Play All
     1. Day by Day   (3:06)
     2. Congregational reading, Prayer, Hymn: Close to Thee   (4:32)
     3. Psalm 91   (29:24)
     4. Hiding in Thee   (3:20)
     5. Nearer, Still Nearer, first and last verses   (3:11)

Psalm 91.  He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. ²I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. ³Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. ⁴He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. ⁵Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; ⁶Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. ⁷A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. ⁸Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. ⁹Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; ¹⁰There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. ¹¹For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. ¹²They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. ¹³Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. ¹⁴Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. ¹⁵He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. ¹⁶With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

[Congregational reading of Psalm 91]

Wonderful Psalm!  Let’s talk to Jesus again.  Dear Lord, we recognize Thy presence.  We recognize thy word too—the power of the Spirit of God.  And we do recognize our deep need, perhaps not as deeply as we should.  But we’re so glad to know that You know our need, and that’s why You’ve given us this word, this Psalm, this wonderful Psalm.  That’s why You have opened the gate into that secret place of the most High.  Oh, “draw me.  We will run after Thee.”  Jesus, Jesus.

[Hymn: Close to Thee, verses 1 and 2]

It is such a tremendously wonderful thing to be saved.  And I know tonight that nobody can get saved unless God saves them. You can’t do it yourself.  But it is a wonderful, wonderful thing, and a great honor if God saves you.  People think that, oh, the Lord ought to be so happy if they come to church once in a while, and if they sing a few songs, and maybe come to prayer meeting too during the week.  Why, the angels ought to turn somersaults for joy that one scalawag comes to church.  Beloved, I tell you something: “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” by millions of so-called Christians when they sink into hell, and they cry for one drop of water to cool their parched tongue.  It is a great victory when God really saves a person and so many people are not saved at all, or they’re only half-saved.  They make a decision under the power of some emotional preaching, maybe.  But it’s a different thing when the Spirit of God unsheathes His sword and shows you that you’re a hell-bound sinner—like the Apostle Paul: “Oh, wretched man that I am!”

…

I was like the Apostle Paul: good church member, good church member—everybody appreciated me.  I’d never gotten into sin, never gotten into the world, never defiled myself, shunned lies or anything of that nature.  All worldliness was far from me, but God had not been able to dig down into my soul to show me the corruption that I had inherited from Adam.  What a blessing, what an honor, what a grace when God is bound to save you! 

And I know that many, many people are under that light but they don’t obey God.  We’re living in a time when “the prosperity of fools shall slay them.”  What “churchianity” do we develop!  What a bunch of hypocrites we fill our churches with!  What an awful thing when people are not brought to the Fountain of Blood and made to realize that Jesus Christ had to die to save them!  There’s nothing that’ll save you but the blood of Jesus Christ.  And, listen, when you go to Calvary, and you find out what your salvation cost your Savior, you’re not going to play with your sin anymore.

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One old woman came to me recently in Germany.  She says, “I killed my children.  What shall I do?”  She had done what thousands of women do, thousands of women—church women—do.  On Easter Sunday, they put on a new hat in order to cover the corruption, and the murderous spirit that dwells in their souls.  And I tell you, there’s no religious garb that’ll save you from the corruption that you’re living in.  It takes blood—the blood of my God alone, flowing through my veins!

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I don’t mind to talk like this.  I know people say, “Well, Brother Waldvogel’s a carp.”  No sir, I’m not aiming at you at all.  Go where you belong!  I’m talking to those who “hunger and thirst after righteousness.”  I’m talking to those who cry “Oh, who shall deliver me from the body of this death.”  I can point you to a fountain that’s filled with blood—blood of the Lamb of God.  And as you plunge into that fountain, you’ll come out whiter than the snow.  And I’ll bring you to the throne of the Lamb, hallelujah!  He is “in the midst of the throne.”  And He has all power, and He has all wisdom.  And He says, “If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” “and I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth.” 

Oh, this Spirit of Truth is the Fountain of Life—is the Stream of Life that flows from the very heart of the Father, and brings life wherever it is received.  Beloved, why are we not filled with the Holy Ghost?  We don’t pay the price.  We don’t make “the Lord who is my refuge…our habitation.”  It costs something.  

It cost my God everything.  My God had to become flesh and dwell among us.  And He had to go through death.  And He had to rise again from the dead.  And He had to receive from the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost in order to make this life possible.  But it’s not only possible it is inevitable.  “Children, abide in Him that when He shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.”  I’m not surprised that people are not waiting longingly for the coming of the Lord.  They’re scared, they’re afraid, they’re not ready.  They’re not getting ready.  I’m so glad the Bible tells us how to get ready: “Ye are clean through the words which I have spoken unto you.”

…

How did it become real?  Well, the first thing that God showed me was this: that “whatsoever ye ask the Father in My name, that will I do”—showed me a life of prayer, a life of drawing “nigh unto God, and He will draw nigh” to me.  Only Jesus Christ has opened the way into that sanctuary.  But, oh, how imperatively necessary it is for me to live like that.  “Because thou hast made the Lord, even my refuge, your habitation.” 

Jesus Christ who spoke His words of love and then went away to be with the Father said, “Abide in Me, and I in you.”  And He tells us what will happen to those who abide in Him.  First of all, He says, “He that abideth in Him sinneth not.”  There’s the protection I need!  It’s God Himself spreading His wings, covering me with His own mantle, hiding me in His great heart.  It is the “secret place” that men don’t find unless they seek it, unless through the power of the Holy Ghost they’re introduced into it.

…

He that “sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him.”  That’s why the Apostle Paul says, “One thing I do.  I press toward the mark that I might know Him, and the power of His resurrection.”  Children of God, we have a wonderful Friend, a marvelous Savior, who not only saves us, but He becomes our Salvation!  “God is my salvation,” thank God!   You can’t divide that fullness of salvation…

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He says, “If ye abide in Me, you will bring forth much fruit.”  And that means everybody: branches in the Vine.  And I think that we’re very foolish if we try to produce fruit ourselves in our own strength, as many, many, many try to do that.  And what a botch they make of it!  But, you know, it’s one thing to be successful.  In Germany, you can have meetings of thousands of people; all you have to do is say, “Signs and wonders,” and they jump on your neck, the whole nation.  That’s why we don’t do that.  It’s a different thing to be “a tree planted by the river of water” and “bringing forth your fruit in your season.”  That fruit will remain forever.

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Don’t be fooled: “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”  I’ve seen that too: “With thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.”  You see that every day.  They try to fool God, they try to get away without abiding in that secret place of the most High God.  And today, the battlefield is strewn with dry branches that are withered and ready for the fire.

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Comments on children as miraculous creations of God.  “Every part of that body speaks of the wonderful wisdom and power of God.”    (from 14:12)

A soldier rejected from service.  “Why is it that so many of us are rejected from service to the King?  Oh, my Lord and my God: ‘If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.’  The Holy Ghost does not come upon proud minds and proud hearts, but upon hearts that are cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ—purified from all iniquity.”    (from 18:03)

A dog protected from its cruel owner by the embrace of a lion.  “He was safe—perfectly safe in the embrace of this lion…  Beloved, there is a ‘Lion of the tribe of Judah.’”    (from 22:56)

An illustration of ministers who failed to seek God.  “The question is: do you want Jesus?  Do you want Him?  Listen, they ‘that seek Me early shall find Me.’  And there’s no other way… [When] we started out…there was a group of ministers, more than a dozen.  Where are they?”    (from 26:37)

“Geh mal bei mich, aber rasch!” — This Berliner’s butchered German for “Komm zu mir, aber schnell!” — “Come to me, quick!”

“Er g’sieht net guad, er hört net guad ond kann net weidl laufa.”  This is swiss dialect and means “he does not see well, he does not hear well, and cannot walk well.”  In German it would be “Er sieht nicht gut, er hört nicht gut und kann nicht gut gehen.”

Audio Quality: Poor

Original tape marked (39) C/90.  See project notes for 20A.  Some stutters, coughs, and many pops were removed.  A number of long pauses were shortened.

The original media and project files are available upon request.