Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Protect The Harvest Pt.4

Amen. Let’s turn to Mark, Chapter 4, and continue along a little bit and look at Jesus’ teaching of the parable of the sower sowing the word. As we’ve been sharing, we look at it in light of the great things that the Lord’s been doing in our midst, the experience of that outpouring, and the latter rain of God. There is that former and latter rain. We saw the prophecy of Joel fulfilled: the latter rain on the day of Pentecost. The apostle said, "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel" (Acts 2:16). The latter rain is continuing today; it’s a refreshing to us periodically. We’ve seen it in our lives. Each of us is producing fruit according to the wisdom of God and the will of God in season. To everything there is a season. In our lives there is the breaking up of fallow ground. There is a former rain of refreshing and germination of the Word of God in our lives. There is illumination as God is revealing His will to us. The latter rain comes prior to that harvest. Only you know where you are right now; you know where you are in that process. God is breaking up some of us. Some of us are being refreshed, and the seed is germinating. There is life there that we had not known before. Some of us realize that God has brought us to a place where it’s that latter rain in our lives, and there is time for another harvest for God. There is marked growth manifesting itself in our lives. There’s going to be fruit that’s beneficial to the Kingdom. John says, "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples." (John 15:8). Aren’t you glad when the process comes to that place in your life where God is glorified in the final work? It happens progressively, and then the cycle begins all over again.

Many times we’re rejoicing. The fruit’s manifesting. God is being glorified in our lives, and we’re rejoicing. Those of us who have been through this many times know what’s coming. "Uh-oh, there’s another breaking up coming. We’ve got to be plowed again, and the ground will be broken up again." "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a [kernel] of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit" (John 12:24). That verse speaks of the Word of God germinating. It also speaks of our lives and dying continually as we embrace the cross. As we choose to die with Christ, we’re resurrected with Him, and He is glorified through our obedience. The decisions that we make for His glory and not our own are all part of that process.

With that little bit of a review of what we’ve been talking about, let’s go to Mark, Chapter 4, and read the parable again. We’ll just continue to read over it; most of us are very familiar with it. Some who are newer may not be. As we’ve shared, we don’t ever want to assume. In the fourteenth verse, Chapter 4, in the parable, He said, "Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow [seed]" (Mark 4:3). He gives us the interpretation of the parable. He said, "The seed that was sown was the Word of God." Then, He said, "This word fell on many different heart conditions." We’ve already discussed the fact that, in each of our lives tonight, we personally find each of these conditions in our own hearts. As we are all truthful with ourselves, we look and say, "There are times when I’m relating to the Word of God, but there are times when this word falls on a wayside portion of my heart. It’s the Word of God, but it’s dealing with an area that I’m not ready to deal with right now." We do not always respond positively to the Word of God. We are not always ready to be changed at this particular moment. In His parable, Jesus says, "And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their heart" (Mark 4:15).

We looked over at the Matthew 13 passage—turn over there for just a moment. In the parallel passage that the Lord teaches here, He says, "When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side" (Matthew 13:19). I think that is interesting. You read Chapter 4 of Mark and it seems Satan has willful access to certain lives, but he does not. When the Word of God is brought to you, such as the Word of God being spoken in the teaching tonight or as you are studying, the Spirit of God is speaking to you as He illuminates your life. The thing that gives Satan access and the thing that gives him the ability to remove this word are found in Chapter 13. It’s very clear. It is when we understand it not. We saw in our last study that that word "understand" doesn’t have to do with comprehension. It is not that we say, "I don’t know if I understand all of those principles or not." It has to do with a uniting or becoming one. Let’s say it a different way. It is choosing to do it. When the Word of God is presented to us, we have to make willful choices toward obedience. We’ll see in the teaching that Jesus gave over in John 15, when He talked about the fruit in our lives. "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit" (John 15:2). We have to see this is a process to which we are submitting ourselves. We know, when we make willful choices to obey, it’s going to cost us something. What’s it going to cost us? You’re going to go to Gethsemane; amen? In this choice to obey, you are going to come to the place where you are going to find yourself in the Garden of Gethsemane. "Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42). That’s where this process is always leading us. They understand it not, or they are not united with that willful choice. "…Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams" (1 Samuel 15:22).

We want to talk about that a little bit. Turn over to the fifteenth chapter of John. We’re going to look at a couple of important areas that relate to the Word of God in our lives. We will look at the process of being united with it, embracing it into our hearts, and, like the Lord Himself, being able to say, "I did not come to speak my words but the words of Him that sent me. I didn’t come to do my will but the will of Him that sent me." There is another passage that I love. Jesus said, "I do always those things that please My Father." Isn’t that your heart’s desire tonight? We just want to come to that place where we can say, "Lord, just speak Your word. It’s not anything that I’ll give a second thought to. If Your word declares it, that’s what I’m doing." Why? "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth" (John 17:17). "...let God be true, but every man a liar…" (Romans 3:4). All of the secular humanism and all the wisdom of men today is a lie; it’s vanity. God’s word is true.

We live in a society today that wants to vaunt itself and exalt itself against the knowledge of God. People look down on us who are true Bible believers. They mock us and think we believe some antiquated philosophy and old fashioned approach to life. They are ignorant of the Scriptures. Everything that science uncovers today, every new discovery has already been revealed in the Word of God. I won’t get into some of the different areas that are humorous, but the Scriptures speak a little earlier than science discovered it, that the earth is round and not flat. The Scriptures speak of the circle of the earth. There are many different aspects that reveal the wisdom of God and the knowledge of God, and science is just catching up with them.

How does that relate to you and me today, as we’re embracing the Word of God and walking in the Word of God? I think this is where we left off on Sunday night. John 15 says, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit" (John 15:1, 2).

I don’t want to get off on the big debate on eternal security, but the one thing I think we need to know and see very clearly in this parable is Jesus is teaching that these branches were grafted in. They were part of the whole. Whether they were grafted or natural branches, they were part of the vine. They were removed because they were not productive. You can say about it whatever you want to say. Jesus says, "You can be attached. You can be part of the Kingdom of God. You can be engrafted into it or an expression of the lordship of Jesus, and you can be removed." That is something we need to be very serious about and take into consideration. Think about it. The lack of productivity, the lack of spiritual growth, and the lack of pursuit of godliness can cause us to be removed from the very source of God’s life: the presence of the lordship of Jesus in each of our lives. The principle the Scriptures teach is so clear. If we’re not producing, then what we do have is going to be taken away. "For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath" (Matthew 13:12). It is totally contrary to natural man, but this is the reality. The more we produce for God, the more He will cause us to produce, the more He’ll give us understanding of Himself, and the more grace will be imparted to us to allow us to go out and bring forth more fruit. The fruit is, ultimately, for the glory of God.

Let’s get back on track here where He’s talking about the need to be able to allow ourselves to abide in the vine. "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you" (John 15:7). He goes on to say that, if you do not bear fruit, the husbandman, the Father, will come and separate us. Ultimately, He says you’ll be cast aside. They will come, and you will be collected and cast into the fire. That is talking about the final judgment. One of the good things is this, though—we see it as something that’s very real in the Scriptures. You may be separated for a moment, but the Lord is capable of putting you back in; amen? Grafting us back in is supernaturally and spiritually raising us from the dead. We may be in a backslidden condition. Some of us have experienced that. We’re cut off. We’re no longer getting revelation. We no longer have the peace of God. Listen to me very clearly tonight. When we are talking about the fruit that’s being produced, one thing I want to emphasize in this teaching is not the fruit of soul-winning. That is part of it. It isn’t the fruit of abundant living; that’s part of it. I want to talk about the fruit of the spirit as we go on in our study. I want us to be able to ask ourselves, as the Spirit of God’s been moving in our midst here like He has been, "How much growth is evidenced in my life by taking on the character of Christ, the divine nature? How much more in this move of the Spirit, do I look like Jesus?" I was reading one of the quotes; I can’t remember who it was. It was one of the Puritans. He made a great comment that I read this afternoon. He said, "Be sure of one thing: destiny is determined by character." Where we end up—and we know what the Scriptures declare. The Scriptures say that on that last day, when the trumpet sounds and dead in Christ rise, those of us that remain will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. Jesus gave the promise to us, "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:3).

The Lord encourages us in finishing this course and lets the work come to fruition in our lives. That is our destiny. But character, our changing daily into Christ’s likeness, is what will determine that course. As you are analyzing your own life tonight, what would you say is your fruit of the Spirit? The Spirit of God is moving in many of our lives. We are being refreshed in the Spirit. Some of us have been emboldened to be greater witnesses. We know that’s part of it. "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Praise God for that boldness. Praise God for that stirring up and compassion for the lost. How many of you can say, "I really do, since the Lord has been moving in the way He has in these last weeks. I can tell. I have a compassion for the lost that I haven’t had in a long time"? Does anybody here have that as a testimony? Let me see your hand. We can get caught up in our daily activities and just lose sight of the fact that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Some of us get so calloused. I know I’ve found myself having to battle this. The world is getting so wicked. It’s almost like we say, "Forget about it, man." Does anybody besides me have to deal with that? Jesus said, "…Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest" (John 4:35). "Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest" (Matthew 9:38). The Scriptures say that Jesus looked on those fields with compassion. This is a move of the Spirit in our midst, beloved. It should create a renewed compassion and love in us, because the principle is this: "…Freely ye have received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8).

As we read on in this fifteenth chapter of John, Jesus says, "Listen guys. You didn’t choose Me. I chose you," None of us sought after God. He sought us. While we were sinners, He loved us and died for us. So we were the unlovely, and we were loved. Therefore, we should love the unlovely, because we are still unlovely, but we’ve experienced the grace and mercy of God. In the midst of all of this evangelism and a renewal of intercessory prayer for the lost, for the will of God, and the wisdom of God, there should be a real appetite for the character of Christ in our lives, the fruit of the spirit. Since the Spirit of God has been moving, what do you think? Do you have more joy? Are you aware of supernatural peace? Is there gentleness in your life now that was never there before? Are there kindness and temperance? "Well, I’m excited about souls, but I’m as impatient as I’ve ever been." Well, the Lord needs to begin to work some fruit in our lives; amen? Some of us have a real zeal for the lost, but we have no gentleness in the way we are presenting the gospel to the lost. We are offending more people than we are drawing because of our mannerisms, and there is a lack of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. As we’re looking at what God is doing in our lives, we are talking about the fact that we will know whether we’re subordinating ourselves to that pruning by whether or not we’re beginning to see more characteristics of the fruit of the spirit manifesting in our lives.

Turn to Galatians for just a second. We might as well do this very quickly as a reminder to us. Most of us here would be capable of reciting the fruit of the spirit, but, as I said, there are a number of new people that have been added. By the way—I don’t know how many it is—there are thirty or forty people down in St. Kitts right now. We have gotten back some good reports. People are being saved. The church is really being strengthened down there. I just found out the Lord was really able to minister to Pastor Elston last night and bring some refreshing to him at this time, with the loss of Annette and the changes that are taking place in his life. Praise God; just keep praying. There is a good work, and there is a good word going on down there. We encourage you to continue to hold them up. They will all be back home Tuesday. We’re excited about that.

Take a look at what should be happening in our lives during this move of God and during this revival. We’re talking about what we can do to preserve what God has done and hold on to this thing that God’s doing in our lives right now. The thing that will cause it to manifest, to be preserved, and to change will be in direct proportion to the value you place upon it and to what you’re seeing the end of this move of God being, which should be Christ’s likeness. It should be a greater working of the Holy Spirit in us.

We’ll possibly talk some about the gifts of the Spirit, but I want to deal more with the fruit. Galatians, Chapter 5, verse 22 speaks to the fruit of the spirit. Remember where the fruit comes from. It doesn’t come from an increased effort. It doesn’t come through personal discipline. If we go back to John 15, this fruit can only come through one source. What is it? It is abiding in the vine. It is a conscious awareness that—the Apostle Paul spoke this—for me to live is Christ. Paul said, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me…" (Galatians 2:20). We realize that this move of the Spirit in our lives is bringing us to an abiding or a greater dependence. There is also a greater awareness that it is God working in us to will and to do His good pleasure. We can’t take any credit for it. The way to ruin a move of God is to start assuming that we are doing something good because of our own holiness or to think it is because of our own effort that God is going to continue to show Himself mighty. If we can only pray thirty minutes apiece… If we can only get a prayer chain together and pray twenty-four hours around the clock… The Spirit of God may or may not lead us to do that, but let me tell you what He will do and what He is saying to us. He is saying, "I want you to be conscious of your dependence on Me every moment of the day." There is a consciousness of this abiding and an awareness of it. The word "abides" demands that we understand it in light of awareness. The abiding is not only a residing. The abiding is not only a continuing. The abiding is the awareness that without Him we can do nothing. In this move of God we’re going to experience an emptying of self, self-reliance, and self-righteousness. There is going to be a greater appetite for the glory of God, the fruit that brings forth glory for Him, a desire for invisibility, and a wanting to take nothing from the glory of our God. It is the working of the Holy Spirit to where we can truly and in humility say… It will not be one of those where one says, "Aw, shucks. It’s not me; this is just God. It’s not really me. See, this isn’t about me. It’s not because I’m wise; it’s not because I’ve memorized the Bible. It’s not about me, me, me, or me. It’s not about…" Isn’t it amazing how much we talk about us when we’re trying to say that it is not about us? There is this invisibility and being able to say, "Without Him, I can do nothing; praise God." We speak only the words He sent us to speak.

I’m off course a little bit, but I wanted to share a little bit with you on evangelism. Use fewer words. Use God’s words; amen? Some of us just talk too much when we’re sharing the gospel. We get people confused. We go down all of these little trails. Listen to their heart and let the Spirit of God speak directly to the real issue and the real need. Let the Word of God, as the prophet said, become a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces. Let it be a fire in your mouth that consumes confusion and humanism that oppose the wisdom and the glory of God in this gospel message that we bring. What am I saying? You should witness with a dependence on the anointing that is on the word and on the presence of the Holy Spirit in you. Trust in God and not your own ability to convince people or to represent God. It’s not about representing Him. It’s about abiding in Him, and saying, "If they’ve seen me, they’ve seen You." Jesus said, "Those who have seen Me have seen the Father." What do they see in each of our lives? "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23).

As we begin to look at ourselves right now, we ask, "What’s God doing? How can we really retain this?" Do you want to know how? It is by this fruit beginning to manifest. It is this fruit that is going to give us that appetite to serve one another, to prefer others better than ourselves, to be seekers of the Kingdom first, and to walk in humility. How about just the love of God in being able to be longsuffering with others? All of these things begin to manifest themselves so that, when people begin to look at us, they say, "Behold how they love one another. Look, those people really love each other!" There’s no doubt about that in this fellowship; the love of God is working in our lives. I stand amazed when I share with people; it’s hard to get people even to go home. Everyone wants to hang out and fellowship. That’s why we are here most of the time.

The message that carries... Beloved, the thing that we cannot allow to happen is this—I stand amazed, and I know many of you do. You look, and you say, "Praise God. Look what God has done!" He can do more; amen? It can become more productive as it becomes more supernatural. Many of us have built friendships and relationships. We enjoy each other on a natural plane, and that’s good. There is nothing wrong with that, but that’s not going to stand in the day that is coming. Let me remind you why God’s moving the way He is in our midst: He’s building a wall. He’s building an army where two are better than one. He is building His church with living stones. He is strengthening His body which has many members, and each member edifies the others in love. What God’s doing right now, beloved, is preparing a bride for His soon coming. We need to see it as that, and we need to embrace it. We need to realize that there is more to be done, because He is coming for a chaste virgin, a bride that has none of the world in it. We have a little ways to go, don’t we? We just want to keep ourselves pure, continue to speak into one another’s lives, love one another, edify one another, and bring reproof, rebuke, correction, and instruction unto righteousness, the Scripture says. It’s a process.

How is it going? Do you have love and joy? Are you more loving this week than you were last? Do you have more joy? He speaks to these different areas as you look at your life. How about in the day we’re living? Is there peace? "Peace? Gas is $4.50 a gallon! How can we have peace? Dear God! Hillary could be elected. How are we going to have peace?" That is enough of my political statement for tonight. Hillary could be elected or maybe Obama. Who is the other man running for the other people? We really have some great choices, don’t we? It’s time to trust in God; amen? Do you have peace? Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27). The move of the Holy Spirit draws us into the understanding of His lordship and that He’s in charge of the nations. He raises kings and brings them down. The prophet said the nations are just a drop in the bucket to the sovereignty of our God. That’s what the Holy Spirit’s doing in our lives right now. I want to tell you, we’re coming into a period that’s going to bring a lot of anxiety to people that don’t know the lordship of Jesus. They are those who profess to know Him as Savior, but they have not learned to trust in Him and to walk in the spirit. How’s it going? How’s it working in your life right now? "Well, I don’t have a lot of peace, but I’m doing real well in evangelism. Before, I wasn’t really sharing the gospel that much, but I’m sharing it more than I ever have." Praise God; keep it up! But share it in peace. What am I saying? The Spirit of God is not fragmented; the fruit of the spirit and these character expressions of the presence of God in our lives replicate Jesus’ lordship. For me to live is Christ. Don’t settle for just one or two areas being enhanced. As we’re coming into these last days, God wants to finish a work in us that He started with the former rain.

Beloved, I believe that this peace and rest in these last days is available to us. Study the Scriptures. I’m a little bit ahead of myself, but study the scriptures. See how much the Lord wants to communicate to us about having peace in this hour. Jesus is called the Prince of Peace. He said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27). Why am I sharing so much on that right now? This is a barometer of whether we’re really abiding in the vine or not: if you’ve lost your peace, the vitality of the vine, the Holy Spirit, the presence of God, that work of the Comforter isn’t providing what should be done. "So, what should I do about that?" John 15 tells us we need to be aware that the husbandman wants to purge us, purify us, and cleanse us. How does He do it? It is with the Word of God. You are going to have it in one place, beloved. As we shared last session, each of us must begin to spend more time than we’ve ever spent in our lives, in personal fellowship with God in the Scriptures. We must be memorizing Scriptures and studying the Word of God as the apostle said, to show ourselves approved unto God. We are workmen that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. The one thing that’s going to accompany this move of God is a new hunger for the Word of God, a desire to know it, to see it fulfilled in each of our lives.

Let me show you something that the Lord’s speaking as it relates to this. These are passages that we’ve looked at over all the years, but we are just remembering what God’s calling us to. It is Jesus’ parable of the sower; the sower sows the Word of God in John 15. We are clean through the word that’s been spoken to us. The Lord speaks, and by His Spirit, He tells us clearly in Psalm 119—turn over there. We’ll look at a couple of passages of scripture. Psalm 119:9 says, "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word." This pruning process is going to come in a couple of different way. There will be a pruning that comes through trials and through afflictions of life. We’ll talk about those in another session. Most of us don’t even like to think or talk about trials and tribulations that are going to come, but they are coming. It’s all part of the process of building character in our lives and making us more dependent upon the presence of God. Let me share something with you that will help you when those come. Let the cleansing, the pruning, and the preparation begin to take place through the Word of God right now. Go to the Word right now, and say, "Lord, show me where I’m lacking in my life." Is that something that you do pretty regularly? Just open your Bible and get before Him. You go, and you say, "Father, what do you want to clean up in my life today? Show me where I’m lacking." Many of us want to come and start using the Word of God to pray and tell God what He should do and what His promises are. Some of us want to use the Word of God to encourage ourselves in times when we’re down. We’ll go to the Psalms. There is nothing wrong with that, but we want to build up our spirit and refresh ourselves. James makes it clear that this word is a lamp. It is a mirror. If we don’t continue in it, we will forget what manner of man we are. Do you do it regularly? Do you open it up, and ask, "Lord, what’s lacking? What should be addressed right now in my life? Where do I need to be strengthened? How can I represent You more? Can I be more loving, gentler, and more accurate in my doctrine"? How does a young man cleanse his ways? We’re not talking about someone who is living a lascivious or rebellious life, as the Spirit’s speaking here through the writer of the psalm. We’re talking about a young man that needs instruction and that’s being taught right now. How do I cleanse my life? That cleansing isn’t just from the defilement of sin. It’s talking about a refining, a purifying, a strengthening, and a maturing by taking heed to the Word of God. There’s no other way we can begin to be prepared. Right now, many of us begin to make ways to double up—I just use that as a term. You don’t necessarily have to double up exactly, but begin to increase your time in the Word of God.

I like what the Apostle Peter said over in his epistle. Turn over to the first book of Peter, Chapter 1 for a second. We’re going to unhook in just a moment. "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned [real and not put on] love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently" (1 Peter 1:22). As your soul is purified, and you begin to obey the truth, you begin to be doers of the word and not hearers only. He says you’ll see that you’ll begin to love one another with a pure heart and with a fervency that you have not known before. Of course, what he’s talking about is the progression. To he that has, more is given. As Hebrews, Chapter 5, says, it is by reason of use that we have our senses exercised. It is by experience that we are able to make proper discernment: to discern what’s good, what is of God, and what’s of the Kingdom of darkness. "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit…" (1 Peter 1:22). As we’re finishing for this evening, we see right here that it’s not enough just to study. It’s not enough just to put the seed into our hearts, but, as it begins to germinate, we begin to understand and become united. We say, "Yes, Lord. I’ll do it as You are revealing Your will." It’s now an obedience factor. The real cleansing and life manifest directly in correlation to our obedience and what we’re choosing to do.

What we begin to look for is the opportunity. We begin to put this into our hearts, and we say, "Okay, now where can I use this? How can I build up the body of Christ? How can I prefer others?" We don’t leave tonight saying, "Well, nobody really encouraged me tonight." We don’t say, "It’s something that I just didn’t really sense, the move of the Spirit in my life tonight, so I’m just going to wait and see if somebody has a word for me." Do you want to know what will bring the presence of God to your awareness? Begin to share with somebody else; begin to look for hands of brothers and sisters that are hanging down that you can lift up. Be doers of the word. Obey the truth in love. This is what begins to allow the seed that’s germinated to come to fruition and to cause the benefits of this latter rain.

Father, we thank You tonight for Your word. We just ask that Your presence would manifest in our midst continually, as we seek the Kingdom of God, and as we seek the building up of Your body looking for those who are in need. It’s going to cost, very frankly—even tonight, as my mind… My mind hasn’t been on this teaching this whole session tonight, because, right up to the minute that I walked onto the platform, I was in a meeting with a brother in need. He is someone that we love and someone that really desires the refreshing of God in his life. I was trying to hold up his hands. Because of that, many of you paid for it tonight in the quality of the teaching we got. It’s worth it; amen? It is because the fruit of the spirit is love. It is that spirit of seeking the one that’s caught in the thicket, the one that’s lost. When I say "lost," this person’s not lost; they are not going to hell, lost, but they are just hurting right now. Whatever the cost is, you go, you try to put him on your shoulder, and you get him to a place where Jesus can heal him. You comfort him, strengthen him, and cause him to finish the course. That’s what the Holy Spirit’s doing in our lives right now. This is the purity that comes and purifies our souls as we obey and as we do the Word. It’s not, "Bless you, brother. Be warmed and filled." As we’re praying for the Spirit of God to be glorified and for fruit to manifest in our presence here, it’s going to cost you as you take even more time to pour into others and fulfill what Paul spoke so clearly as the body ministry. "That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another" (1 Corinthians 12:25).

Father, cause Your love to manifest to us as it comes through Your body through us one to another. Lord, we’ve done a pretty good job up to this point of caring for one another and loving one another as a fellowship. It is beyond anything I’ve seen in over thirty years of ministry, but there’s more. There’s a deeper love; there’s a greater, unfeigned love. There’s more fruit. Purge us, that men would look, and say, "Behold, how they love one another." For that, Father, we’ll just give You all the praise and all of the glory in Jesus’ name; amen.

Let’s stand before the Lord tonight. As we get ready and as Katie plays for us, we’ll just wait in the presence of God. As I was in prayer this afternoon, preparing for the service, Father just put the life of this friend on my heart. As I was interceding, the Lord said, "I just want you to go and share your heart with him. Just try to share the love of God; try to make God big in his eyes." You see, that’s what this move is all about. It’s bigger than our momentary trials; it’s bigger than our ability to comprehend what God may or may not be doing. It’s the revealing of the awesomeness of our God, the sovereign and almighty One. He is infinite in His love, infinite in His mercy, and infinite in His holiness. We stand in awe before Him, and we cry, "Holy, holy, holy! The will of the Lord be done, because You do all things well." Think about it. The Holy God, the husbandman, our Father takes time to come to you and prune every little sprig. He knows you by name, and the hairs of your head are numbered. He knows every detail of what needs to be removed from your life or brought to your life, that you could bring Him more glory. Obey what He’s revealed and have your souls purified. It is not that you would know His will, but it is that you would know Him. When you know Him, you don’t have to know what He’s doing to be comfortable. You just know that He does all things well, and that He works all things together for good to those that love Him and are called according to His purposes. For that we’re thankful, Father, and we give You the glory.

Let’s sing this together and honor Him. He’s worthy of all of our praise! "Lord, I thirst for You..." Speak to Your people, Father. Be glorified. Lord, let Your word be alive in us. Hallelujah! We thank You, Lord, for that great beauty. Our Father, show Yourself mighty now among us and strengthen us so we could bring forth fruit that would glorify Your name. We’ll give You the praise for it, in Jesus’ mighty name. And everybody said, "Amen!" Before you go, turn to someone, and say, "He’s pruning us; praise God!" Amen. Go in peace; God’s love go with you.

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