The Lord Is My Shepherd

He's All I Want

A fresh, inspiring exposition of the Twenty-third Psalm, based upon a much

loved series of sermons preached under the Miracle Revival Tent and in

auditoriums all over America and in foreign lands.

BY R. W. SCHAMBACH

1973

Schambach Miracle Revivals, Inc.

P. O. Box 1

Ellwood City, Penna. 16117

R. W . Schambach

Pastor of four MIRACLE TEMPLE churches, in

Brooklyn, Newark, Philadelphia, and Chicago.

Evangelist, bringing the message of POWER to

America and the world in our day, with signs

following.

Missionary, preaching the gospel with

demonstration of God's power in many parts of

the world, and providing for the support of full

time missionaries in Africa, Indonesia, New

Guinea.

Writer of a number of faith inspiring books and articles.

Radio and Television minister.

The message of this book is taken from tape transcriptions of a series

of radio and revival sermons.

THE TWENTY-THIRD PSALM

A Psalm of David

The Lord is my shepherd: I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

He leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of

righteousness for His name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 1

will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they

comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine

enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my

life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Contents

I He's All I Want

7

II I Shall Not Want for Rest

13

III I Shall Not Want for Refreshment

19

IV I Shall Not Want for Restoration

23

V I Shall Not Want for Guidance

29

VI I Shall Not Want for Courage

39

VII I Shall Not Want for Comfort

53

VIII I Shall Not Want for Supply

61

IX I Shall Not Want for Protection

71

X I Shall Not Want for Power

81

XI I Shall Not Want for Joy

97

XII Look Out! Something Is Following You!

99

Chapter I

He's All I Want

I

The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.

Psalm 23:1.

Not your shepherd. My shepherd!

You must claim him for yourself. You, individually, must say of

him, "The Lord is my shepherd."

We live in an age when people are very much concerned with

things.

Psalm 23 contains a list of things that people want, every one of

them promised. But you must get your eyes off the things and onto the

shepherd.

A pastor was encouraging the little children in his Sunday School

to memorize scripture, and calling upon some child each Sunday

morning to quote what he had memorized during the morning worship

service. One Sunday, a tiny girl declared that she would quote the

Twenty-third Psalm.

The pastor said, "That is wonderful." She was so tiny to have

memorized so large a passage of scripture. When the time came in the

service, he called her name. She stood to her feet, beaming with joy,

gave her quotation and sat down:

"The Lord is my shepherd. He's all I want!"

Because I have the shepherd, I shall never want for any of the

things!

"All that I want is in Jesus. He satisfies. Joy He supplies. All that I

want is in Jesus, All things in Jesus I find!"

To obtain a proper perspective regarding the shepherd as set forth

in Psalm 23, you will need to read the preceding Psalm and the one

following. These three Psalms, 22, 23 and 24, refer directly to our

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He's All I Want

Lord Jesus Christ, and progress through the three phases of His

ministry and shepherdhood: (1) the good shepherd; (2) the great

shepherd, and (3) the chief shepherd. These three phases are clearly

defined in the New Testament.

In John 10:11, He is the good shepherd.

"I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life

for the sheep."

Every Christian knows Him as the good shepherd. Even people

who are not saved know about the cross. They say, "Oh, yes! He died

on the cross!"

"My sins deserved eternal death, But Jesus died for me!"

This is historical, you see—the good shepherd!

But when the crucified Christ came forth from the grave, raised

from the dead on the third day, He became the great shepherd, who is

now seated on the right hand of God the Father, where He makes

intercession for you and for me.

"Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our

Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep …"

Hebrews 13:20.

"It is Christ that died, yes rather, that is risen again, who is even

at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us."

Romans 8:34.

I am here representing Him, but He is there representing me! My

great shepherd!

Then, the third aspect of Christ as shepherd: the chief shepherd.

Peter's epistle declares:

"When the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown

of glory that fadeth not away."

I Peter 5:4.

The chief shepherd, our coming King!

The good shepherd; the great shepherd; the chief shepherd!

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He's All I Want

We know Him as the good shepherd: "He died for me.

Of the chief shepherd, we say, "One of these days, Jesus is coming

back again."

We throw it back into the past, or out into the future. But what

about now?

This is the "now generation."

What does Christianity offer for today?

We are serving a "right now" God!

"I AM" is His name!

For today, we have the great shepherd!

In the New Testament, Christ is referred to as prophet, priest, and

king.

He came from God to man as prophet.

He went back to God for man as priest.

One day very soon, He is coming back in clouds of splendor as

king.

There, again, are the three aspects.

He came forth out of His mother's womb, the good shepherd. He

came out of the empty tomb, the great shepherd. Out of the virgin

skies, He is coming soon, the chief shepherd.

Hallelujah!

It is wonderful to know that two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ

died on Calvary for my sins, but what is He doing now? That is what

arouses my interest today.

Today, I need a shepherd.

And today Jesus Christ is my great shepherd.

Oh, the greatness of our Lord! We do not know—we cannot

fathom how great!

I love to sing that song, HOW GREAT THOU ART!

Back to the good shepherd.

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He's All I Want

Look at Psalm 22:1:

"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so

far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?"

These are the words of Jesus' cry from the cross. (See Matthew

27:46.)

"For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have

inclosed me: they pierce my hands and my feet. I may tell all my

bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among

them, and cast lots upon my vesture."

Psalm 22:16-18.

Psalm 22 is a direct, unmistakable reference to the good shepherd,

Christ dying for me.

Now, skip over to Psalm 24:7:

"Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up ye everlasting

doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of

glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up

your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and

the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord

of hosts, he is the King of glory."

Now, this is a direct reference to the chief shepherd, Christ

returning in triumph.

Psalm 22, the good shepherd; Psalm 24, the chief shepherd; but in

between, Psalm 23—don't mistake it—He is the great shepherd, our

shepherd-priest. A high priest that is touched with the feeling of our

infirmities! (Hebrews 4:15.)

Oh, Hallelujah!

Now!

Today!

Jesus is fulfilling His role as the great high priest, the great

shepherd.

Some may say, "Well, He is up there, somewhere." They think of

Jesus as being up there dangling His feet over some cloud.

I want you to know that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God the

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He's All I Want

Father, in the throne room of the universe. Every time I pray and say,

"Father, in Jesus' name ...," I picture Him standing up and saying,

"Father, that is my brother down there. He invokes my name. Give him

what he wants. Charge it to my account. That is what I died for!"

A high priest who is touched with the feeling of my infirmities!

My great shepherd!

"The Lord is my shepherd: I shall not want."

11

Chapter II

I Shall Not Want for Rest

II

"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures."

Psalm 23:2

Everything that I need, my great shepherd will supply.

This is number one. I shall not want for rest.

The Lord is my shepherd. I am the sheep of his pasture. Keep this

in mind. The shepherd has charge of the flock. It is up to me to follow

my shepherd, But it is his responsibility to provide the rest.

God's people today don't know what rest is. Every disturbing factor

comes alive in their hearts. It is the devil's job to destroy. "The thief

cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that

they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

John 10:10.

"There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God."

Hebrews 4:9.

Rest. Tranquility. Peace. You can't have rest without peace. The

devil strikes at your rest by disturbing your peace of mind.

There are two aspects of peace.

"Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with

God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Romans 5:1.

We are at peace with God because of the sacrifice of Christ on

Calvary. When you are saved from your sins, you are at peace with

God.

But there is more.

"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall

keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

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He's All I Want

Philippians 4:7.

The first was peace with God. That is wonderful. But in

Philippians, Paul says, "the peace of God." Isn't that beautiful? God's

very own peace flooding and filling our "hearts and minds."

Many of God's people, who have settled the sin question and have

peace with God still are disturbed in their hearts and minds, because

they have not found the peace of God.

I shall not want for rest.

Why should I be disturbed? My eye is on the shepherd. I am only a

sheep. It is up to him to provide that shady nook for me to lie down in.

In green pastures!

The devil may come and try to disturb, but I refuse to be disturbed

because the Lord is my rest.

This is the pill age. People have to have a pill to go to sleep—a

tranquilizer. Then they have to have a pill to wake up. Nervous

frustrations, fears, doubts come even into the hearts of believers. They

don't know what rest is, because they do not know Him as the great

shepherd.

I shall not want for rest. Why? Because the Lord is my shepherd.

Hallelujah!

Fear should be obliterated from the hearts of God's people. Yet,

some of God's people are afraid to walk the streets, even to come to

church!

Certainly, those streets may be dangerous, for somebody else. But

you are a child of God.

Why should I be afraid? Whom should I fear? I am not alone.

Before they can get to the sheep, they've got to get past the shepherd. I

have a great shepherd standing guard over my soul! Can you shout

amen?

I want you to see this, beloved.

I shall not want for rest.

Yet every one of our lives come in contact with disturbances, with

14

I Shall Not Want for Rest

causes for fear. Look at the disciples.

They had to rent a boat and row out into the sea so that Jesus could

rest from the demands of the people who followed after him. Jesus lay

down in the "hinder part of the ship" and went to sleep. All of a

sudden, old Slewfoot, the prince and the power of the air, began to

blow up a storm. The waves became boisterous and the ship was

tossed.

Fear gripped every one of those disciples. They began to cry out,

"Where is Jesus?"

Isn't that just like the devil? You think you've got it made. You've

got the finest job in the world, and all of a sudden there is trouble. You

think you have a happy home, with the most perfect husband (or wife)

in the world. Then comes misunderstanding and division. You think

you belong to a perfect church, but along comes something to disturb

you. You say, "Oh, Lord!" Man's days are full of trouble, but as a child

of God, you have learned how to cope with it.

You say, "I'm doing all I know how."

No wonder you have trouble. You are just a sheep. It's the

shepherd's job to ward off the devil.

"Be still and know that I am God."

Fear is faith in reverse. You can't put your faith to work when you

are fearful. You can't go forward in your car when you are backing up.

It's the same car, and you are going somewhere—but you are going

backward. That's what fear does. Faith causes you to progress, but fear

drives you back.

"Where is Jesus?"

Finally one of them found Him.

Disturbed people always have to disturb someone else, especially

those who have peace. They may call you a fanatic, but when trouble

strikes, yours is the first phone they ring.

They woke Him up. "Master, carest thou not that we perish?"

I can see Him looking at them. "What is it, fellows? Why do you

disturb me? How long must I be with you?" In other words, "Why

15

He's All I Want

don't you do something about it?"

Then He looked up into the face of the storm. "Peace. Be still," He

commanded. A calm came over the whole sea. Fears subsided.

"This must be the Son of God!" they declared among themselves.

The point I am trying to make is that Jesus tried to put the

responsibility onto the disciples, but they were helpless. You are in no

position to command winds when you are fearful. Causing

disturbances to come is a trick of the devil to destroy your tranquility.

The battle ground is in your mind. The devil has a way of putting

thoughts into your mind.

I was driving through Pennsylvania from Philadelphia to Chicago.

Half way through Ohio, a sharp pain struck me under the fifth rib,

around the heart. I doubled over in pain, and pulled off the road. The

devil is a master of pain. All of a sudden, he put a thought into my

mind: "Heart trouble."

I said, "Yeah!"

Just a thought, but I was answering that thought. I said, "There was

Brother—, and—. Five." The devil said, "What did they die from?" I

said, "Yeah. Heart trouble." I didn't hear any audible voice. Just

thoughts. Satan plants thoughts in your mind.

But remember Philippians 4:7. Christ will cause peace—the peace

of God—to come into your heart and into your mind. If ever we

needed to put on the mind of Christ, it is today. There is a battle

raging, and it is a trick of the devil to try to disturb you.

Here I am, preaching deliverance, ministering to the sick. I haven't

got any business being sick. And when the pains come, I said, "Yeah!"

"How many brothers did you have that died of heart trouble?"

I said, "Yeah. There was Reuben, and Henry, and Charles. Yeah."

All of a sudden it came to me. I said, "Why, you filthy lying devil,

you! How in the world can Schambach have heart trouble, when Jesus

has got the heart? I'm not sick! I'm healed by His stripes."

The devil said, "It hurts, doesn't it?"

I said, "Hurt all you want to! I am what God says I am."

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I Shall Not Want for Rest

But I tell you the devil knows how to tighten up the vice. He

doesn't let up. You have to learn how to maintain faith by confessing

the Word of God.

I said, "You devil, I'm going to show you that I haven't got heart

trouble." I took the keys out of the ignition and started running down

the turnpike. People in their automobiles must have thought I had

robbed a gas station. They had never seen anybody running down the

turnpike before. They didn't know that I was having it out with the

devil.

I ran until I got my second wind. I must have run a mile. Then I ran

back. There was no pain anywhere, now. I looked for the devil, but I

couldn't find him anywhere. The only time you will find him is when

he is trying to put thoughts into your head and to disturb your rest and

peace.

The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want for rest.

You never go through the fire alone; you've somebody by your

side. He will never leave you nor forsake you, even unto the end of the

age.

"For we which have believed do enter into rest...."

Hebrews 4:3.

But this is what plagues the church today. There is more unbelief

inside the church than there is outside. Sin is outside the church. But

unbelief is the cardinal sin, and that is on the inside. Unbelief is in the

pew. It sits in the choir, in it's beautiful robe. It even stands behind the

pulpit.

Unbelief!

Do you remember old Thomas? What is his nickname? Everybody

knows him as Doubting Thomas. He had healed the sick, and even cast

out devils, as all the disciples did. But after Jesus was crucified and

raised from the dead, he said, "I don't believe it! I saw Him on the

cross, Mary. Don't tell me that He is alive, and that you saw Him. I

saw Him die. You are crazy, woman. I won't believe it until I put my

finger into the nail prints, and cast my hand into His side."

Who is that talking?

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He's All I Want

That is that faith healer, that demon caster outer, Brother Thomas.

You know what I am talking about. When you begin to tell some

people in your church what God has done in your life, they look at you

as if you had just dropped in off Mars. They say, "I won't believe that."

On the job, you work around rank sinners. Tell those sinners what

God did for you, and tears start running down their faces.

A Roman soldier came to Jesus one day, and said, "Master, I have

a servant at home who is sick."

Jesus said, "I will go home with you and heal him."

He said, "Oh, no. I'm not worthy for you to come into my house. I

don't belong to your church. I'm a Roman. I recognize you as a man of

authority. I have authority myself. I have men under me. I instruct one

to go here and he goes, another to come and he comes. My order is

respected and carried out. I've been watching you. You tell evil spirits

to come out, and they obey your word. Deaf ears start hearing. You tell

the lame to walk, and they get up and respond to your word. Speak the

word only, and my servant will be made whole."

Who is he? A Roman soldier! Outside the church! It's the church

folks that are filled with unbelief. We wouldn't want to be accused of

being fanatics, now would we? We've been so educated that we want

an answer to everything, instead of simply taking God at His word.

Jesus said, "I haven't found such faith in the whole house of

Israel."

"Speak the word only ..."

You've got to learn how to rest in Him. If He said it, He will make

it good; if He spoke it, He will bring it to pass.

The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want for rest. Why?

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures!

18

Chapter III

I Shall Not Want for Refreshment

III

"He leadeth me beside the still waters."

Psalm 23:2b

Still waters!

Some expositors declare that the word "still" should be in the past

tense. One writer says it should read, "He leadeth me beside stilled

waters."

I'm not an expositor, just a preacher, but I like what he says.

Picture the Palestinian shepherd as he leads his flocks around

mountainous areas. It is almost impossible to find water that is still. As

the streams find their way down the mountainside, over stones, into

little creeks and outlets, there is a noise and rustle of the waters.

There is a tendency born into sheep to fear water. The reason is

obvious. With that heavy coat of wool, if that sheep should fall into the

water the wool would drink up all that water like a sponge and she

would be carried to the bottom and drowned.

The shepherd knows this danger, and is careful to dam up the

rushing stream to form a quiet pool where his sheep may drink in

safety.

Are you in need of refreshment? Come, put your nose down into

the stilled water and drink all you want, with no fear of the rushing,

rustling water.

I like this.

I am His sheep. I shall not want for refreshment.

God knows we need to be refreshed in this hour. It's a stormy

world, isn't it? Trouble comes into every life. It doesn't matter who you

are, trouble comes. But the shepherd has a way of damming up that

trouble, calming the troubled water, causing perfect peace to surround

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He's All I Want

you in the midst of turmoil.

The church cannot provide that peace. You will never find it in

man. Man will disillusion you. Even the best of people will let you

down. Get your eyes off people. Get your eyes on Jesus. He is the

shepherd. He will lead you into the areas of refreshment, beside the

stilled waters.

This is a Psalm of David.

No wonder the Lord loved David. Having been a shepherd, he

understood so well how to commit himself to the great shepherd, as the

sheep of His pasture.

On one occasion, David was on the run, trying to hide from his son

Absalom, who was leading a revolt against him. David didn't want to

take Absalom's life. He could have; David was a warrior. David and a

band of his men met Shimei, a man of the family of Saul. Shimei

began throwing stones at David, cursing as he came. I don't know

about you, but when people start taking the name of my Lord in vain,

something stirs in me. I want to stop them. One of David's men felt just

that way about it. He pulled out his sword and said, "Let me go over

there and cut off his head. Talking to the man of God this way!"

David had more grace. He said, "Hold it! Leave him alone. If God

wanted him stopped, He could stop him. There must be something

good waiting for me down the road." (See 2 Samuel 16.)

It is nothing but a trick of the devil, when God has a blessing

waiting for you, to disturb your peace and cause you to get off the

track and miss it.

"Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try

you."

That is Satan's business, to disturb you in any way he can. David

refused to fall into his trap.

May I relate a personal experience?

Out in California, driving down one of those freeways, my foot got

heavy on the accelerator. All at once, I looked in my rear view mirror

and saw a red light flashing. The officer pulled me over, got out of his

car, and came toward me. I never like to put myself at a disadvantage,

20

I Shall Not Want for Refreshment

so I got out of my car and started back to meet him. He came toward

me cursing, taking the name of Jesus in vain. I wanted to knock his

teeth out. I wanted to shut him up. I believe, I could have done it, too.

Suddenly, something warm came over me, like oil. My fists

unclenched. Instead of belting him, I laid hands on him—right on his

chest. I said, "Father, have mercy on this devil. Lord, he hasn't got any

sense. Taking your name in vain! He's just a dirty old sinner. Forgive

him for taking your name in vain, and have mercy on him. Let him be a

better man."

He started shaking in those troopers' boots.

But I was learning something, too. I wanted to belt the rascal, but

God said, "Bless them that curse you." You don't do that yourself. It

takes "something within." It takes the spirit of Christ.

I said, "Sir, please forgive me for praying for you without your

permission, but I just couldn't stand your taking the name of my Lord

in vain. I know you stopped me for speeding. Give me my ticket. I

know I am guilty. My mind was on other things, and my foot got

heavy. I deserve that ticket. Give it to me."

"No, sir," he said. "Go on. The highway is yours."

If I had yielded to the impulse to belt that policeman, the traffic

ticket would have been just the beginning of my troubles. Because I

allowed the spirit of God to melt my heart, God blessed me. God has a

way of reversing the decision and helping you out of trouble.

Don't let your trouble get you down. Get your eyes off the trouble

and onto the Lord. There is always trouble, lurking out there in the

dark, but God has a way of taking that trouble you are going through

and turning it around to His glory. He has a way of bringing you

through and turning it around to His glory. He has a way of bringing

you through until you are completely victorious. You have a shepherd

who is always on the job, who stills the troubled waters.

I shall not want for refreshment.

Why?

The Lord is my shepherd. He leadeth me beside the still waters.

21

Chapter Iv

I Shall Not Want for Restoration

IV

"He restoreth my soul."

Psalm 23:3a.

Because the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want for restoration.

Coming from the depths of an old backslider's heart: I thank God

that He is the restorer.

Many of you were backsliders, too. You have wandered away from

God. But aren't you glad He brought you back?

This is one of the most beautiful roles of the shepherd. I want you

to see it.

Picture the Eastern shepherd, with his flock. Some of the sheep are

at rest, lying down peacefully in the green pastures. Others are

contentedly drinking from the tranquil pools of stilled water. But some

of the sheep have a tendency to want to kick up their heels in the wild

grass. There we see a lamb trotting from clump to clump among the

stones, and bushes, intent upon finding some morsel to his own liking.

Before long, he looks up and finds that the shepherd and the flock

have gone on without him.

"Ba-a-a-! Ba-a-a-a!"

He can't find where they have gone.

But it is not the sheep's job to find the shepherd. He could never

do it.

It is the shepherd who leaves the ninety and nine in the fold to go

forth and seek that one lost sheep. Tenderly, he picks that stray lamb

up in his arms and carries him back to where he belongs. Aren't you

glad He sought after you?

He restoreth my soul.

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He's All I Want

You are not unique among Christians.

After we are saved, sometimes the Christian life comes to seem

monotonous. Doing the same thing, day after day. Things are too easy.

We come to take God's mercies for granted. Before long, we are

playing church. We have our forms, and our ceremonies, and our

rituals. We do from habit the things that brought blessing in the past,

while our minds wander everywhere. Before long, we compromise and

start joining hands with the world. Soon we have wandered out there

into the world. Then comes the day when we look up and say, "Where

has He gone? I can't feel the presence of the Lord any more."

Naturally!

Instead of staying close to Him, you have wandered far away. He

did not desert you; you deserted Him.

Then here comes the shepherd and sees you there, bleating and

crying because you are lost. He reaches down with all His compassion

and tenderness, and picks you up in His arms and brings you back into

the fold. How happy you are to see those other sheep. They look so

sweet. It's so good to be home.

But before long you don't like mingling with those sheep. Some of

them jostle you. Others are so placid and tiresome. You want another

taste of that wild grass.

And He will come back and pick you up again.

"Prone to wander, how I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love."

Watch out, you that are so prone to wander. The shepherd has a

way of dealing with that malady. The shepherd has a crook. He will

pick up that little stray sheep, and he will take that crook in his hand,

and he will crack that little front leg. You won't run away now! He

brings you back to the fold and tenderly binds up the wound. Believe

me, you are going to stay close to the shepherd now. You can't run far

with that broken leg. You are going to need help to get over the rough

spots.

That is the way it is with some of us. We have to be taught a

lesson. I don't know about you, but I am hard headed.

On the other hand, I do know about you. We are all alike, all made

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I Shall Not Want for Restoration

from the same piece of red clay.

You've just got to learn the hard way. You can't learn from the

experience of somebody else. You know the Word says this, and this.

"Well, I knew better. But I just had to find out for myself."

Beloved, if you could only see the greatness, the mercy, the

compassion of God as He searches after us! Someone says, "Ten years

ago, I found the Lord." Not me! He wasn't lost.

I didn't find Him; He found me!

It is the sheep that is lost, not the shepherd.

Many a hospital bed is filled today—many are the tragedies that

people have gone through—because of a stubborn, belligerent attitude

in straying from the fold.

But that isn't the point I want to stress.

It is not only the wild grass that you have to worry about.

Somebody says, "I'm not bothered with worldliness. He's not

hitting me."

That is true. A lot of folks aren't worldly. They are inside the

church. They have lived so pious and holy. They've never strayed out

into the world since God saved them.

But they are lost inside the church.

Talk about worldliness!

You "goodies," I am going to hit you now!

It isn't the wild grass that bothers us. It's getting so occupied with

nibbling the good grass. Even we pastors sometimes get so busy with

our pastoral duties, ministering to the people, studying and preparing

our sermons, that we neglect the most important things. Sunday School

teachers can get so wrapped up in ministering to their classes that they

can be a million miles from God, right there in the church.

See, now, here you are in the fold with other sheep all around you,

but your head is too busy, down in the grass, and before long you look

up and you can't find Him anywhere.

You were too busy nibbling good grass; perfectly legitimate

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He's All I Want

things; no harm in them. Busy "about the Master's business," but

spiritually a million miles away from God.

We are so concerned about the one who has strayed away, but

what about those sheep that are still in the fold?

Let me illustrate this with an experience from my own life.

I love to minister to people, to preach and pray and lay hands on

people.

Out in Chicago, in the early part of my ministry, I was in the midst

of a tremendous revival. After preaching my heart out, I would lay

hands on thousands of people every night. I never like to disappoint

people. Whether they had a prayer card or not, I wouldn't leave until I

had ministered to every one of them. Many nights, I would go home

utterly exhausted, soaking wet, too tired to shower, or even take off my

clothes. I would just throw myself across the bed, look up and say,

"Lord, I'll see you tomorrow. I'm too tired now."

Too busy nibbling good grass!

I would wake up next morning, and it was time for service again.

I love folks. I love to preach. I love to minister. I love to see God's

people delivered. I was throwing myself into it, and God was blessing,

confirming His word with signs following.

Back to my room, so tired. "Lord, you know I'd love to spend some

time with you, but you know I'm so tired I would just go to sleep

anyway. Goodbye for now. See you tomorrow."

So busy with good, legitimate activities that I was separated from

God! But He restoreth my soul! Thank God!

One night I went to my motel room and did that same thing.

Exhausted! Sweat ran out of my shoes. That night, I didn't even take

time to say goodnight.

But at 3:30 in the morning, a bright light came into my room. I sat

up in the bed, startled wide awake. I heard His voice!

"Son, you are spending more time with the people than you are

with me." I looked for an excuse.

"Well, Lord, that's what you called me to do. I have a

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I Shall Not Want for Restoration

responsibility to the people. Isn't that true?"

He said, "True. But before that obligation to the people, you have

an obligation to Me. Before you can minister to the people, I must

minister to you."

Talk about melting my heart!

What you are doing may be perfectly legitimate, but if what you

do separates you from God so that you don't have time to talk with

Him, you need to be restored.

Jesus said, "Without me you can do nothing."

You may think that you are doing this thing. You are preaching,

laying hands on the sick, shouting "Glory, hallelujah!"

You are nothing but a piece of clay.

Are the sick being healed?

This is God, channeling His power through you. You are only an

earthen vessel. The Lord is your shepherd, and because He is your

shepherd, you shall not want. The vessel doesn't bless anybody; the

blessing comes from the out-flowing of that which the shepherd pours

into the vessel.

I have looked back many times on that experience in Chicago. I

could have been a preacher fallen by the wayside, but I thank God

many, many times in my hour of weakness, He has wakened me out of

sleep to fall on my face and spend time in His presence.

Before you can talk effectively for God, you must talk with God.

There is a vital relationship with God which must be maintained hour

by hour and moment by moment.

When Jesus came to the home of Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and

Martha, we see Martha so worried and distressed over preparing lunch

for four people that she complained to Jesus and rebuked Mary for not

helping her. Do you remember the words of Jesus? "Martha, you are

anxious about many things. But Mary hath chosen that better part."

What is wrong with making lunch? (So long, of course, as the day

has not been dedicated for fasting and prayer. What may be perfectly

legitimate for you today may be out of bounds tomorrow.)

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He's All I Want

Don't ever allow your Christian experience to fall into a rut. Start

each day fresh with God. One day, Martha was happy and blessed in

her service of preparing food for the Master. Another day, she was

rebuked for her complaining while she performed that service, when

she could have sat at the Master's feet and feasted on the Bread of

Heaven.

Have legitimate, even commendable, activities separated you from

God?

"He restoreth my soul."

Every moment, every day, every hour we are the sheep of His

pasture.

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Chapter V

I Shall Not Want for Guidance

V

"He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's

sake."

Psalm 23:3b.

I like to translate that, "He leadeth me in the right paths."

Life is filled with mistakes. There are so many possible choices.

Life is like an unmarked road, with blind turns and unmarked

crossings. Each one of us passes along this road but once. How can I

know that I am making the right choice? What will be the result if I

choose the wrong turn?

A business deal presents itself. We cry out, "Oh, Lord, help me

make the right decision."

Life is filled with indecision. At the moment of crisis, you may be

swept along, not knowing whether you are doing right or wrong. But

as a child of God, you can know before you make a decision that it is

right.

Why?

The Lord is your shepherd, and He will lead you in the right path.

You can know what the will of God is for your life. This is the

important element in any choice. The Christian must have divine

guidance. God has provided guidance for the sheep of His pasture.

There is no reason for you to go astray. Depend upon the shepherd. He

will lead you in the right path if you keep your eyes on him.

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow

me."

John 10:27.

Isn't that beautiful? We are the sheep of His pasture. We hear His

voice.

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He's All I Want

"Yes, but how do I know it is His voice that I hear?"

Jesus said, "They know my voice, and a stranger's voice will they

not follow."

When my wife calls and says, "Hello, Sweetheart," I don't say,

"Who is this calling me Sweetheart?" I know that voice. I have become

familiar with it, and it thrills me.

You don't know whether it is God's voice talking to you, or

whether it might be old Slewfoot?

Perhaps you haven't been hearing God's voice long enough, or

don't hear it often enough.

We need to sharpen our senses. Some people have to be hit on the

head in order to start listening. We should be so attentive to do His

will—so attuned to Him—that when He speaks in a still, small voice

saying, "This is the way; walk ye in it," we would answer without a

moments' hesitation, "Speak, Lord. Thy servant heareth."

"He leadeth me in the right paths."

God said, "Abraham."

Abraham said, "Yes, Lord. What is it?" He knew that voice.

God said, "Abraham, you are going to have a son." Abraham didn't

say, "Lord, you've got the wrong man. I'm too old. I am seventy-five.

You must mean my neighbor."

No.

That was God talking, and talking to Abraham. Abraham knew

that voice.

This is one of the greatest lessons of faith. You see a promise in

God's Word. It looks good. Then you start looking at your own

situation, and what you see wipes it out.

Abraham "considered not his own body, now dead, when he was

about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb."

If Abraham had looked at conditions, he would never have had a son.

Instead, he looked to the promise. He said, "Lord, you said it. If you

said it, you have got to bring it to pass." He leaned on the Word of

God.

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I Shall Not Want for Guidance

God said, "You think it is difficult at seventy-five? I'll let you wait

another twenty-five years." So God waited to fulfill the promise until

Abraham was a hundred years old.

Now Sarah was standing inside the tent door while the Lord was

speaking. When she heard God's promise to her husband, she laughed.

That is the way we are, you know.

Unbelief!

It's too good to be true!

Don't criticize Sarah. You've laughed at God's promises, too!

But God is so fair and generous. Sarah's laugh is by no means the

end of it. Sarah made the "faith chapter" (Hebrews 11) right along with

Abraham, Enoch, Abel, Noah.

"Through faith Sarah also herself...."

This could read, "Even Sarah made it."

When I read that, and recall how Sarah laughed, I think, Lord,

there is hope for Schambach. Maybe even I will make it!

It is beautiful to know that even though Sarah's heart was filled

with doubt concerning her own husband's ability, she could manifest

faith. You may have doubts about your loved ones, but never doubt

God. If He said it, He will do it. If He spoke it, He will bring it to pass.

Years later, after the child had been born and had grown to

adolescence, Abraham heard that voice again. He knew that voice. It

said, "Abraham, take your son Isaac up on the mountain, and offer

him up as a sacrifice."

Did you ever sit down and think, "I wonder. Is that God talking to

me? Or could it be the devil imitating God's voice?"

Abraham might have said, "God gave me Isaac. Maybe the devil is

trying to cheat me out of my blessing."

Not Abraham. He knew that voice.

Abraham said, "Isaac, come on. We are going up on the mountain.

We are going to have church, and offer a sacrifice. Get the wood. I will

carry the knife and the rope."

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He's All I Want

Half way up the mountain, Abraham said to the servants, "Stay

here. Isaac and I are going up and offer a sacrifice. We'll be back."

Abraham was determined to obey God's command, to slay his son

and offer him as a sacrifice. Yet he didn't say, "I will be back." He said

"We will."

What kind of faith is that?

He knew God's promise regarding Isaac concerning the ages to

come, yet he knew God's voice and did not hesitate to obey because he

could not understand. He didn't know how God would do it, but he

trusted completely that it would be done.

Isaac, of course, is a type of Christ in that sacrifice. Christ was

sacrificed and was raised from the dead. Abraham believed in his heart

that God would raise Isaac from the dead in order to fulfill the

promise, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."

When Abraham arrived at the top of that mountain, he built an

altar. He didn't wait for the Lord to provide, even though he believed

in Jehovah Jirah (the Lord will provide). He took his son and bound

him and laid him on that altar.

Still, God didn't stop him.

A lot of times, when you have been put to a test, you find it easy to

lose patience. You look up and say, "All right, Lord. I've been faithful,

now. Let's get me out of this mess."

He's not through with you yet!

Abraham stretched Isaac out on that altar, and bound him there. He

pulled out the knife and was on the downward plunge. Then the angel

of God stopped him. The knife never touched Isaac. God said, "Now I

know that you love me more than you do your son. Abraham, turn

around."

There, he saw a ram with its horns caught in the bushes. Abraham

took the knife and cut the ropes off his son. He said, "Isaac, go get that

ram. God has provided a sacrifice, and now we are going to have

church."

Abraham was obedient to the voice of God.

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I Shall Not Want for Guidance

Are you in the right path? Or did you listen to the wrong voice?

Beloved, we are living in the age of voices.

Not long ago, a preacher came in and said, "I heard a voice."

He didn't say that it was God's voice. He just said "a voice."

When you hear God's voice, you don't have to ask somebody, "Do

you think I ought to do this?" People come to me from time to time and

say, "I feel led to do this thing. Do you think that I ought to do it?"

I say, "Don't get me mixed up with God in your mind. If God told

you to do something, you don't have to ask anybody what they think. If

you have to go around asking, then there is indecision on your part. If

you don't know whether it was God speaking to you or Old Slewfoot,

you had better find out!"

That preacher came in and said, "A voice—!" Then he said, "An

Angel—."

He said, "An angel came and stood at the foot of my bed. The

angel told me, "You will never amount to anything until you divorce

your wife and marry this other woman.'"

Yes, it certainly was a voice, and it was an angel. But it was not

the voice of God, and it was not the angel of God.

That man had had a good ministry. He was reaching people for

God, and miracles were taking place, but the voice said, "You will

never have the crowds until you do this."

How does it happen that the "other woman" is always younger,

and prettier? Why couldn't she be older?

Do you know why people come asking about things like this? They

are looking for somebody to side with them, so that they can feel free

to do what they want to do. They won't listen to God, anyway.

He said, "Brother Schambach, what do you think?"

I said, "I am not going to tell you what I think. We will just open

the Bible and see what God says about this thing. This is God's voice,

right here in the Book. That is God's revealed will. You go contrary to

it, and you are on the wrong path. I don't care who told you to do it

differently, whether it be man or angel. God has spoken, and let every

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He's All I Want

devil be a liar but let God be true."

Do you know what that man is doing now?

He followed that "voice," and today he is out of the ministry,

fallen by the wayside, living in a literal hell on earth.

Turn to Ephesians 1:18.

"The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may

know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory

of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness

of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his

mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from

the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and

every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that

which is to come."

That your understanding might be enlightened!

God has made provision for us to know and understand.

In Colossians 1:9-11, Paul declares,

"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 in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk

worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good

work, and increasing in the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and

spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto

all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the

knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to his

glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness."

Paul is praying for these people that they might know what the will

of God is. He is persuaded that every person can know the will of God,

the right path.

I know that I am in the will of God, preaching His Word.

I have not always been in the will of God.

When God called me to preach, I hit the wrong path. I said,

"Nothing doing! Not me!" Instead, I joined the Navy. That seemed like

a good way to get out of it, like Jonah. Jonah joined the navy, too, but

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I Shall Not Want for Guidance

instead of a ship he got a fish! When I joined the Navy, I got a ship

right away, and went down to Bermuda on a shake-down cruise. I

thought I would get away from God, but when I got to Bermuda, I

found He was there. We went down through Panama, and I found Him

there. On to Hawaii, to Wake Island, to the Philippines, to Iwo Jima

and Okinawa—everywhere, He was there. He even followed me into

Japan.

I said, "Oh, Lord, I give up! I'll do it!"

Beloved, the most important thing in life is to be in the will of

God. By this, I mean the specific will of God for the conduct of your

own life—God's will for you. This is one of the most precious things

in this Psalm.

The Lord is my shepherd. He leadeth me in the right path.

I am walking in the path of God's will for me.

This doesn't mean that what I am doing is God's will for you, but

God has a perfect will for you, too—a perfect plan for your life. God

doesn't cram every one of us into one mold, but He does have a divine

purpose for every one of our lives. Remember, you didn't choose Him;

He chose you.

I fall back on this many times. I say, "Lord, you got me into this;

now get me out!" I can say that—I can be bold—because He is the

shepherd. When I follow the shepherd, when I know that I am doing

His will, I can be brave and know that it is His responsibility to carry

me through.

I could break this down. There is a perfect will of God, and there

is a permissive will.

God had His hand on Moses and had chosen him for his life's work

before he was even born.

When Paul—Saul of Tarsus, the man who was killing Christians

and had letters authorizing him to find any Christians he could and

throw them into jail—was knocked down and blinded on the road to

Damascus, a voice spoke to him, saying, "Saul, why persecutest thou

me?"

"Who is it, Lord?"

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He's All I Want

He knew who it was!

"Jesus of Nazareth. It is hard for you to kick against the pricks."

Like an ox hitched to an ox cart, pricked by goads to keep him on

the right path, no matter which way you turn you are being pricked

right back into the direction of the will of God.

"I have called you from your mother's womb. I've got a job for

you to do. Arise, go into the city, and it shall be shown unto thee

what thou shalt do."

Paul surrendered his life, and got into the will of God, the most

important thing.

Now, consider Moses.

God preserved that boy from death. Pharaoh heard that a deliverer

would be born, who would deliver God's people. To prevent that from

happening, he decreed that every Hebrew boy should be killed, from

birth up to two years of age.

God preserved that one baby.

This was not chance. When the decree was issued, I can picture

the parents bringing their little ones and offering them for slaughter.

Not Moses' mother! She saw there was something in that child that

other mothers didn't see in their children. She said, "You devil, you

aren't going to kill my baby!" She put him in a basket, treated inside

and outside with pitch to make it waterproof, and put him out in the

river. She said, "He's yours, Lord!"

God blew His breath, and blew that basket right down the river to

the place where Pharaoh’s daughter was bathing. When she looked

into that basket and saw the baby, she fell in love with him. She picked

him up and took him to the palace. She said, "I want to keep this

baby."

Then, she goes out and hires Moses' own mother and gives her a

salary to come to the palace and take care of her own baby!

Who is this?

This is the one that God had picked out, the one He is going to use

to deliver His people. I like that! The will of God!

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I Shall Not Want for Guidance

Pharaoh paid for the boy's keep. He sat down and ate at the king's

table. He was educated in the finest colleges and universities of the

day, and became the greatest captain in Pharaoh's army. He was next in

line to take over the king's chair. He could have been prime minister of

Egypt.

But Moses knew deep down in his heart that God had something

else for him to do. He was the one God had chosen to bring the people

out of bondage and out of captivity. Choosing rather to suffer

affliction with the people of God, he turned his back upon the treasures

of Egypt.

Then what did he do? Moses knew he had to slay those Egyptians,

so the first thing he did was to kill one, and bury him in the sand.

Moses didn't have enough years left to kill all those Egyptians, one by

one, nor enough sand to bury them.

When God calls you to do something, you can't do it your way.

You've got to do it His way.

God had to get hold of that called man and put him on the back

side of the desert, in God's own special seminary, for forty years. I'm

not talking about Harvard. I'm talking about the school of hard knocks.

But when that forty years was over, Moses was ready to succeed at

the task God had given him to do.

I shall not want for guidance, because the Lord is my Shepherd,

and He leads me in the right path.

Father, lead us in the right path. Let us know what is your perfect

will for us, and let us move into the center of that will and do what you

have called us to do. Amen.

37

Chapter VI

I Shall Not Want for Courage

VI

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I

shall fear no evil.

Psalm 23:4a.

I shall not want for courage.

Always keep in mind that you are only a sheep.

Sometimes God's people have a tendency to throw their shoulders

back, like we are somebody, to become high-minded.

We need to remember that we, ourselves, are nothing but mud.

Anything more than that is only what Christ has worked in and through

us. Every one of us, if we are to advance in Christ, must be reduced to

an absolutely irreducible minimum.

John the Baptist declared, "He must increase, but I must

decrease." (John 3:30.) Jesus said of him, "Among them that are born

of women, there is not a greater than John."

Paul said, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not

I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I

live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for

me." (Galatians 2:20.)

Now hear this!

You don't have to ask the shepherd to come down and guide you;

He is in you! He said, "I will walk in you, and I will talk in you. I will

be your God and you shall be my people."

If there is anything a sheep needs, it is courage. A sheep is the

most defenseless creature on the face of God's earth. He has nothing

with which to defend himself. What does a sheep need with courage? I

will let you know, in just a moment. But first, take a look at that sheep.

Next to a lion, what can he do? He can be eaten, that's what he can

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He's All I Want

do! Or faced with a wolf, or a bear, the sheep is absolutely helpless. It

would do him no good to stand and fight. Out there roaming around in

the field, what do you need courage for?

Here's the secret. You need courage, not to fight the enemy, but to

trust the Shepherd! That takes courage!

I have a tendency to like to do my own fighting, don't you? I like to

get into it. I like to feel like I am whipping the devil. I want to give him

a knockout blow, and feel like I am doing something. But I have to

face the fact, I can never do it.

You are helpless. There is nothing that you can do to put the devil

under your feet. If you faced him in combat, you would certainly be

defeated. But you need not suffer defeat at the hands of Satan, because

the Shepherd has already done the fighting for you.

Hallelujah!

With all those enemies out there on the mountain side, the sheep

with courage enough to trust his shepherd has his nose down, eating

that juicy grass. He hears the lion roar, but he doesn't turn around to

look for the lion. He just lifts his head to see if the shepherd is there,

and goes right back to eating.

That is courage.

Sometimes God's children become blinded. Every time the devil

roars, they come running. "Oh! The devil's after me!"

Don't run from the devil. Just look up to see that Jesus is near. If

you have not strayed away from him, you have nothing to fear. He

knows how to protect everything that is in his care.

This is a lesson every Christian needs to learn. Peter had to learn

it. Peter was a rascal, just like you and me. Do you remember when

Peter cut off the ear of the High Priest's servant? He pulled out his

sword. They came to take Jesus in, you know, and Peter was ready to

fight.

Jesus said, "Peter, put that thing away. If you use the sword, you

will perish by the sword." Then Jesus picked up that ear and put it

back in place on the man's head.

And then some people don't believe in healing and miracles!

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I Shall Not Want for Courage

Peter, like so many Christians, was quick to declare, "Oh, Lord, I

am going to serve you to the end." But then trouble comes, and it is a

different story.

Jesus said, "Peter, before this night is over, before the cock crows,

you are going to deny me three times."

Just like Peter, you may think you have it made. But the devil

knows your weak spots, and he is going to try to knock you flat before

the day is out.

Jesus was in the inn. The arresting officers looked at Peter. "Here's

one of them!"

Peter backed off. He didn't want any trouble. "No! No, I'm not one

of them!"

A little lady recognized him, "Officer, wait! Here's another one of

them."

Some of those who stood by said, "Surely, you are one of them.

Your speech betrays you." But Peter began to curse and to swear, and

denied that he knew Jesus.

Did you know that if you are a Christian, you sound like a

Christian? You smell like a Christian? You don't smell like Lucky

Strikes, or Four Roses. Like Peter, if you are going to sound like one

of the sinners, you have to work at it.

Now, this is Peter. The man who had said, "I will never deny you."

Yet, every time anybody asked, he denied that he knew Him. Finally,

he began to curse and swear. The soldier said, "No, we were mistaken.

He's not one of them. Jesus' followers don't talk like that!"

Jesus turned around and looked. Just one look! He didn't utter a

word; he doesn't have to. All he has to do is look at you! Then Peter

remembered, "Before the cock crows, you are going to deny me three

times."

That doesn't make the Christians shout. It is so easy to remember

your own times of denial. But I don't like to stop here. Remember,

Peter came back. He learned how to trust the shepherd. This completes

the story.

Every one of us as Christians find ourselves in difficulties from

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He's All I Want

time to time, and we try to work things out for ourselves.

Somebody says, "Well, I'm doing all I know how!"

No wonder you are in such a mess. Let the shepherd do it. That's

what we have a shepherd for.

Now, let's take another look at Peter. Jesus called him a rock, and

said that he gave him the keys to the kingdom. Jesus had asked him,

"Whom do men say that I am?"

Peter said, "Some say that you are Elias, come back from the dead.

Some say that you are Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. Some say

John the Baptist come back."

Jesus asked, "But whom sayest thou that I am?"

Peter answered, "Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God."

Jesus said, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee,

Peter, but my father which is in heaven." Hallelujah!

This was real spiritual progress for Peter, yet he still denied Jesus!

Now take another look at him, in the book of Acts.

Herod had just beheaded many Christians, and he saw that this

pleased the Jews. It was good politics. He killed James, the brother of

John. And then he took Peter.

"Oh! He will surely crack. This is the man who denied Jesus."

Oh, no he won't! Something different has happened to Peter. He

has learned to trust the Lord. He had backed off when they arrested

Jesus, but now he has stood up to the officers, declaring, "It is better

to obey God rather than man." They have convicted him, and thrown

him into a dungeon cell, and stationed four quaternions of soldiers, so

that he won't escape. Sentence had already been passed, and they had

said, "You are going to die in the morning, when the sun comes up."

Did he recant?

No. He lay down in his cell and went to sleep.

That is rest in the Lord. That's what this whole thing is all about.

Rest!

Peter had learned to trust his shepherd.

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I Shall Not Want for Courage

"You can sever this neck, but you can't cut off my head! He is

already in heaven. Jesus is my head."

So Peter was sleeping.

Now, the Bible tells us that there were a certain group of women

who were not asleep that night. They were having an all night prayer

meeting for Brother Peter. "Oh, Lord, deliver Brother Peter. Don't let

them cut his head off! We need him, Lord! Send your angel and

deliver him!"

They were praying. But I learned a long time ago that you can't

depend on someone else's faith for your deliverance, no matter how

long, how hard, or how beautifully they pray. Learn how to trust Jesus

for yourself. It is "we which have believed (who) have entered into

rest." (Hebrews 4:3.)

Now, I am a pastor, yet I tell you this. You put your trust in a

pastor and you are headed for disaster. You put your trust in an

evangelist, and you are headed for trouble and disappointment. Put

your trust in God. Learn to trust him for yourself.

This is a beautiful lesson: courage to trust the shepherd.

I shall not want for courage!

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I

will fear no evil, for thou art with me."

Here is Peter in prison, with a sentence of death upon him,

awaiting execution at the break of the new day. Put yourself in that

position. I try to do this when I read God's Word—to visualize myself

in the predicament that the individual is in.

Could you lie down and go to sleep, knowing that your head is

going to be cut off in the morning?

There is no way that you can be certain of the answer to that

question until you have passed through that experience. I think I know

what Schambach would do! I would be pacing up and down that cell,

saying, "Oh, Lord, look what you've got me into now!"

Isn't that just like most of us? Blaming God for everything!

"If I wasn't saved, I wouldn't be in this mess!" Not Peter!

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He's All I Want

He just lay down and went to sleep. I love this! At midnight, here

comes the angel. Peter was sleeping so soundly that the angel had to

slap him on the hip. "Get up, boy!" Peter was in a deep sleep. He was

still drowsy. "Put your shoes on your feet, Peter. Gird yourself. We are

going somewhere."

Peter thought that he was having a dream or a vision. He was

wiping the sleep out of his eyes. Then when he stood up, the chains

fell off. God had put those soldiers so sound asleep that even the

clanking of the chains didn't waken them.

Peter didn't know a bit better than to follow the angel. (I was going

to say, to follow the shepherd, but the shepherd had just sent a special

delivery angel.)

They came to the big iron gate of the prison, and it opened of its

own accord. The angel didn't need the gate opened. He was a different

kind of being, you see. But Peter was a man, just like you and me, and

for him to get out of the prison, the gate had to open.

Not until he was standing outside the prison, alone in the street,

did Peter realize that this was no dream.

Have you not seen God work in deliverance so quickly and in such

unbelievable ways that it was impossible to realize what was

happening until it was over!

Now, Peter said, "The Lord sent his angel and delivered me! I was

doomed to die tomorrow, but now I am free!"

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I

will fear no evil; for thou art with me. Peter had learned that lesson.

That knowledge should destroy every trace of fear in every one of

us. Every one of us have known fear, but it is time to get rid of it.

God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love,

and of a sound mind. (Timothy 1:7.)

Jesus said, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the

age." No matter what trouble you find yourself in, never forget that he

is there with you, right by your side!

Now, let's move along with Peter. As soon as Peter realizes that he

is free, he goes immediately to the house where the Christians are

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I Shall Not Want for Courage

gathered in prayer for his deliverance. He knocks on the door.

Can you imagine Peter disturbing a prayer meeting? Some people

wouldn't want their prayer meeting disturbed for anything! "Oh, Lord,

spare Brother Peter! Who could that be knocking on the door? Rhoda,

go and find out!"

Rhoda goes to the door and opens the little peep hole. She was

scared stiff. She closed the peep hole and ran back into the room where

the others were praying.

"It looks like Peter."

"It can't be Peter! He's in jail! Oh, Lord, set Peter free!"

"Listen. Peter is at the door." "Listen, girl. It can't be Peter. Oh, it

must be his ghost!"

What kind of prayer meeting is that? I wouldn't want to count on

the prayers of people like that. With their mouths they were saying,

"Lord, set him free." But in their hearts, they already had his head cut

off. Some of you are leaning on the prayers of people who already

have the casket picked out and are deciding what to wear to your

funeral.

I am not going to lean on anybody. I am going to say, "Lord, I will

put my trust in thee." I am going to look to God for courage, to trust

my shepherd. I have put my hand in the hand of the man who stilled

the waters, and has promised to go with me, even to the end of the age!

Courage!

We have need of courage to commit everything into the hands of

our shepherd.

We have seen Peter act the coward, just as much a coward as you

or I might be under the circumstances. But we have seen Peter learn to

trust, and as a result we have seen him act with courage.

People are like that. We are in our homes, so content and peaceful.

Somebody hears a little noise, and says, "What's that?" It's nothing but

the wind blowing, but everybody is terrified. It's contagious.

If ever we needed courage, it is today.

Fear is the mountain in the lives of most Christians. We are living

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He's All I Want

in the days when men everywhere are crying peace and safety. Some

years ago, President Roosevelt established "the four freedoms" to

offset the four fears, but fears have been increasing ever since. You

would be surprised what fears clutch the hearts of the political leaders

of our time. With all their efforts, they have been unable to provide

either peace or safety! They live in constant fear that somebody will

say or do the wrong thing and spark the holocaust of a third world war.

Men's hearts are failing them for fear.

But we as children of God have no business being afraid of what

the political future holds, because the time is coming when the chief

shepherd is going to come in the clouds.

This thrills me!

Before there was any fear, Jesus was! Jesus declared, "I am the

way." To you who are a sinner, he is the saviour. To you who are

afraid, he said, "Be not afraid, for I am by your side."

I don't care what your fear is, you have a shepherd who is there to

protect you.

Your body is where you can tell whether you have courage or not.

Sickness is a tool of the devil. The devil is subtle. He has a way of

putting something on you and getting you to blame God for it. Don't

ever say that God put sickness on you!

A lady stood in front of me and said, "Brother Schambach, the

Lord put this cancer on me to make me humble."

I said, "He did? Then, Lord, give her another one! Make her more

humble."

She ducked away from my hand and said, "Oh, no! I don't want

another one."

I said, "Don't you think we all need to be more humble? Let's ask

God to give everybody in the whole congregation a cancer, so we all

can be humble."

She said, "No! I don't want them to have what I have."

I said, "Then, it's an evident sign that it didn't come from God.

Everything I ever got from God, I wanted to share it with everybody

else. When I got saved, I wanted to get my buddies saved. Are you

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I Shall Not Want for Courage

going to a doctor for treatment of this thing?"

"Why, yes," she replied. "I go two or three times a week."

I said, "You are a hypocrite. You said God put it on you to make

you humble. Then why are you going to the doctor to try to get rid of

it? If God gave it to you, keep it!"

Finally, she said, "Well, Brother Schambach, I just haven't got any

faith."

Now she was being honest, and she was getting somewhere. But

we are not made up like that. We like to say, "I've got all the faith in

the world."

What are you doing sick, if you have all the faith in the world?

With such faith as that, you should be out helping somebody. You

don't even need all the faith in the world. All you need is a little faith.

Faith as a grain of mustard seed. Jesus said that with that kind of faith,

you could say to a mountain, "Mountain, get lost in the sea," and not

doubt in your heart, and that mountain would have to obey your

words!

Just a little faith!

Let the devil roar. You know he is around. But you know that your

shepherd is there, too. Just go right on nibbling the good grass, and let

the devil roar.

Somebody says, "Brother Schambach, the devil is after me!"

He is after everybody that has got something from God. If he isn't

after you, you had better check up on your experience! The devil goes

about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. (I Peter 5:8.)

Except for the presence of your shepherd, he would already have had

you!

That is the wonderful thing about Jesus, just to know that he is

there. He said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." When you are

out there on the job, working shoulder to shoulder with atheists, you

may not feel the same strong sense of his presence that you do when

you are in church, but never doubt for one moment that he is with you

there!

I shall not want—for courage!

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He's All I Want

God knows that it takes more courage to stand still and trust

somebody else to fight for you than it does for you to fight.

Look at King Jehoshaphat.

He was a good king; God testified of this, and blessed Jehoshaphat

and his people.

The kings of three nations didn't like the way that God was

blessing in Jehoshaphat's country, and they aligned themselves against

Jehoshaphat.

This is what makes the devil mad, when he sees God's blessings

upon you. Lie there on a sick bed, and he is satisfied. Live in poverty

—wear hand-me-downs—and the devil says, "That is the way it is

supposed to be!" Try to stretch out on God's promises and see what

happens. Start dressing better, move into your own home, get a new

car, and all hell will break loose. It is the devil's job to keep you from

enjoying God's best.

Yet this is what God wants for his children. We are a blessed

people.

Jehoshaphat found himself engaged in what looked like an unequal

war, in which there was no way out. He was outnumbered, ten

thousand to one. What kind of odds do you call that?

No matter; they are outnumbered when God is on your side!

Jehoshaphat knew this. He went into the temple and began to pray.

"Oh, Lord, help me! You said in the time of trouble, all we had to

do was come in here and cry for help. HELP!"

The spirit of the Lord came into the midst of the congregation, and

the first thing he said was, "Fear not." I love that!

"Fear not by reason of this great multitude, for the battle is not

yours, but the battle is the Lord's."

Here again is the shepherdhood. Keep your hands off the battle. It

is God's battle. Let him do the fighting.

"Jehoshaphat, there will be no need for you to fight in this

battle. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord."

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I Shall Not Want for Courage

Jehoshaphat didn't raise a sword. There was no need for him to

bend a bow, or throw a lance. All they had to do was put twenty

singers on the front line, and start marching toward the enemy.

There are no cowards in God's army. God's people don't run from

the devil; they never expose their backs to the devil.

God supplies a helmet for you, and a breastplate. He girds your

loins, puts shoes on your feet, and a sword in one hand and a shield in

the other. But he provides no protection for your back! (Ephesians

6:14-17.) If you turn to run, the devil will throw his fiery darts, and

you have no protection. Turn around and face him! Let him know that

the great shepherd defeated him two thousand years ago, and put him

under his feet.

Why should I be afraid, when I have such a wonderful shepherd

taking care of me?

Courage to trust. That's all I need!

Sickness strikes, and off you run to the doctor.

Jesus is my physician. He will be yours. Trust him!

Too often, the drugstore gets your business. Instead of giving it to

the Lord, you spend your money on drugs and doctor bills and the

kingdom of God suffers.

During our tent meeting in Miami, a lady drove 175 miles with a

brace on her neck, which had been broken ten years before when a

drunken driver ran into her. She could not turn her head without

turning her whole body. She had been in constant pain, and had spent

$100 per month for pain pills alone, in addition to doctor bills and

other medications. Over a period of ten years, that amounts to $12,000

for pain pills.

She had heard our broadcast over the Miami station, and came to

be delivered. When I laid hands on her that night, I felt something like

an electric current coming out of my hands. That was the first time I

had ever experienced such a thing. While I had my hand around her

neck, the power of God went into her body. I removed the brace from

her neck, and she started turning her head for the first time in ten

years. Beautiful!

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He's All I Want

We moved the tent to Fort Lauderdale, and she came there and

testified.

We moved to South Bay, and she was sitting there every night. She

said to me there, "Brother Schambach, you just don't know what it is

like to be free from pain after all these years, I've been giving $100

every month to the devil. Now, I would like to give that amount every

month to God."

I took her by the hand and prayed, "Lord, all these years, she has

been spending that money for drugs. Her desire is to give it to you, but

I would like to see her spend it on herself. She has been denied a lot of

things in ten years. When you spend your money for medicines, you've

got to do without other things. But she wants to give that money to

God, and I know that you would love to accept it. So why don't you

give her a raise in pay, so that she can have a hundred dollars to give

and another hundred dollars to spend on herself?"

That was an unselfish prayer, and God heard and answered.

We put up the tent in West Palm Beach, and there she was. She

came to me and said, "Guess what has happened! They have put me in

charge of my entire department, and I got a three hundred dollars per

month raise!"

Isn't that just like the Lord?

You can trust in the arm of flesh if you like, but I have something

better to offer. Put your trust in the Great Shepherd.

I do not condemn those who lean upon the arm of flesh, but God's

Word declares, "Cursed be the man that maketh the flesh his arm."

(Jeremiah 17:5.) If you are leaning upon the arm of flesh, you are

already under the curse. No wonder you have trouble. No wonder you

are not blessed.

He is our advocate. Why should we go out and hire a lawyer when

we have to go to court? Our advocate is sitting on the right hand of the

father. He said, "I will plead your case. You ask the father in my name,

and I will do it."

Every time you are called upon to go through a trial, it is a trick of

the devil to cause fear to come unto your heart. When fear is there, you

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I Shall Not Want for Courage

are lost. You can't see your shepherd because of the fear.

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I

will fear no evil."

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want for courage.

51

Chapter VII

I Shall Not Want for Comfort

VII

Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Psalm 23:4b.

I shall not want for comfort.

Don't look to people for comfort. All they have to offer is

sympathy. Sympathy won't do you a bit of good. We are living in

world that is comfortless. There are people who delight to see you in

trouble. People can be very cruel, even saints. Sometimes they are

worse than the people of the world. When you go down, instead of

offering a helping hand they put a foot in your face. They say, "He had

it coming."

Your shepherd knows how to comfort you. "Thy rod and thy staff,

they comfort me."

Trouble comes.

This is something that you can't get away from. The Bible says,

"Man is of few days and full of trouble." (Job 14:1.) If you are not a

child of God, I feel sorry for you when trouble comes. If you are a

child of God, you have Someone by your side to comfort you.

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord

delivereth him out of them all."

Psalms 34:19.

How many times have you said, "I am living the very best I know

how. I am saved. I go to church all the time. I'm not boozing it up, nor

cheating on my wife (or husband). How come I have trouble? Look at

that gambler down the street..."

Naturally.

The devil already has him bound. There is no reason to pursue

him.

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Every time you overcome a trial or test, God is making you a little

stronger.

Many times when trouble strikes the sinner, he dies in his trouble.

He can't stand it. He blows his brains out, or leaps out of a window.

But the child of God has some steel in his backbone. He has learned

how to be still and know that He is God!

When you are serving God, and when you know him as your

shepherd, you can go through anything, because God is sort of

bragging on you, like he did on Job. God said to the devil, "Have you

considered my servant Job, that there is nobody like him on the face of

the earth?"

The devil said, "I've tried to get at him, but you've got a hedge

around him."

God wants us to trust him, but it's a two sided coin. He also trusts

us.

Isn't that beautiful?

When you go through the fire, God is counting on you to go

through! You are not going to fail him, because you know that you

have someone at your side. God is in your corner. He is going to bring

you through to victory, and he is counting on you to hold steady until

victory comes. That puts a new light on it, doesn't it?

God counted on Job. He said, "I'll put him in your hand and let you

try him, but don't dare touch his life."

The devil said, "I'll make him curse you to your face."

But in everything that Job went through, in all his agony and loss,

the Bible says that Job "charged not God foolishly with his lips."

People sin with their lips more than in any other way. It is your

mouth that gets you into trouble. When trouble comes, it is so easy to

charge God foolishly: "Oh, God, what have you got me into now?"

Look with me at Isaiah 43:

"But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he

that formed thee, O Israel. Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I

have called thee by thy name: thou art mine."

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I Shall Not Want for Comfort

I like that. I didn't choose him, He chose me!

"When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee: and

through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest

through the fire, thou shalt not be burned: neither shall the flame

kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel,

thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Sheba for

thee."

This is one of the most comforting passages of scripture I have

found. "I gave it all for you, and you are mine! When you go through

the water, it shall not overflow thee, and when you go through the fire

you shall not be burned, because I am by your side. I am with you in

trouble."

This is not a promise that you won't have trouble. This is a

promise that trouble will come but it cannot destroy you.

Beloved, if you are a child of God, don't fear the trouble. God

specializes in taking that situation and turning it around for his glory;

and when you come out of it, you are the blessed one! But sometimes

you wonder, "Why? Why?"

I was preaching a revival in Chicago, and God was blessing.

People were coming to get saved, were getting filled with the Holy

Ghost, and miracles were taking place. The place was jammed every

night.

It was a Catholic neighborhood, and it got to the place that the

whole neighborhood was upset. Catholics were getting saved, and the

priest had about five hundred people outside picketing the meeting. I

said, "Well, let them march! Walking will do them good!" I went on

and had church!

They tore the marquee off the building, and broke the windows.

I wondered, "Why do I have to go through this?"

Then one night, in came the fire chief and said, "Reverend, you are

going to have to get all these people out of here. We got a phone call

saying that there is a bomb planted here."

I said, "Well, Chief it already went off. It's a Holy Ghost bomb.

We are having revival around here, and we refuse to move. We'll go up

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He's All I Want

with the building." I knew it was nothing more than harassment, an

attempt to disturb the people and break up the meeting. I refused to

give in to the devil.

The next night when I went to church, all the lights were out, and

the doors were locked. A crowd of more than a thousand people were

outside, and about thirty eight police cars with red lights flashing. A

sign on the door said, "This place unfit for public assembly. Closed by

order of the Mayor."

I was looking at the sign when a precious lady pulled at my sleeve

and said, "Brother Schambach, I am sick. I came for prayer tonight.

Now, there is no service. What am I going to do?"

I laid my hands on her, right there on the sidewalk, and I said,

"You devil, take your hands off my sister! Loose her—." Before I

could finish my prayer, five big policemen picked me up and put me in

the paddy wagon. They said, "You were having church on the street,

and you don't have a permit to do that."

I said, "We have a permit for the building."

They said, "The building is closed. You can't have church

outside."

The song leader started singing "Amazing Grace" out there on the

street corner, and they put him in the paddy wagon along with me.

They took us down and fingerprinted us.

They had arrested us for disturbing the peace.

I said, "I'm guilty of that! That's what I came to Chicago for, to

disturb the devil's peace! It's about time somebody disturbs his peace!"

But in my heart I was asking God, "Why do I have to suffer this

indignity?"

Don't ever ask God why! God has already laid His plan to work it

out for your good and His glory! You can't get away from Romans

8:28. "All things work together for good to them that love God, to

them that are the called according to his purpose."

Now, all things don't work together for good to everybody—just to

them that love God. If you are not saved, you can't count on it that

anything is going to work for your good.

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They took me into the courtroom. My wife was by my side, and

the courtroom was jammed. It was filled with blue smoke from cigars,

but it was like a prayer meeting was going on right there, so many of

God's people had come.

Half way down the aisle, a little lady stopped me. She said,

"Brother Schambach, I didn't know that you were in town until I saw

your picture in jail, on the front page of the paper. I was in the

hospital, waiting for a gallstone operation. When I saw that paper, I

signed myself out of the hospital and came right over here. Lay hands

on me, and everything will be all right."

I said, "Here?"

She said, "Right here!"

I said, "That's what they arrested me for, for praying for a woman."

She said, "That's all right. Get arrested again! Lay hands on me!"

Then it dawned on me. God had allowed me to go through all this

to bring deliverance to one of his little children, precious in his sight,

the apple of his eye. I felt the anointing of God come upon me, and I

laid hands on that woman, right there in the courtroom. Down she

went, under the power. All the people gathered around.

At that moment, the judge came in. He got scared. He said,

"Continue for ten more days! Get out of here!"

Instead of leaving town, we went to a larger building. We only

went there for ten days, but we stayed four months. God gave us the

greatest revival I ever had in my life. No amount of money could have

bought us the publicity that we had received on the front pages of

those newspapers!

Afterward, we established a church in Chicago, and the woman

that I prayed for in the courtroom is a member of my church there.

When she left the courtroom, she went back to the doctor and

asked him to make another X-ray. When he had made the X-ray, he

said, "Where did you go? We were going to operate for gallstones, but

there are none there now."

She said, "I went to the courtroom. The pastor was there, and he

prayed for me. I didn't know he was in town until I read in the paper

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that he had been arrested for praying in the street. He laid hands on me

in the courtroom, and God healed me!"

No matter what kind of trouble you are involved in, you are not

alone.

Let me give you this word of wisdom. Don't tell your trouble to

another human. They will take it and tell it to somebody else. Before

long, it will be all over town.

The Lord is my shepherd. He is the one that will give comfort. He

is the one to tell my troubles to!

Even somebody you have confidence in, who won't spread it any

farther, cannot give you comfort. All that they can give is sympathy.

When you go through trouble alone with Jesus, you come through

shouting the victory.

There were three Hebrew children who passed through the fire. I'm

not going to say that you will have literal fire around your feet, but

some of your trials are like fire. This was a literal happening in the

book of Daniel, despite the efforts of modernists to do away with

everything miraculous. Nebuchadnezzar had these three boys cast into

the fire. Not a flame touched them. The only thing that burned was

their bonds. Not a hair of their heads was singed; there was not even

the smell of fire upon their clothing. Talk about flame proofing!

When Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace, there he saw

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shouting and dancing on those hot

coals. But they were not alone. He turned to one of his men and said,

"How many men did we throw in there?"

The man answered, "Three."

Nebuchadnezzar said, "I see four of them, and the fourth one is

like unto the son of God!"

One night as we came out of the tent, one of our men said, "Look

at that moon. We've got two men up there, walking. See them?"

See them walking on the moon? But they were up there!

When you think how vast is God's universe, you may think that he

is so busy up there, checking on all the suns and moons and stars that

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I Shall Not Want for Comfort

he couldn't take time to be concerned about little old me.

No, he's never too busy!

He wasn't too busy to visit a widow by the name of Naomi. She

had lost her husband and both her sons in a strange land. She only had

her daughter-in-law left. God left the bounties of Heaven to take his

place by her side, and restore her to her rightful inheritance.

He left his concerns with the universe to come to the grave of

Lazarus.

He said, "Roll the stone way! Lazarus, come forth!"

Hallelujah!

Are you afraid of death?

Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth on

me shall never die."

How can I be afraid of death, when I am not going to die?

Oh, I may move out of this house. The body that you see is not me;

it is only the house I live in. The real me is inside, looking out two

windows. That is the part of me that has been born again, born to

eternal life. This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal

must put on immortality, but the real me shall never die.

Why be afraid of death?

Eternal life is yours!

This is comfort.

The dead in Christ shall rise first, and then we which are alive and

remain shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the

air.

"Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

I Thess. 4:16-18.

Comfort comes from the great shepherd.

Right now, some of you are going through some hard trials and

tests.

Don't question God. Stand erect and say, "Lead on, Lord. Where

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He's All I Want

you lead, I will follow."

"Some through the water, some through the flood; Some through

great sorrow, but all through the blood. Some through the fire, but God

gives a song In the night season and all the day long."

God leads his dear children along!

When you look back on that hard experience, you will thank God a

million times that you had the courage to trust him and go through this

thing.

Courage and comfort go hand in hand.

At one time it was said, Jesus must needs go through Samaria.

Whatever comes into your life, you must needs go through this

thing in order to bring you to God's best for you. The shepherd that has

brought you thus far will go with you and lead you on to victory. He

will give you courage, and he will provide comfort.

The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.

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Chapter VIII

I Shall Not Want for Supply

VIII

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine

enemies.

Psalm 23:5a.

A shepherd would soon be discharged from his duties if he did not

prepare a place for his sheep to eat.

Into this situation, Christ brings himself.

Considering the entire flock, all of God's people everywhere, he

leads and guides us all into a place where there is ample supply for all

our needs, according to his riches in glory. (Phil. 4:19).

Many of God's people have not learned to know him in this way.

They are still scrimping along, just getting by. They have not moved

into the banquet house that God has prepared for his children. Too

often, we fail to realize what God has provided for us.

When God brought his ancient people out of bondage and led them

through the Red Sea, he provided bread for them, letting it fall like

rain from heaven. When they cried for meat, he sent quails. When they

were thirsty, they forgot how God had provided for them and began to

murmur and complain against Moses.

Moses couldn't provide for them; provision must come from the

Shepherd.

He fell on his face before God and cried out, "Lord, they are about

to stone me. What are you going to do about this?"

The Lord said, "What is that in thine hand?"

"Oh, that is a rod."

Just a rod, but it was the same rod that he had used to part the Red

Sea!

God has put something into your hand, something that you can use

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to provide whatever is needed.

We have the name of Jesus!

He is our shepherd. He spreads a table before us, even in the

presence of our enemies.

Jesus said to his disciples, "Hitherto you have asked nothing in my

name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." (John

16:24.)

Now, what do you need?

You have the means to obtain it. You have the power to use that

name. But first you must learn how to make use of that name that is

above every name.

Do you thirst?

Jesus says, "I am the water of life. He that drinketh shall never

thirst again." Are you hungry? He is the bread of life. Do you need

joy? "I am your joy."

Salvation. Wisdom. Righteousness. Power. It is all there. You

already possess it. God has given you a blank check, signed by Jesus

Christ, His son. Fill it out for whatever you want.

The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want!

You say, "Well, it just can't be all that easy!"

No, it isn't all that easy. The very power to use that name places a

responsibility upon you as a child of God to learn to know and

understand God, and to use that power in ways that will bring glory to

God and benefit to his children, including yourself. You need to learn

to keep your eye upon the shepherd, not upon the things he provides,

nor upon the means he uses to provide it.

God told Moses to take that rod that was in his hand and go out

and smite a rock. When he did, a stream of clear, sweet water burst

forth, sufficient to satisfy the thirst of millions of people there in a

parched desert where there was no other water.

As they traveled, the time again came when they were thirsty and

there was no water.

I want to call your attention to a little known fact about water from

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the rock.

When God told Moses to strike the rock, that was a flat rock,

imbedded in the trodden down soil of the plain. That rock was a type

of Christ humiliated, the rock which followed them. (I Cor. 10:4.)

Jesus Christ divested himself of deity, left the balconies of Heaven,

and came down to take upon himself the form of sinful flesh. He

became man—a flat rock. He became sin for every one of us, so that

we might have life, and have it abundantly. (Exodus 17:6.)

"Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our

iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his

stripes we are healed."

Isaiah 53:4, 5.

But that Rock which was Christ, after he was smitten, ascended

into the Holy Place. He took his position on the right hand of God,

where he now makes intercession for us.

He is no longer that flat, downtrodden rock. He is an elevated

rock. He is not to be smitten again; this is no longer his means of

provision for us. He was sacrificed once for our sins. We are

commanded not to "crucify to (ourselves) the Son of God afresh, and

put him to an open shame." (Hebrews 6:6.)

But the people were thirsty again. Once again, they murmured

against the Lord, and against Moses. (Numbers 20:7-13.)

There was still water in the rock; God was ready to provide. But

the method was different. This time God said to Moses, "Take the

rod ... and speak to the rock."

Isn't that beautiful?

Speak to the rock!

What do you have need of? Are you hungry? Are you thirsty?

Speak to the rock!

Have you ever been impatient?

In this case, Moses acted hastily. He smote the rock, as he had

before. When nothing happened, he smote the rock again.

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God is gracious above anything that we deserve. His blessing does

not always mean that we have acted in his perfect will. Sometimes it

means only that he loves us, and cares. God was displeased with

Moses. His act was in direct disobedience to God's command. In

addition to breaking the command, Moses had broken a beautiful

picture that God was preparing for his people throughout the ages.

Instead of a perfect picture of Christ smitten once for all, never to

be smitten again, now the picture illustrates the many times that

Christians wound again the tender, loving heart of the shepherd by

their lack of faith, their complaints, their arrogant demands.

We need never strike our Rock again. All that we need to do is

"speak to the rock!"

Never forget that Jesus cares. He has compassion upon the hungry.

In the sixth chapter of John, verse 5: Jesus lifted up his eyes and

saw a great company who had come after him. They had had a long

walk, and he had preached to them a long time. It was late in the day.

Jesus said to Philip, "Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?"

He did not want to send them away hungry.

This may sound like a negative thought, even in the mind of

Christ, but read verse 6. He said it to test Philip, to see if he had

learned to understand God's abundant provision. He knew what he

would do.

Philip answered, "Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not

sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little."

Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, heard the conversation. He said,

"There is one little lad here who has brought his lunch. He has five

barley loaves and two small fishes."

I believe the heart of Jesus leaped within him. Surely, at last, one

of his disciples was beginning to comprehend faith!

But, no!

Andrew continued, "But what are they among so many?"

Isn't that the way we do it? First, we look at our pocketbook, and at

the circumstances! We look at the bills, and we say, "What is that

among so many?"

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Jesus said, "Make the men sit down."

There was "much grass" in the place, and the men sat down, about

five thousand of them. Then Jesus took the five barley biscuits that

little boy was generous enough to share. (Children so often have

greater faith than their "wise" elders!) He blessed the bread, and began

to break it. As he broke portions from the bread, he gave it to the

disciples and told them to pass it among the seated throng. Then, he

did the same with the two little fishes. Very quickly, every man had

been served a bread and fish sandwich. So long as they were hungry,

so long as the disciples kept coming back for more, Jesus continued

breaking bread and fish and sending it out.

Was this just a "snack" to ease their hunger until they could get

back into town, and get to a cafe or a grocery store?

No!

When every one had eaten his fill, there was still bread and fish!

Jesus told his disciples to gather up the fragments that remained, Jesus

provides abundance, but he does not encourage waste.

They gathered up twelve baskets full of the fragments of the five

barley loaves!

He was the good shepherd then. He had not yet died on the cross.

Today, he is in his rightful place, at the right hand of God. There he is

our great shepherd, our advocate.

If the good shepherd could perform such a miracle, how much

more can the great shepherd provide every need of his people! Then,

he provided bread and fish according to the hunger of the multitude.

Today, he will supply all our needs according to his riches in glory!

Jesus had power then to feed a multitude from a handful of loaves,

and fishes, but it was not easy to find people who could believe it.

He is not finding it easy to find faith in the earth today.

Jesus knew what he was doing. When he couldn't find faith in the

hearts of his disciples, he had the people sit down on the grass. He was

turning their attention back to the Shepherd's Psalm, back to the green

pastures. Then he took that bread and fish in his hands, and blessed it

and broke it. I don't care how you look at it, this was a miracle. He

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broke it in pieces, and gave bread and fish to each of the disciples.

Then, as they passed it among the people, when anybody would break

off a piece of bread or a piece of fish, there was still just as much as

there had been before. When they began eating, a man took a bite of

bread and a bite of fish, and still he had as much in his hand.

When God makes provision, there is always plenty to go around,

so long as we keep on breaking and giving! I don't care how many

come, you can all eat! There is enough for everybody!

Down through the years, look at the multitudes who have come to

Jesus and received salvation. They have come to the foot of the cross,

and tasted of the good things of God. Jesus is the bread of life. The

more you eat, the more you want, yet the supply is not diminished.

Jesus was trying to show those people, through something that

they could see and understand, that he is the bread of life, eternal and

without end, and that he will provide for all his little ones, all the

sheep of his pasture!

"Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led

captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men."

Eph. 4:8.

Not only does he provide the things that we need for the body, he

has provided spiritual gifts far beyond the belief and understanding of

them that are still in the world.

When the twelve spies went over into the land that God had

promised, they brought back grapes, and figs, and pomegranates. They

brought back milk and honey. They said, "It is a land of plenty, and we

are able to go up and take the country! God has promised us that land

of abundance!"

I like that word, abundance!

The Queen of Sheba came up to Solomon's court, and she said

there was no more heart left in her when she saw the abundance of that

table, the rising and sitting down of his servants, and the table that was

spread.

Solomon is one of the types of Christ.

Too many of God's people have never even seen the abundance of

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that table. They are still begging bread.

Many times as I have circulated around an altar, I have heard

people pleading, "Please, Lord, won't you give it to me!"

I say, "Stop it! You are not a beggar. It is already yours. Christ

paid for it with his blood. All you need to do is believe it, and take it

by faith!"

Poverty is a curse.

You can't preach about the Twenty-third Psalm without preaching

about poverty, and about abundance.

For years, there has been an old philosophy around among the

churches that the poorer you are the holier you are. We have been

taught that God's children don't have much. The reason they don't is

because they have believed the devil instead of the Lord.

God said, "I will bless your going in and coming out. I will bless

your basket and I will bless your store. I will bless the fruit of your

womb, and your seed. I will bless you in the city and in the country.

Everything that you set your hand unto, I will bless it. I will make you

the head and not the tail." (See Deut. 28.)

You've been the tail long enough. It is time to move out and

become the head. Instead of being the scapegoat on the job who gets

all the dirt, you ought to be the foreman, passing out the orders.

God wants his people to be a blessed people.

The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want for supply.

Not because of my abilities.

I have no abilities at all.

Because the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

A man came up and felt of my suit and said, "How can you afford

to pay $150 for a suit?"

I said, "Is that what they cost?"

He said, "That's what I have to pay for one just like it."

I said, "I'm blessed! God said that he would bless me going in.

When I go in, the suits are on sale and I get it for $52!"

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God will bless your basket when you go shopping. The Lord is

your shepherd, and he knows how to lead you in the right path. He

knows how to lead you to the right place so that you can buy three

cans for a quarter, when ordinarily they would cost 21 cents a can!

He will make a way when there is no way, and still have

something left over!

Don't be satisfied just to get by!

I want everything that's coming to me. Because Jesus bought it for

me with his blood, I intend to have it. Because he bore the stripes for

my healing, I refuse to be sick. Because he defeated the devil, I refuse

to be tormented, to get upset. Because he has promised to provide my

needs, I refuse to allow the devil to make me satisfied with poverty. I

believe this pleases the heart of God. Every time you reach out for

something that he has promised, he says, "Go ahead! This is what I

died for! I am pleased with your faith!"

We have been living on too low a plain. We should move up a

little higher.

But don't forget, all this blessing stems from obedience. The

shepherd's provision is for the sheep that follows him obediently. If

you are not sincere in following the Lord, forget it!

This is where holiness comes in. God is going to have a holy

people, a people that will walk in his ways and keep his

commandments. Make up your mind that you are going to walk in his

ways and all these blessings will overtake you.

A man came into my church in Brooklyn, with a paralyzed arm. He

had heard my radio broadcast, and came to hear me preach. He had

never heard about healing before, but when he come in the prayer line,

God healed that arm. He moved it for the first time in ten years. He

kept coming, and God filled him with the Holy Ghost.

Then he came to me and said, "Brother Schambach, I've worked

for people all my life. Don't you think God would be pleased if I had

some people working for me?" I would like to open my own shop. Pray

with me."

I said, "Are you paying your tithes?"

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He said, "No."

I said, "Forget it! Don't move!"

Everybody would like to have the blessing, but if you are not

paying your tithes you are not obedient. If you are not obedient, you

don't qualify for the blessing. As a minister of God to his people, I

have to tell you this. You don't have to obey God, but don't expect his

blessing unless you do. When you are giving your tithe and offerings,

then you are in a position to demand what God has provided. God said,

"Command ye me concerning the work of my hands." (Isaiah 45:11.)

How could you command him when you know that you are

robbing him? (See Malachi 3:8.)

That man began to bring his tithe, and more than his tithe. One

night, the anointing of God came upon me, and I laid hands on him and

said, "Father, move him out! Give him his own shop. In the name of

Jesus, do it!"

He opened his own shop, and hired six men. Not long after that, he

told me that he needed a larger place. He needed to borrow $125,000.

The bank said they could not make such a large loan, because he had

not been in business long enough. I took the application and wore it

while I was preaching. Then I told him to take it back down to the

bank, and he would have his money.

The bank let him have the money, and he opened a new, larger

shop.

At the end of the year, I sent him his statement of contributions for

income tax. He said, "Brother Schambach, there must be a mistake!

Surely, I didn't give that much!"

I said, "That is what we have on the record."

He said, "I didn't realize I had given that much. But I never made

so much money in my life."

I said, "You never gave so much money in your life. I remember

you when you first started coming to the church, how you would sort

through the twenty's to find a one dollar bill to put in the offering!"

He said, "You know me, don't you?"

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I said, "You are just like I am. We try to get by as cheaply as we

can. But if you want God's blessing, you have to have a generous

heart."

God wants to provide the very best for every one of his children.

We are the sheep of his pasture. He has spread it all out before us. It is

all on the table: salvation, healing, sanctification, joy, wisdom,

knowledge, power. It's all there, and it all belongs to you. The supply

is unlimited. All you have to do is come and help yourself!

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Chapter IX

I Shall Not Want for Protection

IX

—In the presence of mine enemies.

Psalm 23:5b.

"Thou preparest a table before me—" where? Right in front of the

devil's eyes! So he can watch you eat! So he can watch you getting

blessed! I love that!

It would be completely impossible for the Eastern shepherd to lead

his flock into a pasture where there were no wolves, wild beasts,

snakes or other enemies lurking, so he prepares a feast for his sheep in

the presence of those enemies, and then stands by to guard them while

they eat. They need have no fear, because their shepherd is there.

Somebody says, "I feel those foul spirits around me all the time."

They are supposed to be there, but never fear. They can't touch

you. Just go ahead and feast upon his bounties. So long as the

shepherd is there, the devil can't touch your life.

I shall not want for protection.

The child of God has a divine protection that the world does not

possess. Have you seen that commercial on television in which one

man drives a golf ball directly at another, but the ball doesn't touch

him because there is an invisible shield between? When I see that

commercial, I say, "Isn't that just the way it is in Jesus?" He has an

invisible shield built around us! A divine protection!"

When you are a child of God, the devil can't touch you. A

thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it

cannot come nigh thy dwelling. (See Psalm 91.)

What about Job?

The devil said, "I tried to get at him, but you've got a fence built

around him."

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Child of God, thank God for the fence! You have the blood of

Jesus all around you, and the devil cannot cross that blood. This is the

thing that the devil would like to destroy. Over in England, a move has

been started to remove all reference to the blood from the hymn books.

They don't want a bloody gospel.

My Bible declares, "Without the shedding of blood there is no

remission of sins." (Hebrews 9:22.)

The world is trying to provide protection from all sorts of things.

There are vaccines for all kinds of illnesses: smallpox, measles,

diphtheria, whooping cough, polio. As soon as a baby is born into the

world, the doctors start to brainwash the parents. Now that you have a

baby, all sorts of childhood diseases will come. They start naming

them off. You've got to get ready for it.

You open the door and say, "Come on measles, come on mumps!

Come on chicken pox!"

Are you ready to accept the whole package? Or do you know a

shepherd who builds a fence around his people?

Recently, I was at home when news bulletins began to be

published on radio, television and in the newspapers to the effect that a

flu epidemic was going to hit Philadelphia. Everybody was urged to go

to a certain area to receive shots. The people ran to receive those shots

in such numbers that the doctors ran out of medicine. They had to send

away for a fresh supply.

Now, I have a daily broadcast in Philadelphia. I interrupted my

regular program to tell the people: "This is Brother Schambach. We

will be passing out shots in the church tonight—Holy Ghost hot shots.

Come on out. You have something, Christian, that the world doesn't

have. Don't let the devil brainwash you. You are a child of God. You

have already been immunized. No sickness can come nigh thy

dwelling, because you are His child. Greater is he that is in you than he

that is in the world!"

I was thrilled when I read the autobiography of John Lake, a man

of God who lived and worked a little over a century ago. His

understanding and application of the promises of God have inspired

and encouraged my faith.

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John Lake built a hospital in Oregon, and staffed it with nurses

who were full of the Holy Ghost. There was no medicine. There were

no drugs, and no surgeons. They had oil for anointing, and the Holy

Bible. Sick people came from all over the nation, and every morning

the staff would read the Word to them, anoint them with oil, and pray,

until they were healed and sent home.

There was an outbreak of Bubonic Plague, and Brother Lake

volunteered his services to the medical doctors. People were dying by

thousands, frothing at the mouth. Brother Lake was working with these

people eighteen to twenty-two hours a day.

One day, one of the doctors said to him, "Rev. Lake, it's a good

thing you are inoculated, so that you can work around here with us."

His reply caused consternation. "I am inoculated, but not like you

think. Maybe a better word would be immunized. I have not been

inoculated with a needle, but I can't get that disease."

The doctor said, "Why not?"

"Because I have Jesus on the inside."

"Ah, you can't tell me—."

"You said yourself that I've been working around these people and

it's a good thing that I am protected. I can show you, under a

microscope, that I have something that is greater than the disease. Get

a microscope, and I will show you."

Doctors are scientifically minded; if they can see it under a

microscope, they will believe!

The doctor brought in a microscope, and he brought some other

doctors with him.

Brother Lake said, "See that man lying there, frothing at the

mouth? Are there live germs in that foam?"

The doctor said, "Billions of them!"

He scraped off some of the foam and put it on a slide under the

microscope. The foam was alive with billions of germs.

Brother Lake said, "Now, let me put my hand under the

microscope. Scrape up those germs and put them on my hand. The

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moment those germs touch my hand, they will die, because I have

resurrection power on the inside of me!"

The doctor said, "I don't believe it."

But he saw it with his own eyes. When those living germs of

Bubonic Plague touched the hand of Brother Lake, they died

immediately.

Would this work for you?

Not unless you believe it!

People of God do not realize what power they possess. All some

people know is, "I've joined a church; my name is on the book. I teach

in Sunday School."

That isn't enough!

If Jesus is dwelling on the inside, there is power in you that is

unrealized. There is protection against any kind of sickness, disease or

infirmity.

Don't misunderstand me. The devil will still try to jump on you,

but you don't have to allow him to stay. As soon as you feel the first

symptoms, say, "Hold it, devil! By his stripes I am healed!"

"I will take sickness away from the midst of thee."

Exodus 23:25.

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who

forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases."

Psalm 103:2, 3.

You have it in you; it is there!

Do you have people around you working witchcraft, working

roots, spreading powder around you? You don't have to be afraid of it.

Kick your shoes off and walk around in it. You have something in you

that witchcraft can't touch!

Divine protection!

When God brought his ancient people out of bondage, the death

angel came through the land to slay the firstborn of every household.

Moses said, "Lord, what about your children?"

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God said, "Don't worry. I will take care of my own. Tell my people

to take a lamb, and slit its throat. Put the blood in a basin. Dip hyssop

in the blood, and sprinkle it upon the doorpost and upon the lintel. In

the night when the death angel comes, when he sees the blood he will

pass over you."

Isn't that beautiful? The lamb is a type of Jesus. When you are

protected by the blood of the lamb, death can't touch you!

The most dangerous enemy of every Christian is sin. Behind every

ruined life, every divorce, every war, every hospital bed, there is one

thing—sin. Sin destroys.

But sin is a conquered enemy. "Sin shall not have dominion over

you." (Romans 6:14.)

That doesn't mean that you will not be tempted. No matter who

you are, or how much you talk in tongues, even if you are a Sunday

School teacher, or a preacher, you are going to be tempted.

It is not sin to be tempted; yielding to temptation is sin.

God has put something within you that is stronger than temptation.

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to

man; but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above

that ye are able: but will make a way of escape, that ye may be able

to bear it."

I Cor. 10:13.

You have dominion over sin. The greatest enemy!

I'm not talking just about committing adultery, or drinking liquor,

or gambling, or robbing banks. Some of you wouldn't even be tempted

by things like that! I'm talking about saying no when God says yes—or

yes when God says no.

Going all the way back to the Garden of Eden, what was the very

first sin?

Disobedience!

God said, "Everything you could want is here. It is all yours. But

don't eat the fruit of that tree that is in the midst of the garden!"

The devil said, "Eat it! You will be like God if you do!"

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"But God said not to eat it; that if we did, we would die."

"You won't die. Go ahead! Taste it!" And they did!

Disobedience! The first sin! The most common sin! The greatest

sin!

You are going to find that there is sin and temptation around you

all the time. You can't run from it, and you can't hide from it. But you

have a shield—an invisible shield. Your neighbors may be overcome

by it, but sin shall not have dominion over you!

Why?

Because, as a Christian, you have been crucified with Christ.

Now, if I am living free from sin, it is not Schambach that is doing

it. Schambach is dead. He was crucified.

Then, who is it?

It is Christ, living in me.

Don't ever stand up and brag about how good you are. Don't say,

"Thank God that I am not as other men. I don't drink, and I don't swear,

and I don't—."

If you are going to brag on somebody, brag on Jesus!

Here is the greatest secret that Paul ever learned: Before, I was

alive unto sin and dead unto God. I was a rascal, just like you were.

But now I am saved; the old nature has been done away. I am

crucified. Dead. Nevertheless, I live. But it is not I, but Christ living in

me.

A sweet young lady came to see me in my office. She said,

"Brother Schambach, I'm not going to be a hypocrite. I can't live the

Christian life in high school. There are too many demands, too many

things pulling at me. I've come to tell you that I'm not coming back to

church."

I appreciated her honesty, and told her so. But then I said to her,

"Now, we are alone here, and I'm going to tell you something. I can't

live this life, either."

"Ah, what? Brother Schambach, you are the preacher!"

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I said, "Yes, but I am made of the same junk that you are. Flesh!"

She said, "You? You can't live it?"

I said, "No, I can't. I learned that a long time ago. But I found

somebody that could, Christ the hope of glory. You will never be able

to live it, now nor when you are older. But if you are willing to die, I

can show you the way. Christ not only carried your sins to the cross;

he carried you. That is exactly what Paul meant when he said, 'I am

crucified with Christ.' He was dead to sin. If you are dead, the devil

can't bother you."

Did you ever see a corpse laid out? You could walk up that corpse

and say, "You are the lowest down, meanest rascal I ever met in my

life." He would not answer a single word. You could spit in his face,

and he wouldn't flicker an eyelash. You could do anything you want,

and he would just lie there. He's dead.

Maybe that is your trouble. You aren't dead! Things still bother

you!

Nail it—not it, you—to the cross.

Die to sin.

Then, let Christ live in you.

"Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine

enemies."

The final enemy is death. (I Cor. 15:26.)

You don't hear much talk about this today. People like to avoid the

subject. But you are going to die.

Not the real you. Death can't touch the real you. You have eternal

life dwelling within. "He that hath the Son hath life."

We may move out of this old house, but to be absent from the

body is to be present with our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Oh death, where is thy sting! Oh grave, where is thy victory!"

Throughout Paul's Christian life, I can't help believing that he was

anticipating getting killed. He was in love with Jesus, and he would

have welcomed death. His attitude was, "I want to be with Him!"

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When you read the story of Paul's life in the book of Acts you find

that he was shipwrecked; he was beaten four times, and at one time left

for dead. Very early in his Christian life, he was let down over the city

wall in a basket to escape the threat of death. He said, "I die daily."

That doesn't mean, as some people say, that he daily nailed himself to

the cross. It means that every day his life was in jeopardy because of

his preaching Christ.

Wounded, afflicted, shipwrecked, threatened, imprisoned! Paul

lived out his years in the presence of his enemies. Then one day they

took him. They said, "Now we are rid of that troublesome person! He

is dead!"

But Paul was not dead; he had only begun to live!

Peter, who shrank in fear of being arrested and fled before a little

maid, learned to feast at the master's table, even in the presence of his

enemies. When his time came, they said, "You will be given one last

request." Peter replied, "I am not worthy to die like my Lord. Please

crucify me upside down!" Peter no longer feared death. He had learned

that to be absent from the body is to be present with Christ.

The scripture refers to those Christians who have moved into the

presence of the Lord, not as dead, but as asleep.

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,

with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the

dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain

shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord

in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

I Thess. 4:16, 17.

You see, whether we live or die, it really doesn't matter.

I shall not want for protection; no one can take my life from me,

for it is bound up with Christ. My life is eternal.

"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life

through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Romans 6:23.

Sin, sickness, temptation, affliction, death! Our lives here are spent

in the presence of our enemies. But our shepherd prepares a table—an

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abundant table—before us in the presence of our enemies.

All you have to do is come and dine.

He will take care of all the enemies!

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Chapter X

I Shall Not Want for Power

X

Thou anointest my head with oil.

Psalm 23:5c.

I shall not want for power!

This is what the church is in need of today, more than anything

else.

All through the Old Testament, oil was used for anointing, which

designated an impartation of power.

When the high priest was anointed, the oil was poured over his

head and ran down onto his beard and onto his garments, right down

into his shoes. Psalms 133:2.

When David was anointed by Samuel to become king over Israel,

he received an enduement of power that caused him to be able to do

exploits in the name of the Lord.

Power!

This is something that every born again child of God needs more

than anything else after conversion. Jesus recognized this, and

frequently alluded to it in his talks with the disciples before his

crucifixion.

"It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the

Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him

unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world …"

John 16:7, 8.

After the resurrection, Jesus told his disciples to go into Jerusalem

and wait there for the promise of the Father "which, saith he, ye have

heard of me."

As he stood with his disciples for the last time, waiting to be taken

into the heavens, his parting words were:

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"Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon

you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all

Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

Acts 1:8.

Power!

Now, try to put yourself in the position of these disciples. After

their Lord was crucified, they were on the verge of going back into

their old lines of business. Peter, Andrew, James and John had already

gone back to their fishing nets. Suddenly, Christ met them and

renewed their commission to carry his gospel to the world.

No doubt, Matthew was considering a job collecting taxes.

Each man had a profession which he had laid aside to follow

Christ. When Christ was gone, there was nothing to do but return to

the old job.

Then Jesus came and showed them that his power had not

changed. Every doubt was erased. Even doubting Thomas fell on his

face before him crying, "My Lord and my God!"

Can you not believe that everyone of them was eager to go out and

tell the world, "He is not dead! He is risen!"

But Jesus recognized the need of power in each life before they

went out to face the world. He said, "Not yet! You have need of

something more. Go first into the city of Jerusalem, and wait there

until you have received the Holy Ghost, which is the promise of the

Father. He cannot come until I return to heaven and send him. But

when he has come, he will abide in each and every one of you, and he

will provide power!"

This abiding, indwelling presence of the Holy Ghost is essential to

every one of our lives.

This is the anointing. "Thou anointest my head with oil!" I shall

not want for power, because the great shepherd has made provision for

every one of us to have power in our lives.

Now, check your own life. Do you have power? Or is your life

powerless?

Not long ago, I left a service, got into my car, and turned the

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switch in the ignition. Nothing happened. There were no lights, no

horn, nothing! I said, "What has happened? I had power when I drove

up here!"

I lifted the hood and found that somebody had cut the cables and

stolen my battery. I had lost my power!

I still had the same car, and the same keys. The same light bulbs

were there, and the same horn button. But nothing would work. The

source of power was gone.

We have fine churches today, and highly trained pulpiteers. We

have beautiful choirs, and comfortable pews. We have

departmentalized Sunday Schools, ladies organizations, social service

departments. Everything is there. It looks like a church. But it isn't

going anywhere!

Why?

Because it lacks power. It is dead on the tracks.

Take a long freight train, and string the cars out behind the engine.

The engineer looks over at the fireman and says, "Go ahead!" He pulls

the throttle, and nothing happens. The engineer walks over and finds

that there is a cold boiler—no steam, no power. That train isn't going

anywhere. The conductor is on the train. The engineer is in his

position. The fireman is there. But there is no power. Nothing is going

to move until the fireman gets the fire hot and the steam pressure rises.

Then he says, "All right. We can go now." One little pull on the

throttle, and the whistle sounds and the train moves out.

Same train, same engineer, same conductor, same fireman. But

there is a difference. Now there is power!

This is what our churches need today. This is what the people of

God need.

"Thou anointest my head with oil." I shall not want for power.

Elisha was dying. King Joash came to him for help. He wouldn't

even let the prophet die in peace. The Syrians had come to invade

Israel. The king rushed to the chamber where the old prophet was

dying and said, "What am I to do?"

Elisha told him to open the window, and bring a bow and arrows.

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Even in his dying condition, Elisha imparted strength to King Joash.

Joash put his hands upon the bow, and Elisha laid his hands upon the

hands of Joash.

Elisha said, "Now, shoot!" Joash let the arrow fly.

Elisha said, "The arrow of the Lord's deliverance! And the arrow

of deliverance from Syria!" Then he told the king to take the remaining

arrows and smite them upon the ground.

Joash smote the ground three times. Surely, that should be

sufficient!

No!

Elisha was grieved and said, "You should have kept on smiting the

ground! You should have smitten at least five or six times! If you had

kept smiting, you would have completely defeated Syria, but because

you stopped too soon you shall smite Syria only thrice."

Even today, Israel is suffering because Joash stopped smiting too

soon!

The point, though, that I am making here is that there was more

power in that dying old prophet than in the young, vital king. Joash

was a good king, but he had to look to someone else for the power that

he needed. Elisha had power in his life—a double portion of power—

and he communicated that power into the lives of others.

You, believer, have something in your hand! God has put

something within you.

I hear some people—even some preachers ridicule the working of

the Holy Ghost through men of God by saying, "I don't have anything

in my hand!"

Well, if you don't have anything in your hand, I'll surely look for

someone else when I need help. Don't lay that powerless hand on me!

I want you to know that I have something in my hand—and

something in my feet. I have something in me! Jesus said, "I will walk

in you, and I will talk in you. I will be your God, and you shall be my

people."

There is something about a touch that communicates power.

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Do you remember the woman who came to Jesus suffering from a

disease that we call cancer today? She had an issue of blood, twelve

years. She had spent all her money on physicians, but instead of

getting better she grew worse. Finally, she came to herself, and said,

"If I can get close enough to Jesus to touch just the hem of his

garment, I know that I will be made whole."

Some people lie there and cry, "Touch me, Lord!"

Not this woman!

Sick as she was, she set out to find him. When she got there, the

crowd was shoulder to shoulder around him. How could that poor, sick

little woman reach him through the press?

She pushed and elbowed her way, bending and turning, until at last

she was on her knees at his feet. She reached out a hand and her finger

tips touched that dusty fabric, the hem of his garment that swept along

the road.

Suddenly he stopped in his tracks. "Who touched me?"

Peter said, "Who touched you? How can you ask that? This crowd

has been jostling you all day. There is somebody touching you most of

the time, and now you ask who touched you! These people are

thronging you, day in and day out!"

Beloved, have you been thronging Jesus, or have you touched

him? Thousands of people were thronging him that day, but only one

person touched him. And even his disciples didn't understand the

difference!

Jesus said, "I know. But someone here touched me. I felt virtue go

out of me."

Now keep in mind that through the centuries, words gradually

change meaning. Today, we think of virtue as meaning purity, and

indeed purity is an important part of its meaning. The original meaning

of the word is POWER!

Jesus felt power go from him into another human body because of

that touch.

I shall not want for power. I have his touch, and he touches me!

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When the woman confessed that she had touched Jesus, he said,

"Woman, thy faith hath made thee whole!"

I am sure that Jesus had every gift of the spirit; nobody has ever

been endowed with more gifts than he. Yet, he did not say, "Woman,

my gift made you whole." That woman exercised something that every

one of you possesses: faith.

Put your faith to work.

Stop thronging him, and press through. Touch him!

Immediately she felt in her body that she was healed of that

plague.

1 tell folks not to look to their feelings.

But don't take all the feeling out of it.

I see it all the time. People come for prayer, and you can tell that

they feel it all over, the moment my hand touches them. Some even

feel the complete evidence of healing sitting in the congregation,

before they even get into the line. But our faith isn't based on feeling;

it is based on God's Word. When you have feeling, go ahead and enjoy

it, but don't reject the healing that God has promised just because you

don't feel it yet!

All over America, the good people are in their churches. They are

thronging him, going to Sunday School, taking part in the programs of

the church, singing in the choir, doing all sorts of religious things,

doing all the nice things that religious people are supposed to do but

not saved, not filled with the Holy Ghost. Dead on the tracks. Devoid

of power.

The shepherd would change this. He is waiting to anoint them with

oil.

I shall not want for power.

Peter and John, after they had waited with the others in the upper

room until the anointing had been poured upon them, went up to the

temple at the hour of prayer. Just like today's average Christian, they

walked right past a man who was sitting at the beautiful gate. The man

was a beggar. He had never been able to walk.

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That is what the church is doing today. You say, but my preacher

isn't doing anything about praying for the sick, or healing the lame."

Just because your preacher doesn't have power with God doesn't

mean that you have to be devoid of power. Jesus didn't say, "These

signs shall follow the preacher." He said, "These signs shall follow

them that believe." (Mark 16.)

After they had passed by, Peter realized that they didn't have to

walk by and leave that lame man sitting there. They were different

now! They had received power! They turned back.

Peter said, "Look on us!"

Now, this isn't Jesus. We all know that Jesus had power to heal the

sick, and even to raise the dead. But this is Peter, the disciple who

denied Jesus three times in one night, before the cock could crow!

"Silver and gold have I none."

What a disappointment! What good to a beggar is a man who has

neither silver nor gold? But Peter had something. The shepherd had

anointed his head with oil. He had power!

"But such as I have ..."

Power! Power to heal! Power to change lives!

"In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!"

When Jesus told me to go preach, I said, "Nothing doing, Lord!

You know I could never do that!"

But when Jesus tells you to do something, he gives you the power

to do it.

I'm not so different from many of you. God has told you something

to do, and you really are not intending to be a rebel. You just don't

have faith to believe that you can do it. You think of it as lacking faith

in yourself.

No!

You lack faith in God!

God never asked you to do it alone. He only asked you to be a

yielded vessel. You don't make people believe. You only preach the

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Word. You don't heal the sick. You pray over them, anointing them

with oil in the name of the Lord. You pray the prayer of faith. It is the

Lord who will raise them up!

I prayed for a woman the other night and said, "In the name of

Jesus, get up and walk."

She said, "Oh, but I can't. I haven't walked since ..."

I said, "Well, then. Stay there!"

In another meeting, three men came into the meeting in wheel

chairs. I said to all three of them, "In the name of Jesus Christ of

Nazareth, arise and walk."

One of them said, "But Brother Schambach, I've been like this

thirteen years."

I said, "I don't care if you were born like that. I am here as a

servant of God, and when I invoke the name of Jesus, he gives the

ability to do what I have commanded you to do. Now! In Jesus name,

get out of that chair and walk!" "Oh!"

All three of those men stood up and walked away from those

chairs, healed by the power of God.

Of course I couldn't do it when God called me. I can't do it now.

But what difference does that make? I can come as near doing it as any

man alive, because none of them can do it. But I know someone who

can do it, and he walks in me and talks in me. When I lay my hands

upon the sick, his hand is in my hand. His name is Jesus. There is

nothing impossible with Jesus!

People need teaching. Rather than being so much concerned with

having hands laid on them—and with whose hands—they need to have

it in their minds that when hands are laid upon them, they are going to

be healed—they are going to see, hear, speak, walk. Tumors and

cancers must go. Whatever your trouble is, it is on the list!

I shall not want for power.

When I invoke the name of Jesus and command you to do

something, don't sit there and argue with me! Do it! With that

command, God gives the enabling!

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Power!

We like to talk about power to heal, and power to deliver.

The most important thing of all is that he has power to save your

old, rotten soul!

I put myself in this category. If he could reach way down where I

was, and pick up a stubborn, self-willed, rotten sinner such as I was

and wash him in the blood so that he is a clean and pure as a new-born

babe, and put a robe of righteousness upon him and call him son, there

is nothing that he cannot do.

If he can save your soul, he can do anything.

Thou anointest my head with oil.

I shall not want for power.

Paul wrote to the church at Rome, "If the Spirit that raised up

Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the

dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth

in you." (Romans 8:11.)

You mean that same Spirit lives in you? Maybe one similar to it!

No!

The very same Holy Ghost that you received is the Spirit by which

the Father raised up Jesus from the dead! That ought to make you

shout! Talk about power! With such power as that dwelling in you,

anything is possible!

That's why some people stand right here in a service and have a

tumor dissolved. That power within them is at work.

That power can be transmitted. That is why I lay hands on people

and God heals them, or delivers them from demons.

Sometimes I don't have to lay hands on them. All that is necessary

is to teach them to put to work that power that they have within

themselves.

Some of you have been moving around so slow. You have

rheumatism, arthritis, lumbago. What you need is quickening! That is

what that Spirit within you will do—that Spirit that raised up Jesus

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from the dead!

Now I'm going to talk about power in the church.

Napoleon, that great conqueror, had his generals gathered in

conference. He threw a pin into a map and said, "There, gentlemen,

lies a sleeping giant. If she ever awakens, she will shake the world."

That sleeping giant was China. It is beginning to look like she is

coming awake; everybody trembles at the mention of China.

I want to throw a pin into the church and say to every one of you,

"Here lies a sleeping giant. The church is asleep. She has slept for

centuries. If she should ever awaken, she will shake the world."

That is why I am going constantly in meetings, under the big tent

and in the largest auditoriums I can find, in cities across America. I am

doing everything that I can to awaken the church.

Paul wrote to the church in his time, "Awake thou that sleepest,

and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." Ephesians

5:14.

If the church was asleep then, only fifty years after Christ

ascended, what a deep sleep she is in today.

Beloved, let us stop playing church. Let's put this power within us

to work.

Either the Bible is true, or it is a lie.

If it is a lie, then junk it. Burn it. Throw it away.

If it is truth, step out on it. Put its power and its promises to work

in your life and in the world, so that you can be fruitful in everything

you set your hand to do.

Before he ascended, Jesus said, "All power is given unto me in

heaven and in earth." He still has that power. Your great high priest is

at the right hand of God right now, with all of heaven at his disposal.

He is my brother, and through him all that power is mine!

We are living in an age when everybody is looking for power.

Political power. Black power. White power. Chicano power. Youth

power. Women's power. Italian power. German power. Irish power.

Everybody wants power for his (or her) own group. But they want

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power to take for themselves, not power to give!

It's time we began letting the world know about HOLY GHOST

POWER!

You don't know what power is until the Holy Ghost is come upon

you.

That is a deluge of power so that you can witness for Christ, in

ever widening circles and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. It is

power to give what the world needs most. Power to give life. Power

for healing of every sickness and disease known to man. Power over

demon spirits. Power to provide for every physical and financial need.

Power to transmit to others that same power that is within you, the

power that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead!

"Thou anointest my head with oil!"

No matter what the need may be, I shall not want for power!

I'm going to tell you what is the trouble with too many people in

the church today. They are too cold in their souls. They sit and wait for

an evangelist to come by and give them a "hot-shot" so that they can

get going for a little while. Like a car that won't start, they sit there

with the hood up, and stop somebody that comes by with two wires to

put on. The evangelist lays hands on them, and they start off with a

bang. But there is no power in their battery. Their own prayer life is

nil. They don't feed on God's Word. They don't take time to get their

own battery charged up. Next time some high powered preacher comes

along, they get another "hot shot" and go chugging along again for a

while. Then they die down again until someone else comes along.

Jesus is the one to look to. He is the author and finisher of our

faith.

I want you to know that after every one of his campaigns, after

every time that he ministered, Jesus would slip away into some quiet

place to wait on God in prayer. I am of the opinion that if Jesus needed

to pray, I had better stay on my face in prayer. That is the only way

that I can maintain power in my life to meet my own needs and to

minister to others.

The disciples couldn't stay awake to watch with him. They hadn't

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needed to. They had Jesus with them, and every time they got in

trouble, they just called for him. He was there to help them. Jesus took

time to pray.

You that have received the Holy Ghost, that power has to be

renewed every once in a while.

If you are used of God in healing the sick, every time you lay

hands on someone you are transferring your power into their body.

When you are casting out devils, so much power goes out of you that it

leaves you weak, thoroughly exhausted. Then you have to get alone

with God somewhere and get your battery charged.

Waiting on God is the only way that you can do it.

There is another way to lose your power. That is not to use it. You

let a battery set for a long time, and you will have to have it charged

before it will work.

You go to church and have a wonderful time. You get all filled up,

and dance and shout. But the next day when your husband says,

"Honey, wake up. Make my breakfast," you say, "Leave me alone! Get

your own breakfast!" There goes your power. Selfishness drains your

power away. You should be using that power that is in you to be a

blessing to others.

On the job, hearing dirty stories, cursing, complaining—and you

don't want to let them know you are a child of God because they might

laugh at you. There goes some of your power.

You say you got filled with the Holy Ghost ten years ago? Yes, but

you let it all drain out nine and a half years ago! You need to get all

cleaned out and refilled! It needs to be a daily experience.

Thank God you have a shepherd who anoints your head with oil!

No matter how many times it is drained out, you have a supply that

never runs dry.

Power!

Power to save you and sanctify you. Power to save your loved

ones. Power to fill you with the Holy Ghost. Power to heal all your

diseases. Power to meet all your needs. Power over natural forces.

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Power to become an effective witness!

That's what it is really for.

God has made an investment in you. He says, "You didn't choose

me. I have chosen you." He put something within you to make you an

effective witness in that neighborhood where you live. What have you

done with it? You may be the only light in that dark place. Are you

letting your light shine?

God may not have called you to preach, but he has called you to be

a witness. Sometimes people mistake this for a call to preach.

Everybody wants to be a witness to the uttermost part of the earth. But

God calls you first to witness in Jerusalem—that is, at home. Put the

power to work at home first. Mother, first be faithful in your witness to

your own children, to your own husband.

When your children get sick, you don't have to run off to the arm

of flesh. You don't even have to go find a preacher. Lay your hands on

them and set them free, yourself! You have that power within you to

bring healing to your little ones. Put it to work.

"You shall be witnesses unto me."

Some of you have lived in your community for years, and your

neighbors don't even know that you are a Christian. Some of us take

this so lightly. Your milk man, the man who brings your mail. You are

called to witness to them.

When I joined the Navy in World War II, my pastor said to me,

"Bob, the very first day take your stand for Christ or you never will!

The first day in the barracks, take out your Bible and get down on your

knees by your bunk and pray."

I appreciated that pastor. I said, "I will do it."

But when I got into the barracks, it didn't seem like any place for a

prayer meeting.

Over in one corner, they were shooting dice. On the bed next to

me, a half dozen men had a deck of cards, and they were playing poker

—whatever that is. I thought a poker was something you use in the

stove! The room was blue with smoke, and the noise was terrific. Foul

language filled the air.

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Here I was, a seventeen year old boy, green as grass. But my

pastor had said, "Do it the first day, or you never will."

I said, "My God, help me!"

I took out the Bible that the church young people had given me

when I left, and I spread it out on the bed. I got down on my knees. My

heart was jumping. I began reading the Bible aloud. Not praying, just

reading the Bible.

All of a sudden, there was a holy hush. You couldn't hear the

clicking of the dice nor the swish of the cards. Nobody was saying

anything. Sweat was pouring down my neck. But I had made up my

mind I was going to serve God, and I wasn't ashamed of Him.

Some of those hardened men became my best friends. They

watched my life every step of the way. When we got out into battle

and those kamikazi planes came flying in, they would come and say,

"Preacher, pray for me!"

There was a young man on the ship who was an alcoholic. He used

to drink torpedo juice, out of the torpedo tubes. I used to talk with him

and pray with him every night.

One night, three of the boys had come back from shore leave,

raving drunk. They had decided that they were going to get Schambach

drunk. They were going to get "the preacher!" They had brought a fifth

of whiskey, and five of them came after me. Before the five got to me,

I got about four of them. I said, "Lord, make a Samson out of me." But

they kept coming. All of a sudden, they got me down. They opened

that bottle, and were ready to start pouring it down me. I had never

tasted liquor in my life.

Then, out of one of the halls came that little alcoholic, with a

baseball bat. Right quick, he cleaned the plough of every one of them.

He blacked them out! He took the liquor. I suppose he had use for that!

He took me aside, with tears streaming down his face. He said to me,

"Preacher, don't you ever take that first drink! My life has been

wrecked! My God, I wish I could give it up!"

My friends, right then, I had this power dwelling within me that I

could have set him free, but I didn't know how to use it! Isn't that a

tragedy? I look back to that time and say, "God forgive me! I was so

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ignorant!"

And then I look around at the church today. The church is in

ignorance. They know how to speak in tongues, and prophesy—while

souls go to hell! All around you, they are waiting for deliverance, and

you have the power, right there inside you, to set them free!

"These signs shall follow them that believe. In my name they

shall cast out devils. They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall

recover."

Power!

"Thou anointest my head with oil." I shall not want for power!

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Chapter XI

I Shall Not Want for Joy

XI

"... My cup runneth over."

Psalm 23:5d

I shall not want for joy!

When your cup is running over, that is the time to be joyful.

This is the pinnacle of this Psalm. We have been swept along,

through these five short verses of scripture. We have found God's

ample provision for all the things that a Christian could desire. Rest,

refreshment, restoration! Guidance, courage, and comfort! Bountiful

supply! Protection in every danger! Power! An undreamed of

abundance of power—the very same power abiding within us that

raised up Jesus from the dead! With all this, how could we lack for

joy?

My cup isn't large enough to hold all these bounties; therefore, my

cup runneth over!

God said, "I will give you the oil of gladness for mourning."

When the power of God is working in your life, you will have joy

that flows like a river from your innermost being.

"Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over."

I shall not want for joy!

We live in a sad old world, because the world has never learned to

know the bounties that God has provided. A world that is in rebellion

against God cannot be a joyful world.

When Jesus was born in the manger in Bethlehem, the angels sang,

"Joy to the world."

But the world has not found that joy. This is because so many of

those who stand before the world as examples of the Christian religion

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are long faced Christians.

Why?

Because they are living in the realm of religious prohibitions—

negative religion. They have not found the realm of God's bountiful

supply.

"Rejoice evermore!"

I Thess. 5:16.

"... With joy unspeakable and full of glory."

I Peter 1:8.

There is nothing long-faced about being a Christian! Spirit filled

Christians are the happiest people in the world! "My cup runneth

over." I shall not want for joy!

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Chapter XII

Look Out! Something Is Following You!

XII

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my

life: and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 23:6.

I've been listening for years to people who come to me saying,

"Brother Schambach, something is following me!" People get their

eyes on all kinds of demon spirits.

They don't even know what is on their trail.

Christian, God said that what is following you is goodness and

mercy!

Now, there is the personal pronoun again. Surely goodness and

mercy shall follow me.

The Lord is my shepherd.

Is he your shepherd? Only if you claim him for your own.

Only if he is your shepherd will goodness and mercy follow you!

"And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever!"

Christians, we have been living far beneath our privileges in

Christ.

Goodness and mercy!

Ours should be an abundant life, with all the good things that flow

from Calvary. God has given us these things to enjoy now.

The idea that we have to wait until we get to heaven to enjoy God's

goodness and mercy is a trick of the devil to cheat us out of the things

that are ours.

God is the God of the now!

I AM is his name!

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Somebody talks longingly of the streets of gold they are going to

walk on after a while. I am glad that God has told us about that, for the

life to come.

But I want some of that gold now, and God has promised it to me.

"When we get to heaven, we won't be sick any more!"

How about now?

Appropriate God's promises for now.

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my

life."

Turn to the book of Hebrews. There it is, in Chapter 9, verses 15,

16 and 17.

"And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that

by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were

made under the first testament, they which are called might receive

the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there

must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is

of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while

the testator liveth."

How long will this inheritance last?

It is eternal!

Not just for a week, for a month, for a year! Forever!

An eternal inheritance!

"There must be the death of the testator... It is of no strength at

all while the testator liveth."

Here is the very reason why Christ died. God gave his only

begotten Son to die, so that he could have more sons!

Jesus had to die, and upon his death he left a will (a testament). I

hold that will in my hand—God's Word, the Bible!

In Chicago, an enterprising reporter set out to try to help people

who had inherited money but were ignorant of it. He visited every

bank in the city, and published the names in his paper, in alphabetical

order. There were thousands of names. Two full pages every day, for

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two solid weeks! In Chicago alone, the figure ran into billions of

dollars, just lying there drawing interest. Nobody can touch it, because

it is unclaimed inheritance.

You know what Schambach did! I bought a paper every day, and

turned right to the S's! I looked under Schambach, Schamrock,

Schadrach, Shuckaluck—everything that anybody has ever called me.

Somebody might have said, "I'm going to leave Brother Schambach

something!"

I looked every day, but I didn't find anything. I want everything

that is coming to me.

Many people followed these listings every day, and every day

there were people who found that they had money in the bank that they

didn't know anything about.

There was a man who had a large sum of money left to him. He

was on welfare, didn't even have enough money to buy a pair of shoes.

He was so poor that he didn't even have enough to buy a newspaper so

that he could read the lists. A friend came and told him, "Man, you've

got money down there in the bank. Somebody died and left you a

fortune."

He said, "Don't play with me! I never knew anybody that had

money. I don't have anything. My Daddy never had anything. His

Daddy didn't have anything. It's not my name!"

"It is your name! I saw it!"

"It's somebody else. Nobody is fooling me. I'm not going down

there and make a fool of myself."

Finally, the editor of the paper heard about him, and became

concerned. He went out to talk to the man. He said, "It's you, all right!

All you have to do is go down and sign some papers and claim it."

He said, "Who are you? How do you know that it's me? Folks are

just trying to play a trick on me, and I'm not falling for it. I am not

going down there!"

Then, the Mayor got into the picture. He came out in his

chauffeur-driven limousine and said, "I'll take you down there,

personally. All you've got to do is sign the document and all that

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money is yours!"

He said, "Are you sure that you are the Mayor?"

Finally, the mayor persuaded him.

Do you know how much money was waiting for him—a man on

public assistance?

Five million dollars!

Isn't this just like Christ's heirs?

So much unbelief!

The church is struggling along, sick and poor, pushed around by

the devil. This ought not to be. If we only realized what is ours for the

taking, already set apart for us through our inheritance!

It is all yours. But in order to possess it, you have to claim it.

What is included in that inheritance?

"... All things that pertain to life and godliness." (II Peter 1:3.)

Every spiritual need, and every physical need! Everything that is

needed for the entire nature of man!

Hallelujah!

Jesus died, and he left a will.

There are two things that are important about a will:

1. Is my name included in the will? and

2. What is provided for me in the will?

Did you know that Schambach's name is included in Christ's will?

It is!

And your name is there, too!

You can see yourself, named right there in the will. Turn to

Romans 8:15, 16 and 17. Here is a listing of the heirs.

"For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear,

but you have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,

Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are

the children of God: and if children, then heirs: heirs of God, and

joint-heirs with Christ."

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That means that whatever belongs to Christ belongs equally to me.

We own it together, like a joint bank account. He can draw on it at

will, and so can I.

Beloved, we are heirs!

Now, when I learned that I was an heir, I began to search the will

to find out what was mine as a result of this inheritance. Whatever is

left to me, I intend to have it. I am going to lay claim to it.

The devil is busy trying to cheat every one of God's people out of

the things that Jesus died for. I am not going to be cheated out of it.

We need to have our eyes enlightened and our understanding open

to know what the will of God is, and what he has left for every one of

us. Then we need to move in and claim it.

Heirs of God. Joint heirs with Christ!

Look at the first chapter of Ephesians.

There is a complete inheritance. I like to underline these things in

my Bible. Let me go down the line with you:

(1) He blessed us with all spiritual blessings. (Verse 3.)

Somebody says, "That doesn't say material things."

May I call to your attention that we are spiritual beings? I was

begotten once by my earthly father, and was born a natural being. But I

was born again. I was fleshly at first, but now I am a spiritual creation.

I can't stress this enough. I am not talking about putting your name on

a church book. I'm talking about a new birth!

Because I am a spiritual being, whatever I do, whatever I have

need of, is spiritual. When I eat or drink, I am doing it in the spirit. I

am not separating spiritual from physical here, as it applies to the child

of God.

(2) He hath chosen us in him. (Verse 4.)

Some people say, "A year ago, I found the Lord."

You didn't find Him! He wasn't lost. He found you. You were

straying, in sin; dead in trespasses and sins. He picked you up, and

washed you, and gave you life and all things that pertain to life and

godliness.

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Sometimes when I am alone with God, I say, "Why me? Why did

you ever pick me up?"

He could have passed me by, but he chose me. Hallelujah! God

says, "I have called you by your name. I have chosen you. You are

mine. You are a royal priesthood, a holy nation!"

(3) Having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus

Christ to himself. (Verse 5.)

We have been adopted. We are his own, for no other reason than

"according to the good pleasure of his will."

(4) We are accepted. (Verse 6.)

Accepted in the beloved. We have redemption and forgiveness.

(5) Having made known unto us the mystery of his will. (Verse 9.)

(6) In whom we have obtained an inheritance. (Verse 11.)

It's there! It's mine! It is predestined for me, and for all of us, his

adopted sons and daughters!

And then Verse 13! We are sealed. And the will is sealed. It has

the seal of God upon it, and no one can break it.

Sealed by the Holy Ghost! Sealed with the spirit of promise!

A seal gives protection. It is all that we need in order to know that

what is inside is pure, protected from any contamination.

A seal also gives authenticity. When you are sealed as a son of

God, there is no one who can deny it. God has put his mark on you.

Not a plastic button, nor a bumper sticker, but the seal of the Holy

Ghost. A mark that shows in your face, in your talk, in your walk, in

your very life! There is an authenticity that comes into your life, so

that the world can know that you are different, because you belong to

God.

Then, the will has to be probated—passed upon by the court.

Let's find out if this will has been probated.

Turn to Psalm 119, and get ready to shout. "Forever, O Lord, thy

word is settled in heaven." (Verse 89.)

It has already been passed upon—not by a Justice of the Peace, not

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by a Court of Common Pleas, not by an Appelate Court, not even by

the Supreme Court with all its justices. This matter has been passed

upon by the highest court in all the universe!

No one can ever reverse that decision. Every word that is written

in the Bible, everything that Jesus died to provide for you, every jot

and tittle of it belongs to you, and heaven is just waiting to pass it out.

All you have to do is to come and claim it.

It was all there in the Old Testament. All that was needed to make

it valid was the death of the testator. Jesus died to make it mine (and

yours).

It is repeated in the New Testament, to assure us that it is for us,

today.

It is not something that passed away with an earlier age. It is ours!

The New Testament!

His last will and testament!

Now, there is one more thing. Every will has to have an executor,

to make certain that every provision of the will is carried out according

to the purpose of the testator.

Jesus wasn't going to trust this important matter—the largest

inheritance in all history—to just anybody. Not a friend of the court,

not an archangel, not a priest or a pope. To be sure that this will was

properly executed, Jesus himself rose from the grave and went into the

throne room. He sat down on the right hand of the Judge of all the

earth, and there he sits today, making intercession for you and me. Not

a friend of the testator, but the testator himself!

That's why I look into the face of the devil and say, "I refuse to be

sick! Don't you know that by his stripes I am healed?"

These blessings shall follow us, and surround us, and cover us.

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my

life."

"... And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever!"

The Psalm begins with the Lord and ends with the Lord.

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Everything in between is the Lord!

"The Lord is my shepherd. He's all I want."

There is nothing that I could ever want that I do not have in him!

"I shall dwell in his house ..." How long?

Forever!

You can't fathom that. I can't fathom it.

We are accustomed to the limitations of time. No sooner have you

torn one page off the calendar than you are looking beyond to the next

page. A day is finished, and you go to bed, but you set the alarm to

waken you for the duties of the following day.

A presidential campaign takes the motto, "Four More Years."

When that four years has passed, there will be four more years,

and four more years.

As those days and months and years pass by, I have God's promise,

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me."

But then one day, my life will be moved from this realm of time

and space. This old house will be left behind. The worn carpets. The

broken windows, the well used and familiar furnishings will all be left

behind.

That isn't death!

I will be coming alive!

I will be moving from this apartment into the house that Christ has

been preparing for me.

Jesus said, "In my father's house are many mansions."

He didn't say that he was going there to select one of those

mansions for you. Those mansions are beautiful, beyond all doubt. But

Jesus said that he was going to "prepare a place" for me. He has been

there nearly two thousand years. Can you imagine what kind of a place

he will have prepared, after two thousand years?

That is where I am going to spend all eternity, when I have laid my

burdens down.

In that house that Jesus has prepared!

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I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever!

Amen!

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Document Outline

- He's All I Want

- I He's All I Want

- II I Shall Not Want for Rest

- III I Shall Not Want for Refreshment

- IV I Shall Not Want for Restoration

- V I Shall Not Want for Guidance

- VI I Shall Not Want for Courage

- VII I Shall Not Want for Comfort

- VIII I Shall Not Want for Supply

- IX I Shall Not Want for Protection

- X I Shall Not Want for Power

- XI I Shall Not Want for Joy

- XII Look Out! Something Is Following You!

Table of Contents

He's All I Want

I Shall Not Want for Rest

I Shall Not Want for Refreshment

I Shall Not Want for Restoration

I Shall Not Want for Guidance

I Shall Not Want for Courage

I Shall Not Want for Comfort

I Shall Not Want for Supply

I Shall Not Want for Protection

I Shall Not Want for Power

I Shall Not Want for Joy

Look Out! Something Is Following You!