Well, it's the last day of the feast. And we can't build three tabernacles and stay here. And we don't want to either, bless God.
Why don't you stand to your feet. You know that little song we sang yesterday on our knees? I know some of you probably don't know it, but that's all right, I think we'll sing that and then have a prayer.
"He is here, Hallelujah, He is here, Amen,
"He is here, is here, Holy, Holy, I will bless His name again,
"He is here, listen closely, hear him calling out your name,
"He is here, you can touch Him, you will never be the same."
Yes, our God and our Father, we acknowledge that. The truth of that little song before you this morning. We come to you in the name of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank You, Father, that we have received the anointing, and it abideth in us, Father. We thank you for that this morning. We thank you for, Lord, for the revelation of that truth that you have allowed to dawn slowly upon our hearts through these last few days, Father. We acknowledge it before you this morning, the anointing, it abideth in us. We praise you for that, Lord. Oh, we just pray, Father, that you will have your way in this meeting this morning, God, that you will teach us the things that we need to learn we ask you this morning, God, that you will bind Satan and every evil spirit, every lying spirit that would hinder. The truth to come forth to our hearts, God, today. Lord, we pray that you will be jealous over each and every one of our hearts today, and give us ears to hear, Lord. We trust you for that. Father, wash us in the blood this morning. Lord, every little attitude, dear God, every little thing that may have come our way, dear Lord, this morning already. We just acknowledge we need your blood to keep on cleansing and keep and cleansing us from all sin. So we thank you or that, Father, and pray that you will fill us, Lord, with the Spirit of the Living God. We trust you for that, In Jesus' name, Amen.
You may be seated.
I have a lot of ground to cover this morning. This morning's message is probably the most important message of the five sermons that you've heard on the Holy Spirit this week. And just to introduce our subject I would like us to read in Ezekiel 47. Do you want to turn there in your Bible?
This is the account we mentioned earlier in these sessions where Ezekiel is in the midst of a vision of the Temple, the House of God. Chapter 47 in verse 1: "Afterward, He brought me again unto the door of the house, and behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward, for the forefront of the house stood toward the east. And the waters came down from under, from the right side of the house at the south side of the altar. Then brought He me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward, and behold, there ran out waters on the right side. And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward he measured a thousand cubits and brought me through the waters. The waters were too the ankles. Again, he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters, and the waters were to the knees. Again, he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters, and the were to the loins. Afterward, he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass over, for the waters were risen. Waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. And he said unto me, 'Son of man, thou hast seen this,'. Then he brought me and caused me to return to the brink of the river. Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were many trees on the one side and on the other..." (Are you planted there?) "...then said he unto me, 'these waters issued out toward the east country and go down into the desert and go into the sea, which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, withersoever the river shall come, shall live. There shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither, for they shall be healed, and every thing shall live wither the river cometh,'." And Jesus said to His disciples, "follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
Now this account that we have here this morning is very interesting in light of our subject today, and the title of the message: "Walking In The Overwhelming presence of God". We see the account here of Ezekiel, and he was brought to the brink of a river, and there was a man there, who measured a thousand, and took him to that place where he measured. Ezekiel walked to that place, and he was in at his ankles. Then he measured a thousand, and Ezekiel walked to that place, and he was up to his knees. Then he measured a thousand, and Ezekiel walked to that place, and he was up to his hips. Then he measured another thousand, and behold, it was a river that you couldn't pass over. So much water that all you could do was swim in it. I would just like to take this portion of scripture and challenge each one of us this morning that it is in your hands. How much do you want to walk in? but if you would like to swim some day, you're going to have to walk today or you will never swim in what we are speaking about. If you would like to be up to your knees in the river of God, you're going to have to walk while it's up on your ankles, or you will never see it on your knees, I promise you, you will never see it.
Brethren, we are accountable to walk. I don't know if that has dawned on you yet, but it has upon me the awesome accountability that is settled down upon us as we have subjected ourselves to the ministry of the word concerning these truths this week. There is an awesome accountability upon us. I mean, the bottom line is simply this: Everything is bought and paid for, the provisions have been made, the anointing of the grace of God is flowing to the people of God, and it's available to anybody whosoever will. We're accountable. Let us walk in the waters to the deep place, brethren. Lets us walk in waters to the deep places. I'm afraid that we've been splashing around on the water's edge much, much too long. Sometimes I wonder if that's kind of how we see meetings like this, you know. Let's go play in the water for a week, just splashing around at the river's edge. And when the week's all over with we leave the river's edge and go back out into all of our materialism and all of our self-centered living and all of those other things and we leave water's edge, and you know it's so. And many, many people would say so. Two weeks later everything they've got is gone. I'm afraid we've been splashing around like little children on the edge of the waters, and God is saying "Brethren, it's time that you grow up and walk. It's time that you quite splashing around on the edge of the waters, and learn to walk", Amen?
True Christian reality comes as we walk in the anointing of the Holy Spirit. You will never, ever see it any other way. If it takes you ten years to get it all figure it out, well, it will take you ten more years, but it will not come any other way. God is very stubborn. It will be His way or it no way, not matter how long you want to take to figure it out. He's very stubborn.
This is how you get your light to so shine before men that they see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Wesley said, "You can't shine if you don't burn. You can't burn if you're not on fire,". You just cant. You know, the illustrations there on the Sermon on the Mount, that's not turning a light on, it's lighting a fire. What we've been learning this week, this is how we become the salt of the earth. This is it, and this is why the salt has lost it's savor. It is no more salty, and it is good for nothing but to be cast town and trodden under foot of men. This is why the Church is not the salt of the world anymore, brethren. What we've been learning this week is the reason.
I was thinking about the temptations of the Lord Jesus Christ this morning. You know, that beautiful verse there in Hebrews where it says that he was tempted in all points like as we are and yet without sin? We know that verse, and we take comfort in that, you know, that we realize that our high priest, our heavenly Aaron is at the right hand of the Father. We realize that he's gone on before us, and was tempted on all points like as we are, yet without sin. But, brethren, did you ever consider that every one of those temptations that the Lord Jesus Christ faced, He faced them in the fullness in the anointing of His Father, and that's how He was able to be tempted in all of those points, and yet without sin. Dear brothers, we are not going to be ale to face temptations when we go out of here if we don't face them the same way with the anointing of the Spirit of God. I think many times we've got this thing all confused. Like I said before, we're stumbling around in the New Testament trying to get this whole thing figured out, and we read that verse in there, "There is no temptation taken you but such is as common to man, but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able, but will with the temptation, make a way of escape". We read that verse and then we look at our own experience and say, "I haven't really found it to be that way". Brother, did you ever consider that God wrote that thing in light of a spirit filled Christian? You know, the New Testament is written in light of a spirit filled Christianity. It is not written in light of our anemic stumbling, bumbling Christian life. You won't understand the New Testament until you understand that it is written in the context of an anointed life. So, yes, an anointed life can say, "There is no temptation taken you but such is as common to man,". He faced every temptation with the anointing of the Holy Ghost, and that's how we need to face temptation when we go out of here. You know, we're going to come down off the mountain and go down into the valley into a real world, and we must learn to abide in the anointing. We must.
Let's read in First John. In First John chapter 2, we find these beautiful words. I like John. That old man, ninety years old, living under the anointing for sixty years, that sweet old saint. This is what he says [in] chapter 2, verse 27, "but the anointing which ye have received of Him, abeideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you. But as the same anointing teacheth you all things and it's truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him. And now, little children, abide in Him that we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming,". Now I want you to notice these two verses that John is interchanging a couple of words, and the interchange of words is "anointing" and "Him". And they're the same thing, remember? He's the Christ, so the anointing and Him is the same thing, and John is simply encouraging them to abide in that anointing which they received, and God gives us the same challenge this morning. I don't know how God has been working in your heart through this week, but I'm sure that there are men sitting in this room this morning that know without a doubt there's an anointing upon them as they sit here this morning. "Abide in that anointing" is the challenge, and plead that I may to you today. We have responsibility to abide in it.
Let me make this application to John chapter 15 this morning. Jesus said, "I am the Christ, the Anointed One. Abide in the anointing that is poured out in these last days". Can we just put John 15 in that context? Because, they're synonymous, the anointing and the Christ. They are synonymous. So when Jesus was speaking to is disciples in John 15 and saying to them, "I want you to abide in me," He's speaking about abiding in the anointing of the Holy Ghost, and he tells them, "I am the vine, you are the branches. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide." (vitally connected to the vine) "No more can ye bear fruit except ye abide," (vitally connected) "with Me". And to abide, vitally connected with Christ is to abide vitally, intermingled, and connected in the anointing of the Holy Ghost. That's what it means. The reality of our union with Christ is through the abiding anointing in our lives. That union is made real through the anointing that we've been speaking about.
Think about John chapter 17. That prayer that Christ prayed, all those glorious things, and we can't turn there and read that chapter, we'll get stuck in there and I have too much to say to even open up to that chapter, but that thing is full. It is running over. It is rich. It is heavenly. Bu every bit of it is answered, and was answered when the Father anointed the Son, the Christ as He sat on the right hand of the throne of God. All of that prayer is answered in the anointing. All of that prayer becomes reality in our lives through the anointing. All of that prayer of unity and power, and oneness, and love, and sanctification, and all of that becomes a reality in our fellowships as we abide in the anointing. That's exiting! Praise God! We can go home and have an entirely different church if we want. Jesus said these words to His disciples somewhere in the middle of His ministry (He asked them), "Who am I?... Who do men say that I am? ...Who do you say that I am?" and Peter was the one who said, "Thou art the Christ, the anointed one,". And then Christ said to them, "On this rock," (on this foundation) "...I will build my church,". On that anointed Christ I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Do you see what I'm doing this morning? We're just moving around New Testament verse[s], one here, one there, and I'm trying to pull them all together to help you to see that we can't get away from what we've been learning this week. We must come to grips with it. That's how Christ builds His church. I know there's a lot of little fellowships represented in this room; some of them are small; some of them are big; some of them just started. Some of you are in fear and trepidation and you wonder whether they're going to make it or now. Well, I'm telling you how they can to make it! Abide in the anointing, and Christ promised He would build a church. You say, "Well, brother Denny, what methods can you give me today?" None! I don't need to give you any methods. You build your life on the anointing, and He'll build the church. You can sit back like the apostles did in awe and watch Him work! And you wont get all the glory, and you won't be able to write a book on "Seven Steps To Church Planting Success,". Just abide in the anointing and it will be there!
I'll give you a little exercise. I'm good for exercises, Amen? Yeah, well, you can pass it off if you want, but I'd encourage you to take some of these exercises I give you. I'll give you an exercise: I'll give you these tapes [of] these sessions, and you sit down alone with God for a day, and you listen to them again. And when you're done, you start in Mathew chapter one, and spend a couple of hors every morning in the New Testament until you get to the end of the month. Just go through the whole thing in light of all of the meat and material that has been placed at your feet this week. I tell you, things will come together in your mind and heart that never did before. I give you that exercise. Go pump weights for a wile, Amen?
Paul said it this way, "I count all things but dung that I might win the Anointed One." Isn't that right? "I count all things but dung!" Forget it all; forget my reputation; forget my pedigree; forget my money; forget my heritage; forget my denomination; forget all of those things! My selfish pursuits, forget them all. Count them but dung that I might gain the Anointed one. And brethren, he wasn't saying something that he didn't already have, he was saying "I want to gain the anointed one every single day in every moment of my life,"! You know that's what he was saying! He wasn't a lost man saying he needs Jesus. He was man who knew the Lord sweetly. He knew the anointing of God sweetly, but the cry of his heart and the motivation of his heart was that he would live under the anointing of the Christ all the days of his life. "This one thing I do", Paul said. Beautiful words, Paul, and we can look at your life and surely know where the secret of your strength came from. And brethren, that is what t will take for everyone of us here, also. All things but lost that I might gain the Anointed one in my life. That's what it will take. We can't change that.
Now, I want to give you a few principles this morning that will help you [and] that will aid you in maintaining the anointing of God upon your life, but before I give you some principles that will help you to maintain the anointing upon your life, I want to talk to you about maintaining the anointing (there's a difference). Let's read a bit here in Romans 7. You say now, "Brother Denny, you're just going to give us a message you gave before,". How come you haven't figured it out yet? How come I have to give it again? But listen, walk in the overwhelming presence of the living God. That's what we're talking about. Praise God, we learned all about it; Praise God we learned how to obtain it. That really doesn't mean a lot if we don't learn how to walk in the overwhelming precedence of the Living God.
Paul in Romans chapter 7 verse 24 we see the heart cry of a main who is failing. "Oh, wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me of the body of this death?" I don't know if there's anybody in the room who feels that way, but there probably was on Monday. I hope there isn't but there probably is a few even here this morning. Your heart is just saying, "Oh what a wretched man I am. Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Paul goes on to say, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, Through the Savior, the Anointed, the Lord." Amen? "So the with a mind I myself serve the law of God. But with the flesh, the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in the Anointed Savoir." Amen? Praise God for that! There's a safe place to stand! You can look at your needs, God can reveal them to you, God can convict you. There's no condemnation to them that are in the Anointed Savoir. Those who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit, there's no condemnation. Look at verse 2, "For the law of the spirit of life in the Anointed Savoir has made me free of the law of the sin and death. That's beautiful! Freedom, glorious freedom! Continual freedom! How? Oh, there is a law I have to abide by. It is the law of the spirit of life in the Anointed Savoir. Did you get it? That's it! We're free from the law, glory, we're free from the law! But you've got a new law brethren. It's a glorious law, brethren. It's a life giving law. It's a law that flows with grace and power into the life of the believer. It is the law of the Spirit of life in the anointed savior. Halleluiah! Glory! That's worth getting exited about. He has made me free of the law of sin and death! Maybe you've read all of those verses in Romans chapter 6 and said, "Well, it's sure not that way with me. 'Dead indeed unto sin and alive unto God'? I don't understand how all of that works,". Well, listen, you're not going to understand it until you come to grips with the new law. I mean, this is the new standard. It's the law of the spirit of life in the Anointed Savior. You see, we have to walk in this abiding presence of God. The whole thing doesn't work if we're not willing to walk in the abiding presence. "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit,". Now that's just simply saying the same thing that we've been saying all week long, only it's just very simple in a nutshell. "Walk in the spirit,". "If you will walk in the spirit, you will bear much fruit,". If you walk in the spirit, you will find a very fruitful life. If you walk in the spirit, you will have spiritual ministry. If you will walk in the spirit, you will be spiritual. If you will walk in the spirit, you will be spiritually minded. If you will walk in the spirit, you will war in the spirit. If you will walk in the spirit, you will find the reality of all the spiritual things that are mentioned in the New Testament, if you walk in the spirit.
Well, what does it mean to walk in the spirit? I think you've been learning [it] this week. You've been learning. God has been exercising you. The stage was se for you to learn how to walk in the spirit all through this week. You know what I'm talking about it. Maybe sometime this week, something happened inside of your heart and you knew right away, "Thing's aren't right, something isn't right here,". What did you do about it? You went and made it right. That's what it means to walk in the spirit.
I walked through the door this morning. Three hours alone, sweet beautiful time alone with God this morning preparing the message. And I walked through the door, and someone came up to me, and someone else came up to me, and somebody had an announcement to give me, and of these things and I'm just going, "Ooh, I've got a sermon to preach. Don't give me any announcements or anything,". But in the midst of that, something happened inside of my heart. Now what am I going to do? I'm going to walk in the spirit, brethren. I'm going to bow my heart before go and say, "God, that frustrated me Lord, all of those things coming my way, and I'm just wanting to give my sermon Lord. Please forgive me God, I wasn't trusting you. You could've given me the grave to handle all of that, Lord. Please forgive me. Wash me in the blood,". That's what it's all about. That's abiding in the anointing, Amen?
Now, I had a choice this morning. When all of that hit me when I walked through the door, things got a little cloudy for me for about, a minute. You know what I mean? Have you ever been under this chair before? Now, I had a choice to make. I could just get up here and give my sermon, right? I could get up here and pray, that' the right thing to do, you know, I'm the minister, and I've got to say the prayer. But I chose to give my sermon like this, because I don't want to give it any other way. But brethren, that's the reality. When you leave here, and you're going to go home, you're going to have to deal with this chair, brethren. What are you going to do with this chair a week from now? Two weeks from now? What are you going to do with this chair? What are you going to do when the wife passes something your way and it doesn't sit right an you throw it back, you know? All of the sudden, the atmosphere isn't quite the same anymore. And brethren, if we would abide in a powerful anointing, we would know it immediately [that] thing's aren't right. [Speaking as someone else:] "Now what am I going to do? Am I going to live like this for a couple of days? Well, it's Wednesday tonight, so it's prayer meeting tonight. Well, I think I'll just go onto church, amen, and I'll just sit down in my pew in church and listen to what the preacher has to chair, and I just sit there and say 'amen, preacher, amen. Brother Denny, would you lead us in prayer?' "
"Sure, I'll lead you in prayer. Oh God, we pray that you will bless us lord, and you will bless the ministry tonight God as they share..."
Don't laugh too much. That's reality brethren. That's very real, and some of you came here that way. You walked through the door that way.
The law of the spirit of life in the Anointed Savior is now our law. That's it. That is now our law. Do you want to get in up to your ankles? You'd better start walking. No more splashing around by the edge of the river, Amen? [as someone else:] "Hey I'm going to go to the men's conference over there at charity and just splash around in the water for a little while, praise God,". That sound sickening to me, if you look at it that way, doesn't it? "...Then I'm going back home and just going right on as usual. Doing all of my big business, making all of my big money [and] all of those things. That just sounds sickening to me to walk away from this, and to go back to that. So we have to learn to walk with a clear conscience. A clear conscience keeps the anointing open and upon my life and upon my heart. You can learn to walk in obedience in the spirit and the word. God wants to lead us. You know we give the illustration there on the negative side just so that if you lose your way, you know how to get back. But brethren, there is a positive side to that whole thing that is awesome, [and] that is walking in the positive promptings of the Spirit of God. God can speak to your heart and say, "Go into the library."
"Huh?"
"Go into the library."
"Ok, Lord."
"Now that man over there."
"Ok, Lord."
"Walk up to him, and look down at him, he's get a book open on salvation."
And you look down at him, and he looks up at you, and he says, "Would you tell me what this means?"
"Yeah, I'll tell you what it means,". Amen!
You see, there's a positive side to walking in the spirit, too, Amen? I mean, where is the supernatural, brethren? Where is it? "Oh, that's just for the Charismatics. We'll let them live in the supernatural. We'll just live in the dead and formal. We'll get all of our doctrines right and straighten their... we'll handle the supernatural."
We must learn to live in his abiding presence! We must, we must learn to live in his abiding presence and be led by the spirit day by day. I tell you, you'll have an exiting life. You'll wonder what's coming next. You'll get up every morning and think, "Wow! Where are we going? Another day! Glory, I wander what I'm going to do today." You know, like Phillip. "Phillip, go out on the road to Gaza."
"Ok, Lord. I don't know what I'm going out there for, but I'm going."
"You see that chariot."
"Uh-huh."
"Join yourself to it."
And in there sits a man reading the book of Isaiah. "Do you understand what you are reading?"
"How can I know unless some man guide me? Come up into my chariot. Tell me, is this prophet speaking of someone else, or of himself? What do you think?"
"What do I think? Let me tell you what I think about those verse, bless God!" Amen? [Sarcastically:] Oh, that was just a transitional book, you know. God did those things as a transition. Now we're living in the dead now and now. I don't believe that, I'm sorry. You can cut the book of acts out if you want, but I'm going to keep mine in my Bible, bless God. I need that book.
Let me say this: we do not work for the anointing. You do not work for the anointing, you abide in it. You believe, you revive, you walk by faith, your heart is filled with confidence, you trust God, you lean upon Him, you know it's already given, you just walk in it, you live in it, you joy in it. you revel in it you walk in it you believe God for it you trust god for it, you do not work to get the anointing, you do not. It's done, it's done. Here's what some people do though, this happens in their life, they don't understand what we just talked about that when this happens it's time to get right with God, they don't understand that so instead they say, "Boy, things aren't going good today, better read my Bible," so they start reading their Bible and, "You know, maybe things will get better if I read my Bible. Thing's aren't going very good today. I think I'll go on a fast today, err, yeah. I'll fast today. That's what I need to do,". No, you can read your Bible all day long, but if you're not willing to get right with God, then just live under that chair. Live under it. Go through the motions of your devotions for now and the next ten years. But, if you're willing to get right with God, that's all you need to do. You don't have to work for the anointing. Just get right with God and believe. That's it.
Ephesians 5:18 again. Be, being, and continually filled and controlled with the presence of the Living God. That is the command in the New Testament. Be, being continually filled and controlled with the presence of the Living God. That's it. Isn't that beautiful? Isn't that simple? Christian life is not complicated. Remember this also, the Holy Spirit is a person, like Emmanuel said last night. It's not a power. The Holy Spirit is a person! Continual yielding of my heart to be filled, continual yielding of my will to be controlled by the person of the Holy Spirit. That's what we're talking about. He's a person. He can be grieved, He can be quenched, you can offend Him, you can take Him places where He doesn't want to go, you can make Him look at things that He doesn't want to look at. He'll be grieved and quenched. I don't know where I read it. but somebody's interpretation of "quench not the spirit" was, "don't put out the spirit's fire,". That's a good amplification of that verse. Quench not the Spirit. Don't put out the Spirit's fire in your heart, but rather "continually yielding my heart to be filled, continually yielding my will to be controlled y the Spirit of the Living God.
We mentioned some points earlier, points concerning obtaining the fullness of the Holy Spirit. We spoke about "my need", and "we need to recognize my need". Well, brethren, "as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in Him,". Back there you cried out to God and said, "I need a savior," and you got one when you put your faith in Him with a repentant heart. You got a savior. Well, brother, you need a savior today. You need one today. So, "my need" doesn't go away. "My need" is always there. You remember the Beatitudes? "Blessed are the poor in spirit... blessed are they that mourn... blessed are they that are hungry and thirsting after righteousness," remember? You know al of those beautiful graces of humility? "As you have received Christ Jesus the lord, so walk ye in Him,". "As you have received the Anointed Savior the Lord, so walk ye in the Anointed Savior the Lord,". Same thing! So the need, the longing desire, the continual seeking heart, that faith filled believing expectancy... Hey! Walk in that. You get out of bed in the morning, you go to the place where you have your time alone with God, "come a needy person, come with a seeking heart, come with an expectant faith and belief that God's going to meet your need this morning". Do you see how simple it is? How many of you see it's simple? You see that? Good.
Some of our youth, they're getting a hold of these things. Beyond us fathers they don't have the baggage to deal with that some of us fellas have, and they're getting ahold of this thing, you know? And they just see it so simple. "You just walk," you know? [They say] "Lord I Love you today," and "You just walk with God, Amen? Something's wrong and you just get it clear, and go on. Enjoy your life in Christ,". It's not very difficult if you want to walk with God. But, if you ever listen to some of the things we give those young people at Bible school, you'll know why. I mean, they get meat to eat at Bible school, stuff I never got when I went to Bible school. They get meat, not milk. And I just want to admonish you young men, don't you get high minded about it. Don't you step all over your dad. Don't you turn your nose down at your preacher [or] you'll shipwreck, my boy, you'll shipwreck. I told may son Daniel, "Son pass me up, boy. Pass me up, but don't step on me on the way by. Just put out your hands, son, I'll come. I'll come. Don't step on me, don't do it. Young man, don't do it. You'll shipwreck. You don't know as much as you think you do,".
From the place of abiding there are a few things that will really strengthen and encourage your anointed life.
Number one, anointed prayer. I cannot emphasize enough the increase that comes into the heart through one hour or ferverent prayer in the spirit. Can I tack that on there? That's scriptural, right? Like Paul said in the context there of that armor, "Praying always for all men, for all things in the spirit," (anointed praying). Jude says it this way, "Build yourselves up in the most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,". John said it this way, "I was in the spirit on the Lord's day on the isle of Patmos,". Amen? From the place of abiding... You go lock yourself in your closet for an hour and you see if the fire isn't burning hotter in your heart when you walk out of there. Pouring out your soul like water before the face of the Lord, this brings a continual strengthening with might by God's Spirit in the inner man. It's part of maintaining the anointing, but you've got to have this lesson square before you do the other or you'll just stumble around and come back and tell me that it doesn't work. It does work, but it must be done from the place of abiding in the anointing. And if you're abiding in the anointing and you lock yourself away for an hour in your closet and pour your heart out like water before the presence of the Lord. He is going to strengthen you with might by His Spirit in the inner man. You will be energized. Your spirit will be made strong. Your spirit man, and your inner man, your inner being, will become strong and dominant. And your soul and your flesh will have to get in their place.
Number two, the anointing of the Word. Oh, powerful, enlightening, strengthening, wisdom filling anointing of the word. From the place of abiding, Amen? From the place of abiding you take this precious Book which was breathed out by the Holy Ghost as holy men of God were moved by the Holy Ghost, this God breathed book called the Bible. You pick up the Bible from the place of abiding with the anointing upon your heart and the anointed one who wrote this book will the interpreter, He will be the enlightener, He will illuminate it. My brothers, you can learn more in ten minutes under the anointing than you can for ten days when you read the Bible without it. God can take one little bit of a portion of a scripture and illuminate it by the Holy Ghost, and you can see it, and see it, and see it, and see it until it would take you to explain what you saw, and you only saw it in a few minutes! That's the anointing. It's the anointing of the word, brethren, and it happens from a place of abiding. I'm telling you, that's a strong anointing when you put the two of those together, Amen? "They that worship God must worship Him in spirit and truth,". Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, see? There is strengthening power in the anointing of the Word. It washes, it lightens, [and] it makes the fire of God's Spirit flame up within us. But, it takes time, Amen? It takes time.
I was reading the Martyr's Mirror some time back, preparing a home history on Godly homes of the martyrs. Hey, those guys knew the bible. They knew their Bibles. When they wrote a letter, they just wrote the Bible. They knew the Bible so well, they just wrote the Bible and filled in a few words here and there of their own. How many of you think they had a Bible sitting in prison so they could look up all of the verse when they wrote them? No takes on that one. No, that thing was in them. They wrote those letters from prison because it was in them. How do you think they got it in there? They kept that Bible with them all the time. They are over there weaving their material, and the Bible is right over here. They are over there, doing their wood working, and the Bible is sitting right over there just feeding another verse, another verse, another verse, [and] another, chapter after chapter, after chapter of the Bible. [It's] The anointing of the word, brothers.
You say, "Well, brother Denny, I don't have time for that. You're way over my head,". You need to get some time, I'm telling you. When we stand before God, we're not going to be able to say, "Now Lord, you know I lived in America. We just have so much to do in America, and it's so fun there, and there's so many places to go, and so many restaurants to go to, and so many other things to do. You know how it is Lord,". Do you think that going to stand on that day. It is not going to stand. We need to change our priorities. [I'm] serious! I'm going to be tough on you. If you can't spend an hour alone with God every day, you're a joke. If you can't spend an hour alone with God every day, then you need to change your life. I'm serious about that, we need to wake up, fellas. We need to wake up. When are we going to wake up? When it's too late? When they take the Bible away from us? When they stick us in a cell somewhere and we don't have one? We need to wake up, you know? I mean, someone came up to me after I preached a sermon somewhat like this. Someone brother up to me and said, "Brother Denny, your standard is way too high, brother. I can't live like that. You're throwing something at me that I cannot do. You're putting me under a load,". You know what I thought? "You need to change your life, fella. I didn't give you a standard that's too high or too much to bear. You need to change your life,". What he was saying was, "I want to keep on going in my life and live it the way I want and fill it up with all kinds of things that don't really matter, and so, lower the standard brother Denny so I can feel good when you preach,". No way! I mean, one hour is tiddlywinks. It's tiddlywinks.
Anointed fasting from the place of abiding. I tell you what, there is such a powerful weapon, there, and nobody knows it. And the enemy is making sure that nobody finds it out, either. Anointed fasting. Do you have any idea the stronghold that can be broken through prayer and fasting from that place of anointing? In the place of abiding? I mean, when haven is open and the abiding presence of God is upon you, and in that context you push the plate away and for a day you stay alone with the Lord in fasting and prayer. Do you have any idea the bondages that can be broken in the lives of the people in your church? The bondages that can be broken in the lives of your children and family? Do you have any idea? Well, I'll tell you what, the devil does have an idea, and he's keeping that thing so well hidden and blinded from our eyes. And we just keep on going and we just keep getting fatter and fatter and fatter. It's not right! I'm telling you, it's not right! From a place of abiding, let's get in the war, brethren! There's a war going on. And, hey, the rules are different, you know? We don't carry a gun around. That's not part of the rules in this war, but there are some rules in the war! We do have some weapons! And this is one of them, I guarantee it. We need to get in the war. How many of you think Jesus was overweight? Let me see your hands. He wasn't overweight. How about the apostle Paul? How many of you think he was overweight. Heh, no takers on that one, that skinny little nothing. Just a little John Wesley, five foot two, a hundred and twenty five pounds. Why do you think John Wesley was a hundred and twenty five pounds? Do you think he was just a thin fella? No way. That man knew there was a war going on, and he was on the front lines, and he was on the front lines all the days of his life. And he fasted, and he prayed, and he fasted, and he prayed, and he sought that beautiful anointing to remain upon his heart and his life, and it did. And he did with nothing. He left a few shillings and a silver spoon, and like Leonard Ravenhill says... oh, yeah, in the Methodist church. I wonder what we're going to leave behind? One million dollars, oh, so big. Wow. Big wow, you're going to leave a million dollars behind.
Number three, The anointing of worship. The anointing of worship from that place of abiding. The anointing of worship, brethren. The Lord inhabits the praises of His people. We have tasted it this week, have we not? We have clearly seen and tasted that the Lord comes down and hovers over and inhabits in the praises of His people. There have been some times when I stood in these things when I thought my heart was going to rupture for the sweet anointing that was upon us while we were singing praises to God. Well, go home and get in your closet and do the same thing. You don't have to do it here, you can do it at home in your closet. Praise God that would just be joy if you your children were saying, "Papa's up there singing so loud in his closet, we can hear him downstairs,". Amen! Praise God! Let it be so! He's in there having a halleluiah time. Doing what? Worshipping the Lord. Praise and adoration to the Lord, to worship God, to sing praises to Him. Sing, brethren, sing. Sing to the Lord. Sing in the spirit, Amen? From a place of abiding you can sing in the spirit, and from a place of abiding of you sing in the spirit he Lord inhabits the praises of His people, and that sweet presence of God draws near to your heart when you sing. You can maintain that anointing in your life and be strong in the Lord. Sing in the spirit, brethren, that's biblical.
And lastly, the anointing of service. Do you have any idea how the anointing falls upon you when you serve from the place of abiding? It falls on you. I mean, I'm having a ball this week. I get to do this, I'm having a blessing. Why? It's anointed service and God just becomes. Were saved to serve. That's all we're saved fore. Saved to serve, you know? Like Paul, "Who are you, Lord?"
"I'm Jesus."
"Oh. What do you want me to do, Lord?"
That's what it's all about. For every one of us in this room, we have been saved by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have been called with a holy calling that we might serve the living God, that's why he called us and saved us. He did not save is so He could go to heaven, he saved us so we could love Him, and serve Him, and bless Him, and honor Him, and glorify Him, and go win someone else to His dear Son. That's what He saved is for, and there's a anointing coming upon those that are willing to do that. And I'm telling you, it's a secret. I'm giving you a secret right now, it will come upon anyone who in that place of abiding says, "Bless God, I'm going to serve the Lord, I'm going to give my life away to others, I'm going to live for others, I'm going to serve. I mean, hey, you don't have to get up and preach the sermon, you just go serve somebody, you go help some widow, you go paint somebody's fence, you go encourage some old lady that's sitting in a rest home somewhere, and the anointing of God will be resting upon you. I mean, listen it is the outflow of the inflow of the anointing of God upon the life of the believer. That's what service is. It is the outflow of the inflow of the anointing of God. That's is what service is. What do you want to be, the Sea of Galilee or the Dead Sea? Which one? In the seas of Galilee the water just flows in and the water flows out, the water flows in, and the water flows out. With the Dead Sea, he water flows in, and it just sits there. And a lot of people are in there. They are just so full of dead water, you know what I mean? They come to church, they come to the meetings, and just more and more, they just keep taking this water in, and in, and in, and they're just like the Dead Sea. Well, some people, they go get a drink and give it somebody else and found out a secret, "It seems while I start giving it out, it starts flowing in again," and that's exactly how it works. It's the anointing of service, brethren. You want to remain the anointing of God upon your life, get busy! From a place of anointing, get busy for God! Go win a soul to Christ. Some of you have never won a soul to Jesus Christ. Some of you have never done it. I'm telling you, that's not right. That is not right. If I were you I'd get on my face and start praying every day. From a place of aiding I would start praying every day, "Lord I want to win a soul to Christ! It's not right that I've never won a soul to Jesus Christ. it's not right that I've never done that. That's what we've been left here for: to win souls. Lord, give me a soul, Lord, please. I'm sick of my barrenness,". So you've never won a soul to Christ? God wants you to, and I'm not heaping condemnation on you, I'm telling you it's fun to go fishing. You know, the Lord said to Jesus to Peter when they got this big old boat full of fish, "You think that's exiting, from henceforth you're going to catch men, and if you think catching fish is exiting, wait until you catch men,". And it's true. A lot of fish will get caught if we just get out there in that river a while, Amen? A lot of fish would get caught. It's the anointing of service. Preach the gospel, win souls, edify others, live for others, it's more blessed to give than it is to receive I promise you, more blessed. So, some of us need to change our lifestyle, Amen? We need to change our lifestyle.
All right, I'm just about done here.
Watchman Nee, some of you know that name. Here's what Watchman Nee believed about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He said, "We need to be baptized with the Holy Ghost every day,". That's what he said. It's good.
Remember Fanny Crosby? That sweet songwriter, that blind lady who saw more than most of us ever saw. Remember her? She lived under the anointing, that lady did. There was a smell, I mean, that lady had the perfume of heaven all over her. She would walk into a meeting, and everybody knew she came without even turning around. She would come in late because she was weary of everybody coming up to her, and talking to her. She was a famous lady. She would slip in late and sit down in the back, but everybody knew when Fanny arrived, because the atmosphere changed. All of a sudden, there was a smell in the air that wasn't there before, and they turned around and sure enough, there sat that little old blind lady in the back row again. She was living under the anointing, wasn't she?
I don't know if you've heard or remember the story of Andrew Murray that brother Keith Daniel shared, but I heard it, and I took that thing and buried it in my heart as soon as I heard it. Andrew Murray, old, Andrew Murray, walking down the street in Cape Town. [He had] Just locked up the church and he was heading home, walking down the street in Cape Town. Old man, he had been walking with God like John the apostle for many years, and all of the sudden... You see, everybody looked at this old man. When Andrew Murray walked down the street in Cape Town, everybody stopped and looked. "There goes Andrew Murray,". And Andrew Murray is walking down the street, and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, he falls down on the ground. Oh, everybody's shocked and they all go run over to the other side of the street. "Our dear, precious Andrew Murray, he fell,"! A policeman got there before all of the other people did and helped Andrew Murray up onto his feet and he was just kind of embarrassed and flustered, and he said, "Mr. Murray, what is wrong?!" And he said, "Oh, it's nothing,". "No, Mr. Murray, what is wrong? You must tell me. I'm not going to let you go,". He was afraid maybe he had heart attack or something like that. Andrew Murray had to bow his heart, and here are these people standing around him, and he said with tears running down his face, "For a moment, there, I lost the consciousness of the presence of God. It so shocked me, I lost my balance and fell down. Please forgive me everyone," (He apologized to everyone there) "I lost the consciousness of the presence of God, and it so shocked me I fell to the ground,". Where do you think he was in that river? Ankles, knees, hips, [or] swimming? I think he was swimming. He was swimming.
You can never swim, if you don't walk, brethren. I just lay these things before you in Jesus' name. We are accountable, all of us here. We're accountable. God want to do beautiful things, you know? I mean, where is the miraculous? Do you know? I'm not into the charismatic thing, but, you know, God is still a healer. He can heal. Where is the miraculous? We don't live in the spirit, therefore we see very little of the miraculous. When was the last time you cast out an evil spirit with a would out of your mouth? There's evil spirit all over the world. I mean, its' a mess the way it is. Who's going to deal with those people? God wan you to. You're going to have to start walking before you can swim.
Let's stand to our feet for prayer. "Father we praise you. We thank you, Lord, for how you have ministered to us these five days on this subject, God. Thank you. Thank you, Lord, for teaching us. Thank you for showing us how simple, how beautiful, [and] how powerful life can be. God, I pray for all of these dear men. It's been such a blessing to be with them all weak. They've been such good students. They've just been so hungry. They've been listening. They've been supportive with their eyes and their hearts all through the week, God. Bless each one of them. Oh, lead them on, Lord, lead every one of the on. God, you know how much work needs to be done. You know, Father. Take them all, every one of them, Lord, into the sweet overwhelming, abiding presence of the Living God. I pray, in Jesus Christ's name, Amen.
