6819--Harry Greenwood--Positive Christian Living_128k

00:00:00 Speaker: Praise sometimes is very difficult, isn't it? You've got tragedy in the family and you've got problems. Your mother in law has come to stay and things like that. But, you know, if you start to praise the Lord, he lifts you above your circumstances. And the Bible teaches us that God inhabits the praises of Israel or his people. And I believe that once you begin to praise God, he comes into your circumstances. Now, have you ever seen God with a circumstance? No. Well, you know how to get him in praise. Is the doorway for God to enter in praise is an acknowledgement that you're not in the circumstances. Amen. You're in the solution. Nobody praises the Lord for being down the dungeon like Paul and Silas. Us now. What on earth could you have to praise the Lord for there, for heaven's sake! Well, what on earth could you praise the Lord for being in stocks? Unless you're taking stock spiritually, or when you find yourself in the cell of affliction, you start looking for the wine. That's too deep, too theological. I can see that. But how did Paul and Silas get out of jail? What was the key? They used praise. They begin to have a meeting. When you can't do anything, have a meeting. If there's nobody there, still have a meeting. You've got a temple, haven't you? Right. You're a royal priest, right? Have a meeting. Amen. Take up as many offerings as you want to. I praise God for Paul and Silas in that dungeon. I've used that so many times. Think I have nearly worn it out in my Bible, but I think how wonderful they were not in the dungeon. They were in heavenly places. They were in his presence where there is fullness of joy. They didn't live in their circumstances, and I think that's wonderful. Don't you think so? Have you ever met a Christian who's miserable? I don't think of somebody else. The first person you meet in the morning. And you think, how is that going to get through this day? With so many people? They don't use their problems, you know, they never use their problems. Every time you're you've got a problem, you've got to prove God. God says, prove me now. And it's a wonderful way of proving God to have a problem. Most Christians don't have enough problems. Have you ever seen a Christian that's had a problem, then got a solution and proved God in a wonderful way, so full of joy. You think, oh, thank God that he got a problem. Now some Christians with their problem, they make themselves sour by talking about it and they make everybody else sour. So when you meet them, you go away with a sour taste in your mouth to describe what I mean. We'll call these Christians the problems. Just lemons. And they suck and suck their problems as they tell them that it makes them so bitter and sour. Now, if you give your lemons that your problems to the Lord, he'll help you to make lemonade and you can drink them, then you can do something with them. That's God's way of doing things. He takes the negative and allows you to to step on the negative into the positive. And there you are. Absolutely free. So that's for some people tonight who are going to sit in a minute leaving their problems behind. Amen. Now you're standing tonight on the promises, right? How many Christians sing standing on the promises while they're sitting in the promises? When you rest now you're leaving your problem behind. And please forget to pick it up on the way out. That's the most essential part of this meeting. Leave your burden. And now reach out to the Lord and let him bring you to the place where your lemons are. Lemonade. Hallelujah. Where your problems are dissolved. I think it's wonderful. In these meetings, people keep losing something and they never claim it afterwards. I lost my fear when I was in this meeting. Somebody once said I lost my fear. I lost my problem. I lost my depression. I lost my sickness. I lost my sin. Losing lots of things today, aren't we? Hallelujah. And one day when God comes, we'll have lost so much. We'll go straight up to be with him. Hallelujah. Aren't you enjoying this meeting? Are you glad you're here? Amen. Hallelujah. You may be seated. It's just that I saw one or two people down in the dungeon and. Or down there. I just thought I'd help you to get out. The best way out is praise. Praise God every day is not like this now. Hallelujah. What was, um, David saying about the offering? Anybody remember? All right, I'm going to get him to come up here and say it again. That's a threat. We're. We have discovered that people no longer. All right. He's a Christian. You've got to take it. One thing about us, we we don't have any custard Christians in New Zealand, right? It's a theological term, if you must know. Custard. Christ. Does anybody know what a does anybody? Is anybody here that doesn't know what a custard Christian is. Would you raise your hand? I'll tell you. It's a Christian that gets upset over trifles. Praise, father. I'm not being funny tonight. I just can't help it. But some people down there. And if you could only see your face. Remember, I have to look at you all night. It's wonderful to be happy. Don't you think so? People say today not Reverend. Well, why would God make me to smile if I'm not allowed to? In his presence there is fullness of joy. I had joy unspeakable for years. Now I've got the Speakable sword. Amen. I don't have a religious bone in my body. Let's just pray together. I believe to be spiritual is to be normal and natural. God doesn't ask me to be abnormal. He asked me to be naturally spiritual. So I'm not trying to be in the natural. What I am naturally in the spiritual doesn't work it out on the way home. Father, we are so grateful for your wonderful presence. We thank you, Lord, for your power and authority here in this meeting tonight. We thank you, Lord, that when the early church met together after their first wave of persecution, the only thing they prayed for was boldness to get out there again. Hallelujah! Lord, we thank you, Lord, that you supply all our needs, not some of them, and not according to our need. Lord, according to your riches and glory by Christ Jesus. We thank you, Lord, for your supply. It lifts us up to the king's level. Hallelujah. We bless you, Lord, for what you've given us tonight. And may each person be challenged tonight, Lord, to step out with you, Lord, in your name. We ask it for Jesus sake. And all God's people said Amen. Amen. I am known to preach a positive message because I feel that the devil has preached as many negative ones as you can possibly get, and I believe the negative is necessary to bring forth the positive. When the Lord Jesus Christ was confronted by anything, no matter what it was, he had an answer. And I believe today the church is being confronted by with so many problems. It will bring out the wonderful answers that God has to those problems. People say to me, how can you, Brother Greenwood, go on and on and on, listening to people's problems without being affected. I am affected. Sometimes I'm very disturbed and upset when children and loved ones are affected and disturbed because of sickness. I come in conflict with people and I am not a professional. I feel very often what the person feels, but how can you possibly how can you possibly survive? There's only one way you can survive. And that is to be in the solution. And the solution is the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't worry folks, we've prayed for that little father and I believe a little miracle for that child. And that may be the beginning of it. Thank you Jesus. Hallelujah. I don't accept anything other than what I've prayed for. And you ask me one hundred years later and I'll still believe I've got it, even if you haven't. I receive. And that's the reason why I'm not hurt. In my faith I never suffer from doubt. I suffer sometimes the lack of. Um. I was going to say guts, but it doesn't sound too good. The lack of. No, I don't suffer from lack of stomach. That's the thing that I don't always see. But you know what I mean. It takes courage sometimes to stick your neck out, and that's the truth. And when Paul came to the Corinthian church, it would appear that he also lacked in courage. He came to them in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. Folks, it doesn't matter how you come to the situation, it's how you are in the situation that matters. It doesn't matter how you go into all the world. You may go out in weakness, but you go out to prove his strength. And it's this faith that God has given me a very simple faith, and I'm one of the few people that believe that I've got faith. I'm not looking for it. I'm using it. And once you believe you've got something, you start to use it. But when you believe you haven't got it, you're constantly searching for it and you don't use it. That's most important. And God knows that. I've got a sense of humor. It's got me into a lot of trouble. People don't think I'm spiritual because I have one. I don't think they're spiritual because they don't have one. Don't measure your spirituality by your puns. But I praise God today. What is happening is so vital. We don't realize it, most of us, that it could happen to us. And when God deals with us personally, he deals with deals with us on the basis of our faith. And he knows very well we're weak. He knows very well that we come to the situation of fear. But that's not how my God comes. Paul came with weakness and fear and much trembling, but he ended up in the demonstration of his strength, with his power, his ability in one Corinthians chapter two. No, he ended up in the demonstration of the Holy Spirit and of power. That your faith, he said, shouldn't stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Paul is emphasizing right through that chapter that he that is in the flesh cannot please God. God is not called us because of who we are. He's called us because of who he is. God sees all things possible. He doesn't see the impossible. We do because we look through the natural eyes. Now God has given me a simple faith that works, I believe. And he's given you a faith that I believe you've got. And I'm going to speak just briefly about it tonight. Most of us don't believe we've got faith. We have faith in the fact that we don't have faith. Faith is the one thing that we don't have enough of. So we always come to a situation. Not sure whether or not we've got enough faith. See, our eyes are on our faith, which is wrong. God clearly tells us that. Now I must have a very big God. It's the object of my faith that's most important. It's my God. And how well do I know him as much as I have proved him? Now, what situation is challenging me then? It's challenging. My God. Hallelujah! Well, David then was in a in a very interesting position, wasn't he? Goliath wasn't challenging him. Goliath was challenging the God of Israel. So what did David do? He put God on his side by saying, I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts. You come in the name of the Lord. Well, what does that mean? It just means this. Like Gideon, who was hiding his god, picking a man who's hiding because he's frightened. Hiding. And the angel says to Gideon. The Lord is with thee. What does that mean, really? It means simply this. If the Lord is with you, it'll follow. You're a mighty man of valor. The mite is the Lord's. Don't forget. You may have no mite, but your God has. And when you come in his name, God upholds his name. And if you're in his name, you get uphold him. Hallelujah. It's the same as if you're in his word. It's when Peter was called out of the boat. They don't teach you how to walk on the water in Bible school. Who called him out of the boat? First of all, he had to get something to walk on. But what? He was going to walk on the water? Well, he can't walk on water. Even I can work that out and I can prove it afterwards. Any of those who would like to come with me to the Harbour Bridge? You can't walk on water. Yes. What is impossible with man? Jesus said in Mark ten twenty seven is possible with God. What is impossible with man is possible with God. Alright then, the Lord is walking on the water. If that's you, Lord. Now this is very important. If that's you, Lord, he's not certain. But there's one thing he can be certain about. He can step out on the word of the Lord if it's the Lord. And if it's not, he goes straight down. One way of finding out if it's the Lord to get out of the boat on God's word. That's not easy, is it? Now. Peter had to start walking before he got to the gunwale. And it's quite easy to take the first few steps with something underneath your feet that's solid, but when you put your step over the side, you move out of the natural. You move out into the impossible. Now you can't walk on the water, so your eyes must not be in the water. You must have an objective. Where are you going? If you get out of the boat, I'm going to Jesus. Well, keep your eyes on him then. But how is he going to bring me to himself? He uttered one word. Come. Reached right out to Peter. And Peter walked on one word. Come. That's all you need is a word from the Lord. If the Lord says, go, there isn't a thing, a person, a situation, a demon or anything. There isn't anything to stop you. When God says go. When God says go, he goes with you and it's not who's going you, it's who's going with you. That counts in Mark chapter sixteen. They went everywhere preaching the word and he went with them. What does he go with you for? To confirm the word with signs following. That's the last two verses. Now it becomes exciting. For if God calls me now, he's got to absolutely equip me as if he's sending his only begotten son. Exactly. If God sends his representatives, they've got to be representing him, not themselves. It's the same. Does the Bible teach that we are ambassadors for Christ? Of course it does. Ambassadors. Hallelujah! Where does it say ambassadors for Christ? Two Corinthians chapter five. We're ambassadors. Well, have you ever seen an embassy broken down and the ambassador coming out with. No Sudan looking like death warmed up. I recommend the United States of America. Why don't you come to our country and be like me? You are recommending your country and the flag that we fly over our embassy is victory. We are representing the victory of Calvary. The provision of Calvary as an ambassador represents all that his country has and all that his country can do. An ambassador represents his country, and he has the authority and he's got his country behind him. We've got all heaven behind us. Hallelujah! Now, the Lord has deliberately told us what we are, that we might be free from what we think we are. I think I'm no good. All my circumstances tell me so. And all my friends endorse it. You're no good. Well, what does the Bible say about people that are no good? Is there any help for them? People that are no good can do nothing. Correct. Fine. Well, if that's true, folks, I know a lot of people that are no good because they're doing nothing. But the Bible teaches you can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth you. There is a necessary plus for every one of us. If you've got two percent, he's got ninety eight percent. We are complete in him. Now, what can you do? I can take the steps. I can take my feet out of the boat. You do that, and the rest of you will follow. Which is a great feat. Now, what's happening to Peter? He's beginning to think he hasn't vanished out of sight. He is only beginning to think. Interesting, folks. He's going down slowly. Are we weary and heavy laden? He's going down slowly. But the point is this. Why hasn't he got his eyes on Jesus? And this is where most of us fail. Because there is something that distracts us. Something that the devil puts in our way so that we can react negatively. How did Peter react? A fisherman knows. As far as water is concerned, you can drink it, you can fish in it, you can swim in it, but you can't walk on it. He knows that his reason tells him what he can't do. So when the winds and the waves became boisterous, they gave him some information. He wasn't going across. He was going down. He responded accordingly, and down he went. And Jesus couldn't understand his faith. But one thing about Peter, he called upon the name of the Lord. Hallelujah. How long did it take the Lord to get him? Did he have to give him artificial respiration? What did he have to do to Peter when he got hold of him? I think he just lifted him up onto what he was already on. The word. And they went back to the boat together. He caught him before he was half drowned. See? God doesn't let you get up to your ears in the water before he decides to fish you out. The moment you call upon the name of the Lord. God is so quick, you wouldn't believe it. It's instantaneous deliverance. He's a very present help in the time of trouble. And God helps. He doesn't say. First of all, why are you sinking? He doesn't say, what are you doing down that hole? Confucius will tell you that you're down a hole. We want to know how to get up. Maybe very interesting to study how you got down, but we want to get out of our situation, and the Lord helps you deliberately and directly. And when you call upon the Lord and there's nobody else to help you, you'll get a miraculous deliverance. Folks, sometimes God calls us out to a situation where there's no support but him. You think that was a difficult situation? Listen to Peter's reason in the next situation. Luke chapter five. You all got Luke chapter five. It's in the New Testament. Thank you. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Acts and Romans follow on. I am concerned tonight with the fact that we begin to believe what God says. Now, I said before that God Knows that I've got a sense of humor. Most of you know that, too. I'm not ashamed of it. I used to be, but I'm not now. I used to tell people when they look at me weirdly, I am being delivered. Now I know who needs deliverance. Hallelujah. I do not believe in belittling the Word of God or anything else like that. My humor is natural, natural, and I used to do some acting, and I've been entertaining in the entertainment world, and I've made a film when I was, um, just finished with the Navy for British television, and I appeared on British television and American television and so forth. So it's natural for me to do things in this sort of way. It's natural. Before I was converted, I was, um, very sarcastic at a very quick tongue, and I'd chop you up into little pieces and then get you into finer pieces, if I could. And people were frightened of my tongue. I had a big mouth. That's why I had to have a big fist to to support my big mouth. But the moment I was saved, God turned my sarcasm into puns. I was in as much trouble then with Christians. And I'm sorry to say that some Christians are so narrow minded their ears touch. It. Is a time, folks. When I've done my crying, I've done a tremendous amount of crying since I've been a Christian. I don't cry easily. I've cried before the Lord for Christians. I've waited on the Lord. I've done my fasting and praying. I haven't arrived overnight. You don't get an automatic smile when you're a Christian. You earn it. Believe you me, the joy of the Lord is very expensive. To the depth. You go down in sorrow to that depth is your well filled with the joy to that depth. And many of you have suffered and gone through a lot. And people say, you know, I'd love to. I'd love to be a Christian like you or something else. Well, I'm such a weak Christian. I need the Lord all the time. That's the truth before God. And I praise God for that because it's a great help. So many Christians, they have so much in the negative. They don't realize that it puts them further in God's positive. He strength is made perfect in weakness, for we realize that maybe we're not just weak enough. Now, once you admit your weakness, you've got to acknowledge his strength. This is where the mistake comes. How does Paul put it in two Corinthians six ten, having nothing yet possessing all things. Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. He stepped from the negative. He didn't say it wasn't there. Not like Christian Science. We don't bury our head in the sand and say it's not there. They say sickness doesn't exist. It doesn't exist. Then it doesn't exist. You see, we acknowledge the thing that exists, but we acknowledge the problem and the remedy. As this little boy one day came in and said to his father and Mr. Jones next door, dad. He's very sick. His father said he's not sick, dear. He only thinks he's sick. Oh, Christian Science. And so he came back again next day and said, daddy, Mr. Jones is dead. But it's all right, daddy. He only thinks he's dead. He can't take it to an extreme. It's ridiculous. Now, I believe that Peter had to prove God. Now there's something about his faith which is really dramatic. And I love Peter. I really do feel for him at times when I've stuck my neck out where angels fear to tread. I really mean that. Yes, I'm stopped at a gas station with no money and nothing and just said, reached out to the Lord for the word that God wanted me to have, and all that God from the Lord was. Three words fill it up. So they turned and looked at me and said, fill it up. You try saying, fill it up with no money, no checkbook. You just don't have any money. Period. Fill it up. Well, God took care of that. That's another story. But you're not particularly interested in saying. No, don't encourage me. Please don't encourage me. Don't encourage me. I just just just tell you. On on the passing, I have found that there's a whole lot of things I could not do because I was not able to do them. There's a whole lot of places I could not go because I was not able to get there. So I found then the Word of God so committed me to doing things that I couldn't do. I had to prove God and stick my neck out to prove that you could. So I was very fortunate there. I didn't know any better. There are some Christians who already had a limit on their faith and their God, and when I met them, they never stuck their neck out any further because they didn't want to embarrass God or they didn't want to embarrass themselves. So they always said, if it be thy will, Lord, and if it doesn't work, Lord, it's your will. If it does work, it's your will, whichever the same that leaves you out and it leaves me out. You see, I don't I don't do that. I believe I stick my neck out and and sometimes it doesn't really work and sometimes I pay for it. And people say to me, we've learned many things by your mistakes, Harry. But listen, if you've got to make a mistake, at least make a new one each time. Going back to this situation, I had preached to this family, faith and how to live by faith. And they were a lovely family. And and he's got his PhD now. He he's a brilliant young man. He's on computers and I don't know, a man at his age, so brilliant, his head of a department. And he's still only in his thirties, a very young man. And I preached to him and he's got a tremendous reason I preach to him faith. And for a couple of years they've sought work in my life and in everything else, and they were really thrilled. Now, he said to me, and he got me in a situation which God had allowed. He said, I wonder, Harry, would you mind going and praying for this lady with cancer? And I said, no, not at all. He said, well, I think we should go right now. Well, right now, would there be an embarrassment because I had enough petrol to get, you know, maybe a couple of miles and this was about fifteen odd miles away. So I thought to myself, he's the last person I want with me if anything goes wrong. And I said, well, I realized I was in a position. Now I must not accept my circumstances. I don't have any problem until I run out of petrol, you know. So why invite a problem? So I got in the jolly old car and he sat in the back and off we went. And I got to the point when I knew that I'm going to run out on the side of the road, you see. So I thought I reached out and I only reached out to the Lord when I don't know what to do, you know. And it's very difficult in a situation like that. You must appreciate it. And I reached out, and this is what came to me, and I just said what came to me. I said, I feel I said, I must stop for petrol soon. Oh, he said, there is a place just around the next turning. And I said, thank you, you know, and just went on and he was sharing something with me, and we came around the front and he said, there it is. So we stopped at the garage and then myself. Now, three minutes of three years of ministry going down the drain or God, you've got to do something. And I reached out and God gave me these words. Fill it up. When the attendant came around, I rolled down the window and I just looked at him. I had no problem yet. Problem here. It's when you come to pain. I mean, there's no I don't I don't live in three minutes time. I live just one moment at a time. And when it comes to that, it's one second at a time. I just about get grace for each second. Believe you me, I couldn't get Grace for for four minutes at that particular stage. Anyway, I said, fill it up like that. So I stayed in the car and I just. Everything just yielded to the Lord. I wasn't going to move a muscle until I was told what to do. And then I, the attendant had finished and he was putting the pump away, and I got out of the car and he went around the front. And as I was passing the window, going towards the attendant, and I go all the way, and then I've had it, you know, I go all the way right up to the very situation I even put my hand out. That's as far as I can go. I go no further. Then I've got a problem. So I went, I was going up to the tenant, and I was passing the rear window of the car, and he rolled it down. Just wait a moment. And I had forgotten him altogether, you know, gotten him altogether. And, um, I saw he was writing out a check, and he was reading it off the pump. And I still hadn't dawned on me because he's the last person in the world, you know, I expected, um, you know anything? God to use. But this is what happened. I said, what are you doing? And he said, I'm writing out a cheque for the petrol. I said, I don't understand. What do you mean? You're writing out a cheque for the petrol? He said, well, the moment I got in the back of this car, God said to me three words. And I said, what did he say? He said, fill it up. Now I know this man hears from God. He said, fill it up, folks. I wasn't even thinking of that man. But I gave the attendant the cheque and said, in the front. And then I told him the situation and he said, you've got a nerve. Well, the point is this you've got to. You see, you've got to believe that everything is all right. I mean, how God's going to do it? I don't really know. I mean, we didn't have the bus fare one night, and I kicked something on the ground, and sure enough, I picked it up and put it in my pocket. It was a rather green looking six six minute piece, and when I got on the bus, we had so much money and he said, I'm afraid you just need another sixpence. Sixpence. And I remember this. And I took it out and gave it to him, and he looked at it. What part of Scotland do you come from? I was it was it was green. I'm not saying that Scottish people are. They're thrifty, aren't they? I mean. There must be a reason why they have mothballs in their purses anyway. And I gave it to him and it was just wonderful. But to think how God fed us and led us even when we had no food. Now, this is sticking your neck out. We couldn't minister in the area without God directly ministering to us. At that particular time we were doing pioneer missionary work, and it was no joke when you sat down and you laid the table with no food, and you thank God for the meal that you didn't have, but you had to by faith, believe it. And it. And then somebody knocked at the door and there was the lady with the food. We experienced so much of that. And by using our faith and our faith, becoming active in every direction of our need, we realize that we could stand up in public and say, My God will supply all your need. My children have never needed a doctor. The Lord has healed them. Not that we have anything against the doctors or the hospitals. I have many friends and the people that arrange my meetings in London. One is a Harley Street psychiatrist and the other one is a professor of medicine. And I praise God for every doctor and every person that's reaching out. And some of the doctors now are coming out and are praying for the sick. And it's really remarkable the results they're getting. There's one doctor, Doctor Adams, a Harley Street specialist, and she's got more results with her praying than she has with our treatment. So she's come out full time praying for the sick. She has a home and all the rest. And she still has a clinic in reading, but she keeps one clinic open. But she has. She's closed up a Harley Street office and it's really terrific to see the results. Today, people on every walk of life, professional people are sticking their necks out. Folks, this is the day to stick your neck out for your family. Satan can run your family around, but there's parents getting down on their knees before God and taking their children out of the devil's hands and putting them into God's hands, and then see if they can run away from God. When they start running, they're running to God, not away from him. You can't run away from God. You can only run to him. And the quicker you run, the quicker you'll arrive. This is it, folks. This is the day of challenge. This is the day when God says, go eat. Now. When God tells you to do something, you may go to your reason and say, hey, this is the reason I can't do it. Lord be reasonable. Well, God won't, so forget it. He'll ask you to do something that's going to embarrass your embarrass you. In this sense, you're going to hurt your pride. God says, all right, now I want you to receive something from me. And he gives you two weeks and you're testifying the first week, First four days, you're testifying and nothing has arrived yet. No answer. Come yet your testimony dies. And now it's getting impossible for anybody to help you to do anything towards helping you solve the problem. Or what are you wanting? What are you waiting to receive? And when it comes to the last few seconds, you cry out. Now! That's when your faith is at its best, when nobody can help you but God Himself. And that's what God is doing. Faith is at its best when it has no feelings to support it, only God's Word. That's faith at its best. When faith is going through the valley, that's faith at its best. Hallelujah! When God is pruning you, that's when the most is being done for you. Not when you're being blessed. When you've been pruned. Do you know why God doesn't allow us to prune each other? Because there'll be nothing left. Imagine a wife pruning her husband Wouldn't have a leg to stand on. Luke chapter five. Verse four. And when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. You know, and this must have been very, very difficult for Peter. Can you imagine what he must have felt like he was there amongst you? Just imagine for a moment amongst all his friends, and they were mending their nets. And they'd been fishing all night, and they'd caught nothing. Right now, what sort of fisherman was Jesus? He wasn't a fisherman. Oh, yes. So now, Peter, who's just told you you have no revelation of him yet? Who just told you to let down your nets, not your net. Peter. But your nets a landlubber. Carpenter. What does he know about fishing? Now you're in front of your friends. Peter. What are you going to do? Hey, are you going to let down your nets? Everybody knows they're they're all professional fishermen. They know you don't fish during the day time. You fish at night. The water is so clear and everything else, you get nowhere near a fish. Now let's see how Peter gets out of this situation. He's really crafty. Now let's see. Simon answered and said unto him, master, we have toiled all night and have taken nothing. Stop there. Now this is how he gets out. His friends are there and he now says it. It says it says it in this way. Look, friends, I don't think that that's a brilliant suggestion. I want you to know that I am doing it not because I think it's a good idea. I'm doing it because he's suggested it. And if anything goes wrong. It's him that suggested it, right? Now look at. Look how he's worded it. Look. Nevertheless, nevertheless, folks, you know. Nevertheless, I must have given one of those looks. Nevertheless, listen to this. At thy word wasn't my idea, folks. I will let down. I'll just humour him. I'll let down how many nets? I'll let down the net. One. When Jesus says nets, he means nets. Are these fishermen? What do they do? We'll all help you, Peter. Not one of them budged. Anybody's going to make a fool of themselves around here. It's going to be Peter. Nobody's going to join him until he's a successful fool. I'm a fool, for Christ's sake. Who's fool are you? That's the question. Here we go, then, Peter. He launches out into the deep. When Jesus says, launch out into the deep, he means launch out into the deep. Right, Peter, here's where you're going to really fish. Hallelujah! There's one little vital thing that I know not how to fish. I just know where the fish are. Yeah. Glory be to God. That can go a long way to making you a successful fisherman. Look how we throw these nets out, aren't they? What a bit of a cast. Catch anything? No, but isn't it wonderful the way we throw out these nets? Fantastic. We're professionals. Do you not see the way this boat is shaped? Fantastic. And you fished all night and caught nothing? Well, you just fished because you like throwing out your nets and working all night. Fishermen fish. The cats fish. Nevertheless, at thy word, if anything goes wrong here, he's to blame. Alright. Peter caught the fish so many and all the rest came in and helped him. Aren't they good? We were right behind you, Peter. We knew all the time he was telling the truth. We knew this man had a revelation. Obviously, this man had an insight into vision that we didn't have and so forth. We knew it. Nobody committed themselves, only Peter. He only spoke to Peter because he knew the rest wouldn't. Now God is speaking to people in this congregation. He's not speaking to your family, to your minister. He's speaking to you personally. He may even be a minister, but he's speaking to you personally. Now, the point is this how are you going to launch out into the deep? Can you do it when nobody's looking? So if it goes wrong, nobody will get on to you. Somebody tried it. Is one of those meetings. Now, this is quite interesting because now God is speaking to us personally. It's no longer in Isaiah. Here am I, Lord. Send him. You know you have volunteered. Now what have you volunteered for? God has asked us now to go in and possess the land. God had tell me when they went in to possess the land. What did they do? Did they go in, for instance? All expecting everything laid out for them and the people of the land to come up and say, well, we've been expecting you. Come in and help yourselves. No problem here whatsoever. No trouble, no fighting. You've now arrived on that promised land, that one land that should be looking forward, flowing with milk and honey. Just try and get it off us, though. You mean you've got to fight for it? It's your land. But while you are dealing and dallying in the wilderness for forty years, Satan was planting people all over the place, building strongholds. And while the church has been playing at church for the last two thousand years or nineteen hundred years or less than that, Satan has been planting all over this world strongholds and every generation he's brought something out of addiction. You name it, and he's brought it out to the fore. That's one thing. We name it. But think of all those things that are hidden under our social guise. We've covered everything up and now God is uncovering it. Satan has built strongholds. He's got people in strategic positions in cities and towns and everywhere. He's got mediums now. He's got people right there in the United States. He's got people planted everywhere who can hear Satan and also can prophesy accordingly. Jeane Dixon, that's one we have things happening now. They've made a film in Denmark, and the government has given them money to make it, and it's called The Sex Life of Jesus Christ. The fact it's diabolical, the fact that the Christians allowed them to make it, how can we stop them? Get down on your knees. If my people, which are called by my name, will seek my face and humble themselves, I will answer from heaven. I will forgive their sin and heal their land. We need this land to be healed, folks, and only God can do it. Satan is corrupted. Every aspect of our society, every aspect of our society, not just the social service and everything else. I'm not saying they're all corrupt, but there's corruption in them because there are men and women who don't belong to Jesus Christ, who hearts are not pure before God, whose motives are wrong. It's not what you do, it's why you do it. God looks at the reason and the motive, and I believe there's going to be a cleaning up process, but somebody has got to go in and take the land. I believe if you're a businessman, this is a challenge to you. You are not just competing against other business competitors. You're competing against wicked spirits in high places. The devil wants you poor wrapped up in your business, so it makes you a nervous wreck and just about drives your wife and children around the bend. We are not any longer fighting on the level of intellectualism. We are fighting on the level of wicked spirits in high places. This isn't a philosophical age or a technical age only. This is an age when the occult has come forth, when the hell has been revived, and all these things are coming forth against the church to prevent us possessing that which God has given us. God said, go into all the world and whisper Christianity, and be so ashamed of it. Be up and down, and be such a wishy washy Christian that nobody wants your Christianity. Somebody told the world that God is dead. Not the Russians, because nobody believes a word they say. It's the church that has told God that told the world that God is dead. Why? Because they live as if he is dead. We are not ministering on the level of ideal ideals or just an ideology. We're ministering on a higher level than that altogether. The whole world is seeking an answer. The whole world is in need of an answer. The world is never, never, never been in a greater need of a spiritual revival. And folks, God is restricted himself to the church to bring that revival. We have to get right. We have to get ourselves sorted out. We've got to start moving in the things of God and prove God so that every time people look at your life, they see the evidence of God's working in your life. They can't say it's psychology. They can't say it's something that you've talked yourself into or you've been brainwashed over. There are things today that are really frightening the world to this day. They are not saying publicly that God is dead. And I'll tell you why. All over the world today, there is an uncomfortable feeling that is alive. Every place where there's corruption, folks, the church is praying for that corruption to be revealed. Do you know that the people in America pray? For Congress and the president? Do you know what's happened? All the corrupt practices are being brought forth in the church. Everywhere where there's corruption, it's under God's judgment. Anything that hasn't been dealt with at Calvary is still under God's judgment, and judgment must first begin at the house of God. Now, God is doing this today, and I believe that if we move out in God today and allow the Holy Spirit to move through our lives, we're going to see a real shake down. It was one thing for Jesus Christ to move Peter, but remember he spoke to Peter and said, Peter. When he got that revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father which is in heaven. And upon that revelation I will build my church, the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Christ of God. Peter later on gets into trouble. Agreed. But then he gets himself out of trouble. Do you realize that in acts chapter nineteen he was fishing again and caught nothing? Jesus came with the information where the fish were, but something more than that came with the forgiveness for Peter and a reconciliation. And faith was in the boat, and so was love. Love recognized Jesus first. That was John. It said, it's the Lord. But faith got to him first. Faith reached out to the boat and swam ashore. That was Peter and got to the Lord. Now I'm saying tonight that we need both. We need, first of all, love to know who the Lord is, and then we need faith to move out on his word, to allow what the Lord in his wonderful love is provided, to allow that to come, to pass through our lives and in our lives. In a few moments, I'm going to pray, and I believe tonight is a vital night for many, many people in this meeting. You're here by divine appointment. Can you feel the power of God and the presence of God? I know the presence of God is here. God is challenging every one of us. This is your day. The day of the week, man. This is the day when the church has never been in such a position. It's the only day they've been in a position where they can't do anything without him. Praise God, in the past we've said, without you, Lord, we can do nothing. And then we have proceeded to spend all our time doing nothing. That's what it's ended up to. And now the power of the Holy Spirit is available to us. And tonight, when I'm praying for the sick out there, there'll be some of the brethren will be praying for those who want to be filled with the Holy Ghost. And I believe God can fill you tonight with the Holy Spirit. Tomorrow night I'm praying for diabetics, I believe. And the next night I'm praying I'm sticking my neck out on this one. I'm praying for eyes. That's about ninety percent of my congregation. I'll be praying for eyes. That's people with blindness. People that have got partially blind in one eye. Cataracts. Anything wrong with your eyes? Looks like I'll be here all night on Saturday night. But I believe that, my God, I'm going to stick my neck out. I want to advance. I believe the whole world belongs. I'm going to. I've got to finish. But I want to finish on the one word that God gave me while I was out there praying with the brethren before I came in. I want you all to turn with me, and I won't be two seconds now, because I'm going to start praying for the sick. Do you know what I said? I said, go into all the world and preach the gospel. Go into all the world is to reach the people of the world. The gospel reaches the people. It brings them back to God. But we are taking the people of the world. We're taking the world. In other words, we are here to take the world out of the devil's hands, right? Who does it belong to? Most of you heard it. Most of you know this. But I want you to look very carefully. There's two scriptures. One is found in Romans chapter four, verse thirteen. And these were coupled together for me tonight by the Lord. And I just want to leave him with you. I have been to many countries of the world. I have prayed for members of government. I pray for all sorts of people. Also prayed for one of the Beatles wives, and I prayed for one of the Beatles mother in laws, and she was baptized in the Holy Ghost. So that will change their tune. So I believe that every aspect of society at this moment, every aspect, are so searching because we have such a materialistic world and everybody's grab, grab, grab that the spiritual void in people's life is so great you can't miss with the gospel today. People want to come to Christ with the people. People every night in these meetings coming to Christ. And it's lovely to see them accepting the Lord, not ashamed to do so because they know it's the right thing to do. When they commit themselves, then God is committed to them. Hallelujah! God's only committed to them that have committed themselves to him now. Romans four just verse thirteen, for the promise that he should be heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. You see the point here? Through the righteousness of faith that he should be heir to the world, heir to the world was not to. And just confirm that we're Abraham's seed. Before I bring the other point out, most of you know these scriptures. They're very well known. You find in Galatians chapter three the last verse, I want you to leave you with this because you have faith then in what I'm saying. When God has confirmed it, Galatians. And if he be Christ, then are ye Abraham's seed, seed, and heirs according to the promise. Is that what it says? I'll read the other verse. Now listen very carefully. Don't miss this. This is my whole point. It's the world that we're aiming for, not New Zealand, the world. Amen. The church is aiming for the world. We're here to stop the world being corrupted. But God has given us the world now as we go in and possess it. That means pull down the strongholds, come against the Philistines and the all the other, the parasites, and all the other rights. Not many of those around, but the promise that he should be heir of the world was not to Abraham, or to seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. Remember that word faith, but through the righteousness of faith. Right now, with that in mind, and if he be Christ, then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise? You've got it now, your heirs according now. There's one thing being an heir. It's another thing to claim and to take hold of and to possess what you're entitled to. We're joint heirs with Christ, but it's another thing to possess it. Now, one thing that's absolutely vital, and this is the last scripture. If I'm an heir and I'm entitled to this whole world. Then God's got to give me something that will overcome the whole world. If there was only me in it, there was a Christian. And what is it? One John, chapter five, verse four. Now here's every Christian. For whatsoever is born of God, over cometh the world. Now listen, this is most important. Overcome it. You can't go and preach the gospel to all the world unless you've overcome the world. Not just in the world, but the world in you. That's right. As this girl went and gave her testimony, the other girl was so intrigued by her testimony. She said, oh, I'd give the world to have a testimony like yours. She said, yes, that's what it cost me. cost you the world. We are not of the world. Whosoever is born of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory that overcometh the world. Even who's faith? Our faith. The righteousness which is of faith. Our faith. And that's what God coupled to me tonight out there. And I want it to be the last thought to leave with you now, folks. Who's he called? Just the preachers know. He's called us all. All of us. And do you think that God could possibly equip us? He has equipped us. And those one hundred and twenty went out. They turned the world upside down. And we are here tonight to put it the right way up. Hallelujah. This is Australia. New Zealand. Let's just pray together right now. It was not my intention to preach so long tonight, but I just felt the Holy Spirit wanted to emphasize one or two points. That no flesh should glory in his presence, not your talents today. God just wants. He wants all your inabilities to fill them with his ability. When you put your hand to weakness up to God, he closed it with his glove of strength. And the Swedish translation of acts, chapter one, verse eight. After that the Holy Ghost has come upon you. You shall be clothed with God's ability. The weakest person today has power and authority over the greatest devil spirit, whatever it might be. And the day you believe it, that day you are free. Now, tonight, I'm going to challenge every person. The first step that you're going to take in God's direction is the step of getting right with God, right? If you're not right with God in your heart, if you haven't received Christ.