Five Fulfilled Predictions: full transcript and answers

▶ 0:00 We’re going to see here in Isaiah 40, and we’re going to see them actually fulfilled in detail 700 years later, 700 years later, five prophetic predictions. Number one, in Isaiah 40:1: “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. Speak comfort to Jerusalem, cry out comfort to her.” Okay, cheer up, encourage her, relieve her, bring comfort. Number two: “Her warfare is ended.” Her struggle, her conflicts, her fighting is ended; it’s accomplished, it’s done. Number three: “Her iniquity is pardoned.” Wow, powerful. “For she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” Double. All this struggling, all this conflict, God doubled it, and it is ended.

▶ 1:11 Now, we know that natural Israel’s sins, the doubling of their sins, was fulfilled in Daniel 9:12. It says, “He has confirmed his words which he spoke against us and against our judges who judged us by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.” Okay, but you don’t find comfort in Daniel, you don’t find the war ended, you don’t find the pardon, but you find the doubling of the punishment for natural Israel. Then we go over to Zechariah 1:5. See, God uses nations as tools to correct his people, but the nations, our opponents, they overdo it. And God brings this out in Zechariah: “I am zealous for Jerusalem and Zion. I’m exceedingly angry with the nations. I was a little angry at my people, and the nations helped, but with evil intent.”

▶ 2:28 And in one other place it says they wanted Judah to cease as a nation. That’s how angry and hateful the nations that God used to correct his people come against his people. And we have the same thing today. You know, God, like children, he chastens us, he corrects us, and sometimes he uses our opponents to do that, and they do it with such hatred and with such evil intent, and they pick at us and everything else. And God says, “Hey, don’t mess with my people. I’m doing this. Don’t you add to it.” “Therefore,” says the Lord, “I’m returning to Jerusalem with mercy, and my house shall be built in it.” Now, there’s a switch here. Okay, the house, the natural house, was destroyed. He’s switching to spiritual Jerusalem, the bride coming down in Revelation out of heaven, God’s church, God’s people. He’s going to build his church. Hallelujah.

▶ 3:40 In Jeremiah 29 verse 12 it talks about the great speckled bird: “My heritage is to me like a speckled bird; the birds all around her are against her.” “Many rulers have destroyed my vineyard.” And that’s what we have in America today. We, the church, the Christians, are attacked so much. We’re the only ones that are not tolerated. We’re the only ones that you can’t speak against, right now. You speak against blacks, you speak against homosexuals, you speak against Jews or whatever, they’re going to come after you; Muslims. But you speak against Christianity, and no, no one cares. They tear us apart, they rip us apart, and Jeremiah prophesied it years ago, and God and Zechariah pointed out more than one time, this is just one verse. So, church, don’t get down in the dumps because people disagree with you, dislike you and find fault with you. Amen. God is not finished with us. He will finish the good work that he begun in us.

▶ 4:53 Now, when will these prophecies be fulfilled? Jeremiah addresses this issue: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord.” Isaiah 40:3. And then he talks about making the road straight, the valleys coming up, the mountains going down, removing all obstacles. God is going to remove all obstacles that’s in our way. That’s when these five prophecies are going to be fulfilled, when that voice comes crying in the wilderness. And then he gives this fifth prophetic promise: “The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” So see, when the voice in the wilderness comes saying these words about the valleys being straight and the roads being straight and the glory of the Lord revealed and human beings seeing the glory, not just hearing about it but seeing the glory, that’s when these prophecies are going to come to pass. And so we see in 29 AD, when John preached baptism and repentance, these things are fulfilled.

▶ 6:13 John said, John the Baptist said in John 1:23, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord,” as the prophet Isaiah said. See, John said, “I’m the voice.” Okay? And Isaiah said, when you hear the voice in the wilderness. John didn’t go to the cities; he went out into the desert, and people went out to the desert to hear him. In our generation, all the evangelists and everybody goes to the cities, ‘cause they can get a big crowd and make money. They don’t visit the small towns and all that. But John the Baptist went out there to the Mojave Desert and started preaching, and people came out to hear him, because he had a message from God, a living word. Then in Luke 3:1 he gives us the details, and God, knowing that our enemies would try to distort the Bible and say these things never happened and all this, here in Luke he gives us the details of the time.

▶ 7:21 “In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar”: Tiberius started ruling in 14 AD; 14 plus 15 equals 29, 29 AD. All right, “Pilate was governor of Judea.” History shows that he was governor of Judea. “Herod of Galilee,” “Philip his brother” was the ruler in another area, and [unclear] ruled with his mother until 29 AD; she died, and he ruled by himself in a region up by Lebanon, north, in Israel, north of the Sea of Galilee. And “Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests”; Caiaphas was high priest from 8 AD to 36 AD. So all of these people were there, they’re in natural history, they’re recorded in all kinds of historical documents, and the very date when this happened is given to us: 29 AD.

▶ 8:35 So he came into the wilderness speaking this word. He went preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as written in the book of Isaiah the prophet, saying; and we’ll finish that verse. So this is the first fulfillment: “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people.” These people have been offering sacrifices and burning incense and everything else, and the Bible says that it is impossible for the blood of lambs and goats to cleanse away sin. Only the blood of Christ. Only them looking forward to the Lamb of God, the real Lamb, when they sacrificed those lambs, would cleanse them. And so John came along with a message that, “Hey, God’s going to pardon you, God’s going to forgive you if you just repent and get water baptized,” the washing of the water, a washing away of sin. And that was the message that comforted the people.

▶ 9:46 Now, continuing, “the voice of one crying in the wilderness.” John said that’s what he was speaking: “Prepare you the way of the Lord.” Then he quotes Isaiah 40. He quotes it, but he adds an explanation of something to it at the end. It says, “All flesh shall see it together,” in Isaiah, but John said, “All flesh shall see the salvation of God.” Oh! So the glory, when they say it, it is the glory, and it is the glory of salvation. Do you see that? So John amplifies it; he brings more clear explanation. The glory of the Lord revealed is going to be the salvation of God.

▶ 10:46 Now, number two: “Her warfare is ended,” completed in accomplishment. We find that in John 19:28: “Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished.” Here he is on the cross, he’s dying, he’s at the last few minutes of his life, he had just drunk the vinegar to fulfill prophecy, and he knew all things were accomplished. The warfare has ended. “It is finished.” It’s complete. And bowing his head, he gave up his spirit. Hebrews 2:14: “Through death Jesus might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.” You see, he destroyed our enemy. The warfare is ended. Hallelujah, Jesus on the cross.

▶ 11:47 Now, “her iniquity is pardoned.” 1 John 1:7: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses” from how much sin? All sin. Does that include the unpardonable sin? Yes, it does. And these Christians going around like they are just too evil to be saved, or these people too evil to be saved: remember, Paul was the greatest sinner. You cannot be a worse sinner than Paul, and God saved him for an example for everybody. Now, if you think you’re too impossible, the Bible says it’s not; his blood is more powerful than anything you can do. Hallelujah. Yeah. Romans 8:2: “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” Free! I’m pardoned. I deserve to die, I deserve to be punished, I deserve to be punished for eternity, but the resurrection of Christ, that Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, dwells in us, and we are pardoned. Hallelujah.

▶ 13:00 That’s the third prophecy: “Her iniquity is pardoned.” You know, don’t let Satan or people get down on you because you make some mistakes. The Bible says we have an advocate with the Father. We can go to Jesus and we can still be forgiven as Christians, for 30 years, 40 years, however long it takes. All you got to do is take it to the cross. Amen. And don’t get down; stay up by the power of the blood to forgive and cleanse. And our warfare is ended; stop struggling with God. Stop struggling as a Christian; your warfare has ended. Amen. Hallelujah.

▶ 13:45 Number four: “She has received the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” We saw natural Israel received double for her sins. John 1:29, John the Baptist, Jesus coming, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” He takes away the sin of the world. We’re supposed to reap everlasting damnation and the punishment for our sin here on earth, but Jesus, the Bible says, takes away the sin of the whole world. How did he do that? How did he do that? 1 Peter 2:24: Jesus himself bore, carried, took our sins in his own body on the tree, the cross, “that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness.” Christ took the double portion, the double punishment, for our sin. And, folks, that’s comforting words, that’s encouraging words, that’s a relief. Amen. I don’t have to worry about those things anymore; I got to pursue life. See, he’s took my punishment, he took my blame, he took my shame; now I can work on living. Amen.

▶ 15:35 Unlike natural Israel, in the new covenant God puts our punishment of sin on Jesus Christ. Okay? In fact, if you read this right, another way: “shall receive double for their sins.” You can read in there the other side of the story, that you will receive double for everything sin took from you. Are you out there? See, sin and Satan robs us; the Bible says he’s a thief, he’s a robber. And you come to Christ, and God says, “Hey, I’ll give you back double what Satan and sin took from you.” Hallelujah. Yeah, powerful. And how do we know that’s true? Job. Job, after Satan was done, Job received what? Twice what he had before. See, God allowed Satan to touch Job and all that, and then the Bible says Job received double, twice as much. You remember Elisha, what kind of portion did he get from Elijah? A double portion. You see, in Exodus 22:4 the thief, when he’s caught, has to pay what? Double back. Who is the thief? Satan. When we turn to Christ, Satan’s exposed, Satan is destroyed, and he has to let us go, and we get double all the pain and all the problems that he caused in our life by us listening to him. God restores what? Double. Amen, amen, hallelujah, very powerful.

▶ 17:50 Okay, and what was the blessing of the firstborn, by the way? A double portion. Folks, think big. When you think about God, think big. Stop, stop thinking so puny and whiny and wimpy. People have this thing: “Well, I’m just humble, I’m not worthy of anything.” No, you’re not worthy; you never will be worthy. But Jesus has given us things, and here he’s given us double. Hallelujah. And if you were a Christian all your life, he’s going to give you a double portion of the blessings of God anyway, like Elisha got from Elijah. So don’t think you got to go out and sin to get double; you’re going to get double anyway. Can I hear an amen? Amen. Hallelujah.

▶ 18:49 Now, “The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” This number five, the glory of the Lord being revealed. John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Period. John 1:14: “The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us,” we beheld, we saw his glory. “The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” Those people saw the glory of God. Amen. “The glory as the only begotten of the Father.” Now, we know who he was. Who is the only begotten of the Father? Jesus Christ is the only one that was birthed by God. Adam was made out of the dust, Eve was made from his bone, but Jesus was birthed by God in the womb of Mary. Hallelujah. “Became flesh and dwelt amongst us.” And this is his glory: he’s full of what? “Grace and truth.” Grace and truth.

▶ 20:05 And if America would just understand the power of grace, instead of this “favor,” and we’re just a bunch of whims: “Well, I’m saved by grace, I’m saved by grace, I’m saved by grace,” like, and God just favors me no matter what. Grace is much more powerful than that when you read it in the Bible. And I like this definition that Vine’s Dictionary came up with: “Grace means good will, kindness and favor.” That is true, but Vine put it all together, all the verses, and they said this: “by which God, exerting His influence, divine enablement, upon souls.” People, see, grace isn’t just “I’m in favor.” I’m in favor? No, God is exerting his influence upon me. God is coming to me, he’s enabling me, he’s convicting me, he’s drawing me, to what? To turn them to Christ, to keep them in Christ, to strengthen them in Christ and increase them in Christ. Amen.

▶ 21:16 Amen. Are you there, church? We’ve been taught such a wimpy grace. We don’t inherit the power of God; we just think we’re a bunch of humble wimps walking around. You know, if you say you got something in God, then you’re prideful and you’re arrogant; you got to humble yourself. Doesn’t the Bible say the weak should say they are strong? Yeah. How many... you know, Moses was the meekest man, the Bible says, except Jesus, of course. Was he a wimp? No! He stood right up to Pharaoh and said, “Hey, let my people go. God said let my people go.” He didn’t go in there, “Pharaoh, I’m not worthy to be here, but would you please let my people go? God says, you know, you need to let his people go. Would you do that?” Okay, didn’t do that. He walked in there and said, “God said let my people go,” and he is the meekest man outside of Jesus, amen. Did he come down off the mountain and saw those people worshiping that golden calf, he go, “Oh, oh, you shouldn’t be doing that. I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but you know, you really, you really shouldn’t be making a golden calf”? No! He went on, “Say, what are you people doing?” He grabbed that calf, broke it up, crushed it into the dust, threw it in the water, made them drink out of it, and that’s diarrhea, folks, all the way. Are you there?

▶ 23:06 See, we can be humble without being a wimp. See, Moses knew who he was; he knew God was with him. David knew God was with him. My goodness, they possess these things, and you can possess these things. Being humble is not being wimpy. Being humble is standing for God’s Word no matter what the crowd does. You just simply stick with God’s Word, and that’s what Moses did, and that’s why he was humble. Amen. The crowds wanted to kill him, the people wanted to kill him, they wanted another leader; it didn’t bother him a bit. He stood on God’s side. He didn’t get, “Oh, my God!” And American Christians just fall apart at the slightest opposition and accusation, because we don’t understand these things. God has given us an inheritance; it belongs to us. Amen. Hallelujah.

▶ 24:20 “He gives them knowledge and love and kindles them to exercise Christian virtues.” You know, you say you got grace. The Bible says the grace of God was upon him, the favor of God was upon him. Well then, you’re going to do Bible morality, because grace has a doctrine. The doctrine of grace is to live holy and righteous in this world. Are you there? Amen. Now, that’s the kind of grace God has given you, a powerful grace, not this wimpy grace that you’re just going to wimp through life and barely make it into heaven. You’re not going to barely make it in; you’re going to make it in solid. Amen.

▶ 25:06 Truth. Let me give you a little idea about truth. Truth is the openness and honesty of mind, free from feelings, of making decisions by your feelings. “Well, I feel this is right.” It don’t matter what you feel; it’s what the Bible says is right, that’s what’s right. That’s right. It’s free from pretense. I don’t have to act like I got something. When I tried to demonstrate the tongues back there about four years ago, ‘cause I had done it all over the world, and then God didn’t come and let me speak in tongues, you know, I can’t pretend. I can’t go and do what I did 10 years ago or a year before. I got to do what the Spirit is doing at the present time, and if he says no, you got to just accept it. That’s the rule book. Are you there? Otherwise you’re pretending. And when God’s presence isn’t on his congregation and we want to, you know, act like it’s there, we are phony. There’s nothing wrong with the sacrifice until he comes with the real thing. Amen. Hallelujah.

▶ 26:34 It is free from treachery. Treachery is befriending someone and, you know, flattering them and so forth to get something out of them in the end. The churches in America are filled with people trying to get something out of the church, and once they exhaust that church and they’ve caught up with them, they just go to another church. Are you there? Treachery, intimidation; free from intimidation. And this is what denominations can do, or some book author or some group: they can so push their doctrines and their opinions that they intimidate you into accepting them and acting the way they want you to act. Did you get that? Intimidation, following the crowd. “Well, you know, everybody’s accepting homosexuality.” No! Jesus isn’t... God isn’t... he hasn’t changed. What are you changing for? They need to get saved like anybody else. Amen. See, that’s truth.

▶ 27:59 That’s truth. Do you have that kind of mind, honesty, not lying, just being honest? When you don’t have something, you don’t have it. If you do have something, you have it. Don’t feel like you’re being prideful and arrogant when you say you got something God’s given you, and it’s obvious that he’s done it. Don’t be afraid to brag about God. Amen. Oh me, my, my. All right, “the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,” number five. When was it? John 1:1: “The Word became flesh,” full of grace and truth. And then in Revelation 1:7: “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye shall see Him.” Now this is the kicker: he’s going to reveal his glory at the end, but he’s coming back to judge; that’s too late. So right now he’s revealing his glory through the church. My church shall be a glorious church. So if Jesus’s glory was filled with grace and truth, what should his church be filled with? Grace and truth, the Bible grace, not this American fabricated grace, a divine enablement of God, and truth. Okay? And when we display grace and truth, we’re displaying the glory of Jesus Christ, and people can see Jesus, his glory, through us, and they can see the Savior. The glory is the salvation of God, the Savior, the way to be free from sin and death. Wow, that’s an amen.

▶ 29:54 Humans have a short term. Isaiah 40:6: “All fleshes is grass, and the goodness of flesh, mankind, is like the flower of grass; it withers, and it fades because the Spirit of the Lord blows upon it. But the word of our God stands forever.” James 4:14 says your life is like a vapor that appears for a moment, a little time, and then is gone. Folks, we got 80 years. That gives me nine more years, hopefully. You have the promise of 80 years; we don’t have the guarantee of tomorrow. Some of you could die before I do. It’s appointed unto man once to die. He’s got a calendar, and if your time was four years old, you’re gone; that was in God’s calendar. Well, how does that work? You know, that’s his business. You died at 19; that was your calendar, your appointment. So you better be ready. Right? Yeah, you better be ready.

▶ 31:00 But you know, back in Genesis they had 900-plus years, then after the flood they were 120, and then when Moses came along with Moses’s covenant, God gave him 70, “if by strength, 80.” And so that’s our kicking-the-bucket time. And so, you know, I’m in the kick-the-bucket-list time, and I’m going to be leaving this world; I’m in the zone. I mean, you only got a promise of 80 years. So, hallelujah, I got to go, goodbye. Don’t weep for me when I’m gone. So don’t come weeping in here when I die. I made it, I finished the course, I’m in a better place, I’m in the goal, the eternities of God. Hallelujah! You got to look at death right. Hallelujah. You can sing that song at my funeral: “Don’t you weep for him ‘cause he’s gone.”

▶ 32:08 So Peter adds to this. “All right, you purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit.” Born again: John 3 says we must be born again before we can enter and see the kingdom of God, born of the Spirit. Peter adds to this, because his Word is Spirit. He says you’re born again through the Word of God, which lives and abides forever. And that’s exactly what Isaiah said up here: the Word of God stands forever. And so we get born again and we purify. You see, that’s the doctrine of grace: we live godly and righteous in this present world. That’s the doctrine of grace, and we get enabled both by the Spirit and the Word.

▶ 33:05 You see, we get born by the Spirit. When I was down in Paraguay preaching the gospel, this church had gotten so extreme they didn’t bring their Bible to church anymore, because the Spirit just spoke to them; they didn’t need the Bible. They just came and [unclear] and whatever, and, you know, the Spirit spoke, and then they were a mess, and I got into a real mess. But the Word of God cleaned that mess; it cleaned it out good. Are you there? See, we can’t throw away our Bibles. We got to read and “seek you out of the book of the law and read,” “study to show thyself approved,” study what the Scriptures say. Amen.

▶ 33:54 Now, and then he quotes, because “all flesh is as grass,” he quotes Isaiah. We got a short time, so we need to be born again and live for God, amen; that’s the whole duty of man, Ecclesiastes says. The church’s responsibility: “O Zion.” What’s Zion? Yeah, he defines it here: “Zion, you who bring good tidings.” Who has the good news? Who has the word to comfort the people? The church. And let me tell you, listen to this one. You may be in the church, but you’re not saying anything. I mean, you may be a young believer, and that’s okay, you don’t need to say anything. But, you know, some of us are three to 30 years old in God and we’re not saying anything. It says, “Zion, you who bring good tidings.” So who, what part of the church is he talking to, the active part or the pacifist part? If we’re not speaking the Word, he’s not talking to us here.

▶ 35:28 I’m trying to get you stirred up to open your mouth about Jesus. God is trying to get you stirred up. America has got us closed-mouth; we’re afraid to say anything. But the message is to those who bring the good tidings. What’s the good tidings? The freedom of sin through Christ’s blood on the cross. That is the gospel; that is the good news. You know, family teaching, financial teaching, yeah, that’s fine, but the power is in the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen. “Get up into the high mountain, O Jerusalem, you who bring good tidings; lift up your voice with strength,” not with meekness.

▶ 36:20 Oh, would you guys consider that sexual immorality is wrong and do a little better? Would you consider that? I heard one minister of a big church say a statement about sin and jokes it off by saying, “I know none of you do these things.” Well, they were doing them things, and they needed to be challenged by the Word of God and by the Spirit of God so they could get forgiveness and move on in God. You, I can’t camouflage this stuff. “Lift your voice with strength.” Okay, and he’s going to show you what kind of strength here: “Don’t be afraid; don’t be afraid.” See, I spent my time preaching in jails, [unclear] missions, skid row missions, street corners. Mr. Barnes used to go down in the Santa Ana, and we would go into the bars and drag these men into a service that we had organized for them to preach the gospel to them. We would go to the Pussycat Theater (that’s when pornography movies was first accepted) and we’d grab them guys and say, “You don’t want to go in there; you want to go on here.”

▶ 37:46 You see, you can’t be afraid, and when you start exercising it, you get strong in it, you get confident in it. You go to the gym, you get strong in muscles; you start working the Word of God, you get strong in the Word of God. You shut up and don’t do nothing, you’re going to be a weakling the rest of your life. Now, that was a good statement. See, based on this, you who bring good tidings, you that are opening your mouth, you that are telling others the gospel of Jesus Christ: “Say to the cities of Judah” (we just read last week, we studied, Judah had been captured by Assyria), “say to the captives, behold, see your God.” God doesn’t... Acts tells us to go first to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the world. We need to go to [unclear]; you see, we need to go to California, we need to go to America, and then we need to go to the uttermost parts of the earth. And I have been on almost all the continents, except Australia, preaching the Word of God, and when you do that, you avail yourself to prisons and street corners and skid row missions and convalescent hospitals. I went everywhere that they let me come in and preach. You get strong. Why? He gives you a message; he makes you strong in the Word because I open my mouth.

▶ 39:28 You know, I am a catholic with a little c, because catholic means universal, one united group, not the capital C Catholic denomination. I’m catholic-ly; I am a fundamental, evangelical, Pentecostal, tongue-talking follower of Jesus Christ. That’s a fact. I believe the fundamentals of the Bible, I believe the evangelical thing, except for one little item, a little added to the Word there, a little, not enough to worry about. Hallelujah. I’m not at war with Catholics, I’m not at war with the denominations; I’m at war with the principalities and powers of darkness that have deceived the people, and the Word will bring light to them, they can see the salvation of God, and they can be saved and they can grow in God.

▶ 40:37 Amen. And it’s wonderful that we preach on the second coming and finances and family and all this stuff, but, folks, none of those teachings supersede and excuse people from not preaching the salvation of God. Amen. And telling them, if they’ll follow on to know the Lord, you don’t just get saved; you follow on, and he has great things to give us. Can I hear an amen, church? You see, we got to get serious about the house of God. We got to get serious. So we need to get organized. See, God’s waiting for somebody to arise. Joshua and Caleb did in their time, David did in his time. Who’s going to do it in our day? I told you, I’m in the zone. I’m leaving this place. I put in my time at the missions and at the convalescent hospitals and the prisons and the jails and wherever I could preach the gospel. This generation’s got to rise up. Is that a good amen?

▶ 41:48 And can we arise up? Watch this. Watch what Isaiah has to say: “Behold, the Lord shall come” (who’s he going to come to? Jerusalem, that’s bringing good tidings, Zion, the people that are bringing good tidings) “with a strong hand,” (and his arm, which the Bible says his right arm doeth valiantly, victoriously, shall rule for him), “and His reward is with Him.” Now, we got to understand, in Deuteronomy it says the Lord’s portion is his people. So his reward is what? You. He did all this to love you, to have a relationship with you and live with you forever in eternity. That’s his portion; that’s why he did all this. And this is where the atheists and the humanists and all that miss. God had a goal in mind, and that was you. But he also has a reward for his church, five of them.

▶ 42:48 Number one, verse 11: “He will feed His flock like a shepherd.” Feed him with the finest of the... feed him with the full knowledge of God, the truth of God. Paul said, “I have not ceased to declare unto you the whole knowledge of God,” from Genesis to Revelation: “I’ve taught you.” “He will gather the lambs with His arm.” Remember the right hand of the Lord. I don’t care what depths of sin you were in, I don’t care if you were an alcoholic, a drug addict, a prostitute, I don’t care if you were a child molester, I don’t care what you were, his right arm will come and gather you out of that sin. That’s his reward for turning to him. Wow, that was good.

▶ 43:36 Amen. I had to learn not to look down on anybody. Back there, when they were saying homosexuals were impossible to get saved because they had a reprobate mind, God showed me that that was just another sin. Preach the gospel and they can come in, and I did, and I led over 50 of them to Christ, and 30-some of them are still serving Christ. But I preached to probably several thousand, one-on-one. Are you there? His right arm will gather them in. “He’ll carry.” When you think that you can’t make it another day, he’ll pick you up and he’ll carry you. “He will gently lead those with young”: you got children and all that, God will give you the strength and the power to raise your family and serve God and be strong in God. Can I hear an amen? I don’t have to stop serving God because I got a good job, and I don’t have to stop serving God because I got a family now and, you know, I got to go to soccer practice, I got to do this. No, God’s got to be first.

▶ 44:43 “Still, and He’ll gently.” Yeah, he won’t put any more demand on you than you can handle, but he’ll keep leading you. Isn’t that beautiful? And I had to learn that as a young Christian: I couldn’t give up pursuing God because I had kids to raise, and I had eight of them. Here’s the kicker: “He will give power to the weak, those who have no might He will increase their strength.” He is going to give you supernatural power. That’s his promise. That’s what I was preaching Friday night: he hasn’t given us a spirit of fear. I don’t have to be afraid of God and afraid of failing and all the rest, but a spirit of power.

▶ 45:43 Quit arguing about the Holy Ghost and just get it. That’s my motto wherever I go: quit arguing and just let him come to you the way he can come to you. He will empower you. If you feel weak, he will increase, and it is an increasing. You know, I got the Holy Ghost, like I told you, but I had to learn how to use it. I had to learn how to appropriate, how to channel it; it took time. It took time. I made a mess of things at first, with people encouraging me to make a mess of things. “Yeah, shake, man, you’re doing good, Holy Ghost is on you.” I wasn’t doing... it doesn’t edify anybody. How does shaking teach anything? Are you there? I had to learn the fruits of the Spirit, and I got them one by one. You don’t get it in the... it’s one by one. He starts building that one, then he’ll give you a desire for another one, and he’ll start with the one that he wants.

▶ 46:56 And the gifts of the Spirit: he is not going to give you any gift of the Spirit to edify the body of Christ, word of wisdom, word of knowledge, tongues and interpretation, until you have the maturity to handle the weapon. Don’t you ever forget that. Tongues are a sign for the unbeliever. They are powerful when used right. I don’t care what people say, they’re a sign for the unbeliever, and we need everything for the unbeliever to get saved. Could that be an amen? Miracles are a sign for the unbeliever, and we want to pursue miracles and healings. You know, if he’s not doing it, fine, we’re not going to pretend, but we got to, what? Pursue it. “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.” As the musicians come, what were they doing? What were they told to do? Yeah: go and tarry, wait in Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high.

▶ 47:57 You see, and that’s what Isaiah said: wait on the Lord, and ye go, the Lord shall renew your strength. Where is our renewing going to come from? From him, not some great speaker. Folks, all we can do is preach the gospel to you. It’s God that’s got to gather you, it’s God that’s got to lead you, it’s God that’s got to empower you. All we can do is preach the gospel to you, and you have to respond and let your God give you these great things. How many could use a renewing, a refreshing strength daily? You know, we eat every day to refresh our body; we need that presence of God coming to us to strengthen us to live for him every day.

▶ 48:45 Yeah. “They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not be weary, they will walk and not faint.” They’ll not get tired. These men, ministers that have nervous breakdowns, and I just heard one that shot himself and committed suicide: what kind of God calls somebody and doesn’t give them the power to handle opposition, accusations and everything else? You know, the problem is we don’t have called people; we just have people going to seminars and colleges and Bible colleges and learning what they’re saying, and they’re not empowered at all. Amen. And we got a bunch of Christians in America that have no power.

▶ 49:40 But today God is saying, “Church, I’m coming with a comfort message, a relieving message, an encouraging message. Your sins are pardoned, your warfare is done. Stop struggling with me. Stop being in conflict in your home and with other churches. Your conflict is over, your war is over. Jesus has paid the price, he’s done it. Now you can live, and you can have these five rewards of God. He will feed you, and you can understand the Word. He will gather you; I don’t care what depth of sin you’re in. He will carry you when you don’t think you can make it anymore. He will gently lead you and your family. He will empower you.” And...