Greater Things

The book of Kings. The second book of Kings, it is. The first verse of the second chapter. (Here Brother Pike reads the Scriptures). Let me turn this down just a little bit here. Okay! All right! I want to say that I appreciate the offering for Brother Atlee. The, ah, offering was two-hundred, twenty nine dollars and eighteen cents. I think that's good, don't you? Ah, he can use it, that's not a whole lot on a trip. If you go on a trip today, you'll find that's not a whole lot, but it'll help him anyway, up there and back. All right now you know, there's a lot of things that could be said tonight concerning this subject. A lot of things. First of all, one thing that is notable here, is that though Elijah was a great prophet, an exceeding great outstanding prophet, yet he never healed the waters. Elijah, a great, outstanding prophet, but the record is not that he healed the waters. But there is a record that the waters were healed. God did heal the waters, but He did it through Elisha. The healing of the waters was through Elisha. I like to read about Elijah and Elisha, though I didn't choose this subject tonight, but I like to read about them, because Elisha is a good example of the Church, whereas, Elijah is a good example of Jesus. A lot of people would say, well Brother Pike, I don't quite understand that, because the Bible said that Elisha did twice as many miracles as Elijah did. But how many of you remember when Jesus went away, He said greater things than these shall ye do? And the interpretation of the greater things, when it's when it's unrevealed and you find what He meant, the Word indicates more of what He did. See, greater outreaches. For instance, some men have had a hundred thousand people at one time in their meetings. Many multiplied thousands of people reaching by airways, many multiplied millions of people by the voice of radio. See a lot of great things has been done. In the time of the apostles, a lot of great things was done by Jesus; but we overlook the fact that there is a lot of great things being done today. We don't seem to get a hold of that. We always look back in the past, at a God of the past, or we always look over at, at a God of the future. But somehow or another, we fail to accept the fact that the Bible said, that God is a present help in the time of need. Right now: A present God: I like that: Don't you? I like to deal with a present God. I like to have a present help, because if it's a God of Elijah, that's good, but the thing is, where is the God of Brother Pike? Where is the God of Brother Gary? We need a present help today: We need a God of Brother Hollis, today: I like the God of Elijah. Like the God of Isaac. I like the God of Abraham; but I also want a God for Brother Pike. Don't you? I made the statement the other day, We look back through the past, and I see the life of Abraham, I see the life of Elijah, and I see the life of Moses, and I think how wonderful it is to see these great outstanding men. Great victorians of their day, and we read about them, and I think, Lord, look at the record. The record says that in the days of Elijah, that great and mighty things took place, and there's a great record of it. I think about Moses, and I think about Abraham, and I think, God, what a great man, what a great record of Abraham, and what a great record of Moses, and then I'm made to think about the days of Brother Pike; And I think, Lord, that was Abraham's day, that was Moses' day, but today is my day; I can read today what they did, and how great they were, and how wonderful it is to know that they've got their obituary written, and they've got to their credit a great outstanding testimony of having served God and done things for God, and then I think about the day of Brother Pike, and I think, Lord, what will be at the end of my day? What will people read about me at the end of the day? What kind of life will I live? What kind of thing will I do in my lifetime, that when people look back, they read about Moses, they look back, they read about Elijah, but the thing is, when they look back, and they read about Brother Gary, Brother Taylor, Brother Hollis, and all the others that's serving God today, What's going to show on your record? These men did all right. What they did was wonderful, but the thing is, what is your record going to show at the end of the day? What is your obituary going to be? There's coming and end to your day. There's coming an end to my day. There's coming a time when we're going to stand before God: and God's going to look at us, and God's going to have a record, and, and then what's your record going to say? Some of you ladies, you look at the record of, of Abraham's wife, Sarah, and of Elizabeth, and of Mary and other great woman, of Deborah, the prophetess, and that's wonderful when you read about their lives, But the things is at the end of the day, what's it going to say about Sister Betty Pike's life? What's it going to say about Sister France's life? Sister Anna's life, and other woman here? What is it going to be like at the end of the day? See, when they start reading, what's your life going to hold? Is it going to hold a story about mumbling, grumbling, backbiting, individual that was to tight to give a dollar to God, that never pray for the prayer of faith, that never reached out and done anything for God, that never helped the poor, never did anything for the kingdom of God? Is it going to read about a selfish person that never really measured up to the desire of Christ? Or is it going to be something in their about a great person that was in humility that tried to conform to the ways of Jesus Christ, and about a great person that gave their all and sacrificed, and was willing to share that others might have help? See, how's it going to read at the end of the day? There's coming a time when God's going to check your record. There's coming a time, and, and friend let me tell you, the records are going to be straight, they're going to be right, there isn't going to be any mistake. If you've got some crude idea that you're going to be selfish, mean and contrary, and do the way that you want to do in this world, and then at the end of the day, God somehow or another, is going to understand and put to your credit a lot of good things, you're wrong! God doesn't work like that. Whatever a man sows, the Bible said, that shall he also reap. Whatever your daily life is, that's what it's going to read in the day of the Judgement. Whatever your life is, that's what people are going to look back on in the day coming. I've still got a little life left, and with that little life, as the song said, I want to let my little light shine. I might not be as great as Elijah! I might not never be like Moses! I might not never be like Abraham! But, I can be like Jesus, I can leave a testimony, and I can do something for humanity. I might not be able to cause the heaven, the sun to stand still like Joshua did, but there's one thing about it, I can share what food I've got with a little starving child over here, and I've got a feeling that in the day of the Judgement when God looks at the record, that feeding the little hungry child is going to be more important to God than stopping the sun in it's orbit! I believe that! Somebody said, ah you can't prove it; But, I can prove it; Because the Bible doesn't say, pure and undefiled religion before God is making the sun stand still, does it? Does it? But it does say, visiting the orphans and the widows in their afflictions and sharing, proves that you've got salvation. Somebody said I've got Christianity. You've got religion. You've got religion just like the Muhammad's got religion. But, Brother, the Bible said, pure and undefiled religion. pure and undefiled religion, not just a religion, but a pure religion before God. Real genuine salvation. The Bible said if, you've got what I'm speaking of, that you'll be able to get your pocket book out, and give something to that hungry child over yonder, and share with somebody. If you don't have that, you don't have what I'm speaking about. You don't have salvation! You don't have eternal life. The only pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is, that you visit the widows and orphans in their afflictions, and then besides that, stay away from the world! And keep yourself unspotted from the things of this life. God expects you to do it! Now, you're going to have to live holy. You're going to have to live right. I like the way Elisha done. Elisha, old Brother Elijah, said well, I'm going to certain place, and you just tarry right here. Elisha said, if you go over there, I'm going over there. And then Elijah, he was trying to get away from him, and yet he wasn't trying to get away from him. He knew that God had already ordained that the man follow him, but he was putting him to the test to see what he would do! And he said, I'm going down to Jordan, you just stay here. He said I'm not going to stay here. Said if you go down to Jordan, I'm going, got some business down there too. And old Brother Elijah said, I'm going down to Jordan you tarry here. Elisha said, as the Lord liveth, if you go down to Jordan, he said, I'm going to be right on your heels, and wherever you go, he said, I'm going to go with you. I'm going to go with you. Said you're not going to shake me loose from you. Said, I'm going to be wherever you're going to be. Said I'm going to be there. That reminds me, of a, of a brother over in Mississippi, ah, Brother Wilson, he told me one time, years ago, as a young fellow, I remember very well, when God sent us through there and we was talking to God. and trying to serve the Lord, and I, I try to get away to pray, you know, because I like to be with God, all the time, and I try to slip away, and wherever I was, Brother Wilson would show up; and he said, Boy, said you ain't going to get away from me. He said, I'm going to find you, and he did! And you know, that's the same determination that it takes for you and I to be able to make it into the Kingdom of God. Wherever the message is, wherever the Word is, wherever the moving of God's Spirit is. I want to be there! Don't you? I want to do something for the Lord. I want to see the kingdom of God set up. I've got a great feeling in my heart, and that feeling is toward God's Kingdom. I want to do something for God's Kingdom. Whatever it takes, that's what I want to do. It doesn't matter if it takes nails in my hands, I want them to start driving the nails. Now, when I think about it, as a natural man, I think Lord, I certainly don't want no nails in my hand. But if it takes putting the nails in my hands, then I want them to get started on their job, because I want to do something for God. If its going to take crucifying me, I want them to get started, because I want to do something for Jesus Christ. I want to do something for the Lord. It makes no difference what it is. I've prayed many years, during my life time, God, I don't want to suffer, I don't want to go through misery. Pain is real. When I feel the awfulness of pain, I don't want to do that, but God, if that's what it takes, I want you to do, because I want to be partakers of the suffering of Christ, and I want to do something for the Lord Jesus. If it takes sharing my bread with somebody, I want to share it. If it takes sharing my automobile with somebody, if I had an automobile, I'd want to do it. If it takes sharing my home with somebody, I want to do it. Whatever it takes, that's what I want to do. I want to serve God, and I want to be partakers in the benefits of the Lord Jesus. The only way I know to do that is stay right with Christ. Wherever He goes, you go: Whatever He does, you do it: Jesus said, I do always the things that I see the Father do. And He said, you are to follow in My Steps. I had a vision one time where every time He stepped, I would step. Every step He took, I took. Every time He would take a step, I'd place my feet in it, and I was following in His steps. Going with Him. Whatever He done, that's what I did. Wherever He went, that's where I went. Whatever He said, that's what I was doing. To me, that's the only way. If you're going to serve God, you can't be double minded. The Bible said a double minded man is unstable in all his ways. Let not that man think he shall receive anything of God, for he's like a ship that's out on the waters of the sea, he's tossed to and fro, everywhere, he's tossed to and fro. God can't give him anything, because before God can give him one thing, he's changed his mind, he's wanting another thing. Before God can get to that thing, he's done changes his mind. He's wanting something else. But God wants somebody that's not double minded. He wants somebody to make up their mind whether they want to go east, south, north or west. He wants them to make up their mind whether they want to be a gossiper, or they want to be a child of God. He wants us to make up our mind as to whether or not we want to follow as Elisha did Elijah, or if we want to stay at home: God doesn't want a double minded man: I don't want to be double minded, do you? I sold out to the Lord years ago, and I made up my mind that I was going to serve Him, that's been my heart: That's been my purpose: That's been my practice: I was so miserable that I prayed to die: I went out and I cried and wept before God because I was so miserable in my early life, and I prayed to God and I wept before God, and I said Lord, take my life, I'm miserable, I'm wretched, and God, I don't want to live, because everything is wretched before me. But God didn't do that: It's true that He did take my life, in that He took my life and made something out of it, He took my life. The very fact that I surrendered my life to Him, I was tired of this life. I gave God an opportunity to do something for me. I think, you know, if we could ever come to the place to where we wouldn't be so proud of ourselves, you know, feel so good about ourselves. And come to the place where this life didn't mean anything to us, but to where we wanted to turn to God, and realize that there's nothing good in this life, but everything's good in that life. There's nothing good in this life. There's nothing here but perplexities, and bewilderments, and fears, cancer and heartaches, and diseases; there's nothing but troubles and woes, problems with your family that's all there is in this world. Everybody that's got something better than that, let me see your hand, See, We're all alike. There's nothing here: I said this morning, the Bible teaches that if we have hope only in this life we are of all men most miserable. So then, there's got to be a better world. Got to be a better life: If there's nothing in this life, then why do we try to hold on to it like we do? If there's nothing down here in this world, why do we try to pinch pennies, to keep things going down here? Why not yield it up to God? Why not give our hearts to God? Our lives to God? And why not surrender to God? Make a surrender once and for all? You younger people out here, some of you that are listening to me tonight, why don't you make a surrender to God? Why don't you do an about face, and turn around, and say Lord, I'm Looking at the elders, and all they've ever accomplished is problems and heartaches, and fussing and woe, and I'm going to make something out of my life, I'm going to turn around. And I'm going to do it a different way. That's why you've got hippies. That's why you've got this younger generation coming up that's letting their hair grow out like woman. Talking about the men, you know. Women, they don't let their's grow out. They chop it off, like cord wood. Everything in perversion: But the boys want to let their's you know, grow down their back like some sissy, like some girl, to look feminine. Somebody say Amen: That's why, you know, why they're doing that? They've looked at Daddy and Mama, and they've looked at some of the rest of them, and they don't see anything in your life, and they don't see anything in your life, and they don't see anything you've accomplished, and they don't see any vision for, for God in your life. All they see in your life is a turmoil and trouble. They don't see where you've accomplished anything for God, or made anything, or any effort for God: so they decide they're going to do things a different way. Why can't the christian boys and girls turn around and take the same outlook for Christ? If somebody's bold enough to get a chunks of dope over here somewhere, and sat around and suck on a weed, and curse, and snort, and act up and say all kind of foolish talk like a bunch of robots or something; why can't somebody that's a christian have enough backbone to stand up and testify for God?..... (Here the tape is turned over): For it: Puffing on his weed, and she starts puffing on her weed, and starts talking about this silly, silly mess they call hippies language. Why can't you boys and girls have enough boldness to walk up and give them a track, and tell them that they need to straighten out their dirty, filthy, wretched life? Like not too long ago, we was coming from somewhere, had been off in meeting and was coming from someplace, and I sat down in a cafe, and I tried to eat a little bite with my wife and children, and here comes two fellows that thought they were really terrific, you know, and they sat back over here in the back and they started to cursing and snorting and just kept on, and I kept swallowing, and swallowing, and swallowing, so after awhile I just got up and I walked right back there to him, and I looked him right in the face, I said, would you please shut your dirty, filthy mouth? I said, I've got my wife over here, and my children. It just about knocked him slap out of the seat! He looked at me; he didn't know what to say! He didn't tarry very long. I didn't want to be rude. I wasn't trying to be rude; but I felt like he had enough sense, that God had given him enough sense that he didn't have to sit there and curse and show off, the way that he was doing. I feel like we need a little boldness, folks! And I'm not telling you to go around doing that, because it might not work that way for you. God took care of me, but it might not work that way for you, but there's one thing you can do, you can, when people get bold in the things of, of the devil and start showing themselves off in the things of evil, you can be bold enough to stand up to them and tell them, I don't want any of that filth! I'm not going to be partakers of it. I want to live for God, and what you need to do is to get washed and cleaned up and give your life to Christ. You love the Lord? I don't see anything wrong with the right thing, do you? How can you be wrong, if you're saying the right thing? Or how can you be right, if you're saying the wrong thing? I feel like that we need to stick with each other. Stick with God. Do like Elisha did. That's the Church. Staying with the Word. wherever the Word says go, whatever the Word says do, do it; Stay with it: Stay with the Word of God. Stay with the things of God. Walk with Christ, walk with the people of God. Don't get in here one day, and stay in here with them for a day or two, and then when you get a little sore place, or you get a little wound in battle, run off over here somewhere and sat down, and lick your wound for about three months, and call everybody dogs, and find fault with them, and that old bunch over there, at Little Bethlehem, and all these kind of things, don't be foolish: That lying tongue of yours will be rooted out someday anyway. The Bible said the lying tongue or the unruly tongue shall be rooted out. Someday God'll twist the thing out of your mouth: The better thing to do, is to realize that God's over here at Little Bethlehem. If you don't like anybody else over here, then take a liking to God: At least you ought to love Him. He gave you life! Even if you are as wretched as you are! The grace on the wretched you know: Somebody said, I just can't find nothing good over there. I know that you can't because the Bible said, the wicked shall not see when good cometh. You're so wicked and wretched, there ain't nothing you can see good anyway. You don't come looking for nothing Good; You just want to see what you can see to talk about: you gossip, and talk, and back, you've been backbiting, and finding fault so long, till your world wouldn't be complete unless you done that: Devils and demons inhibiting human bodies. But I like to stand up for Jesus. I like to do something for Jesus. I find joy in serving God. I find joy in going from here to California, and passing out tracks, and preaching, and testifying and telling the people they need to straighten up and do something for God. Where is our men with backbones, and our women with backbones? Some daddies and mothers, they ain't even got enough backbone to put their son and daughter in place! They say, Well I'm afraid if I say anything to them, they'll leave home. There's no possible way they could do that. They've been left home! When one don't do right, his spirit is already in the hogpens anyway; he's already gone from home. You can't drive him away from home. All you're doing is just feeding that belly of his so he can continue to do his evil. The Bible said correct thy son and he shall give thee rest: It takes a little correction. If he's giving you trouble, then you have to correct him a little bit, then he'll give you some rest. If you've got a daughter giving you trouble, use a little correction, and God will give you rest. It takes a little bit of effort. But I like to stick with the Word. You know why? Old Brother Elisha, he wanted to stay with Elijah. You know why he wanted to do that? Because he knew that somewhere down the road there was going to be something good that happened to the man that stayed with Elijah. And so then, he wanted to stay with Elijah. I've heard from heaven, and they tell me that the man that stays with the Word, and that somewhere down the road, something good's going to happen to that man, and so I want to be that man, don't you? Hallelujah! I remember not too long ago when we came through Texas and I had the vision where the spirit of Elijah came upon me, and I cried out the same thing that Elisha did; where he said, My Father, My Father, the horsemen of Israel and the chariots. Crying out as the mantle of God came back; knowing that something that, good had happened to Elijah, and since it happened to Elijah, he wanted a double portion of it. If something good's happened to Moses, I'd love to have a double portion, wouldn't you? If something good's happened to Paul, I'd like God give me a double portion of it. Wouldn't it be wonderful at the end of the way, if they could read, you know, your life, and down there it'd say, Brother Gary, had a double portion of the spirit of God in his life. Wouldn't that be wonderful? I like that, don't you? I'd like for them to be able to read some day where Brother Pike just had one good portion. Wouldn't you? Some people ain't even got one good portion of it. I'd just love to have what Elijah had, wouldn't you? Let along a double portion. If I could just get the portion Elijah had, I'd be happy. But some people don't make enough effort to get anything form God. But What we need to do is get together. We've got something here at Little Bethlehem we need to do. If we're going to herald the gospel around the entire world, we're going to get together better than we're doing. I'm going to have to have some more people that will take my arm and strengthen me in what I'm trying to do. You say, well I can't work with you, Brother Pike. Well then find you somebody you can work with. Cause God's going to require it some day. You say, well, I just can't take the kind of preaching that you give. Well, find somebody that preaches the way that you like it, cause in the day of the Judgement, it's going to be required of you. If you can't work with me, then find somebody you can work with. If you are not going to work with anybody else, then work with me. I need you. I need your help. I need your strength. I appreciate the young girls going into the offices and working. I appreciate that. I appreciate the young boys going into the offices and working under the supervision of the others, but I don't appreciate a young girl or a young boy that'll play around in the world, let people hug and kiss on them, and slop around on them, and then come up here and try to take the work of God on. I don't want you in my offices like that. Stay out of them. You've got it first hand from me. Stay out of them. If you're going to play around with the devil, the Bible said, you can't eat at the table of God, and at the table of devils. You either get one table or another. I don't want you in there. Boy or girl, or man or woman. I don't want one man's Wife in one of these offices, that's going to be a long tongue gossiper, and a talebearers. Stay out of them. I don't need you. I don't have any need for your kind. I don't need one person in this church that's going to be somebody that cause division to tear down, and to divide, and to mix up and cause us problems. I don't need you. Find you another church. But, if you want to love the Lord, and go on with the Lord, and stand for the Lord, and treat your wife right, your husband right, and your family right, and try to be decent and clean; if you stagger, if you error, then I can help you, and I want to stand with you, and I want to strengthen you and help you in the things of God. Is that all right? We need to do something at Little Bethlehem. I've been watching some great revelation take place. Every day of my life I get away with God somewhere, if I have to do it in my heart, and find the Lord, and I see great and mighty things taking place. And I've been watching some great outstanding things take place. Great and mighty things of God. Beholding the things of heaven. Watching. It's an exciting world to me. It's a great, great, exciting time to me. And I see people, and it looks like that they don't have any excitement, and it looks like that they don't see anything, and, and there must not be anything that's going on in their lives, because somehow or another they're not stirred. I see them come here, and they sit here in the services, some preachers years ago, used to use the term, "like a knot on a log", they come and just sit there. Every service they sit there, and they're just glad to get to church, and they're glad to get out of church. And they're glad when they get home, that they can say that they went to church. Now ain't that some vision for God? You're just glad that you can say well, I was in church on Sunday night. Why, I'd rather been home somewhere doing something else, than to have been in church; unless I love the Lord, unless I want to do something for God, Unless I had a vision for Christ. The worst thing you could do is come to the House of God if you can't plan, if you're not making any plan to change your wretched life. The worst thing you could do is sit on these benches and hear the gospel, if you're not planning to do anything about your life, or make any changes in your life. You don't need to be here. You need to be some where else. Because everything I'm saying will just be judgment against you. It'll just cause you trouble in this life and in the world to come. But if you want to change your life, if you want to live right, if you want to be holy, the Bible said, be holy as He is holy. If you want to be holy, then I can help you. I want you here. This is the place for you. You love the Lord? How many of you are making a change? That's good. That's good. That's a good start. How many of you are willing to stand by me, as a preacher, as an individual, as a pastor, and help win the world to Christ? Let me see your hand. That's good. That's wonderful. I believe some of you really mean that from your heart. I know that you do, because I've seen your efforts. I've seen your sacrifice. Now, one other thing I'd like to ask. How many of you are willing to live holy, and clean, and upright while you take my hand and stand by me? That's good, but I didn't get as many hands as I had to start with. Now you fellows and folks, and ladies and gentlemen, that didn't raise your hand for the second, you can forget about the first. I don't need your help. I want the help of them that's willing to live right, to be holy. I don't need your money. Somebody said, well, Brother Pike, you need my dollar, you better talk nice to me. I don't need your dollar. If I was depending on your dollar, I'd close shop today. I don't need your dollar. I don't need your presence. I don't need your dollar. I don't need you. Somebody, said, well you're mighty independent. That's right. He signed the Declaration of Independence at Calvary, and I'm full partakers of it. Now, you say, well what are you going to do? The Bible said, My God shall supply all of my needs according to His riches in Glory. He doesn't need your dollar. The Bible said, He holds the Kings heart in His Hand, and turns it whither so ever He will, like the rivers of waters. Is that right? So then, all I need is Jesus. All I need is faith in God. If God will supply all of my needs, then if He feels like I need a congregation to, preach to, He'll supply it, won't He? If I need some finance, He'll supply it, won't He? If I need some co-workers, He'll supply them, is that right? So then, what I need is Jesus. Now I solicit your help, not finance, but your help as a brother in prayer, and as a sister in prayer, in trying to help us in the work of God, to do something around the world. And I'm not speaking about dollars. I'm speaking of your prayers. God will take care of my finance. I've never made it a practice to take offerings, and until today, I still don't take personal offerings from anybody. And God's met all of my needs. And if He's done it this far, I've got a feeling He's going to keep doing it. So then, I'm not soliciting your money. But I would solicit your prayers. I would ask you to pray for me, and ask you to hold my hand up in prayers. And God, you could take a few minutes on your knees somewhere and ask God to help you, so that you can be in shape to help me. Is that right? I said somewhere, and just say God, help me to get in shape to where I can pray and help somebody else. I've got some young folk here. I've got a girl here. She's going to have her heart ripped slap out of her body, so to speak, because of the hard, hard way she's done. Heartaches and sorrow, because she has played around like a little two year old girl, and just done any way she wanted to, but God's got it marked up on the chart, and it's heartaches, I mean real heartaches, where she would give her right arm if she could just thumb back through the pages and get everything straightened out to where she could erase the heartaches that she'll be having. But she isn't going to listen. She's one of them young ladies that's going to do it her way. So then, them, them's the kind that God has to learn by experience. That's the only way. She'll have a good testimony when it's all over, but it'll sure be a lot of days of sorrow, but she'll have a good testimony. I've got some of them here, that's already reaping some heartaches and sorrows. I talked to them. I sat and talked to them, and told them in the love of God, I said, for Christ's sake don't do what you're doing. I said for the Lord's sake, I said, the day is coming when you would give your right arm, if you could undo what you've done, and, and get everything lined up again, and there's some sitting here tonight, that if you'd talk to them, they'd tell you that very thing. They'd be willing to do it. I'm talking about young folks. But they won't listen. Jesus bled at Calvary. He spilt His Blood but they didn't listen. They still won't listen. They still won't listen. They say there's just something about it, Brother Pike, This feeling I've got, I've just got to satisfy this feeling. If it's smack somebody, or curse somebody, or find fault with somebody, whether it's my husband, my wife, or whatever it is, I've just got to satisfy this. I'm just melancholy. I'm just cast down. I can't be satisfied until I satisfy this feeling. You'll never satisfy it, because it's a devil. When you feed it, from one thing, then it'll go to an other thing. And it'll be just as hungry the next time. And you'll find yourself always trying to satisfy the affections of the flesh. But you'll never do it. For the appetite is never satisfied. That's Bible. You love the Lord? I want you to stand with me. Now this morning, and tonight, I've tried to take it just to exhort you a little bit, to try to get you to stir up your pure minds, and do something on the home front. I need some help on the home front. I appreciate Brother Atlee Beachy's attitude. When he got ready to leave, even though he knew that his wife's mother was in a dying condition, his concern was still here on the home front. He said, Brother Pike, said, I, I really hate to leave. Said, I know that they're out there in the store, in the little commissary, and they're cold, and I know that they need the boxing up around it, and it really bothers me to go off. And I said, well, there's no need to worry about that, Atlee, we can take care that. We can manage that. We've got the building out here in pretty good shape for him to leave at this time. I know that the devil jumbles everything up. This week we had a twenty-three hundred dollar bill that we was supposed to pay this week, and course we're going to pay it. But the thing is, this week the devil chose to hit us with another six-hundred dollar, out there somewhere, or eight-hundred dollar, forget just how much it was. And also, then trying to get together a few hundred dollar for Brother Atlee. See, the devil crowds it all up together, to do anything he can to hinder the Kingdom of God. But you know what, if we'll utilize faith in God, it'll just make us that much stronger. Just make us that much greater. One week here he crowded everything up to where we had to have ten thousand dollar. I just prayed to God, and I said, well Lord, I ain't got it, and the Brethren can't get it, and I don't know what to do, except to use my faith, so I went ahead and got it by faith and paid the bills. When I got it, I got the ten thousand dollars. So see, if we look to God, God will do it. God will do it. God will do it. He will do it. But we've got to have faith in God. We've got to have faith in God. You love the Lord? It takes a little money folks, to keep things going, but God can afford it. Did you know that? He said all the gold is Mine, all the silver is Mine, the cattle of a thousand hill, said they belong to Me. Somebody said, well, Brother Pike, if it takes ten thousand dollars, there's no need of me giving my little two old dollar it won't help anyway. No! With that kind of attitude, there really isn't! It'd be better that you keep it! then you'll be happy, and I'll be happy too! I appreciate those that took the attitude, like the little widow, that gave their living. That put in all they had. Wasn't much, but they put it in. His pennies and plus her pennies, made enough to pay a bill, and to win a soul. And I appreciate that; Some of them that take the attitude, my little old two dollars wouldn't help anyway. It's true. But about a thousand dollar of that, them many thousands of dollars that you've robbed God of, that would help a little bit. If you had the right attitude with it. The person that can't afford but a dime, and they give that to God, and they're not a hypocrite, trying to use that to get around really giving to God when they've got something to give. But they give that out of their heart to God. God will bless that. He will bless it! If it isn't but a dime. I know, cause Betty and I've been to the place; and you've heard me tell it, to where we, sometimes didn't have but just enough money to pay a dime tithes out of. Sometimes not that much, but we still gave anyway. We still gave. That's all we had. But we still gave, and God blessed us. Our cup runs over. He's taken care of us. The only trouble is so many people, they use that for a crutch. They say, well, Lord, you know that I ain't got ten thousand dollars, so I'm going to give a dime in the offering, you know. Say Brother Pike, that sounds ridiculous. I know it does. That's why I'm going to give a dime in the offering cause the Lord knows I'm poor and can't help it; and He knows I want to share, so here,s my dime. And they love to feel they're the little widow, you know. They say, Lord, I'm about on starvation. I've got to pay my telephone bill, and pay on my car, pay on my house, and pay on this, and pay on that, and put a little in the bank, and I'm just about on starvation. I understand, I'm like that little widow, so they drop in their two mites. You know, you really haven't done anything, folks. You can go pray, and the Bible said the prayers of the wicked is an abomination in God's sight. If you don't live a clean, holy life, you can go pray to God, and you're wasting your time, and God's time to. God ain't going to reward your praying, you just trouble God, He said, you're an abomination in His sight, when you come to pray. But, if you live holy, the Bible said, the prayers of a righteous man availeth much. Same way with giving. If you hypocrite around, you're not going to get God to smile on what you're doing. You're going to have to level with God. God's no fool! God's got some sense. Folks deal with God like they think God don't have any brains or any sense at all! God's got sense. He knows what you're doing. He knows all about you. A person that would try to cheat God, or swindle God, or try to deceive God, he's the biggest kind of fool! God's not mocked! Whatever a man sows, he'll reap. If he sows sparingly, he'll reap sparingly. If he sows bountifully, he'll reap bountifully. God don't make mistakes! You love the Lord? My cup runs over. Let's sing a little chorus together. I appreciate your attention tonight. Appreciate you being with us, and helping to carry the load. To help Brother Atlee Beachy at this time. Brother Beachy won't just go up there on a vacation. He'll pass out tracks, and he'll testify, and he'll leave a great testimony there among the people. He does every time he goes. All through Ohio, and wherever he's at. So your money isn't in vain, folks. It's carrying a two-fold purpose. Let's sing the little chorus, "Oh How I Love Jesus." Let me say this to you, just before we sing. Don't worry about what you have given, and don't try to figure out how to keep from over giving, but be thankful to God, that you've had an opportunity to give, cause when you close your eyes in death, then your opportunity to give is going to be gone. See, your years is slipping by. And once this life is over, you can't give to God any more. You can't give to God. See you just can't give to God any time you want to. Somebody said, Well, I can always find a man of God. I beg your pardon! You can always find a preacher. You can always find an evangelistic, whatever you want to call it. Association, or what not, you can always do that. You can always find somebody that will take your money. But you don't always have a chance to give to a man of God. Or to give to the kingdom of God, or give to a move of God. You don't always have the opportunity to do that. So then, when this life is over, it'll be up to God to give to you then. You can't do anything else for Him. As a matter of fact, everything you've ever done for Him, folks in this world, He's done ten times ten that for you, and He said, if you give your bodies, lives, a living sacrifice, wholly and acceptable unto God, you've only done a reasonable service. You haven't done anything then, He said, that's just reasonable that you ought to do that, in that He gave His life for you, and what He's done for you. So He pays you back everything you've give Him here plus! Up there, He won't owe you anything. But, He's just going to give you that, free! He's not asking you to give to Him because He needs. He's asking you to give to Him, so that He can help you get your spirit, your heart, your attention. God doesn't need anything you've got. He said, I wouldn't ask you to feed Me. All right, let's sing this little song. Lord help us now to be able to do more for Jesus. Help us Lord, to have a vision. To really want to do something for Christ. To really make a sacrifice. All right, let's sing together. (Here Brother Pike Leads; Oh, How I Love Jesus.

By Rev. George Leon Pike Sr.

Founder and first President of Jesus Christ’s Eternal Kingdom of Abundant Life, Inc.

Holiness Unto The Lord