There is power in the blood,
there is power in the blood. There is power, power, wonder-working
power in the precious blood of the lambs. Go back to John's Gospel with
me again. John's Gospel. What a book. What a Gospel. What a Lord. What
a Savior. John 1, verse 10, He, speaking
of the Lord Jesus Christ, was in the world, the world was made
by Him, and the world knew Him not. There are some in here who
do not know Him, though made by Him, though sustained
by Him, though protected by Him, though blessed in so many ways
by Him, that don't know Him. You may know doctrine, but that's
not knowing Christ. I knew the doctrine from a child. I believed the truth of the doctrine
from a child, but I did not know the Lord Himself. And the reason
I know some do not, because they have not confessed Him. They don't believe. They don't
fear Him. don't need Him, don't hunger
and thirst for Him. This gospel is not life to them. That's how I know. Those who
don't know Him quickly tire about hearing Him and even fall asleep,
no matter that I preach Him. You know, if you love someone,
and I am talking about them, if I was talking about someone
you know and love right now, You would be very attentive, wouldn't you?
You would be very interested. You would love what you're hearing
and what I'm saying about that one you know. Well, it's true
of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you don't know Him, you quickly
tire of hearing Him. And so I say, what our Lord said to Nicodemus, who
knew the doctrine, You must be born again. You must be born from above. You must be given life, and Christ
is life. He that hath the Son hath life.
He that knows the Son, loves the Son. He who needs the Son,
he who needs Christ like they need their very food and drink. And I know this, though, that
it's not by might, it's not by ability, it's not by power, no
matter how much I study, no matter how much I pray, it's not, if
it's by the Spirit of God. And the wind goeth where it listed.
So is everyone that's born of God. And I do know what he uses,
though. He uses the preaching of the
Gospel. And so I preach, and I keep preaching. And my hope and my prayer to
the Lord is that He will give life, that He will give life. It says He was in the world and
the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. We live
in a world full of people that don't know Jesus Christ, that
don't know God. They live as if there is no God.
In fact, many say there is no God. Most. Created by Him, and
yet they say, we have no Creator, we just happened by chance, by
evolving. Most people say that. And He came into this world,
the world was made by Him, His very creatures, in whose hands
we are, our breath is. And they don't know Him. And
don't thank Him. and don't care. He's not in all
their thoughts. Some do believe now. Some do believe with all their
heart, because they've received. They've received the knowledge
of Him. Some do walk with Him, like Enoch, like Noah, like Abraham,
like Daniel. Some do talk to Him, and He talks
to them. And the world thinks they're
crazy. They're fools. But He does. He talks to them.
And they talk to Him. In verse 11, it says, He came
unto His own. He came to His own. His own received
Him not. Now this is speaking of the Jews
principally. But do you know you belong to
Him? All souls are mine, the Lord said. You're His creature. He made you. To this end, Christ
both died and was buried and rose again that He might be Lord
of the dead and the living. He's Lord over all. He owns everyone. The Lord gave all souls into
His hand. You're not your own. You belong
to Him. He comes through the preaching
of the gospel, and I'm doing it right now. And many don't
receive it. They're owned by Him. Owned by
Him. Our Lord said this, the ox knows
its owner, the ass knows his master's crib, but my people
don't know and don't even consider. He came to His own. He came to
the Jews. He was born in Bethlehem. He
was born in Bethlehem of Judea. He was raised in Nazareth. He
walked in Galilee. He walked in Judah. Do you know
why? Do you know why he became a Jew? Do you? God's people do. He said to a
woman at a well one day, he said, you don't know what you believe.
But she says, we do. He said, we know salvations of
the Jews. Do you know what that meant?
Do you know why Christ became a Jew? Because God is the God
of Abraham. Isaac and Jacob. Israel. The God of Israel. Do you know
that? He's the prophet sent by God. He's the priest. He's the king
of the Jews. King of Israel. David's son. He is the tabernacle. He is the
high priest. He is the sacrifice. These three
are one. Do you know why? He became a
Jew. God's people do. Because without
the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sin. You must
have a Passover Lamb. There is power in the blood,
but only in the blood of the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ.
A whole world full of people, the Jews especially. You know,
God quit speaking after Malachi and the Jews. And He came. Our
Lord Jesus Christ came. God was manifest in the flesh.
That's what this says. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. And the Jews didn't receive Him. And so they've been waiting.
What fools they are. The Jews are perhaps more foolish
than anyone. Because He came to them. What
advantage do the Jews have? Paul said, many. He came. They didn't receive Him. In fact,
they killed Him. And they all, with a clarion
cry, said, Let His blood be on us and our children. And all
the things that have happened to the Jewish people, and they
still don't have a clue why. Came to His own, Jews. What a
blessed people they were. What a blessed people. But they
received Him not. What a blessed people you are,
right here this morning, that you're hearing of the Lord Jesus
Christ, while others don't. Some preaching another Jesus,
another gospel. Some will stand and preach today
without ever mentioning a lamb or blood. How blessed you are
to be sitting here. How blessed I am. I got another
text from a dear lady, a dear sister this morning, and she
said, I'm a blessed woman. I'm a blessed woman. She said,
I get to come and hear the blessed gospel. I get to come worship
God and hear the gospel. I venture to say that woman is
going to hear this morning and be blessed. But as many as received Him,
look at verse 12, but as many as received Him, To them gave
He the power, the privilege, the rights, all the rights that
come with being the sons of God. As many as received Him. It does
not say accept Him. A while ago I said something
about those who don't confess the Lord in baptism. Well, those
who have confessed another Jesus in religion, free will religion,
if you confessed in baptism, By the way, if you were christened,
you weren't baptized. That's not a confession. If you confessed, if you were
baptized confessing this Jesus, this other Jesus, this free will,
false gospel, you haven't confessed the Lord Jesus Christ. Because you accepted Him as your
personal Savior. That's not salvation. No believer
born of God ever says things like that. They know that it
wasn't their accepting Him. I say this all the time because
Martin Luther said we need to sound out that note that the
world is challenging. That's not in the
Bible. It's not accepting Jesus as our
personal Savior. It's receiving something. Isaiah 55 says the rain comes
down and the earth receives it. The earth is a receiver of the
rain, not an acceptor. The earth doesn't say, well,
you know, God doesn't say, will you let me rain on you? There's a reason why it says
receive and not accept. Verse 16 says, of His fullness
have all we received grace. It's a gift, it's not an offer.
Receiving, not accept. Earth receives rain, falls upon
it, and so do His people. Look at chapter 3, verse 27. John was preaching here, John
the Baptist, and he said in verse 27, John answered and said, A
man can receive nothing except it be given him from above. Receive. Now, hold on now. But
don't let anybody blame God for not believing God. They say, well, I'll preach,
if only the elect will be saved, then I'll be called, and if I'll
be born again, I'm just not going to worry about it until then.
Then you'll die on your sins. If you don't call on the Lord,
you're not going to be saved. If you don't come to Christ,
you're going to be cast out. And if you come to Christ, you
will never be cast out. But if you don't call on the
name of the Lord, you won't be saved. If you don't come to Christ,
and don't keep coming to Christ, you'll not be saved. Don't blame
God for not believing. Don't blame God. Don't blame
election. Don't blame sovereignty. As far
as you and I are concerned, listen to me. As far as you and I are
concerned, we must come to Him. We must seek Him. We must call
on Him. We must ask Him to save us. We must knock. Our Lord said,
every man that asketh, receiveth. He that seeketh, findeth. He
that knocketh, it shall be opened unto him. He said, ask. He said,
Christ gave the command. But what? Christ said, if you
don't come. And Christ stood that day and
said, come unto me. Another place he said, no man
can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him.
That's true, but he said, you better come now. You better confess me. That's
what the Lord said. In Mark chapter 10, Bartimaeus
was sitting by the wayside, and he heard that Jesus of Nazareth
was passing by, this blind man. And by the way, the Lord only
saved one man coming into Jericho and one man going out, and passed
by the whole city. I hope he doesn't pass by you.
But he came into town, and as he was passing through and a
multitude was thronging him, he heard somebody crying. He heard one voice in the midst
of that multitude crying out, Jesus, thou Son of David, have
mercy on me. Have mercy on me, O King of Israel. Have mercy on me. And it says
he stood still. And he commanded for that man
to be brought unto him. And he asked that man, he said,
what will you that I should do unto you? And he said, Lord,
that I might receive. as many as received Him. Blind Bartimaeus wouldn't have
received His sight if he didn't ask Him, Lord, I want to receive
my sight. Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ?
Do you know Him? Have you heard His voice? No? Well, I tell you right now, ask
Him. Right now. From your heart, from the bottom
of your heart. If you don't, you won't. Don't wait on... Don't
do it. As many as received Him. Well, look at verse 12. Look at verse
12. It says, He received Him. As
many as received Him. To receive means something, that
someone comes upon you. The Lord Jesus Christ, one day
Saul of Tarsus, a religious man, thought he knew God, but he didn't. And he hated the truth. And he
was on his high horse, on his journey somewhere, he thought,
moving up the ladder in the world. But bless God, God had chosen
him and came one day In the fullness of time. In God's time. And it
says, suddenly a light shone round about Paul and apprehended
him. And Paul later on wrote, he said,
I was apprehended. I was laid hold of. Paul received
the Lord Jesus Christ. was apprehended. Oh, may the
Lord Jesus Christ come through the preaching of His Word this
morning and lay hold of your hearts, lay hold of your mind,
lay hold of your soul and possess you forever and reveal Himself
to you. It's not receiving doctrine. It's not receiving church membership. It's not being a member of the
church. It's being a member of Christ, His body. Christ in you
is the hope of glory. Christ revealed in you. Paul
said, when it pleased God who gave birth to me, separated me
from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace to reveal His
Son in me. I want to try to illustrate that,
what that means, Christ in you. Oh, He said that I might win
Christ and be found in Him. And He said, Christ in you is
the hope of the Lord. It's to receive Him, not just
with the head, but in the heart and the mind. It's a miracle.
Now listen. Many ladies in here were impregnated. They received life. They were
receivers. They didn't cause it. They received
it. Right? Your husband, his seed
impregnated you. You were a receiver. You were
passive, right? Right? Alright. You became impregnated. And if
life is in you, those who have had children, when life is in
you, you know it. There comes a time, you know
it. You know it. You feel something. Feelings aren't salvation, but
there's no salvation without them. When life begins, you start
feeling kicks and pricks. I mentioned Saul of Tarsus. The
Lord came to him and said, it's hard to kick against the pricks. Something was happening. You
ladies, this life that was in you, you feel these movings,
don't you? These stirrings, and you can't explain it. Right? Feelings. And when you don't have them,
you start worrying. This is the same thing when the
gospel comes, you start feeling in your heart a need for Christ. You start feeling a sorrow for
sin. A mourning over sin. A need for
mercy. A need for this gospel. A need
for the Word of God. A need to meet with God's people.
You might not even know what's happening to you, but I'll tell
you what's happening. You've been born of God. And you have this feeling, this
need, you can't explain it. It's moving and stirring within
your heart, right? It happens to every one of God's
people that are born of God. You ladies, did you not feel
a fullness? Huh? As that baby grew, you began
to feel fullness. Didn't it say in verse 16, of
His fullness have we received? Oh, a person whom life has begun
in, you start hearing this gospel. And boy, I tell you, people, you're only filled when you're
empty. That's a paradox. Only when you're empty will the
Lord fill you. And if you don't feel this fullness now, you need
to ask the Lord to empty you. and that you might come as a
little child, that you might come as a hungry and thirsty
sinner, that you might be filled again. But when you first hear
this Gospel, when life began, and you hear this Gospel, you
just feel this fullness, don't you? I remember so well, I'd
just read everything I could get my hands on, every message,
hear them, and go where it was preached, and couldn't get enough
of it. And I tell you, if a man would just stand up and say,
Sovereign Grace! Mercy! Blood! Behold the Lamb! Yes! Isn't that good? If you're hungry, if you're thirsty,
boy, I tell you, a morsel of meat is just the best thing you've
ever had. A drop of water in a dry and
thirsty land, the gospel, the water, just a word in season
is sweet to your taste. Fullness. Didn't you ladies start
feeling a fullness? Didn't you feel yearnings? hungers
for things you hadn't, you thought, you know, in the middle of the
night. What was it you wanted all the time? In the middle of
the night, you wanted, I forget what it was, some kind of ice
cream, something. But he didn't have those yearnings before,
right? He'd wake up with this special
yearning. Life has begun. And tell me, is not that child
in you, was not it your life? Was it? Huh? Your life. You're consumed with it. You
can't go a day without thinking about it. He's in you. And some people profess to know
Christ and I can be around them for many, many days on end and
never hear them mention His name. Talk about this, talk about that,
talk about the church, talk about this, talk about that, and never
talk about Jesus Christ. They don't know Christ. Hear
message after message after message, no matter how gloriously Christ
is lifted up, no matter how high and lifted up He may be, No matter
how glorious His taste to other people, stand back there and
walk right by me, it's going to rain today. Don't know Christ. When a child
is in you, when life is in you, it becomes your life. You're
consumed with it. Is it not true, ladies? Is it
not true? Well, preacher, I don't feel
this. Well, I hope you're saying that from the heart right now.
I hope you're saying, I don't feel this. That tells me that
maybe you want it. That maybe it is there in the
beginning. Here, I've already told you, ask. Ask. And I say to those who have been
around a long time that don't feel it afresh, that's dangerous. Ask. Ask, to whom coming? Hunger. Consuming. Christ our life. It's an all-consuming
desire for a woman who's pregnant, who has life in her. The all-consuming
desire is one thing. What is it? I want to have that
child. I want to see it. I want to hear
its voice. I want to hold it. I want to
possess it. I want to have this baby. Paul
said, oh, that I might win Christ. That I might know Him, be with
Him, see Him, hear Him. Do you have that? Everyone that has Christ in them
has it. And when you come to hear, that's what you... Oh,
Lord, let me hear. John prayed, Lord, let us hear
your voice. That's life. Life and Christ
in you. Is it? Is it? Our Lord said to that woman at
the well in John's Gospel, she said, if you knew the gift of
God and who it is, If you knew the gift of God and
who it is, the unspeakable gift, you would ask and you would receive. Well, finally he told her, didn't
he? And she said, Lord, give me, give me, give me, give me. Oh, my. It says in verse 12,
Many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the
sons of God. The rights, the privileges of
the sons of God. Now, didn't John say, Beloved,
now are we the sons of God? Didn't he say that? Yes. He did,
and we are. Everyone that believeth it. He
that hath the Son hath life. He that believeth on the Son
hath life. Not shall, but half life. That's
why you believe Him. That's why you need Him. That's
why you hunger for Him. If you didn't have life, you
wouldn't. But he's saying here, and he
said there, he said, it doth not yet appear what we shall
be. And you know why that even believers can be taken up with
this and taken up with that? Because we don't see. These eyes
don't enter into these eyes and these ears and this heart. The
things that God has prepared for them. We're such poor sons
and daughters, aren't we? We have such beggarly lives,
spiritually beggars. But to them gave He the rights
and the privileges to be the sons of God. Joint heirs with
Christ. All that God the Father is and
has belongs to His children. Joint heirs with Christ. John
said, as He is, so are we. What's that? Sons. Let me try
to illustrate. You have a son or a daughter,
many of you, or both. And those sons or daughters that
you love and love you, not rebels, but those sons or daughters that
love you and you love dearly, everything you have belongs to
them, doesn't it? Everything you have, your house.
I love when my daughter comes in or granddaughters and Gabe,
whoever, comes in our house and just acts like it's their home.
Just open the refrigerator, you know, and take what... Why? Because
it is. Truth be known, that's why we
have it. Not for us. All that I have, all that you
have belongs to them. Your house, your car, your money,
doesn't it? Your food. Everything you are
is theirs. They have your ear. My daughter calls us all the
time. It's music to our ears, isn't it? Call any time. Our Lord said He hears them that
call on Him. His ear is open unto their cry. You have the rights in prayer.
You can call on Him. Abba! Dad? That's the sweetest
sound to our ears, isn't it, Brother Stephen? Dad. My daughter
is a mother and she calls me Daddy. Oh, how I love the sound
of that. And boy, she can just ask me
anything. The right and the privileges
to be the sons of God. You have the right, you have
the privilege of His ear, of His heart. Our Lord said of His
people, I know my thoughts toward you, thoughts of peace. If my daughter only knew. If your children only knew. Huh?
Look at verse 12. To them that believe on His name. It's to them that believe on
His name. Not work. Believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And thou shalt be saved. Believe. Trust Him. Come to Him. Take Him at His Word. On Him. Not in Him, but on Him. Cast all your care upon Him.
Right now, cast your heart, unburden your soul, roll the burden of
life upon Him. Cast your heart and soul upon
Him right now, like Hannah did. Pour out her soul unto the Lord. Do it right now. Lord, I don't
know You. Lord, I want to know You. Lord,
I haven't heard You, Lord. I want to hear You, Lord. Lord,
I want this salvation. I want Christ. I don't know Him. I want to be a part of your kingdom.
I want to be a member of your body. Would you, Lord, would
you please speak to my heart? Lord, all that I am, all that
I have belongs to you. My family, my soul, my heart,
my mind, my future, my life, my everything. Lord, here, take
it, please. I'm at my wit's end. Please,
where our eyes look to you, believe. He said, believe. Those that
believe on Him, on His name. He's the Lord. I mean, He really
is. He's not a figurehead. He really
does reign and rule. He kills, He makes alive, He
wounds, He heals, He feeds, He clothes, He withholds, He gives,
He does it all. He's the Lord over all. Jesus
Christ, He's the Lord. Jesus, He's the Savior. All that
call upon Him. You need saving from sin, from
whatever you need saving from. He's the Savior. Christ. He's the Messiah. He's the Substitute. He's the Representative. He's
the Covenant Hand. He's the One that you'll be accepted
by God. If you want to get to heaven,
if you want to get to God, if you want to be accepted by God,
there's One. He's the Christ. And you believe
on Him. He's the Christ. God, you said
you would accept me through the Christ. I believe on the Christ. Accept it. Accept it. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And it says here in verse 13, those that have received, those
that do believe on His name, they were born, not of blood, not of family, heritage, not
of kin. You're not born, we're not born
of God because we're in a certain family. I'm not going to be saved
because I'm Henry Mahan's son. That has no bearing whatsoever
on my salvation. Neither will you. We're not saved
because we're under believing parents or have a believing husband
or a believing wife. We're not saved, though there
are advantages, great advantages. We won't be saved because my
daddy is or my mother is or my husband or wife is. There are
great advantages. Listen to me. My two granddaughters,
it's, I can't, for lack of a better word, it's incredible. how merciful
the Lord, the home, the family that they are born into. Their mother and their father
are both believers. Their father's a preacher, their
mother's a pastor's wife. Both their grandfathers are true
grace preachers. Their great-grandfather is a
true grace preacher. their uncles, and all their aunts,
aunts for those of you not from Virginia, and many cousins, all
believers. That's amazing, isn't it? You
talk about an advantage. Whenever they get together, whoever
is having, they're going to be hearing people at some point
talk about the Lord, giving thanks to the Lord at every meal, talking
about Him, hearing preached on. What an advantage! But, they're
not going to be saved unless Isabella calls on the Lord, unless
Sophie someday, the Lord, through the preaching of the Gospel,
breaks her heart, Unless they call on the Lord, repent of their
sins, and call on the Lord Jesus Christ, and get in that pool
and confess Him before everyone, they're going to perish. Nobody
can save them but Jesus Christ. Not of blood. How blessed you
are to have a daddy like that. How blessed you are to have a
husband like that. How blessed you are to have a
wife like that. How blessed you are to have a believer. But we're
not going in together on the buddy system. We're going to go to glory, Mary,
to Jesus Christ. The time will come, and the day
that they're married, be as though they have no wife, no husband.
There are no husbands and wives. There's no male or female in
glory. There's no name. There's no last names. There's
only one name you're going to be under, and it's going to be
Jesus Christ. You're not going to be damned. Not of blood, not of the will
of the flesh. Free will is a lie, people. Nobody's saved by making
a decision. That's a lie. That's a satanic
lie that started in the garden. Free will is a lie. Anybody,
if you made some decision for Jesus years ago under that free
will gospel, You're not saved. You're not born of God. For He
wills a lie. It's of His own will. John James
said this, Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth. With the true gospel. Gospel
sovereign electing grace. Righteousness imputed. Blood
applied to your soul. An invincible spirit. Truth. No salvation apart from it. Belief
of the truth. Free will gives man power and
glory, doesn't it? God said, I will not share my
glory with another. Everybody in glory is glorying
in the Lord's will and choosing them. It's not of the will of
the flesh, nor of the will of man. I can't will anybody in here
to believe. I can't will anybody to receive
this. I can't will you to come. I can't
will you to hear. No man can. If I do, if I do
convince anybody of anything, it won't last. But what the Lord
does is forever. If He tells you to come, you
will come, and not until then. And all that the Father giveth
me, Christ said, cometh unto me. And he that really cometh
and believeth." Sincerity and truth. He said,
I will know, wise Christ. Sons forever. Now, here's what you need to
do. Here's what we need to do, though, is say, Lord, if Thou
wilt, You can. If Thou wilt, You can. He said that they're born not
of Blood, not of the blood, not the kin, not of the will of the
flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. But as I said earlier, don't
say this, don't you dare say this. If I'm elect, then I'll
be saved. And if I'm one of the elect,
He'll call me. God's will that I'll be born someday, but I'll
just go on my way. Don't you dare say that. That
might be proof of a reprobate heart. Don't you dare. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. And whoever confesses Christ
will be saved. If you don't, you won't. You
will not. I've given you, and I don't know
of a better illustration for the new birth than this. That's
why I keep giving it over the year. But new birth, spiritual
birth, is much like natural birth. So thankful I got to witness
the birth of our daughter. And it's much because it's given
me such an appreciation and understanding of spiritual birth. Some of you
men went through it. Ladies watched others. It's a
wonderful and glorious, it's a miracle in it. It's a miracle. If you behold it, it's a miracle.
What happens in it? Here's what happens. Two adults
get together, humanly speaking. Humanly speaking, they say, we're
going to have a family, right? Now, you know. God says, I make
a life. You know that. But just for the
sake of illustration, two adults get together and say, we're going
to have a family. Well, God, God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit, before the world began, purposed to have
a kingdom. Have a family. And like Barnard
said, God looked at his only begotten Son, who was with him
from the beginning, daily his delight, and said, we're going
to make them all just like you. Sons of God in the image, predestinated
to be conformed to the image of God's altogether lovely Son
of God. A whole kingdom full of sons
of God that look like Christ. You want to be that? Well, it
was purposed by two adults. They purposed it. And in the
time they conceive, they get together, and there's conception.
What happens? The seed, the man's seed, enters
into the womb of a woman, and it's conceived and joined. A
miracle of miracles takes what I'm doing here. This is an incorruptible
seed. This is the Word of God. We're
not born by corruptible seed, man seed, by human blood and
kinship, but we're born of the Word of God. And this is the
Word which by the Gospel is preached unto you. And we spread this
like seed. A sower went forth to sow, our
Lord said, and he cast out the seed. He doesn't know who God
is going to put it in. The Father does. The Father knows. And in His time. And this is
why I have hope. By the way, Brother Donnie Bell
and I were talking about this. He brought it up first. He said, we've got people who
have been sitting under the gospel for years and never confessed
Christ. He said, I'm worried sick about
them. I said, Brother Donnie, I know
what you're talking about. But we keep preaching.
We keep broadcasting this seed. Keep spreading the seed of the
gospel. This is how they're born. Until
one day, in the fullness of time, in God's
time, it hits a heart. And like I said,
those feelings. And in birth, in birth, there's
trauma, isn't there? When a child is born, oh my!
Pain. Suffering. Sorrow. Huh? Water. Blood. That's exactly what happens in
a new body. Sorrow over sin. A pain you've never had before.
A mourning you've never had before. I've watched you sit under message,
after message, after message, and go out with a smile. And
then one day, the water starts flowing. Mr. Wet Eyes. They've been there before. There's
a mourning over sin. There's a grieving over sin that
wasn't there. What's happened? Water and blood. The blood begins to be precious.
It's just doctrine before. Oh, you knew that the blood had
to be there. But then when this life begins,
you think, I hope it's on my house. Water and blood. Trauma. When that baby little
Hannah came out of that womb, you know, I didn't care if it
was a boy or a girl. I thought I wanted a boy. I'll
not go into that. But I didn't care. You know all I cared about? Is
it alive? And when she came out, she looked
dead. She looked dead. And the doctor
had to inflict a little pain. And today, these days, they flip
them on the bottom of the foot, that little foot, that cute little
foot. Like that. You know what happened? That operating room was filled
with her crying. You know what I did? I cried
too. It was tears of joy. My heart
was filled. Why? She's alive! And when Saul of Tarsus, when
God came to him and apprehended him and revealed Christ in him,
the Lord said to Anna and I, I said, go down and find one
Saul of Tarsus. I've chosen him. Go down. Behold,
he's crying. He's praying. He's calling on
me. He's alive. And then what? Amazing to me,
you know, baby's been eating for nine months. They come out
of that womb, and the first thing they want is what? The suck. The nurse. They want the milk
of their mother. And when life begins, oh, the
sincere milk of the Word is so tasty. That's how you know. Life has begun. You need the
gospel. You need the worship. You don't
come because you have to. You come because you have to.
You come because you want to. You come because you need to.
You've got to have it. Once again, not just socialize
in society with believers. You've got to have Him. Him. I need to hear the gospel, preacher. Glad to see you. What would you
tell me about Him? That's life. He that hath the
Son. Him. Not doctrine. I've prayed too many. Some have
just that, nominal. And then, and that little girl,
They gave her to me. We cut the umbilical cord. She's hungry. She's thirsty.
When she comes out, she's filthy. She's covered all over in her
own filth like that child in Ezekiel. And they put her in
the hands of her father. And I took her over. Her eyes
are closed. She's still screaming. And I took her over to a pan
of warm water. And I dipped her down in that
water, and I began to wash her. Wash her with the water. In a
crying center, a mourning center, a hungry center, hears the Word,
the Gospel, the Word of God, and just washes her. Just cleanses her. A dirty center
feels like, oh, been washed in the blood. And I began to talk
to her, comfort her. It's okay. It's okay. Fear not. I'm here. I'm with you. Fear not." And
Roberta, those eyes opened up. And she looked to me. She looked
to me. And I had nothing but pity, nothing
but love, nothing but compassion, nothing but feeling, nothing
but feeling for her. My whole heart and soul went
out to her and said, You're mine! You're mine! I will never leave you. Look unto Me, He said, and be
you saved. And then I, so I comforted her
and then I took a blanket and I just wrapped her up in it and
pulled her to me. Took her over to her mother.
who's like the Spirit of God, and gave her to her, and she's
been leading and guiding and teaching her all these years.
She's ours. Life born of God. How about you? As many as received Him, to them
gave He the right, privilege, power to become sons of God.
even to them that believe on His name. Oh my, I hope the Lord
will bless this. Brother John, you've come.