22-0815P_PERFECT STRENGTH BY PERFECT WEAKNESS PT.8_(WHERE HAS THY STRENGTH GONE)

2Co 12:8  For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 

2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 

Psa 28:7  The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him. 

Psa 28:8  The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed. 

Psa 28:9  Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever. 

Psa 71:15  My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof. 

Psa 71:16  I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only. 

Psa 71:17  O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.

Psa 31:21  Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city. 

Psa 31:22  For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee. 

Psa 31:23  O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. 

Psa 31:24  Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD. 

*AND SAMSON HAD STRENGTH, STRENGTH OF THE LORD.

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  E-4    This fellow Samson, he's always been to me kind of an outstanding character of the Old Testament. I remember the first sermon that I ever undertaken to try to preach on was, "Samson, the Mighty Man of Valor," because I--I like strength. And Samson had strength, strength of the Lord.

I could not believe him to be a great big prehistoric giant. There would be no glory to God to see such a man take a--the doors of the city and pack it up on the hill, or slay a lion with his hands. But I believe Samson to be just a little bitty, what we would call, shrimp, just a little bitty fellow. And when the Spirit of the Lord came on him, that's where God got glory. They knowed there could be no strength of his own could do that, so it had to be the strength of the Lord.

God takes simple things to His--perform His great works. And it just common things... Sometimes we pass right over the top of the real thing that God wants to use, trying to find something great.

***AND AS LONG AS HE KEPT GOD'S COMMANDMENTS AND WALKED WITH GOD, GOD USED HIM.

WHERE.HAS.THY.STRENGTH.GONE.SAMSON_  LA.CA  THURSDAY_  59-0702

  E-5    And as I said, Samson and Delilah is a great deal like the church. I want to liken them that way tonight. Samson was a great man as long as he followed the Lord. And as long as he kept God's commandments and walked with God, God used him. And He's did the church the same. As long as the church walks with God and keeps God's commandments, God can use the church. But when the church gets off on the sideline, as Samson did, then God can't use the church no more. He has to find something else to work with, because He can only use a church, or organization, or an individual as they walk faithfully in His commandments.

***AND YOU ALWAYS CAN REMEMBER THAT WHEN YOU ARE IN BAD COMPANY, YOU ARE OUT OF THE WILL OF THE LORD.

And Samson did real well. He got a good start. And he did all right until he began to flirt. And when he begin to flirt he got in trouble. That was his first step of backsliding. And I believe tonight, that is the first step of backsliding to the church, when it begins to flirt with the unbeliever. This Philistine woman was an unbeliever. And Samson was attracted to her beauty. And I think the church has did a great deal of that, being attracted, as it has begin to flirt with the world and to try to pattern itself after the world.

*AND WHEN THE CHURCH BEGINS TO KEEP COMPANY WITH THE WORLD, THEN IT'S NO MORE THAN THE WORLD…..IT GETS OUT OF THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT…

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  E-6    Samson got into bad company. And you always can remember that when you are in bad company, you are out of the will of the Lord. My own southern mammy used to tell me, "If you lay down with a dog that's got fleas, you'll get up with the fleas." That's rather a rude expression, but it's got a lot of common, everyday sense to it. You just can't associate yourself with the things of the world and except--and expect to stay spiritual and humble before the Lord. You're known by your company. There's an old saying, "Show me your company, I'll tell you who you are."

And when the church begins to keep company with the world, then it's no more than the world. It gets out of the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, gets out of the company of God, and of angels, and of God's heritage, when it begins to flirt as Samson did.

*AND WHERE THE CHURCH STARTED ITS FLIRTING, WAS WHEN IT BEGIN TO TRY TO PATTERN AFTER THE THINGS OF THE WORLD…

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  E-7    And where the church started its flirting, was when it begin to try to pattern after the things of the world, to see the successes that the world can offer. And we have never been ordained of God to try to keep in step with the world. Never have we been as brilliant and as bright as the world. I believe it's written in the Scriptures that the kingdom of the children of this world's kingdom is--is more brighter than the children of the kingdom. They're smarter: been that way since Cain and Abel.

WHERE.HAS.THY.STRENGTH.GONE.SAMSON_  LA.CA  THURSDAY_  59-0702

  E-8    Now, we begin to get away from the old trend of the fellowship with the Holy Spirit. We begin to flirt. One thing we started to do, was when God begin to use the church in the early age, then they--first thing they did was to organize a church, called the Catholic church. It was the first organization. And I have nothing against organization if it draws it's lines out to meet the next organization. But if it keeps it within its own boundaries and no fellowship, then that's wrong.

But the church begin to try to pattern after the world. And the devil might've thought they'd had the church bound when it organized the Catholic church, but when the challenge come, "The Philistines is upon thee, Samson," there rose up a Martin Luther that broke every cord and come forth preaching justification. Hmm. And the devil saw that that wasn't the hidden power of the church.

*AND THAT'S WHAT THE DEVIL IS TRYING TO DO WITH THE CHURCH, IS TO FIND THAT SECRET OF POWER.

WHERE.HAS.THY.STRENGTH.GONE.SAMSON_  LA.CA  THURSDAY_  59-0702

  E-9    Now, Delilah's motive was to find his power, and there's where she could wreck him, after she found his power. And that's what the devil is trying to do with the church, is to find that secret of power. But the Catholic cords was broken when God raised up Martin Luther.

Then she bound him again. The world bound him in the Lutheran church. But when the scream come, "The Philistines is upon thee," there raised up a John Wesley, that sanctification, the second work of grace. And it broke the cord.

And then they bound it again. And then there come another message, "The Philistines is upon me--upon thee," and then raised up the Pentecostal group. That broke the bou--the threads of the binding of the barriers of denominations and so forth. And now we find them just about bound up. That's too bad, but it's the truth. And now we find in the Pentecostal church, the very thing that the world used to bind the others, it's binding the Pentecostal church. Just exactly.

WHERE.HAS.THY.STRENGTH.GONE.SAMSON_  LA.CA  THURSDAY_  59-0702

  E-10    The first thing we did try to do is to try to make big shows like the other people does, try to take our preachers, our pastors, our shepherds, and make doctors of divinity out of them. We don't need no doctors of divinity. We need the baptism of the Holy Ghost...?... We don't need those things in our midst. But that's where it tries to bind the church.

And then, the next thing they try to do is to get away from the humility of the church, the humbleness of it, and get the better dressed group or the better educated group into the church, trying to take our ministers and send them off to some seminary to learn a lot of education. When you do that, you just rob the church and bind it of the power of the Holy Ghost. That's exactly the truth.

HOW DIFFERENT IT IS FROM REALLY OUR LORD. WHEN HE CAME TO THE EARTH, HE WAS AN EXAMPLE TO ALL OF US

WHERE.HAS.THY.STRENGTH.GONE.SAMSON_  LA.CA  THURSDAY_  59-0702

  E-11    Now, we find that they do that though. Let me say this to you. Someone says, "Our pastor used to be... When we really had the old on fire preacher for God..." They let the seminary call them today, in the stead of God-called men. They go into it for money, a meal ticket, or to be somebody.

How different it is from really our Lord. When He came to the earth, He was an example to all of us. And He was a servant Lord: took the lowest job that could be: a foot-wash flunky, and become a Servant... Yet He was God of heaven and become a Servant, the lowest of the low.

Today, God can bless a man a little bit and give him a good church, and he can't be satisfied until he wants to be ministered to. That shows a sign of spiritual sickness. It's only the feeble that Jesus ministered to. Those who desire to be Rabbi, Dr., Reverend... Oh, those selfish, ungodly, devilish names... We are brothers, and we are not of this world. But that's what the people desire. And when they come to meeting or something and they walked in with a swelled out chest and--and carry on, and you got to get the very highest of respects to those people. We don't need no respects from one another. If I want any respects, I want it to come from God Who gives the true respect.

How can you have faith when you seek honor one from another? It's just taken the cream out of the--out of the crop. It's taking the--the hidden power of the church; it's sapping it away from the people. We are trying to act like the world.

Isa 40:30  Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 

Isa 40:31  But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. 

2Ti 4:17  Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. 

2Ti 4:18  And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Psa 118:14  The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation. 

Psa 118:15  The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly. 

Psa 118:16  The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly. 

Psa 118:17  I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD. 

Psa 118:18  The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death. 

Psa 118:19  Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD: 

Psa 118:20  This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter. 

Psa 118:21  I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. 

Psa 118:22  The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.