Our Anointing – The Need to Prove All Things

[00:00:00] Now shall we turn in the word of God to the first letter of John one John two. [00:00:13] And from verse 18, one John, chapter two. [00:00:18] From verse 18. [00:00:22] Little children, it is the last hour. And as ye heard that Antichrist cometh, even now have there arisen many antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last hour. [00:00:40] They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. [00:00:51] But they went out, that they might be made manifest that they all are not Abba. [00:01:02] And ye have an anointing from the holy one, and ye know all things. [00:01:11] I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it. [00:01:18] And because no lie is of the truth. [00:01:24] Who is the liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? [00:01:32] This is the antichrist, even he that denieth the father and the son, whosoever denieth the son, the same hath not the father. He that confesseth the son son hath the father also. [00:01:47] As for you, let that abide in you which ye heard from the beginning. [00:01:56] If that which ye heard from the beginning abide in you, ye also shall abide in the son and in the father. [00:02:06] And this is the promise which he promised us, even the life eternal. [00:02:13] These things have I written unto you concerning them that would lead you astray. [00:02:20] And as for you, the anointing which ye received of him abideth in you. [00:02:28] And ye need not that anyone teach you, but as his anointing teacheth you concerning all things, and is true and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you abide in him. [00:02:48] And now, my little children, abide in him. That if he shall be manifested, we may have boldness and not be ashamed before him at his coming. [00:03:02] If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that everyone also that doeth righteousness is begotten of him. [00:03:14] And then in the fourth chapter, the fourth chapter and verse, one beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God. [00:03:35] Because many false prophets are gone out into the world hereby know ye the spirit of God? Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that confesseth not Jesus is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it cometh. And now it is in the world already ye are of God, my little children, and have overcome them. Because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore speak they as of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God. He that knoweth God heareth us. He who is not of God heareth us not. [00:04:32] By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. [00:04:42] And then if you will, turn back to the first letter to the Thessalonians and chapter five, one Thessalonians, chapter five from verse twelve. [00:05:11] But we beseech you, brethren, to know them that labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and at admonish you, and to esteem them exceeding highly in love for their works sake. [00:05:26] Be at peace among yourself. [00:05:29] And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the disorderly, encourage the faint hearted, support the weak, be long suffering toward all. [00:05:43] See that none render unto anyone evil for evil, but always follow after that which is good, one toward another, and toward all. [00:05:57] Rejoice, always. [00:06:00] Pray without ceasing in everything. [00:06:04] Give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus. To you, Lord, quench, touch not the spirit, despise not prophesies, prove all things, hold fast that which is good, abstain from every form of evil, and the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly. And may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. [00:06:58] Faithful is he that calleth you, who will also do it. [00:07:07] Now we'll sing well now this evening, this matter. [00:07:22] We are living in wonderful days in many, many ways. [00:07:29] In the book of acts it tells us that the characteristic of the age in which we live will be that the Holy Spirit will come upon men and women. [00:07:45] We read this, of course, in acts two. It is from the prophecy of Joel, and it shall be in the last days I will, saith God, I will pour forth on my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams, yea, and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days will I pour forth of my spirit, and they shall prophesy, and I will show wonders in the heavens above, and signs on the earth beneath blood and fire and vapor of smoke, the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the day of the Lord come, that great and notable day. And it shall be that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. [00:08:43] Well now, the apostle Peter tells us in this verse 16. But this is that which hath been spoken through the prophet Joel. And we know from the book of acts that indeed this is exactly what characterized those early days of the church, when the Holy Spirit came upon the. Then later as, again and again as the work went out, first to Samaria, then amongst the gentiles, God did, did the same thing and brought more and more into this outpouring of his spirit. But, of course, we have a problem, because it is quite clear that when Joel prophesied, he had in mind the very end. [00:09:37] And we read verse 19. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke that we don't read of anywhere in the book of acts, nor the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the day of the Lord come, that great and notable day of the Lord. So we can say that it is quite right to see in this prophecy something that characterizes the whole of this age, its initiation, its development, its progression and its completion. And one of the most wonderful things is this, that in church history, it has been the Holy Spirit whos taken the initiative again and again right from the start. It has been the Holy Spirit who initiated this age, and it has been the Holy Spirit who has stirred up men and women and come upon them and done great things. [00:10:47] Now we live in wonderful days in many ways, days which some fear, but days which I am quite sure it is our privilege to live in. For we are seeing some of the most extraordinary things fulfilled before our eyes, and increasingly we shall see it. Many people have often said to me how they would love to have lived. For instance, they would have loved to have heard the sermon on the mount. Or others tell me they would love to have seen Lathyrus raised from the dead. Others tell me that they wish they'd been there on the day of Pentecost. Others who are more Old Testament minded tell me that they wish they could have been there when the Red Sea was split into two and the people of God went over us on dry ground. Or they could have seen the pillar of cloud and fire. But, you know, the extraordinary thing is that at this time, when these things happened, there were always those who disbelieved. There was an ananias and a sophia. [00:11:53] Ananias. There were others like Simon the sorcerer. [00:12:00] There were, of course, those that great crowd who came out of Egypt, saw the sea open, passed through it, saw the pillar of fire and cloud, and yet murmured and rebelled so greatly that the Lord was displeased with them, and they all died in the wilderness, except for two. [00:12:23] Now, it is perfectly possible to live in days when God is fulfilling things and despise them to say, oh, this is a day of small things. Who shall despise the day of small things? [00:12:41] Says the prophet Zechariah in connection with the completion of God's building program. [00:12:48] Who shall despise the day of small things? But it's so possible to despise, to sort of say, oh, nothing's happening yet. You, all of you, there's no one too young for that. You have actually seen Jerusalem come back under jewish control, a direct fulfillment of prophecy. Many of you have seen Israel become a nation again. These are extraordinary things. Furthermore, these things are signs which were clearly given to us thousands of years before. Therefore, that we might know not the exact date of the Lord's coming, but the approximate era into which we have entered. [00:13:38] Therefore, we are living in wonderful days, but at the same time we are living in days of confusion. [00:13:49] There is so much mixture, there is counterfeit working. [00:13:56] That which claims to be Christ claims to be done in the name of Christ, claims to be the work of the Holy Spirit and is, in fact, the work of evil spirits. [00:14:14] It is Satan coming as an angel of light and a minister of righteousness. [00:14:23] And this is precisely what we should expect. [00:14:26] Most people seem to think that the devil is so dim witted, so simple minded that any Christian could see, you know, the idea is, so and so could be deceived, and so and so could be deceived. But of course not. [00:14:45] I mean, I would spot him a mile off. Why? Because we expect him to come out as he is, in all his grotesque ugliness, his darkness. Whereas the word of God tells us that he comes to us as an angel of light and a minister of righteousness. [00:15:10] That is, he comes to minister to us righteousness, and he comes to us with further light. [00:15:22] This is just where we've all got to be so very careful. [00:15:26] Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed, lest he fall. [00:15:32] No more vital word could be taken to heart by anyone in this place tonight than that. Let him that thinketh he standeth. Those of you who are afraid of being deceived are already halfway to victory. [00:15:49] If you know your capacity for deception, if you know that left to yourself, you may easily be sidetracked, corrupted, taken hold of, ensnared, you are halfway to victory. You're not fully there, but you're halfway there. [00:16:06] But for those here who feel they would never be deceived, it is quite impossible for them. They are like an institution of the british empire, spiritually, something that can never be corrupted, never fall, never decay. Take heed. You are just a person. That is a good subject for deception. [00:16:32] Now, there's quite a lot that we can say here. [00:16:36] What we want to ask ourselves is, how can we know what is wrong and what is right when both appears to be of God? When both appears to be of Christ, how can we know what truth and what is error? [00:17:02] Now, our point, the point we wish to make here is a very big one. [00:17:08] There is no such thing as grayness with God. [00:17:15] This is a very important point. There is no such thing as grayness with God. Things are white or black, truth or the lie, light or darkness. Now, John is the apostle who underlines this. In him, there is no darkness at all. [00:17:48] The anointing teacheth you all things and is true and is no lie. [00:17:57] In other words, there is no mixture as far as God is concerned. [00:18:03] Now, I think all of you would agree with me that it is much, much easier when things are outright counterfeit. [00:18:12] When something is counterfeit, most of us ought to wake up. There's something seriously wrong if we don't wake up pretty swiftly. When something is an outright counterfeit, that is, something which is of Satan masquerading as the work of God or of Christ. [00:18:32] Our problem is mixture. [00:18:36] When there is that which is good and that which is bad, that which is of the spirit and that which is Eronia. Now, the Lord himself has given us the clue to this when he told us about the good seed being sown. And then an enemy came and sowed bad seed tares. [00:19:00] Now, immediately the laborers came to the master and said to him, shall we get rid of the tares? Surely we must. No, said the master. Now the job's been done, leave them. They must grow together. Now, this is very, very important. [00:19:22] A little leaven. Leaveneth the whole lamb. Once the yeast is in the flour, God says we must let the both work together. [00:19:33] Now, this explains a problem which many people have. Why does God seemingly bless that which is mixed? [00:19:46] How is it that people get saved? In what we know to be quite mixed up things, and where there is a certain amount of deception, the spirit of error is there. How do people get saved? How do they get blessed? [00:20:04] God is the father of his children. [00:20:09] He doesn't just withdraw. [00:20:12] So you find our whole problem is to somehow or other stop the leaven getting in. [00:20:21] Now, do take this very much to heart. It's a very important point. Once the leaven is in, we can do nothing about it. But our job is to stop the leaven from getting. Stop the yeast getting into the flourish, stop the enemy sowing the bad seed once the good seed has been sown. [00:20:43] Now, im not saying that theres no possibility of recovery once this mixture, once weve been a subject of mixture, well come to that in a moment. But the fact is, were talking about how to abide in him, not how to get back into him, how to stay where God has put us, and how never to become, at the very beginning, subject to the mixture. [00:21:08] So you can see that once there is anything pure, the enemy's whole objective is to come alongside that pure stream and flow in something corrupt. This happened in the welsh revival. It's happened with every single movement of the spirit of God. First the real pure virgin, and then the adulteration has taken place quite unseen to start with, coming right alongside underneath and finally taking over. [00:21:40] Now, this is the whole problem we have in the days in which we live. And that's why I've become more and more burdened about this thing and have said to God that I shall take opportunity wherever I go at one time to gather the folks together and to teach them about this little point, how to know what is of the spirit and how to know what is not. [00:22:07] Now, you can see that the enemy's whole plan now is to somehow or other try and get mixture in. Now, there's a sense in which this only has anything to do with the most devoted of us, those who are not the least bit bothered about going on with God. The enemy's got already this question of deception, this sowing of leaven is very rarely to do with those who are not going on. [00:22:41] Strange enough, I speak now from experience all over this country and certainly all over Europe. [00:22:48] It's always the going on folk, the folk who've gone up and are going right off, reaching out for everything God has for them who get so terribly sidetracked or diverted and finally caught. [00:23:05] I see Arthur speaking to me a little while ago about a group we know that was so greatly blessed in the beginning, so pure, and the whole thing just gone off. [00:23:25] Now, this is our problem now. God has not left his children without this ability. Do you really believe that God has left, left us like lambs in the midst of ravening wolves, with no ability to distinguish when wolves come to us in sheep's clothing? [00:23:53] Wouldn't it seem more than odd if God were to just leave his dear children to them, to the. To the deceptive, insidious powers of Satan? [00:24:12] Turn to John, chapter ten. [00:24:19] John, chapter ten, verse four and five. [00:24:30] When he hath put forth all his own he goeth before them and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers. Oh, if only it was true. [00:24:54] If only it was as simple as that. [00:24:59] When he goes out, when he's going forward into the full purpose of God, leading his people with them, the sheep follow him, they know his voice. [00:25:08] And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him. But this is just our problem. [00:25:15] The children of God, far from fleeing from these strangers, often follow them and then get mixed up in strange things and are finally completely sidetracked. [00:25:30] Now, will you note here that God says quite categorically the words of our Lord Jesus himself. [00:25:37] They know his voice, the shepherd's voice. [00:25:43] That means that every single one, to the youngest lamb knows the voice of the shepherd, and they will not follow strangers. [00:25:55] Now, that must be a very important, again, a very important point we underline. God has not left us in this world to be led astray by alien powers, strange powers. He has said. We have the ability to distinguish the stranger from the shepherd. We have an ability to distinguish the mind of the shepherd from the mind of a stranger. We have the ability to. To tell what is of the shepherd and what is of a stranger. [00:26:31] Get that absolutely clear, everyone of you. [00:26:35] There's not one of us left without this ability. [00:26:39] It's a God given, a God provided ability by which the youngest child of God can be preserved from the enemy. [00:26:52] Now, let's move on then, and just look at this subject. [00:26:59] I have already said that there's a great need not just to remember that any one of us can be deceived. Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed, lest he fall. Now, let me just develop that for a few minutes. The need to prove or to try or to test everything. Now, when I say everything, I mean everything the word of God doesn't say. Prove the things you think. A bit suspicious. It says, prove all things. [00:27:35] That was in Thessalonians one. Thessalonians chapter five. Prove all things. Test everything. Try everything. Don't swallow anything. That's the negative side. Don't swallow anything. Test everything. Test it, test it. Try it. [00:27:57] I have found again and again in my little experience, that the people who deluded are nearly all naive. [00:28:05] You know, the idea is, oh, well, of course. But he's a servant of the Lord. [00:28:13] Of course. [00:28:14] He must be good. It must be right. It was the word of God anyway. It was the word of God. And you should have seen why there was a person there that was healed. [00:28:26] I mean, it's absolutely of God. And if you dare say, now, then try it. They say, oh, there you are, him again. [00:28:37] Always puts a damper on anything. [00:28:40] Always holding back. Keep you back. [00:28:43] But what does the word of God say? Does the word of God say? Try what appears a little mixed? No. It says, try everything. Prove all things beloved, says the apostle John, there are many spirits that have gone forth into the world, many false prophets. Try the spirits, whether they be of God. [00:29:10] In other words, anything that's inspired, anything that appears to be inspired, anything that appears to have power. Try it. Prove it. Don't swallow it. [00:29:24] Well, you better just look at those two scriptures. One John, chapter four, verse one. [00:29:36] Finally, then, brethren, we beseech and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, the desire is. I'm sorry, that's Thessalonians one, John four. One. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they be God. Listen to how the new English Bible puts this. But do not trust any and every spirit. My friends, test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For among those who have gone on out into the world, there are many prophets falsely inspired. [00:30:20] Well, there's the first thing. Now look back to this one. Thessalonians chapter five, verse 19 to 22. [00:30:35] I'm going to read it in the amplified for you. Do not quench the spirit, suppress or subdue the Holy Spirit. Do not spurn the gifts and utterances of the prophets. Do not depreciate prophetic revelations, nor despise inspired instructional exhortation or warning, but test and prove all things until you can recognize what is good. [00:31:06] To that, hold fast, abstain from evil, shrink from it, and keep aloof from it in whatever form or whatever kind it may be. [00:31:20] Now, I don't think there could be any clearer word in the New Testament on this whole matter, and it has been my invariable experience to find that those who've got deluded or deceived have not proved everything they have been of the ilk who just simply said, oh, but it was wonderful. And the sweat along, however seemingly good, however seemingly scriptural, however seemingly powerful, however seemingly God authenticated, however seemingly miraculous. Try it. [00:32:03] Test it. [00:32:05] Now. Someone says, but how? [00:32:09] That's what bewilders me. You say, but how do I do it? It's all very well to say test it, but some of it appears to be so good and so powerful and so of God. How? Well, now, just take another look. Look at one. Corinthians, chapter two, one corinthians, chapter two, verse 15. [00:32:42] He that is spiritual judgeth all things. [00:32:49] Now this finds us out. [00:32:51] It doesn't mean, as I have sometimes heard it put or used, that those who are spiritual are critical. [00:33:04] It doesn't mean that at all. What it means is this, that those that are truly spiritual never commit themselves. [00:33:15] First and foremost, they judge it. [00:33:20] Now, what does it mean to judge something? It means you judge it as to whether it's of God or not. [00:33:27] He that is spiritual judgeth all things. That is not the most or the bad things, but judgeth all things. Everything that comes, comes to the light. You remember in the old days they had Urim and O Thumim. By this they could tell the will of God and the mind of God and the way of God. [00:33:48] So every one of us has the urim and Thummim. [00:33:54] The great thing is to be a spiritual man or a spiritual woman. [00:33:59] Now, again, I hope I don't appear to be too negative, but so often those who speak a lot about the spirit are, in fact, not spiritual. [00:34:12] This is one of the great bewildering problems in this. We hear people have had a traumatic experience, but they're not spiritual. [00:34:19] Later on, we hear the most terrible things have happened and the whole thing's collapsed or divided and so on. [00:34:26] Isn't that extraordinary? [00:34:29] But he that is spiritual judgeth all things. Now, isn't it interesting as to what this means? Just what does it mean to be spiritual? Look at in the same chapter, verse eleven. Who among men knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of the man which is in him? [00:34:54] Now, what on earth does that mean? It means this, that no one knows really what is in a person except the spirit of that man that's in him. Your spirit is like a. Well, it's like an unfinished, fathomed ocean in you. And that spirit of yours has an intuition whereby sometimes you know what's in yourself. You've never put it into words. You've never concretely expressed it, but it's by your spirit that you know what's in yourself. [00:35:26] Some people, you can't tell what's in them. [00:35:29] Do you understand what we're saying? Of course. The apostle goes on to say that, now, by the spirit of God, this is how we know the things that are in God. [00:35:39] Now, how can you know what is right and what is wrong? Firstly, by your spirit, not by your soul, that is, your reasoning, powers or your emotions, but by your spirit, that deep, deep intuition which is in every one of us. [00:36:07] Now, get that? And you begin to understand a spiritual man is someone whose spirit is under the government of the spirit of God. [00:36:16] He's not someone who has no soul or no body. Like sometimes you feel that the way some people put spirituality, you're a kind of bodiless spirit. You know, you sort of waft through life, you know, you have no normal feelings, no spontaneity. [00:36:35] It's completely, absolutely suppressed. [00:36:40] And that's being spiritual, but that's not being spiritual at all. [00:36:44] To be spiritual means that you are sanctified entirely. Holy spirit, soul and body. [00:36:59] Well, now lets just go on to the next point, which is the core of this whole matter. In one John 219. [00:37:13] One John 219. [00:37:20] Sorry, verse 20. [00:37:22] Verse 20, ye have an anointing from the holy one, and ye know all things. Now, what on earth did John mean? A little early has spoken to little children. Verse twelve. [00:37:38] Verse 13, fathers. And a little later on, young men. So he's speaking to the whole range, little children, young men, fathers, the whole spiritual range, those who are very young in the Lord, those who've got on to adolescence, and those who are fathers. [00:38:04] An adult now. He says, you have an anointing from the holy one, and you know all things. But how on earth could you say that of little children? They know all. So what does the apostle mean when he says, you know all things? [00:38:20] Surely he means that you have the ability to know everything about this matter. [00:38:28] The spirit of God in your spirit is able to lead you and to warn you and to keep you safe, able to empower you, as it were, to distinguish between what is evil or mixed error and what is truth. [00:38:53] Look at verse 27. [00:38:56] And as for you, the anointing which ye received of him abideth in you. And ye need not let anyone teach you. You need not that anyone teach you. Now did the apostle John mean by this that in fact we don't need any teacher? Then how come in ephesians four, we're told that the ascended Christ has given apostles, prophets, pastors, and teachers evangelists. [00:39:26] How come? In one corinthians twelve, we're told that one of the gifts, one of the functions in the body is teaching? [00:39:34] How come that in other parts of the scripture we're told to esteem highly those who admonish us, instruct us, teach us. And how come we're told in another place that we're to give them double honor, those elders who teach the word as well as rule. [00:39:58] Now, what does it all mean? Is the word of God contradicting itself? No, not at all, of course, you and I need teachers. We need teaching. We need teaching concerning the Lord Jesus. We need teaching concerning the christian life. We need teaching concerning the church and so on and so forth. [00:40:18] But what God says is, no single child of God needs to be taught what is right and what is wrong. What is the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. God hasn't left you without the ability to distinguish. [00:40:33] Every single child of God has this God given ability to know what is antichrist and what is Christ, what is the spirit of truth and what is the spirit of error? What is of God and what is not of God. [00:40:47] Do you know, it's amazing. In spite of the fact that I say this and said it two or three times. Now, afterwards, people come up to me and say, what do you think about so and so? [00:40:59] Isn't that amazing? [00:41:02] And I've had to upset one or two people by saying, you don't have to ask me. You have an anointing from God that teacheth you all things. [00:41:12] So one or two names were mentioned to me, and I refused to say anything. If they're going to be deceived, let them be deceived. [00:41:21] Why should we go around shouting from the rooftops? So and so is a liar, or so and so is false. Or so and so's mixed. [00:41:30] Think of the mess that there's going to be amongst the people of God. But every one of us has got this God given ability to know it. [00:41:37] Now, if you came to me and said, do you know, I've got a strange feeling about so and so or such and such a teaching, or such and such a. I don't know why, then I'll say to you, yes, that's God. [00:41:51] The anointing is teaching you something. Now. The anointing teacheth you all things. [00:41:57] And now what's the next thing? And is no lie and is true. Now, why does that have to be said? Some people sticklers for not using too many words. Surely we cut out one whole phrase there. Couldn't we just say, and the anointing teacheth you all things and is true. [00:42:17] But the whole point is, God knows the battle we're all going to have over this matter. The buts and the buts. And the buts. Yes, but it was so powerful. Yes, but it was so scriptural. Yes, but we have an argument with ourselves. Having an argument with the anointing. We're saying, yes, but I mean, don't be unfair. You're being unfair. It must be you. You don't want to go right. [00:42:40] You don't want to surrender fully. [00:42:43] So God has said, the anointing teacheth you all things and is true and is no lie, both positively and negatively. He emphasizes the fact that this anointing never leads you astray and is never wrong. [00:43:05] So we can say that every one of us has an anointing, and this anointing teaches us all things. [00:43:15] It doesnt mean you must never go to such and such a meeting. But you can go to the meeting, and you can let the anointing teach you. [00:43:22] And believe it or believe it not, the anointing will do exactly what God has given you the anointing to do. [00:43:31] He will give you a strange feeling inside. [00:43:34] I shall illustrate this in just a moment. [00:43:39] But the fact is, will you notice that it says again, verse 27, and even as it taught you so, ye abide in him. Now, here is the seriousness of it. [00:43:56] Suppress the anointing, and you are divorced from Christ. [00:44:01] Now, that is the seriousness of it. Suppress the anointing, quench the spirit, and you are alienated. Then you are subject for delusion. [00:44:14] Immediately. Immediately you've got the possibility of deception, delusion. [00:44:24] But if you will only obey, hearken to the anointing as it teaches you. Now, isn't this a lovely word? It doesn't just say as it rules you, but as it teaches you. Oh, the tender teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit. How utterly tender and instructive his ministry is. He comes to us, and, you know, he does have all kinds of things. Afterwards you say, oh, do you know, I could have been taken in by that. I'm so glad. [00:45:00] And then you learn so many things, you think, well, isn't that amazing? Now there was that and that and that and that. And then I could write a book on it. So marvelous it was. But now I found out what's behind it. [00:45:12] Now, it was the anointing that preserved me from that. [00:45:16] Now, just a word of caution. When we start talking about this, some people seem to get a well, I'm safe, and you're safe because you're against everything. [00:45:32] You're not safe at all. [00:45:35] You're not safe at all. The enemy's got you in the hollow of his hand. [00:45:39] Absolutely in the hollow of his hand. See, as soon as you start talking about this, you get a lot of wise heads, you see, because folks all say, I'm so glad for this. I hope so and so is listening, and there's so and so and so and so. They're mixed up in some queer things, and so and so and so and so. Of course, I've always been against some of those things, you know. But you see what it says. Quench not the spirit. [00:46:03] Despise not prophesy. [00:46:08] Hold for that which is good. [00:46:12] Abstain from all forms of evil. [00:46:16] This anointing is given to us so that we can go forward. [00:46:21] Not so that we can sort of stay back, but so that we can go forward, so that we can know the fullness of the Holy Spirit, so that we can know the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we can know even the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We can know all that God has provided so that we may know and be safe. [00:46:38] Don't let anyone think that if you hold back, the anointing is going to be pleased with you. It is not. [00:46:48] When I was talking in fellowship with a brother the other week in Bristol, a very dear brother, who all his life has been brought up in exclusive circles and has now come out with his wife and so on, and he's in one of the companies there, he said, I'm staying in his home. And he said to me, I suppose, of course, dear brother, that it works the other way. [00:47:16] That sometimes what you've been taught up here, which seems so scriptural, the anointing says, don't listen to that. [00:47:27] Because he said, do you know why I and my wife left the exclusives? He said, we saw tragedy after tragedy after tragedy. But he said, we stuck it right the way through. And then he said, they had a revelation about women taking part. He said, that was too much for me. [00:47:46] So he said, I and my wife, we left them, but then we didn't know what to do. So he said, we went along to a brethren assembly, and, of course, he said, the women didn't take father. But he said, oh, it was so dead. [00:47:56] Then we heard about this group at Harcliffe, and he said, the first thing we saw was a sister taking part. [00:48:03] But he said something in our hearts. Now, listen to this, said, your home here. [00:48:09] And he said, we've stuck it. [00:48:11] Now I've heard the other side. [00:48:14] The other said to us. [00:48:17] Now, when they first came, they said they were so heavy, and so why, you couldn't even get a smile out of them. And now look at them. [00:48:27] Normal, loving, sympathetic human beings under the anointing of the spirit of God. Isn't that lovely? But you see, the thing is, he naturally smiles at the ways of God. God got him out of the exclusives because women were going to start ministering and speaking, and brought him into a company where the women were speaking already. [00:48:49] Oh, the ways of God are beyond us. [00:48:54] They're quite beyond us. Now, you see, there's the anointing acting the other way. [00:48:59] Something which has been held as absolutely scriptural. Something deep down in the spirit says, no, no, no, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. This is of God. This is me. This is me. You don't understand it, but this is of me. [00:49:15] Commit yourself. [00:49:17] So we're not to get into this kind of mess where we're just inhibited, where we're fearful of everything. Oh, not at all. We're to surrender ourselves to God and allow the anointing to teach us. Now, may I just illustrate some of these things from our own little experience? [00:49:38] Some of these things, some of you will forgive me, but there are many others who don't. So I want to just go over them, because I think this illustrates this whole matter of how the anointing teaches us all things is true and is no lie. And as ye are taught by him or of him, so ye abide in him. [00:50:01] And the great thing is to stay in the Lord. Stay in the Lord. Go on in the Lord. And to have one's heart wide open to everything God has for you. And not to be afraid that a stranger's going to lead you away from the flock. [00:50:21] Quite some years ago, a brother came to us from South Africa and said he was a gynaecologist who'd had to leave South Africa because of apartheid. Of course, we all swallowed it. We felt so sorry for the poor man. Oh, we just felt so sorry, dear man. And he took part. In fact, I do believe, as someone said to me a while ago, they never liked singing that hymn. He will hide me, because that was the one he introduced. We didn't know it, and suddenly he chose it. So we have some boats of. Always felt a bit funny about it because, however, he seemed to be a very fine man. And we all. [00:51:07] I won't say, I won't speak for myself, but I know that others had some funny feeling, but they suppressed it. Oh, colour consciousness. Colour consciousness. Down. I must go. Isn't it strange, we said afterwards, how suddenly we all felt that we were color conscious? We were against people of another color? [00:51:27] Well, we pushed it down and we pushed it down. This feeling or everyone. And we asked him to give his testimony here and there. And when, you remember when I was speaking on judgment and the ceiling fell in upon a quarter of the congregation. [00:51:41] He was the one who taught, attended anyone who was a little sort of overcome. And so it went on, you know, he had such a storm, such a story. But I must say that when he gave his testimony, the thing that bothered me was I thought, I don't know if this is a doctor. He seems to have one of the most disordered minds I've ever heard. [00:52:04] He gave people dictions of music for Christmas. Dictionaries, Bible dictionaries, Bible encyclopedias. He was the most seemingly generous man. [00:52:17] Then he was working in a hospital nearby, got into the operating theatre at the local hospital. [00:52:27] Then suddenly he came one day and said that a thief had got into his place and stolen everything. [00:52:36] By then I thron, we had a very funny feeling. [00:52:44] Our minds kept on saying, your color conscious, your color conscious. It's our partite here. [00:52:50] But now we had something so something in me just said, it's not true. Then I said, don't. How can you disbelieve a poor man? The poor man's been stolen, he says 200 pounds worth of his goods gone. His suit, everything else is gone. You can't. So people came and said, we're going to help him, aren't we? [00:53:08] But we felt, no. [00:53:11] Oh, we did get whacked by certain saints. [00:53:15] Oh, they said, specially one butter in the coming. [00:53:20] How you can do such a thing? Call yourselves christians? And here's a man in need. And a man, a colored man from South Africa, and you don't even help him. [00:53:33] One brother parted with 100 pounds. [00:53:39] The next day the police came. [00:53:42] Do you know a doctor? So and so? Oh, yes, we do. [00:53:47] Well, he's not a doctor, he's a porter at the Oxford press. [00:53:55] Yes, we said rather forlornly. [00:53:59] We rather had a few. [00:54:06] That was our first ink. [00:54:09] After that, of course, everyone was wise. Everyone said, well, I knew it. I knew it from the beginning. [00:54:16] All the people that were wise, they came. They said, how could he be a gynecologist? Because he was. Well, I won't say what, but those of you, those of you who know will remember exactly why. And of course everyone said, didn't you realise it? Couldn't you see? Or why didn't these folk come forward and say at the time everyone was wise? The wisdom of hindsight. [00:54:37] Then a few years ago, we made exactly not the same mistake. It was different, much more subtle. We heard of a brother who seemed to have a great ministry. I had fellowship with no one about it. That's another point. [00:54:51] We heard. We felt that it would be good. Had a promise from the Lord that in one year from then the Lord would bless us and meet us and the walls would come down. And, you know, we heard about this brother. And I phoned him up and he seemed to be such a dear brother. And I said, do come. And I asked dear old Arthur, do you come as well? And then I should have had my first inkling because Arthur said, I can't come and share the week with that brother. Do you know, I thought, well, fancy that. Spirit filled people. And they come, even work together. [00:55:20] Think of that. I thought to myself. [00:55:23] Well, I thought they were the way. It's amazing how the Lord blesses people in spite of all these things. So we had one one week and one the next. [00:55:32] Oh, my. [00:55:35] Those of you can remember what a week it was and what happened. There were real things that happened. Some folk really got touched by God was much. [00:55:45] I had a funny feeling as I heard. [00:55:47] I kept thinking, Lance, you're being unfair. This man's perhaps different to you temperamentally. Or maybe you don't want to go right through. Perhaps you're against some of these things and you don't even know it. So I pushed it down. I never spoke with anyone. [00:56:05] There were evidently others who felt the same. [00:56:09] Months afterwards, we found darkness and division. Two brothers came here one day. They said, could we spend the morning, the day in prayer and fasting? Yes, I said I knew them well. Come, they said, we'd just like a room. And I joined in. Suddenly, in the middle of it, one of the brothers said to me, well, how are things here? And I began to tell. And then I began to just tell a little bit about my concern. [00:56:35] And one of these brothers said, just wait, brother. [00:56:39] I feel this is the enemy. [00:56:41] And as he said it, so something which was only deep down, like an intuition, became concrete. Yes, I thought just like that it is. I never dared say it before. [00:56:55] Then said the brother, let's get down and pray about my word. He prayed for half an hour. [00:57:00] Crack this thing open, Lord, he said, this is the spirit of error. And everyone who's got deceived of this thing, break it, Lord. Break it wide open. Now, some of those who got mixed up in this never knew what happened. But every one of them came out of it. [00:57:14] And that's where it was, in the behind the scenes. [00:57:18] Now, when we woke up, I spoke to Ron. And Ron said to me, well, I've all had that feeling from the beginning. So I said to him, why didn't you tell me then? So then he said, well, why didn't you tell then? Then we went round and we found seven, eight, nine people, all responsible. People in this company, people we could trust, that all had this funny feeling. Every one of them had pushed it down and suppressed it. [00:57:48] We were very, very surprised at the time, Juan and I, at the people who got mixed up in that thing. [00:57:54] We were very surprised. [00:57:57] Perhaps that was our greatest grief. [00:58:01] Wasn't it amazing that such loyalty, even if misguided, that we had never said anything against that brother? [00:58:11] Others thought we were violently against him. We weren't at all. We hadn't even talked with each other. [00:58:19] Then we said before God, we have sinned. [00:58:22] That's the word we use. We have sinned. We couldn't share it with some of the others because they were involved in. We said, oh, God, we've sinned in this matter. We should have woken up. We should have listened to the anointing. Now, from that point, we covenanted. Never beyond then would we ever have anything like this again. We would try everything. [00:58:44] Sure enough, as always, the Lord tested us out. A very, very dear brother, whom I love very greatly, phoned me up and said, brother, there's a man that's being mightily used all over the south, always been used down here tremendously. I think he's just the man for Halford house. Really. I said, oh, he said, let me tell you some of the things. So I listened. Why? I said, it sounds terrific. Yes, he said, things are sweeping through this area. So I said, well, look here, I said, bring him up. I said, just so we can have a little time of fellowship together. You see, we weren't going to ask anyone again, not before we talked and had fellowship. That dear brother came and spent the whole afternoon telling me about his background, his history, how he was converted, what God had done. I couldn't pick a hole in anything, except for one thing that I considered at that time, very small. [00:59:39] But something kept on saying in my heart, be careful. Be careful. [00:59:46] As I listened to these stories, I thought, well, I can't say. I never know anything like that. Be careful. Said something inside now, yes, but that scripture, be careful. Said something inside my. Be careful. [01:00:02] Now. That's how the anointing works. Now, let me just go back again. [01:00:08] When I met Brother Baxi for the first time and heard that man's conversion and the story, some of the stories. I remember how at one time when the people were ill, they laid them in rows, and he just walked up and down praying of them. They were all healed. [01:00:26] I remember the other time when in the end of the war, they hadn't got enough rice, and they had this great convention with six, 7000 people coming together. And they said, very well, the only thing we can do is the government won't allow us only a ration for 3000. We'll pray over it. And they prayed over it. And everyone had a second helping. [01:00:47] Where the rice came from, how it happened. They don't. They all believe, of course that it was a multiplication like the 5000. Now, I heard all these stories and never did anything say, be careful, be careful. [01:00:59] Why, the moment I heard that man and the more I heard mine the more I knew this is of God. [01:01:06] Absolutely of God. [01:01:10] When I first met dear brother Sparks I never had something say. Oh, I'd heard some stories about that. And Ron can bear witness to this matter. I once said, we walked with Ron when he was living in Waddington. And I said, look, there must be something funny there. I mean, everyone's against them. We always tried to get out of Miss Liplick and Miss Smith what it was. But they would never tell us. Their very discretion gave rise to funny feelings in us as to what it was they were hiding. [01:01:42] But you know, when I went there I wanted to run away a hundred miles. And in fact, I did. I ran back. They'd prepared a bed for me. But that night I was back here and I didn't go back there for a year. But nothing inside of me said, be careful. Be careful. Do you know he spent a whole afternoon identifying the 144,000? And I remember sitting there thinking to myself, what on earth does he spend an afternoon identifying the 144,000? I can't understand it. I thought to myself. I couldn't answer. The second meeting was a blessing to me. But I couldn't understand that first meeting. [01:02:21] But I never felt inside. Be careful. [01:02:25] Be careful. I knew in my spirit this was God. [01:02:30] This ministry was of God. And everything that I'd heard was actually of God. Although I couldn't understand it with my mind. [01:02:37] When I met dear Stephen Kong and heard the story of the father I never had any beauty. Be careful. Be careful. I remember another brother, though that came and sat at our table at a big conference in Denmark. A little brother who swept the whole conference. [01:02:52] He played an accordion and he introduced that chorus. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Praise ye the Lord. He had them all up and down and up and down. Oh, he's wonderful. He's marvelous. He's wonderful. He came and sat at our table and by then I'd learnt this. I just felt something funny there. [01:03:10] And Bomba, God bless him sat next to me and he kept on looking. And this brother said, I'm coming to England, brother? Oh, yes, I said. And then he said, I shall be coming near to Richmond. I said, oh, what do drop him? And suddenly, Bombus burst out into laughter. And as perhaps only an african can. And I looked at him, and so did everyone else look at him. And when he got outside, he said, he put his arm and me and said, blubber. You have a suspicion he was dead right. [01:03:53] And furthermore, we found out that that man, as some of you know, had three women, one in each city, the capital citizen in Scandinavia, all of whom were divinely given bribes to this man. [01:04:11] You see. I mean, if only we would go by this intuition, you see, you must be just like me when this begins. We all have this feeling inside. Now then, this is your temperament, this is your background. You're against this thing. But if you think back, you'll find that you were not against what really was of God. [01:04:30] You couldn't understand it with your mind. You may have had a battle with it, but you never had that inside. Something's wrong. Something's wrong. Be careful. Be careful. Now, look back. Look back and think, and you'll find that I'm right in this letter. It's not that I'm putting over a theory, it's the fact is that it's the word of God. You had an anointing. You must do well to come back to this other story. We never had this brother here. [01:05:00] Those places where this terrific business swept through, and everything said, what's happened? [01:05:06] Every one of them is divided some into three groups and some into more. [01:05:15] Thank God that he taught us a lesson. [01:05:21] When I went to Norway just recently, I had hardly got off the plane before. Dear Jan said to me, I want to talk with you about a bummer. Oh, yes. I said, why? Oh, he said, I'm confused. [01:05:37] Confused. I said, oh, but he said, this man's marvellous. He said, I've really met a man with the knowledge of the Bible that this man's got. Really? I said. So I said, well, we'll talk. And we did talk, I think, a day or two later. Now, I said, tell me all about it. So he began to say. And then I noticed this is what he was saying. He was saying, he has such a knowledge of the Bible, he said, but rather he put it this way around, he said. [01:06:07] He said, I don't know, I feel a something funny. But he said, he's got such a knowledge of the Bible. And then he said, I'm confused about it. There's something perhaps. He said, I don't like to say it, but it's perhaps not quite right. But he said, so many people have been changed through his ministry. And he said this two or three times to Lindy. And I said, jan, why do you say. But I don't know. He said, well, I said, why? I said, I haven't attacked the man. I don't even know the man. Why? Why do you say so? I feel funny, but it's so scriptural. I said, yeah. It sounds to me as if you're having an argument with yourself. [01:06:51] As if something deep down in you is saying, be careful. [01:06:58] Be careful. [01:07:00] And you're having an argument saying, yes, but don't be unfair, Jan. I said, it's not Jan at all. It's the anointing. [01:07:08] It's the anointing. [01:07:10] Now, some of you have heard this story, but, I mean, it just so happened that out of the blue, I suddenly said to him, has this man anything to do with Smith's friends? Why? He said, however did you know that? Well, he's. I said, has he? Yes. He said, he is a smith's friend, but he left them to disagreement. Well, then, I said, you've got your answer. Smith's friends believed that Jesus was born in sin. [01:07:39] Well, now, I said, you've got your answer. [01:07:41] Now, I said, you are quite young, Jan. [01:07:44] You've been the Lord's. Only for a little while, but you have an anointing, and it's been working in you. Thank God that you came and talked with me about it. Otherwise you would have suppressed it. [01:07:57] Now, another brother, many of you know, young brother not considered to be terribly spiritual by some. [01:08:07] He came to me, unbeknown to young, and said to me, do you know? He said, I'm so bewildered. What about? I said, well, he said, we had a man twice to come and speak to the young people. And he said, you know, the first time it was very good, but I had a. I just felt there was something wrong. But he said, the second time, I felt it even more strongly. Well, I said, did he say anything wrong? Oh, no. He said it was quite scriptural. Well, I said, what did you feel? I just had it inside. But he said, he's a marvelous man. And he said, the most amazing experiences. Why, he said, he's been up on Ulrichen. And he said, the heavens opened and he saw the Lord standing there. And he said, we have friends who actually saw this man jabbering away with his hands wide open. [01:08:53] Well, I said, what about this funny feeling you got. I said, I don't know. I said, well, now, listen. I said, it's the anointing. [01:09:01] Now, don't commit yourself. Don't go by what I say, but don't commit yourself. Be very, very careful. [01:09:11] Of course, it was the same man. [01:09:14] Now, isn't it funny that two young believers, both had this inner feeling? [01:09:22] Now, may I tell you something which is going to upset probably some, but it must be said, I have found that it is the younger believers who know much more about this matter than the older. [01:09:36] This has been born out in that little experience. Again and again the older ones have suppressed this anointing so much and now use their minds so much. [01:09:49] And again I found the young ones are gone. And they said, oh, no, no, no. [01:09:55] When I went to Oslo and spoke about this, a dear girl came up to me and said, oh, she said, I'm so glad. [01:10:02] She said, I had such a. Such a funny feeling about a certain brother. She said, everyone told me it was of God. But she said, you know, I had an awful feeling about it. But she. When I went to one dear older Christian, she said to me, oh, no, no, no, that's fear. You must be delivered from that this man will be a blessing. When I went in, the first thing he said is, come and sit on my lap. [01:10:29] Then he said, put your. Your head on my shoulder. Now, don't you feel better? [01:10:40] Some kind of spiritual counsel she was getting. [01:10:46] Now, of course, again, some of you know this story, but I will tell it again because I think it's instructive. [01:10:52] There was a man that had been moving in that part, part of NORAD. I'd heard very greatly about this man. I was told that he was being greatly used. There were two folks we knew who had been seemingly greatly helped, and I was delighted. I heard that the man was a bus driver and that he was. I gathered he was retired and that God had wonderfully come upon him by the spirit and gifted him, and he was greatly helping people. [01:11:19] So when I was in Bergen on the phone and one of the members of the family went and came back and said, oh, so and so is coming to stay with us, I was delighted. Oh, I said, I'm so glad to meet this fellow. [01:11:31] When the day came, they said, come down to the ship, meet him. I went down to the ship. But when he came off, the first thing, I don't know what it was, was his eyes. There was something. And then I said to myself, now dance. Poor man, he's been born with those eyes. You're so critical. You're so critical. I mean, the poor fellow's got eyes that he's been born with. Perhaps he's got some problem or other. You know, like high blood pressure or something like that. And here you are criticizing him straight away. So I pushed it down. [01:12:03] We went back, I don't know, all the way through. I felt something funny, but I pushed it. And then he spoke a new kind of dialect, a norwegian dialect, which I couldn't understand. It was such a dialect, so I couldn't understand anything that he said. And so I thought, now, you can't judge this poor man. And I must say, people began to come and go, in and out and in and out. And so it so happened that I went down to see one of the sisters in Bergen who'd been in north Norway, who was, in my estimation, one of the most spiritual women in Norway. And she said, I haven't seen Duke have a little time of fellowship. So I went down two other friends there. And as soon as I got there, my wind was taken completely out of my soul, out of my sails. [01:12:49] Sometimes you may wish it was taken out of my soul as well. But still the wind was taken completely out of my sails by her looking steadily into my eyes as soon as I sat down. And she said, what do you think about brother soldiers? [01:13:05] Why? I said, I don't know what to say. I said, it wouldn't be fair for me to say anything because I can't understand him. He speaks a language I just can't understand. [01:13:14] So then she said, looking more deeply into my eyes, she said, but have you a witness? [01:13:22] Then I knew I was caught. So I said, well, I can't commit myself. So then she said, hmm, I have been very unhappy. She said about that, but I've only met him once. [01:13:36] Oh, but she said, I've been so unhappy about. And the more I've prayed, the more unhappy I've been. Have they told you about such and such? No. Then I'll phone them now, the friends I was staying with, and tell them to tell you. [01:13:51] Well, now, the day before I had had such a strange sense. I should go to a certain young sister who'd been greatly blessed the week before in one of the meetings and say to her, is so this man's relationship with you pure? And I thought, I can't do such a thing. Think of the gossip there would be. [01:14:13] I mean, if it was. There was nothing. And so I didn't. But as soon as this dear sister said this, immediately it came back when I went back, the dear friend spoke with me. And then the mother said, you know, the only thing that love is me are the young girls that go, you know. She said, he holds their hand, but they tell me that this. All good psychologists do this now. They hold your hand. They sort of. It helps you to be less inhibited. [01:14:39] Oh, yes. I said, I don't remember the Lord Jesus holding the woman of Samaria's hand. [01:14:48] I said, I think you should be very careful. This sounds as if it's psychic. [01:14:53] Then the truth came out. The phone rang. The very girl that I felt I should talk with. She was in deep darkness. Could someone go down and play with her? Well, you. Some of you know the end of the story. The next day I talked with that dear girl. First I said to her, now, tell me. I asked her the question. Well, it's what you mean by pure. She said, I've been so greatly helped. [01:15:13] Now, I said, how dark, what darkness can you be in if you can't answer my question simply? I said, right. I said, let's therapeutic. Let's say, holding your hand, cuddling you, kissing you. It's all therapeutic. Has the therapeutic help gone beyond that? [01:15:32] Yes, she said. Then I said, you've committed adultery. [01:15:37] Yes, she said. [01:15:39] Then I said, you have sinned against that man's wife and against God. Then she shook her head and said, yes. Now, that moment she started waking up. It was a very slow waking. That's what deception does to you. She was honestly deceived. [01:15:56] The next day she said to me, thank you so much. Phone. Thank you so much. [01:16:04] I've seen. One of the points was that this brother had given her a big gift. 60 pounds one time, 30 pounds another time, 40 pounds another time. Then her sister, her twin sister, had also had the same experience. Then we found three, four, five others. [01:16:25] Now you see what I mean by anointing. [01:16:32] There were two sisters in that group, both of whom had this disturbance in their spirit. Both of whom would not say anything. They were too loyal. [01:16:41] But both had it. [01:16:47] Now, could the others have had it? As soon as the truth came out, I was amazed at the people who'd had a feeling. [01:16:55] Oh, someone said, it's funny. I had a funny feeling about that. But, you see, everyone had suppressed it. Now, this is why the scripture says, the anointing teacheth you all things and is true and is no lie. Just because God knows that we're going to have this battle. [01:17:13] Now, what to do, very simply, in closing now, may I say first of all, this anointing from the holy one. For every one of us. For the very youngest. But we need the spirit if we're going to know it in fullness. [01:17:31] For us to really know this, we've got to know the Holy Spirit filling us and quickening us. And as it were, sharpening spiritual senses and faculties. You understand? [01:17:49] Always obey the witness. [01:17:54] Always obey the witness. Now someone will say, but just wait, just wait. If I always obey the witness. Supposing it's wrong? I mean, there may be times when I think something and it's quite wrong. I'm not saying say things against the person. [01:18:09] Sort of start going, talking to others. What I'm saying is, don't commit yourself. [01:18:16] Have you ever noticed a very interesting little word in John, chapter two? [01:18:26] John, chapter two, verse 24? Jesus did not trust himself unto them. For that he knew all men. Now this is a most interesting word. It wasn't just as God. It doesn't say. It says, jesus. That's the human name. He, as a man, would not trust himself because he knew. How did he? The anointing teaches us all things. [01:18:59] We know all things. He knew all men. [01:19:06] In other words, these were disciples, some of them. But he wouldn't commit himself. Now, he still walked with them. He still loved them. He still prayed for them. He still, as it were, sought to minister to them. But he wouldn't commit himself because he knew what was in them. [01:19:24] Now you have the spirit of God. [01:19:29] The anointing will teach you all things. By that anointing he will say, now, you don't know what's in that person, but I do. [01:19:39] Be careful. [01:19:41] May I appoint you to another scripture? A prophecy about the Lord Jesus. In Isaiah, chapter eleven, and verse two and three. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. The spirit of wisdom and understanding. The spirit of counsel and might. The spirit of knowledge. And of the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. Now the Hebrew there is so interesting. In your very modern versions. They've cut it out altogether because they can't understand it. It doesn't seem to make sense. [01:20:17] In the margin of the revised version, in the american standard version. You will see. His scent shall be. His scent shall be in the fear of the Lord. But the Hebrew is, he shall draw breath in the fear of the Lord. Now this just simply means that he'll smell out. [01:20:40] He'll smell out. He'll send out what is good and what isn't. [01:20:47] Isn't that a marvelous thing? I remember years ago, Mister Spark speaking on this very meta. [01:20:54] His scent shall be in the fear of the Lord, drawing breath. [01:21:05] Something there. Won't touch that. [01:21:09] Don't touch it. [01:21:15] You see, it's so very, very interesting, the whole thing, really. Because, you see, the problem with us old ones is we have learned to allow our mind to take over our spirit in the idea that that is spiritual maturity. [01:21:35] But our mind, that is our reasoning power and our emotions and our will, must be subject to our spirit. [01:21:44] In other words, the spirit of God in our spirit must go. This is the difference between the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. [01:21:52] One is dependence on the Lord for everything. [01:21:55] The other is. I've got it inside myself. I can wait. I can sort it out. I know what's good and what's bad. I can do it myself. And we go wrong by saying, I can tell what's evil and what's good. We actually go wrong. [01:22:12] Because so often the devil is so clever. He can take in our mind and he can take in our emotions, but he cannot take in our spirit. [01:22:22] Any person who is born of the spirit of God, he cannot take in your spirit. What you need is the Holy Spirit. [01:22:34] Now, God has provided the anointing for every one of us. We only have to claim that anointing, live in it. Even when we're little children, we can still be preserved from the enemy's works. So remember this, then, and I trust that this time will be a real help to every one of you. For do you know that passage in one john two ends with this? [01:23:02] That you may not be ashamed before him at his appearing? Now, isn't that an interesting verse to come? Just there. What it means is, if you've got mixed up and deceived and suddenly the Lord comes. Suddenly, what is alive, what is alive will break off and you'll be, oh, Lord, I've been in alive. I've been mixed up in a lie. [01:23:24] Be so shamed you can't look at the Lord in his eyes. Just, oh, Lord, I'm sorry, I can't. [01:23:33] How did I get mixed up in that? Now you've come, I can feel it. [01:23:39] You see, your spirit knows it already. That's why you'll be ashamed. If your spirit didn't know it, you wouldn't be ashamed. You'd say, oh, Lord. I just didn't understand that. [01:23:49] But when he comes, your spirit sort of says, there, there. [01:23:55] Why didn't you listen? Why didn't you listen? [01:24:00] Well, now, that's long enough. But it's a very big subject, maybe you've got questions on this matter. If you'd like to write down the questions and let me have them, we'll see whether we'll not have another time and answer some of the practical questions that this study raises. It must raise very practical questions, of course. [01:24:23] But the great thing is this. My sheep hear my voice. My sheep know my voice, the voice of a stranger. Will they not follow, but will flee from him? Oh, learn it, learn it. Every one of us can flee from the voice of a stranger. So start learning. If you're little in the Lord, little children in the Lord, start learning now. And in a few years time, as I said to them in Oslo, if the Lord tarries 20 years time, ten years time, 40 years time, when I come, you'll put your arms around me and hug me and say, you know, the best thing you ever said to us was about the anointing that teacheth you all things. Thank you. [01:25:05] We had many other marvelous things, but that's the thing that meant most to us. Through the years, we've been preserved from evil, been preserved from evil and been kept going on in the Lord, not drawing back through fear because, oh, we might get mixed up in something that's wrong, but being able to go forward spontaneously, knowing that God's going to keep us abiding in him. No need to fear. We can go through. We can go on. May the Lord help us. Let's pray. [01:25:35] Dear Lord, we need thee in this matter. Oh, how we need that anointing, Lord. How we need that blessed releasing of thy holy spirit and the releasing of our spirit, Lord. O father, see, Lord, our need. See the need of every heart here for those who are young in the Lord, Lord, oh, we pray that thou will just teach them from the beginning to let that anointing teach, o Lord, show them how it works. Lead them on with thyself. Lead us all on. For those of us who are older, lord, some of us who perhaps, Lord, o, through sheer lack of teaching, have suppressed that anointing of thine, quenched the spirit again and again. Lord, forgive us, cleanse us from all sin. [01:26:28] And, o Lord, teach us how to be led of the spirit. Father, we thank thee. Thou hast not left any of us without help. We pray that every single one of us may know what it is to be filled with thy spirit, filled with thy spirit, endued with power from on high, Lord, so that we can live this christian life, so that we can fight the good fight of faith, so that we can be involved in the building of that church of thine. And so that we can overcome through thee, we ask it all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.