Reach Out in Faith and Expect Confidently — Hans R. Waldvogel

The Marvel of God's Creation

Now they're trying to find out whether there's any, anything in the line of, well, vegetation on Mars. And mind you, they're spending billions of dollars to find out whether they might be able to grow spinach on Mars.

As if we didn't have enough here. And they've discovered other things. They found out recently that the sun sends out very marvelous rays of, I think gamma rays or beta rays or alpha rays, some kind of rays.

Anyway, the wonder of it is this, that this earth is such a marvel of God's creation that it just takes away your breath when you look into it a little bit and you'll realize, like David says, I thank thee because I am fearfully made.

Wonderful are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well. When a baby comes into this world, usually the doctor takes him by the hind legs and beats him on the back to make him let out his first yell.

And then his lungs fill with air. And then the thing starts. The machine starts going. Strange. The air pressure is so minutely weight and balanced that you and I can live in it without thinking of it.

We don't have to have a pump and pump our lungs full and empty. But the air pressure takes care of that, and the lungs are made for this air that's round about us. You don't find that anywhere else. You don't find it on the moon, don't find it on the sun, and I don't suppose you find it anywhere in the universe or in God's creation.

God Creates Humanity in His Image

Now why is it that God has created this earth? How majestic is the Word of God? In the beginning, God created heaven and earth. And with that statement, God tells us what the Bible is about. Just launches man on that great quest for the knowledge of God, created heaven and earth.

And then he said, let us make man in our image. But the earth had to be created first. Six days God spent making this world a habitable spot for the masterpiece that eternity will be marveling about. The angels, the archangels will be marveling at this masterpiece of God.

Man! But when we think of man, of whom the Bible says is grass, what is man that thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man, that thou takest knowledge of him? And yet David says, I'm fearfully made. I sat in the bus behind a young lady, and she had such beautiful hair.

Everything interests me. And I thought, my, isn't it wonderful how God made the human being, that he makes the hair grow on top of the head. They, they tell me that man gets bald-headed because he thinks too much.

And women don't have any beards because they use their mouths too much. But I don't believe that. I don't believe that. I found out that women are smarter than men in the end. I saw, found a book in Chicago, The Superiority of Women.

I haven't read it yet. But anyway, when you consider the works of his hands, why your heart lives within you. And when you realize that this world that we see, and what we feel, what we are conscious of, is only dust, is the visible that passes away, and that within this world, there is the real creation of God, building up a new creation in which Almighty God will shine, a city of God that have foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

And when we realize that God has a great plan, when he said, let us make man in our image, he didn't finish the job when Adam and Eve came from his hand. That was only the scaffolding that God set upon this earth, and now he started out building men in his image.

But the devil came in, and sin came in, and death came in, and almost destroyed the work of God until God became flesh and dwelt among us, and took up our cause, thank God, and gave us a new Adam, who is able to beget sons of God, that shall live like him forever and forever.

And how wonderful that God creates meetings like these, where we meet this Jesus, where we come in living contact with him. He is not a stranger to us, and we are not strangers to him. And I would like to say something to the young people in this meeting.

The Opportunity of Youth and God's Grace

What a marvelous chance they have. Oh, what a chance, the Jews say, instead of what a change. But what a chance. I told you years ago, a legend the Arabs have. There was a very beautiful young woman whom the gods were very, very fond of, and they sent one angel to her one day, and they offered her great wealth, beautiful jewelry.

They set her down at the beginning of a beautiful cornfield, and all these ears of corn were so luscious, so rich, so beautiful, full of rich kernels, and she was given the privilege now to pick one ear of corn.

And in proportion to its size, it would change and turn into jewelry. Brilliant diamonds and rubies and, and, but she was to walk through this cornfield and was not allowed to take one step back. And while she walked through this cornfield, it was her privilege to pick the ear, just one ear.

So she thought, my, these ears are rich, but maybe I'll find some richer. And so she stepped and walked along and walked along, and they always got skinnier, skinnier, and she was always hoping she'd find a packer ear after a while.

But they all got skinnier until she got, she got to the very end of the cornfield, and they were all consumptives, and there was hardly any corn left on the ear, and she had to be satisfied with a very shrunken and consumptive and emasculated ear of corn.

And of course, it didn't give her much jewelry. And I thought of that recently when I talked to a crowd of young people. What a chance you have at the beginning of your life to adopt God's grace and draw out of his fullness grace upon grace.

And I would just like to leave an advice with our young people tonight, and with the old people as well. When I was a young minister, I heard much about our friend Mrs. Robinson, pictured in that wonderful book, Radiant Glory.

And I heard from many people about her, and they said, oh, she is a marvelously gifted woman. Try to see her. And then others said, you can't see her. She's too holy. You can't possibly see her. We saw her.

We were in there two hours, but you, of course, we don't know about you. They made my heart heavy. And so for years, I heard about Mrs. Robinson, and I got real desirous of seeing her. And one day when I was in the city of Zion, and I knew where she lived, I went, I took my heart in my hands, and I went to her cottage, and I knocked at the door without asking anybody's permission.

And the door opened, and I saw Mrs. Robinson. And I had an audience with her, and all my heart leapt within me. When I met the dear woman of whom I had heard so much, it was such a privilege. Some people would have paid a lot of money to have an audience with her.

Of course, it didn't cost anything. But you know, it was very difficult to see her. And now I was in her presence, and she said, well, young man, what did you come for? Oh, I said, I thought maybe I could hear something from the Lord.

And then she laughed. She said, oh, now I was fooling myself. I thought you came to visit me. And you didn't. You came to see the Lord. Well, the wonderful thing was, I had an introduction to this woman, and she gave me an introduction to somebody else.

She says, why do you come to me? If you want to know the truth, Jesus is the truth. If you want to find the way, Christ Jesus is the way. If you want to have life, Jesus is life, go to him. Beloved, that changed my life.

Meeting God Alone in Prayer

She said, of course, God spoke through her. Get alone with me. Get alone with me. He said it four times. He said, I can speak to you much better than I can speak to you by any prophet in the world, if you're all alone with me.

And then I said, what does that mean, to get alone with God? Strange. I've been a Christian so many years. I'd heard about Jesus. I loved him from the distance, but I didn't know that a person could get so deeply wrapped up in Jesus Christ and be alone with him and meet him like Moses met him, like Abraham met him.

We're eight of these Old Testament men. You remember how Enoch was translated that he should not see death? And he was not found. Why? Because he walked with God. And if a man like Enoch way back there had found the secret place of the most high God, I ought to be able to find it.

We have the testimony of others, of Abraham. Walk before me and be thou perfect. Or of Noah, of whom we read, and Noah walked with God. And when God gave his word to the world, he was moved with godly fear.

Beloved, there's a great need today in the world of men and women who meet God, who have an audience with God, not once in a while, but who walk with God. What a privilege, what a marvelous privilege, that word that came to me, came to others, but I didn't find many that walked with God or that got alone with God.

Oh, they went away for a little while and then they're tired of it. Why? Because it's a hard job. And it tells us there that Enoch was translated by faith. Oh, did he have to believe? Did he have to have faith?

And then he goes on to say, and without faith, without faith, impossible. Here is an element that the natural world does not know, and the natural man cannot receive. The natural eyes, the Bible says, have not seen, and the natural ears have not heard.

They're not made for that. You've got to have ears that are opened by the Spirit of God, and eyes that are anointed with the anointing of the Spirit of God. But that's what God does in our meetings. That's what he does when he pours out his power.

And oh, what is he doing it for? Because he's beckoning. Because Jesus is in the mass. He's calling you by name. He's beckoning you. Young man, get alone with me. I am here. Enoch got alone with God, and he walked with God, and without faith, it is impossible to please him.

Faith That Reaches Out to God

And then he analyzes faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and he that cometh to God. And that's what we do when we pray. Everybody prays a little bit, don't we? How much time do you give to prayer during the day?

How much of your heart is wrapped in prayer while you meet other people? How much of your soul is lifted up to touch God? Without faith, it is impossible to please him because he's invisible. But he that cometh to God must first of all believe that he is that changes everything.

Oh, when I believe that God is, my heart lives within me. The other day I heard a symphony by Joseph Haydn. I like his music. It's inspiring. There's faith in it and life in it. And somebody asked Joseph Haydn, why do you make your music dance?

Oh, he said, when I think of my God, my heart dances within me, and then my music dances. And when you think of rabbi, when you think that God didn't make you to burn up with the fire of lust like other people, to fling your body into the mire of hell, to cast this pearl before the swine that will devour it, and to spend your time upon this earth sowing seeds of destruction, when you think that God Almighty made you and saved you and redeemed you and purchased you for himself, and you wake up and realize not only that God, oh, thou hast searched me and known me, thou knowest my down sitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

There must be a shifting of the gear. There must be a changing of your aim. The whole aim of my life is to walk with God, to be alone with God. And thank God I've got that privilege, that unspeakably wonderful privilege, me and you, to get alone with God, because God is, but not only as he was in the days of Enoch, he's even different to me.

Christ's Indwelling and the Believer's Union With God

Jesus said, you believe in God? Believe also in me, I will come and dwell within you. I will come and receive you unto myself, that where I am you may be also. And where is he? In the very bosom of the Father.

At that day you shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you, beloved, your whole spirit and soul and body wrapped in God. How is that ever going to be unless, first of all, I believe God, and first of all, I really seek him.

And when I seek him, the Bible says, I shall find him. They that seek me early shall find me. I find so few people that have a seeking spirit, even in Pentecost. Beloved, that's the great catastrophe today.

That's the reason we have to develop all kinds of circuses, and we call them revivals. Have you noticed that all the revivals that are advertised today are advertised behind the coffee cup? Have you ever noticed that?

Look at those pictures in these magazines. They're all, How different when we fast and pray, when we get alone with God, because our hearts are homesick and hungry for God, and because as the heart panteth after the waterbrook, so my soul panteth after thee, O God.

When shall I come to appear before my God? My tears have been my meat, day and night, while they say, Where is your God? O beloved, I find so few people that pay the price to be alone with God, and yet it ought to be the greatest privilege that God offers to me.

The Secret Place and God's Open Reward

Jesus says, Your Father is in secret. He is waiting to reward you openly. And what is that reward? And why a reward? Why? Because it's a hard job, hard job to believe what others don't believe, and to act and live that life of faith.

When you really believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and his indwelling, your whole mouth will be different. You won't let your tongue wag like the tail of a cow. You will learn to ferme la bouche, bocca grande.

There will be a lock put on the lips. Dei carraggia, piallamaco, che le man bangia? What do I do when I speak in tongues? Why, God makes contact. He loves me. Himself, the Spirit of God, makes intercession for me according to the will of God.

And what do I do when I use careless words? I drive away the Holy Ghost, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. O beloved, here is an advice, a counsel I would like to give to our young people.

Listen, get alone with God. Get alone with God. The first requirement is to know that God is, and that you never get into prayer, but God's there to receive you. God, your Father, is there to dread with you, to deal with you, as with his Son, and oh, what does it mean to father in heaven, when his eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth, and he finds you getting alone.

Getting away from the crowd. Pulling away from the crowd. Pulling away from those that mislead you. Getting alone with God. Beloved, today you've got to get alone with God, because the world and its alluring charms will swallow you up.

Resisting Sin Through Solitude With God

Oh, how many have been hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, and they can't give themselves to prayer anymore. The devil has come in. He has hardened their hearts, and they have no more contact. They get down to prayer, and then they go to sleep.

But it's a wonderful thing when the Spirit of God takes notice of your seeking the Lord himself. God himself. Hallelujah. Oh, God himself. Jesus Christ. Isn't that strange that he sends you and me to the Father.

He says, I will not pray for you because of Father himself. Love of you. Go to Father. Shut yourself. Shut yourself in with God. It costs something, but listen, it costs a great deal more to go to the devil.

People in this world, what are they doing? What are backslidden Christians doing? They're casting their pearls before the swine. Young people, your Heavenly Father is waiting to meet you every day, all the time.

You older folks, too. Don't go to sleep. Your Heavenly Father is waiting to meet with you. Waiting to reward you. And what is that reward? We read of it in the Bible. Abraham, he was surrounded by princes.

He was given the chance to be rich. The king of Sodom wanted to give him great riches. He swore, he said, I won't take even a shoestring from you. I don't want people to say that the king of Sodom made me rich.

God's Promise to Abraham

And then God said, fear not, Abraham. Oh, and God speaks to you. And that's what Jesus Christ promised me at that time. He said, I can speak to you much better when you're all alone with me. I found out that that is so.

That is the truth. And here God speaks to Abraham, and he'll speak to you, if you will just give him a chance. The trouble is, we don't give God time enough. It takes time before all that noise of the world and those clamoring temptations and testings and trials have been silenced by the Spirit of God.

And Jesus comes on the scene, the bright groom of my soul. He who purchased me with his own blood for himself. And what is the reward that shall be mine? Look at Abraham, he said, fear not, I am thy shield.

Oh God, if you would be my shield in this sin-cursed earth, arrows that fly by daytime, the pestilence that walketh in darkness. Isn't the world full of it? I tell you it is. And he says, I am your shield.

Oh, when God is a wall of fire around you, when God selects you for his son and his daughter, they shall be mine, saith the Lord in the day when I make up my jewels. And if there's ever been a day that is close to that day, it's today.

Glory to God. But he said, fear not, Abraham, I am your shield and your exceeding great reward. That's the reward that will be yours if you get alone with God. Why does he say, alone with God? The world forbidden.

You cannot take anybody with you. God will have his bride alone with himself. The king has brought me into his chambers. What a privilege. And I know that God is finding a people. Now, in all the churches, he does.

He's finding a people that are awakened by the Spirit of God to this great wonder. Oh, to be alone with God ought to be the greatest joy of my life, day by day. But listen, not only my joy, but his joy.

That's the thing I ought to consider. It's the joy of my God. When he sees his child on her knees or his knees, alone with God, alone with God. We like so well company. We've got to have company. Years ago, oh, 30 years ago, when this work was started, there were some men here that said, we ought to have social times.

We never get acquainted with one another. We never meet one another. I says, you can meet me at the prayer meeting. You can meet me all day on Wednesday. They never showed up there. But if there was a coffee clutch, boy, they'd have been there with flying flags.

Persevering in Prayer and Seeking God

Listen, you'll have to get alone with God, and oh, to steal away, to be alone with Jesus, day by day. I used to cry when I got home from work. Took me a long time to get home. And my first thing was to bury my face in my pillow and just cry out my soul before my God.

Having been in the world all day and having been tested and tried by the taunts of men, and then to get alone with Jesus. What a privilege. But what a joy there is in heaven when the eyes of the Lord that run to and fro throughout the whole earth find one Daniel who will pray though the lions roar, or one Samuel who will be true to God when all the priesthood backslides.

And when he finds you, you seeking him, wanting him, I tell you that Almighty God will, like Billy Sunday says, put aside his saw and hammer and stop making worlds and he'll come and visit you. He will, Jesus says.

Oh, beloved, let us be encouraged and inspired to pray, to get alone with God so that he can give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. And when he says without faith, it is impossible.

It isn't just prayer, but it's that faith that reaches out in prayer and expects confidently God to fulfill his promise and then expects God to set into my soul the power to obey him. Oh, my father will reward you openly.