Till There Was No Remedy — John Rhys Watkins

The Warning of 2 Chronicles: No Remedy for a Rebellious People

And it says this, in 2 Chronicles 36 verse 15,. And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by their messengers, rising up early and sending them, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.

But they mocked the messengers of God, despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, until there was no remedy. And we may have come to that place in Wales, where there is no more remedy.

I asked the man this week, Christian, will you be there at the meeting? And he said to me, this man, I'll see what's on the TV. If there's anything good on the telly, I'll not come there. This is a man that claims to be full of the Spirit of God.

This is a man born again. And he cannot be found in the house of God tonight. We've sent out hundreds of invitations. We've sent out hundreds of posters. We've advertised in the newspapers. We've begged people to come tonight.

The Church’s Need for Revival

Come pray with us. This nation is dying. And if God does not reign this heaven, if he does not come forth in revival, then this nation will go to hell. And it is the church of God that will stand before a living God.

And we will give an account. And there are men and women who will stand before God. Some will find a high place in that kingdom. And others will not know God at all. We come tonight seeking his face. Begging for revival.

And there is no other way. And the great scourge of the church today, as it's always been throughout history, is apathy and unbelief. Those of you, you pastors, you elders, who've prayed tonight, you know it's apathy and it's unbelief that destroys a church.

Someone asked me, are we trying to get up a revival? I'm not sure what they meant. I've never seen a revival. I've never experienced one. This is the first time I've ever preached on revival. But God has put something in my heart months ago.

And I carry a great burden for this nation and for the church of Jesus Christ. I'm not sure what will happen tonight. I don't know. But I have come believing. I've come believing God for revival. I've come believing because I know that God himself is here.

We meet the criteria for revival. The church is in a terrible condition. It's reflected in the state of the nation. There's nothing left for us to do except get on our knees and seek his face. We've not come trying to get up a revival.

I long to see Christ, the risen Lord and Savior, manifest himself in his body. To see that church glorified. To see that church march in unity, shoulder to shoulder, in power. A church that reflects all that Christ was when he walked this earth.

A church that would be irresistible to this world. A church where they will come banging on our doors again. Sir, we want to see Jesus. It's been almost 100 years since the last notable true revival came to Wales.

Evan Roberts and the Welsh Revival

Don't need to tell you anything about it. You all know about Evan Roberts. And if Evan Roberts was anything, he was a man of prayer. If nothing else, he prayed. That man, Evan Roberts, took his burden.

A burden for his church and his nation. He took it to the temple of God that day. And he prayed into that temple of God. And he prayed a prayer like this. He said, God, bend the church. Bend the church, God.

He lived in a time that was like today. Apathy and unbelief all around. But he prayed that prayer. You know the history that followed. God moved into that church as a response to a penitent heart. As a response to that church that was nearly broken again before him.

God moved into the whole community. It was real revival. Hundreds and thousands were saved in Wales. Including people who thought they were Christians. Those who were supposed to have been Christians.

But when God came in. When God rent that heaven and came to that church. He exposed the church. Nothing could resist him. God moved in an awesome display of salvation. And we long to see that again. Church was fired up with coals from the temple of God.

My father always told me that the best coal in the world was Welsh. Welsh coal is the best. But he's never seen that heavenly anthracite. He's never seen that coal from the altars of God. And I pray tonight, there's an angel in heaven tonight stirring that fire.

God we pray, stir that fire. And send it to this nation. True revival affects a community. If it's a true revival you cannot contain it in your church. And we've come with a burden for the lost. We don't have time to see them come to the kingdom in ones and twos.

They die quicker than that in the valleys. They die quicker than they can be saved. We need revival now. We need God to move now. We need another Pentecost now. That's what we need. God to move. To pour out his spirit.

We need a church that will stand up and proclaim Christ crucified. We need a church that will stand up and show that his body today is crucified. Not just play church. My message tonight is to the church.

Repent or Die: Wales and the Dying Church

The urgency of this message can be summed up in three words to the church. Repent or die. That is the ultimatum for the church. We either repent or we retreat. We die. No other message. And on the corner of almost every street in these darkened valleys is a testimony to the dying church in Wales tonight.

Look all around and you'll see those once great buildings. Many of them built during these revivals. The 1859 and the 1904 revival. They stand desolate. They stand decaying. Falling apart. Hundreds of these buildings broken down and boarded up.

Those buildings once housed a mighty throng of people that worshipped God in spirit and in truth. But they're in decay. That is a testimony to this church. And the buildings in these valleys will continue to decay.

They will continue to fall apart. Because the body of Christ here, the church, has failed to bend its knee. We have failed to become a broken people before the Lord. We have mocked His messengers. We've scoffed at His prophets.

We've despised His word. Until the wrath of God will arise against Wales. Until a time comes when there will be no more remedy. But we've come here in belief tonight. We've come here with prayer. We've come here seeking His face.

Can anyone show me a pattern for the church of God that does not begin with brokenness? No other pattern. The Bible, the New Testament only knows one pattern. Brokenness. In the Psalm 51 verse 7 it says,.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God. You will not despise. And Paul, that great apostle, he reckoned all such men to be killed all the day long. Such was their willingness to be broken.

Their lives were put on the line. And in that great chapter of Hebrews, we read this,. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings.

Yes, and chains of imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sworn in two. They were tempted. They were slain with a sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins. Being destitute and afflicted and tormented.

Of whom the world is not worthy. They wandered in deserts, in mountains, in dens, in caves. And these, all having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise. All of these men were broken.

They were broken before their God. They're all foreshadows of that great man of sorrows. The one that was to come. Christ Jesus. A man of sorrows. Broken. His body was broken for us. And today, a man of God.

A man filled with God. A man that stands broken before God. The world is still not worthy of that man. But still God sends them. He raises up these men. Because God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.

The only things that we find broken in the church of Jesus Christ today are the commandments of Christ. The only things that are broken. The only things that we can break are His commandments. It's the church that has caused the world to curse that hallowed name.

You read the same newspapers every week as I do. Every week you'll find that they mock that Christ. They'll mock that God that spilled that blood for them. And every week you'll read that it's the church.

Man is led by that spirit. He's not going to break them commandments. He's not going to break those commandments. He's following Christ. Jesus said, If you love me, you will obey my commandments. That's not legalism.

That's a walk in the spirit. That's all that is. It's not legalism. It's not legalism to follow Christ. That's a walk in the spirit. If you're not obeying Christ, you're not walking in the spirit. If you're not walking in that spirit, you need a revival tonight.

We need a revival in the church tonight. Again he asks the question, Why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not do the things which I say? Isn't that the church today? Don't you see that all around? We pray in our prayers, Lord, Lord.

But we do not do the things which Christ has said. It's not legalism to follow Christ. If it's legalism, you're not following him. Paul exhorts us all in that epistle, Examine yourself to see whether ye be in the faith.

Check yourself out. Check yourself out. There's an urgency in this message. The hour is getting late. We cannot hold back any longer. I may offend some here tonight, but save others. Let God be God. Let the spirit come.

Nothing dead here except the church. You may be a man or a woman here tonight, that don't think you need revival. You may not see a need for revival in this nation. You're already deceived. If you think this nation does not need a revival, you're deceived.

You're full of pride. There's something wrong. Everyone that's prayed, even before you've come here, you've prayed for revival. You know there is a need in the church today. And a church that falls through pride is a church that will surely die.

Pride as the Root of Sin

Pride is death. Nothing dies without sin. Pride is the cause of all sin. When Lucifer, that anointed cherub, when he fell from heaven, it was because somehow that anointed cherub, he felt that he was more important than God.

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground, you who weaken the nations? For you said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.

I will sit upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. And I will be like Elion, the most high. Yet you, you shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit you will go.

The last blasphemy exposed the heart of that cherub. I will be like Elion. I'll be like the most high. It's come round. It's made a complete circle. That pride that was found in Lucifer, it's made a complete circle.

When Lucifer realized that he was not God, that he could not be God, he came to that garden, he came to that woman, and he said to her, the day that you eat of this fruit, you will be like God. And God cursed the world because of that one sin, pride.

He cursed the whole world. He's gonna get glory from this world one day. But he's gonna have to destroy the whole world to get it. He's willing to do it for his son. Held back too long, praise, honor and glory, that through his name, he's gonna destroy the earth.

The sin of pride has followed its originator from the holies of holies in heaven, falling quickly to the paradise garden in Eden, and now finding itself in the church. Pride. That's the big problem we have in the church.

It's pride. It's a sad day when the devil can come to one of our meetings with his feet up, leave, and say, boy, did I enjoy that. But he's doing it. No conviction in them pulpits anymore. He can leave the church without renounce of conviction.

The serpent's strength is dependent on two things. A lack of power in the pulpits of Christ and an unwillingness to meet with God in prayer. When the devil comes as a dragon, you can spot him a mile off.

The dragon comes to persecute. That's the easy one to identify. But when he comes as the serpent, he's much more subtle. The serpent comes to deceive. And it will always be manifest in and around that pulpit.

The pulpit is the tree of life in the church. From that pulpit comes the voice of God. The voice of God is a man of God preaching the word of God, the things of God. And when a man preaches the fullness of Christ, when he preaches the blood and the cross, you have heard the triune God.

You've heard the triune God when you hear the things of Christ being preached. If there's no conviction from that pulpit, the serpent's there somewhere. He'll be around that tree. You mark my words, he'll be around the tree.

And there are men riding high in the church, riding high on the stolen widow's mite, not whispering like the serpent, but crying out without an ounce of conviction, without an ounce of expectation of judgment, trying to deceive the church into thinking that the church can somehow become a God, that man born again will become God.

The ultimate blasphemy. He threw that anointed cherub out of heaven for that thing. Next to God there was nothing more perfect than Lucifer. But he kicked him out because of that blasphemy. And I've heard in these churches in the valleys, I've heard in the church, a man preach that he was to be called King Jehovah.

A man that said that was his name and that's how he was to be addressed. It's the same sin. It's pride. A man knows he's not King Jehovah. He'll find out when he's dead. But it's pride. It's just pride.

It's folly. It's the folly of man. Thinking and rising above our station. Before me there was no God formed. Neither shall there be after me. Don't have to have me to tell you that. A man could have asked his wife.

She'd have told him he's not a God. The only thing the serpent brought to earth was pride. Nothing else. The only way to deal with that serpent is to keep him on his belly. Keep him in the dust where he belongs.

Nothing dies without sin. Pride is the seed of all sin. But it's in the church. You see that serpent. You see his trail. You see him wandering all the way through that Old Testament. Manifesting himself before Christ.

Confronting him in the lives of those Pharisees. Beware the yeast of the Pharisees. Beware their pride, Christ says. Beware their leaven. He says that knowing that that temple of those Pharisees would be extinct in 40 years.

But he warns the church. Because pride is still there. That serpent comes with pride. He goes on. He bites Paul. The serpent latches onto him. Sinks his teeth in. And what happens? They proclaim him a God.

And Paul throws that snake in the fire. Showing us. Showing that devil. That's what's going to happen to you, devil. You're going to end up in that fire. He goes on through them churches. You'll find the serpent all the way.

In those churches in the Revelation. You'll find him in healing. Signs and wonders in the church of Pergamos. He's totally deceived later this year. And finally, we'll find him in that lake of fire. Where God has put him in to be burned.

In an unquenchable fire. And pride kills everything. It's in the papers again this week. That Russian submarine, the Kursk. 118 submariners. Perished underneath that sea. It wasn't the lack of oxygen that killed them.

It wasn't the freezing water. It was pride. Simply pride. At the bottom of that frozen sea. You had that boat. Now turned into an icy tomb. Waiting for rescue. They're there praying. They must have been waiting for rescue.

On one side you had the might of the Russian Navy. On the other side you had the Americans waiting to lend a hand. Both those nations can put a man on Mars. Tomorrow. If they wanted. But because of pride.

Those Russians sacrificed the lives of 118 men. They were afraid to allow those Americans. To help them. Just in case the Americans got any glory. There was also a fear that the Americans might see something.

Something that they should not have seen. It was all a mess. It was all a great waste of life. And all to protect what? Pride. Pride in the Russian leader. Pride in the Kremlin. Pride in our nation. Pride kills.

The Church Must Storm the Gates of Hell

Kills. Jesus said. I will build my church. And the gates of hell will not prevail. Now he's not saying that hell comes against the church. It's the church that goes against hell. Those submariners. The New North Christ.

Were already imprisoned. Behind the gates of hell. The call is to the church. The call is for the church to storm those gates. To set those captives free. Who are the captives behind those gates? Who are the prisoners of hell tonight?

Just take a look. Come close to the bars at that gate if we dare. You just look through. You might see your husband. You might see your wife. You could see your children there. Your parents. Your family.

Your brothers and sisters. Your neighbors. They're locked into hell. And Christ has commissioned the church. To set them captives free. But while we argue. While we fight. While we consume ourselves with our own pride.

They die. They die. Because of pride within the church. Because of pride. There's an unwillingness. To cooperate with the Holy Spirit. We're unwilling. We think that we cooperate with him. But if we would just open our ears.

And listen to what the Spirit is saying. We stand on dry ground. Not willing. We are not willing. To get just a little bit wet. To dip our big toe into that river. Into that sea. We won't come against that gate.

When all the while. Countless millions are being lost. Behind those gates. And we are afraid to get wet. And Alexander the Great. When he came to that great Euphrates river. The map reader came and he said.

There's no more maps. No more maps. It's the end of the world. And he ordered his army to get into that river. They would not go. They almost mutinied. But Alexander. He stood on his horse. And he drove into that river.

He was the first man into that river. And everyone to a man. Followed him. And when they got to the other side. They found all the riches of the east. But one man. Must get in the water first. If you are leaders in your church.

You must be the first. In that water. I lost a friend at the age of 20. We were both train robbers. Coal thieves. We'd set traps across the line. And we'd block the railway off. Train would come down.

It'd stop. The train driver would get out. To take the logs off the track. Then we'd open the tracks. He's not going to shovel 200 ton of coal back on that track. So we'd help him move it. It's the way we lived.

Didn't know any better. Just stole. He asked me to go steal and coal with him. I couldn't go. I just met my wife. And I was on a date. But he went that night. He never came back to his fiance. He never came back to his mother and father's house.

He was killed. He died that night stealing. I've always considered myself. The only difference between me and that boy was. I heard the gospel. I was lucky enough. To hear the gospel. He lived 20 years.

No one. No one in that village. No one in the valley. Had given that man the gospel. He never heard it again. Consider myself lucky. Those who reject the gospel. Consider themselves lucky. That they've heard it.

Because on the whole. We are unwilling. To preach that gospel. We can preach it in the church. But you'll find the church is saved. My background. Before I became. A Christian. Much the same as you guys.

Conversion, Repentance, and the True Gospel

Did my own thing. Got myself married in church. I was christened. Baptized. Confirmed. All by the vicar. Did nothing for me. I went off into new age. In TM. I've lost count of the cults. That rejected me.

Wound up a Mormon. Five days before I was going to be baptized. A priest into that cult. Man comes to my house. But he has to be invited. I invited him to come. And share his faith with me. And he told me that gospel.

He shared with me something. That I'd never heard before. He told me about that Christ. He convicted me of my sin. He preached that gospel to me. And I believed. He took time to come and preach. One to one.

And then I went down to see my vicar. Told him I was born again. He said it's not going to last long man. I said it's going to last as long as Christ lives. And he'll die no more. He's been led before men before and he's died.

But now pretty soon the time is coming. When men are going to be led before Christ. They'll pluck that beard no more. There'll be no more spitting in his face. There'll be no more smiting in the face of Christ.

He'll suffer no more at the hands of men. There'll be none more of that. He's coming back. Men are going to be led before him. He's not coming back as a lamb. He's coming back as a lion. And the church today from this hour must prepare herself.

She must prepare to meet her groom. She's looking for a bride who's prepared herself. Without spot or wrinkle. She's not coming after some harlot. She's not coming after some thing that's laid on the settee.

Eating chocolate. Watching TV. She's coming after something that's prepared herself. Don't care what denomination you are tonight. If it's organized by men. It's not the bride of Christ. You'll not get into that bride.

You'll not be part of that bride. Because you've signed up to a denomination. You're there on your own merit. Either Christ has saved you. Cleansed you with the blood. Or you're lost. Don't go looking for that one world church.

It's here. It's everywhere. No good looking back to mother Rome. No good looking for strength in other religions. No unity outside of his body. Cannot have unity with other religions. He is the faithful.

He is the true witness. But the church today is neither faithful nor true to her call. Judgment begins at the house of God. And I believe God is love. I believe that God is merciful. I believe He's patient and long-suffering.

God, I know that. He's been all those things to me. But I also believe Him to be an angry God tonight. I believe He's angry at this nation. I believe He's angry at the church. But His arm is pulled back.

He's slow to anger. He's still waiting for the church to bow that knee. In Psalm 7 and 11 it says this. God is angry with the wicked everyday. Everyday He's angry with the wicked. And with wickedness.

Doesn't matter if it's done in the world or in the church. It angers Him. God is sickened when He sees this nation. And He cries out to that church. In the same Psalm. How long will you, sons of men, turn my glory into shame?

How long? How long will you do it, church? How long will you turn my glory into shame? Wales is known throughout the world as the cradle of revival. Wales is known more revivals than any other country.

As a nation, we've sent missionaries, evangelists, preachers all over that world. We've preached that gospel. But now. Now coming into Wales. They're sending missionaries to this nation. From the outermost parts of the world.

From Africa, from America, from Asia. They're coming to Wales. The land of my fathers. The land of revival. I was in a church in Llanelli a couple of weeks ago. And I heard that man of God preach. I heard him pray for revival.

Told me about his grandfather that had been saved in 1904. He told me about an American missionary that's come to Swansea. Planted a church on one of those rough council estates. The man is there preaching Christ crucified.

And he's there on a Sunday with his church gathered in together. And they smell fire in that place. They've set a fire at the front door. The church runs to the fire exit. And they've placed a fire at the fire exit.

They've tried to burn the house of God. With the man of God inside. They've tried to burn the house of God. With the man of God inside. This is not Tel Aviv. This is not Baghdad. This is Swansea. This is Wales.

God have mercy. The average church attendant. You'll see them all when you talk to them, when you witness them. They've been deceived into thinking that because they can recite John 3 .16 they've been saved.

Israel’s Wilderness Warning to the Church

The devil has convinced them. They've convinced themselves that by shaking that preacher's hand and reciting a one minute prayer. That they're saved. Without repentance. Without following Christ. They think that that one prayer.

That one scripture. Will give them that eternal life. A mansion on the main street of heaven. The five-decker crown. A free dinner ticket to the marriage supper of the Lamb. They rule over five cities.

Be immune from all judgments. And they've left your church. They've left that altar. And they've gone back into the world. And they think they're saved. Worse, we've told them they're saved. Man, if we think we're saved because we know them scriptures.

Just a few scriptures. Then we can pack up, let's go home. That devil is saved. He's converted. He knows them scriptures. It's all about Christ. It's knowing Him. And in that tenth chapter of Corinthians.

Paul warns us to take note of those who came out of Egypt. Those that did not enter that promised land. They all went under the cloud. They all went through that sea. They were all baptized into Moses.

And still they fell by the thousands. They saw some awesome signs and wonders on the way. They saw miracles. They saw a mighty God. Display all mighty powers. They saw the false but they were able to distinguish between the false and the reality.

They knew the difference between the counterfeits of Satan and the power of God. They saw that river turn to blood. They saw them frogs cover the land. They saw the Egyptians livestock die before them.

They saw them locusts come and devour everything. They saw the whole land being covered by darkness. They heard that whispering sound of death steal its way to the chambers of the firstborn. They saw Moses crash that rod onto that red sea and watched it split like a coconut.

And three million of them walked through a dry bed. Five thousand abreast. They saw a cliff of water either side of them. The cloud above them. So all of Pharaoh's armies drowned. Not a man left. They saw and witnessed God drop tons of manna every day just to sustain them.

He fed them every day. And saw that rock gush forth millions of gallons of water every day. Never went thirsty. They were led by a cloud of smoke by day and a pillar of fire at night. If a little child got scared in the dark of the night, the father would just raise the side of the tent, point to that fire and say, There is your God.

Fear not. There is your God Israel. They saw all that. They witnessed him manifest himself in awesome power. And he still said to them, Israel, not one of you over the age of twenty will enter into that promised land.

Not a one of you. There is nothing in that desert today to mark where they fell. It's a testimony to the promises of God. And Paul says to the church, Be warned concerning these things. Be warned. Learn from them.

It doesn't matter to me how you receive this word. I have nothing to do with how you receive this word. I've just come to preach the word. This word will bless you. This word may curse you if it comes from God.

What you do with it is yours. You will not stand before your elders when you depart this world. You will not stand before your pastors when you depart this world. You will stand before the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

You will stand before Jesus Christ. You will stand before God Almighty God. And He is not going to ask you for a copy of your doctrinal statements or your carefully worded creeds. He simply asks you, Did you not learn Christ?

It's all about Christ. Did you not learn Christ? Paul says to that Ephesian church. You may have come here to see signs and wonders. Praise God if He wills it. But we've not come here to raise a dead man.

We've come that God may raise a dead nation. That's our prayer. The only way this nation can be raised is if the church is revived. We need revival and we need it now. We've identified the church's reluctance to want revival.

It's pride. This place should be packed out. But there's something on the telly. This place should be packed out. Let's look at what killed the church. If you have a Bible, we're looking at Isaiah chapter 5.

Isaiah’s Vineyard and God’s Question: What More Could Be Done?

From verse 1 it says, My well beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. He dug it up and cleared out its stones and planted it with the choices divine. He built a tower in the midst and also made a wine press in it.

So he expected it to bring forth good grapes. But it brought forth wild grapes. And now, oh inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge please between me and my vineyard. What more could have been done to my vineyard?

God asks the question, What more can I do? What more can God do? The question is not addressed to divine power. It is addressed to divine conscience. What more can he do? I recently visited a friend of mine, an old lady.

That almost brought me up. We're very close to her and her family. Next door neighbors. All our lives. They had 7 kids. There were 6 in our family. We all grew up together. But her son has just died. He died an alcoholic.

Man in his 40s. And she said, What more could I do with him? Everyone knew that he was drunk. She said, I went there 15 years ago to his flat. I found him on that bed that was soaked in urine. The place was filthy, she said.

But I took him home. I cleaned him up. But he made me give him drink. He made me give him more drink. In the end, she said, I took those bottles. No more, she said. I'll not contribute to your death. But he got up.

He called a taxi and he went back to his pigsty. What more can I do, she said. What more can I do? And there they called the family. Around that hospital bed. And the man is dying. He's there in agony, dying before them.

The family are there. Nothing can kill the pain. Nothing could kill the pain with what that man was going through. But there's not a man in hell tonight that would not have swapped places with that man.

What more could we have done, she said. His brothers, his children, his wife were on the hospital floor. They were praying that God would do something. God do something, heal him, take him, just stop the pain.

Unbelievers in intercession. Unbelievers praying to a God that will not hear them. And the church does nothing. What more could she do? Church is like that man. He said it's his own fault that he died.

The doctors had come to him. They'd come to him a long time ago when they'd said to that man. You give up this drink. You give it up for one year. And we'll give you a new liver. Man, you're dying. Give it up.

But he couldn't. He could not break that habit. And he died. What more could they do? What more could the hospital do? What more could the mother do? The same for God. What more can he do? He says he cleared all the stones out from that vineyard.

This walk, if we walk in the spirit, it's an easy walk. No stumbling blocks. If you stub your toe, if you fall over, you're in a different field. You're not in the field that God plowed. With a choice this vine, he says.

He doesn't plant tears. He plants the best. He's put a tower there. We can see the enemies a mile away. No one needs to point a finger at a Jehovah's Witness or a Mormon. You'll see them from miles away.

The harvest was to be good grapes, to produce sweet wine, worship for the Lord. But he couldn't produce the goods. There was no fruitful worship there. There was no fruitfulness in that harvest. Literally in the Hebrew it says it was stink fruit.

Abominable to God. Nothing in the church as a whole suggests that God is pleased with it. Nothing. This is why the nation goes to hell. What more can he do? How can a church ask a man to follow Christ when as a whole we refuse to follow him ourselves?

We'll follow our programs. We'll follow our set church patterns. But are we following Christ? The church has forgotten he is the pattern of everything. He is the pattern. He is the lamp to our feet. We are to walk the way that he walked.

That's the cross. We are to talk the way that he talked. That's the cross. We are to live the way that he lived. He lived the cross. Nothing else. The cross. Dying to self. And in Matthew 11 he says, Take my yoke upon you.