It is such a joy to be here tonight and see all of you, and to begin this conference together. There has been a lot of preparation, and especially a lot of prayer. I truly feel that the Lord is going to use this time, and I feel so privileged to be here and to have all of you here.
I hope everybody really feels welcome and feels that this is a small group where we can get to know each other—not just get preached at and go home, but actually have real fellowship here.
I want everybody to feel free to ask someone if you feel like you need to know something that was not explained or does not seem right. Really, let us have this kind of family atmosphere here.
I just want to share a few words, and then afterwards Timothy will also share something briefly. Later, Sonny will give the first message.
What has been on my heart in preparation for this time has been a few verses from 1 Corinthians 4.
Now some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you.
But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills; and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant, but their power.
For the kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power.
Now, I do not want to go into the issue of the arrogance addressed here, or exactly what Paul is talking about. But I do want to look at verse 20, which I felt the Lord spoke to me:
For the kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power.
A few months ago, as I came across this verse, I was listening to a message that A. W. Tozer gave in 1957. The sound quality was pretty bad, but the message was very good.
He summarized it somewhat like this. I want to quote Tozer: “You cannot have the power without the words, but you can have the words without the power—and a lot of people do.”
So, what is that power? I think Jesus Himself gave us the answer in Acts 1:8:
You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.
So, my dear brothers and sisters, that is the burden I have felt. Many times, as we were praying together in preparation for this conference, I prayed that the Lord would truly and simply pour out His Spirit and bless us with a real pouring out of His Spirit.
I know that most of us have grown up in Christian homes, and many of us have grown up in groups like this, where we have vision concerning the house of the Lord. When you hear a call to build, you probably already have some thoughts about what might be mentioned.
But if we only have the words, and if we only hear words, then I do not think we will receive what the Lord has for us in this time.
The Lord kept reminding me to truly pray that He would give us the Helper. I mean, He has given us the Helper; He has given us the Holy Spirit. But may there be a new pouring out in this time.
So let us allow the Holy Spirit to do His work in us and to really fill us with Himself.
Let us make no mistake about it: we do need the words. Praise the Lord for the speakers He has given us for this conference. The words are necessary, but we do need the Holy Spirit to breathe life into those words.
Let us also ask the Lord, as we consider this matter of building the house, that we would remember Psalm 127:1:
Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it.
Let us have one further word of prayer.
Lord, it is a tremendous blessing to be here. Such a privilege to see all these young people who want to follow You and desire to be filled with You.
So, Lord, I truly have one simple request: pour out Your Spirit, Lord Jesus. Bless us, Lord Jesus. Bless us during this time.
Convict us, Lord. Do not allow any hypocrisy, any falseness, or any lukewarmness. But, Lord, help us. Have mercy on us, Lord, and let us not get in Your way of the building work that only You can do.
In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Wow. It is so good to see so many familiar faces again. Some of you are new faces to me personally, but I have met most of you at various conferences, and I have grown up with many of you. I just thank the Lord for this privilege—for this wonderful conference that He has enabled us to have and to participate in.
A verse came to mind as I considered this conference. At every conference I come to, I kind of come face to face with the fact that I have grown up with the words—with the right words. I think many of us have.
We have grown up in Christian homes, or in places where vision has been given to our parents or to whomever. We grew up with that, and I think it is a challenge for many of us to overcome that—to have our own vision.
Not something that is ours in a bad way, but something that is ours personally: that the word is given to us so that we have a life. We each individually have a life to give to the Lord. We do not have to give it to the world; it is a freewill offering.
I was talking to Stefan last week, and I asked, “What is on your heart to open the time with?” He shared, and it was exactly in line with what I had. We said, “Well, it is going to be interesting. We might say the exact same thing.” But as we talked, we were already given a little different aspect of the same thing.
The verse I had came from 1 John 3.
Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.
This speaks of whether it is merely word, or whether there is reality behind that word—whether it is just a lifestyle, or whether it is an indwelling life that is lived out.
I feel like, through so many conferences and just growing up in general, I have heard so many words. The cry in my heart, again for this time, is that there would be truth and reality behind the words that we share with one another.
It says here, “Little children,” and I feel like a little child in the faith, coming again to my Father for Him to give me a vision of His house, to give me a vision of what is on His heart, and that I might grow up and be mature in Christ.
I was reminded of Abraham. When the call came for him to offer Isaac, he did not hesitate. When the angel of the Lord came to speak to him, his answer was, “Here I am.”
I feel that ought to be our response to the Lord this weekend. I think, through the messages, He will very clearly give us choices in our own lives—whether we are going to follow the Lord, whether we are going to seek the vision that He gives, and whether we are going to live according to that vision.
I think the only proper response is, “Here I am, Lord.” What is my life worth other than living it for exactly what You have on Your heart, in an eternal way?
In an eternal way, that is really the only thing worth gaining: gaining Christ. All else will pass away. All else will fade quickly. I think we know that, but may we see it even this weekend more clearly than ever before.
That is what I had on my heart as we begin tonight. We will maybe have a song, and then Sonny will come and share the first message.
One quick announcement: most of you have already figured out where the restrooms are, but I will just say that there are four restrooms available to us.
One is when you first walk in the door here, to the right. The other is down the hall through the registration room, down that hall, and the first door on the left.
There is a third one in this guest apartment here. You go through the living room, through the bedroom, and take a left.
The fourth one is for girls only. It is upstairs at the top of the stairway. I will just make that announcement so that there is no confusion there. All right.