24-0603P_THE TESTIMONY OF A TRUE WITNESS PT-15 (CONVINCED THEN CONCERNED)

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. 

*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.
 
THAT'S THE ONLY WAY THAT I SEE FOR THERE TO COME A CONCERN IN THE CHURCH, AND BACK AMONG THE PEOPLE, IS TO STAY LONG ENOUGH UNTIL YOU'RE CONVINCED THAT THE PROGRAM IS RIGHT

CONVINCED.THEN.CONCERNED_  TEMPE.AZ  THURSDAY_  62-0118

  E-42    There was two of his disciples standing there, And they followed Jesus. And when we--was Philip, Andrew... But when they got to Him, they said, "Rabbi, where dwellest Thou? We'd like to know where You live. Now, we have been listening to a prophet standing down here on the river, and he's been telling us now for six months that there was coming a Messiah, and he would recognize Him. Now, we know that prophet to be a just man. We believe him to be a prophet. He's--he's a vindicated prophet. We know he is. And he says that You are the Messiah. Now, we would like to know where You live."

And He said, "Come, see." And they went in and stayed all night with Him because it was late in the afternoon.

  E-43    Did you notice, they stayed with Him that night. And the next morning Andrew was so completely convinced till he wanted to find his brother. See? Now, that's the only way that I see for there to come a concern in the church, and back among the people, is to stay long enough until you're convinced that the program is right, and it's God, and not some mental illusion, or emotion, or--or psychology, or some workup. It's absolutely the baptism of the Holy Spirit that God promised to pour out in the last days.
 
*THEN THAT LOSES CONCERN, AND AFTER WHILE YOU'VE LOST THE WHOLE--YOU--YOU'VE LOST EVERYTHING.

CONVINCED.THEN.CONCERNED_  TEMPE.AZ  THURSDAY_  62-0118

  E-48    Convinced and then concerned. Now, Andrew was concerned about his brother as soon as he was absolutely convinced that that was the Messiah. How did he do it? He stayed with Him all night. The trouble of it is, we can't stay with Him five minutes. "Oh, we got to get home. Some television program's on. We've got to see that play. I just can't stay no longer; that's all. I haven't missed that in a long time. It's a serial they're running, you know, and so I can't...?..." That's it. Uh-huh. "I tell you. I just got to do this, or that. I can't do this and do that": no time.

Oh, brother, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness." See? But the thing... Then that loses concern, and after while you've lost the whole--you--you've lost everything. You're not concerned about anything then, but just your own self. That's right.
 

*THEN WHEN GOD IS IN YOU, THEN HE LIVES HIS OWN LIFE THROUGH YOU. 

CONVINCED.THEN.CONCERNED_  TEMPE.AZ  THURSDAY_  62-0118

  E-52    And remember, when you die and that soul leaves you, it never changes. No, sir. Death doesn't change the soul. It changes its dwelling place, but it's still the same soul. So if it isn't borned again, and a part of the eternal Spirit of God, it had a beginning. Anything with a beginning has an end. That's the reason God's the only thing's eternal.

Unless you're born again and have eternal life (the Greek word "Zoe" there means "God's own life" in you) you'll perish. But where God's life is in you, you can no more perish than God can perish (That's right.) because you are a son, an offspring of God, and have Eternal Life. Oh, that's the thing the church needs. Then when God is in you, then He lives His own Life through you. See? And that's how we--we know that we're Christians. Then you're concerned about your brother.
 
*HE WAS SO CONCERNED THAT HE CAME FROM HEAVEN, GIVE UP HEAVEN, CAME DOWN HERE ON EARTH…

CONVINCED.THEN.CONCERNED_  TEMPE.AZ  THURSDAY_  62-0118

  E-53    If the Spirit that was in Christ that... He was so concerned that He came from heaven, give up heaven, came down here on earth, and become borned in a manured stable with a bunch of bleating cattle, with not even clothes to put on Him. He--He associated... Not a place to lay His head, not a tomb to be buried in, smitten and stricken the way He was... He was concerned enough, and God so loved the world to give His only begotten Son, and all those things there, that that Spirit that was in Him in you, and then we're not concerned about one another and about the church?
 

*AS SOON AS ANDREW GOT CONVINCED THAT THAT WAS MESSIAH… 

CONVINCED.THEN.CONCERNED_  TEMPE.AZ  THURSDAY_  62-0118

  E-55    As soon as Andrew got convinced that that was Messiah, what did he do? No doubt that night, setting there in the meeting where him and--and his companion, Christ, set in the house there, no doubt but what Jesus went right back in the Scriptures and begin to tell him.

Now, Andrew was a scholar, because his father was... He--him and Peter was... His father was a Pharisee, and he was a good trained man. And so he knowed what Messiah would be like. And when he seen the Messiah doing the things that Messiah should do, he saw the way He lived, and everything, he was convinced that that was the Messiah. Now, when you see God get ahold of you, and change your life to make you from what you--you--what you're not, to what you ought to be, then you're ready to tell somebody else about it. You're convinced.