Christ’s Life Fully Expressed (Part 1) — The Total Experience of Jesus Christ

I do not know how long it will take for God to raise up a true and pure prophet. I do not know how long it will take to move from what is called today a present-day evangelist. How many generations, how much faithfulness, how much prayer, how much fasting, how many years of waiting, and how long it will take before God has a true evangelist? I do not know what an apostle is here, or how long it will take to have one. I sincerely doubt that on this whole earth, God has over one, two, or three on the whole planet.

We’re in for a long haul. Is there any scriptural basis for that? There are several. One of them is that there was a restoration in the Old Testament. All that David and Solomon brought forth…Moses in the tabernacle and David and Solomon in the temple were completely lost during the Babylonian captivity. And it took three generations for a complete recovery, a complete restoration of the temple, the grounds, the city, the nation, and the king. Praise the Lord.

So you got your work cut out for you, young brothers. I am not telling you it’s going to take three generations. Don’t you quote me as having said that; I’m just saying there’s a possibility. Now I am telling you that we had better play like that; it may take a year, five years, or ten years at the most. And that’s about all that the Lord is going to give you. No more. Don’t plan on any more than your lifetime, would you? Would you throw the throng all the way to the fall forward and plan on no more than your lifetime? I want you all to know, I am planning on no more than my lifetime. I am assuming that that leaves me 29 years to live. I am walking in that. And that means that there must be an utter giving of your life to the Lord Jesus Christ. I think you’re beginning to understand what that means in a small way. Praise His name.

I’d like to tell you what I believe the Lord wants. I believe the Lord wants something that does not exist on this earth. It doesn’t exist in Isla Vista. It sure doesn’t exist at the Lighthouse Ranch. Yet it can exist. Should exist. Has every right to exist. And I believe, quite frankly, that the Lord’s more interested in that than He is in anything you and I are doing. I marvel at the capacity of the Christian family to get a Stradivarius violin, put one string on it, and play it for a hundred years. I marvel at the Christian family’s ability to get one truth, two truths, three practices, build a fence around it, and say it’s the kingdom of God. I marvel at our ability to be born, raised, and become Christians and not question all that’s around us. I want you to know I don’t trust Christians. I will tell you what I said to you once before. Someone said, “Don’t trust anybody over 30.” Brothers, don’t trust anybody over 20.

Well, I have learned how to do it the wrong way. And I know how to build empires and kingdoms. I know how to use the terminology, and I know how to use it on young people who don’t know any better. And to put the veil over their eyes that they too might be blind. By the way, this introduction is for the brothers from Lighthouse Ranch. I know that the heart of God sometimes bleeds for what is to end, that he might have what ought to be.

Paul wrote an incredible book, possibly the highest point he ever reached in ministry to the churches, when he wrote the book of Ephesians. And then he finally came to “Finally. And he summed up the Himalayas, the Alps, and the Rockies. He started with verse 10 and said, “Finally.” And it sounds…there are things in it that sound. Be strong. Put on the full armor of God. The full armor of God. Stand firm. Stand firm. Take the whole armor of God. Twice. All prayer, all petition for all the saints in spirit. With all perseverance and petition for the saints, all the saints and the…all, all, bold, bold, full, full, total, total, complete, complete.

I’ll continue my attack for a bit longer, then try to move to something positive. When we began here in Isla Vista, many people were attracted here. They liked the pizzazz, the power, the joy, and the incredible, awesome amount of shouting, glory, and light that existed here. And with this came all the old traditional concepts, dragging their pitiful way in here, demanding a place. I don’t mean for this to sound today like it sounded then, because we opened the doors to everybody and everything and never uttered a word. But the old wine could not find a place in a new wineskin. And the new wineskin had a hard time with old wine. I’ll give you some ideas of what that meant. You’re going to misunderstand me if you’re new around here, and you’ll really misunderstand my spirit. But I think the brothers here who’ve been here for a while will understand, because it needs to be so clear this evening.

Anytime a group of Christians meets together on this earth today, there are those from the old school of about 20 years ago, 30 years ago, and 40 years ago who will come and introduce the baptism of the Holy Ghost. They will feel that if they can give that to you, then you’ll have it all, and away you go. And maybe they’ll even come here and try to give that to you. We did not ever at any time do anything except to accept that. And we did accept it. But at that time, I said, and I will say again, that to speak in tongues does not bring you to full growth in Christ and totally equip you with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not the final end of all things.

I’m going to ask something I’ve never asked before in my life. How many people in this room speak in tongues? Will you raise your hand…or have spoken in tongues? I want you to hold them out and look around at that for a moment, would you? Okay, put them down for a moment. People started looking. You brothers ought not to lay down that gift. Where are you, Hagar? Hagar, I want to give you a charge. Stand up. On the night you arrived, you stood right beside me and spoke in tongues. Now, Hagar, I don’t know what you’ve thought of us since then, but maybe you’ve been embarrassed, and you found out we weren’t Pentecostals, and you quit speaking in tongues. You can’t do that, sister. And I intend to stand by you again, and I intend to hear you speaking in tongues.

We did not give in to the centrality of tongues in our experience here…and it took a back seat. A very back seat. Now I would like to tell you something. Ten years from now, when everything else is in place, and I mean everything, I intend to deliver a sermon entitled, “How to speak in tongues.” (laughter) We’re going to lay hands on all the brothers and sisters in the church. Don’t speak in tongues. We’re going to find out whether they can speak in tongues. Is that fair? I trust it is fair.

It has been central. For almost 100 years, it has been given its day, its place, it has been judged and found wanting, and cannot live up to its billing. It has a small place in the beautiful and glorious Christian family, but it is not going to turn the world upside down or right side up. There was an incredible, enormous amount of pressure brought upon us to introduce healing into the meeting. And we didn’t introduce healing as a central thing in the church. A brother said, “I have never been in a place in my life where there are so many sick people.”

The sick, the blind, the weak, the infirm, the halt, and the lame. Everybody was down in bed all the time with colds, croup, or something. I stand here to tell you that four years ago when I walked into Isla Vista, I don’t think there’s a half a dozen things I know today that I did not know at that time about divine healing and about health. But we have not made healing central here. And I’d like to go on record tonight as saying that, per capita, I don’t know a healthier bunch of people on earth. Now, what do you want? Do you want good health, or do you want divine healing? Now I don’t mean that we’re all well. There’s been an incredible amount of pressure put upon us at different times to teach the Bible. Hang teaching the Bible. Now on this one I’ll be flat-footed. Hang teaching the Bible.