My own quick notes, impressions or summary of the sermon, not necessarily exact quotes:
You can experience His presence, and not know Him. You can smell the rose of Sharon, you can even see visions.
To know Him is to love Him, to love Him is to have life; to have life is to have joy. It's a gift.
If there was a procedure, it wouldn't be real.
I don't know how people can survive without Jesus. He's not a miracle-machine - He's a priceless lover.
You could never sacrifice enough for Him.
Is He with your life?
If you don't really know what to do with Him anymore, you're not going to give up anything for Him.
If missionary life is too hard, you don't know Him - He's the Pearl.
If you try to keep your life, you'll lose it, but if you lose your life for His sake - to get Him - you'll find it. That's the Gospel!
It's not, "Hey guys I've got everything you want - come and get it".
The Gospel is, "If you want all of these things more than me, you're not worthy of Me".
He doesn't give Himself cheaply. It's amazing He gives Himself or shows Himself at all. Any way at all.
I have no idea how people survive without Him!
Once He's in your heart and mind and in your dreams and you wake up with Him, the worst thing would be to be without Him.
Hell is when you're without Him and can never get Him.
You want revival? What do you mean by revival? More excitement? More stuff.
You have no idea how loveable God is - infinitely more loveable than any human being.
You can know Him. The great promise of the Bible is you can find Him if you search for Him with all your heart.
Over and over the Bible says, Seek Him.
Don't just be content with hearing testimonies about Him and singing songs. Many churches teach you cannot know Him any better than that.
It's not about sacrifice - are you kidding me. You find God, nothing is sacrifice! You get rid of stuff that hinders your romance.
When you're so thrilled with God, you can't believe you get to do what He's asked you to do. That's when He has full control of you, like puppet strings.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. He sets you free because He has power over your heart.
No-one seeks God, apart from the Holy Spirit. If you have any interest in God at all, it's because the Holy Spirit put it in you.
He's not obligated to put it there, or to do anything for us. A lot of preachers sound like there's no predicament: "we're good people" etc. We're sinners. Desperate. If we don't care about God, not interested, we're in an unspeakably dangerous place.
And if we are interested in Him, we are in an unspeakably wonderful place. Don't take that for granted.
I could speak when I travel about missions, mission methods, how to train, learn a language, raise support, how to do this, but I don't. What I feel compelled to speak about is what makes life life. How to find God. What gives me life.
How on earth as a mortal human being, you cannot extend your life one second. You can surf all you like, sleep with all kinds of guys, listen to rock music all you like, but you're going to die.
Who are you going to call on? All over the world nobody else shows up but Jesus, ever.
He is a priceless lover. He died for our sins on the cross. A perfect companion. Heart to heart. He's God!
The greatest thing I've ever learned in life is that He is loveable, beyond your wildest imagination. To know Him is the only thing that will set you free, the only thing that will deliver you from anything. You can just use authority, make statements of faith, assert things, insist on things, teach things, do spiritual warfare, do all the stuff to get things to change, break throughs, finances, emotional breakthroughs - that works up to a point - some counselling, life-coaches, motivational speakers, techniques, quoting Scripture all help to a point. But none of that is the same as knowing Jesus.
Faith is not just some power that makes things happen whether God wants it to happen or not. Faith is knowing Jesus well enough to know what Jesus wants to do in a given situation.
Seven steps, reading books, incantations to get something to happen. You cannot compare knowing Jesus with knowing any human being.
I didn't come to bring peace but a sword. Children will oppose their parents, siblings. If anyone loves their family more than me, he's not worthy of Me.
If anyone does not give up all he possesses, he's not worthy of Me. That's my little message on prosperity. What's He mean by that? Do not love these things. Do not love the world or anything in it.
If you don't know what knowing Jesus feels like, that's a terrible verse. I've heard people say all those statements of Jesus were before the cross, we know the Father better than that now. But those verses were not designed to depress you, to find out how tough you are, to rob you of the joys of life, but to lead you to the only Person Who can fill you with life.
If you lose your life for my sake you will find it. That means the process of losing your life is not depressing - it's exciting to find you are getting what you desire. You are on the right track. You know that you've finally found the pearl of great price. So thrilled by the pearl he sells all that he owns to buy that pearl. It's the same with the Christian life. We have found what we want. Sell everything else to get what you want. The exact opposite of the 'Gospel' which says you can have the pearl too and keep everything.
You can't pretend to be intimate with Him in order to get stuff. He knows how much you love Him. You can't fool Him. But if you really love Him, if you lose houses, lands, friends, family and all that, you will get 100 times as much, I will repay you, every tear in the bottle, you have no idea how lovely Jesus is.
He's not a hard taskmaster that tries to see how tough Christians can be. He's the perfect lover, perfect Saviour.
I'm not in love with manifestations, gifts of the Spirit, revival - I'm interested in God.
When most people pray, they're not interested in God, they're interested in what they can get from Him. How He feels. What makes Him tick. As long as He gives what you want.
To a whole lot of people who saw a whole lot of miracles, He's gonna say, "I never knew you". Many do it, but they do not know Jesus.
If you have problems, what's the answer? Not to find techniques. You need to love Him. There's only one Person who loves you the way you need to be loved. Never go for these things directly.
If you're sick, it's not a matter of reading the right books, searching the right anointing, the right minister. You can be close to the creator of the world. Your friend. Companion. Lover.
Some think of going to school so they can learn to hear His voice. God can speak any way He wants. He can actually communicate. You didn't have to go to school to learn that.
If you have a desire for God, that was put there by the Holy Spirit, God will honour that desire, and there's no limit to how well you can know Him. That's what's exciting about the Christian life. There's no ceiling.
Every single day the door is open to know Him even better. I may not have the visions that some people have, but I keep going - there isn't anywhere else to go.
He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. We can know Him better every single day. That's what being alive is. That's what revival is. You can have that all by yourself. No-one can take it away from you. You're not dependent on anybody. But Jesus. You wake up in the morning, "Oh I get to know You better today!"
You start to have feelings for Him, start to hear His voice.
Thank Him again. Saviour. Thank you, thank you.
God loving you how you need. Whether it's to repent; laugh; rest.
One of the biggest needs is for people to laugh.
"Rejoice in the Lord" - a command, not a suggestion, option.
We need the Holy Spirit to help us appreciate God.
When people fall in love, they get silly. Ask any teenager.
But again we're not chasing manifestations, or joy - we're chasing Jesus. We're not laughing about nothing. Not a comedy show. We have something real and eternal.
You certainly don't need me. Don't line up for me. I'd like to just disappear. Exercise the faith that you have, the joy that you have, turn to somebody and just give them all you got. Just give them all you got. Practise. Exercise. Pray for each other.
Some of you are so boxed in. You haven't been free to feel things for years.
It's okay to ask for things - but you don't love these things, set your hearts on these things, demand them. They're benefits of the Gospel, but Jesus is the prize. Jesus has priorities. What you are praying for might not be top of His priority list, so the thing to do is get close to Jesus, know Him better, so you know what His priorities are.
Perfect love casts out fear. The more you know Jesus, the less you're afraid.
You can experience His presence, and not know Him. You can smell the rose of Sharon, you can even see visions.
To know Him is to love Him, to love Him is to have life; to have life is to have joy. It's a gift.
If there was a procedure, it wouldn't be real.
I don't know how people can survive without Jesus. He's not a miracle-machine - He's a priceless lover.
You could never sacrifice enough for Him.
Is He with your life?
If you don't really know what to do with Him anymore, you're not going to give up anything for Him.
If missionary life is too hard, you don't know Him - He's the Pearl.
If you try to keep your life, you'll lose it, but if you lose your life for His sake - to get Him - you'll find it. That's the Gospel!
It's not, "Hey guys I've got everything you want - come and get it".
The Gospel is, "If you want all of these things more than me, you're not worthy of Me".
He doesn't give Himself cheaply. It's amazing He gives Himself or shows Himself at all. Any way at all.
I have no idea how people survive without Him!
Once He's in your heart and mind and in your dreams and you wake up with Him, the worst thing would be to be without Him.
Hell is when you're without Him and can never get Him.
You want revival? What do you mean by revival? More excitement? More stuff.
You have no idea how loveable God is - infinitely more loveable than any human being.
You can know Him. The great promise of the Bible is you can find Him if you search for Him with all your heart.
Over and over the Bible says, Seek Him.
Don't just be content with hearing testimonies about Him and singing songs. Many churches teach you cannot know Him any better than that.
It's not about sacrifice - are you kidding me. You find God, nothing is sacrifice! You get rid of stuff that hinders your romance.
When you're so thrilled with God, you can't believe you get to do what He's asked you to do. That's when He has full control of you, like puppet strings.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. He sets you free because He has power over your heart.
No-one seeks God, apart from the Holy Spirit. If you have any interest in God at all, it's because the Holy Spirit put it in you.
He's not obligated to put it there, or to do anything for us. A lot of preachers sound like there's no predicament: "we're good people" etc. We're sinners. Desperate. If we don't care about God, not interested, we're in an unspeakably dangerous place.
And if we are interested in Him, we are in an unspeakably wonderful place. Don't take that for granted.
I could speak when I travel about missions, mission methods, how to train, learn a language, raise support, how to do this, but I don't. What I feel compelled to speak about is what makes life life. How to find God. What gives me life.
How on earth as a mortal human being, you cannot extend your life one second. You can surf all you like, sleep with all kinds of guys, listen to rock music all you like, but you're going to die.
Who are you going to call on? All over the world nobody else shows up but Jesus, ever.
He is a priceless lover. He died for our sins on the cross. A perfect companion. Heart to heart. He's God!
The greatest thing I've ever learned in life is that He is loveable, beyond your wildest imagination. To know Him is the only thing that will set you free, the only thing that will deliver you from anything. You can just use authority, make statements of faith, assert things, insist on things, teach things, do spiritual warfare, do all the stuff to get things to change, break throughs, finances, emotional breakthroughs - that works up to a point - some counselling, life-coaches, motivational speakers, techniques, quoting Scripture all help to a point. But none of that is the same as knowing Jesus.
Faith is not just some power that makes things happen whether God wants it to happen or not. Faith is knowing Jesus well enough to know what Jesus wants to do in a given situation.
Seven steps, reading books, incantations to get something to happen. You cannot compare knowing Jesus with knowing any human being.
I didn't come to bring peace but a sword. Children will oppose their parents, siblings. If anyone loves their family more than me, he's not worthy of Me.
If anyone does not give up all he possesses, he's not worthy of Me. That's my little message on prosperity. What's He mean by that? Do not love these things. Do not love the world or anything in it.
If you don't know what knowing Jesus feels like, that's a terrible verse. I've heard people say all those statements of Jesus were before the cross, we know the Father better than that now. But those verses were not designed to depress you, to find out how tough you are, to rob you of the joys of life, but to lead you to the only Person Who can fill you with life.
If you lose your life for my sake you will find it. That means the process of losing your life is not depressing - it's exciting to find you are getting what you desire. You are on the right track. You know that you've finally found the pearl of great price. So thrilled by the pearl he sells all that he owns to buy that pearl. It's the same with the Christian life. We have found what we want. Sell everything else to get what you want. The exact opposite of the 'Gospel' which says you can have the pearl too and keep everything.
You can't pretend to be intimate with Him in order to get stuff. He knows how much you love Him. You can't fool Him. But if you really love Him, if you lose houses, lands, friends, family and all that, you will get 100 times as much, I will repay you, every tear in the bottle, you have no idea how lovely Jesus is.
He's not a hard taskmaster that tries to see how tough Christians can be. He's the perfect lover, perfect Saviour.
I'm not in love with manifestations, gifts of the Spirit, revival - I'm interested in God.
When most people pray, they're not interested in God, they're interested in what they can get from Him. How He feels. What makes Him tick. As long as He gives what you want.
To a whole lot of people who saw a whole lot of miracles, He's gonna say, "I never knew you". Many do it, but they do not know Jesus.
If you have problems, what's the answer? Not to find techniques. You need to love Him. There's only one Person who loves you the way you need to be loved. Never go for these things directly.
If you're sick, it's not a matter of reading the right books, searching the right anointing, the right minister. You can be close to the creator of the world. Your friend. Companion. Lover.
Some think of going to school so they can learn to hear His voice. God can speak any way He wants. He can actually communicate. You didn't have to go to school to learn that.
If you have a desire for God, that was put there by the Holy Spirit, God will honour that desire, and there's no limit to how well you can know Him. That's what's exciting about the Christian life. There's no ceiling.
Every single day the door is open to know Him even better. I may not have the visions that some people have, but I keep going - there isn't anywhere else to go.
He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. We can know Him better every single day. That's what being alive is. That's what revival is. You can have that all by yourself. No-one can take it away from you. You're not dependent on anybody. But Jesus. You wake up in the morning, "Oh I get to know You better today!"
You start to have feelings for Him, start to hear His voice.
Thank Him again. Saviour. Thank you, thank you.
God loving you how you need. Whether it's to repent; laugh; rest.
One of the biggest needs is for people to laugh.
"Rejoice in the Lord" - a command, not a suggestion, option.
We need the Holy Spirit to help us appreciate God.
When people fall in love, they get silly. Ask any teenager.
But again we're not chasing manifestations, or joy - we're chasing Jesus. We're not laughing about nothing. Not a comedy show. We have something real and eternal.
You certainly don't need me. Don't line up for me. I'd like to just disappear. Exercise the faith that you have, the joy that you have, turn to somebody and just give them all you got. Just give them all you got. Practise. Exercise. Pray for each other.
Some of you are so boxed in. You haven't been free to feel things for years.
It's okay to ask for things - but you don't love these things, set your hearts on these things, demand them. They're benefits of the Gospel, but Jesus is the prize. Jesus has priorities. What you are praying for might not be top of His priority list, so the thing to do is get close to Jesus, know Him better, so you know what His priorities are.
Perfect love casts out fear. The more you know Jesus, the less you're afraid.
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