thought, for goodness sake, how are you going to get me to Spain? But she had a word. She said, God spoke to me. And I had grace enough not to say anything, and pray for her. And do you know, my friends, today she's in Spain, being used of God. You sit here tonight as a young person, listen, your life is precious to God. Your life is precious. You know, I must confess, and I don't mean this wrong, but I never knew Asbury Theological Seminary, but for the last 10 years, I've been an ambassador. In which country I've been, I only visited last year, when Dr. Turner invited me to come to Wilmore. But for the last 10 years, whenever someone asked me about North America, a place to study, I would say, you know, the only place which I can suggest is to go to Asbury. Somehow, because of what we've heard, the sense of reputation, the sense of a blessing of God. I wonder, my brother and sister, what will happen if God in his spirit will sweep through this seminar, and through this college, and through this town. Do you know what will happen to this state? God will come to Kentucky. Do you know what will happen to the 49 states in the rest of the USA? Some young men and women will be sent out with a great unction of a spirit resting upon their lives. I nearly said the 51st state, because that's Canada, but they slaughter me if I say that. It's the unction. The unction. I would travel miles to go and listen to a fellow. He could be young and inexperienced, but he knows something of the unction of God. Because the truth which is going to come will not only be great biblical truth, but there will be something of the presence of God. He said, bring to my son the ring. My brother and sister, if you sit here tonight and you marry, how do we know it? If you are a stranger to me and you walk down the street and I start to speak to you, how do I know that you are married? The first thing, that there is an engagement ring if you are a girl. And the second, there is the wedding ring. What did you say? The moment when you put that wedding ring on, you made a confession, you made a statement in the presence of others. You say, for the rest of my life this is going to be my husband. There is not going to be place in the realm of my mind and its thoughts or in my heart and my being for every other man in my life. The same as a man. You said, I separated myself unto my wife. I am going to love her as Christ loved the church. He gave unto his son the ring. Can I ask you tonight, my dear young friend, is your life being separated unto Jesus? All I always say to young people, have a great and a high view of Jesus. Because there is not a problem which we are battle with, which our Saviour does not have an answer for. He said, bring to my son the ring. Separate my son. You know, the island of Scotland is very precious to me. But it is very strong Calvinism. Boy, I tell you, when I go up there, I know I am in the fire. Because of my background in the Dixiefond church, I appreciate it. In fact, when we speak about the subsequent experience as far as the fullness of the Spirit of God is concerned, I never deal with the Gospels or the Acts of the Apostles, because I know that they will say to me, well, that is salvation. And that is the coming of the Holy Spirit. That is salvation. So I said, let's get into the epistles and get into the Aorist imperative tens and see, isn't there the possibility of seeing a subsequent experience of the fullness of God's Spirit. But you know what has happened? God, I remember one place they asked me for services and I think in seven services, nineteen people got wonderfully converted. And the minister and the Christians in the church, they couldn't understand it. And I knew it was nothing to do with me. But I remember, you know, they sat there and some came and said, Galat, why is it we've been here for 25 years, we've never seen that. I said, listen, I tell you, if you are looking at me, I would say that as far as my own life is concerned, there was a moment when I separate myself unto God. There was a moment when God cleansed me, when His Spirit who came into my life at conversion took full control of my life and I start to live a spirit-filled life. Ah, they say, well, that's not true. That's not possible. I said, well, I leave it to you. You ask me, why is there blessing? I said, I believe that's one of the possible little simple reasons. Do you know, I would never forget when God was working in a wonderful way, the telephone started ringing, one o'clock in the morning. Jairus, one of the elders, a converted man, on the phone, he said, Gerard, it's Hector. I said, yes, Hector. What's the trouble? He said, there is sin in my life. I said, yes, Hector, I know that. I said, but you reject this. I said, that's your problem, you see. And you know, sometimes we, I can do, a lot of my ministerial friends, they are stone-scalvenous boy. And we sat there, we talked. And when those people got saved, I turned to these fellows, I said, these are my friends. I said, you want me to tell these people who got saved that for the rest of their lives they are going to live in sin, in the wilderness, out in defeat. They will never experience victory. And they just had to drop their heads, you know. Some of them, up to today, have never given me an answer. Ah, my friends, there is a life in the fullness of the Spirit. Thank God for it. Does it still throw your soul? Will you go to school tomorrow? Go to your place of work, find yourselves in the lecture room, save your life, sensing the witness and the unction of the Spirit. The father said, bring to my son the ring. Separate him unto myself. The promise of a precious garment, and the promise of a wonderful ring. A life being yielded over to God. I don't know if I ever will come back to Walmart again. It has been a great blessing to be here. In fact, I wish I could give all you folk to Canada. But listen here, if there is one thing which I want you to remember, remember that this life and the fullness of God's Spirit, my friends, is not a goal, it is but a gateway. He said, I'm going to commission this son. Give him shoes and his feet. Why? Because of his responsibility to the gospel. I want to close here as you know, I was involved in a crusade a number of years ago, and God broke into the meeting, I think it was the twelfth night of those services, and there was a lady at the altar that night, a number of people who had broken at the altar, and she prayed a prayer, which was quite an amazing prayer, because she was at the prayer meeting every day when we prayed together, and there was always a smile upon her face. But suddenly that night she broke down, she said, God, will you please forgive me? I didn't know what was going on, you know. And two days after that, I said to myself, I better go to the house. When I knocked at the door of the house in the morning, she opened up, and she said, Sir, please come in. I look her in the eyes, and I realized that this lady hasn't slept for the last two nights, and we sat down. I said, what's wrong? She said, I'm fasting and praying. I said, well, what's going on? I said, you prayed in the prayer meeting, there was always a smile upon your face, but the night when God broke through, I said, why was it so different? She said, I want to tell you something which no one else, no one ever knows, not even my husband. She said, three years ago, one morning, I was having my choir time, and she said, there was an old man on the other side of the town, and in my choir time, God spoke to me and said to me, Mary, I want you to go and share with old Mr. Watson the gospel. She said, I didn't respond to God because I felt he did not belong to my church. She said, two mornings after that, I was praying again, and she said, the voice of God came again. God said, Mary, I want you to go and speak to old Mr. Watson. Nothing wrong with Mr. Watson, well and alive. She said, I didn't go. Next morning, the telephone rang. It was her best friend on the phone. She said, Mary, do you know what happened last night? No, she said, I don't. She said, old Mr. Watson, suddenly has been cast into eternity. She said, I put the telephone down, and she said, for the last three years, she said, no one else knew about her, but for the last three years, there was a smile upon my face. But she said, in my heart, I've been in agony. My brother and sister, we sit in a service like this. You came in here tonight, a nice smile on your face, everything seemed right. But deep in the heart, he said, a grave sense of need. Wouldn't you say, this last Sunday night, my Savior, I want to come to Thee. I want You to touch my heart. These young folk in our midst, I don't believe for one moment that every one of us who sit in this service tonight, can say that there is nothing wrong with my life. That I'm living in all the promises of God. And I wonder if this is maybe the last opportunity, and God is saying, my child, precious in my sight is your life. And yet I want you to come to me, and trust me. My friends, we don't lie to do this to influence people. We are concerned about the spiritual welfare of men and women. The Father, commissioned the Son.