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The Word,
Worldwide.
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“SING O BARREN”
Today I want to speak
about the Biblical Women’s Hall of Fame. I know many of you deserve
to be there, but yet recognize that the Bible does not mention all the
women. Some are nameless women. But yet they performed wonderfully in
the Kingdom. That’s why the writer of Hebrews 11, when he could
not put all the names down, wrote, “...and others.” You might
be one of those that fit into the category, “and others.”
The world might never know you, and the newspaper may never write anything
about you. You may not be on television. You probably won’t write
a book, but God put you on the list of “and others” whom the
world was not worthy even to hear the names. But because of your labor
of love and your testimonial for your children, you family and your
community, today from my heart I want to honor all the mothers of RCCM,
those who are here and those who are not here. I’m speaking on
behalf the eldership. We love you mothers. Jesus loves you too. The Bible in Isaiah
54:1: “‘Sing, O barren, You who have not borne! Break forth
into singing, and cry aloud, you who have not travailed with child!
For more are the children of the barren than the children of the married
woman,’ says the Lord.” Let’s now look
at II John 1: “To the elect Lady and her children, whom I love
in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known the truth.” And lastly, let’s
look at Proverbs 30:15-16: “The leech has two daughters crying
Give and Give. There are three things that are never satisfied. Four
never say, ‘It is enough.’ The grave, the barren womb, the
earth that is not satisfied with water—And the fire that never
says, ‘It is enough.’” Father, we thank
you this morning for your presence. Thank you for your blessings. Let
fire fall upon every one of us, I pray Oh God. Fulfill Your purpose
in every mother here today, Oh God. Even those who feel, “What’s
the use of living?” I pray, Oh God, today, that this will be a
new day for them. They will be revived. There will be a rebirth in their
spirit in the Name of Jesus. Grant to them, even when they feel barren,
fruit for the Glory of God and their good, in Jesus’ Name. All these Scriptures
point to the “elect lady.” I like the New Testament teaching
when the Apostle John, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, addresses
the church as the “elect lady.” I don’t know how you
feel about yourself today, whether you are married or single, or single
by choice, or not single by choice. God has a purpose for your life.
And I want you to know that because God has a purpose for your life,
you are not where you are because of any mistake. God has everything
under His control. And God has spared you probably from some headaches
and pain in your life. I’m speaking even today for some of you
that are waiting for the right man to come into your life. It’s
not your timing and God is saying to you, “Hold on. I have everything
under control.” I believe it’s God’s will. Don’t
run, and don’t push, and don’t make things happen. When we
do try to make things happen, it will never work out. God knows exactly
where you are. God knows your “Adam” in your life. When God
gives you your “Adam”, you can count on that man to faithful
until death. Here we find in the
Book of Proverbs a powerful teaching, and the teaching is this. It is
not normal for a woman to be barren. And I believe that God is about
to raise up an army from pure barrenness. God is about to raise up an
army (and this includes men) from pure barrenness. There’s a Scripture
in Song of Solomon 4:16 in which it says, “Awake, O north wind,
and come, O south! Blow upon my garden…” When the Bible speaks
of the north wind, it speaks of destruction. When the north wind blows,
trust me, this is a tornado. And the north wind takes away everything
except the foundation. And then it doesn’t stop there. Because
after the north wind blows, he pauses for moment, and then, the south
wind will blow upon my garden. That way whatever you have planted through
my life will be able to grow. Some of us feel that God has sent the
north wind. He has taken the superstructure above you, and only the
foundation is left behind. A house that was given to our daughter church
a few months ago burned this past week. I went to see it and found that
is was burned to the ground. But the foundation is still there. A lot
can be built upon that foundation. Let me say as I begin
this message, you might feel that the superstructure and all the rooms
have been taken away from you. But you still have your foundation, and
this second time around God will build the way He wants to build. Not
the way you or me want to build. That’s why God sent the north
wind. Don’t ever curse the north wind, because God sent the north
wind. But I thank God that the answer is not that the north wind has
come, but blow on my garden O south wind! The south wind is gentle.
It brings heat and fruit. And church, I believe God is about to blow
the south wind upon our lives. Praise God! God is about to do that. You see God is about
to raise us up. He wants to produce in us what He wants us to be. The
water, the grave, the barren womb, the fire—all these four say,
“It is not enough.” Some of the greatest women in the Bible
that God used were all barren. God takes the nothing and makes something
right out of their nothingness. God can take barrenness, emptiness,
void, disaster, north wind, and then He can send a holy wind and say,
“It is My time now.” When the world might say, even when your
family says, even when your bank says, “You are done; you are finished;
your life is over”, God says, “No, honey, I’m sending
the south wind, and the south wind will produce that which I want to
produce.” And God today wants to produce in His church, not what
we have built; not what we thought was God’s will, but His perfect
will. God is saying, “I’m tired of your programs. I want to
destroy the superstructure of every church. I want to send the north
wind. That way, the south wind will blow in it.” Praise God. I
thank God for that. You know, people feel sorry for me. But, don’t
feel sorry for me. I’m in my prime and I’m so happy for what
God has done in my life. He did send the north wind, but I tell you
I’m enjoying this stage of my life. I’m enjoying the south
wind! Praise God forever. The south wind is coming for everyone in this
room. Only God, no man nor woman, no husband nor wife, no teacher nor
pastor, no leadership, nobody, only God can bring fruitfulness out of
barrenness. Praise Him! The water, the water—how
many of you have been to the Mississippi River? It flows and gathers
water from everywhere. Have you been to South America? When we were
there, we saw the Amazon. Big ships flow into this huge river, but the
water never rises an inch. It is never satisfied. Many rivers flow into
the Amazon River, but yet the river is never satisfied. It says, “Give
me more water; give me more water!” I was blessed to spend some
time at the Ganges River in India. What about the Nile in Africa? And
how many lakes do we enjoy in our nation? Never once do you hear them
say, “I’m satisfied.” Rather, they say, “Give me
more; give me more.” What about the fire?
It burns and burns and burns forever, and never says, “I have too
many houses; I have too many trees; I have too many forests.” The
fire is never satisfied. And what about the hungry grave? Some of you
need to go to Luxembourg in Belgium. How many precious American soldiers
are there. You look at all the white crosses. There are thousands and
thousands of graves. Not once has anyone heard, “Don’t give
me any more of your sons or your daughters. I want more and more.”
The graves are never satisfied. Every time God did
something miraculous or impossible in bringing forth a son or a servant
to do His work, He always used the impossible. If you search the Scriptures,
you will find out that God always used the impossible. God takes a nobody
from the ground, raises you up, puts a call upon your life, and the
call is nurtured, prayed up, watered, hands laid upon you and the commitment
is made. Before you know it, God, out of that nobody, does the impossible.
In looking at the Scriptures when God was about to bring forth the son
of the promise, He never used what was possible. Do you know what He
used? He always used barrenness. He always used the impossible. He used
the ridiculous. Why? Because God is a big show off. I’m not saying
this sacrilegiously. God is God, and He wants all the glory and all
the honor. The moment we say, “I did it,” God says, “I
will take it away.” He uses that which is impossible. Praise the
Name of the Lord! I. When you want
a new son, you don’t go to the ground for it. The ground, the earth
only has seed for weed or trees, or for fruit. But when it comes to
life, the earth doesn’t have any seed for children. So when you
and your wife want to have a child, you don’t go as God went. When
God created Adam He said, “I want to show my creation that I do
the impossible.” So He went in his backyard and used some ground
and made a man in His image. God gave a son through an impossible situation.
No one has ever done it since God did it. With all the science and technology,
and all the smarts that we have in these last days, no one has ever
been able to produce a man from the ground. But God wanted to show His
creation. “I can do the impossible. I am God and I do whatever
I please. I’m sovereign. Whatever I say, whatever I touch, you
don’t have to understand it; but believe Me and receive it.”
And from barren earth a son came forth. Praise the name of the Lord! II. Then God decided
to give the earth the Son of Promise, he did not go to Hollywood to
choose the best looking lady. He did not use a movie star. He didn’t
choose an Elizabeth Taylor, or a Gina Lollabridgida or a Sophia Loren.
No, do you know where God went? He looked for a dried up, wrinkled up
old woman whose body was a dead as a doorknob, and he chose Sarah. Glory
to God! The impossible, the impossible – He used Sarah, and an
old Abraham. Abraham might have been a man of faith, but he was not
in his prime to produce a son. You know that! God said to them, “I
am going to give you that which I promised out of that which is impossible,
and because I am God, I can do whatever I wish.” So, God brings
forth His promise of redemption through a barren woman, which was naturally
impossible. And the son’s name was Isaac (which means laughter.)
God does that. That’s our God. That’s our Jesus. That’s
the Holy Spirit! III. When God decided
to give the earth it’s first prophet, he went and found the wife
of Elkanah. Her name was Hannah. She went and laid her head at the altar.
She lay there day in and day out. Day in and day out, a woman of intercession;
a woman of prayer; a woman who wanted children. She lies there. Halleluiah!
She lies there because she knows she is barren. Then this heavy, fat
priest, (which I believe is the type of the overdone, religious system
in our churches), who produced lazy, belligerent sons, comes to her
and rebukes her and says, “What is the matter with you?” Why
are you so angry and praying as though you deserve what you want?”
Oh no, no! The Bible says, “The Kingdom of God suffers violence
and only violent will take it by force.” A representative of the
old religious system tells the woman of God, Hannah, “Don’t
be drunk about your conviction. Go along with our religious system.
You don’t have to have children. Enjoy your husband’s wives
children. Be happy with second best. Be happy with God’s permissive
will.” The same is being told to today’s intercessor. But
Hannah says, “No, no, I want God’s perfect will for my life.
I’m barren and I’m embarrassed. I want a son for myself. I
want to give life. I want to birth something for God!” Halleluiah!
And the prophet again said, “Come on Hannah, don’t be so overly
zealous.” Do you get the point? Don’t be concerned about your
barrenness. Hannah looks at him with respect. We need to look at the
man of God with respect. And she says, “Sir, I don’t care
what you tell me. I want sons, and I will never be satisfied until this
barren womb brings forth a child. I will not be satisfied. I want a
son.” The Bible says, out of the impossible, God put a seed in
her through Elkanah in a miraculous way. In her old age, she conceived
a child. And it was the prophet Samuel. The Bible says that for forty
years, whenever he spoke, not a word of his prophecy fell to the ground.
Every word he spoke came to pass because he was God’s son through
a barren woman, to whom the world said, “You cannot do it; you
cannot have children.” But she said to the Lord, “I want a
son. I want a child.” Give the Lord praise! IV. When God wanted
to give the earth the manifestation, the power and the evidence of His
mighty Holy Spirit, he did it through a barren woman. Leah gave her
husband children every nine months. But there was Rachel saying, “God,
Leah got it all!” Rachel, the beloved of Jacob, stood for motherhood.
She stood for the promise for the children of Israel. The Bible says
she was old, but before she died, God opened up her womb and gave her
two children. The first one was Joseph. He was a type of the early church.
He wore the coat of many colors representing the gifts and fruit of
the Holy Spirit; representing the early church and the later church
and the power of the Holy Ghost that would fall upon the church. Then
right before Rachel dies, by a supernatural miracle, God gave her a
second son. The Bible says that as she was delivering this son, she
was dying. And the midwife that was helping to deliver the baby said,
“Rachel, Rachel, a baby boy is born. What shall we call him? And
she said, “Call him Ben-Oni, the son of my sorrow.” But as
she pronounced these words, Jacob runs in and says, “Oh, honey,
I loved you; I loved you from the beginning. I know I could not give
you all the sons you wanted, but this son is not the son of sorrow,
but rather the son of my blessing.” Glory to God! “Don’t
call him Ben-Oni. Call him Benjamin which means son of my right hand.”
He represents fruitfulness. You may think that
what is happening today in the church is a disaster. Look at the sin.
Look at the people. They are cold or lukewarm. They are not testifying.
They are not praying or giving. God is shaking His church. I’m
glad about what is happening to the church today. God is about to raise
up His virgin church, not just any church. God is about to build up,
raise up and choose a virgin church. Oh God, I want to be one of them.
Halleluiah! Why? Because those of us that really love God, out of our
barrenness God can give us sons like Benjamin that will wake up the
church. The type of church that God is about to raise up is not going
to come from a Bible college. It will not come from a worldly church.
It will not come from the world’s system, but will come from a
church without spot or wrinkle. It’s coming from the perfect will
of God. Men and women who are willing to deny themselves, take up their
cross, hear God and follow the footsteps of the Master saying, “Lord,
not my will by Your will be done, Oh God. I want to be your virgin church.”
Give God praise. Glory to the Lamb of God! God in these last days is
tired of dry religious services. He’s tired of people speaking
words with nothing following it. But God is looking for a church that
will stand like Peter who said, “Silver and gold have I none, but
such as I have I give unto you in the name of Jesus. Rise up and walk.”
Miracles, signs and wonders will happen. “God, give us a Benjamin!”
Make us fruitful! V. When God wanted
to show the earth His miraculous strength, his mighty greatness and
a mighty witness, and also to show the church, the world and the devil
that God has the last word, He chose out of 750 women, a woman who whose
name does not even appear in the Bible. You don’t have to have
your name in the newspaper to be a good mother. You are the mother that
God has called you to be. You keep it up. Pray, fast, love, give and
God will choose you. God chose the wife of Manoah, and she had Samson
from barrenness to show the enemy, the Philistines, that God’s
power is greater than any man, principality or wicked demons. I’ve
seen a wife, a woman, a sister, and a mother pray when the doctor said,
“I cannot do anything for your son. The fever is over 105°,
he’s burning; put him under cold water”; I’ve seen God
answer that mother’s prayer when He would not even answer my prayer.
God will answer a mother’s prayer when she whispers, “Jesus,
Jesus.” And nobody will even know who she is. But God knows! Halleluiah.
Nobody knew this wife of Manoah. But she bore Samson who is a type of
God’s will. Listen mothers—your son or your daughter might
go astray. They might go on drugs, alcohol, an immoral life or crimes,
but if you pray you will have the last word. You will have the last
word! This is the type of Samson. His mother knew he went down and down
because of the prostitutes and harlots in his life. But when strength
came back to him, he did more in one act than any other because of his
mother’s prayers. This nameless lady, the wife of Manoah, the one
whose name nobody knew, is in the Hall of Fame in God’s heaven.
She tells the world, “World, you will not believe what God has
told me to do, but I want you to know that God will have the last word.”
Praise the name of the Lord! VI. When God decided
to bring forth upon the face of the earth redemption, he will choose
one who will be the forerunner of the Messiah. He will be the voice
of our Redeemer, who will bring the high places low. He will bring the
low places high. Halleluiah. He will make the crooked way straight.
He will build bridges in the wilderness where no man could go, and he
was able to be the forerunner. God would choose an old lady, the wife
of a pastor, the wife of a minister who stood with her husband in the
temple serving God. My heart goes out for pastors. They labor; they
pray; they believe. Sometimes what they speak over people never comes
to them. Here we find a couple serving God, and the wife was barren.
But God said, “Honey, I want to choose you. You are going to bring
forth a John the Baptist. He will be the announcer; he will be the one
who will go forth announcing the way of My Beloved Son, the Redeemer
of the world.” Elizabeth stood on the doorsteps of the temple,
praying day and night. She wanted to have a child, but yet was never
desperate. She prayed, “Here I am, Oh God. I’m barren; I don’t
want to be barren, but Your will be done.” God always hears these
types of prayers. Praise the name of the Lord! Lastly, when God
decided to bring forth Jesus, he would use the most impossible way.
If you are barren, there could be a miracle. You have a husband that
will help you somehow! But God would use the most impossible. The only
time in the universe from the time of creation, to the end of the ages,
he would use a virgin to bring forth the Messiah. You say, “But
why would God use a virgin?” Mary was an average young lady, and
she loved God. She had a good mother and father, and she was taught
the Bible, the Old Testament. And I believe Mary, as a young girl, would
walk the town and see a blind man. She would say, “Oh God, this
man is blind. What can I do for him? If I had an extra pair of eyes,
I would give him my eyes.” “What about this man who cannot
walk. He has no legs. I wish I could give him my legs.” Or she
would see a man who was hearing impaired, could not hear or speak, and
she would say, “I wish I could give him my ears or my mouth.”
Then one day the angel appears, “Mary, Mary, I’m not going
to give you double eyes or double feet, I’m going to give you a
Jesus! But not out of a man, I’m going to give you Jesus supernaturally.
The whole world will call you blessed.” Halleluiah. Glory to God! God, give us Jesus!
Give us Jesus! Thank you, Father. God is looking for another woman.
But it is not someone condensed in one body. It’s not in one member,
but in the whole body. The reason we do the World Ministry Conference
is to build the body of believers, because I believe God is about to
give the world a woman, but not any woman. God is about to give the
world a virgin church. God is looking for that virgin church in these
last days. He will use the foolish and the unlearned. He will use the
humble and the meek, because this type of church will come not from
the worldly religious system. It will not come from a religious organization.
It will not come from the new age movement or from Washington. It will
not come from Albany or anywhere in Mecca or Springfield, Missouri,
but this church will be men and women who have been broken before God.
They will say, “God, God, I’m barren! I want You. I want You
to fill me.” Praise the name of the Lord! This virgin church
that God is about to give the world, will come out of the dust and the
ashes, out of absolute barrenness. Who will say, “God, I am barren?
Lord, I’m so empty. Father, go ahead and take me as I am. Barren.
Void. Hurting. Rejected. Lonely. Make me the way You want me to be God.
Take my simple foundation and use me as I am. I don’t have to have
a degree. I don’t have to have whatever it takes. Lord, take my
heart and use me as your virgin church.” No wonder the prophet
prophesied for all men and women, “Sing O barren, Sing O barren.”
Sing O barren, that more may be God’s children. Sing. Sing unto
the Lord. Halleluiah! Father, we are Your church. It might not be big
in the sight of the world. It might not be powerful. It might not be
the richest or the most famous. But Lord, we are barren. We come to
You, only to You, the One who can out of barrenness bring forth fruitfulness.
We open ourselves up to You. Take our barren way of life and put in
us Your seed. Receive God’s seed right now, only God’s seed.
God says, “I know all about you. Become barren and I will fill
you. Become barren and I will give you what you need. Become barren
and I will give you the Samson’s; I will give you the Samuel’s;
I will give you the John the Baptist’s. I will give you all that
you need. Become barren.” We are grateful to all you mothers. Don’t you ever think for a moment that your present condition determines your future condition. That’s a lie. Remember that. In your present condition God is saying, “Honey, I’m still working on you, and out of your barrenness, I will conceive in you, and I will give you the Joseph and the Benjamin and the Moses and the Joshua, and the Jesus that you need.” Give glory and praise to God! Halleluiah!
Pastor Stephen
Galvano
transcribed by
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