Experiencing the Highest Life – Part 2 – Why You Can’t Do Good — And How to Live by the Spirit

I want you to know that I just passed this on so that you might not be distracted, brother: in one of the churches I have been in, there is a brother who has a great gift of healing. So I said, I want to see the brother who heals. Brother, who’s the brother who heals? I don’t know, give me a moment. Who was that? Oh, yeah. You mean him? Oh, it was Brother Andrew. Brother Andrew. Yeah. Oh, we’ll find Brother Andrew. That’s right.  Later. Where’s Brother Andrew? Oh, you wanted to see Brother Andrew. So, where’s Brother Andrew? Well, I can’t find him. He had a lot of people there at the meeting. So, I need to… So, finally, I located Brother Andrew. There were a whole bunch of fellas getting on the bus, and I poked my head in, and a Chinese brother said to me… Hey, uh, well, Andrew. Hmm? Hmm? Hmm? Hmm. Oh, I’m so glad to know you. Hmm? Hmm? Hmm? Hey, brother. You know? Hmm? Hmm? You’re the brother who heals. Heals? Maybe. Yeah, a little maybe. We don’t know.

Listen, that brother has laid his hands on hundreds of people who were healed. You don’t go home and say, “Oh, somebody got healed. Hallelujah.” Why? Because, brother, you have been eating beef and chicken and fish and all the abundance of the Life; why get sidetracked on a hot dog? Brother, it’s a small part of the full-grown man. When you’re a little baby, don’t get sidetracked by little things. Let the man grow up. Brother, pay attention to the Life. Pay attention to the growth in life, and God will take care of the rest.

Well, I’ll tell you, when the church is really full-grown, every brother will have his mind set on the Lord Jesus, and he will not be going around talking about that. If you study the churches in the New Testament, it was the weak churches that were all excited about the outward things, the churches with the troubles and the divisions. But the churches that were really rich in the Lord were not set on the miracles and the gifts and the outward thing. Brother, I believe you’re gifted in prophecy; brother, I believe you have the gift of, well, I’m not sure. And, sister, I believe you can interpret. And, brother, I believe your gift is the gift of helping other people. And your gift, sister, is the gift of hospitality. Oh, phooey. Forget it. Brother, that’s not the church. Those might be some things that just kind of happen in the church, but, brother, there is Christ, and that’s all you need. That’s all the church – when it’s really a healthy church – that’s all it wants.

Brothers and sisters, you have to pay attention to that Life. That Life lived upon this earth, and it drew men to it. That Life projected by its characteristics, that Life projected the image of God. That Life was on this earth, and it drew men to Him by its magnetism and its fullness. It drew men to Him. Listen, brother, fruit on this earth, a banana or an orange or an apple, that looks like real abundance, but that was created by the highest Life, and it only speaks of the abundance of the Lord. When you see a beautiful sunset, that’s beautiful, but listen, that was created by uncreated life. When you sit down at table to eat tomorrow, you say to the food, “Food, you’re going to taste good, you smell good, you look good, and for a few minutes, you’re going to feel good, and you’re going to fill me, but you’re really not food, and you’re really not filling, and you’re really not the real taste, and you’re not the real food. Food, there’s something superior to you: it’s the Lord Jesus Christ. He’s more abundant than you. He is more filling than you, and he is greater than you, and I’m going to sit down and enjoy you just as a picture of feasting on the Lord.

It’s the creation; it’s the created, and it only pictures the abundance of the Life. There was a life upon this earth that had the power of God. H walked upon this earth and healed. Yes, that life also had power over Satan, and it cast out demons. Yet, even more than that, it satisfied the inner, deep instincts and yearning of man. That Life was Life and peace.  That Life was the abundant Life, the highest Life, God’s Life, and it lives in you. Forget everything else. Forget the gifts, forget the doctrines, forget the desires, the tastes, forget everything; your ambitions and all, and just eat and drink and live by and draw into you and walk with and set your mind on the Spirit, on Christ, and you will have a rich church. You don’t ever need any other help. That’s all you need. Just take it. Set your mind on the Spirit.