The Fruitful Vine

Can we put our hands together and lift up the name of Jesus Christ? Let the church lift Him higher. Let the church lift Him higher. Let the church lift Him higher. Let all God's people praise His name. Let all God's people lift up the mighty name of Jesus. Come on — from the front to the back, from side to side, in Cuba, Ukraine, Japan and Fiji, and all across the world. The presence of the Lord is so rich and beautiful in this place tonight. What a joy it is to be among God's people. Can we clap our hands one more time unto the Lord? He is worthy to be praised.

I am so thankful to be here tonight for this great Global Missions service, the beginning of General Conference 2022. And before we look to the Word of the Lord, I do want to say thank you to those involved with allowing me to speak tonight. I want to give honor to our leaders, Bishop and Sister Bernard. God bless you, sir, and Sister Bernard — we love you and are profoundly grateful for your leadership of the United Pentecostal Church. Amen. Brother Gleason, Brother [Johns], Brother Graham — God bless you; we love you and honor you. And Brother Howell, God bless you, sir. Thank you so much for the kind invitation to be here. We love you. Heidi and I are so grateful for your inspirational influence in our lives. And Brother Abernathy, Brother Sladen, the Global Missions team — God bless them. We are blessed, ladies and gentlemen, with the outstanding apostolic leadership of the United Pentecostal Church. I'm so grateful.

And I want to give honor to my family. I'm so thankful to be here tonight — my beautiful wife and my lovely daughters, my son-in-law, my grandbaby. God bless them. My wife is an MK — amen — and once an MK, always an MK. And I love and honor the Enos family, my in-laws, and they have given their lives to missions around the world, specifically in Europe and the Middle East, and I honor them for their multiple decades of service to the kingdom of God. And I'm grateful for them, and I'm grateful for my parents. God bless them. I'm thankful for the way they put the Word of God in my heart and passed this precious apostolic heritage to me and to my children, and I'm grateful for that. I want to thank my brother for coming tonight — amen — he showed up kind of as a surprise, and I was so thankful he was able to be here, and I honor him and I'm thankful for him.

I hasten to the Word of the Lord, the book of Genesis, chapter 40. But let me say thank you to all who have prayed for me and sent me such kind words of prayer. And I thank Brother Mangun, Sister Mangun, for praying for me as I was on my way over here — laying hands on me, anointing me with oil. I feel like the Lord is going to do something tonight, and I want to let Him have His free course.

Genesis chapter 40 and verse 9: "The chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me; and in the vine were three branches: and it was as though it budded, and her blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes: and Pharaoh's cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand. And Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days: yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head, and restore thee unto thy place: and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler." Verse 16: "When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also was in my dream, and, behold, I had three white baskets on my head: and in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head. And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: The three baskets are three days: yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee."

I would like to draw your attention to the reference of the butler's dream — about the vine and the branches that did bud and bring forth fruit. I want to speak to you tonight on this subject: The Fruitful Vine. The Fruitful Vine. Could you lift your voice with me and ask the blessing of the Lord upon the preaching of His Word? Mighty God, we praise You and we thank You for this opportunity to gather together as Your people, to concentrate upon Your kingdom priority. And I pray in the name of Jesus that there would be an anointing upon the preaching of the Word. Help us to receive the Word. Help us to become all that You want us to be. Make us in Your image, O Lord. I thank You for this anointing. I thank You for this gathering of the precious people of God. And we give You all praise and glory, in Jesus' name. And everybody said, in Jesus' name — could you say amen, and clap your hands one more time as you're seated in the name of the Lord?

Just a quick recap of this text that we have read tonight. Joseph is in a dungeon — he called it that, a dungeon — and he is there under false accusation. His life began with a blaze of glory, if you please, but this has become something so unexpected to him. Life took such a terrible twist and turn, if you please. As far as he was concerned, he is not quite aware of what is going to become of him. It didn't turn out at all the way he expected. He was a dreamer of dreams; his dreams did not include any of what he had been facing. And there he sits in that dungeon, and he meets two men, prominent men of the house of Pharaoh: the butler, the chief butler; the baker, the chief baker. These men come to Joseph and they present to him dreams. The butler says, "I had a dream, and in my dream there was a vine. It was a vine, and it had branches, and it was fruitful. The branches, they budded." He described the volume of the fruit, to say that the fruit shot forth off of these branches; there were clusters of grapes. He just described a fruitful vine, if you please. And he said, "I've stood there, and I had a cup in my hand, and it was Pharaoh's cup, and I pressed the grapes into the cup, and I gave the cup to Pharaoh, and he did drink." Joseph took one look at that vision, that dream, and said, "Here's the interpretation; I'll tell you exactly what it means. In three days — those branches represent three days — and in three days you are going to be exalted back to your position as butler. You're going to be taken out of this prison, and you're going to live again; you're going to thrive again; you're going to be restored." And that is exactly what happened.

The baker walked up behind him, and after he saw it come to pass, he said to Joseph, "Joseph, I have a dream as well. And in my dream there are three white baskets, and they're on my head, and the top basket has baked meats in it, and the birds of the air devoured the baked meats in this basket." Joseph listened to this dream, and he said, "Here's the interpretation: in three days you are going to be killed; your head is going to be lifted off of your shoulders." He listened to this and gave his interpretation, and it was the interpretation of the Lord, and it too came to pass.

About 60 years ago, when my grandfather was around probably around my age, he had a very interesting experience in his ministry and found himself in a unique set of circumstances. He was walking through the international terminal of the airport and came across a lady that was weeping. She was visibly distressed, and she was weeping, and he noticed this, and it drew his attention, and he felt compelled of the Holy Ghost to respond to this situation. Something prompted him; he was moved with compassion for this lady. And he came to her and he said, "Excuse me, ma'am, I notice that you are quite distressed. May I ask you: do you need anything? And do you need help? May I help you?" She said, "I do need help," and she proceeded to explain to him that she was the ambassador's wife from Ethiopia, and that she was coming to America and got a little turned around. It was her first time to the country, and she was a little unsure of herself. And this, of course, was before text messaging and Google and GPS technology, and she was unable to really navigate. She had lost contact with her husband's staff, and she was quite distressed about it. My grandfather moved into action, and he provided transportation — arranged transportation for her — and put her in contact with people who could help her. He said, "I'm going to get you to the office of the Ambassador." And he did, and she made it there all right, and all was well. Her husband was grateful. He reached out to my grandfather, and he said, "Reverend Urshan, I can't thank you enough for how you helped my wife in her hour of distress. She was quite distressed, and you helped her," he said. "Is there anything — and if there is anything I could ever do for you, you just let me know." Well, the United Pentecostal Church had been trying to make a way for our apostolic missionaries to enter into the nation of Ethiopia. So, as it turned out, there really was something that the Ambassador could do for my grandfather. That was the way that the missionaries made their way to the nation of Ethiopia, and the rest became history. It was one of the greatest revivals in the history of the United Pentecostal Church International. There were tens of thousands of people on an annual basis receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, baptized in Jesus' name, withered hands restored to health, and dead people raised to life, and the blind would see — year after year after year, revival broke forth in Ethiopia. And it all started with a gentle act of compassion, a humble act of love and kindness. And so that's a beautiful piece of history.

Fifty years before I arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio, there was a man by the name of Richardson — you know his family; they are the Richardson family in Madagascar. Brother Richardson, before he came to the Lord, was in Cincinnati, and he worked with a man by the name of Ernie Cox. Brother Ernie Cox worked and just went about his daily life, just being who he was and doing what he did. But Brother Richardson observed something unique about him, and he even commented to his wife; he said, "I've just never met a guy like Ernie Cox. His kindness is contagious. He's humble, he's meek, he is transparent, he has integrity. There's just nothing he won't do to help somebody. And there's something different about him that separates him from all of the other workers, and I want to find out what it is." And so he did. And when he began to engage Brother Ernie Cox, he found out he's a one-God, Jesus-name, Holy-Ghost-filled apostolic believer. That was not the persuasion of Brother Richardson at the time. And when he learned this, he kind of challenged Brother Cox on his beliefs. But Brother Cox stood his ground. They began to discuss theology; they began to debate back and forth. At first Brother Richardson disagreed, but little by little he began to develop an appreciation for what Brother Cox was saying. And then, like a thunderbolt, it hit him, and he received the revelation of the mighty God in Christ. He was baptized in Jesus' name and filled with the gift of the Holy Ghost. It wasn't very long after that that Brother Richardson was called of God to go to Madagascar. Didn't know anybody, didn't really know anything about the nation. But when he arrived there, he went about the city streets saying, "Is there anyone here who speaks English? Is there anyone here who speaks English?" And when he found somebody who spoke English, he started right then and right there teaching the Word of the Lord. Today there are over a quarter of a million people who are baptized in the name of Jesus, filled with the gift of the Holy Ghost — one-God apostolic believers. Madagascar is in revival, and the blind are seeing, and the lame are walking, and the deaf are hearing, and there is revival. But it didn't start with the blind seeing; it didn't start with the deaf hearing; it didn't start with the dead being raised. No — it started with a humble man working in a place of employment, just living life and being a good Christian.

I bring these two examples to you because these are two of the great revivals that have developed in our history — our beautiful and glorious history. And I give honor to all of our missionaries here tonight and who are watching on Zoom, these heroes of the faith. Can you give them a great big hand-clap of honor and appreciation? But it is easy to look at these great revivals that take place and see them in their later stages, and see the operation of the gifts of the Spirit — to see them in the operation of miracles and signs and wonders — and often we overlook the simplicity of their beginnings. We overlook how they began, the seedbed that created the circumstances by which a great revival could spring forth. The Ethiopian revival — I remember seeing the pictures of the holy haze that covered the congregation. I remember seeing the documentation of the withered hand being restored to life. But that's not where it began. It began with a man of God demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit.

We talk about operating in the gifts of the Spirit — and we should, and we must, and we shall, and we do. But do not underestimate the power of the fruit of the Spirit. Do not underestimate the way that God can use attributes and qualities like love and joy and peace and long-suffering and gentleness and goodness and faith and meekness and temperance to sow a seed that brings forth the revival. Don't underestimate it, because God does not underestimate it. God is serious about the bearing of fruit. In John chapter 15 He said, "I am the vine." I am the vine — in case you wonder who the vine is that I'm preaching about. Jesus said in John chapter 15, "I am the vine, and you are the branches." That's who you are; you are the branches. We are the branches. And He said that every branch that is in me shall bear much fruit; every branch that abideth in me, the same bringeth forth much fruit. He went on to say that every branch that abideth in me that does not bring forth fruit, the same shall be plucked out of the vine and cast into the fire. Let me see if I can help us to just look at this in full understanding, if you please. We're talking about a spiritual vine; we're talking about spiritual branches; and we're talking about the fruit of the Spirit. And so, when it says, "I am the vine" — that's Jesus; "and you are the branches" — that's us; "and you're going to bring forth fruit" — that's the fruit of the Spirit. And let me remind you what the fruit of the Spirit is: it is love; it is joy and peace and long-suffering; it is gentleness; it is goodness; it is faith; it is meekness; and it is temperance. Fruit is not our accomplishments. Fruit is not our achievements. Fruit is not our successes. Fruit is love and joy and peace. Jesus is saying, "If you're going to abide in me" — that's baptism in the name of Jesus — "and if I'm going to abide in you" — that's the infilling of the Holy Ghost, evidenced by speaking in other tongues — "then you had better bring forth fruit." Jesus expects us to bring forth love. He expects us to bring forth faith. He expects us to bring forth temperance, or self-control. Don't underestimate the power of these qualities. Hallelujah.

When we speak of the gifts of the Spirit, we readily recognize that this is a work of the Holy Ghost. But when we speak of the fruit of the Spirit, we often forget that it too is a work of the Holy Ghost. We often forget that it is not by our might and it is not by our power, but it is by the Spirit of God — Hallelujah — saith the Lord of hosts. And it is the Spirit of God working in us that produces the kind of love and joy and so on that must come from our spirit. He is serious about the bearing of fruit. He literally said, if you do not, you will be plucked out of the vine and you will be cast into the fire. He even said that even if you do bring forth fruit, then I'm going to take you and purge you, that you may bring forth more fruit. Even if you do show love and peace and joy and faith and meekness and temperance, I'm going to take you through some things, so that you will bring forth more love and joy and peace and meekness and temperance. Hallelujah. I want you to know that God is serious about the bearing of fruit, because He is the vine, and He is going to be fruitful, and it is through us that the fruit is going to come. And that fruit will heal the nations. And that fruit will bring revival. And that fruit will be to the salvation of many souls.

I wonder if we can rejoice about the fruit of the Holy Ghost. We don't get the option of deciding whether we will be fruitful or not. We don't get to sit back and say, "I'm having a bad day; I'm not going to be fruitful today. Somebody got on my nerves; I'm not going to be loving today. Somebody offended me, so I'm not going to be at peace with them anymore." No sir, no ma'am. We're in Christ, and Christ is in us. We are different than this world. We don't operate the way that this world operates. We do not allow ourselves to be offended. We take our offense to the foot of the cross, and we allow it to be bathed in the blood of the Lamb of God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Why is it so important to be fruitful? We must be fruitful. We're like the fig tree: we don't get to choose whether we're fruitful or not. If He comes by and we're not fruitful, we'll be cursed. We don't pick seasons and times for the fig tree. "The time of figs was not yet" — sounds like a pretty good reason not to give forth fruit. The time of figs was not yet — and yet the fig tree was cursed because it did not bring forth fruit. We must bring forth fruit. Hallelujah. We've got to be like Aaron's rod. We're different than any other rod out here. Every other rod that you look at — every other religious organization that you look at, every other structure that you look at, every other group of people that you look at — we can't answer for them, but we better have some blossoms on this rod. We better have some fruit growing from this branch. It doesn't matter what season we're in; we've got to be loving people. It doesn't matter what season we're in; we have to be peaceful people. It doesn't matter what season we're in; we've got to be joyful people. We've got to love one another. We've got to love God. Fruit!

Let me tell you why God is so serious about the bearing of fruit. I'll tell you why: because the world is hungry. The fruit of the Spirit is not here to decorate us, make us look pretty. It's not plastic, polished, shiny fruit, perfect to look at, but it has no value to the people who walk by. No — this is fruit you can sink your teeth into. I said, this is fruit you can sink your teeth into. We need to be like that fruitful vine in the butler's vision. We need to have the fruit of the Spirit shooting forth from our branches. We need to have clusters of grapes — clusters of self-control and peace. We don't react to people on Facebook the way other people react to people on Facebook. We know that a soft answer turneth away wrath. We know that we are to let our speech be always with grace, that we may know how to answer every man, seasoned with salt. Because this world is starving. They're starving for gentle people. They're hungry for peacemakers. They're hungry for people who have some self-control and don't obey every whim of this fallen flesh. Don't you know that when you got the Holy Ghost, it was more than just speaking in tongues for a little while and then going back out and acting the same way you were before you came? No sir, no ma'am. That's the Spirit of the living God that lives inside of you, and it will bring forth fruit to feed the hungry.

They don't even know what they're looking at when they meet someone who's gentle, kind, humble, meek, self-controlled. And let me tell you: when you do it, you are sowing seed — because the seed is in the fruit. The seed is inside the fruit. Hallelujah. That's what makes fruit, fruit. It's different than vegetation: fruit has seed in it. That love and that joy — it has the Word of God in it. That's why our Brother Richardson could look at a Brother Cox and say, "There's something different about that man. I don't know what it is, but there's something that's compelling me." I'll tell you what it is: it's the life, the death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's encoded in the fruit. I'm going to tell you something: we don't have to be afraid of anything in this world. We need to walk out into this world — Hallelujah — prayerfully, thankfully, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom — Hallelujah — harmless as a dove, wise as serpents. And we need to walk into this world casting down imaginations, taking every high thing into captivity to the obedience of Christ — Hallelujah — through the fruit of the Spirit. And the fruit of the Spirit, like natural fruit, has antioxidants in it, and those antioxidants work against any kind of unclean vice or virus. And they can try to come against the body of Christ, but when the fruit abounds in the body, there is nothing that can take this body down. I said, when the fruit — I feel the Holy Ghost!

And if you will indulge me, I really want to just convey the heart of God, if I may. It's in my spirit tonight to share with you what I believe is the heart of God. Because God wants us to have love one to another. And if we have love one to another, there is nothing that can withstand the church of the living God. It really is good, and it really is pleasant, for brethren to dwell together in unity. It really is like the precious ointment that ran down upon the beard. I want you to know, ladies and gentlemen, there is no devil in hell that can defeat the church that loves one another. Hallelujah.

The prophet Joel said: "It shall come to pass afterward, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions." It shall come to pass. I'm glad that we're living in the days of the latter rain — and I'm talking about the real latter rain, not the false latter rain. We're living in the real latter rain, and people are receiving the Holy Ghost all across this world. But the prophet Joel said something — and the apostle Peter would quote it in Acts chapter 2 — but he said something here that captures my attention. He said, "afterward." "It shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit, saith the Lord, upon all flesh. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy; old men shall dream dreams; young men shall see visions." That "afterward" catches me. To understand the afterward, we have to go back to what comes prior to that. Joel opens his prophetic book lamenting a calamity and a tragedy that has come upon Israel. He explains that the locusts and the caterpillar and the palmerworm and the cankerworm have come, and they have made bare the vine, and they have caused the harvest field to be wasted. At one point he said to the vine dressers, "Howl, you vine dressers; lament, all you who are engaged in the vine, because the vine has been laid bare, and because the harvest field has been wasted." What a terrible word that is: wasted. What a terrible thing, for an opportunity to be wasted. This is what happened. And Joel diagnosed what it was: he said it was the locust; it was the palmerworm; it was the caterpillar and the cankerworm — these small insects, these little creatures that you can't even really see. They do much destruction under the radar. And he lamented this.

And I have to say tonight, ladies and gentlemen: we must lament when the little things destroy the fruit. We must never let the little things come along and destroy the fruit — the palmerworms of aggressiveness, the locust of sarcasm, the cankerworm of political posturing; the little things that begin to weigh on us; the little offenses that come our way. Because it's the people who go hungry when we allow the little things to eat at the fruit. The palmerworm, the cankerworm, the caterpillar, the locust — these are little fruit consumers and eaters. Solomon said it like this: it's the little foxes that spoil the vine. We allow little things to get in and creep in and do destruction. But the prophet Joel said we need to lament that. We need to howl. He said, "Gather a solemn assembly." He said, "Gather the elders, and gather the young; gather everybody together," and lament that this has happened. This is what he called for. And ladies and gentlemen, I'm glad that when it's time to respond, the elders and the young are able to come together as one and do a work for God. I love that we are a chosen generation. If you are breathing, this is your generation. We're not multiple generations; we are one chosen generation. You might have been young in this generation at one time, and you might be an elder in this generation now, but this is still your generation, and we need you. We've got to gather the solemn assembly, the prophet Joel said, because he said it's time to restore the vine.

As a matter of fact, Joel chapter 1 is a lamentation, but Joel chapter 2 — something starts shifting, something starts changing. The Lord speaks up and says, "I'm going to restore the years that the locust hath eaten. I'm going to restore the years that the cankerworm and the palmerworm and the caterpillar have eaten." Hallelujah. And that's what we lose when we let little things get into the mix: we lose years of precious fellowship, years of precious camaraderie, years of collaborating together to reach the lost. We lose years. But Joel said God is going to restore the years that the locust hath eaten — Hallelujah — the palmerworm, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar. "And it shall come to pass afterward..." I want you to know, we've got to live in the afterward. We've got to live in the era of the restored vine. "It shall come to pass afterward, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams; your young men shall see visions." I know we want to jump to that. I know we want to jump to the blind seeing and the deaf hearing and the lame walking. I know we want to jump into the red-hot revival. But that comes afterward. It comes after we forgive one another. It comes after we pray for one another. It comes after we stop envying each other. It comes after we lay aside our offenses. It comes after — can I say it — it comes after we stop not speaking to each other. There shouldn't be anybody in this room that we shouldn't be able to greet with a holy hug and a firm handshake and say, "You're my brother; you're my sister; I love you; let's reach this world together."

I'm going to go ahead and declare a prophetic declaration: this generation — Hallelujah — and that means everybody in this room: we're done with division. We're done with disunity. We're done with envy. We're done with it. We want Jesus. We want the fruitful vine. We want to feed the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We don't care who gets the credit. We don't care who gets the credit. We don't care who gets the money. We want revival. I want to see the lame walk. I want to see the blind see. But I want you to know: that comes afterward. Oh God, we can't do it without the fruit of the Spirit. We must preach the truth — yes, we must preach the truth — but even the truth must be spoken in love. We must have holiness — you better believe we must have holiness — but even holiness must be followed with peace, without which no man shall see the Lord. Oh, we need doctrine — you better believe we must have sound doctrine — but when we reprove and rebuke and exhort with doctrine, it's with all long-suffering and doctrine. If we try to achieve holiness without the fruit of the Spirit, you will not end up with holiness; you will end up with haughtiness. You will end up with a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. The power of godliness is the fruit of the Spirit. That's why godliness with contentment is great gain.

I'm going to tell you: the very next revival that's coming is the revival of fruit. It's a revival of love and joy and gentleness and meekness. It's a revival of serving one another. Hallelujah. This is why, when Joseph looked at the butler and heard the vision that he shared, he knew immediately: this vision is going to live. It's going to live. This vision is going to live. You want to know why it's going to live? Because in the center of the vision is a fruitful vine. The baker comes along and shares his vision, and Joseph says: your vision is about what the baker said — "Me, I was in the vision, and I had baskets on my head" — and Joseph said, "It'll die." That's a death vision. And if your vision is about you, it will die. But if your vision is about the fruitful vine, you're going to live, and nothing can kill you.

Joseph understood this, because he remembers when he had vision. And his visions were from God, and they were about the harvest, and they were about heaven. But strangely, in each of his visions, he just kind of kept emerging as the center of it all. And before his adversity, he could dream dreams — but it took adversity for him to interpret dreams. Before adversity, he had no problem seeing vision — and they were God visions. They were God visions, Hallelujah, they were God visions. But it took adversity — Hallelujah — for him to begin bearing the fruit of understanding: even though it's my sheaf rising, it's not about me; it's about Him. It's about feeding the world. It's about feeding hungry souls throughout the world. That's why, when he looked at Pharaoh's dream — and Pharaoh said there were seven well-favored kine — and Joseph said, "That's a vision of life. That's a vision of life. I see the vision; I see Him in every vision. That's a vision of life." And if we will take seven years to be fruitful, there is nothing that can stand in our way. "Pharaoh, let's be fruitful. Let's be fruitful. Let's take the next seven years and just bear fruit, bear fruit, bear fruit. Because there's going to come a day when we're going to open the storehouse of that fruit, and the whole world is going to receive nourishment."

Hallelujah. I'm preaching to some of the most magnificent visionaries that the world has ever known, and I just want to come into this place, if I may, and humbly implore us as the body of Christ to say: let's make sure the vine is in the center of the vision, and let's make him fruitful — love, goodness, meekness, joy, faith, humility. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I love you. I'm for you. We're in this thing together. Let's reach our city together. We're not in competition; we're in collaboration. We're not trying to outdo one another; we're trying to win the lost. Hallelujah. We are all for iron sharpening iron, but we're not for bludgeoning brothers. We're all for provoking one another to good works, but we're not for provoking one another to wrath. We are in this thing together. Somebody lift your hands and give Him praise right now. Somebody lift your hands; lift your voice. Oh, I feel love growing in this room. I feel joy growing in this room. Hallelujah. I feel forgiveness growing in this room.

You could stand with me — you can stand with me, and musicians can come. God bless you. My great-grandfather received the Holy Ghost in Chicago, Illinois. He wanted to go back home to the Middle East and tell everybody he knew about the Holy Ghost. And he knew that they were in the middle of a genocide, and that he would likely lose his life. He was prepared to die the death of a martyr. And as he went back to the Middle East, he prayed and said, "Lord, I need all nine gifts of the Spirit to operate in me." And the Lord said, "You're praying the wrong prayer." He said, "Well then, I at least need two. I at least — I think, God, if you'll give me the discerning of spirits and the working of miracles, I'll be just fine. We can do a lot with those two gifts." God said, "You're still praying the wrong prayer." He said, "Lord, what prayer should I pray?" And the Lord said, "Ask me to give you compassion." He said, "If you have compassion, all gifts will flow through you."

Listen, listen, listen: the fruit of the Spirit will grow; the gifts of the Spirit will flow. Before the miraculous took place in the ministry of Jesus, He was moved with compassion. Fruit just began to shoot forth from the branches of that vine, and it was that fruit that began to touch and heal. I know — I thank God that we can flow in the prophetic — but can we flow in patience? Thank God — I thank God that we are able to operate in the gift of faith — but can you operate in the gift of humility, the fruit of meekness and self-control? I feel like there's fruit growing in this house, and I feel like the Holy Ghost is compelling someone right now.

I'm going to open these altars. You have an envelope — you have an envelope. I want you to grab that envelope; it's self-explanatory. When the fruit begins to grow, ladies and gentlemen, you're going to give out of an abundance of cheer to the things of God. But I want you to come and say, "Lord, fruit of the Spirit, grow in me. Let something change in me this week. I want revival in my [city?]." I've come to that revival that you're seeking, and that you know God has promised you. It will come afterward. It will come after you allow the fruit of the Spirit to grow in your relationships. You can't be humble by yourself; only God can give you humility. You can't be meek by yourself; only God can give you meekness. Come on, that's it. I love seeing young people. Come on, young people, bring it all to Jesus. Some of you are going to be elected to high positions in this fellowship, and some of you are not. And however God orchestrates that is perfectly fine, because we're all in this together. And we're going to support whoever God promotes, and we're going to be behind them and say, "Go all the way; I'm with you; do all that is in my heart." Because we're done with envy. We're done with it. We're not falling into that trap. This is not a vision that dies; this is a vision that lives. It's not about me; it's about Jesus. It's not about you; it's about Jesus. Can you pour your heart out to God right now? Can you pour your heart out to God right now?

There's a love sweeping over this conference right now. There is a love of God sweeping over this conference right now. It is a holy love, and you need to let it get a hold of you right now. It's the love of God that's going to change your life; it's going to change your ministry. It's full of forgiveness. It is full of being a peacemaker. It's rich and refreshing. It's going to free you. It's going to free you right now, and your ministry is going to expand. Hallelujah. And you're going to have a ministry to hurting and broken people that maybe you couldn't even relate to before this moment. But God is getting ready to work. The love of God — Hallelujah — He's going to shed it abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. Come on, let it happen right now, all across this building. Let it happen in the name.