Pentecost, the Marriage of the Lamb — Hans R. Waldvogel

I had attended a wedding. Somebody you don't know. Strangers. But anyway, I was invited to the wedding. I think I even had to do something with tying the knot. Anyway, I saw something there that I never saw before at a wedding.

And I've attended many, many weddings. I guess somewhere in the hundreds. But I saw something here that I never saw before. The bride looked like... Somebody expressed it the other day. I guess it was a very scientific expression.

A sourpuss. You ever hear that expression before? Anyway, one of the saints used it to express what she wanted to express. Yes, and that expresses exactly what I want to express. It was horrible. This bride, she seemed so displeased with everything.

Even with her bridegroom. But then I noticed something. There was a young fellow there. And whenever she looked at him, she brightened up. I thought, isn't that strange? She has no smile for her own husband.

Very strange. And this other guy gets all the smiles. She looked so different when she looked at that other fellow. Now, I'm not judging at all. I'm not here to judge. But as I said, I never saw that before, and I thought it was awfully strange.

Pentecost and Devotion to the Bridegroom

But you know, that happens among us. I was in Germany. A book was given to me, which was written by one of the factions of the Pentecostal movement. When we first went to Germany, the authorities told us there were 56 different factions of Pentecostal churches.

Factions that fought one another, that couldn't stand one another. And they all wanted to get into Germany to raise their banner. But anyway, here this particular faction had written a book about what they were and how they were doing and how great they were and how they had been enlarged and all those things.

Rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. It was sort of an apologetic book to tell the world that the Roman Catholic Church was not the Alleinselig Macher der Kirche, but they were here too.

And they were trying to explain Pentecost. And I said, well, to the brother who showed me the book, they tell everything except the main thing. They have missed the mark, like a bride that might be interested in everything, in her ring and her gown and her guests and all the flowers and the wedding march and all that, and has absolutely no interest in her own bridegroom, in her own husband.

Beloved, Pentecost means nothing. It's a great big circus. It's a tremendous farce, unless it means the marriage of the Lamb. Unless your heart becomes so enamored of Him and so interested in Him that even His gifts are neglected and even His powers and everything you might say about yourself or about the movement or about, oh, beloved, how people have gone astray from the bridegroom by becoming interested in powers and in gifts and in things that Jesus Christ can do for them.

And when He doesn't do for them, then they try to produce it themselves. And that's where this fanaticism comes from that today stalks the earth in the name of Pentecost. But, oh, when Jesus Christ finds a soul that wants Him, He'll put that soul to the test.

He'll strip her. He'll let her go down into nothingness before Him. He'll put a cry into that heart, oh, Jesus. Jesus, take heaven and earth. Oh, but give me thyself. We all feel today, as someone expressed it, that we ought to be more spiritual.

Rejecting Manufactured Spirituality and Financial Manipulation

We ought to be deeper, or as Brother Ernest expressed it a while ago, there's some dissatisfaction, something that doesn't quite satisfy. Well, beloved, we need none of those things. Teachers will come along and tell you what you need is to have faith.

And what you need is to have gifts. And you can have this and that and the other. Listen to the radio and they'll blare at you. I listened to one the other day over one big station and then I turned it to another station and heard the same message.

Only one minute slower than the first one. Both given by tape recording. Why, you're sons of God. Why, goodness, you can have your pockets full of money and I'll show you how. Send me a dollar. Be sure you write me this week or we'll have to go off the air because we're living by faith.

Now quickly send me the dollar and see if you don't get two dollars from the Lord next week. And all that rot, beloved, people fall for. They wouldn't fall for the truth. And that's why I'm so thankful for Holy Ghost meetings where Jesus Christ is in charge.

He puts the preacher in the corner and says, get out of here. Let me do it. Let me come forth. Let me speak my word. Let me pour out my power. Let me get that old monkey down where he belongs. Oh, to have Jesus.

Waiting on God to Direct the Work

And the wonder is we can have him. When you really want Jesus Christ, he'll strip you of everything. It's been wonderful to me to be in this work where we have never desired anything but Jesus. Never wanted anything.

When we started here, I was told by the leading brethren, now you got to go from house to house and drum together all the backsliders. I said, I have no time for that. I haven't come here to build a church nor to get souls saved.

I've come here to worship my Lord and to find him. My whole soul's desire is to be united to Jesus Christ and to have him. And it was almost amusing how Jesus came to the meetings. There were revival meetings going on round about us that made a great noise.

In the West, I heard about how they had a continuous revival. They had five or six tambourines and the piano would wobble. You'd think it'd fall down. That's how they played the piano. And bing, bang and hooray.

And I said, well, thank God somebody's doing something. I can't do anything unless Jesus does it. And so we came to Patchen Avenue. And what did we do? Just sit there. No, brother, we waited upon the Lord.

I knew God had sent us there. And I knew that God would use us if he wanted to. And if he didn't want to, it was okay too, just as long as he was doing his will. And in one of the first meetings, we did nothing.

God came. God came. That's always enough to me when God comes. Then I don't want to breathe. I don't want to open my mouth. I want Jesus Christ to do it. I want him to open his mouth. Oh, beloved, if I don't minister to people, Christ.

Ministering Christ Rather Than Ourselves

And that's perhaps the mistake I've made. I haven't always understood how to do that. But how many ministers minister themselves. That's why they stamp out manifestations. Why people don't like it. They don't understand it.

But when the preacher's a big shot, why? It reminds me of the prayer of the fishermen. Lord, help me catch a fish today so big that even I, in telling of it afterwards, will need to tell a lie. We pray, yes, but oh, to be a vessel unto honor.

A vessel's nothing. Nothing until it's filled with all the fullness of God. And people found fault with us right from the start. For some, we were too noisy. Why, we'd have dancing times and clapping our hands and shouting so that the police would come in and see what was happening.

Somebody was getting murdered. And then presently things would go so still. And then people would find fault with that. How could I help it? I didn't do it. I didn't make the meetings. God have mercy upon me if I try to fool with God's work.

Remaining Where Christ Is Present

I said, well, there's one good thing coming out of meetings like that. I remember the conductor in one of the streetcars in Zurich. There were two old ladies riding in that streetcar and the window was open and one shouted at him, shut that window or I'll die.

I can't stand a draft. So he went to shut the window and the other one hollered. She says, open that window. I got to have fresh air. I'm going to die. He said, all right, let it shut till she dies and then we'll open it till you die.

And so I found out when things went still, people went that didn't like stillness. And when it got loud, then the people went who didn't like loud. But you know who stayed? People who wanted Jesus Christ.

They had an appetite. They said, where shall we go while Christ is here? Here we meet the Lord. Just this week, someone came from the distance and said, I've got to have these meetings. I've got to come.

I've gone to other churches and they have their programs. But my soul isn't satisfied. There's something in the soul of man that will never be satisfied until Jesus Christ takes over. And all for a ministry that is wise unto this glorious salvation.

The Ministry That Flows from Union with Christ

And like the apostle, Paul is willing to be crucified with Christ. To be despised, to be misunderstood that Jesus might come forth. God is never going to have a minister like that until he finds hearts that don't try to make a ministry, but they want Jesus Christ.

Beloved, then the ministry will be the outflow of your union with the Son of God. It will be as natural as the growth of a tree out of a seed that has fallen into the ground and dies. Then it brings forth fruit.

But who has learned this wisdom? Nobody except the man and the woman that has sought through until he has stood before the King. Until God Almighty has been able to reveal to him that divine wisdom which is not found upon earth.

Receiving Wisdom and Knowledge from Above

Which only comes through that spirit that searches the deep things of God. And it doesn't come, it does not come out of the human heart. In him are hid all the treasures. Do you tap those treasures of wisdom and knowledge?

All people boast of having knowledge and having wisdom. You don't as long as you boast of it, you haven't any. When you have wisdom and when you have knowledge, you know that you haven't any. That moment by moment it's got to come from above.

Abiding in Christ and Obeying the Spirit's Leading

Why does Jesus say, don't meditate? Why does he give us that command? It shall be given you in that same hour because Jesus Christ knows that you're going to be late. You're going to be brainwashed. But if you abide in him and leave it all to him.

And you say, Lord fill my mouth with worthwhile stuff and nudge me when I've said enough. That's a wonderful prayer. I learned that in Canarsie last week. Now you don't need to be convinced anymore of my faithfulness to appear.

Whenever two or three are gathered together in my name. And I want you to approach me with a faithful heart and with a joyful heart and not with fear. Trusting me completely and learning to obey the leading of my spirit.

For it will lead you to great glories and wonderful victories.