Cut Off — Keith Daniel

Can we bow for a moment of prayer, please? Father, in mercy on me and every one of us, wash me in the blood of Christ and fill me with the Holy Spirit. Be on my comprehension that God could do such a thing to such frail, base, weak, despised, rightfully despised, who at our best are nothing but unprofitable servants.

And just grace, I would say, Lord, more than anything that could come to our mind, we live in awe and wonder at the amazing grace of God on humans, especially on me. Thank you for that grace because of Christ's intercession and His blood, an enormous sacrifice, not only for our salvation, but for every moment we need the blood.

And I suppose the day we die, we'll just look to nothing but the blood. And so I look carefully to the blood of Christ that cleanses from all sin and for anointing with the Holy Spirit as a result of the cleansing of the blood.

Come visit us this morning and speak to our hearts, every heart, even the young children, to the oldest, godliest saint in such a way that we may find our life becoming very careful in every circumstance we face.

In Jesus, the Christ's sacred name. Amen. John 15, verse 4, Abide in me. Abide in me. Abide in me. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch, as the branch cannot bear fruit. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine.

As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine. No more can ye, except ye abide in me. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine. No more can ye, except ye abide in me.

Abiding in Christ for Spiritual Survival

Staggering, staggering words. Years ago, so many years ago now, when I first came to America, the first couple of times, I was privileged to meet a man called Denny Keniston. I will never stoop in my entire life to apologize that I felt honored and am honored to have known Denny Keniston as a friend.

No matter what anybody on this earth says, sir, few can stand in the shadow of that man. And I was honored to know Denny Keniston, and I will never be ashamed to say that, and his darling wife Jackie.

When I was in their home, me and Den, something terrifying had happened. You see, he has this large family, like most American families have, especially the Bible Belt, and on his property, his children would work in a workshop to produce garden furniture as a means of income for that family.

They would work three months of the year, not more, but they would work hard, and that somehow provided for the rest of the year for them to do God's work and not to look reliant on other people. Most preachers and most ministries in the world don't do work to survive.

They're provided for by God's people in the most wonderful ways God leads them. But Denny and, I suppose, Anabaptists generally, they work and minister. That's their way of life. So he found three months of the year, brought in enough income as these outlets with all the garden furniture, sold the furniture overnight.

It was wonderful. But the family did that, and they involved the children, especially the boys when it came to working on the machinery. And this young boy, Samuel, delightful young fellow, one of the children, I think they had nine, there was Samuel.

He was working with his particular part of what was to produce the garden furniture in this workshop that Denny had on his property with all the machinery and all the wood. And as he was feeding a piece of wood to what he was particularly asked to perform, the large turning blades cut these wood somehow caught onto his garment and pulled his whole arm into, and cut off his whole arm, severing it from his body.

Of course he flaked out, and the loss of blood that was suddenly pouring out brought him close to death. Now everyone in that workshop, the family, began to scream and weep and cry out to God to help them.

They ran, everyone in the house came down, Denny was away preaching, and they of course lifted up Samuel as a family, the children, and carried him, and one of the children picked up the arm, severed from the body, and they rushed into the closest vehicle and off to the hospital, all weeping and crying to God to not let him die.

But somehow they would, his life could be spared. Now by the mercies of God, and God is in this, I don't ever see any mistake, there happened to be just at that time surgeons in that particular hospital that were able to attempt to perform an emergency operation to reconnect that arm back onto the body.

Now that's beyond my comprehension. I can't even begin to comprehend how there's a possibility of that. But somehow they attempted to reconnect the bone structure, the veins, the muscles, where it had been ripped off.

The amazing thing, the amazing thing is that that arm was healed. Now I saw this little Samuel two years ago, he now has children of his own. It's how old, I get old when I look at people who were children and now have children of their own.

He came to a meeting with his lovely wife and all this little tribe he's got. And his arm functions perfectly. No less strength than the other. Not any hindrance or any setback. It is functioning perfectly.

That to me is wonderful. That God gave man the wonderful knowledge in medical science to know that they could be able to perform such a thing that would be uncomprehendable even 50 years ago. Unthinkable.

Cutting Off Anything That Threatens Fellowship With Christ

Even less than that. I need to ask every one of you, no matter who you are, at this point to do something perhaps you've never been asked to do in your entire life and never again will be asked. I want every one of you, no matter who you are, that name the name of Jesus as your Savior, to be utterly honest here with yourself and God, no one else.

Have you been severed, cut off from a life of abiding in Christ, which is imperative for your survival as a Christian? It is imperative for your survival. God says, not me. It is imperative for your survival as a Christian.

Have you been cut off, severed from abiding in Christ, which is imperative for your survival as a Christian? From a vital relationship with God. This abiding in Christ is not talking about a moment of faith where you become attached by grace, saved and you become part of the body of Christ in one moment through faith.

No, this has nothing to do with an act of faith. This is a discipline. This is a discipline, the most costly discipline any of us will ever face in life as Christians. A discipline of abiding in vital communing with God to the degree that you are kept.

Oh, this abiding in Christ is vital. Whosoever abideth in him, 1 John 3 .6 says, whosoever abideth in him sinneth not. There's no victory possible outside of abiding in Christ. And now, little children, abide in him.

John says in 1 John 2 .28. Abide in him that when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming. Now, little children, abide in him. The most vital thing God's asking of us for our survival.

Abide in him that when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming. Abiding in Christ. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

There's Christ-likeness. There's fruit. There's victory. There's confidence that is returned by this one thing. It is vital. It is a discipline. It has nothing to do with the act of faith and salvation.

It is a vital discipline, and it's costing more than anything in your entire life to find time that will make that possible each day, which means you've got to be ruthless to throw out anything in your life that is not vital in order for you not to become a disgrace, a shame, and a tragedy, though you say you're saved, outside of which there's no fruit.

Nothing. Nothing is possible outside of this. I'm not talking about moments of extreme tragedies where you suddenly find a moment where you seek God desperately. That's not abiding. I'm talking about walking with God.

And if God is first in your life and your relationship with God is what it ought to be, you walk with God, sir. It's an abiding. You don't leave him behind at the quiet time. You get up from the quiet time, and because of that quiet time, you walk with him through the day.

It's a discipline of learning what it is to abide in Christ. Now, has that happened to you? That's the big question. You have to be honest here. Just look at your life. Look at the tragedy of what you really are.

You know God sees you, and Satan sees you, really. And there's one reason. Sir, you name the sin, and I'll tell you there's a greater sin. You neglect abiding in Christ. That's your greater sin. For those sins wouldn't be there that you're so worried about that will bring shame on you.

Those sins will be dealt with if you're abiding in Christ as you ought to. That is the great sin that causes the others. Be careful. Be careful here, beloved. If it is so in your life, then I urge you from my heart, compassionately, to not wait another moment in your life and give the devil another day of you being a disgrace in God's eyes and your own heart condemning you.

I urge you, compassionately, to not sit there helplessly, hopelessly, in spiritual numbness and confusion as to how you can be in this state while you carry a Bible and sing the hymns, but you know you're just living in total defeat and disgrace because you do not abide in Christ, full stop.

And you have no ability, it seems, to at this stage. I want to ask every one of you in that state, and you know you're in that state, to seek God to do what is uncomprehendable to you. Perhaps you can't sense what I couldn't sense.

How is it comprehendable that they could reattach? If humans could do that, how much more can God reattach a member of the body of Christ into himself? How much more can God do that there's nothing God can't do and God will do it.

But you need to let him, you need to seek him to do that and put your faith in him to do that. And you need to do it desperately, to trust God for an emergency operation. Now let me tell you something, in any operation, physically, you have to have cleansing.

Or otherwise you're in more danger with a person, a surgeon, who doesn't perform cleansing. They find people dying of small things because there wasn't a cleansing for lack of knowledge in Africa and other parts of the world.

We need cleansing, also in the spiritual. Now, the first thing you need to seek for God to do that, and this is your side, is the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son cleanseth us from all sin. Now that cleansing is speaking to Christians, that particular verse, the context.

It can happen that you come, you need desperately to look to God. And of course, cleansing is obtained through confession. You need to confess your state, not as glibly, but in one moment for God to do something so vital that will stagger the powers of hell as he reconnects you, as he reattaches you to it, grafts you back in such a way through faith, yes.

But this is a moment work, thereafter a discipline, that it never happens again. And you need to do that. And you need desperately to seek God. I want at this point, before we go any further, to look at his family.

Restoring Christians Who Fall Into Sin

They didn't stand there in shock and condemn him. I mean, that would be beyond belief. What family would stand there condemning, criticizing? I mean, that would be unbelievable, unthinkable for the condition he's in, to neglect, to incompetence.

They didn't stand there condemning him. Unbelievable, but God's children. You see, we're a family, sir. We have one father when we get saved. And we become the children of God, the family of God, brothers and sisters in Christ.

What do we do? What do we do? Listen to God's word that the Heavenly Father exhorts us as his children to do. Galatians 6 verse 1. Brethren, brothers, if a man, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, that's vital.

Now you'll find out who's spiritual. Ye which are spiritual, God's word says, restore such a one. In the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Brethren, brothers, if a man be overtaken in a fault, in this context, falls into sin, not one isolated sin, but rarely falls into sin.

Ye which are spiritual. You want to know who's spiritual? Don't you let someone fall into sin in your congregation. Let someone fall into sin in the church that's known worldwide. You want to know who's spiritual and not a carnal condemning?

Be careful. Ye which are spiritual, God looks to you and you'll find out who it is when someone falls into sin. No matter what sin. Restore such a one. God looks to you. Staggering. In the spirit of meekness, be careful.

Considering thyself, be careful here. Lest thou also be tempted. But how? How do we restore a person who falls like that? What does God expect of us? Well, he doesn't leave us ignorant. Everything is told to us that's vital.

What he commands in this book, how to attain it. Twice in the book of John, the letter of John, the first epistle of John, John speaks of sin in the believer's life, and what to do. On two occasions. The first occasion is 1 John 2 verse 1.

What God tells you to do now through the apostle John, because this is the word of God, that God was writing, moving him to write. What God tells us to do as Christians, if sin comes in your life, if you really fall in sin.

My little children. He's of course writing as an old man to grown people, but he looks upon them as children spiritually. These things write unto you that ye sin not. Now that's what we preach. There's victory in Christ.

Otherwise we've got nothing to give the world. Preach it, but don't be like a Jehovah Witness. He only quotes half a verse. Dare not quote the second half because it cancels out what he says it means.

So he just gives half verses. Blinds his eyes, that's why he'll be judged. No matter who says they won't be judged. You have to blind your eyes to the next half of verses, to the context of the rest of the scriptures.

And they do. And they're biased. No, we don't be like Jehovah. We'll carry on. My little children, these things write unto you that ye sin not. There's victory. Preach it. Hallelujah. But if that is very vital.

If, not when. It's not sin condoning. Then read 1 John 3 to find out what you are. Are you going to hell? If you've just never turned from the life of sin and were delivered. For if the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed.

Christ is a new creature. Old things are parted away. Old things become new. Oh beloved, there's a repentance required, but there's a possibility that a Christian can fall and fall badly. You don't suddenly become unsaved.

Not according to the book I've got. You've got to look at all the scriptures. No. My little children, these things write unto you, speaking to Christians, that ye sin not. But if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father.

Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins. Christian sins. Not for us, but also for the sins of the whole world. He died for all mankind. He takes a death for every man who not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and knowledge of salvation.

Timothy 1, Timothy 2, verse 4, 6, etc. Now, beloved, that's if they repent from the life of sin, get off the broad road, and yes, delivered. But now on that narrow road, God knows you turned. It's not like that picture of Pilgrim's Progress, you know?

The one road is there, the broad road, and there they're falling into the fire, and all the worldly things, and here's a little narrow road here. No, that's not true. Of course, that's a marvelous depiction, but all the narrow road is, if you have to be truthful with the Bible, is you're on the broad road, you just turn.

You're not somewhere way over there. The people on the... Beginning with your family, a man's enemies, you have to face everyone, and no one's going to let you get away. That's from your family to your enemies to the people who drink at work, that you used to drink with, swear with.

Everything's changed. And all who will live godly shall suffer persecution, God says. Oh, you've turned. And now you face everyone, and you face all the onslaughts of the devil, even through the members of your own home, God says.

A man's enemies are the members of his own home. If you get saved, of course, they look upon you as the enemy. Touch their sin, you realize what means more to them than anything in life. They hate you.

And you've got to face onslaughts of Satan, as you're now on the narrow road. The narrow... Oh, I love that. The narrow road. I don't say it, Christ said it. If you're not on a narrow road, if the unsaved don't look upon you as NARROW, then you're not saved.

Never have been, should I say. No, it's a narrow road. Thank God, in the eyes of the godless or the worldly sitting in the church, you're NARROW. Because Christ said it's NARROW. And you're on that road to the celestial cities, you face everything, you're still on the broad road, you're not on another road far away from the broad road and all it's affixed.

And all the powers of hell against you, beginning in your home, all the powers of HELL against you. It's possible you could fall. God knows you've turned. God knows what it costs you. God knows the persecution.

God knows all that's against you. And he doesn't say, if you fall, that's the end of you. He says, don't give up. Get up! You have no right to give up. Once you name the name of Jesus. Why? Because the same God who promises you put your faith in, that saved and brought salvation to your soul, by grace you say through faith, faith cometh by the hearing and hearing by the word of God.

This book brought faith. God the Holy Ghost brought faith in your heart in what God promises. The same book also tells you to put faith in that God if after you're saved, truly saved, staggered the world through the change in your life, staggered your my mother couldn't speak for three weeks, she was speechless at the change of my father's life.

She was unable to speak. She was so shocked. I don't know this man. He was my child who treated, but I'm living with a total stranger. I don't know the man in my... That's what God does. From the day you're saved, not a month afterwards.

If you're truly saved, he staggers the powers of hell by what he's able to make you in one moment. If you're truly saved, now, here we are, everything against us, and if the possibilities there God knew, we put our faith in the same book, in the same God who promised that we'd embrace for salvation.

My little children, these things write unto you that you sin not, but if God says any man, any Christian in its context sin, we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ, the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins.

Christ's Intercession, Confession, and Restoration

Now that word propitiation comes from Leviticus 16 where the high priest would come and sprinkle blood on the mercy seat, which is literally a picture of what is in heaven. Here on the mercy seat, and Christ, now, has shed his blood, and he stands, ever liveth to make intercession for us, for Christians, if he's able to save them to the uttermost.

Christ makes intercession for us, and he has his blood to show Father, not the Father, not just for the salvation, but the blood of Jesus Christ that continue, present continuous tense in the Greek. It goes on.

It's there for you, brother, sister. You don't give up. You get up! You dare not let the devil put his foot down. You scrawl in the mud because you fell. You had failure. No! Get up! Don't come brazenly.

Come in humility and brokenness, but come to God boldly. We have not an high priest which cannot be moved with the feeling of our infirmities or points tempted like as we, yet without sin, wherefore let us come boldly, you see, to the throne of grace, to obtain mercy, Christians, and grace to help in time of need, to seek God for grace not to fall into that again.

Now listen, beloved. If sin comes, we come to God immediately with the blood of Jesus as Christians, confessing that's what God says we are to do. If sin comes into your life, but then he doesn't stop there.

John, in 1 John chapter 5, tells us what we are to do if we see another Christian sin. He says if any man see his brother sin, if any man see his brother sin, a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask and he shall give to him life for them that sin not unto death.

Now that's a very controversial statement that most commentators get tripped up trying to even explain. So I'm not even going to bother about it speaking in its context according to most theologians of the unpardonable sin.

How it can be in that context, don't ask me to start expounding on it. But it is. Nonetheless, the unpardonable sin, the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, the only real occasion you'll ever find that, is what the Pharisees did.

They looked at Jesus Christ, at the miracles being performed and the power of God through him, and they said it's a Belzebub, it's the Satan that's doing this to him. To say the Holy Spirit's power through Christ was satanic is blaspheme.

But it must be of Christ himself, not just of other Christians. Be careful, I've never met a man in my life who's committed the blaspheme against the Holy Ghost. Though they thought they had. Be careful you don't think that's you, but let's not go into that.

Let's just go straight into this one idea. If any man see on John 5, 16, if any man see his brother sin a sin oh what do you do? Get the phone. And the whole phone book. Who can I tell? I saw him with my own eyes.

The hypocrite. He preaches to us. And I saw him. Wait, Nick's phone. I saw her. She's nothing but a lying hypocrite in front of us singing and praying and oh, who can I phone Nick? Let me tell you something, if you want to spread news don't go to the television news just tell a Christian.

Most seem to be so far from God that they'll do just this because the devil knows let me show this Christian and I'll destroy. That person won't let anybody sleep until everybody knows. If any man see his brother sin, a sin, which is not unto death, what do you do?

That he shall ask and he shall give him life for them that sin unto death. Listen, there's something of compassion that God and heaven has a holy obligation in our hearts as we pray. God in heaven has a holy obligation to reach out now to them.

Oh, God I've seen this Lord, but don't let anybody else see this. Please God, keep this from the public. Keep this from his family. They'll never be able to look him in his eyes again. The children will never trust him.

His wife will never trust him. Oh, God, protect his family. Protect him. God, don't let his congregation find out. Don't let people find out. God, protect him now that this doesn't destroy him and he never has the right to preach again.

No one will give him the right. But God, by thy spirit, come and sow him. Come and work in his heart until he doesn't sleep. That he sees the danger he's in. Oh, God, that he'll turn, that thou give him faith.

God, intervene and get this man right with God who's in this sin, this Christian, this prominent Christian. This compassionate cry to God for protection and to keep it to yourself and only speak to God about before it gets to anybody until the day you die.

You bury it. You don't look for things. That makes you spiritual in God's eyes. Oh, beloved, God says he shall ask and there's something about the way that man asks that God reaches out and starts to work in holy obligation.

I believe that in the light of the scriptures, not in my own understanding of God's compassion. And let me shock you. If you start praying for people like that with such integrity, such carefulness that even heaven stands in respect to your prayers, and I believe that God in an unusual way has done this with me, I should imagine with you.

He uses you. I've prayed for people crying out to God and within a short while without me arranging a thing, that person comes straight to me. You groan for people God uses you. I can't tell you how many times a front page of our newspapers, man kills his wife.

Shoots his children dead. The whole family gone. Where did he come from? I just read, I began to pray, oh God. Oh God. We will find out within about an hour that this man is from one of the godliest homes in South Africa that I've known.

With a short while I'm down in this prison mental asylum where they assess whether he can face judgment or a court case, mentally even. And I'm sitting with him, all surrounded by police who wouldn't let me sit alone, and ministering to him.

I groan to God concerning this man that could have done such a thing. And I was speaking to him from the Bible of my heart as he says, God could never forgive me. There's no such a thing as mercy. You're wrong.

As wicked and wrong as you were doing this, you were in a state of your mind. And I saw the policemen weeping, sobbing, aloud. God was ministering to them. But I pray, you pray for someone. God brings that person to you, or you straight to them, most times.

And uses you to point them to mercy. Forgiveness. Maybe God will, man will never forgive them. And they face the consequences of their crime until they die. But, God will, if there's honest repentance.

And sorrow and shame and clinging by faith to the blood. And so, twice it's mentioned in the Bible. In the one book letter of John, the Apostle John. What we do as Christians if we fall into sin, concerning sinning, concerning ourself, what we must do, and concerning if we see others fall into sin.

Maintaining Fellowship With God Through Scripture

Ye that are spiritual. Now, we dare not be severed from a vital relationship with God as our greatest goal daily in life. We dare not ever allow that to happen, not one day of our life. And it's possible, sir.

It's possible. The most vital, daily discipline in every Christian's life is to commune with God. And we must always remember that a vital relationship with God is obtained and maintained primarily through the meditating of God's Word.

Now, don't ever forget that until you die. A vital communing, a vital relationship with Christ, abiding in Him, is obtained and maintained primarily through the meditating of the Sacred Writ. Daily is your greatest goal, your greatest discipline, your most guarded, nurtured moment of life, daily.

But nothing will interfere with it, no matter what it is. Never forget that. It's obtained and maintained through soaking yourself in the Word of God as your most vital relationship, your most vital discipline in life.

I have had tours where I go around my country, and they nearly kill me, you know. I often wonder, are they trying to murder me? Seven meetings a day. I said, brother, I'm nearly dead. You're trying to murder me.

You try and preach seven times a day. Oh, I love it. I don't mind dying in the pulpit. That would be a glorious way. Now, don't all sit there scared that it's going to happen now, okay? But the fact is, I do get tired sometimes, a good tiredness.

If it's done for God, there's no complaint. It's joy. It's a privilege. There's no such a thing as sacrifice in a Christian's life. If it's to do with God, it's privilege. But I said to him, listen, we're driving now from this one town where I'd preached seven times in one day.

We're driving to the next town because I've got to preach in a breakfast service in some restaurant in the next town. And we had to get there so that we could get up early and be there for this breakfast service that many in the town just run.

So, we go to a farm just outside of the town, a very large farm, a beautiful farm. One of the most successful farmers in the entire Africa. Godly man. His farm just stretches over the valleys and over to the mountains and lakes and all, it's just so beautiful.

And we stayed there and we preached in the town, but what a lovely godly man. Now, I said, I'm going to walk. Even if it's getting a bit late, I need to walk after all that preaching. That kept me alive, kept me sane.

All the walking. I could write a book about all the walks I've had and everything that's happened to me, but nonetheless, I said, I'm going to walk. Don't involve me. You go and eat with these people.

I'm going to walk. And so I walk and that somehow just relaxes me and all the stress goes and the clarity and suddenly I start, especially outside, I start worshiping the Lord. Oh, even in your beautiful town here.

Wow! You're blessed. I hope you go down to the lake and look at all those beautiful trees. Don't divert, Keith, but the thing is, I go for walks. I'm on this farm now and I'm walking along a country road in the farm.

It's plowed and not tarred, no lights, nothing, just plowed for all the tractors and implements to get everywhere across all the massive farm. So, I'm walking and I'm walking and I'm enjoying the lakes.

Oh, all the ducks and the flying. Oh, the most amazing beauty, all the trees, the mountains, the cliffs and I'm walking down and I walk and oh, suddenly I thought to myself, oh my, it's getting dark. But suddenly, because it's winter, this is dark.

So, I thought, I've walked a long long way and there's no lights here, there's no street lights. How am I going to get safely back to the farm house? I mean, it's getting dark and I could hardly see the road and I thought, oh my, I could fall off the cliffs, I could be in the lake and I panicked.

I'm over the hills and the valleys and before I get back, I couldn't see anything. Just this dark suddenly and my panic is I'm beginning to rush and try and see where the side of the road is. Something remarkable happened.

God's Word as Light in Spiritual Darkness

There's rocks. Now, geographically, I don't know in those circumstances, geographically how it is, but there was rocks on this grounded road that's been made by the tractors, etc., across the farms. These rocks intertwined all across this road.

Began to illuminate a golden red. Rocks interspersed all over the road. As the moons came out in the stars, the reflection illuminated. What I'm talking about is like lights, golden, shining. And I looked over the hill, there goes the road.

No lights, just the stars. Put my hand there, I couldn't even see my hand, it's so dark. Couldn't see a thing. Dangerous, but the road, I could see over the hill, going up the next hill, all fear was gone.

I don't have to rush. I'm safe in this dark, no matter how dark it is. Because these luminous rocks illuminated the whole road, right the way back. I didn't have to rush, I didn't have to fear. Now, beloved, that's the word of God.

You don't have to fear, no matter how dark this world becomes. No matter what darkness comes in this world, that you can't see. You panic at the darkness that's suddenly falling. Oh, beloved, the word of God is like that.

It's full of commandments and promises. And these are the rocks. You take those commandments, embrace them, live them as stepping stones. You take the promises and you have light that you don't have to fear anything in this world.

Psalm 119, verse 105, thy word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path. I believe that. This takes away all fear. No matter what this world stoops to, becomes in dark depravity, even spiritual. You have the word.

Proverbs 6, verse 23, the commandment is a lamp. The law is a light. God's word is like those stones, the commandments, the promises that we must embrace. Now, beloved, I've stopped my car so many times in the last 47 years of preaching in my country when I was young.

And I preach and I preach and I'm traveling now to the next town, living out of a suitcase. That wasn't my life. That wasn't my wardrobe. Now, years and years of going from town to town across southern Africa.

I would stop and get out the car and I would walk down valleys. I said, no, it isn't sin, it is not laziness. I've poured my soul out back there. Before I get there, I'm going to just become human. Before I get to all the people waiting there, and so I walk down these tracks, up mountains.

I've climbed right to the top of the mountains. Me and Andrew Murray, young Andrew Murray, we walk right up the top of the highest mountain. That, look, Andrew, is not sin. We've poured ourselves out.

We nearly deranged from tightness. Let's get up that mountain. Climb up the mountain. It took a few hours. You find a soul up there, watching for the fires. Then we led him to the Lord. So there was a double purpose, you see.

Our health and joy, the beauty, and so we've done it. Now many tracks, almost every track I've ever walked on. Just stopped the car in the middle of the country side and I'm walking along this track and enjoying it.

Oh, I walk briskly. You always will find you come to a river, almost every time. And near the other side of the river, the track goes on, which is the river. Those who made that track, they made sure there are stepping stones just there, across the river.

Firmly that you don't have to live in fear, though the waters go deep sometimes. You place your feet on the stepping stones to the other side. Those stepping stones are always there. And I believe that is what God's word is.

The commandments, you put your foot on. The promises, that all fear goes, no matter what waters you have to go through. Isaiah 43 verse 2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. Through the rivers they will not overflow thee.