Christ, Our Indwelling Sanctifier — Hans R. Waldvogel

The Transforming Presence of the Holy Ghost

I also feel like Sister Riccio expressed it. Wouldn't it be nice if we could stay here forever? Feels kind of comfortable, doesn't it? But all the wonder of sitting in his presence and experiencing the transforming power of the Holy Ghost.

I like this kind of a school because we have the best of teachers. Anybody that is willing to be a pupil and to learn will find out that the best of teachers is here. It's the Holy Ghost. And we can tell by the recitations, that is the testimonies, that people are really getting something out of this school.

They're learning something, learning something from the best of teachers. And we have the best textbook, the Bible. Oh, how very, very thankful we ought to be this morning for the Bible. Because it's a testament, it's a will, it's a covenant that pledges God Almighty to be our God.

Christ Glorified in Believers

And there is one word in that testament that Jesus wrote that goes right into my heart. He says, Father, I am glorified in them. Oh, that's the call. Beside all that Jesus Christ does for us. And sometimes we boast of all he does for us.

My, he's done so much for me. I cannot tell it all. And it is wonderful what he does for us and what he has done for us. If we were to recount our blessings this morning, why we'd have to stay here all day.

And then some to tell all the Lord has done. And I think it's a mighty good practice to count your blessings. Do that and you'll soon forget about your troubles. You'll be like the little girl whose father asked her to pick out the gray hairs out of his head.

She said, Daddy, let me pick out the dark ones. We'll be through quicker. And if you begin to count your blessings, you won't have any time to count your troubles. But beloved, beside all the blessings, here's the loving call of Jesus to our hearts.

I am glorified in them. Oh, that's my call. Not just to be saved from hell, go to heaven. Not just to be healed or baptized with the Holy Ghost, but to be so united to Jesus Christ that he shall be glorified in me.

That's what he says to the Father. That's his divine will for all of us this morning. And as Sister Riccio said, thank God it isn't just for a select few. You and I are counted in. He says, they also that shall believe on me through their word, that they all may be one Father, as thou art in me and I in thee.

Becoming Like Christ Through Sanctification

And it's high time and it is very, very wonderful for us to accept that call, Jesus. Jesus to be glorified in me. We read about the time of his coming, that he is coming to be glorified in all them that believe and to be admired in them.

Glory to God. Oh, when he comes, we shall be like him. Praise the Lord. How come? Well, because we are now becoming like him, because our lives are now hid with Christ in God. And there I'd like to refer to Michoudi's testimony, when she told us how wonderful it is that Jesus never changes.

He is the same, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. But thank God we can change. Thank God he changes us. Praise God. That's the work of the Holy Ghost and it's the work of this Bible. These things are written, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

He sent his word and healed them. And so the thing Sister Michoudi spoke of is really very important. She said when we praise God, we're changed. Oh, that's what it is when we open to the Holy Spirit.

He does the work. When I respond to his call, when I become obedient to his will, why then the change takes place. But to think of that marvelous change, Christ glorified in us. And he says more than that, as thou father art in me and I in thee.

Tell me, are you on the way this morning to become like Jesus? You can file and hammer and saw and solder and let the fire burn and go through the ass and all you want and you'll never be more than an old good for nothing.

You can try and sanctify yourself and you'll never be more sanctified than you are right now. You'll never change yourself. But oh when God changes me, when Jesus Christ changes me by coming to dwell within me, I in them and thou in me.

I always think of the lamp. See what's inside that lamp. You don't think of it. You think of the light. It's the light. Yes, but that glass is nothing, you know. And it'll forever be nothing until the electricity is filling it.

But now the light is inside of it and now it's become a light. It's become a lamp. And he says you are the light of the world. But without me ye can do nothing. Oh I need to make room for my Jesus. And yesterday morning we heard about that prayer of the Apostle Paul when he prays for the church that they might be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man that Christ may dwell in their hearts by faith.

The Believer as God's Workmanship and Temple

And to refer to it again, we can again use the illustration of a lamp. The other day John was working the projector and it didn't work anymore. There was no light so he unscrewed the bolt and he found out that the wires had burned out.

There was no contact. Electricity couldn't flow through it. And by the outside was very nice. It was just like when we bought it. But the inside was no good and so we had no light that we could throw the thing away because it was absolutely no good.

You couldn't use it for anything at all. It was made for that purpose and thank God you and I are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

You and I are made for Jesus. Hallelujah. Our very bodies are made to be temples of the Holy Ghost. To be filled with the light of his presence. But when that inside is broken, and oh how many times we have allowed it to be broken, we find people that shine like the sun for a little while and then after a while they don't shine anymore.

Then they're dark. They're defeated. What's the matter? Jesus Christ hasn't changed. He never fails. He's always the same. But somewhere on the inside something does not respond to God. You don't feel the current moving on the line.

Oh beloved these things are so important and yet most people pay no attention to their inside. Everything on the outside. As long as the outside is all right why they think they're all right. But he tells us to be strengthened with might by his spirit.

Oh I must respond to the spirit of God and the methods he employs. The means he uses is his word. He says father while I was with them in the world I kept them. But now you must keep them. You must sanctify them.

Sanctification Through the Word of God

And he tells father how. He says sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is true. Oh that's the method God employs. That's the weapon God uses. His word. And when that word is lodged in my heart and received in my heart it brings forth truth.

The word that proceedeth out of my mouth shall accomplish that whereunto I sent it. And when God sends the word and says to you and to me be holy as I am holy. That word is powerful. It requires absolute obedience on my part doesn't it.

He tells me what that holiness consists of. Finally brethren in nothing be anxious. That's his word. It's his command. The king comes with his command. They ask the supreme court is it constitutional?

That determines the course of this nation. And when the supreme court decides that something is not constitutional it cannot be used anymore. And Jesus Christ says this is not constitutional for you to be anxious.

Out with it. Oh let me reign. Let the peace of God rule in your heart. When I receive his word I receive him. When I receive the command of the king I put him on the throne. Thank God. And we sing crown him with many crowns.

And then people look over to the eastern sky and wonder when he is coming to be crowned in Jerusalem. Listen if he is to be glorified in you and in me I must crown him in my heart. Oh to let him reign means to submit to his word and to his will.

The Authority and Power of God's Word

And you found out that you cannot do that without the power of the Holy Ghost. That's why he says the words that I speak unto you are spirit and life. They're creative. They're redemptive. They're powerful.

They carry in them and bring to me the authority of the son of God. That's why in that prayer in the first chapter he says that you might know what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe.

God has given him power toward me. Glory to God. Do you know that Jesus Christ has power to be glorified in you to make you like unto himself? Then you'll pay attention to his word and to his will and you'll be no longer careless about it but you'll work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

Conviction, Repentance, and the King's Rule

When you come to a place where you know God's will and your heart is rebellion, you repent. You say my God take that rebellion out of my heart. How many times in meeting God convicts us. Why that's his great mercy.

That's his authority. His word. I thank God today for conviction. A meeting in which there is not conviction is to me a lost meeting. But do you know how wonderful it is? Why it means that the king is here.

That's where conviction comes from. It certainly doesn't come from the preacher. He has no right to tell you what to do, what kind of an Easter hat to wear or what kind of clothes to wear or how to walk and to please God.

But when the Holy Spirit comes in his word he cuts you, doesn't he? He uses his two-edged sword. There's conviction. You feel it in your soul. My spirit has found me out. Oh it's the king of glory who says as thou has given him all power to give eternal life.

Thank you Jesus. He has not only power to abolish death and to destroy him that has the power of death that is the devil but he has power to give me life. What a wonderful savior. Tell me, do you know the exceeding greatness of his power to you, word?

Is it operating? Do you feel the current moving on the line? That's prayer in the Holy Ghost. And when you pray, he prays in you. For we know not what to pray for as we ought but the spirit make of the decession for the saint according to the will of God.

The Holy Spirit's Work of Inner Cleansing

I feel sorry for these people that go to the priest to confess their sins. Girl told me last night how a girl from here wanted her to come to the meeting here. And she says, I can. Why I've got to confess it to the priest every time I come.

And so our girl said, well you just come. You don't have to tell the priest. So this Catholic girl said, all right I'll come with you if you come with me to confession. So our Pentecostal girl wasn't saved yet.

She said, all right I'll go with you to confession. And she said she did. She came into the confession box and I told her what to say. But she says I don't know how she lived through it or what she did with that priest.

It didn't make much difference. I tell you, don't make much difference. But I tell you it makes a lot of difference when the Holy Ghost undertakes to make you like Jesus, to glorify Christ within you.

He doesn't leave even a piece of dust there. No dirt, no filth. The word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword. How wonderful is this word. How it exposes the depth. He says it's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Humility and Walking Worthy of the Calling

Has God that authority in you? Oh we ought to accept that New Testament when it says that I am glorified in them. Beloved it's so unspeakable that the very angels don't understand. And to think that you and I are called from the foundation of the world.

Not to go to heaven and put on shoes and run around glory and shed all the news or flippity-flop with your golden wings. But to be like Jesus. Oh the Holy Ghost must make that clear to you. And if you've been attentive in these meetings you know that God has an aim.

A very definite aim, thank God. He knows where you live and how wonderful that he digs out these gophers. He's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. But beloved only if we open our hearts to him.

If we expose ourselves to him. Oh how wonderful is humility, lowliness of mind. That's the very first principle to a life of fellowship with Jesus. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

And Paul in another chapter talking about this wonderful call of ours. He says, Brethren I beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called. Now wear a black cloak and a triple crown or a hood or scarlet hat.

To walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called. I saw a procession of dignitaries of the church. The right reverend and his excellency and they all wore these robes but they all had such big corporations that they nearly didn't fit.

And it would have looked better in the garb of a saloon keeper. No beloved we walk worthy of our vocation with all lowliness of mind. Praising the Lord, opening my heart. Jesus you are changing me. Hallelujah.

Persevering in Submission and Readiness

You never change. But thank God you're changing me until I shall be like unto the Son of God. Oh that change must go on day by day. But it can only be if I expose my heart to the scripture and to conviction and if I submit to Jesus Christ.

Let me become rebellious. How many many times have we seen that? And darkness. Let me be careless with his commands and his will when he reveals it to me. And after a while I'm not convicted anymore. It don't bother me anymore at all.

I can sit in a Holy Ghost meeting and go to sleep. I tell you it's dangerous. I went with a preacher to a Pentecostal meeting and I went on tiptoes. God gave us such a talk that night. I'm so thankful it's 35 years ago.

I never heard one like it before nor after. It came straight from heaven and when I discussed it with my brother he said, I'm sorry I didn't hear most of it. I was so sleepy. I couldn't comprehend it.

Could I tell you beloved it's a serious thing to sit in the presence of God carelessly. He says with fear and trembling. He says with a heart that is circumcised. The Holy Spirit must circumcise that heart.

And how does it happen? Father sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. And have you ever noticed when we have our weeks of prayer how the conviction is sharper than at any other time? Always that way.

And if you have four or five weeks of prayer we would experience something. It's because our hearts become mellow and ready and God is able. I in them and thou in me is the great call of God. Not only to be strengthened with might by his spirit.

Creation, the Image of the Son, and the Call to Holiness

Oh the spirit of the who brooded over the waters and brought forth life vegetation and animals and birds in the air. And after a while man the crown of God's creation is today brooding over your heart and over your soul to bring forth the image of the Son of God.

To create within you a son of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. I thank God for these meetings. They do wonders for me whether they do anything for you or not. But they certainly do wonders for me both here and in Germany because Christ is always there.

Jesus is always on the job and something's happening to my heart. It seems to become more and more mellow, more and more melted in his presence. The word of God seems to be more and more powerful. It ought to be that way.

Glory to God when Jesus comes he wants us to be ready and the Holy Spirit has been sent forth to get a people ready. Where is he going to have a people like that unless he finds our hearts broken and humble and walking with all lowliness of mind.

Blessed are the meek. They shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the pure in heart. Oh this heart of mine. And as we heard when we praise the Lord we're changed. And you know how serious these things are.

A Final Call to Abide in Christ

Oh beloved look around about you and see the defeat. See lives that don't measure up. Or look into your own heart. What is the matter when a real test and the real trial comes it knocks us off our fins.

We're no place. Something wrong on the inside. I in them. I am glorified in them. I. Father. Father he says you've given them to me. They're mine and they're yours. Oh this morning it ought to ring in my soul Jesus.

I'm thine for keeps. Not just once in a while. But whether I live or die I am the Lord.