Paul the Apostle — Will Graham

The Joy of Gathering in the Lord’s Presence

What a joy to be in the courts of the Lord, better is one day, his courts and thousands elsewhere. Here there's joy, here there's peace that surpasses all understanding. Here the saints are gathered together and congregated in his name, that magnify, glorify and exalt the name of our great God and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the name of the Lord. Thank you again pastor for this invitation to preach the gospel. Thank you very much as well for coming here tonight. I believe God would really desire to speak again to our hearts and edify us by the preaching of the word of God.

Paul the Apostle and the Message of Romans

Our text this night then, we're going to continue on with the same thing that we touched this morning, born slaves of Jesus Christ. This morning we touched on a man of God called John the Baptist, a man who burned with holy zeal, a powerful witness under the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And tonight we're going to talk about a man by the name of the Apostle Paul, Paul the Apostle. Our text this night is going to be found in the book of Romans. We're going to just share one verse this night.

And of course we believe that book was written about 60 AD during Paul's third missionary journey there in Corinth. So this book is an absolute theological masterpiece that shows us the great doctrinal truths of our Christian faith.

This is a book that has changed history time and time again. You know it was Romans 1 verse 17, the just shall live by faith. That changed the whole context and history of Europe. Martin Luther got a hold of that verse and the rest of world history completely changed.

Luther himself says of the book of Romans, this epistle is really the chief part of the New Testament and the very purest gospel. It's worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word by heart, but occupy himself with it every day as the daily bread of the soul.

It can never be read too much, can never be pondered too much. And the more it is dealt with, the more precious it becomes and the better it tastes. It was reading Luther's prologue to the epistle of the Romans that John Wesley, that great Methodist in the 18th century, felt his heart strangely warmed.

He was born again by the Spirit of God and the mighty Methodist revival came on its heels. This book of Romans expounds the great themes of our Christian faith. The depravity of man, salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

It deals with truths of lives in the Spirit, of the cross of Jesus Christ, of God's dealing with the people of Israel and with the Gentiles and has many practical applications. So what we're going to do tonight is not so much fix on the doctrinal aspect.

Of course, these things are going to come out. But what I want to see tonight is the heart behind this man. We saw John the Baptist this morning. I want to look at Paul this evening. So we're just going to open our Bibles to Romans chapter 1 and we're going to read verse 15.

Romans 1 verse 15. And if you want to go ahead and read that in loud voice, you just go ahead. Romans 1 verse 15. I believe this verse is going to give us an insight that will form the base of our preaching tonight.

Romans 1 verse 15. Praise God. As much as is in me, I am now ready to preach the gospel to you that are in Rome also. As much as is in me. The title of this message is, As much as is in me. As much as is in me.

That leaves room for nothing else. This is a man wholly yielded up to Jesus Christ. This is a man ablaze for the gospel. And so what I propose in this evening is three things. Number one, we're going to look at the heart of such a man.

In second place, we're going to look at the life of such a man. And in third place, the reward of such a man. The heart, the life, and the reward. I pray God is going to use this word to stir our hearts.

To challenge us. To edify us as his church. That we too may speak and walk in the fullness of the spirit of God. Shining with the glory of Christ no matter where we go. Talking about our wonderful God and Savior.

So I do open our hearts in prayer. And let's seek God that he would speak to us in this night. That we too may say with Paul, As much as is in me. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Lord we magnify your precious name.

We thank you God that we've been called by your grace. You are God above in heaven oh God. Creator of heaven and earth. We thank you God that you're not just creator. That you are redeemer oh God. We thank you that you took us out of the married clay.

You give us life oh God. When we were dead in transgressions and sins. We thank you for your great grace. How can we repay such a debt? How can we give you thanks oh God. For your wonderful workings toward the children of man.

Oh God we know you're the same God yesterday. Today and forever. And we do pray oh God. That you would speak in this night oh God. Directly to our hearts oh God. Break all the nonsense God. That you want to be broken in us oh God.

Shake us oh God. And fill us with your spirit oh God. Let us rise up in your name oh God. To say with the apostle Paul. As much as is in me. As much as is in me. May we worship you in spirit and truth.

We give you honor. We give you praise. We give you glory. In Jesus name and for Jesus sake. Amen. Glory to God. As much as is in me. As much as is in me. Paul's heart was sold out to God. As much as is in me.

A Heart Fully Sold Out to Christ

Is the heartbeat of any true child of God. True Christianity is nothing else than an all-out commitment. To serve in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul paid the price to serve Jesus. In an ungodly and wicked generation.

He knew no compromise. He was a champion of the faith. Christ was his all in all. He was like the vast multitude of believers. We have in the 21st century church. Clowns. Comedians and comedians. In first place he wasn't a clown.

When I was a little kid. My mum told me you laughed at clowns. If a clown tells you something. You don't take him seriously. Paul never wore a mask. You see a clown wears a mask. A clown is a man that says one thing on a Sunday.

And then there's something else on a Monday. That's a clown. Someone that pretends to be something that he's not. Paul said in Galatians 1 15 and 16. He said it pleased God to reveal his son in me. That I might preach him among the heathen.

First Christ is revealed. Then I have authority to preach him. It's not preach then have the son revealed. No, no. First the son's revealed in me. Then I have authority to preach. Paul was no clown. When you're going through hard times and trials.

You don't ask a clown for his advice. You don't take a clown seriously. Paul was no comedian. No funny jokes up his sleeve. He never tried to win men's approval. He went to the ends of the world. No jokes.

No guitar. No praise band. No little man there giving him a round of applause. Tell him how wonderful he was. Absolutely nothing. But the power of the Holy Spirit. And it proved to be more than sufficient to meet the need.

Paul had the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit had Paul. Proved to be more than sufficient. He was no clown. Was no comedian. And he was no chameleon. A chameleon changes colors. A comedian just likes to fit in wherever he goes.

Blue one day. Green the next. I've seen men preach in the public who live like devils in secret. Keep your gospel to yourself. Doesn't interest me. We need people that are going to preach what they believe.

And believe what they preach. And more so live the message they give in the pulpit. Paul talked for Christ in public. And talked with Christ in secret. Christ was all that interested and motivated him.

Never in two minds. Christ was his all in all. Paul was driven on by the mind of Christ. Redeemed the time. Preaching the gospel in season and out of season. With steel in his bones. And a mighty fire in his belly.

Paul had the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit had Paul. That took me around last summer. The church where Evan Roberts was in 1904. When that revival came. Church in Wales absolutely dead. 17 people in that meeting that brought me in.

And the historian said to me. He said, Evan Roberts, he said, didn't have the Holy Spirit. I said, I said, God, what did that man just say? He says, Evan Roberts didn't have the Holy Spirit. He said, the Holy Spirit had Evan Roberts.

Oh, glory to God. Made a whole lot of sense when he cleared that up. Holy Spirit had Paul. Holy Spirit had Evan Roberts. I'm yet to find a place in the scriptures where Paul ever asked God. If it was okay for him to go back to the world.

If it was okay for him to smoke a few joints. Sleep about with a few women. Get a little tattoo. Flirt about with the world. Never, the moment Paul was born again. Of the Spirit of God. It was Christ all the way.

Christ all his life. Christ unto death. It was as if the Holy Spirit had put his shield over his eyes. That he lost interest in everything else outside of Jesus Christ. This man was so full of Christ.

That the governor Festus thought that Paul was a madman. You know, Paul was a lost man. Paul was lost. But he was lost to this world. Lost of its seductions. Lost all of its lusts and temptations. Paul was a man that marched on as a soldier.

Of Jesus Christ. In faithfulness to God. A man, little lad, was travelling there with Paul. It was a man called Demas. He loved the world. Dreamed with the world. Slept with the world. He just loved that whole worldly system.

That's why he ends up back to that. You see, everything's true to its nature. The pig is going to return to its mud. The dog is going to return to its vomit. Demas just loved the world. He just went back.

But not Paul. Paul was born of the Spirit of God. You saw the fruit in his life. There was sanctification. He pressed on. Demas did not believe in full separation under God. Demas did not believe in allegiance to Christ.

Demas did not believe in separation from the carnal. So he thought, just like his father, the devil. Paul, anything outside of Christ had no appeal to him. The world was his mortal enemy. And he stood like a mighty rock in the midst of a gushing stream against the oncoming flow.

Our present state of Christianity shows a sad lack of true Holy Ghost power and conviction. So-called servants of Christ flirting about with the world. Why do they do that? Because they love to do it.

They long for it. They long for the applause and popularity, pleasure and prosperity more than God. They've got one food in the church and another food in the world. Never works that way. Elijah says, if Baal's God, off you go, serve Baal.

But if the Lord be God, then serve him. There's no two ways in this kingdom. You're either in God's army or in the army of the enemy. You're either a sheep or you're a goat. You're either wheat or you're chaff.

You're one or the other. You can't have two food in two different kingdoms. You're of the kingdom of light or you're a child of the devil. In true revival, worldliness is cast away as a venomous viper.

A true servant of God loves nothing but Jesus Christ and hates nothing but sin. Paul's heart was fire filled. What else could we expect from a man filled by the spirit of God? Hebrews 1 -7 tells us that God wants his servants to be as flames of fire.

Men that burn for the glory of God. Fire speaks of passion, of zeal, of fervor. Fire is always hungry and thirsty. Fire never says enough. It always wants more. Paul knew this fire that filled the bones of Jeremiah the prophet.

He knew the fire that filled the bones of Ezekiel, that gave them divine boldness to preach the valley of dead and dry bones and see them form a mighty army by the power and intervention of Almighty God.

He was governed by God. Draw near to the saints of old, said Mr. Tozer, and you will feel their heat after God. When they come to town, the spiritual atmosphere rises. You know, I learned very early on in my Christian walk to draw near to men and women that love God, that love to pray, that love the word of God.

Why? Because if I spend my time with people that love to pray, that burn to study the word of God, then that fire is going to catch me too. You see, fire is contagious. God sets you ablaze that you would set others ablaze too.

You're blessed to bless. And so if you spend your time flirting about with people that don't want to take God seriously, well then you wake up one day, why have I no desire to seek God? Why am I not pressing on in the things of God?

Draw near to godly people. Draw near to men and women that love to pray. Draw near to men and women that seek the word, that preach the word, that live the word, and that fire will be contagious. Everything's true to its nature.

Draw near to men and women of God and refuse to surrender to the chill of your spiritual environment. You must be filled, filled overflowing, filled in every part. What Paul had in his heart, he spoke with his mouth.

That fire could not be hidden. And when he spoke, the multitude stood spellbound. Rich and poor, wise and foolish, old and young, Jews and Gentiles. No one could ignore that divine flame that proceeded from his being.

The fire of God ate him up, just like the bush that Moses saw back in Exodus 3. A fire that was indeed ablaze, but was not consumed. What was it that made millions stand transfixed? When Luther, when Wesley, when Whitefield, when Jonathan Edwards, when these great saints and preachers of old, what was it that made the multitude stand transfixed?

It was the fire, the fire, the fire of the Holy Spirit that captured the attention of men and women. Nothing else but holy goes far. Wesley once said, get on fire for God, and the multitudes will come to watch it burn.

Mr. John Calvin once said, he said, build a man a fire, it will keep him warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he will burn the rest of his life. We've got to be on fire for the gospel. If you follow Wesley and you're an Armenian, you've got to be on fire for God.

If you follow Calvin and you're a Calvinist, you've got to be on fire for God. Armenian Calvinists, blaze for God. Burn for God in Jesus' name. Blaze for this gospel. They may not understand everything you say, but they will feel everything you preach.

They may not believe everything you say, but make sure the person that's listening to your preaching knows that you believe every single word of what you're saying. Doesn't matter if they believe everything, make sure you believe it.

Fire is what we need. They once asked that man of God, Augustine, they asked him, Augustine, tell me three things you would like to see before you died, a theologian or a fifth century. And Augustine said, he said, the three things I would like to see before I died.

Number one, I would like to see Jesus Christ in the flesh. You know, how was his face? How was his body? How tall was he? What did he look like? Number one, I would like to see Jesus. He said, number two, I would like to see the city of Rome, of imperial Rome at the zenith, at the peak of its glory.

What was Rome like? And number three, he said, I would love to hear a sermon of the Apostle Paul. Praise God. When Paul preached, no one fell asleep. I read in the book of Acts of one little lad called Eutychus.

He made that mistake once. Paul was preaching, Eutychus fell asleep. Wasn't five seconds later, Eutychus is lying dead in the ground. And if you read the book of Acts, no one ever made that mistake a second time.

When Paul came to town, you stood up, you paid attention. The man of God comes. It's time to listen. What is God going to say? The spiritual atmosphere rises when the man of God comes to town. Charles Finney said, it is evident that we must have more arising preaching to meet the character and wants of the age.

The preachers must pour fire upon their hearers. When Paul spoke, you couldn't fail but to take notice. The Holy Spirit give him boldness. He'd been undued with power from on high. And he roared like a ferocious lion against all the works and wives of hell.

A spirit-filled saint of God will know this far what I'm talking about. And the servant that is spirit-filled will automatically obey every other commandment that is written in this book. Paul's heart was sold out.

Love-Constrained Service and the Burden for Souls

Paul's heart was fire-filled. And Paul's heart was love-constrained. Love for Christ, love for his fellow man was the root of all that Paul did. He came to bless others. He came to minister to others.

You know, Christ himself tells us in Mark 10, 45, he says, the Son of Man hasn't come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Paul himself tells us in the first chapter of Romans, he says, I've come unto you to impart unto you some spiritual gift.

He came to bless. Unselfishness is the mark of the true believer in Jesus Christ. It's easy to believe your brother or sister in the Lord when you realize that the God that saved you abides within them.

But in spite of a thousand trials and torments, Paul never wallowed in self-pity or had a woe is me moment. The reason why is because Paul wasn't living for Paul. Paul was living for the King of Kings, for the Lord of Lords.

His was a higher calling, a greater vocation. No longer I but Christ. He was a dead man walking. And one thing you can't do with a corpse is kill it. He was dead, all this world had to offer. Dead to those lusts of the flesh.

He died at his conversion, became a new creature. And the life he lived in this flesh was just an opportunity to serve our great God and Saviour. He called himself a debtor to all men. If God has been so gracious in saving me from an eternity in the lake of fire and brimstone, then I am in debt every Jew to every Gentile to preach the gospel.

Repent, repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. I must preach, I must share with others what God has shared with me. He wanted all men to know about this great saving Lord. His passion and longing for souls to come into the kingdom was a sure mark that the Holy Spirit was moving in his life.

Oswald Smith once said, there are four great results that follow the anointing. Four evidences that can neither be disputed nor counterfeited. The first is victory over sin. The second, power in service.

The third, the fruit of the Spirit. And the fourth, a burden for souls. He prayed for the saints of God. He wept until Christ was formed in them with pains, with labour pains. He never acted through legalism.

He was love constrained. I believe it's very important to define this word legalism above all in our evangelical circle now in 2009. The purest essence of a legalist. A legalist does something because he has to do it.

Whereas a love constrained person does something because he desires to. He longs to do it. The person who's a legalist will say something along these lines. I pray every day because I have to pray every day.

I read the Bible every day because I have to read the Bible every day. I go to church on Sundays because I have to go to church on Sundays. The love constrained believer says, I read the word every day because I love to read the word.

I pray every day because I love to pray. I go to church because I love to be in church. I love to hear the preaching of the word. I love to be with God's people. I love the things of God. That's not legalism.

That's a believer that's walking in a love constrained faith. Paul was no legalist saint. Paul was love constrained from day one to the end of his life. Constrained by love for God. Constrained by love for his people.

A man whose heart is sold out, fire filled, and love constrained is going to have an exciting life. I guarantee you there's not going to be much time for boredom. When a man rises up with fire in his bones for the glory of Jesus Christ, hell won't be too far around the corner in rising up against him.

It won't be too long before Satan raises his ugly head. Preaching the truth and living the truth is going to cost something. I've heard a lot of men say revival is going to cost an awful lot. No, no, revival is not going to cost an awful lot.

Revival is going to cost absolutely everything. We've got to be a united people in prayer and in obedience to the word of God. Paul's life from the moment he was saved until the moment they martyred him was one of intense persecution and torment.

Persecution as the Cost of Faithful Preaching

The life of a man of God will always be marked by persecution. Of all of the fruits you can expect from ministry, persecution is number one on the list. It was Paul himself that said to Timothy, all those that live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

The witness of the scripture show that nothing is so attacked as a godly life sold out to Jesus. You would think that godly men and women would be applauded by their societies, appreciated by the people amongst whom they lived.

I mean, what harm did they ever do to anybody? They only wanted people to walk right before God, to be reconciliated with Him. Surely these fire-filled, love-constrained, sold-out saints should be applauded by the societies in which they live.

But not so. Hated, stoned and left for death. John the Baptist rises up in the wilderness with a thus saith the Lord. Six months later, his head's chopped off. Get little Stephen filled with the Holy Ghost, preaching to that lukewarm religious multitude.

He's stoned to death. That's the way it is. When you start to preach, when you start to live the true gospel, there's going to be persecution. The ageless truth is that if you are going to preach the truth, it's going to cost you everything.

I suspect that the reason we are no longer attacked here in our Western world in the 21st century is, it's sad to say, but there's nothing left worth attacking. There's nothing left in our churches to attack anymore.

And that's why we don't face persecution. I gave a class on preachers and preaching back in May 2008 in the seminary. They asked me to finish off with half an hour teaching the people that had come from a few local churches.

I said to them, just to finish off, I said, hated, stoned, martyred, spat upon, treated like dogs. This is the inheritance of the preachers of the gospel. I welcome you to the ministry of preaching. You see, what we want today in the 21st century, we want the applause of man.

We want everybody to soothe their egos. Tell us how wonderful we are. Oh, aren't you a dynamic preacher? Oh, aren't you wonderful and charismatic? Oh, don't you have a lovely suit when you preach? Not so saints in the New Testament and the old.

They shed their blood for the gospel. They give everything to preach Christ and Christ crucified, Christ resurrected and Christ glorified. We want to win favor and feel good when we preach. But if you are a man pleaser, you are not the servant of Jesus Christ.

Paul tells us in Galatians 1 verse 10, if I were to please man, then I am no longer the servant of Jesus Christ. The ageless truth is, preach the truth. It's going to cost you everything. If they hated Christ, they're going to hate you.

If they obey Christ, they're going to obey you. But you see, it's not you they hate. It's Christ in you, the hope of glory. If you're going to live this gospel, it's not going to be too long before you get into trouble.

And I would like to say to you, if you're not being called a fanatic, if you're not being called extreme, if you're not being called a legalist, I would say to you, there's something wrong with your preaching.

You're not preaching according to the Word of God. Every time I see a man starting to say, thus saith the Lord, persecution lurks around the corner. There was a reaction when Paul came to town. The people either bowed down and tried to worship him like he was one of the Greek gods from the Pantheon, or they tried to cut his throat and stone him to death.

You were for Paul or you were against him. It was black or it was white. There was no middle line. You're a man of God and you're a woman of God. There must be a reaction if you're going to walk in the fullness of the Spirit of God.

It's an easy thing to preach when everybody says, yes, amen, hallelujah, and lift their hands in the air. Oh, what a wonderful sermon. It's not so easy to preach when you've got a multitude before you and half the men in that multitude have just taken a vow that they're not going to eat anything, they're not going to drink anything until you're a goner, until you're a dead man.

Persecution is the mark of the heart of the love constrained, sold out, fire-filled heart of the saint of God. Such a life may expect the fruit of persecution, but also spiritual fruit. You see, Paul preached the whole Gospel.

He didn't preach a little one side, bless me, man-centered prosperity Gospel to which we've become so accustomed in this lethargic and lukewarm generation. And so from his preaching, he saw true converts that lived alone for the glory of God.

A man of God will produce men of God. A prayer, a prayer-filled man will produce men of prayer. A prayerless man will produce men of prayer. Scripture tells us everything produces after its own kind.

Paul was sold out to Jesus Christ and that example and that fire brought forth multitudes into the kingdom who were willing to lay down their lives for Jesus Christ. Commitment, discipline and faithfulness marked those first century believers who turned the devil's world upside down.

Spiritual Fruit, Freedom, and Fellowship

When Paul came to town, something was going to happen. He lived by faith and communion with God on the edge, never conforming to the nonsense he saw around him. There was a rise, as I said before, in the spiritual atmosphere.

Someone says, Paul's coming to preach. Glory to God. I'm going to go down to the town centre to hear him. Ah, but you can't go today. Grandmother's coming round to the house on the Sabbath. You've got to be here to let her in.

Well, tell grandmother she can do one of two things. She comes with me to go listen to the man of God, or she stays back at her house. Tell grandmother to call round next week. Oh, I see that old preacher in the synagogue, full of himself, with his chest puffed out like a proud peacock, says, well, you know, I'm preaching this Sabbath.

You can't go listen to Paul preach. Well, sir, there's 52 weeks in a year, 51 of which I'm sat under your ministry. I've heard what you preach. You've no life. You've no unction. You've nothing. I think I'm entitled to one week off to go listen to hear what the man of God's got to say.

When someone's walking with his spirit, when someone says, this saith the Lord, there will be hunger. There will be thirst amongst the people of God. God will speak to those that have ears to hear, heart to understand, and eyes to see.

This is the way ministry should be. Passionate, exciting, and powerful. A blind man cannot lead a blind man. But Paul was a free man. And that's why he could lead multitudes in to the kingdom of God and preach Christ.

He was a free man. He knew the freedom that came with the fullness of the Holy Ghost. Everywhere he went, the sick are raised. The dead are coming back to life. Devils cast out. Lepers are cleansed. Did what Christ told him to do.

Reckoned it all to the grace of God. He comes the demon-possessed man. He's living in communion with God. He's in prayer day and night. He speaks to the devil. The devil goes, that's just the way it is.

I know Jesus. And I know Paul. Paul is in communion with the most high God. Full stop. End of story. No debates. The demon comes out. But we've led people to believe that they're saints because by our lives, we've preached to them a gospel that doesn't upset hell.

A candyfloss, effervescent message that tickles ears and doesn't change anything. When Paul preached, people knew if they were saved or if they were lost. If Paul or Peter came back to one of our average churches in Great Britain, I suspect they'd probably take a whip and clean all the nonsense right out of the place and call the people back to prayer, back to the Word of God.

If we use carnal means to attract people to the church, we're going to have to use those same carnal means to keep them in the church. The cross of Jesus Christ is the only attraction of the church. The cross of Jesus Christ is the only way in here.

That's the only way. And if you're not coming by the cross, there's no place for you in this kingdom. Mr. John MacArthur said a few years back, he said, when the first century church came together, they came and they congregated to worship the Lord.

They didn't come to entertain goats. Paul had no time for gimmicks, just saturated and soaked in the presence of the Holy Spirit. He had heart religion. So true, pure, holy fruit was always the outcome wherever he went.

It's wonderful in the book of Ezekiel in chapter 47, that as Ezekiel goes advancing in that river, the waters were up his ankles, up his knees and then up his hips there. But Ezekiel never saw fruit in Ezekiel 47.

There's never so much a mention of fruit until he had been in those deep waters where he started to swim, where the Holy Spirit took control, where God was in charge of his servant. And then when he came out of the river, after he'd been swimming in the depths, then he saw the fruit.

What's the lesson there? If you want to see fruit from your ministry, all you got to do is start swimming in the deep waters. Don't be satisfied with the water at your ankles. Don't be satisfied with the water at your knees.

Don't be satisfied with the water at your hips. Start to swim. Be guided by the Holy Ghost. Be a man of prayer, a woman of intercession. Live in obedience to the Word of God and fruit will come. A tree doesn't have to be in pain to give birth to fruit.

It's natural. It's the consequence. Get in the river, saints. Delve in. Swim in the river of God. Let the Holy Spirit fill you. Be guided by Him in every moment and the fruit will come. Such a life may experience persecution, yes, but such a life will experience true spiritual fruit, true converts, yes, persecution, but also spiritual fruit.

And as a result of that spiritual fruit, the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ, the life of the man or the woman of God can expect true fellowship. True converts are going to walk with true converts.

A man that loves God, a woman that loves God, will love to talk to other saints that love God. There's such a wonderful communion. I love to talk with saints, with men and women that love Jesus Christ.

There's such a unison of spirit. There's such a beautiful harmony. I never knew anything about before I was born again. You see, it's hard to commune with lukewarm believers because their heart's not in the same direction.

They're always looking down to the things of this world. But when you meet a saint that's just caught up with the glory of God, oh, how the hours pass by. You're there three hours and it feels like five minutes have gone by.

It refreshes you. It restores you. It's not worked up. You don't have to manufacture it. It's sent by the Holy Spirit. It's that love and flow between saint and saint. Men of God, women of God, love to be with men and women of God.

And let me say, young people here, if you're not married, a man of God is to marry a woman of God. And a woman of God is to marry a man of God. If you're flirting about with some girl or some guy that doesn't know anything about God, it's time to take out your mobile phone, give him a little call, sets over with, we're finished.

You don't want to go to heaven with me. I don't want to go to hell with you. I'm going God's way. A man of God marries a woman of God. And a woman of God marries a man of God. Aaron sharpens Aaron. Amos 3 verse 3 says that two cannot walk together except they be agreed.

Paul never lost that blazing love for Christ. It increased day by day. He fellowshiped with men and women of God and ignited them with his holy zeal. You see, unfortunately, I tend to see that many people, instead of pressing on for God in depths of gratitude and godliness, people tend to stunt in their growth in God and just seem to become lukewarm and become apathetic in the things of God.