(Singing:)  "I love You, Lord, and I lift my voice . . ."

Come on.  I want us to all just give the Lord a wonderful handclap of praise.  

Oh, we bless You, Lord.  We really want to come together now and just concentrate on the Lord.  Hallelujah.  Hallelujah.  

We bless You, Lord.  We bless You.  We bless You, Lord.  Hallelujah.  Wonderful, wonderful is the Lord.  Hallelujah.  Amen.

You may be seated.  

Well, the Lord is wonderful.  Isn't He?  Amen.

I want to greet all of the people . . .  I tell you, we have a tremendous host of people who are streaming with us this morning.  We're almost to a record high.  We're streaming into eleven different nations this morning, this service.  My, how God is blessing.

We have four hundred . . .  We have 476 registered streamers.  You know, God is doing something.  Amen.  

I want to just greet you.  We don't always take time to do the full . . . the full shebang.  But I think with that many we just really need to welcome . . .  And remember that a lot of times at a particular stream there is a group of people, there's a host of people.  For instance, in Edmonton there can be . . . there are several families represented on one computer stream.

Well, let's just say thank the Lord for everyone of them.

You know, most everybody knows that I don't do very well with program and ceremony.  I mess it up.  If I try to make it sound too fancy, then I always just mess it up and it doesn't sound good at all.

But we understand . . .  I've preached many times over the years the importance of a mother in a family and in the Kingdom of God.  And I'm grateful to the Lord for a Christian mother.  I'm grateful to the Lord for a wife who is one of the best mothers that I've ever known and ever observed.  

And I'm blessed for spiritual mothers in many, many nations of the world who have prayed for me, and lifted me up before the Lord, and helped us to stay firm and grounded in the things of God and not go off after every whim and trend that has blown through.

Soon be sixteen years that I have been in this church - in Columbus and then here.  And God has just been so good and so faithful.  

And I could never say enough about the part that women, godly ladies, have had in the ministry here - the work and the sacrifice that they've made.  We want to not take a lot of time, but it's not because they're not worthy of time.  It's just because we want to move as quickly as we can now.

[He gives out gifts for Mother's Day.]

(Singing:)  "Eagles Wings"

"So spread your wings, little eagle, and fly.
You weren't born to live in that valley.
You were chosen, predestinated, for the sky.
Don't let your trials bring you down
or drive your spirit low to the ground.
Mount up with wings, little eagle, and fly."

"Keep your eyes upon the Son.
The battle's almost won.
Mount up with wings, little eagle, and fly."

Amen.  Hallelujah.  Oh, thank You, Lord.  How many of you have got something to thank Him for.  "Lord, I thank You.  Oh, I thank You, Jesus."  Wonderful is the Lord.  Hallelujah.

Just remain standing, if you will.  (Thank you all so much.)  

Colossians, chapter 1.  (I'm sorry I forgot to turn this one off while I was singing with the other one.)  

Colossians, chapter 1, verse 9 and 10.  Hallelujah.  

(Let me hear what a G sounds like?  See if it's changed.  Is that G?  Let me hear what an F sounds like.)  Sing this with me.

"Something great, something great ? I'm getting ready for something greater from the Lord . . . "

Does anybody feel that way?  That's how I feel this morning.  That's how I feel this morning.  I'm getting ready for something greater from the Lord.

Amen.  Colossians 1:9-10.  (Lord.  Pray that I can hurry, would you?)

So good to see Debra and her husband in the service with us this morning.  Hallelujah.  I know it's quite a drive for you all to be here.  And I appreciate you coming.  And I appreciated the phone call that you gave the message about Sister Debbie.

And she sent a note and registered for the streaming.  And I almost didn't know who it was because I didn't know her last name now.  All those many years ago I remembered what it was.

And she had been away from the Lord and has come back to the Lord.  And I'm so very happy about that.  I look forward to seeing her some time.  I appreciate what God has done.  It's just an answered prayer.  God is still answering prayer.  He really is.

I feel like that the Lord answered prayer for me this morning.  Without going into detail, I believe God is somehow making a way.  We don't know yet.  We'll have to see.  But I believe that God is somehow making a way.  We're going to stop sometime this afternoon and pick up a plat of the property and go to the bank with it, perhaps tomorrow.  

So I praise God for what He's doing.  We have to do it.  We just bite the bullet and believe.  We know we have to do it because it was part of a vision that came many years ago.

Do you ever find yourself cringing when it storms?  I do.  Because I saw that big old tree up there in a vision.  And sometimes when it gets stormy, I think, "Oh Lord, don't hurt my tree.  Let the tree stay right where it is."  Although I know it was a symbol.  It wasn't the tree - it was the calendar that was hanging on the tree.  It was the date on the calendar that was circled in red.  

And the Lord said, "The campground is finished.  Everything is in order.  Everything is in place.  The quick, short work will now begin."  And that was many, many years ago - many years ago.

And all this time that property has never been available.  

Colossians 1:9.  

9.  For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will . . .

Paul just told this church, "I'm praying and desiring that you will be filled with the knowledge of His will.  I want you, as an apostle . . ." he was saying, "I want you to know the will of God."

Again, as we mentioned last night, this is a new concept for some of us because we have waited so long to know God's will in our lives.  And to think that we're almost to that place of stepping in and being filled with the knowledge of His will.

9. . . . in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

One more verse . . .

10.  That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

Father, we thank You for this wonderful day that You have given us.  We thank You for rest.  I thank You for the hundreds of places that I visited in my dreams last night, that none of them were bad places.  I didn't wake up feeling very rested.  I felt like I had walked a thousand miles.

But I thank You for the rest of the Spirit that's in this house right now.  And I pray that some Word from heaven will be imparted into our lives, that Satan will not be able to distract or hinder and that You'll bless our fellowship this afternoon - our food, our celebrating together in the great bonds of fellowship and unity and love that You have brought us together into.

BaShem Adonai Yeshua HaMashiach, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.  And the church said, "Amen."

You may be seated.

Oh, hallelujah.  It seems like that every time we open a Scripture lately, we see that process.  (Let me help all the Canadian streamers - "that pro-cess.")  It seems like every Scripture is pointing to this "being saved" and then that's when it all begins.

It's a tragedy, brother, sister, that so many churches and denominations and movements seem to indicate that salvation is the end of this thing - when you're saved, you've arrived.  And yet the New Testament clearly indicates that salvation is not the end of the journey, it's only the beginning of the journey.

But oh, what a wonderful beginning it is.  And I don't know very much about baseball, but I know you can't get back to home plate if you don't make first, second and third base.  I know that.

And I know that, not because I studied it, but because I heard Brother Branham talk about it one time.  He talked about how that a lot of people try to skip, they try to take shortcuts, they don't want to go all the way.  

But I am so glad that wherever I travel and whoever I come in contact with, and the e-mails . . .  Brother Randy Carlton called recently and said he was looking forward to trying to be in campmeeting.  

And so many families - Ruiter family and the Halls family and two brothers and a sister from Iceland and so many others have written to say, "We're coming."  

And if we issued the invitation letters that are being asked of us right now, we wouldn't be able to hold or host or feed the people who desire to come from the nations of the world.  We've had over fifty requests for invitation letters from all over Africa and all over India where people want to come.

I believe sometimes it's because people just want to get out of their present circumstances for a little while.  They want a holiday.

But I believe that there are people who are anxious to get further along in this process - closer to God and coming away from the knowledge of the Lord and moving into the full knowledge of the Lord, coming away from just the knowledge of the Lord and moving into the full knowledge of the Lord.

We find out often, especially in the Greek language, also in Hebrew . . .  But especially in the Greek language we find out that, for instance, in the English word "love" there are many different Greek words.

Brother Branham taught us this.  There are many different Greek words that are all translated the same way in English - "love."  But in order to get the full meaning of what kind of love and a description of this relationship of love, it's helpful sometimes to go back to the original language and see what kind of love is being described.  

And this word "knowledge" is the same way.  You know a few weeks ago we took that word "knowledge" from Peter, and we talked about the "knowing" that is involved and the "intimacy" that is implied by the Greek word that is translated in Peter "knowledge."

It's the same word that is used when Mary is questioning how this could be possible.  "How could this be possible that I'm carrying a child because I have 'known' no man."

And that word "known" comes from the same root word that the word "knowledge" comes from in Peter concerning the stature of a perfect man.

But in many of the Epistles, we see this word "knowledge."  And in Greek, it's "gnosis."  And it is where we get the word "the gnostics" or "gnosticism."  And it means "a general knowing, a general knowledge."  It's more like a briefing.  

You know, the President . . . he doesn't have time to hear the whole story - unfortunately, sometimes.  But he receives numerous briefings all day long - summaries of what's going on on the world scene.
  
Sometimes it's probably very difficult to act upon a briefing without knowing all of the details.  And sometimes the President probably has to say, "You've got to go and get some more information.  I've got to have a fuller picture.  I've got see more of the details to know exactly what needs to be done.  A briefing, a summary, is not enough.  I need the full picture."

And this is what the Lord is calling His Bride to in this hour.  He doesn't want us just to have a briefing of who He is and what He is, but He wants us to come into the full knowledge of Him.

It sounds very simple, but it's extremely revolutionary in our lives when we all of a sudden get a revelation of who He is and who we are in Him.  It really fixes some things.

And one of the things that it fixes is, like we talked about last night, all this, "I'm unworthy.  I'm unworthy.  I'm unworthy . . . "  And when we come into the full knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, we start getting an understanding.

Many times in English we read this word "knowledge," and it comes from the Greek word "gnosis."  And it means "a general or a partial understanding of something."

Paul talked about it and gave the analogy - "it's like looking through a glass."  

In the Song of Solomon we have another analogy that talks about the Bridegroom appearing behind the lattice.  And how many of you know when you're seeing through lattice, you're only getting a part of the picture.  Now your imagination can fill in some of the details.  

But the Song of Solomon talks about a time when the Bride comes out of the wilderness, leaning on her Beloved.  And the Bridegroom comes into what?  What is the word?  Plain view.  You're no longer seeing through the lattice.  You're no longer seeing through a glass darkly.  But you're now seeing how?  Face-to-face.

We all marveled at the last campmeeting that Sister Ruth had and was able . . . not able to go to, but went to.  I wasn't in the meetings.  I saw them on the Internet.  But I think Brother Enzo and Sister Jan were there in one of the last few services that she was able to go to.

She was sitting in a chair.  She didn't really have a lot of strength to hold up her head, even, really.  But the theme of that campmeeting was "Face-to-Face."  

And everybody was singing "Face-to-Face."  They were testifying about face-to-face.  They were prophesying about face-to-face.  And one of the last messages she preached or spoke, she emphasized being face-to-face.  

And that's the first thing I thought about when I got the word that she had passed away.  Now, I began to think about, she was moving at least into another realm where things were coming into plainer view and clearer view.  

We understand by the Message . . .  We understand by the Message that there is still a higher place than that.  Anybody in here believe that there's a higher place than where the righteous dead are?  I believe there's a higher place.

I've seen it twice now.  In the Spirit, I saw a staircase leading from one realm to another.  I know that's not really how it is because dimensions are parallel.  They're not stacked on top of one another - they're parallel.

They're standing up vertical like this.  "Is that vertical?"  Yeah, that's horizontal.  They're standing up like this.  Dimensions are moving in this way, not this way.

And so we know there's literally, probably, not a staircase that leads from one realm into the next.  But I saw it symbolically in the Spirit.  And I knew that the Throne was up that staircase.  We had to get higher.  

Here were all my loved ones.  Here were all the ones I had worshipped with, those I had known in the faith.  I saw Brother West's mother and Sister West's mother hand-in-hand.  I saw so many of the saints, Sister Crawford and so many of the saints, that had gone on to be with the Lord.

And yet I knew that I wasn't destined just to be in this realm.  There was a higher realm.  And we understand that they're waiting on us.  They without us are not complete.  And when we go into that real realm of face-to-face for eternity, we're all going in together.

The Bride of every age will move into that place together at the same time.  What a meeting!  What a meeting!  What a meeting when you get to experience the joy of seeing the Fullness of God.

And not only do you get to experience it, but you get to experience it with the patriarchs of old.  You get to experience it with the messengers to the church ages.  You get to experience it with the redeemed of the Lord that have been waiting all these years on us.

And not only do we get to experience it, but we get to enjoy it with them.  Hallelujah.  

And some of us believe that Laodicea, the Bride of Laodicea, is going to be held in high esteem.  I do.  I heard Brother Branham talk about it.  And how we sit down at that table spread for a million miles and we start expressing how we overcame.  

And looking at it now, you'd think I wouldn't have anything to share.  What would I share?  Here's somebody coming out of the Ox Age, saw their wives' bellies opened up, their little unborn babies pulled out and stomped on, sawn asunder and burned at the stake, and they're testifying of how they overcame.

And you'd think, "How could I . . .?  Lord, I just had a little trouble here and a little trouble . . .  What kind of testimony do I have?"

But they talked about . . . the question being, "And now what age did you come from?"

And you say, "Laodicea."

And they say, "Oh.  Laodicea.  Why, we didn't hardly think anybody would be able to come out of Laodicea and overcome."  Hallelujah.

But they just didn't know about that overcoming portion that had been snowballing down through the ages, getting bigger and bigger and bigger.

Where more grace is needed, more grace is available.  Amen?  And God is giving us that grace as He's moving us out of the realm of partial understanding into the realm of the full knowledge of His will.

It is hard to get in the will of God now because we don't have a full understanding of it.  But once we receive a full revelation of what His will is in our lives, it will be with ease that we move into it.  The struggle now is not doing the will of God.  The struggle now is knowing the will of God.

Once we receive that full revelation of our destiny, the fullness of His will toward us and for us, it'll be by that anointing and by ease that we're able to move in and start obeying God and doing what He's called us to do.  

The struggle you feel right now is not in doing the will, it's knowing the will.  What if God lets you know it?  What if God fills you with the knowledge of His will?  Wouldn't that solve a lot of problems?  Wouldn't that ease a lot of worries?  Wouldn't that calm a lot of struggles?  I believe it will.

But the word that is used in Colossians here is not "gnosis," it's "epignosis."  And it means something a little deeper.  It's not a partial knowledge or a general knowledge.  But epignosis means a full, complete, total knowledge.

You know everything there is to know about a particular subject.  You know everything there is to know about a particular subject.  Now let's read it like that.

9.  For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the (not gnosis - partial revelation of His will - but that you'd be filled with epignosis  - the) full knowledge of His will (the complete package)  in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.

10.  That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the full knowledge (or increasing toward,  increasing toward the full knowledge) of God.

There's something in this word "epignosis" that seems to indicate a period of time or, again, a process - that it's not instantaneous.  It's not something that you just wake up with.  But it's something that grows in you.  It's something that you are filled with, the apostle Paul said.

It seems to be a knowledge that is only obtained after spending time with someone, having fellowship with them, growing comfortable with them until that level of trust rises to such a place that you feel like you're able to bare your heart.  

Let me just say this to you.  If you ever find a relationship in this life where you feel confident and comfortable enough to bare your heart, do it.  Because it is such a rare treasure.  It's such a rare treasure to come in a relationship to that level with anybody, even a wife, a husband, a parent, a friend.

We all like to brag and say, "I could tell my wife anything.  I could tell my husband anything.  I could tell my mother anything."  And I guarantee you, you know better than that.  You know better than that.

There are things in our heart.  And I don't necessarily mean ugly, evil things either.  I'm not even talking about that, in fact.  But there are things in our heart that we just don't hardly know how to put words around.

And we feel vulnerable when we try to share those things.  We feel vulnerable because we don't want anybody stepping on those things.  They're from our heart and they're precious to us.  

And the only thing that can develop a relationship like that is spending time together and getting to know one another.  It's kind of strange.  You really need to know the person you marry.  It'd be a good idea.

Anybody agree?  But you never really know them until you marry them.  Isn't that kind of a strange thing.  It's kind of like trying to get a job.  You can't get a job without experience, and it's hard to get experience without a job.  

You really need to know the person you're going to spend the rest of your life with, but there is a knowing that only comes by getting to know one another, by experiencing things together, by facing heartache together and high moments together, good things and bad things together.

And little by little, we who have built such a shell around ourselves, we let those walls down a little bit more, and a little bit more, and a little bit more.  And we start giving little pieces of ourselves away.

This is how a relationship is built.  And it doesn't happen overnight.  And it certainly doesn't happen on a half a dozen dates.  Because you know how it is on a date.  It's like a pastor trying out for a new pulpit.  You're always on your best behavior.  

When you're on a date, you always . . .  You don't ever chow down.  You always nibble.  (I could say some funny things, but I don't feel like it.)  You just nibble, nibble, nibble . . .  Because you don't want the other person to know just how hungry you can get.  You just don't . . . you just don't let your hair down until you say, "I do."

And then sometimes it's hard to recognize . . .  It's hard to . . .  "Is this the same person?"  I'm sure my wife thought that about me.  "Is this the same person?"

Well, anyway.  There's a relationship that God is calling us into.  It's a sharing of what is in our hearts.

Somebody said, "God already knows what's in my heart."  Yes.  But when you're building a relationship, you're sharing anyway.  You're getting to know God's heart.  God's getting to know your heart.  There is something being built - a trust and a fellowship and an understanding.

And this is the word that Paul chose to use when he prayed this prayer over the church - that you would be filled with the knowledge of His will, that you in your relationship with His will is increased, and that you come to the full knowledge of who He is.

And then the Bible reveals to us how we come to that place in Colossians, chapter 3.  Let's look there for just a moment.  Verse 1 and 2.

Colossians 3.

I believe that God wants to open His heart to us.  I believe God wants to reveal His heart to us.  I don't want to just know what would be acceptable to God.  But I want to know what would please Him more than anything.

How many of you want to please Him?  I want to know His heart.  I don't want God to look down and say, "That's acceptable behavior in My sight."

I want Him to look down and say, "That's exactly what I would have you to do.  What you've done is exactly what I would have had you to do."

That's full knowledge.  That's being filled with the knowledge of His will.

If you're sitting here this morning, you're probably reacting to this one or two ways.  One of you . . .  Maybe one reaction is, "This is so redundant.  It doesn't mean anything to me."

And perhaps others are reacting to this in a way, again, that you see this as some lofty position up there that you're still struggling to get to.  And you're missing the whole thing.

This is revealed to us from the Throne.  It's from the Throne that this ushers forth.  And God said, "That's where we're headed."

Was it seven . . . almost seven years ago that the Lord gave a Word and said we were going to stand before the Throne?

And now we recognize this morning, spiritually, why that's so important.  Because it's from the Throne that God's going to reveal the full knowledge of His will toward us and for us, and in us and through us.  

And it's not something that we've got to get good enough to get, or we've got to pray more, we've got to . . .  Remember?  We've been justified.  You're not going to work, you're not going to labor, your way to full knowledge.  You're going to relax.

You'll never come into a deeper relationship working it up, tensing up, struggling to get there.  A relationship is only enhanced when two parties can learn to do what?  Relax.  Relax.  Let God do the work.  We're trying too hard to do what's already been done.  Amen.

We need to receive the grace that God is pouring out in this hour.  We need to step into it quickly.  Because our religion is vain and vile and sickening and unacceptable to God.  But an intimacy is what He's looking for - a nearness.  And it's coming.  I see it.

I hear language changes.  I see behavior changes.  All of these things are the results of what's happening on the inside of people.  What we see and hear is only the signs of what's going on on the inside.  I see it.  I hear it.  I know that people are getting ready to step into that full knowledge of God's will.

Colossians 3:1-2.  And I'll hurry along.

1.  If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

2.  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

He told you how to get the full knowledge of His will.  And it wasn't even hard, was it?  He said,

2.  Set your affection on things above, not on the things of the earth.

And then you can have a revelation of where Christ is sitting.  If you get a revelation of where Christ is sitting, you're going to get a revelation of His character, you're going to get a revelation of His authority, you're going to get a revelation of His sovereignty, but you'll not be able to do it from the earth's vantage point.

You're going to have to move into the heavenly realm to be able to get that understanding.

That's where it is.  The only way you're going to get it is to get there.  The only way you're going to get there is to start setting your affection on those things.

That's easy, isn't it?  

That word means . . . that phrase, "set your affection," translated from the Greek means . . .

Let me tell you what it doesn't mean.  (Anybody listening as I close in a little while?  It's early.)  Do you know what it doesn't mean?  It doesn't mean "I'm going to pray more."  

Of course, Brother Branham told us . . .  And some of us . . .  (I hate to preach this.  I hate to even preach this to some people because they never pray, except over the food.)
  
You hate to tell people they don't need to pray more when they don't pray at all.  If you don't have any kind of communication with the Lord in prayer, you need to pray.

But when we keep emphasizing that we've got to pray more, and we've got to fast more, and we've got to fight more, and we've got to labor more, and we've got to cry more, and we've got to scream more, and we've got to groan more, we've got to agonize more, do you realize we're building our whole faith on the very thing that God's Word teaches against?

Our faith is not built on works.  Our relationship with God is not built on works.  It's built on faith.

Do you believe that God has justified you by faith?  Do you believe that the Blood of Yeshua has covered your sin?  Do you believe that He has sanctified you by the washing of the water of the Word?  Do you believe that He has filled you with the Holy Ghost.

If you do, the work is finished.  And all that we do, all of our labor for Him, is a love labor.  It's an offering of love - not because we're working to get justified, not because we're working to get sanctified, not because we're working to come to perfection.  But we love Him, so we want to serve Him.

Paul said, "Our faith is displayed by our works."  That's how people see our faith - is by our works.  But our faith is not established by our works.  

So if you want to come to the full knowledge of God and you want to set your affection on things above, that's how we get there.  We want to know exactly how are we going to get it.  How are we going to get it?  How are we going to be able to do that?

Not by praying longer.  Not by missing another meal.  "I think if you'd just get rid of that flashy blouse . . .  I believe if you'd just get rid of that flashy blouse, you could set your affection on things above."

We're going to have a hard time when we get to heaven to see how gaudy it is.  The Temple was gaudy, wasn't . . .  I don't believe God wants you to be gaudy.  Please, please, please.  That's not what I'm saying at all.

But we kind of get that idea, you know.  Somebody . . .  And I'm not trying to embarrass anybody.  But somebody said to me last night, "I'm sorry, I left my other shoes . . .  I'm sorry, these shoes are a little high."

I said, "It doesn't hurt me if it doesn't hurt you.  I don't have to walk in 'em."  I'm not measuring that.  I know what Brother Branham said about it, but that's not how I'm measuring people.  I know he talked about that spirit that makes women twist.  But I'll tell you what I found out about that.

I went to a big youth camp where the Message people were gathered.  All kinds of Message people were gathered at a big youth camp.  And of course they were following all the rules.  And every girl there had on flats.

And if that's your conviction, then I think you ought to live by it.  But it looks sometimes to me a little odd to have on a lovely, nice, dressy dress and something that looks like athletic shoes.  

But I saw all these girls, all these young sisters, always in flats.  Even in their dressy dress . . .  They went to the banquet in their dressy dress and these flats.  And you know what?  I was amazed at how they could work it in their flats.  I mean, they were really, really swaying and swirling.  

And I recognized that it wasn't in . . .  The spirit they had wasn't in their shoe.  It was in their heart.  

Somebody said that to me last night about their . . .  And I just said, "Why, if you can wear . . .  I don't know how anybody could wear them.  Honestly, I don't know how you could stand that stuff."  Because to me it would feel like your foot was being pushed forward all the time.

So maybe . . . somebody said to me and my wife . . .  You know, we go through it.  We look.  You know.  We observe.  We shop together.  We want to be careful.  But we want to understand.  I want you to understand.  

Something happened one time in Israel.  I had gone to the spring and I had taken my socks and shoes off.  Oftentimes when I'm in Israel I have a pair of walking sandals.  And I wear special thick socks that are made for walking sandals.  And they don't look like much, but they're about the most comfortable thing I've ever walked in.  

And the socks are made of wool.  Can you imagine?  Wool in the hot.  But it's a smart wool that's been woven together.  It feels like wool, but it's a special wool that's been blended together to wick the moisture away from your foot and make you cool.

And so I wear that.  Well, I had gone to the spring and I had gotten my . . .  I rolled up my pants a little bit and put my feet in the water.  And it felt so good.  And I didn't have anything to dry my feet on.  And I had my socks with me, and they'd gotten a little bit wet.  

And I didn't put my socks back on.  I just put my sandals back on and went back toward the van.  

And somebody said, "Well, I didn't think you believed in doing like that?"  And I couldn't think of any answer except to say, "If I thought it was sin, I wouldn't have done it."

If I'd have thought that I was going to displease the Lord by walking back to the van without my socks on, if I had thought God really cared, I wouldn't have done it.  Because I want to be pleasing to Him.

But do you know what I'm finding out?  I'm finding out that God didn't give us convictions for Him.  He gives them to us for us.

Because there's things sometimes that we're going through in our life, there's things that we have in us, that God sees better than we see.  And He places these restraints on us because He wants to keep us walking in the right path.  

I preached to you over the years . . . and I've been guilty.  We make a terrible move when we start trying to impose those extra-biblical convictions on everybody.  I used to feel like that was the way to build the church.

I do believe that unity is very important.  And I do believe there's a corporate standard that we need to maintain.  I believe we have a testimony in the community that we must maintain.  I believe that.

But I used to think that everybody doing exactly the same thing was building unity.  And now I recognize that you can have an army of robots and not have unity.

Unity doesn't come by conformity.  It comes by inspiration in the Spirit.  Umm.

And so maybe you're a little troubled about something.  You're saying, "Well, I think . . . I really want to come . . ."  I don't mean to offend.  "I want to come to the full knowledge of God.  I think . . . I got this one pair of shoes.  I think I ought to throw that away.  And then . . .  Or maybe I've got a blouse, and the sleeves are a little bit shorter.  The sleeve . . .  Maybe if I would give that up, maybe I could come."

As soon as we start looking at things like that . . .  You know, I hate these old long sideburns.  And I am . . .  I can really preach about it because I have none.  I don't even have hair on the side of my head.  Let me tell you why.

Sister Tremain comes up to me last night and she said, "May I whisper something to you."  And here I was thinking she was going to tell me how good looking I was, or she liked my shirt, or . . .  She said, "Are you getting gray, real gray in your temples?"

You see, from where she was, she didn't know that was skin she was seeing.  She thought it was gray hair.  Let me tell you about that gray hair.  I had a good haircut two weeks ago in Jerusalem, and Brother West didn't like it.

He said to me, "You . . .  I don't know why you thought your hair was so long.  It wasn't long.  It looked good the way it was."  He was carrying on with me.

He got so bad that one night in my office in Jerusalem he took his camera and took a picture, close-up picture, of my head to show me that my scalp was shining.  I don't know how many different times he said something about, "You didn't need no haircut.  I don't know why you thought you needed a haircut.  Your hair looked fine before."

And so one day this week, a couple of days ago, I was in the mirror and I saw that a few of them real short hairs that my little Jewish friend left were really sticking straight out.  Honestly, about five or six hairs sticking straight out like that.

And I said, "I could go and get my barber to clean 'em up."  But I said, "Then Brother West would see that I had another haircut."  Really, I honestly thought this.  I'm not blaming him.  Hmm.  I said, "I ought to be able to get them myself."  That's why people go to school, brother.  

So I took a little trimmer, popped it out, and I got right up in the mirror, and I went "psheww."  And I said, "Hmm, yeah, that helped a lot.  There's a little bit more right there.  Right there.  So let me get that.  Psheww.  Oh, yeah, that worked real good."

And I went in for the third try.  And I don't know what happened.  But all of a sudden it went "ymmm."  I put my thumb on the button and turned it off.  I never moved it.  And I did like that and peeked in the mirror.  And I moved it.  And it had gone all the way to the scalp.

And then my wife . . .  I said, "Oh, no."  Literally, I did this.  I just . . .  "Oh, no.  Oh, no.  What am I going to do?"  

And my wife comes through there.  I said, "You'll never guess what I've done.  I put a hole in my head."

And she said . . .  She's halfway across the room.  She said, "Well, it doesn't look bad from here."

I said, "Come here.  It's a hole the size of nickel."

She said, "Oh, well it'll grow back."  That made me mad.  I wanted her to be perplexed.  I wanted her . . .  Don't you want somebody share your agony?  I wanted her to say, "Oh, no.  God, what's he going to do?"  But instead she said, "Oh, it'll be . . ."

I wonder what she would do.  I won't never forget the time we were in Africa with Carmen.  And she was curling her hair with a curling iron, this little curl she wore.

And all of a sudden, we were standing out in the hallway waiting on 'em.  And I said, "(sniff, sniff) . . .  What is that awful smell coming out of that room?"  And I heard a bunch of giggles.  

And I think maybe Mother finally, or Sister Weems, or somebody opened the door, and there she stood with her curl hanging on the curling iron - this long curl hanging there.  She'd burned it right off.  Now if my wife would have done that, she'd have wanted me to cry with her, and agonize with her, and sorry with her.  But she had nothing to say.

So I had no choice but just to go and just shave off the other side.  And you know what?  It was good for me.  I don't mean to spiritualize it.  It was good for me.  Because I thought, I'm not leaving the house.  There's no way I'm going to town.

And then all of a sudden this real sense of independence came over me, and I thought, "I don't care.  I don't care what it looks like."  I hate these old long sideburns.  I tell Chad.  I've told him a thousand times.

But it would be an awful thing for somebody to think, "If I just take an inch, or a half an inch, I could walk in the full knowledge of God."

And this is how we've been brought up in Holiness.  "If I can just be a little stricter.  If I can just raise my convictions up a little bit more, I can be more holy.  I can have more of God and have more knowledge."

That's not how you get it.  I wished you'd amen.  If you'll amen, I'll hush - soon.

This is not how you get it.  You don't get it that way.  You're trying to earn it.  You're trying to work for it.  You're thinking that that's going to draw you closer to God.

And the Bible said . . .  It doesn't teach us that by raising up our standard . . . (I believe in standards) . . . raising up our conviction or doing this a little more, praying a little longer, listening to more of Brother Branham's tapes, or doing this, making some sacrifice . . .  That's not what he said.

He said, "Set your affection on things above.  Get your thoughts out of this world and off of the things of this world.  And get your thoughts up there, your affections up there."

And listen at how you do it.  I told you how you don't do it.  Now let me tell you how you do it.  

That phrase "set your affection" in the original translation . . . this is the meaning - "to exercise the mind intensively in a certain direction."  To set your affection means to exercise the mind intensively in a certain direction.

That's easy.  It's a focus problem.  It's a problem of concentration.  It's a problem of what you're focusing your thoughts on, and your mind on, and what is consuming your thoughts.  That's what you're going to produce.  

And God is saying, "If you want a full knowledge of Me, you want to stand before My Throne, set your affection on things above."

What about the song we sing . . .?

Musicians are coming.

What about the song we sing, "Turn your eyes on Jesus . . . and the things of earth look so strangely dim"?

Isn't that the truth?  The more you look toward heaven, the more the things of this earth don't matter any more.  If I just wouldn't wear my watch, or if I would just do this, or . . . maybe I could be closer to the Lord, maybe I could just be what God would have me to be.

I grieve sometimes when I think about how long I lived under this kind of mentality.  And I grieve sometimes when I think about saints that left this world with that kind of mentality and they struggled their whole lives to get close enough to Jesus.  

The whole journey . . .  "If I can just get closer to Jesus.  If I can just do this a little differently.  I just want to be closer to Him."

And they never realized, it was never a revelation to them, that it's not how much you work and labor.  It's where you put your affection.  It's how you exercise your mind.

What direction are you intensively exercising your mind?  Let it be on things above.  

There's an awesome unveiling of the meaning of everything that flows from the Throne of God.  The purpose of your life, why you're here, what our calling is, what our reaction should be to the knowledge that's been revealed to us - it flows from His Throne.  That's where we're headed.

Those four Living Creatures are preparing the way.  They're getting things warmed up.  They know you're coming - spiritually, spiritually.  They know you're coming.  They're preparing.  They're getting ready.  They know what God is about to do through His people.

Let's just stand together.

Thank you for bearing with me.  If anybody thinks that I'm introducing a compromise or something like that among us, I'm not.  No, no.  I just want the focus to be somewhere else.  It needs to be.  It needs to be somewhere else.

(Singing:)  "Turn your eyes upon Jesus . . ."

Let me give you one more example.  I'm already fighting a battle in my mind.  Let me undo that.  

We pastors are blessed.  We don't have to perform.  Because we're just kind of stuck with one another.  You endure me and I endure you.  And we have a good relationship.  And when I come to the pulpit, I don't worry that I'm not going to please you.  I just worry that I . . .  I mean, it's on my mind that I can give you what God's given me.  But I don't feel all stressed out like I was preaching at a new place or something, you know.  It's a lot of pressure.

But I want to just give you one more example because I'm already battling.  I'm afraid that somebody's going to leave here thinking that I'm talking about holiness doesn't matter, all that kind of stuff.  

I found a good balance in my life.  I'm not considering . . . I'm not considering any major changes of my standard.  But I just want to tell you my mentality.  

I used to watch over these young men real careful about maybe even playing sports.  And I'd say, "You know, you need to limit it - maybe an hour on Saturday.  You shouldn't be caught up in that."

Of course, I do think it's ridiculous that somebody would have to leave the service to go check the score.  We've still got at least one or two that . . .  That, I think, is utterly . . .  You know what I think about that.  I think that kind of person is in the category of somebody that would pull their shirt off and paint a smiley face on their belly and go to the ball game.  People do crazy stuff like that.

But I really used to think that you could kind of control the pull of the world by setting those limits.  And I'd drive sometimes where they were playing.  I'd say, "Haven't you all been playing a couple of hours now?  Well, it's time to do something else."

And my mentality was that's how you keep people focused.  That's what I'm preaching about - not about changing my lifestyle.  I'm preaching about the focus change.  It didn't just come yesterday, it came a good many years ago.  

It's realizing that you can't pull somebody into that heavenly realm by boxing them in.  It's something that has to be pulled from the inside.  It's a calling of God.  And God's doing it.  That's what's so wonderful.  God's doing it.

Without making any kind of special rules for somebody, the Holy Ghost is just drawing people into a closer walk with Him.  

If you need proof of that, go back and hear the messages that were preached while I was away.  Hear what these men were sharing and you'll hear the cry of their heart, how God's pulling them into something.

Hallelujah.  Let's just relax and go with the Spirit.  Follow Him.

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus . . . "

I want you to love one another right now.  That's what I feel led for you to do.  Would you just greet one another?  

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus . . ."  

I bless you in the Name of the Lord.  I greet you in His holy Name.

"And the things of this earth will grow strangely dim . . ."

We have to make an announcement.  But I just want you to greet one another.

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus . . ."