24-0527P_THE TESTIMONY OF A TRUE WITNESS PT-14 (CONCERN)
Joh 1:15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
Joh 1:16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
Joh 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Joh 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
Joh 1:19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
Joh 1:20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.
Joh 1:21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
Joh 1:22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
Joh 1:23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
Joh 1:24 And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.
Joh 1:25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?
Joh 1:26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;
Joh 1:27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
Joh 1:28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Joh 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Joh 1:30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.
Joh 1:31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
Joh 1:32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
Joh 1:33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
Joh 1:34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
Joh 1:35 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;
Joh 1:36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!
Joh 1:37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
Joh 1:38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?
Joh 1:39 He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.
Joh 1:40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.
Joh 1:41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.
CONVINCED.THEN.CONCERNED_ TEMPE.AZ THURSDAY_ 62-0118
E-25 Now, we are living in a terrible time. We're living in a time of a great falling away. We know that. We are aware. Last evening I was preaching on the subject of "Presuming" down at the other church: people taking some kind of a something, and just presuming they are Christians. And the word "presume," as we explained last night, means "to adventure without authority." And too many people are presuming today. "Well," they say, "I did such-and-such. I joined church. I--I was immersed in water. I presume I am a Christian." That won't work. That... You can't presume what... You've got to be sure you are. See? You--you got to really know that you are a Christian.
CONVINCED.THEN.CONCERNED_ TEMPE.AZ THURSDAY_ 62-0118
E-26 So today, I feel, in the face of... Our nation has more membership-Christians than the nation's ever known of. But did you know, last year according to the statistics that there hasn't--the--no seminary--one just barely compared with the year before, but every other seminary, or school, or Bible school fell under its quota of ministers. Where young people with calls in their life to go out into the field, and so forth, that goes for their training, and so forth, how they used to stand in line to be enrolled in the schools; and now you can hardly persuade them in. There's something wrong somewhere. See? I believe with all my heart, without any, hoping not to be saying anything wrong, but I believe it's because of a lack of interest, concern--not enough concern. There's too much concern about making a atomic bomb, too much concern about who is going to get on the moon first, and--and... I ain't caring about getting on the moon. I want to get in heaven, is where I--I want to get.
CONVINCED.THEN.CONCERNED_ TEMPE.AZ THURSDAY_ 62-0118
E-27 You know they're always hollering about "We got a man in space first." Russia keeps hollering to us, "We put a man in space." Why, we've had One in space for two thousand years. Sure, we ain't got...?... They're--they're so far behind. They're two thousand years behind us. We had a Man in space way back yonder not two thousand years ago, rose up out of the grave, and is in space, and all over everywhere. Certainly. So that's the One that we are looking to. He'll take us to where He said, "In My Father's house are many mansions, and I'll go and prepare a place," somewhere beyond the space yonder. I do not know. But He'll come back to receive us. That's the thing. "Let not your hearts be troubled, neither be afraid." Oh, I love that. That just lets me know that there's a home in the rock somewhere, way beyond the mountaintop, as the poet said.
CONVINCED.THEN.CONCERNED_ TEMPE.AZ
THURSDAY_ 62-0118
E-28 Now, this falling away is a lack of concern for the body of Christ. I believe that maybe the right thing hasn't been presented. So many young students that would take a call in life sees so many failures out here, and really see that the order and program of the day has failed. Not... Christ hasn't failed, but the system that we have created has failed. Christ's program hasn't failed, but the people's system has failed. Now, Christ has a program that we must enter in.
GOD'S WORD IS SO PERFECT. AND BECAUSE THAT ONE LITTLE JOT OR TITTLE CAN
IN NO WISE PASS OUT, IT CANNOT PASS AWAY UNTIL IT HAS BEEN FULFILLED.
CONVINCED.THEN.CONCERNED_ TEMPE.AZ THURSDAY_ 62-0118
E-29 Now, we could stay a long time
on these few little Scriptures and things I wanted to refer to. But to hurry
along, let's begin now and start back in the Book of Isaiah, and begin with
John's first being called "a voice of one crying in the wilderness,"
some 712 years before his birth.
And when... Zacharias, his father, a priest in his day,
was a minister in the temple of the Lord. And he and
his wife, Elisabeth, was well-stricken in age. And the Holy Spirit came to
Zacharias, and blessed him, and told him about the child, as we all know. But
it must've been a strange thing, and a feeling in the heart of that aged
couple, when this promised son arrived. And his speech--he'd been dumb
until the time that he gave his name, according to God's Word.
See, God's Word is so perfect. And because that one little jot or tittle can in no wise pass out, it cannot pass away until it has been fulfilled. Jesus is coming, and He's coming for a church without a spot or a wrinkle. And not one Word, or one Iota, of That will ever fail. The church will be in that shape when Jesus comes. They're waiting on us.
CONVINCED.THEN.CONCERNED_ TEMPE.AZ THURSDAY_ 62-0118
E-30 Now, notice that Zacharias and
Elisabeth... As they were well-stricken in age, they knew that they would not
be able to live out the span of life to long enough to see their son--what God
had for him in store. But they knowed that God was with him, because the Holy
Spirit had promised that promise, and they knowed God would take care of their
son. Now, according to the history, they're--they died
when he was about nine years old.
And John... How strange these fellows are. Now, it looked like that John, being out of the home of a priest, that he being a religious man, and knowing there was a call in his life, he would've went right straight down to the school and become a priest like his father. Now, that would've been the natural run of thought. When a boy gets a call in his life, the first thing they think about is run over to the seminary somewhere (See?), run to the school, or something on that order: wait till you get your degrees, and so forth, before you preach. And now, John did just vice versa to that.
CONVINCED.THEN.CONCERNED_ TEMPE.AZ THURSDAY_ 62-0118
E-31 Instead of going to the school
that his father came out of... He knew there was a call in his life, and he
knew that he was to announce--he was to introduce to
the world the Messiah, because he was to go before Him, and there couldn't be a
mistake in it.
So, instead... He knowed if he went down to the school and told them, "Many of you don't understand it here, but I'm the one that was born of Zacharias, the priest, who got his schooling here in this school of theology. And I've--I... You know my mother, a righteous woman, and you know who I am. So I come down, Bishop, Archbishop, so forth, to--to learn what this Messiah will look like, because I'll have to know what He looks like. I'll have to be sure, because He's going to be a Man. And I'm going to have to know what He looks like so I can truly introduce Him to the world."
CONVINCED.THEN.CONCERNED_ TEMPE.AZ THURSDAY_ 62-0118
E-32 Now, that's an important office.
And my brethren, you know we got that same office? Right: truly introducing to
the people the Messiah.
So he knowed that if he went down to the school
that every man would have a different idea about it, and it would only cause
confusion. But John at the age of nine years old went to the wilderness to be
alone with God, so that he would not make a mistake. He wanted to know what
this Messiah would be, how he'd find Him, what He would look like so that he
could introduce Him.
And we find that instead of going to take all of his
degrees and come up as a priest as his father was, and follow in the footsteps
of his father, he went as far away from the school as he could go, plumb out
into the wilderness, alone with God.
I have nothing against the schools. I have nothing against that at all. They're very fine. But sometimes after you have got your degree in school, you still have to go out in the wilderness somewhere to find the will of God. That's right. It is true.
CONVINCED.THEN.CONCERNED_ TEMPE.AZ THURSDAY_ 62-0118
E-33 Now John, bearing this great
office, went straight to the wilderness and was there
from the age of nine until he was thirty years old, in the wilderness.
You can notice the way he talked; he was a wilderness man. "Oh, you generation of snakes." See? He'd been used to the snakes in the wilderness. See, he... See? "Oh, the axe is laid to the root of the tree." See? He was wilderness. See? He--he preached like he had lived, in the environment he'd lived in. And he give those symbols of the things that he had learned out there in the--the wilderness.
CONVINCED.THEN.CONCERNED_ TEMPE.AZ THURSDAY_ 62-0118
E-34 Now. Why was John so sure? Did you notice,
he didn't say, "Perhaps this is..."? He said, "Behold, this
is..." How would he be so sure?
Now, let's read another verse, the 26th verse I got written
out here. I want to see what we get out of this 26th verse here.
And John answered them, saying, I baptize you with water:
but there standeth one among you, whom you know not;
Look. John knew. How was John so sure that right among that bunch somewhere, standing there then, was that Messiah? "There's one standing among you now who you don't know, and he's the one that's going to baptize with the Holy Ghost." See? He knew Him. Why? Because the time was at hand.
CONVINCED.THEN.CONCERNED_ TEMPE.AZ THURSDAY_ 62-0118
E-35 Brethren, the time is at hand. It pays the Christian not to just join the church, or to depend upon some maneuver, some sensation, or something on that way, but to be sure that you're right. Now, there's so much today that we have. Some allows it to schooling, some allows it to learning creeds, some allows it to little funny feelings, some allows it to different things, which, I don't have nothing against that. That's all right. But that's not what I'm talking about. You can have that without having the real thing. See? And that's what we're trying to say. We must be sure, because the time is at hand for the--the real pouring out of the Holy Spirit. He promised He would pour it out in the last days.
THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL BRING FORTH A HOLY LIFE.
CONVINCED.THEN.CONCERNED_ TEMPE.AZ THURSDAY_ 62-0118
E-36 Now, there's so many people say if you quiver, hold your eyes shut, and do all kinds of things and get sensations. You get spirits, friends, but if your life don't tally up to what you're professing, then there's something wrong with the spirit you got. See? It's--it's true. See? You--you must be sure. The Holy Spirit will bring forth a holy life. That is right. And if the desire's in your heart... If you have to force yourself constantly to try to press, and do what's right, and the world's still hungering in you, then there's something wrong. See, the Holy Spirit in you will not hunger for the world; It'll hunger for God. If it's hard for you to go to church, and press yourself to come when the church is open, there's something wrong with that spirit. It's trying to keep you away from God. The Spirit of God will run you right straight to the church every time the door opens for fellowship. Yes, sir. See? So you've got to be sure of this now. The time is at hand.
CONVINCED.THEN.CONCERNED_ TEMPE.AZ THURSDAY_ 62-0118
E-37 Now, John knew that the time was at hand.
So, therefore, he said, "There's One standing here somewhere among you
Whom you don't know." Neither did he at that time, or he'd have said,
"Here He is, or there He is. That's Him standing there."
But John, if he'd have went to school, he probably would've
pointed out fifty. But, you see, John had went to a different school. John had
been before God. John had revealed to him by God exactly the Word of God, what
the Messiah would be like. So he was waiting to see the sign of the Messiah. He
wanted to see where the Messiah was. God promised, "I'll vindicate that
Messiah to you." I tell you now, if you want the Scripture for that, there'll
be a Scriptural sign, verse 33. Let's take the verse 33 here and read. Now,
watch:
And I know him--knew him not--I knew Him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shall see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost.
CONVINCED.THEN.CONCERNED_ TEMPE.AZ THURSDAY_ 62-0118
E-38 See, there was... God want--wants to make sure that there is no mix-up about
it. God said, "John, I'm going to give you a sign. And then when
you see this sign upon Him, that's going to prove that that is the One."
John said, "He's standing out there somewhere, but I--I don't know Him yet." But as soon as he saw the--the Spirit descending and resting upon Him... Nobody else saw it but John. Just think of that. The Holy Spirit came down in a form of a Dove, and rested upon Jesus, and nobody saw it but John, 'cause the promise was made to John.
IT'S FOR BELIEVERS. THE ONE THAT HAS A HUNGER IN THEIR HEART TO SEE GOD,
SEES IT.
CONVINCED.THEN.CONCERNED_ TEMPE.AZ THURSDAY_ 62-0118
E-39 Now, if there's an unbeliever
here that doesn't believe in the baptism of the Holy Ghost, you say, "I
just don't believe it," you'll never know anything about it. You say,
"I don't believe in Divine healing. I can't see it's right."
Certainly you can't. No, sir. But "he that believeth..." It's for believers. The one that has a hunger in their heart
to see God, sees it. Nobody...
Them men was with Paul didn't see that Light hanging
there over Paul. They didn't see the light, but it was
so--so real to Paul till it put his eyes out--so bright that it put one man's
eyes out standing looking at it, and the others standing around couldn't
even see it. So you see, it's sent to those who believe
and are ready to receive it.
The wise men--the Magi from the east, followed the star for two years down across the Tigress River, and through the plains; and come from way over in Arabia over into India, came down to Jerusalem following that star. And it passed over every observatory, and none of them wrote anything about it. They didn't see it; but they saw it.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS HERE. IT'S HERE FOR THOSE WHO ARE DESTINED TO RECEIVE
IT, WHO THAT BELIEVES IT, WHO'S A-WAITING ON IT.
CONVINCED.THEN.CONCERNED_ TEMPE.AZ THURSDAY_ 62-0118
E-40 So I believe tonight
that the Holy Spirit is here. It's here for those who are destined to receive
It, who that believes it, who's a-waiting on it. It's here to straighten
out every one of them spiritual problems. It's here to heal every sick person that's present. It's here. But you've got to come and get in the atmosphere of it, and
the attitude to receive it. You've got to come not in emotional workup;
you've got to come upon the basis of believing a promise that God made. That
does it. That's what does it.
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