Power From On High

The tenth chapter, the fortieth verse...I'd like to say before we read that we're still getting a real good response from the radio and tv programs. Received a letter and they've offered us an opportunity to go on nine or ten other stations. They've offered us air time thus far, on those stations. They wanted us to call and, one of them is thirty-six in Atlanta, and they're through-out the different cities and the different states. I think maybe one of them is in Michigan, maybe Detroit. But you pray if that's the will of the Lord that we want to do it. If not, then we won't. Satan has really pressed but God's met every need. You know there's been a little tight place since they decided to build the house down here. It has injured some, but the Lord will iron the wrinkles out. You pray for us, we've got a whole box full of letters from different stations across the nations that has informed us that we could be on the station or that they would like to have out program. We've tried to take our steps the way that we felt to, the way we felt that God would have us to do it. But pray that God would have his way. We're receiving letters form ministers that we knowed many years ago, that had got lost off from us, and they are hearing and seeing our programs and they're writing us, and a matter of fact, the other day we received a letter from a minister that we've not seen I guess in fifteen years. He's a church of God minister, and he was wanting to renew his fellowship with us; he hasn't seen us in so long, and found out where we was, he said that he saw us on tv. As a matter of fact, he was up in Doraville's area. And then we received another letter from a Brother Gilbert, and paster of Assembly of God that we hadn't seen in years, and he was wanting to renew out fellowship since he found out where we was, he's in Griffin now, and he said that he saw us on tv. And then we've had sone old aquaintance that have come by to see us and written us and said they saw the adds in the paper and the different things and they found out where we were at, nad they want to come and visit with us and talk to us and renew their fellowship. We've had numbers of other letters form different people. As a matter of fact, we received one letter from Thomaston, Georgia, from an elderly lady that said she saw us on tv. And she said, "Brother Pike, I want you to know you got a listener." Said, "I'm so glad that there's somebody at last that'll tell the truth and tell this thing the way that it is." "And she said, "I haven't heard that in years," She just went on about it over and over, and numbers of letters that we get like that, they're so encouraging form different people from the tv, from the radio, from Harvester Herald. Received a letter just a few days ago from KASA, from Phoenix City, Arizona, the radio station, and they said, "Brother Pike, this is our first time to hear you on the radio," whereas, we've been on there for a good little bit. But they said that was the first time that they had heard us. We also received a letter from California, and some Baptist people out there, said that they had received Harvester herald and told how much that they had enjoyed it and wanted to join in with out fellowship, and we received a letter the other day from some sister, she said that she got the Harvester Harald by mistake, and she said that she sure did enjoy it and that she wanted to keep getting it, and she had written and asked if they would put her name on the mailing list, but she had not received her Harvester Herald and she couldn't figure out what was wrong. I hate to tell her... But... anyway, let's just pray that they'll get the Harvester Herald on out because we get such beautiful reports from Harvester Herald. I want to read a little bit from the fortieth verse, pardon me, the tenth chapter. (Brother Pike reads Matthew 10:40-42; Matthew 11: 1-10.) Alright now in the tenth chapter, the first verse, I want you to notice this. (Brother Pike reads Matthew 10:1-) and then he goes on down to name the twelve apostles, alright now, I want to dwell on a thought tonight just a few minutes to talk with you. I'm going to try not to hold you very long, in that your seeking God. Some of you praying, seeking the Lord, I'd like to talk to you just a little bit ad I'd like for you to do just a little bit of thinking while I'm talking to you concerning these things and they'll help you and inspire you and make you realize why that you're doing and what the profit of it is. You know to do things is no good to you unless you have a purpose in it. It's like I said to some of the brethren, if I'm going to kill myself, I'd like to have a reason for it, For I see no purpose in killing myself, you know, just to be killing myself. And when you go to fasting and cutting yourself off from God, then you are killing yourself and that's the best thing that ever happened to you is when you kill yourself. Cause the biggest enemy you got is yourself. I know that you will blame everybody for your wrong. People have a way of blaming everybody and evything for their wrong, but the fellow that is to blame is the fellow that's doing the blaming. He is the middle wall of partition between God and between that inner man. The man that's doing all the blaming, he is the man that is between God and the inner man. And the fellow that he's blaming, and lot of times is the the blameless one. So then, we need to realize that killing out ourself is the best thing that ever happened to us. Getting the old accuser out. Getting the old man as we say, out of the way. Getting the old Adam out of the way and coming in the new man Christ Jesus. That's what we need to do. When we begin to kill self out, then we find that something great and mighty will take place. And I'd just love to be able to talk to people like tonight, see, you fasting and praying. There's just a difference, the old old evil one just pushed out of the way, and just so easy to talk to you. Now if you don't get weary and tired, because I know that you're tired in your body, maybe we'll get to say a few things tonight. You'll have to pardon me for barking, but anyway, you know if we'll all gang up on the devil, we'll be alright. Like the boy down in Central America, you know, he didn't know nothing about spiritual things, but in my coach he kept listening to us talking about the devil causing so much trouble and he was real serious about it. He said, "I don't see Why we all don't gang up on him and Kill him." And that's what I think we ought to do is gang up on him and kill him. Get rid of him! See, so then, God here, He is trying tr tell us something. The Lord wants us to get rid of the old man. Get rid of the outer man. Kill out the old man. Have a reason for dying, and that reason is for Christ Jesus our Saviour. Kill out the old man. Don't fast and then get lifted you and say, "Blest God, I'm as good as the preacher. I'm as good as the Prophet. I am as good as this one. I fasted ten and you've fasted five and we've fasted..." Don't get that kind of thing! That's foolishness, see, Jesus rejected Isreal for that very thing right there. That's happened to a lot of tent evangelists and God just put them out. See, despising the people. Getting lifted up. Thinking they're something for doing that. You're absolutely nothing after you get through, not anything. You're saved by the grace of God. But see, what we're doing is fasting not to be some big something, but Kill that old big something that belongs to us. To get him out of the way. That's the purpose of it. Not to build him up. Jesus said. "You don't fast as you do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high." Said. "You fast to smite with the fist of wickedness" and all these kind of things, you know to say, "Look at me I fast twice a week, and I do this, and I give tithes, and that fellow over there, he don't give as much as I do." You know, we don't want to get in that rut, now do we? We want to seek God for the benefit of killing out the old man and then when we've done all that we can do through prayer and fasting, just turn up to God and up toward heaven and say, "Father, we realize were nothing more that a old filthy rag, but God we thank you for the salvation that come through the blood of Jesus." Hallelujah! All the glory, praise, and honor be to Him. And then we'll grow taller than trees. Alright, so then here is something the Lord wants us to know. Now Let's look at it for a few minutes. What is the, what is the need of fasting and prayer? Let,me say this, because this is what we're doing. Alright Now, what is the need of fasting and prayer? You know I'm kind of, I'm the type of person I have to know what it's all about. Now, maybe you can get by another way, but I can't do that. I have to know what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. If it don't make sense to me, I don't want to do it, unless God can tell me something about it. Then I go to God, I have in my past life, maybe years ago and I say, "Jesus, I want to know something, I say, what good is prayer?" I said, "You just say words over and over and over and over, surely God don't enjoy nothing like that." Just somebody all the time just down there hour after hour mumbling and sometimes half asleep, I thought, well how in the world could that glorify God? But see, I understand now that praying is more for me than for God. What God is trying to do is to get me to think on Christ continually. to meditate in his laws day and night and get to where I'm just continually thinking on Jesus and talking to Jesus to where other thoughts have no place in my mind. What He's trying to do is convert me, not comvert God. I use to pray and I'd say "Lord, you said this and Lord, you said that, and one day I was praying, I remember very well when and where and I was just a praying away and I said. "Lord. " I said, " Now don't you remember your Word said this Lord," and I was really getting down to business you know, I said, "God in the Bible it said, and the Lord spoke to my heart, He said, "Son, you don't have to remind me of what I said. I know what I said." And it kind of shook me up. And I said, "Well what am I doing?" I got ahold of myself and I thought well, what am I doing telling God all these things? Surely God know what he said. Adn then I got to thinking, I said, "Now, wait a minute. I'm not reminding God of this. Im reminding me that God said this." You understand what I'm saying? Like somebody came to me today and said, "Brother Pike, said, "I'm beginning to realize that I am the blame." Said "I've been blaming God For it, but I'm the blame for the whole situation." See, you understand what I'm Saying? They didn't realize that God wasn't to blame for it. That's what we all need to do. Get to where we don't blame God. See. Get away from that old accusing mind. Stop blaming the preacher! Stop blaming your neighbor! Stop blaming your debtor, your creditor! Some of us go out there and we'll buy five hundred dollars worth of stuff and then when the man wants his money, we say, "The old hypocrite, the old this and that, the Old..... It ain't that old, it's You. That's the fellow that caused the trouble because if there had been no purchase, there had a been no fueding. There had been no war. You done it. How many fo you understand what I'm saying? Alright, so then, We need to get down to business with God, Folks. Get out of this little old childish thing of laying around doing nothing, riding everybody's back like a camel expecting everybody to take care of us and everbody to do what we should be doing. And then getting upset if they have anything to say about it. Somebody say, I love Jesus. Alright so then, "When I was a child, I spake like a child, I acted like a child, when I became a man I put away childish things." Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to make himself equal with God, but he didn't take to himself to make of himself a reputation, but he humbled himself in fashion as a servant unto death to the washing of feet. Now, when we think about that you know, say, "Well, now there you are!" "Let this mind be in you, that was also in Christ Jesus, He thought he was equal to God, that makes Him equal to God," and we stop right there, and as the world says, we get hung up. It said, "Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus." What kink of mind was that? A mind of humility, and mind to suffer, Paul said, "Equip yourself with a mind to suffer." It was a mind that submitted to his brethren and washed the feet of his brethren. It was a mind that was willing to do the will of God in everything. It was a mind that never thought any evil. It was a mind that was willing to fast. A mind that was willing to pray. A mind that always done the things that pleased the Father. "Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus." And the Bible said, "You have the mind of God, but David said, "Stir up the pure mind." A lot of times we don't stir it up, we hide our gift, we hide our talent, we hide it under a napkin is what we do with it. We just cover it up with this old dust like creature. Alright, so then, what is the Lord trying to tell us? Why is it that we pray? And I say, "Lord, just to go over and over and mumble and mumble, why I would't want nobody talking to me like that, God. I wouldn't want somebody to just get down for two solid hours and just say, "Brother Pike, Brother Pike. Brother Pike, Brother Pike, Brother Pike," And I said, "I'm sure that God don't either. God's not hard of hearing. God don't want that kind of thing; the Bible said, "They make long prayers for pretense. They're hypocrites!" God don't want you to do that. But when you get down, they said, "Lord, Teach us to pray." And Jesus said, "Pray like this.""Father, thy kingdom come, thy will be done one earth as it is in heaven. " In other words have a prayer life, but have such prayer life that you're praying like this, see. You praying to God, Lord, help me heal somebody. Help me to win somebody. Help me to help somebody. Help me God to eslablish your Kingdom in this earth. Lord, to do something to where the Kingdom of God can be greater in the life of menkind and in the earth. Lord, thy kingdom come; Hallowed be thy name. Worship, praise God Name. Give glory; give honor instead of always saying, Lord, I got this, and Lord, I got that, and Lord, I'm hurting an Lord this, and Lord, I can't pay my bills, and Lord, Sister So-in-so-in-so, and Lord, Brother So-in-so and Lord, the preacher and all of that, get rid of all that. Say, Glory to God! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! They Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as in heaven. Glory to your name Lord and begin to thank Him. Begin to praise Him. Begin to love Him. Begin to worship God. That's what the Lord wants us to do. Alright, not a bunch of moans and groans you know. God said that some of them over there, He cut then off from the Canaan Land, He wouldn't even let then go in because he said they had the wrong outlook on things. All they did was mumble and grumble and say "Well, over at Little Bethlehem, you can't do this and over at little Bethlehem you can't do that and the bondage is this and the preacher's that, and the brethren's this, and on and on and on, and somebody won't pay their bills, and that hurts my good name and on and on and on. Somebody say, "I love Jesus." Bring it down to your house now. God said, "You discourage the hearts of my people and here come back some others and say, "Boy, over at Bethlehem, the grapes of escole, Oh how they do shine!" Hallelujah! Come on over! Hallelujah! And get in the water with us, because it's fine. And the Lord said, "Now these folks are of a different spirit right there." Hallelujah! That's what we want to do folks. Isn't that right? Let's get in the water. let's do something for God. Let's pray. Let's get in and be the same, all of us coming together in one mind one accord to love Jesus and to love one another and to sqeeze the devil like a lemon until we squeeze everything out of him. Alright, so then, we see here, there's a great thing. What is the purpose of praying and fasting? If, if I pray to God then this outer man that I, I'm using, this outer man that I'm using, I'm praying, I'm talking to God. See, what I'm doing, I am surrendering my mind. What is faith anyway but surrender. See, I said this a number of times to you, but I believe you can get it better not that the coast is kind of clear at the atmospere. Now, see when you, when you pray, what are you doing? Talking to God, it's communication between your spirit and God's spirit. Is that right? So then, when you believe, what are you doing? You are surrendering to God. That's what faith is. See, how can faith be a surrender? Because everytime I believe what He said, I am, I am turning away from what I think about it. I am believing what He thinks about it and I'm turning away from what I think about it. I am accepting through confidence believing through confidence. I am accepting what He thinks about it, what He said about it and refusing and denying what I think about it. So that's what faith is. It's a form of surrender. The more I believe, the more I'm surrendered to the Word and the Word which is spirit is coming into my heart and life. So then, I find this, when I get away to pray, what am I doing? I am praying for this purpose. While as yet, I am fasting, I am fasting for the soul purpose of erradicating the man part of me or the physical energy that is stimulating my blood stream. You understand what I'm saying? I am fasting to kill out, to cause the energetic part of me to subside, to die down. Inside of my blood there's a stimulance. There is an activation. There is a life. There is a quikening. And I'm trying to quiten that down. I'm trying to stop that. The reason is because that quikening is an inspiration that's not from God. It's coming throught my human senses, through my human senses, through the passions of the flesh. Satan savors the things that be of the flesh. Let's skip; let's jump; let's hollar; let's run; let's have a good time; let's jump out in the middle of the water into the pond, in the pool and the splatter, you know. Let's go down to the coast and put us in a bathing suit. Let's eat, drink, and be merry and go down to the races and watch the horses, but that's not God. Satan savors the things that be of the world. He savors the things that be of the flesh. When a man's borned-again, he gets that out of his sytem. The new-birth spirit of Christ comes in. See, when that comes in, it comes into the heart. What can wash away my sins, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Somebody say, "But, Brother Pike, your blood's not Jesus,"But when the quikening comes in, royal blood is flowing through my veins. The same spirit that took nothing and made something out of it, takes my blood and turns it into the blood of Christ Jesus. And from that blood comes the life of Jesus. That's what's so beautiful and so wonderful. Alright, you understand what I'm saying? If you got a minute or two to listen, I'm going to take this coat off. I done pulled a button off anyway. Alright, now then, what are we trying to say? That the energy which is in the blood, there is a life in that blood. You are born with a life fellows, or children of God, people. You are born with a life that is in the blood. The life is in the blood. You are born with that kind of life. You understand what I'm saying? Alright now, that life in that blood is not God. That quickening is not God. Now listen. Fellow-laborers in Christ, listen. I want you to listen to me now. The life that comes into that blood through those passions, it doesn't belong to God. It is a life that comes from dirt. It is a carry over from your father. It is the life, not of God, but of your father. Now, somebody would say, now wait a minute, Brother Pike, that's the life of God. If thats the life of God, then life, then God's life is not very strong. It s not very powerful and its not very enduring. Because as I've said so many times, you just grab a man by the nose and put you hands over his mouth and the life of God has done give up and gone. You don't believe that, do you? The Bible said, "Man's breath, which is in his nostrils." It's in his nostrils, that's his ilife. That's life , that life that come from his dad. That is a temporal life. That is a quikening! That is an inspiration, but see, the Bible doesn't say Adam was the beginning of the creation of God, because there was not God life. God life was in Christ. God is eternal. God is the Spirit of Eternal Life. Somebody would say, "Well, what kind of life was that that God put in Adam?" It doesnt't say that God put any life in Adam. It said that "God breathed the breath of life into Adam and he became a living soul." Come on now. Take a man dead, I've seen men laying out there dead, done dead according to doctor's report, and a doctor get over them and go (Brother Pike blows his breath.) And after awhile that heart picks up a little oxygen and it starts again. Now, was that God life. What kind of life was that? You understand what I'm saying? See, the breath of life, the breath of life, that breath of life there's a world of difference, children of God. God has placed within you and I a breath of life, and that's all that we have before we are borned-again. That little breath of life, you can scare it out of a man. You can stop up his nostrils and stop us his mouth, and that life will leave. He's nothing in this world. A man making millions of dollars and he's a banker and he's a big business man and he's world millions and millions of dollars, but all he is is a puny little old (Brother Pike breathes.) That's all there is to him. One good jolt, if a car comes too close to him back there and says (Brother Pike blows his breathe.) Like that and he's gone. He's dead. You understand what I'm saying? Like Denny was telling me about the little dog they had on the operating table, Denny, you know the little dog that got hit by the car, going to fix his leg, Denny had his little old dog up there at the, having the legs fixed and the doctor or the vetenarian said, "There wasn't nothing wrong with him, but all of a sudden he dies." Said, "It was just the shock." It was just the shock. You see what I'm saying? Said, "Internally, there wasn't nothing wrong with him." See, it was just a little breath of life. That's all it is. You're no more that an animal. That little breath of life that's in you folks, and that's all there is to it. Now, God has done that, He did not give you life. He gave you the breath of life that come from God, the life. And during the time of you pilgrimage, you must switch over from the bottle to the meat. You've got to get off the bottle. You've got to get out of that temporal life, but the devil which is cut off from the inspiration of life, he knows that he cannot get to life. He's cut off from God and what he does, like a leach, like a flea on a dog, he gets to you because he knows that there's a breath of life that's in you and that you've got a few short feeble years here in this world, and he latches onto you and he sticks his fanges in you and he saps every bit of that life that he can get out of you during the few days of your pilgrimage here in this world. Now, so you're nothing. Alright, so then, you've got to switch over. There's got to be a new birth. You've got to be born-again. Got to be another man with another life, because that life won't last. It's just a little little life, here. Now, listen real close. What is life all about? It is the program of God. God has so made it that He might have people born into the world; vessels produced into the world; people giving birth to children that He might multiply through His kingdom in a great way and have a great kingdom, that it might be a vessel that later on, God can put life into. But it's no more that a beast now. While as yet, we're in this condition, learning the does and don'ts of life, learning to feel the infirmities of life, learning compassion, and learning obedience through our suffering, as God has subjected us for that purpose. Learning the greatness of God, the power of His protection and deliverance as we go into these things as God takes us out of them by faith. Learning the power that we have on the inside, at the same time God is revelating our own ability, that is Christ within us the hope of glory, revelating that inner ability to our human concept. To let us know how great and mighty we can be in faith. When to the transformation of our mind, the transfiguring of our body, the translation of our very spirit. Great and mighty people, but now listen, unless we can latch on to the mind of Christ. Let this mind be in you. Unless we can latch on to this mind, we cannot have that faith that will translate us from a beast to a God. Alright now. Look at it for just a minute. So then, that's all we are until we make the transtaling. When we make that change through new birth. then we are no longer a creature of this world, we are an eternal God. And we are then working toward the redemption of our body for the life part of us has already been transtated in to the kingdom of God and it is eternally; it can never perish. It is Eternal Life. "He that heareth my worlds," Jesus said, "Is passed from death unto Life." "If you receive him that I have sent unto you, you have received me," Jesus said. Now, notice this,...(Side 2.) Trying to eradicate from my blood genetics (Distortion on tape.) Looks like they ain't got nothing. They just slip down like this and all of that grezt what-ever they was went out the window. You know why, because they wasn't God to start with. then they get sober minded and all of a sudden, God begins to speak, and what they say makes sense, and what they think makes sense because it's God, and they all of this great superficial built up let me be Oral Roberts and a T.L. Osborne and a William Branaham and everything else it goes out the window. Every bit of it goes out the window because it wasn't nothing but a bunch of childishness to start with. See, and they get down to business. See, a man get way over in a feet or man get to where he ain't eat nothing for days and days and he loses all of the bubble and the glamor. That's right. Being a great big super-duper means nothing to him, because he don't feel too super-duper. So then, God can come in and God begins to use him, that's the life of a Christian. That's the real life of a Christian. Then you begin to thinking about that other world and you get to thinking about God's power and you get to thinking about that life that's real and eternal then, and you know what real christianity is then and real deliverance is. Alright so then, you are killing out, and I ain't going to go to far tonight, but hang on a little longer now. You are trying to kill out the activation of the energetic inspiration that is come from human passion and human senses. Now, because you've already got Satan out of your heart. If you haven't got him out of your heart, if you're a sinner you just got that in there anyway. That's your life that controls you. But listen, you're trying to get that out, because as long as that is at a high level the life and energy of Christ is going to be at a low level, the energy of the spirit. Like Peter upon the housetop, the Bible said, "He grew very hungry and would have eaten." He wasn't fasting. He got hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they made ready, in that they was running a little bit late, God having other plans, Peter kind of slumped. When he did, he went off into a trance, because that bodily energy that holds on to the spirit had to turn it loose. like when a person gets old and a person goes to die, notice that. That person begins to get weak and weaker and weaker and all of a sudden they have what we call hallucinations. But really what it is that body is loosing hold on that spirit and that spirit is fixing to ge back to God who gave it. That body is getting weaker, that energy can't hold it. Like the Bible speaks of being faint. Then he speaks of Rachel and her soul departed from her. See, the life is getting ready to go out of that body. As long as that body is churning and youthful and strong, it can hold that spirit, but then it grows weaker, that's why some people die at thirty years, some die at seventy years old, some can hold on to ninety years old or longer. The Bible said, "Some shall life longer by reason of strength." They can hold on to that spirit, see. But, as they get weaker then that spirit begins to go from them. That's why fasting is so powerful. While you're yet young in your body, and strong in your body, you begin to subdue that energy. So then, the life isn't going to leave you, but what leaves you is the ambitions of life and then all of a sudden as that begins to subside, Peter, being on the housetop, he slumped. The Spirit of God, Paul said, "Whether in the body or out of the body, I can't tell but the Spirit begin to mate with the Spirit of God." All of the middle wall of partition was broken down. All that energetic ego begin to just go away into nothing. And here the Spirit of God begin to meet Peter's spirit and it Become one with God and all of a sudden through the eyes of understanding he saw the great sheet let down. That's why the Bible said "In the last days, young men shall see visions." Because the knowledge of God shall increase and the Word is spirit and if we follow the order of the Word, then we'll begin to see visions. Now, this calls for a regularity, and mind ot fasting, and mind to submission, and mind to meditation. Not just going on a fast. That's not worth the time you take to do it, but a life of fasting, a life of meditation, a life of praying, and then like I said charity at the root of the whole thing. And then you become a God woman or a God man. You become like a prophetess or a prophet. You are walking in the spirit. Every day you're walking in the spirit. And moment God will speak to you, because you're right there where He's at all the time. You're in that dimension. You're in that realm. Alright so then when you start fasting, that's what you're doing. While as yet you're taking away that fleshly energy, you are praying. Your inner man, your spirit is calling on God, your life. Your life is calling on God and that's not you mouth calling on God, because the Bible said, "The body without the spirit is dead." If your mouth could call on God, it would call on God after death but it doesn't do that, it's the spirit that's calling on God, using the mouth. So then, the Spirit is calling on God. That makes the spirit and God begin to come together. So what you're doing is building up the mind of Christ and taking on the virtue through the communication with the spirit by prayer while as yet your fasting you are killing out the middle wall of partition as the interference is getting that down to a low level so that that old double-minded interfering coming and going thing will get out of the way. See that old mind of carnality, the thoughts that gendered upon your mind by feeling, by inspiration, by the surroundings, that is Satan being the Prince of the powers that's in the air that's always pressing, harassing, moving you know you mash your fingers you say oh, it's up here you know. Hit's your brain goes through there. Something from the outside cold wind, hot summer time, ice, snow whatever, do you understand what I'm saying? You see something that hurts you. Pricks you in your heart. Now so then, what you're doing is dying. Now, that part you understand without me explaining that part. You are dying, but on the inside Christ Jesus is living. Paul said, "It is not I that liveth but Christ that liveth within me and the life I now live I live by the Son of God who gave Himself for me. My body is dead. I've surrendered to God. I done away with my body. Done away with my fellings. Done away with my desires and I am looking to Christ from the inner man. Alright so then we see something in this. Now, this is the part that I want to get to. What did they do on the day of Pentecost? They all came together and the Bible said, "That they stayed there, and they prayed there, and they fasted there." Why did they do that? Because Jesus Christ gave then a charge. He said, "Go back to Jerusalem and tarry. Stay there. Tarry." Now, somebody said, "You don't have to tarry anymore." I know you don't have to tarry for the Holy Ghost. I know that. You just have faith in God, because when Jesus Christ gave them a charge. He said, "Go back to Jerusalem and tarry. Stay there. Tarry." Now, somebody said, "You don't have to tarry anymore." I know you don't have to tarry for the Holy Ghost. I know that. You just have faith in God, because when Jesus told them to tarry back there, then he was speaking of the Holy Ghost being given, whereas before Calvary, it was not yet given. And it was time for it to be given. And I realize they had to tarry back there, then he was speaking of the Holy Ghost being given, whereas before Calvary, it was not yet given. And it was time for it to be given. And I realize they had to tarry until the certain time, but there was more to that than what you think, because later on the Apostles got together, And the Bibles said, "They fasted and they prayed until they were filled with the Spirit." And the Spirit spoke through th Prophets and said, "Separate me Paul and Barnabas for the work whereunto I have called them." They were led by the Spirit. So then Jesus said, "Go back to Jerusalem, Tarry, pray, fast and seek God till you be endured with power from on high." Do you understand what I'm saying? That's what we need. Whereas I preached the sermon where Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit. The Bible said, "He was led up of the spirit in to the wilderbess and then returned in the power of the Spirit." And the Bible said, ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you, Which means the virtue of the spirit." To think on the virtue, If anything be lovely, if anything be pure. If anything be virtuous, think on those things. Don't think on gossip. Don't think on backbitting. Don't think on somebody hurting you or think on yout sickness, or think on your bills, or think on poverty. Don't think on that! Don't think on the problems of the church. Think on fasting. Think on reading the Bible, Think on giving something to somebody. Helping some poor person. Think on a way to reach the people in the mission field. Always think on something that's virtuous. Something that's lovely something that's pure. Don't let your mind think on lust. Don't let your mind think on people. Don't let you mind, don't let you body get out there so far that your passions are just eating you up because of that old filthy lust that's between human beings. Don't do that! Alright now, they stayed until they received that power from on high. Now this is what you're trying to do. Now you're trying to tarry before God to receive the spirit. You already have the Spirit. Jesus was led up of the spirit into the wilderness, but He returned in the power of the Spirit. Now what is the difference, and I'm going to say this right hurriedly and try to close. There's a lot that I'd like to say tonight, but I took a long time being able to get around to this. What is the difference? What is the difference between the spirit and the power of the spirit ? Why does it say that? Somebody say, would say, "Well, Brother Pike, faith is power." faith is not power. The Bible doesn't say anything about faith being power. It speaks of Stephen's and said he was a man that was full of faith and power. The Bible said. "Having faith without works, it don't profit you nothing." So then what is the answer to it? There is lots of things in God. There is steps in God. There is training in God. There is tutoring in God. Somebody would go out here and they'd set up a big tent revival and they say, "You preach the Word and you preach all these things, but I'm preaching faith." "I'm telling the people about faith." They're lying, they're not telling nobody about faith. Faith cometh by the hearing of the Word of God. You got to preach the Word of God to give people faith. All they're doing is talking about faith, not getting faith over to the people. You've got to give them the Word to get faith. They've got to have the Word for faith to come out of the Word. You just tell then a lot of stories and whatever. That's all you're doing. But listen, faith cometh by the hearing of the Word, that is you got to know something before you can believe it, and you got to understand it before you can believe it. I've heard people say. "Well, you don't have to understand nothing that it don't understand. With wisdom get understanding. You got to have faith. Are you listening now? Can you listen just another moment or two? Alright, now listen, Power, whats the difference? What is the difference? There is a definite difference. Power is virtue. Virtue is something that you yourself must bring about. Just like death came by man, life comes by man. You've got to think on virtue. Pray to God. Live virtuous, whereas the Bible said, "Make straight paths for yourself that the lame be not turned aside, but rather let it be healed, that it be not turned out of the way," The Bible says. Straight paths for yourself. Why straight paths? Only one thing can make a person have a straight path, and that's righteousness. And what is righteousness? The Bible said, "And God imputed faith unto us as righteousness. And what causes that faith to work? The Bible said, "Faith worketh by love." God is love. So then God purifying our Hearts by faith because it's his spirit of love that comes into our heart. When that comes in here, then what causes that faith to be active? The Bible said, "If we do the things that please God, then we assure out hearts and with the heart man believeth unto righteousness. Hereby we are this confidence in God that what we ask of God we receive of God, because we know that God hears us. Is that right? God hears us. If I know that God hears me, I know that God's going to give me what I ask Him. That's my confidence in God. And if I do the things that please God, I will assure my heart to the place to where it will beleive that very thing. That is why work must come about in our lives. So as to have this inner Christ; be filled with the spirit. Not just having the gift of the spirit, but the Bible said that they tarried until they were filled with the spirit. That's the difference. Now a lot of people say, "Well, I have the spirit." I have the spirit too. But there is a difference. There is a difference of having the spirit and being filled with the spirit. Don't be filled with excess, the excess of lust and the things of this world, but be filled with the spirit. That's where the power of God comes from. When you talk of the spirit, the gift of the spirit, or having the spirit, you're talking about Christ in you, the hope of glory, the life. But when you're talking about the filling of the spirit you're talking about the virtue that comes from the spirit, that fills your entire being. Life the battery that takes on the charge from the electrical current that flows inside of it. That water that is in that battery takes on the charge, You can take the same current, put it to that battery and that battery will be just as dead when you get through with charging as it was before you started unless the water is in there. See, the water is put there to take on the charge, and then when the generater isn't putting juice into the battery or current into the battery, it's still is charged. Like Elijah, when they layed him down, he was charged battery, as we say. The Bible said, "His bones was full of fire and he was charged and though he wasn't doing anything, he wasn't alive anymore in his lifetime he had become so charged that when they throwed the man in on top of him and when he struck Elijah's bones and went down there, up he came, just like that. The power, that was the power, the power of God resurrected him. He had a double portion of Christs Spirit. Up from the grave it came, that's what they did. They tarried till they were endured with power from on high. That's why some people don't live and overcoming life. Some of them's got the spirit, but they don't have the power to overcome. They don't live a virtuous life. They don't spend enough time in prayer and fasting or studying the Bible to draw the virtues to be charged with the power of God. This is what we want to do. There's just a lot of things that I'd like to say here. I've seen the wonderful, beautiful hand of God so many many mighty times in my own life as I have traveled around the different parts of the country and different parts of the world, so beautiful was the lovely hand of god and what it did. Always it is when you tarry and talk to Jesus a little bit before hand. Always it's that way. So then that's what we need to do. God does so many things for us folks, so many wonderful things and all we have to do is just believe. All we have to do is mix a little effort. Now, like I said, "When we were out there continually, we had to do a little different and we have to do a little different when we got out there, but when we come here, it was a different thing. One spirit, many operations, it was a different operation. Now, in that the ministry is turning back into that direction. It has to turn back to that operation. But with that it's just like a big bird coming down form a certain place up here, leaving it's lofty height, coming down to pick up others and then when it comes down to their environment, it stays in their environment until it gets them on the wing, then it picks them all up and goes back to that environment. See, Jesus came down into this world, made himself like us and became just like us and then when he get us all together, back to the Father he went. And that's the way it's got to be. So we need to do something for Jesus. And you're fasting and praying and I trust that you'll continue to do it. I trust that you'll have a mind to do it. I trust that there would just be a mind in you to want to do that, just continually and the revelation of God will be so rich and so great until your cup will overflow. People will be healed. Things will happen. Chuck will get up off of that stretcher over there and be dancing and running around here, and you'll see the Glory of God like you never have before. Somebody say, "Ah, if window was open in heaven it might happen." Well, the windows are open in heaven and it will happen. So then that's what God is wanting us to do. Realize that the windows are open in heaven and we should start enjoying our liberties in the Lord Jesus Christ. Alright, I want you to stand with me, Now, I would like for you to really pray that the Lord will do something for us. We're going to have to, we're going to have to do something because I need to talk to the Lord about some things and get some things lined up, straightened out. I don't know whether I'll have to go off for a day or two to do it or not because I have little problem here sometimes at night I'll be talking to the Lord and maybe I'll be weary because I've been up and maybe I'll go to sleep and it's hard sometimes to get everything straight. Or if I go to the back room, a lot of times during the daytime to talk to the Lord, there's a constant ringing of the door bell or something and a lot of times, so many times the Spirit of God will be just fell in my room and then there would be an interruption and I couldn't understand what He was telling me. So then, whether I have to go off for a day or two or whatever, I don't know, I just have to let the Lord lead me about it. But my heart is always here at Little Bethlehem, always here, because to me this is where the excitement is. I want to see a well, like an artesian well, just bubbling and running over here going out to the world. And I know that we can have it. But I want you to pray for me, that the Lord will direct me. I've put the two coaches we've got up for sell. I haven't felt any leading really to sell then, but I haven't felt any leading to keep then, so I thought about is since we came back from Central America, I thought about selling them. And we finally put them up for sell and if the Lord wants them sold well then he'll bring a buyer and if He doesn't well it will remain like it is. But we are contemplating going overseas and doing some work, and of course if I do, I wan't need the coach as much as I have been needing them, even though to me they are very dear to me, because I've used both of them as far as New Mexico and Texas, Florida and all around you know, then one of them as far down as Central America. Still good coaches, both of them. Just a few minor things and they're good coaches. We're planning to sell them. And a matter of fact, whatever the Lord says, that's what we're planning to do, but we have put them up for sell. You pray that the Lord will tell us just exactly what He wants us to do. We plan to go in and out to some of the foreign fields or whatever He sees fit for us to do, you pray that God will bless us and endow us the more with the power that we need for the deliverance of the people and the word of God that we need. People in some places, they really believe. I've been into places and preach a simple message and been into homes and just speak a few words and see great healings take place just that quick. Because they believe with all their heart, they're not like a lot of people here in America that's just got hardened. They just reason, they're so educated, they out reason everything and they have to try to figure something out or how it's going to come or the way it's going to work, they just believe. Just simple down to earth people, believeing. You pray that the Lord will work with us and help us to believe with them. And while we're gone that on the home from that we won't run into the problem that we run into a lot of times when we come back. On the home front the fires should burn as bright and brilliant as ever and even more so while we're gone. They should be burning brightly. No reason for them to go out, because the programs on tv and radio and the printed page and all of these other things that go out, they should go out, whereas we going under the tent sometimes and different churches but whether missionary trips or whatever the home fires should be burning brightly. I should be able to call back here at any time and get a lovely report back here, at Jerusalem, those that were back there at Jerusalem, they had suck a wonderfcul time when Paul and the others had to go out on missionary trips, and a lot of times into hardness and problems but they were always glad to get back to Jerusalem for Pentecost or as we say the campmeeting a lot of times get back and just have the most glorious time when all of them come together. And during the time that they were away great things were happening in Jerusalem and as well as out in the other places of Asia and different places where Paul and them went to. So then let's pray that everthing will go well and the people will have a real vision, and those that fill to go out into the field, let them go out there and just fired up for God and do something and those that don't fill to go out into the field, let them stay on the home front and work here on the home front and carry the Gospel and all of us will rejoice together in that day. We'll all rejoice together and we'll share together in the things of God and God will reward us all as one because of our labour and desire in Christ. Now if you fell to go out there and preach, God's called you to go out there, don't you dare stay here on the home front, you get on out there and preach as I have told you all down through the years because that's what you ought to do. If you feel to go,but if you just want to go as we say gallivanting around just ride around and do nothing just to get out of responsibility. Some of you are not going to do nothing while you're here anyway, you might as well be out there some where as far as helping me or Christ. You just going to ride anyway you know as a freeloader, somebody said. But you that's going to try to do something on the home front, you do something on the home front and work with me. You that love the Lord, do something. Really get in and do something for your family, and do something for me and do something for the Kingdom of God and come out here and help on Saturdays and help us the different nights and whatever and come out here and do something for the Lord. Lend Him a hand. So then you that are suppose to go out there, if you're suppose to go well you go out there, because if that's where you ought to be is out there doing something for the Lord Jesus Christ. You ought to be out there by all means. Others should be here praying and fasting and seeking and doing something on the home front and I have to admit that it's a joy and jubilance in my life when I am out there to turn my face toward little Bethlehem to get back here, because as I said, this is where the excitement is. But you brethren that help lead the people while we're gone, be faithful and loyal to Christ and to the pastorial efforts that I put forth here and to the flock to do what's right, because if you don't one day you'll come up missing. One day God'll get you and don't be sowing seed of discord, you people, different ones, don't be gossiping and backbitting and getting all full of fleshly ideas from eating and drinking and having your heart overcharged with the surfeiting and cares of this life unless that day come upon you unawares. Don't do that. Don't be a big something and think more highly of yourself that you ought to. Think soberly according to the measure of faith that God has dealt to you. Prove your faith and that's how big you are. Not, not what you think you are but according to your faith, that's how big you are. Alright, if you can do something for God, do it. It may not be build a campground. It may not be build a church. It might not be to preach on the radio. It might be to do something all together different, but whatever it is, you do it, because that's what God wants you to do and the Lord will bless you in your labour. Alright, God bless you for listening. There's just so many things that I would have like to have said, but hope I said enough things tonight to kind of clerify the few thoughts that we've brought out to where you can use those thoughts to build upon that you can become a God-man or a God-woman. That's what I would like to see you do. Lets sing a little chorus together, can we? Now, some of you have really give to the work. You have tremendously sacrificed and the Lord'll bless you for it. I thank the Lord for you. And I thank God for every sacrifice. Some of you have sacrificed and God has greatly multiplied your subtance since you've been with us and blessed you to where you've done things that you'd have never done, and obtained places that you would have never obtained. Some of you have not been loyal and lenient towards Christ and you've not reaped to much. You sow sparingly, whether it's in fasting you sow, in prayer you sow, in giving you sow. But whatever you sow, that's what you're going to reap. So let's just pray to God. Let's believe God. Let's continue our strive for God to do something that we might be great in the sight of God and not worry about being great in the sight of man because that isn't important. The Bible said that John was great in the sight of God and he shall be great in the sight of God. That's what I would like to do is be great in the sight of God. Alright, when you pray, pray for me. When you pray, pray for Bethlehem. Pray that God will bless Bethlehem. Let's sing the little chorus that we sing so many times, "Pass me not oh gentle Saviour." (Brother pike sings song.)

By Rev. George Leon Pike Sr.

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

Holiness Unto The Lord