In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of studying the Bible to gain a true understanding of God's message. He focuses on the culminating events in the four Gospels before transitioning into the Acts of the Apostles. The speaker highlights the significance of the cross, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. He urges listeners to be prepared to fully commit to spreading the gospel, even if it means sacrificing their jobs. The sermon concludes with the importance of receiving the enduement of power from on high.

One of the wonderful things about studying the Bible is that you come to a real knowledge of what God means, what he's trying to get at, and in the simplest ways, the Lord can open the eyes of the understanding, so that we don't get at all confused or mixed up. And I want to take the four Gospels with you, not the whole four of them right the way through, but look into each one of the four Gospels at the end of the four Gospels, and want to show you, if you like, what is the culminating thing, just before the Gospels close down, and that we go from then into the Acts of the Apostles. You will know that the Gospels, between them, cover the coming, the living, and the going of the Lord Jesus Christ, to and in and from this earth. And the four streams, one, two, three, four, at the end, all come down onto the revelation of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the Lord, and finally with the Ascension, and all that that held in view, and then they come focusing down onto these tremendous events, Calvary and Pentecost. Then from there, they open up again, through the letters and so on, and how wonderfully the New Testament concludes in the book of the Revelation. What a wonderful thing the Lord had in view. And you must understand that all He did, He did for that reason, for the great end that He had in view. The vision of His heart, the thing that He counted so dear, that He didn't think it was too great a price to lay down His life in order to achieve it. He knew, indeed, He knew that except He did it, it could only ever be a dream, and could never, never be real. I might say that this is why in so many people's lives, all their nice revelations and things that they have are just mere dreams in the end, because they don't really do anything vital about achieving the thing that sounds so nice, looks so beautiful, and be described so splendidly, can cause people to go into rhapsody. But nothing ever is done, because there's no equivalent to Calvary in the life. There's nothing that's really vital, it's just talk, and books, and visions, and things like that. But you see, the Lord could afford to have visions and revelations and talk about them, because He was prepared to pay the price of achieving the end of the revelation. And He could give a book full of prophecies, and promises, and pictures, and things, because He was prepared to go through, that all should be fulfilled. There must come something like this into the realization of every heart. And I want to warn you, that unless you are prepared, it doesn't matter who you are, whether you be an elder, or whether you be the youngest young one here, or anyone in between, it doesn't matter who you are, including myself, unless we're really prepared to go right through, then all these things are mere sort of pipe dreams, little better than people get by taking LSD, for instance. What a tremendous thing, then, to have the heart set, fixed, on what God wants to achieve in the life, and to go through at all costs. All right, in these four Gospels, we're going to start with the last one, that is, the Gospel according to John, because obviously, in the context of what I want to say, you will see that although this Gospel is written last, it has the most vital thing of all to say about this subject. And in the end of this 20th chapter, and on into the 21st, you will know that chapter divisions are quite arbitrary, that they weren't inspired, we've said these things before, all we're doing is to draw attention to things that went on in the end, and at the end of the 20th chapter, we have that verse 31, many other signs, truly, did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, ye might have life through his name. Now, beloved, essentially, we must all understand this, the most vital thing for each one of us in this room tonight is to know that we're alive in the realm that God wants us to be alive, with the life that alone God can give us. This is the most tremendous thing, because you will know that this book precedes the Acts of the Apostles, and all the great activity that went on in the Church. And you read about this, and you have the history of it in the Acts, you have letters written to the early Church, in the sense that they were written to churches, groups within the early Church, the one great Church. And if you and I, now listen very carefully, if you and I are going in any way in our lives to match up to this great truth that comes in the Acts of the Apostles, and the evident revelation of further activity that was going on in the Churches, if we're going to come there, we must be alive with exactly the same quality of life that they had. That's as clear as a crystal. We must be alive. Well, you'll read this in the Roman letter, for instance. You'll find that again and again Paul talks about being alive unto God. Now, it doesn't matter whether all the rest of the people in the universe think you're alive to them. If you're not alive to God, what does it matter? It doesn't matter whether you're alive to the philosophical society, or whether you're alive to a phagin's den of thieves, or whether you're alive to the Royal Academy of Music, or whether you're alive to the House of Commons, or whether you're alive to the House of Lords. No, it doesn't matter about that. What's the use of any of that? If you're not alive to God, what's the use of it? Seventy years, we'll see it all through, and then where will you be if you're not alive to God? If you live to be seventy. Very doubtful, the way things are going on. You see, beloved, you and I are to realise that God, above all, in this revelation given in this book, it is that you might be alive in the way that He's alive. If not, you're dead in the way that He's not dead. And it's a tremendous thing to know this. And then, in this same book, in the next chapter, know this, that primarily, you are alive for this reason. Fifteen, when they dined, Jesus said to Simon, Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? More than everything, that's really what he was saying, more than these things, and anything, and anybody, there was a fishing boat there, and fish, and there was the seaside, and there was the tan and smell and allurement of the old life, and there were all the other apostles, well, those other apostles that were there, there was a lovely morning sunrise, there was food, there was a fire, there was everything. But Peter, do you love me more than these? Well, do you or don't you? Because this is the whole purpose of being alive, and you're not alive if you don't. Now, this is the way you ought to test your life. If you don't love the Lord Jesus Christ tremendously, foremost, and in this sense only, if you don't love Him, then you are not alive. For this is the great work of the Holy Ghost in giving you life, it is that you may love Jesus like He does. The Holy Ghost loves Jesus. Amen. He loved Jesus so much that He's quite content to subject His personality and obliterate Himself so that only Jesus should be seen and known. Jesus was quite prepared to have Himself obliterated and blotted out that Father's will may be done. You see, this is the way it is. If you're really alive, this is what it's all for. It's all for love's sake. You're only alive for love's sake, because God loved you, and He brought you alive so for love's sake that you could love too. Do you understand that? And if you don't, you're not alive. Now, that's a basic, tremendous thing for you to see, and He took old Peter off along the seashore to make sure that Peter loved Him. That's right. Now, that's what Jesus wants to do to you. He wants to make sure that you love Him. He puts His finger on the pulse of your being, and your love is your pulse. Don't you realize the blood in the veins of Jesus, that you would have got His pulse from, was all love? Don't you understand that? It was redeeming love. He laid it down for you to buy you back, and you put the finger on the pulse of everybody there, whether they really love Jesus. Now, whatever you may think about yourself, that's the measure of your spiritual life. That's your stature. When it talks about in Ephesians, building yourself up to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that's your stature. How great a lover are you? That's your stature. You're just as big as your love. That's just as big as you are. You're no bigger than your love. Amen. That's why God's so great. He's all love. Here. Perfect love. Now, this is absolutely important in view of what God has in mind for us all. In this room tonight, God has in mind, perfectly planned and revealed, we'll see it in a moment, He has a certain course of life open for us, and He wants us all to be in it. Now, I'm going to ask you a question here and now. Look up. Don't look at your Bible, and don't do anything now. Look at me. Look at me in the eyes, because I'm asking the question of you. Will you do what Jesus wants you to do? And will you be what Jesus wants you to be? And will you go the way that the Lord wants you to go? Will you? That's the important thing. It's here, but you can't do it, and you won't do it, and it is impossible for you to do it. However much you may use phraseology and all the doctrinal buttresses that you know, you cannot do this unless you're alive, feelingly alive, unto Jesus with love. You can't do it. You haven't got it in you, and no mysterious happening that you could wish upon yourself can project you into it. It can't be done. Do you love me, Peter? Do you love me? And when he asked that, he asked this with the whole of Peter's future in his mind. Let's see it this way. See? Verse 19, he spoke signifying Peter's death. He was looking forward now to the end of Peter's life. And he said, now Peter, you're all right, you're the first of the apostles, you do so and so and so and so and so and so and so and so and so and so and so and so and so and so and so and so and so and so. He said, Peter, do you love me? Then you'll be able to achieve this wonderful thing that you're going to lay down your life for me. I've had to tell you before that you couldn't. Not so far back in John, in that end of the 13th chapter, he told him, he said, oh Lord, I'll lay down my life for your sake. He said, you'll deny me three times before the cock crows. That's what you'll do, Peter. You see? But now he's got this great confession of faith. He said, Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee. Then he told him, then he told him, because you just can't do it. It can't be done upon good intentions. It can't be done by mustering all your moral courage. It can't be done. Only that if the blessed Holy Ghost has generated you with the life that was laid down on that cross and now you're living and loving Jesus and that's all you'll want to do, finally and in everything, to love him and serve him, live for him and die for him if he doesn't come beforehand. That's the whole thing. Hallelujah. As a matter of fact, really, that's the only moral ground you can come onto. You're completely immoral if not. You're trying to get salvation upon a false moral premise. Here it is. Jesus Christ loved me, so loved me, laid down his life for me. But I'm not going to lay down my life for him, but I want to go to heaven when I die. Do you see what I mean? You're on a false basis. You're not even on a basis that's moral. Leave alone righteous. This great love of his, it calls forth this. No great pratings, no great boastings, but just this, Lord, Lord. I love you. You know I love you. Jesus knew if he got that, it was all right. If he got that. Now that's a tremendous thing. Be vibrantly, wonderfully alive in loving the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if you're alive, we'll go to Luke's gospel, shall we? No, we won't. We'll go to Matthew. I think we'll start with Matthew. That's where most people would start anyway, but we've taken it second. And in Matthew's gospel, you will know that this is what took place after Jesus rose from the dead, because that that we've just read in John's gospel took place after Jesus had risen from the dead. It was the risen Christ that was asking for life, for love. Praise him. And it's the risen Christ who in the end of Matthew's gospel talks like this. Verse 19, or we'll start at 16. The eleven disciples went away to Galilee unto a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him. But some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. Lo, I am with you all the days, even unto the end of the age. Amen. Praise God. Now here we have a tremendous thing. The Lord, in verse 18, says this. All authority. That's his word that he's speaking about. All authority is given unto me. Now you go into all the world and preach the gospel. It doesn't matter what the world says. It doesn't matter what the world does. Nobody has authority on this earth to stop you preaching the gospel. Nobody. And if anybody presumes to have it, you ought to defy them. That's what it means in the end. It doesn't matter about what men say. All authority is given to me, says the Lord Jesus Christ. Not to them. And if they presume to take up some place of authority and say, You're not to preach the gospel here. You're not to listen to them. You're to listen to me. It's all given to me. You got that clear? Well do you get it clear? In the depths of your heart. Jesus Christ has given us the right and authority to preach the gospel everywhere. Amen. Mind you, it could cost you your life. It did Peter's because he did it. But he loved the Lord, see. But we think too much of our necks. We don't do it. Let it sink in. All authority is given unto me. You go into all the world and preach the gospel. Amen. Perhaps you've never thought of it quite like that before. But this is the tremendous thing that the Lord wants us to understand. That it is our prerogative and our duty to preach the gospel everywhere. Mind you, if you dare to do it, you'll get into trouble. That's right. But don't worry. You mustn't worry about that. The best thing that could happen to most of us is to get into trouble. With men and authorities on this score. That's the best thing that could happen to us. But mostly today you've got a sort of a Christian ethic that's preaching, oh well you mustn't make yourself a man. And here comes all the philosophy, the sophistry. Oh well if they don't want it, you know. And you can find a text in scripture to say to come out and brush the dust off your feet, you see. It's quite easy to find a text to be a coward and not be obedient to the Lord. I could find you a lot more beside that. Jesus said, all authority is given unto me. Listen. In heaven and in earth, praise God. He didn't say it was given to local governments. He says, given to me. May the Lord put this deep down into all our hearts, beloved. That you are to go and preach this gospel and you are to make disciples of all nations. That's him. Make disciples of all nations. He said, well if I was to preach the gospel where I am, I'd lose my job. Well that's all right. Lose it. That job's not worth keeping. Of course it's not. How are you going to explain that to the Lord? Say, well you know Lord, I'd have lost me job. Now how are you going to explain that to the Lord? Now really, how are you going to explain that to the Lord? Because Jesus would preach the gospel, they said, shut up. Stop it. They crucified him. He'd rather be nailed on a cross than stop preaching the gospel. They said, if you keep on, we'll crucify you. You can't do it. Not until my father's hours come. You see, this is the point. You've got to see this. Hallelujah. I know two people not so long ago. They were with us in Exeter. They got married and went to take a job together, their first job together. And because they dared to preach the gospel to the men where they were, and these were men that had just come out of prison. It was a Langley House Trust place. They lost their job and their home. They'd only just got married. Taken this job and the home and the security. When they said, you mustn't do this, they left. Next day. Didn't even stop to work their notice out. And they were prepared to lose it. All honour to them. I honour them more than other people who cling to their job above all things and don't care at what cost. Now, beloved, this is the tremendous thing. Because we're living in days when in certain magazines and in certain circles this word authority is being talked about a lot. You know, you see it in the heads of articles. Authority. Well, now, my beloved brothers and sisters, you can only get authority from Jesus Christ. And if you won't take your first authority, which is general in scripture, don't you look for a special one. I know lots of people like this. You find this in all sorts of things. People come to me. I don't know whether you've heard me say this before. I say, Mr North, what I want to find out is God's will for my life. And they're on some particular thing about God's will. And I say to them, have you ever really searched the New Testament to find out what is God's will for you? Oh, no. No, no, no. So I say, well, the best thing you can do is to start in Matthew and read right through your New Testament and have a pencil and a paper and write down what it plainly says in the scripture is God's will for your life. See you get that right, that's everybody's told to do, then you've got a right to come to God and ask for special guidance. How can you ask God for special guidance when you've ignored what's plainly written in the scripture? How can you? Tell me how? You must read that New Testament. You understand? How can you go to God for special authorizing in this sort of power realm? We'll come to that in a moment. When you haven't done, you haven't taken your first authority. Go and preach the gospel. You need not look beyond the place where you work, I strongly suspect, for a start. Or live. You see, how cockeyed and topsy-turvy can we get? Because they're going to all the world. Some says, I've got to catch the first boat to China. You see, you needn't just talk to the first person you meet on Monday morning about the Lord. Preach the gospel to them. You needn't bother about anybody else. I couldn't do that. Because, well, there you are, you see. Oh, but it's not done. There you are. But Jesus said the authority is given to me, not to him. No matter whether he likes it or not. The authority is given to me, and I'm commanding you. Are you willing to be commanded? When you talk about authority, there's command. We talk about Jesus being raised above every dominion and power and authority. That's what we say. But nobody's got the slightest intention of going through with it. Have we? Oh, I thought you had to sort of pray about it. I suppose you've prayed so long you've spoken to nobody yet. That's the trouble. Go and preach the gospel. Oh, dear. Teach all the nations. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And don't go and teach them denominationalism. I.e., if you're Church of England, don't go and teach them to be members of the Church of England. And if you're Baptist, don't go and teach them to be Baptists. And if you're Pentecostals, don't go and teach them to be Pentecostals. That's right. You're not to teach the nations to accept westernized ideas of Christianity. You're to teach all nations and make disciples of them. Make disciples of them all unto Jesus. That's right. Hallelujah. Baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Glory. Amen. Into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. That's the Greek of it. That's Amen. And teach them to observe everything that I've commanded you. And lo, I'm with you right to the end of the age. Amen. Well, now there's your authority. There's your authority, beloved, that we're to do this. But now we'll go to Luke's gospel. And in Luke's gospel, we'll see something further. In this great 24th chapter of Luke, which you will know is the wonderful chapter of the story of the two on the road to Emmaus and so on. Very, very wonderful story it is too. He does all kinds of things. He comes and appears to them again when they've got back. And they've been talking about their hearts burning inside them in verse 32. They said, Oh, our hearts burned within us while he talked with us by the way and while he opened to us the scriptures. That's the trouble. Lots of people have got burn in this and burn in that while something's going on. But when it's not going on, it's as cold as ice. You see, marvellous time in the meetings and the heart burn all response. You see, this is what the Lord Jesus has come to do away with all that sort of nonsense, spasmodic heart burnings or spasmodic with some good preaching going on, anointed ministries and all this business. The Lord's come to do away with all that, that they weren't baptised in the spirit. He said, Well, I've come to do is to baptise you in the Holy Ghost and fire complete. That's right. Absolutely. Oh, and this takes this. This is a marvellous thing when it happens. It keeps on all night when you're asleep. It's all right next morning. Keeps on all day. Keeps on all evening. Keeps on. See, not just while. Not just while. Praise the Lord. You see that this is how it ought to be. Of course it ought. Well, they come back, you see, and they're speaking. And Jesus comes and stands in the midst of them in verse 36. He says, Peace be unto you. And they were terrified. They were terrified. They weren't expecting Jesus to come into their meeting. That's right. Well, now were they? They've got the locked doors locked to keep everybody out. They weren't expecting Jesus to come into their meeting. And two of them had burning hearts whilst along the way. Two of them had a marvellous time when he was opening the scriptures to them. They weren't expecting him. You see, beloved, don't you? The complete impossibility of mankind. Impossible. God's got to do something tremendous with this condition. Let's go on, shall we? They supposed they'd seen a spirit. He said unto them, Why are you troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your heart? Behold, my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Handle me and see. For a spirit hath not flesh and bones that ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not. For joy. It's surprising the things that can stop you believing. Joy. You can have a marvellous enjoyment and still not believe. Do you see that? That's what your Bible says. Oh, we had a great time. We sung. We banged our tambourines. We had a tremendous time. That's not it. It doesn't matter if it was a fearful time or a joyous time, beloved. Where are you, glory? Amen. Well, what can I do next? Oh, he says to them, Have you got any meat? It's amazing what unbelief will make Jesus do. Jesus never ought to have done this. Never ought to have had to have done it. They should have believed. He only did this because they didn't believe. And he says, Got any meat? They gave him a piece of a broad fish, and he took it, and he ate before. And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoves Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sin should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high. Now, we're getting a build-up here. Life, love, authority. But that's not enough until you've had the endowment with power. You've got to have this great endowment of power from on high. That word endowment is simply the Greek word clothing. All this life, see, and all this love, and all this authority, it's all got to be clothed now. The basic life has got to have its clothes on. If you're alive and you're a great lover to do this great work of the Lord and go, then, beloved, you must have your endowment, your clothing with power from on high. And you are not to go until you've got it. That's what he says. Tarry ye. Tarry ye. Now, I found that I attempted to do lots of going, lots of preaching, lots of I don't know what before I had my clothes on. And virtually that's what's troubled people out in the world, naked. It's right. In this great spiritual realm, beloved, the church virtually is found naked. And the devil does this and does that and does the other. Have I told you this story before? It's come to my mind, so I won't apologise if I repeat it. I had a church, I was at a church in Bradford at one period of my life, and I knew this particular great big church in the centre of Bradford, which isn't pulled down now, though they're pulling down and rebuilding a lot. And I knew this instant that I came up across it, I came across it in London. I was down in London. Some of you will have heard the place at Turner's Hall, heard of the place. And I went there and there I met quite a few people. They'd been brought in, they were drug addicts, ex now by the time they were brought in, drug addicts and they'd been reached in London, you see. When the four gospel businessmen, international from America, came over and took up the Hilton Hotel. I don't know what else they did. They had some great big meetings in London and this young man was among half a dozen that had been reached and they were centred on Turner's Hall. And I went down at the request of the gentleman that's running the place and I was talking to these young men and, you know, we were just exchanging things in between a while and it turned out that they found out I come from Bradford. And I said, I'd seen you there and I'd been there for twelve years or more. He said, yeah, I know. I used to go to this place, this big church in the centre of the town, you see. So I said, really? He said, yes, I live at so and so, told me, the suburb of Bradford where he lived, you see. I said, oh yeah, I know this very well. Well, I said, and you, a drug addict? He said, yeah. So I'll tell you the story. He said, we opened a coffee bar down in the cellar of the church and I was put in charge of it and they used to come in and they came in and they brought in their drugs and they peddled their drugs. And he said, I was converted to drugs who were supposed to be converting them to Christ. Why? He never knew anything about the endowment of power. He was there without his clothes on. Naked he was. He hadn't any defences. None at all. None at all. He hadn't even got his clothes on, leave alone armour. What a terrible thing. He said, do not do anything. Keep your hands off my work until you've been endued with power. He says, go in one breath and in the next he says, wait. Oh, don't wait all your life. Well, they didn't have to wait very long, just a few days. That's all. God meant it. Christ was in this business. Body, soul and spirit, nerve, tissue, blood, everything. He was in it. Just tarry and if you haven't got your powers because you are not in it, he was in it. In order to clothe you with power from on high, he took your mortal flesh, dyed your terrible death, bore your damning sins. He was in it utterly in order that you might be able to come to this place and take his place in the world for he'd come to preach the gospel in one nation. He said, you ought to go out and preach in every nation to take his place. You can't do it without his clothing, without your clothing on. Amen. You've got to be endued with power from on high. And you will know that Acts 1.8 takes this story out that the Lord stood and said, you shall be baptized in the Holy Ghost not many days hence and you shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you. That's right. That's what he says. Acts 1.5 and 8. And they had to wait. Glory be to God. I wish I'd waited. I wouldn't have made such a hash of much of the preaching, testifying, singing, tract distributing, preaching at street corners. I wouldn't have made such a hash. I hadn't got my clothing on. I was told I was saved to serve and that's it. I wasn't told I was saved to get clothed with power and be head over heels in love with Jesus. I wasn't ever told that. I was told of his great love to me. It was wonderful. I wonder he did love me. I wonder he still does. But he does. He's that kind of Jesus. That's who he is. But beloved, it's a wonderful thing that you can be clothed with this power from on high. Amen. He led them out as far as Bethany and he raised his hands with blessing and the last thing they saw of him, he was caught up with his hands outstretched in blessing. And some people think because they get this blessing, that's all right. They get one blessing. They get another blessing. They talk about a second blessing and a third blessing and I don't know what. But that wasn't their endowment with power. Just because you get blessed by the Lord, the risen ascended Lord doesn't mean to say that you've got your clothes on. Understand it well. He just loves to bless. How can he do anything else but bless people? That is nature. Because you get blessed doesn't mean to say that you're in the right position. That's how he keeps on drawing you in. And when you get blessing from the Lord, you should say, oh, I'm going to have more. You need more than blessing, brother and sister. You need power. Power from on high. Power. This gospel preaching has got to be with power. Listen to one of the mighty preachers. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, he says. It's the power of God and the salvation. That's the gospel. The gospel is the power. And if you haven't got the power, you haven't got the gospel. And if you haven't got the power in you, you've never preached it yet. Never. The gospel is the power. Amen. You should be endued with power. Gospel power. Preaching power. Going power. You just don't go because all authority is given unto Jesus in heaven and earth. You can only go because under that authority he tells you that you've got to have power from on high. Amen. Then you can go. Glory be to the name of the Lord. Then he can let you go North Pole or South Pole. It doesn't matter where you go. It doesn't matter. He might even let you go to Russia and live in a labor camp and die there. Would you like to do that for him? You see, what we want is to go where we can. Yeah, we do, don't we? You see? I must confess too, I've had an invitation to go to India. If they'd said come to Siberia and live in a labor camp, I reckon I'd have given it a lot deeper thought. I hope I would have been found worthy. You see, this is the tremendous thing, beloved. These people loved not their life unto the death. But if you love his life and you've got his life and you're loving him, you see, and you're listening to him and he says all authority is given to me, not communism. You see? And you go, and you go there. And you finish up. It's not a very comfortable position. Instead of a nice comfortable house like Rora or 23 Belmont Road or 25. You see? This is the tremendous thing. I know a young lady. You know her. She hasn't been here, but she came to Whitham on a memorable Sunday night. And she'd been out, out in a tribe of naked savages with another girl, another woman, the daughter of one of the bishops in Wales. And they were out there. They couldn't speak the language. They could not communicate. And she came home to England on her leave and she couldn't go back. She was absolutely shattered. A nervous, mental, emotional, spiritual wreck. You see? Eventually, we happened to tie up. And God met her. She went back. When she went back to her tribe there, she had to live in a long hut, she and this other woman, with naked savages had to live in it. You just imagine two single young ladies living in a long hut. Did you ever hear this story? Let me tell you. And the first night she got there, absolutely pitch dark, stank like a swine hut. See? Refined young woman. And when she got there, the first night that she lay in her hammock, the witch doctor came and sat beside her and told her how he killed so many men. Yeah. I got a letter from her. She said it's wonderful. She got her clothes on, you see. She was in this realm of power. God met her. That's right. She hasn't run away. She had ample opportunity. They said you can't come back here. The government said you can't go back. Reservations on these Indians. So she could have packed her bag and come home. Everybody would have found out that was right, but she didn't. She just waited there because the Lord had told her some things in prophecy before she went back. So she just clung on and she's back in. She's there and she's in power, you see. Before she sought to go under the authority of Jesus, came home a wreck. I've met many such. This time she goes back and she's there. She's in the power of God. You know her name, Jackie Jackson. Hallelujah. Some of you know her anyway. Now then, my beloved brothers and sisters, what about it? What about it? Have you ever had this endowment of power from on high? Because that's not the end of it. This time I want to go to Mark's gospel. And when you get to Mark's gospel, this is what you'll read. This is 14. He appeared to the eleven, the last chapter of Mark's gospel, as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. You see this? Now if you don't believe people who've had first-hand dealings with Jesus Christ, the living Christ, and can tell you things that you don't know anything about, and if you don't believe them, the Lord Jesus will upbraid you. You are to believe. Do you understand that? You are not allowed to come out with your opinions in this realm. Once you realize this, that your opinions don't matter that much, neither do mine. You see? It's truth, beloved, that counts here. Once this gets into your heart and you understand that it's only the truth that counts, and it is truth in the realm of the Spirit and in the realm of men and in the realm of authority and in the realm of power and in the realm of love, that's emotions, and in the realm of life, and you can say what you like about that, that embraces the lot. Now, my beloved, once this sinks into you, you know that your opinions don't count, and that the only thing that matters is that you come up to the Lord and say, Lord, I believe you, and I'm going to launch right out. I'm not going to hold back. The devil binds everybody up with fear, and they state an opinion to cover their fear. It's a fig leaf. Reservations and everything else, beloved, instead of saying, Lord, if you say so. Ooh, gone. This is the thing that the Lord said. Do you love me more than these? Anything, everything. Right. He says to them, 15, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. But he that believeth not shall be damned. These signs shall follow them that believe. In my name they shall cast out devils. They shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. Amen. Now here we are then. We've got life, love, authority, power, signs. That's right. This is it. Do you see what these gospelers are telling us? Signs. They follow them that believe. They don't follow anybody that doesn't believe. You look in vain if people don't believe. There won't be any of these signs where people don't believe. Oh, but we believe that you should go into the world and preach all the gospel. We believe. Well, of course, there's no medals for that. You're supposed to believe everything, not select the things that you want. There are no medals for believing things like that. Praise God, you're supposed to believe. That's what it's all about. You should believe it like that baby lays in its mother's breast and takes the milk. You should believe it. The baby doesn't question. He said you've got to be a little baby. He says you've got to be a little child. He insists on it. Has that sunk in? You've got to be like that. Training, education, learning, any of that doesn't count here. If you dare put anything like that before Jesus Christ, you'll damn yourself. It's the worst sin you can commit. Not believing God? Here then is the tremendous thing. He says these signs will follow them that believe. Praise God. In my name, they shall cast out devils. Praise the name of the Lord. That's a marvelous thing. Now I want to assure you that these things do follow those that believe. And you don't have to even believe it. Because I can assure you God brought me into a place where I believed and it happened. And I wasn't believing it either. It just happened. God sort of caught me unawares. It all happened before I knew what was happening. Yes. I put my hand on somebody I knew very well and I was shaken. I tell you what happened. I wasn't believing it. I was just believing. He said they follow those that believe. Everybody's believing it. Get no results from that either. This is a genuine attestation. I tell you, beloved, that it happens. Follow them that believe. There you are. Now you know who the believers are. You say, well, I know hundreds of believers. Don't talk like that. Well, you've got to believe the Bible. These signs follow them that believe. Now, does it say so or doesn't it? You're obliged to believe the Bible, man and woman. They follow them that believe. And it says they shall speak in new tongues. Now, it doesn't say they'll have a fit for about five minutes and gavel something. It says they shall speak. They shall speak in tongues. That's right, so they shall. They shall speak in tongues. That's right, they do. They keep on. That's what he says. My, this is glorious, isn't it? Got to have these signs. Must have these signs. Glory be to the name of the Lord. It says they shall take up serpents. Praise the Lord. That doesn't mean, say, you become a snake handler. That's not what God's meaning. Amen. It does mean that if the necessity arises, that's what will happen. Praise God. If you can handle the biggest serpent of all, that's the devil, you're all right. Praise God. And if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. That's marvelous, isn't it? Do you know, the other day has come to my mind, I was listening to someone who'd recently had a gentleman I know. I know this gentleman, so my heart leapt to it. They'd had him in their church speaking. And he told this story of someone who'd been captured and was being held by communists in Europe, one of the communist countries. And this is the story that he told, and it was relayed to me. Two other people, two people told me, and they both said exactly the same thing. Though the other, I hadn't known the other one that told me, but they'd both been in this meeting because it so struck them, because they were people who were beginning to get interested, shall we say, in the things of the Spirit. Good evangelical believers. They were beginning to get interested in the things of the Spirit. And this dear man told this story, it belonged to their mission, that this man was taken and he was put through the usual treatment, brainwashed and all the lot. And at last he was brought before two men. One was one of the high-ups of the communist party in that area, and the other one was a doctor, also belonged to the party. And they stood before their desk, and on the desk there was a glass, and the doctor, the interrogator said, Do you believe this Bible? He had the Bible open on his desk in front of him. Do you say you believe this Bible? He said, Yes. Do you believe what this Bible says is true? He said, Yes, I do. And he looked at the doctor, and the doctor said, All right, do you believe this particular verse? He said, Yes, and this was the verse. If they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. He said, Yes, I believe that. He said, In this glass, he said, there's a certain corrosive acid, poison. He said, Do you say you believe that verse? He said, Yes, I do. So they gave a signal, and a man came in with a dog. He took a spoonful of this liquid out of the glass, forced the dog's mouth open. He poured it into the dog's mouth, and the dog almost immediately fell down on the ground, gasping, convulsed, and kicked and died in front of the man's eyes. He said, Do you still believe that verse? He said, Will you let me pray first? He said, Yes. They didn't care what he did, so he prayed, and he asked the Lord to deal with this situation, and told the Lord he believed it, and prayed for these two men. And he picked the glass up and drank it, and he stood there, and they looked at him. They looked at him, and the doctor, he dashed round, his pulse hadn't even quickened, his breathing rate hadn't quickened. He put his hand in his breast pocket, and he pulled out his party membership card, and he tore it in half. God saved him. That's right. These signs follow them that believe. Do you believe that? He said, Yes. Would you have dared believe it under those circumstances? You don't know what you'd do, do you? You can't give a categorical answer to that. But what I want to say, beloved, is that these signs do follow them that believe. There's one case, I mean, I could tell you of others, but that's the latest one, to God's glory, that I know. You see? Now, beloved, there is a whole realm, and these signs have got to come. They've got to come in your life. You understand that? I don't, I'm not trying to say they've all got to be shown in a sort of a flashing display, all at once. That's not what the Bible does say. It does say that these signs will follow them that believe. Praise God. And after he'd said that, he went up and sat down on his throne. That's right. He left the field clear. He got out of the way. He said, I must go. I've got to get out of the way. Oh, the ghost has got to come. And you know what happened? They tarried. They tarried until the day of Pentecost was fully come. And they were all together in that upper room, and they were praying. And suddenly it all happened. The sound came from heaven like a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting. And a glow and tongues of fear sat on each one of them. Amen. And they began to speak with other tongues, and the Spirit gave them utterance. And I want to tell you, they didn't finish either. Some people have what they call an initial evidence. They began and never ceased. That surely is the testimony of the New Testament, isn't it? That surely is the testimony of the Acts of the Apostles and all these epistles that may touch the subject. Praise God. They made a beginning in something which was a life for them. They lived in it. What a thing. Now, how far have you gone in this? Now the authorizing meant something to them. Now with the power and the signs, the authority could work. They could go. They could go and produce the signs anywhere. They could do it. Can you? Can I? If we believe, if we are really in this life, it is so beloved, I want to tell you this, what little I know of it, I want to assure you it's the life. It just happens. It just happened to me. It just happens in my case. I can tell you that it's true. There's no screwing up or bashing about or trying to get this or get that. It just happens. It's exactly as Jesus says. Praise the name of the Lord. They happen. They happen. Jesus said they shall. That's right. Praise Him. And if it doesn't happen when He says so, where are we? If it can't take place if Jesus has said it, well we might all as well all pack up and go home. But it does. Just as naturally as the flowing of the water from under the throne and down the golden street of New Jerusalem. It just happens. It just happens like the birth of Jesus Christ. It just happens. You see, like the death of Jesus Christ, it just happened. Like the resurrection, it just happened. Like the ascension, it just happened. Like the coming of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, it just happened. You see, it just happened. You don't have to turn cartwheels like this afternoon. We felt like standing on our hands. It was so glorious. But you don't have to do anything like that. You don't have to jump off the top of the pinnacle of the temple. It just happens. This is the law in God. This is the way it is and it can't be any other. Except you don't believe, then it will be completely different if you don't believe. But if you believe, it will happen. But beloved, don't start seeking after signs. Seek first of all to know you are in this life. Seek first of all to know that Jesus Christ is your one distinct only eternal lover and God. So if he came in this room tonight and said, do you love me? Do you love me? What, more than him? More than her? More than this? More than that? And he's sure to put his finger on the very thing you don't want him to touch. If he said a million other things, it would have been all right. But when he says this, he always does it. You'll be able to ask Abraham when you get to heaven. He said, Abraham, do you love me? Yeah, more than Isaac. Put his finger right on it. See? But he did, you know. He loved him more than Isaac. More than he loved Isaac. You see, it's always like this. He always puts his finger on it. He's an absolute expert. Now you've got to know this. See, because old Peter thought he loved him. Thought we'd done this. I've done it. I've never done it. I'd lay down my life for you. Now, do you love him? I love you. That's what it's got to be. And then as sure as you say you love him and it's all a sweet, lovely emotion or sentiment in your heart, in your sort of imagination, it's all inflamed and wonderful and it's precious. And he'll bring you to a line that means a determination and a set of your spirit. And I'll tell you, you'll have to go through with grim-faced love, I tell you, like the tortured features of the man that hung on the cross that would go through in love. You see? That's what it means that you're going to love him. Really love him. Not got a sort of a martyr complex about you or anything like that. And then know your authority in the commission. Your power from on high has to come exclusively from up there. From on high. Amen. And then you can go, beloved. Then you can go. And these signs, they'll all follow. They'll be there. Praise the Lord. Now are they in your life? If not, you're needing and you must do straight business with the Lord. Straight. Everything. Glory. Lord, I want that. So that you can keep sitting on your throne, Lord. I'm down here. You only preach to one nation. Lord, let me preach to England. Let me preach to anywhere else you want to send me. You're there. The director of the operations is sitting on the throne, beloved. And he can't, if you like, he couldn't bear to think of sitting there until he'd given us clear instructions, the only way it should be done and the only way it can be done. Amen. All right, then let's seek the Lord, shall we? Let's pray.