Keep Your Eyes On the Picture

Keep Your Eyes On the Picture

by Tommy Tyson

Transcribed from the original recording; may contain errors.

There’s a basic law in life, as I understand it. And it’s stated in many different ways. The psalmist called it the law of the Lord that’s perfect, converting the soul. St. Paul called it, “Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” It’s a law of… that says every seed is given the power to reproduce itself, in terms of maturity. That this is a sign of maturity, in terms of life. The seed is given the power to reproduce itself. I take it that we all live by this principle of life. And certainly we see it at work in every area. Would there not be a tragic blunder in the universe, if spruce pine could reproduce spruce pine, if a flathead pike could reproduce pike, I guess you catch pike up here, if you and your wife could reproduce yourselves, and incidentally that’s the biggest trouble to your children.

So much of you in them. And some of our biggest worries about our children, we’re afraid they’re going to do some of the things we did and get by with them. But wouldn’t there be a tragic blunder in the universe, if on every lesser level there was the ability to reproduce, and that immaculate seed, the firstborn of the new creation, this Holy One of Israel could not reproduce Himself.

Could you think of a greater tragedy in creation? That the lower seed could reproduce, and this privilege denied the highest. But this is what has happened in the resurrection. Jesus Christ on the level of the incarnation, fulfilling the laws of creation, fulfilling God’s idea of Himself, but God’s idea of man, marrying the two orders within Himself, the Word made flesh within Himself, the internality and the externality perfectly wedded. You don’t get in the gospel just spiritual essence. You get in the gospel externality as well as internality. You get the marriage of heaven and earth in Jesus. You get the redemption of mind and spirit and body in Jesus. You get the total reconciliation in Jesus. Not just a spiritual figure running off as a trailblazer, but a new creation, a new achievement. And here within Himself, reconciling these various elements within Himself, these love opposites within Himself, coming to a high synthesis within Himself, and bringing forth a new kind of creation. Total man, total God. One with man, one with God. Of the earth, of the heavens. A new heaven, a new earth. And in Jesus, bringing forth a new kind of mankind. I’ll state it this way so people sort of remember it. In Jesus, God changed the species of mankind.

We have a new kind of man in Jesus. Fulfilling all that we are, but more than we are. More than we can ever be within ourselves. A new species of mankind. Now, I chew on that one some, if you haven’t already. Really reflect on that spiritually. It’s one of the greatest things. Every time I say it, everything within me leaps up. It’s the basic, one of the basic facts of life for me. That in Jesus, God has changed the species of mankind. And has brought forth a new humanity. A redeemed humanity. A reconciled humanity. And in the resurrection, this Lord Jesus Christ comes forth, as I was saying in the closing moments of the last talk. He comes forth, not just as a spirit slipping out through the cracks. And, you know, and the Christ consciousness, going back to cosmic consciousness. You get that in other schools of thought, but not in New Testament revelation. In the New Testament revelation, it’s a wonderful miracle that baffles the intellect. That He comes forth as person, mind, spirit, and body. And retains His individuality, and yet becomes universal. So in the resurrection, you have the marriage here again, of universality and individuality.

It’s not just a losing Himself back in terms of God consciousness, but retaining His selfhood in terms of individuality, and yet becoming universal. So that Jesus Himself, in the light of the resurrection, becomes omnipresent. And His presence fills the universe. And from the realm of the resurrection, He says, “All power is given unto Me.” And certainly that includes the ability to reproduce Himself. He couldn’t do that on the level of the natural. He could teach, He could give others the ability to heal, the ability to have many different gifts. He certainly had great schools of preaching. While He was here on the level of the natural, He could teach people to really perform as He did, to a great degree. But He could not reproduce Himself on the level of the natural. This is why He said to the disciples, “It’s necessary for you that I go away.” They couldn’t quite dig that one. You know, just about the time they thought they had it made, here He was slipping out. You know, life is that way, isn’t it? About the time you think you’ve got it conquered, your graduating gown becomes swaddling clothes for a new order. You know, graduate from one realm, enter into a new order. And so Jesus was saying to these disciples, it’s necessary for you that I go away.

Why so? “Where are You going?” Well, if I don’t go away, you can never know this other dimension. “We don’t know what You’re talking about.” Now, He picks up a grain of wheat. Isn’t it beautiful how Jesus teaches? Maybe lets some of this wheat fall through His hands and retains up one or two grains and says, well, look, it’s just like this wheat. You can shellac it, you know, shine it up and put it on a shelf and display it and say, look what a beautiful grain of wheat. Isn’t it lovely? And it will retain life within itself. Indefinitely. We found wheat in the pyramids recent years that still have the power of germination. It’s amazing how wheat seed can retain life. But He said, it’s that way with Me. I could keep living with you like this and you could brag on Me and talk about Me and polish Me and say, look Him over, isn’t He great? But really, if this wheat seed is going to reproduce itself, it has to drop into the ground and die. But in the dying, it comes forth again. And in the coming forth is the ability to reproduce itself beyond measure. So wheat farmers, a bushel of wheat brings back 100 bushels, 1,000 bushels? I don’t know.

Beyond measure, you see. Well, Jesus is saying, that way with Me. I’m going through death. I could keep living with you. But if I’m going to reproduce, I’m going to have to die. But don’t let your hearts be troubled. Don’t sit around and say, “Poor Jesus. You know, those hateful Jews killed Me.”

You know, that’s what we’ve done exactly, you know. No, He says, don’t do that. Don’t sit around with your hearts troubled. And don’t feel sorry for Me. Don’t let remorse set in. Mr. Remorse is not a friend of yours.

So, you know, don’t let your hearts be troubled. I’m going into this new dimension. And when I’ve come forth in this new dimension of oneness with the Father, you’ll hear from Me. I’m going to come back to you. I’m going to manifest Myself. Now, you’ll see Me. But the world around you won’t see Me. “Lord, why won’t the world see You? How is it we can see You and the world can’t see You? Are we going to be privileged people?”

You bet your life. Anybody who breaks forth in love is privileged. It’s a privilege to live a life of love. He said, you’ll see Me because of the love relationship, of the love dimension. You’ll love Me and you’ll stop keeping My commandments. And he that loveth Me and keepeth My commandments, the Father and I will come and manifest. And when this other one has come, this Paraclete, when He’s come to you in that day, you’ll know that I am in My Father, and the Father is in Me, and I in you. Now, this is the first evidence Jesus gives of the baptism with the Holy Spirit. What is the baptism with the Holy Spirit? Oh, it’s getting alone on a Saturday night and turning the candle down and getting a ooey feeling all over.

No, He didn’t say that. Now, it may include that. You see? He didn’t say it wouldn’t include that. But He said, it’s in that day you’ll know that I’m in the Father, and the Father is in Me, and I in you. Now, in the light of this statement, if we have not come to a knowledge of the resurrected Lord, Jesus Christ, on the inside of us, then press on through until you do. This is at the heart of the baptism with the Holy Spirit. See, that’s what the Holy Spirit is given for in the Christian dimension. The Holy Spirit is given in order to reproduce Jesus, the resurrected Lord. The Spirit of God has been with man always, but there’s a new dimension to the Holy Spirit in the light of the resurrection.

You see, on the level of creation, He’s the Spirit of light that lights the life of every man coming into the world. Holy men of old wrote as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb. All these wonderful experiences happening, but there’s a new dimension in terms of the Christian experience. And that newness of the Holy Spirit in the light of the resurrection is union with Jesus, the resurrected Lord. Now, this does not negate nor invalidate other kinds of experiences. It just means that you haven’t come to the baptism of the Holy Spirit yet. You may have had many wonderful experiences, but really, let’s understand, you know, from what Jesus is saying, that the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the receiving of the Paraclete, this other one, involves union with the resurrected Lord.

And so open up to Him. And Jesus Christ comes within us. And the Christian dimension, in this sense, as I understand it, in my own experience and in the Scripture and from others, the Christian experience is the reproduced life, where Jesus, the resurrected Lord, comes within us and begins to reproduce Himself through us, in us, but as us. Mind of our mind, spirit of our spirit, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, to use the words of St. Paul. It’s a glorious thing when you begin to see this. That you don’t have to go back and reproduce something that He’s already done.

If you insist on it, I am, go ahead and get at it. But really, you can come in where He now is. You don’t have to go back to where He once was. You can come in to where He now is. And that’s on the throne of the Father, one with the Father, and share with Him from the realm of the resurrection. And actually, be a manifestation of the new order right here, right now. Now, this is a wonderful thing. And the thing that has baffled me has been this. Because, I thought, you know, that once we came into union with Jesus, the resurrected Lord, and a person said, “Jesus Christ is living in me,” that meant that automatically, you are to be like Him.

Now, how can you say, “Jesus is living in you,” and you’ve got all your hangups? You know? How can you say, “Jesus Christ is real, and you know Him, and the resurrected Lord is in you,” and you’re in the mess you’re in?

You know? And boy, I used to look at these Christians and say, “You need to have me that lush.” Yeah. I learned the person to be perfect, just like Jesus was, before he could ever say, “I knew Jesus.” Well, I learned a lesson once. I didn’t know I was learning. You know the best lessons we learn, we don’t know we’re learning them at the time. That’s true with me, at least. As a little boy, I lived with my granddaddy Tyson a great deal. I loved him a whole lot. In fact, I sort of worshiped him. I really tried to be like him. I thought I could be like him. You know? I walked where his feet had been. I walked across the fields. He was a farmer. I put my feet in his footsteps. Had to jump to do it. I tried to talk like him. You know, if I found out that he liked anything, boy, I would like it too. I really thought someday I’d grow up to be just like him. I discovered a tragic secret. That association does not have the power of transformation.

My granddaddy was about six feet four. Like a bean pole. I didn’t make it. There were some other factors that were dominant. And so just association won’t do it. Going into a barn won’t make you a horse. See? And going into a church building doesn’t make you a Christian.

So, but this great lesson I learned with Jesus. I mean, with my granddaddy was about Jesus was, he was a farmer and we went to buy some watermelon seed one year. And I don’t know whether you raise watermelon out here or not. But you owe it to yourself to go to a seed store sometime. Now you want to see some good photography. You go look at these pictures on the packages of watermelon seed.

And so I got all these seeds, you know, great, big, beautiful watermelon, you know, some big and round, some long and thin, some dark rind, some light rind, some would streak down it. And over on the other side of the package, you’d have a cross section of that melon. Bright red, you know, black eyes just popping out at you. You know.

I said, “Granddaddy, let’s get this one. Granddaddy, let’s get that one,” you know. And all of that. Well, I’m sure he guided me, but he let me think I was having my way. That’s pretty wise, isn’t it? And so going on back home, he let me hold the bag. And then I could hardly wait for us to get out of that field and plant those watermelon seed. Now, somehow in my mind, I felt that inside of this package were little miniature watermelons. You know? That I was going to see when I opened the package just exactly what the picture showed on the outside.

And we got out in the field. We opened that package. And I looked in and there were, oh, dried, scribbled up seed. I can remember now how heartbroken I was. You know, I really felt as if life had played a trick on me. And my granddaddy didn’t try to talk spiritual talk. He sat down with me at the end of the row. And talked with me about a seed dying. And reproducing. And that within that seed was the ability to reproduce a melon just like the picture. So he got some stakes, you know, and helped me to drive them up on the end. And we put that picture on the end of the watermelon row. On that stake.

And he’d say, “Now you just keep your eye on that picture.” And every once in a while the vines would come up. I’d say, “Granddaddy, I don’t see it yet.” You know, we’d watch those watermelons. And it took a lot of patience. We had to turn the vines and plow and pull grass. And all the rest. But, you know, he helped me keep my eyes on the picture. And it wasn’t long before there began to be that melon. And when we finished, we had melons even prettier than the picture. Now, it’s that way with Jesus. Because when Jesus comes into you as resurrected Lord, it doesn’t mean that just like that, you’re just like Him. But you keep your eyes on the picture. You keep your eyes on the finished product. You look unto Jesus, the resurrected Lord. Keep your eyes on Him in His glory. And while you’re beholding Him in His glory, in terms of the objectivity, on the inside, this seed is reproducing. The Holy One is reproducing. Line upon line, precept upon precept. An unfolding fulfillment. And though it doth not yet appear what you shall be, you know that when He appears, when He’s through turning vines, when He’s through pulling grass, when He’s finally pulled back the road, here’s going to be reproduced order.

And you’re going to end up in His image. Now I want to talk a start this morning, and perhaps continue tonight. Some of the things related to the reproduced life. Reproducing the life of Jesus. In terms of our daily walk. Now, at the center, and I’ve already dealt with this, so I’ll just hit it and pass on. At center, the heart of this reproduced life, is a personal love union. It’s a marriage. This is why the church is in the marrying business.

These two, we have a little joke going. I married them this morning. But this is why the church is in the marrying business. It’s because this marriage is an outward and visible expression of what is taking place by the Spirit between a person and the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. It’s two people becoming one and yet not losing their individuality. In fact, you never become part so much of yourself as until you get married. You thought she wasn’t going to be an individual. But when she married you, her real self came out. You know? And that’s wonderful. That’s glorious. That’s glorious. Because our selfhood is made to be expressed through another. In union with another. And so in terms of the reproduced life, at center, it’s just a personal love union. Where you love Him, He loves you. And you’re caught up in that love affair. That’s the divine contagion. When a person really has fallen in love with a lover. You know, you can’t keep it a secret. I pick it up all the time from my children. They’ve had several.

I have a daughter who’s just finished her first year teaching school. And have two boys. The youngest boy… I mean, the oldest boy is a junior in college. And our youngest son is in the 10th grade. But every once in a while, especially Joycey, I’ll pick her up. And I’ll call. “How you doing, darling?” “Oh, Daddy, I’ve had the best three weeks I’ve ever had in my life.” “Who is he? Tell me about him.”

“Who is he this time?” You can’t hide a love affair. It just pops out. It shows, you know, really, you just have everybody… Well, it’s that way with the reproduced life of Jesus. It’s in that divine fever of the holy consuming love where there’s a contagion. And if you really want to reproduce Jesus, get in that love affair. You know, if I stood up here and said, you know, a few years ago, I had scarlet fever and got a few of the scars left, that wouldn’t faze you at all.

But if I came up here and I said, “Jeannie, what do you think these scars are? I mean, this breaking out is.” Well, it looks like you got a little scarlet fever. And she’d take my temperature and have a high temperature. Well, boy, they’d quarantine the whole camp. I couldn’t give you what I had last year. I can’t even transmit the scarlet fever when the fever’s gone. You can’t even transmit the itch much. When the fever’s gone. No. It’s in the fever that the contagion is effective. And this is true about our witness. It’s not a matter really of what our doctrine might be. It’s in the fever of a holy love. And do you have the fire burning right now? Oh, glory to God. The reproduced life is a divine love affair. Where you love Him. And He loves you. And you’re living in that. And as long as you keep this fire burning. Now, Sam Jones said, it takes three things to have a good fire. One is… And this is kind of the old folks’ language because we use, you know, radiation now. But the old folks’ language and young people have to pick it up. It takes three things to have a good fire. One is, you have to keep the clinkers out.

You… That’s not too far in two years. You know what that means, don’t you? The clinkers out. Okay. A second thing is, you have to keep the draft open. A third thing is, you have to keep adding more fuel.

Now, that’s the love affair. Are you in the holy contagion? Are you in this divine love? Is your life on fire for Jesus? I’m asking the young people that. Not really what my doctrine is, or what yours is. In your heart, is there a love affair going on between you and Jesus?

If there isn’t, it’s not a matter of doctrine. It’s really a matter of getting in union. Get in union with Jesus. In love. And live in that love life. Now, that’s its center. But coming out of this center is another way of manifestation. And that is a fruit level. We manifest the reproduced life by bearing the fruit of the union. The tree reproduces itself through the fruit that it bears. The seed of reproduction is on the inside of the fruit.

And this is true with all of us. We don’t do much reproducing until we get into the fruit bearing level. Now, this fruit is not a fruit of self-effort. It’s not a fruit of our ingenuity. It’s not a fruit of our own genius. It is a fruit of the love union. A fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit from within us. And these fruit are listed for us so we can know what we’re supposed to do. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, meekness, temperance, patience, long-suffering. These fruit of the Spirit are there within the Spirit. All of them are there. When the Holy Spirit comes within us and brings us into union with Jesus, He brings with Himself the whole package. These fruit of the Spirit are resident within the Holy Spirit. Now, so, we know we’re supposed to bear these fruit. So, this morning, I don’t have much joy. So, what I do, I run to the Lord, “Lord, give me a little joy.” You know, as if He’s supposed to dab me with some joy. That’s an appendage. We don’t do that, you know. Let’s make this an apple tree, these pines. Let’s make them apple tree by hanging some apples on them. So we tie up the apples on them and say, look at all those pretty apple trees.

You know, hanging an apple on an apple tree doesn’t make it an apple tree. I mean, on a pottery, it doesn’t make an apple tree. And just hanging some fruits on the external doesn’t make you a Spirit-filled Christian. You see, and we can do this. We can pick up in the contagion from others. You can live around people and reflect their joy, reflect their love, reflect their patience. But do you reproduce it a week after camp? Or two weeks after camp? Or six months after camp? Or do you feel like, “I’ve got to get back to Rollins,” you know? Boy, I’ve got to have my joy. I’ve just got to be with these CFOers. Because that’s where my joy is. Well, you know, really now, follow me. It’s wonderful to reflect it. But there’s something more basic than that. Because these fruit are meant to come out of a root system. A root system of love union. And really are not to be dependent on external circumstances. We haven’t come to a level of real fruit-bearing until we can bear the fruit in season and out of season, in the new order. See, in the old order, you have to have seasons. For fruit-bearing. But in the new order, it’s a constant fruit-bearing. It’s not determined by outward circumstances.

But by inward root system. And so, if you don’t have joy… Well, sure, reflect anybody else’s that you can as much as you need to. But in the meantime, just say to the Lord, “I need to get down to the root of this thing. Why is it that I’m not producing love? Why is it that I’m not producing joy?” Well, He says, there are some roots that reproduce joy. “My joy is not just go around saying, ha-ha.” He said, “My joy is to do the will of My Heavenly Father.” To know that your life is caught up in the will of God. And that you have a sense of divine mission. This produces joy. This is the joy of the Lord that is our strength. If I had to select just one healing power, just one, I would say that this would come first with me. A sense of divine mission. If you get a holy calling in your life, and you know your sin of God, you can hardly afford to get sick.

You know? And even if you are a little sick, you’re going to do it anyhow. You haven’t got time to mess around with this. Get out of the way, I’m not a calling. And you go ahead and fulfill it. My goodness. I saw this happen right here today. I’ve been looking for him now, and I don’t see him. But there’s a minister here in this camp. If he’d been like maybe some of us, he’d have given up the ministry and become an invalid. But boy, he wouldn’t do it. He preaches sitting down.

And I can just tell by being around him that his people love him, and that he’s a great minister. And does more sitting down than some of us do jumping. Because he’s got a holy calling. A sense of divine mission. And if you don’t have a sense of divine mission about your life, you’re opening yourself to all kinds of cross currents. Get a holy calling. Let the Lord let you know. “My joy is to do the will of Him that sent Me.” For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame. The cross is never popular. Not in the eyes of the world. We somehow would like a way of salvation without the crucifixion of self.

But to know the joy of laying your life on the altar of Calvary and realizing that through the death of the self, you are having a part in the redemptive activity of our Heavenly Father. That you are helping to reconcile this altar to God. And know that joy of the ministry of reconciliation, through Calvary love. Oh my goodness. This is the joy of the saints. Check them out. It’s not a matter of, “If this is my cross, I’ll have to bear it.” The person that says that ain’t got one. You know, they’ve just got some circumstances they’re squirming under. They’re not crosses. The cross is something we accept voluntarily. And the cross is something that’s always victorious. If you can’t have victory, it’s not a cross yet. “For the joy that’s set before Me, I endure the cross despising the shame.” And look, you know, if your church hadn’t… Look, I went back to my CFO and I told my preacher I’ve been baptized with the Holy Spirit and that… that rascal rejected me. Told me I have to leave my church.

And I did. But that’s my cross. I’ll have to… No, that’s not your cross. That’s your refusal to be long-suffering. You ran from your cross on that one. Your cross would be right there… stay right there and say, well, look, I know you don’t understand it, but I love you so much anyhow that unless you do get mad with me and insist on it, I’d rather stay here and love you if you don’t mind. I know that this church hasn’t got all the finances it needs, so if you don’t mind, I’m going to start tithing. I love you so much. I’ve never known a preacher to kick out a tither.

See, so your cross might be tithing. And your cross might be seeing the Lord in this man enough to receive his ministry. It’s amazing, you know, how we don’t want to receive the ministry of those who disagree with us.

And a part of our cross is receiving the ministry of those who are different from us. And yet, not compromising our own stance. You don’t have to sacrifice your own experience, your own understanding. Know where you are. Know what your experience is. But be willing to walk with those who don’t agree. Let the Lord work that out. I’ve wanted to leave. I’m not just giving you something out of a book. There’s a price to pay to come to the cross. There’s a price to pay to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. It is not popular in the mindset of the world. It’s not popular in the present-day church order to let word get out on you that you have had the experience of speaking in tongues. This, you know, this frightens people. It brings up all kinds of controversy. And to you, it’s a very beautiful experience. And to you, you know, it’s just glorious. Get alone with the Lord. Just have the Lord let you pray this way. It’s a beautiful thing. And yet, when people find out about it, I don’t know none of that around here, get frightened and afraid, they want to reject you. And then you can pray for the sick, you know. And that doesn’t bother anybody until somebody gets healed.

You know, you can pray for the sick all your priests as long as nobody’s healed. But when they start getting healed, that’s when you get to be a fanatic. You know? Laying hands on folks. Anointing them with oil. An oil toter.

A fanatic. “Who does he think he is? God?” You know, all that. And you begin to get all that oil scouring. And you want to get with somebody that enjoys you. Get with somebody that appreciates you. You know?

You do know, don’t you? And then the Lord just says, look, just stay with Me. Learn to receive the ministry of these that don’t walk with you. And just love back. And so you start loving back and great, you know, you get some full of yourself. “Lord, look at me. I’m just loving them so much. They don’t even love me back.” Lord, that’s all right. You know, you get so proud. You get so proud of loving folks. And then the Lord has to prompt you that, you know, and let you realize that love is not just a matter of your ooey feeling on the inside.

You don’t love a person to whom you’re not willing to listen. I don’t love you if I don’t, if I’m not willing to listen to you. You don’t love me if you’re not willing to listen to me. You love your idea about me. And you just love me when I’m repeating your ideas. That’s not loving me. That’s loving your ideas. And so the Lord began to teach me. Now, you listen to me through these others. And I began to realize how much I needed the whole body of Christ. I need my conference. I need my mission. I need my district superintendents. Sometimes I don’t think so, but I…

I really do. I need all these members of the church. I would like it a little better if they appreciated me and knew what a, you know, a real spiritual giant I was. But in the meantime, in the back 40, I’ll still need them. And to get to the place where you can really appreciate their ministry to you, whether they’ll accept your ministry or not. That’s the Lord’s business. Do you appreciate their ministry? And the Lord begins to give you this wonderful relationship of love. You see, that’s fruit bearing. And it takes a cross of dying out. You know, especially when you have people that come to you and say, “Tommy,” as we have in Goldsboro, I’ve been there seven, 17 years. And just, you know, several times a year, groups come to me. “Tommy, why don’t you start a church here and just quit all this running around?” And, you know, I could start a church tomorrow with four or five hundred members that love me, that think I’m the king, you know.

And I could go to hell just on human sentiment. No, I miss out on the body of Christ. So this fruit bag, if you don’t have joy, examine your cross. What’s your cross? Is your cross producing the joy? And I know the joy to a degree, not like I’m going to, but to the degree of dying out in part. And I still have dying out processes. Now, dying out is not nanny-panny. I don’t get before my cross at my conference and say, “Oh, boys, I’m sorry, I’m a thorn in your flesh. And, you know, forgive me for feeling this way, but this is my experience.” I know, that’s not love. Love is not nanny-panny. Love is being honest. Love is saying, look, this is my walk with Jesus. And this is my experience. And I can’t be unfaithful to Jesus. And I’m going to love you anyhow, and I’m willing to give myself to you anyhow. And if you don’t want to take me, that’s all right, but I’m going to be here whenever you’ll open the door. I’m not going to run away. I’m going to be here. But in the meantime, you’ll have to settle your difference in terms of receiving me with God just like I’ll have to settle my difference with receiving you with God.

We don’t work out our interpersonal relationships on the level of the horizontal. That’s the psychological approach. And that’s the humanistic approach. And let me tell you where I first saw this. Oh, David. Bless his heart. You know, what a man. And what a mixed-up man. But what a great man, too. Here he had, you know, lusted after a woman. Number one. Connived with the military. Number two. Committed murder. Number three. And then committed adultery. Number four. And had this child. And then tried to hide it. I guess blamed it on God. Amazing what we blame on God, isn’t it? And then when, you know, he wasn’t convicted. He was doing pretty good. The whole deal was going until old Nathan came. You know, and amazing. God didn’t just say to Nathan, “Now you just pray for him and hold him in My light. And I’ll do all the rest.”

Sometimes God puts you on the spot and you have to speak to people. You know, God does use us to speak to one another. And sometimes we don’t want to. But that’s the part of it, too. And old Nathan came and put a finger in David’s face. And, you know, told him this parable about the farmer and the lamb. And then when old David said, “Bring that man to me. And I’ll take care of him and see that he gets what he deserves.” And old Nathan looked at him and said, “King David, Thou art the man.”

And David began to repent. But read his prayer in the 51st Psalm. So, to hear this man having sinned against all these people, cries out to God, “God, against Thee, and Thee only, have I sinned.” When I read that, it made me mad. I put the Bible down. And I said, “He, though he’s a Jew, he’s acting just like a Christian.”

Blaming all of this on God. You know, and trying to find an escape hatch and get away from his social responsibility. He’s sinned against people. And if he’s got any sense, he’ll go back and declare it. And when I got through fussing, and Jesus lets you fuss, but He doesn’t fuss back. He waits until we get through. And when I got through fussing, I heard, “David discovered a secret that you haven’t learned yet.”

He realized that his relationship with people was an inevitable expression of his relationship with God. And if you aren’t right with me, that’s a spiritual problem between you and God. If I’m not right with you, that reflects something that’s not right between me and God. I can’t say that I love Jesus, whom I know, but hadn’t seen in the flesh. And really have a mix-up with you. If I say I love you, and I mean I love Him, and I don’t love you, I’m mixed up in this business.

Because my relationship with you is a reflection of my relationship with Him. And this is why the church has an altar to settle social relationships. You’re talking about the social revolution. This has to do with a social revolution. More than any ghetto in the world. And when we lost the altar, and lost the power of praying through an altar, and forgotten what it is that’s settled issues with God, that’s when we got into all, and as we get into all the psychological hang-ups, and getting in more and more breakdowns, mental, nervous, psychological breakdowns, because we’re trying to solve our spiritual problems psychologically.

Spiritual problems are settled before the throne of God. I’m not taking away a thing from psychology. I love it. And if I weren’t a preacher, I’d be in psychotherapy, I’m sure. But they go hand in glove. But you can’t settle an interpersonal relationship just on interpersonal basis. You can cover up, but you can’t clean out.

What can take away my sins? This used to really bother me theologically, until I learned the power of it. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. And I’m not talking about just, you know, some ooey-gooey substance. I really am talking about the cleansing power of His death and resurrection by the Holy Spirit. And so, if I’m not in right relationship with you, then I need to go before the Lord. “Lord Jesus, what is this in me that makes me react this way?”

See? The problem’s in me. Problem’s in you. If you’ve got something against me. You know, that’s… Settle it with the Lord. And then come and share with me the victory. You know? We share with one another the victories we’ve won in the Lord. Show me that it’s settled by manifesting His love.

But settle it before the Lord and then go and be reconciled in terms of manifesting the forgiving grace of God. That’s why the Bible says not if your brother has aught against you, go and be reconciled. It doesn’t say that. It says when you’re at the altar making an offering and there you remember that your brother has aught against you. That is, when you’re in the power of the Holy Spirit offering your life unto God and He lets you know then, in the power of that offering, that power of that love, go and be reconciled to your brother. And it’s a beautiful thing when you see this. So it’s the reproducing of the fruits. These fruit of the Spirit. And if you’re not reproducing them, don’t fight with the outside. Go on the inside and work with the root system. And I use this very homey vernacular, but you’ll remember it this way. “If you’re not fruited, get rooted.”

You should be bearing the fruit. I should be bearing the fruit. But if we don’t have the fruit, don’t fight with externals. Did you ever see Jesus said, “I’m the true vine, ye are the branches.” And He said, if you don’t abide in Me you can’t bear fruit. No more than a branch can bear fruit if it’s cut off from the vine. You wouldn’t see a vine laying on the ground and expect it to bear grapes, would you? It’s cut off from its life. You needn’t expect a person outside of union with Jesus really to bear the fruit. But did you ever see a grape, a branch of a vine, you know, gritting its teeth and screaming, “I’m going to have a grape if it kills me.”

You know, it never bear a grape that way. And yet we do this as Christians, you know. “No, I don’t reckon I do love him, but I’m going to if it’s the last thing in the world I ever do.” It’ll be about the last thing.

“Jesus was patient, so I’ll be patient. Jesus was generous. Here, take it.” Yeah. Now that’s not fruit of the Spirit, that’s effort, that’ll wear you out. So if you don’t have the love, if you don’t have the patience, you don’t have the joy, “Lord Jesus, I don’t have it, but You do. Now help me to come in that union with You so that I can reproduce the fruit that comes up out of the root.” Now tonight I’ll get in other dimensions, manifestations of the reproduced life. This makes sense to you? Any questions?

Alright. Write them out, will you? And I’d be glad to, you know, speak to any questions. If you have any, write them out and give them to me sometime today. And I’ll be glad to try to respond to any questions. Lord Jesus, thank You so much. We love You. We’re glad, so glad, to know You and to be able to live in union with You. Thank You for letting every activity of this day help us to know You more and manifest You better. Amen.