The Fruits Of Holiness

If you've got your Bibles let's turn over to the book of Revelation. There's been a lot said concerning the sounding of the last trump. We've taught quite a bit concerning it. There's been a lot of ministering concerning it. I guess we've probably got quite a number of sermons on tape here where Brother Bill and the others have recorded what we had to say about the seventh trumpet. And I guess there's probably more idea's, discussions, disputes and differences concerning that as to anything in the Bible; but still at the same time there's a lot of wonderful things for the believer and for those that are willing to try to understand what was being said concerning it. Let's read just a bit in the eleventh chapter and tonight let's ask a question or two. Now, we haven't done this in probably four of five services or more. Once every once in awhile, I'll ask a question or two to see if you have anything that you don't understand that we might try to explain. Reading in chapter eleven, first verse. (Brother Pike reads the entire eleventh chapter of Revelation) That's reading the entire eleventh chapter. Now, I'd like to do this tonight. I'd like to see if maybe you have a question that you'd like to ask concerning this. I could start off preaching here tonight and to me the entire Bible is a sermon. Somehow or another, it doesn't matter to me where I open the Bible, to, I just automatically find a sermon out of it, and I could start here and preach for hours just on this. But I wonder tonight, we've preached from it a number of times, and I wonder tonight if there might be a question or something that you might have on your heart that you might ask and from that we might take a lead thought here and speak concerning some things from this scripture. As you know, for many years, I don't have anything marked in the Bible. I never know where I'm going to turn to. I never know what I'm going to read from. When I come to church the Lord gives it to me right there at the sacred desk when I open my Bible. For many years it's been that way. Now, I want you tonight if you have any question at all, I'd like for you to just raise your hand by that let me know. We'll let you orally express it, or if you like to write it down and send it up here to us, well then we'd like to know about it. If not, we're going to elaborate a little bit concerning this scripture, but if you've got a question I'd like to get it first. I do this sometimes because I have people coming so often and they ask me questions and I never get a chance to sit down and talk with them about it and I open this to the people or to the public to where they can have a little part, in that it might be something urgent in their spirit. Most of the time when we do this we get about a dozen questions, but if there is anything, I'd for you to tell me. If not we're not going to tarry, because I'm going to elaborate on it anyway. But if there is a question that's something you've got on your heart you can, you can tell us right off. Brother Jim. All right. Since we're dealing with this concerning the two witnesses, these two witnesses, majorly have to do with the latter part of the tribulation. Now, in the reading of the scriptures in the book of Revelation it sounds just exactly the contrary to that but if you'll check it out, they have to do with the latter part of the tribulation, of the tribulation period. Here the terms is used, And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt where also our Lord was crucified. It's evident that that's Jerusalem because that's self explanatory in the sense it uses the terms, Where our Lord was crucified. Spiritually it is called Sodom and Egypt. So then, there is a spiritual name for Jerusalem. And this is where the prophets will be. It says that their message will not be a satisfying message. This is one thing that we need to note here is that their message will not be satisfying message. You know, when we think about the gospel, we think about the gospel as glad tidings of joy, whereas the Bible speaks in the book of Revelation as concerning the everlasting gospel. And it speaks of these two prophets, that Jim is referring to here after this manner, that when they preach, the message that they use it will not be a satisfying message. It will be a tormenting message. For the Bible said that these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth. The things that they preach will literally torment the people. I've watched, and in the day that we are living in, and I'm sure that most of you are aware of this, that the message of Christ or the gospel, is beginning to be a tormenting thing to the people rather than a joy and a jubilance. Years ago when the message of Christ came it was a great bubbling joy. Hundreds and millions of people, as we say, turned to God, and there was such a great revival. People were shouting, running to the alters, and healing, and miracles, and people were delighting themselves in the Lord. But all of a sudden there seemed to be a grief that moved over the people. The miracle begin to die down and there was just a change altogether. The reason is, is because the message has changed to this extent, not that the word of God has changed, it's the same yesterday, today and forever, but it's changed to the extent that people have changed. People have come to a greater enlightenment of the Word of God and they understand more in God than they have ever understood at anytime in their lives, and yet, they are not practicing righteousness. All they want to do is just get the joy of the Lord, the benefits of the Lord, the things of God, the riches of God. They want everything that God has got to give and don't want to give and don't want to give God one thing in the way of fasting, praying, dedication, consecration, sacrifice or anything else. They don't want to live right and they are beginning to come to the acknowledgement that the gospel will not work for them that way, and they are becoming very grieved over it. Cancer, T.B., insanity, paralysis, heartaches, sorrows, woes, misery, all of these things are beginning to strike the people, and they are becoming very grievous and the same thing is happening to the people today that happened to them back there when the enemy took the Ark of the Covenant. When the Philistines took the Ark of the Covenant, they did not worship it in the spirit of holiness. They did not know how to present themselves to God nor to honor God and because of that it upset God with them and God smote them and soon they wanted to give that Ark of the Covenant back to the children of Israel. See, the same thing has happened today. When the children of God started to shouting, jumping, having a good time, praising God, miracles and everything started to happening, why the world begin to run after the church and begin to grab everything, and all of the celebrities wanted to get into it, and the president wanted to get into it, and all the dignitaries wanted to get into it, and all the money men wanted to get into it, so they all grabbed it; but they did not want to get into the spirit of holiness. They did not want to live holy. They did not want to dedicate their lives. They did not want to leave off with things of this world nor the things of the flesh, and so then it just went right in reverse. And they've been smitten with sickness and sorrows and heartaches and woes and now they are beginning to holler give the thing back. Give the thing back! Give the thing back! Let's give away from it. Let's get our own thing going. And that's the way it's going to be, see as it moves on towards tribulation. the message of these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth. The reason for that is, this message that these prophets are going to preach is, too late, too late, too late, you've all ready missed it. You've missed it. You wouldn't listen. Stubborn. Stiffnecked, Steven said, uncircumcised in heart, always rebelling against the Word of God. And see, too late! Too late! You can go and preach that now. And oh, people they want to, as the world says, want to turn you off. They'll say I don't like their preaching. I don't want to go hear him preach! And they'll go hear some philosopher that says, Oh, Beloved, God will make you rise upon the high places of the earth. God will feed you with the heritage of Jacob. God want's you to prosper. GOd wants to heal you. Oh, God loves you! Oh they say, I love his preaching. Let's go to his revival! You hypocrite. But the Bible says that their message will torment them that live on this earth and dwell on this earth. Why is that? Because God is going to send the gospel, The truth. You know, the Bible says that the Word of God, the truth, will set you free, and the Bible says that chastisement is grievous for the moment, but them that God loves, He chastises. And brother, the Bible says that if you are without chastisement, then you are a bastard for all are partakers of chastisement. It's like we was talking today, me and Brother Benton, about the people of this world. They seem to want to get into riches. Riches, no suffering. You know, Paul said that God chose me to reveal Christ in my life, and for many years I wondered what he was talking about, and all of a I got a hold of it and I said, My God! He's talking about the sufferings that Paul went through with: stoned, shipwrecked. You know, I kept thinking over and over in my mind, I kept thinking, Well God chose Paul so he could do them great, mighty miracles. My! What a wonderful thing! YOu know, that's the way the flesh likes to look at it, and I quote that scripture over and over in my mind, you know. I want to know him in the fellowship of his suffering so I can be made conformable to his death. I hurried through that part. So I can know Him in the power of His resurrection. And God said to me, said, Son, you don't even know what you're talking about. He said, You're just a little novice. You don't know even know what your talking about. The life of Paul was one of suffering, one of suffering, penned up in a prison year after year, stoned, stoned and left for dead, shipwrecked, and beat, misery and heartaches. Said, that was the life of Christ. That was the life of Christ. When you find Christ, friend, you won't find him in a palace. You don't find prophets dwelling in palaces. Jesus made that statement concerning John. Said, you not going to palaces to look for prophets. You don't find prophets dwelling in palaces. Somebody say, I love Jesus. You know the mistake they made when Naaman went down there to get healed of his leprosy? One king said to another king, I heard that great things are going on in your country. I sent him over to you palace, How about to him whatever your supposed to? Somebody say, Amen. And they got over there and the king said, I don't understand what he's talking about. Said, I can't do nothing for a leprous man. A prophet down there living in a shack somewhere said, Send him over here. Said, I understand what he's saying. Said, send him over here, and then he'll know there's a prophet in the land. See, you can't, you can't go around to all these suppers and breakfast of these rich men and Full Gospel Business Men and all this kind of thing they've got going on all over the country and get what God's got. You can't do that. Somebody would say, Brother Pike, don't you believe that's of God? I certainly do. I've preached for them. I preached the ax is laid under the root of the tree at their meeting, and seen them all down on their face bawling. You say, Well, don't you believe it's of God? I sure do. I believe it's of God. But I want to ask you something. Just because you've got children out here in kindergarten and in the first grade, does that mean people in college ought to quit studying, leaving college and go back there and get in the first grade with them? Somebody say, Amen. Just because those people that don't know their right hand from their left is getting a hold of a little something and God is beginning to move the spiritual things into that realm to where He can give them a chance and an opportunity to hear the gospel, should we quit our diligence in God and say, Well, bless God, he's got a Cadillac and I ain't got no Cadillac! I'm going to join up with them. They're the ones that's got it. Don't be foolish. Don't be foolish! Can't you just picture Elijah saying, Why, I think I'll leave the field. It's rough dwelling in a cave. Ah, here I am over here dwelling in a cave and there's a king over yonder. I think I'll join up with him. He's got God's blessings. Somebody say, Amen! Brother, what we need to do is differentiate between what's right and what's wrong. You say, Brother Pike, don't you believe that's the gospel to them people? I believe that it is the gospel to them people because the Bible said that the gospel must first be published in all the world for a witness; but it didn't say say all was going to serve God. It just said, that God was going to make sure that the rich man and the celebrity and every person in the world knew right from wrong. Not because He was going to save them, but because they were going to stand before Him in the day of judgment and God was going to say, I told you and you wouldn't listen to the gospel. GOd is not sending the gospel to save those people. He sent the gospel so they could be saved. Somebody say, Amen! Brother Pike, you mean to tell me that God did not send the gospel to save those people? He certainly did not! He sent the gospel to those people so that He could ne a just judge in the day of judgment when He turned them into the flames of hell. God sent the gospel to them so that they could be saved. The Bible said, Not many mighty are going to listen to this. There is a few but not very many of them. There's a few of the celebrities that will step down place in celebrity and join ranks with God. There's a few great men that will leave behind the world and step out with God but most of them won't. Somebody say, Amen! I said, most of them won't. You give a man a little prestige, and you give him a little name in the world, and you give him a little fame and popularity, and you get the people cheering over him a bit or give him a little money, give him a position, give him a little education and watch and see if he don't walk off and leave God, go after the world. Oh, somebody said, That sounds like a foreign language to me, Brother Pike. I can tell the way you're talking in your spirits, that's the way you feel. This is not foreign. It's not hard to understand. Brother, this is the truth. That's why the Bible said that these prophets, they had a message that literally tormented the people that dwell on the earth. Why is it that their message tormented the people? Why didn't these two prophets say, Now come on folks. Let's get together and have a Full Gospel Business Mens meeting? All of you. God love's all of you. Somebody say, Amen. Ah, them two hard preachers, preaching out there like that knowing that God loves everybody. What do you mean doing a thing like that? All they were doing was what God said do. The Bible said, He that God sendeth will speak God's word. Those people were stiffnecked, uncircumcised in heart and they proved that they were just exactly like the people were in the days of Steven because they did to those two prophets exactly what the people done to Steven. They killed those two prophets and left them laying in the street, and rather than being sorry the Bible said that they were rejoicing over the fact that these ministers of God were dead and laying in the street. That's why it tormented them. That was the kind of heart they had. It was just like Cain, when Cain slew Able. My Brother, if you've got the right kind of heart you can rejoice. If you haven't got the right kind of heart you can't rejoice. When the gospel comes your way, when the good old-time Holy Ghost gospel comes your way, if you haven't got the right thing, you're going to pout and puff and you are going to go off and and you're going to say something and your going to get all upset. But I'll tell you what. If you've got real old-time Holy Ghost gospel in your soul, and you've got old-time religion you're going to say Amen: and I'm going to search it out in the Bible, and you are going to find out whether it's right or wrong before you say anything or not. Praise God! So then, as I say, it's true. Great men like Billy Graham, as I said the other night they are sweeping the world. Great mighty meetings everywhere. Is God sending those men to win the people? Billy said himself, there wasn't over two or three people in the whole country that was serving God when he got back after having a mass meeting. I understand he made that testimony of his own services. So then, is God sending him to save the people? God is sending him to preach the gospel. You say, But, Brother Pike, if he's preaching the gospel then that means he must be sent of God with truth. Paul said, whether the gospel for whatever, it's still preached. Whatever the motive is, whatever the intentions is, I rejoice in the fact that the gospel is going into all the world. Herein I rejoice, whatever their intentions or motives might be. It doesn't matter if they are just preaching the gospel to get enough money, you know, to preach the gospel to get enough money. If they are just preaching the gospel to get enough money to buy a T.V. station so that they can get a T.V. station to preach the gospel to get enough money to buy another T.V. station. And some of them has got in a rut over that. Same way with the radio stations, and they, they are,some of them, are just preaching the gospel to get a tent to get more, more people to get more money to get a bigger tent to on T.V. and radio and they don't have souls in mind. They don't care about anybody or anything. Putting all the money in the bank over here that they can and then changing their name and putting some in a foreign bank. Somebody say, Amen! God wants us to preach the truth, folks. Paul preached the truth. Jesus said, I come to witness of the truth, to bear witness of the truth. When we witness, we should witness of the truth. We should bear witness of the truth. Our desire should be to substantiate the truth and to tell the truth. It is the truth that sets the people free. So then, you say, But, Brother Pike, it's the preaching of the gospel that sets the people free. Well, why is it the Bible states that the ministers of Satan can transform themselves into ministers of light? That is, a man that is of the devil, Paul said, By the transforming of his mind he can get up and he can preach the word. Satan stood before Jesus in the wilderness and quoted the word. Word by word, he quoted it. But you know what Paul said when the writer spoke of those kind of people? They said, These people that have done the wicked thing of messing with the word like that, transforming their minds, that they have changed the truth of God into a lie. Not only changed the truth of God into a lie, but the Bible said they'd come along working lying signs and wonders and miracles. Somebody would say, Well, Brother Pike, you don't believe that nobody can work a miracle and it be a lying sign? I sure do. Nobody could do that, Brother Pike. Well, why is it, it says in the book of Revelation that those three unclean spirits went out of the mouth of those frogs? The Bible said they were unclean spirits and the Bible said they went to all the wealthy men of the earth working miracles. They worked miracles. They worked miracles. Brother, let me tell you something. In the day of grace, as long as the blood is on the atonement seat there is going to be all kind of things going on. Did you know that? All kind of things will be going on as long as there is blood on the atonement seat. All kind of things is going on. There is people that come to church that's just as wicked as they could be. They get just as satisfied when it rains on the briar. They get just as satisfied as the wheat does when they get a swallow of it. They're just as thirsty. It takes the same rain to make them both grow. Isn't that right? The same God created us all. No matter what road in life we take, God created us all. But there's one thing about it, the harvest tells what we are. Isn't that right? The harvest tells what we are and not only that but it determines our end, whether we are to be gathered as meat into the garners for the master's use or we are to be cut down and burned. So then, I said that to say this. God is sending the gospel into all the world and many hundreds of thousands of people, Billy Graham, Oral Roberts, The Full Gospel Business Men, all kind of people everywhere are preaching the gospel. They are preaching the gospel, but are they living according to the gospel? No. Sad to say many of them don't even know Christ Jesus as their personal savior. They've transformed their minds. They are doing it for personal gain. Whatever motive, Paul said, Just be as glad the Word of God is still getting around and it's got to get into all the world for a witness. Not that it's going to save all the world but that all the world may become guilty before God. But there's one thing about it, it's like Ruth, in the days of the gleaner. It's like Ruth. There is some people in the world today that they are the brides of Christ. They are the son's of God. They are the children of the church and they are doing what they know is right and they are traveling all over, everywhere, just as much as they possibly can, by faith in God, doing what's right, planting the right kind of seed, and trying to establish in the earth true holiness unto the Lord. (Begin side two, Tape no. 1) holiness. And Paul said, God, the spirit of holiness, which I serve with my spirit. And the Bible said that we are to have our fruits unto holiness. By their fruits ye shall know them. We must have fruits unto holiness and the end thereof eternal life. If we have the spirit of holiness, then we are going to produce fruits of holiness and the end of that is going to be eternal life. But, Brother, if God is the spirit of holiness there cannot be any eternal life without God. That is without holiness. Isn't that right? It is no wonder the Bible said, Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. If you don't have the spirit of holiness you don't have God. The Bible said, if you have not my spirit you are none of mine. Therefore, there's but one spirit and that is the spirit of holiness and if you have the spirit of holiness you can tell that a man has got the spirit of holiness and if a woman has got a spirit of holiness you can tell if a woman has got the spirit of holiness because they will bear fruits of holiness. If their lives bear worldly fruits they are of the world. They've got the love of the world in them. The child is known by his doings. If he does the things of the world, if he loves the things of the world, if he conforms to the things of the world, them he's of the world. If he does the things of God, if he's about his father's business, if he has the love of God in his heart it will show. Therefore, we must show the difference. Let your light so shine that men may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. All of the world should see our good works for we must have works. I've heard a lot of people, you know, they'll dispute and they'll say, Well, Brother Pike, holiness don't mean do's and don'ts. My Brother, you are deceived. You need to go back and start all over. It's obvious that you are not a Bible scholar nor a christian and you are all mixed up. The Bible said, Be holy in body and spirit. There's no way just to be holy in the spirit and be holy in body. I've never met a holy man in spirit that wasn't a holy man in body. I've never met a holy woman in spirit that wasn't a holy woman in body. I've never met a lion spirit that wasn't a lion in his body. Have you? I've never met a monkey in spirit that wasn't a monkey in his body. And if you're a christian in your spirit you're going to be a christian in your body. Somebody say, I love Jesus. All right. So then, let us be holy. The Bible said, Be ye holy for I am holy. Let us go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance, dead works and faith toward God and these kind of things, just saying over and over, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do it. God forgive me. Couldn't help it. God said not to do that. That's all right. It's good to have a repentive spirit, but my brother, God doesn't want us going through life making excuses. God want's us to go through life doing something to bring forth fruit unto perfection. God want's us to lay aside every weight that doth so easily beset us, run with patience the race that is set before us and God wants us to do those things that are holy, just and upright, that we may bring forth fruits unto holiness. That's what God wants. And we can do it if we are willing to do it. Therefore the Bible said that these ministers, as they preached the gospel, that their message tormented them that dwell on the earth. Why? Because these ministers preached the true way of life. And I say again that more and more it's getting to the place to where the true message of God is tormenting them that dwell on the earth. Now I know they've still got this thing going you know, about getting together and having a good time and the one that's got the most money and the one that's been the most successful and the one that was saved from the greatest thing, they all get together and have a great jubilee of a time and they eat, and they drink and they be merry and they don't get nothing done for God. They all get into the same fix. You say, How do you know? Because, I, I personally, have went out there to try to find out what they were doing. I wanted to know. You know, you can't judge a thing until you know about it. I've went out there and inspected it carefully to find out what they were doing because I didn't know, but Brother, when I got there God made me to see. I knew, and they are in bad shape. Like the Washington for Jesus meeting. I say this again, two, three hundred million people, and what happened? The leading ministers of the United States came together and got up there and apologetically spoke to the people and told how they had left their first love, so to speak, most of them how they had betrayed God to that extent, walked off from God and left the things of God and left the things of God and even got up and made statements that they had sold their birthrights, like Esau, and then made the statement that that's why that they had Washington for Jesus. So that they could come together to apologize to the people and repent before God, because they'd not led the people right. I'm talking about the leading ministers. I'm talking about the great men. The men that the people of this earth and of this world confide in. What do we need to do? We need to serve God. If the word of God says something, Brother, Sister, the Word of God, the same yesterday, today and forever, to a thousand generations, there is no way to get away from the Word of God. So often as I travel around the country I hear people say, you know, that I don't believe in doctrine. How in the world are you going to serve God without doctrine? There ain't no such thing as not having doctrine. The Bible said who can I teach doctrine? They that are weaned from the breast. I go out to these meetings, Full Gospel Business Men's meetings lot of times they want to leave off with doctrines. You know why? Because they are not weaned from the breast. They are just a bunch of babies. But God wants somebody that's weaned from the breast. He said, the meat is for the strong. They who have by reasoning exercised their senses to be able to discern between good and evil. You know, this thing of setting up a tent, getting fifteen hundred people in a line and pushing them down like a bunch of cattle, I say this so often, somebody runs them through a line and this fellow has got the gift of healing and he slaps them down, slaps them down, and glory be to God, he slaps them down. They fall down, all kind of things going on, and he don't even know where he's going. He don't know where he's coming from. He don't know where he's been and all the rest when they get through all they know is they had more money when they went there then they did when they all left. You say, Brother Pike, what are you talking about? I mean that God has got some true people in the world that's preaching the that's preaching the gospel but he's also got some renegades in the world. And what they're doing they are playing a bunch of games and some of them are true but some of'em are babies, and they've been set in the ministry instead of sitting under the ministry and listening as they did in the early church and being trained they jump out and say, Here we go. And they go. Loopedy loop, here they go. Now, isn't that right? You say, well, what do you think, Brother Pike? I think that what they should have done is sit down for about three or four years like Paul did under the tutoring of God, or some ministry and got straight and then we'll all, we could all move together in the spirit and we wouldn't have the church and the people split up in splinters. All of us would know what we were doing. Wouldn't run off out there and live for God about a year and a half and then get something going and run off with something or do something, tear up a home or whatever, and tear up a whole thing, and reproach the gospel and kill hundreds of thousands of people. Amen? Somebody would say, But, Brother Pike, now time is so short it's different now. Why, we may not have three years. Well, bless your heart. I'll tell you one thing. If we ain't got but three years you need to spend that three years learning if you haven't learned. Just because we haven't got but three years left don't mean God has changed his plan. It don't mean that God want's to take a bunch of novices and put them out there on the field to interrupt his, interrupt His program, just because the time's short. If there ain't enough time for you to become a sober minded preacher, you need to forget about preaching. Somebody say, I love Jesus. I don't know where in the world we get these wild notions, you know. Somebody would say, Bless God, I ain't got time to study to be a doctor. I want to be a doctor right now. I want to me a dentist right now. My daddy's a millionaire. He can buy my tools. So he don't study a lick of dentistry. He don't study nothing about being a doctor. He just gets him a butcher knife and he goes to work. I tell you what, there's one patient that won't go over to his house if I know about it. I want to know, folks, what's going on. I want to know what a man's talking about and I want him to know what he's talking about. I listen to a preacher, and when I come to listen to a preacher I want to know what he's talking about. And I want him to know what he's talking about. I don't want him talking if he don't know what he's talking about. Now, I listen. I'm a good listener. I've sat for many hours just listening and listening, and for many years, just listening because I want to know what they're talking about and I want them to know what they're talking about. When you start dealing with a man's life and you, you've got a patient on the table and you are suppose to be a physician, and you start butchering on him and you say, Well, I think maybe he's got appendicitis so I'm going to cut his heart open to see. That's bad business. You don't even know where his appendix is at. See. When you get a man up here with the gospel and he's got a case our there and he's trying to help that fellow he's got to know what he's doing. He's got that knife in his hand. One slip of that knife and he can cut that person and they can bleed to death. But if he's a real physician he can cut deep, come out with that thing and like I said, when he get's them sewed up they might be a little sore at him the next day, but in a few days they are so strong and healthy they'll say, I'll tell you which doctor to go to. Hallelujah! They are enjoying life so much they'll say, I'll tell you where to go to. He's a speacialist. I believe that we need men with backbones that will stand up and preach the gospel, folks. I pray to God that God will take and give us some real men with real backbones that will stand up and come against this wishy-washy, up and down, in and out, slippy slide, sort of a religious thing that they've got going today. Stand up, not try to beat them down and chop them up, but stand up like a man and tell them that they are wrong over this thing and many of them, if you tell them the truth, they'll straighten out. You know, I say this again. It's like when we were out in California, there at the Full Gospel Business Men's meeting when we was preaching, down at Anaheim, California, we preached the ax is laid at the root of the tree, and when we got through those people were down on their faces crying and praying to God. You know why? We preached the truth. It proved that there was good character there but many of them had never really heard the gospel and when they heard the gospel and when the gospel they gladly accepted it. And we are responsible friend. If we don't tell those people the truth we are responsible. God is going to hold us responsible. You can't have the goods of this world in the natural and shut up your bowels of compassion when you see your brother have need. And neither can you have the goods of God in your heart when it's in your power to do good and know that that other person is in poverty, spiritual poverty or ignorant, and you hold back and not tell them the truth. You can't do that and make it into the kingdom of God. You can't do it. You know, a lot of people say, Well I just don't want to stir them up and I don't want to hurt their feelings and I know that they don't live on this level and they are a christian in their own way. Somebody say, I love Jesus. That's the craziest thing I ever heard of in my life. I never heard a more foolish statement in my life. They're a christian in their own way. There ain't no such thing as being a christian in your own way. There ain't but one kind of christian and that's the Christ like christian. The word Christian comes from being Christ like down at Antioch when those people acted like Jesus, being a christian is Christ's way. There ain't no such thing as being a christian in your own way. There ain't but one Christian and that's being Christ like. That's what the word means. Christ like. So then, we need to get away from those things and stop, you know, stop letting the devil run us around and around like a fox around a stump after his tail all the time. He don't know where he's going. Now, I don't know how I got to preaching tonight. I was going to just take a question or two here and explain something and here we got off hollering at you. How many of you understand what I'm saying? I'm hoarse tonight, you know, and it might be a little hard for you to tell what I'm saying because Im hoarse, but, I love you folks. I love you. If Brother Pike didn't love you, you know what I'd do? Now, I'm not mocking, but you know Elijah did mock the devil in the prophets of Jezebel, but I'm not mocking, but I'd turn over this scripture;God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, and I'd coo you and I'd woo you, and I'd make sure that if I felt anything in any corner that made your fuzz rise up, as somebody said, I'd get off of that subject right quick and I'd say, Now don't get alarmed, don't get alarmed. Be careful. You just misunderstood what I said. And I'd say the things that needed to be said and then I'd say, Brethern, would you kindly pass the offering box? And then before you got out that door, I'd beat you to the door and everyone that come out I'd shake your hand and I'd rub your hand and I'd rub the ladies hands and then I'd probably loose my wife. But I'd be there at the door, you know, and saying be sure you come back, beloved, be sure you come back. Oh my. Don't you know that must be sickening to God? Can't you picture the Lord Jesus Christ standing up in the sacred desk, behind the sacred desk, or John, or Peter, or Elijah and Elijah doing a thing like that,and Elijah running around the house to get to the front door to shake the peoples hand? Somebody said not too long ago hat was about the only thing they really found wrong with Brother Pike, he didn't go to the front door and shake the folks hand before they left. You love the Lord? Praise God. I love to shake your hands. You know, we get a chance to shake hands in a gentlemen like way, that's fine. But folk's that ain't the gospel. God didn't say go into all the world and shake everybody's hands. He said, preach the gospel. What we need is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. They've made a routine out of this thing and made a game out of this and they're playing some kind of game. This is no game. There's people dying and going down into a lake of fire. If you could just open up the cover tonight and you could look down there and you could see the blazing flame of a burning fire and people, millions of people screaming, Oh, my God, Too late, too late. My God. My God. And maybe a voice ringing out, Too late. Eternally Too late. Eternally too late. Never, no never again. Eternally too late. Gnawing on one another. Screaming. Kind of like the girls the other day, I think they were over here, was it yesterday? Over here in this place practicing, and they had their rings on and I understand the lightening come in and struck one of their rings. And I understand everyone of them got ringless right quick. They lost their interest in the rings. Praise the Lord. That's the way it is you know. You get one look at hell and you'll loose your interest in the games of this world. All right, I love you and I don't want to hurt you. I just want to help you. But I thank God for all of you. I appreciate everyone of you. May the Lord bless you. Maybe what I'm saying is a little hard for you to understand and might ne a little hard to digest. You know, sometimes you go to one cafe and you say, Well, I don't like that. I think I'll go over to another. They take too long to prepare the meal and they keep it cooking. They cook it too hard and they don't, they don't season it just right and I don't like that kind anyway. You know, and so you go to another cafe. But, sometimes it pays to really consider. You know, you might be at a place where you can get some meat. The Bible said the meat is for the strong and you might be at the place where you can get some meat and it might be good meat. It might be good choice meat. So it might pay to be a little more patient, to listen, because it might take a little longer to prepare it. Sometimes in taking a little longer to prepare a meal, like my grandmother used to do, the meal was a whole lot better and it gives you a whole lot better health and it stays with you a whole lot longer, especially when you had to go in the field and plow like I did, and chop cotton. These sandwiches wouldn't do that. I'll guarantee you. You eat some of these T.V. dinners and run out there and grab a hoe handle and it wouldn't be long you'd be laying down between the rows. That hot sun got started. You had to have some of grandmas cornbread. But you know, the other night it was setting over here and Im going to close in just a few minutes cause I know your hot and uncomfortable, but I was sitting over here in the chair and the Lord spoke to me and I started to moving in the spirit, and as I started moving in the spirit I felt like talking to some of the people and telling them a few things, and it was moving toward that and them of course, some things took place and in the audience. And when it did I just you know, it went on for quite a while and I just stopped and didn't do anything. But one of the things that I saw, I looked over here to my right, I saw sister Linda sitting back here and she had a wreath around her neck,and she had around her neck there was a wreath, a big wreath, and it was full of white flowers. Beautiful white flowers. I meant to mention, I meant to mention it or say something about it, and then when the service was prolonged before I got back up, you know, before I had chance to get back to the sacred desk the spirits kind of changed, you know, as far as the moving of the spirit. One spirit, many operations. The operation kind of changed, and I, I said, Well, I won't say anything about it. So I didn't say anything to anybody. I did mention it to Brother Jim and then later, I believe, down here, we was talking about it. Brother Jimmy Smith and some of'em, and I mentioned it to Sister Betty. But, I, I had a vision, and in the vision I had seen Betty's uncle in this vision and the Lord made me to know that he was fixing to die. In the vision it didn't show him die. It showed him in good health. He's a wealthy man and he had me and Betty in his mind in the vision, but the Lord showed me that he was going to die so I told Betty and I told some of the Brethern that, you know, I said it won't be long. I said, she's got an uncle, he's fixing to die. Well Sunday night it was while I was standing here, and I, or while I was over here and I saw that wreath. I didn't understand just what it was, but I told Betty and sure enough. I believe it was, was it the next day? Two days later? Anyway, it was a day or two following a call came through, and when the call came, it came from Upson County, and of course, it came to Sister Linda. And it was concerning Sister Betty's uncle and he had just dropped dead. It was yesterday, wasn't it? Yesterday, he dropped dead yesterday. Just as if to say, you know you would hang the wreath around Sister Linda's neck to deliver. It was in that section back there, and it may have further meaning. I don't know. But you know, I thought about this particular man. He's one of the finest people I have ever seen. He wasn't a christian, just a fine moral man and he, I think right toward the end of his life he begin to try to get a hold of a Baptist experience. As to how much salvation he had, I don't know. That's for the Lord to say. I don't know. I know he's one of the finest moral men that I ever seen. But I was just thinking, you know, the spirit of God is always moving. Day and night he's moving. And I see him all the time. I'll be talking to some of you and I'll look into your life or into your spirit or the Lord will say something to me and tell me something, and many times I don't say anything because I'm afraid that I will alarm some of you, or that you will misunderstand and I just don't say anything. But you know, it pays, like Jesus said, to watch and pray. You need to watch and you need to pray, because a lot of times a Brother or a Sister, God will speak to them and the Bible said the Holy Ghost will show you things to come. And the the Holy Ghost of God will show you things or speak to you through the gifts of the spirit or through the annointing and tell you things through a brother or a sister or through the ministry that might save your life, down the road. I've seen things in service and would speak and try to reach a person and the Lord would tell me and I'd tell them and maybe that night or the next morning they'd either be killed, they'd die or a wreck happen or something take place down the road, you know, and sometimes because of me tilling them, lot of times they'd be safe, whereas they wouldn't otherwise. But we need to pray and we need to be spiritual, and like I said, we need to be patient, because sometimes you might be getting the right thing and just don't realize it. You might be getting just what you need and it don't taste good because you've never developed a taste for it, but it might be the best thing for your system. It might be just what you need. You know, when grandmother used to turn up the spoon and give you some castor oil, you know,it, it didn't taste good, but it was the best thing that you could get at the right time. All right, you see, somebody spiritually drowsy, at ease in Zion, the Bible said, Woe unto them that are at ease in Zion, and you might have to give them a little spiritual castor oil to get'em lubricated real good, get'em going again. I want you to stand with me. I appreciate you being here tonight. Appreciate your kindness and your patience and we are looking forward to great things in God. Great things in God. And you know, the Bible said, Wherever you put your foot, I'll give it to you. If you're going to get anything you're going to have to put your best foot forward. I've said this a number of times. The Bible said, And whatsoever that man doeth shall prosper. Of course, if that be the case, to prosper you've got to do something. You've got to do something. A lot of people don;t ever prosper. The secret of the whole thing is, or the problem in your case, is that you don't do anything. You can't prosper because your not doing anything. But if you'll start doing something whatever you do will prosper. O.K. it's like this. You take a person that sleeps good they prosper. They get a lot of rest. A person that eats good, they prosper. They get a lot of tummy. A person that works good, they prosper. They get a lot of pay. So, whatever you do, you'll prosper at it. You must do something to prosper and you're prosperity will show up. Whatever you're doing will show up. The child is known by his doings and you can tell be the person what they're best at doing. I would like to be, I don't feel like I am, but I certainly would love to be, known as one of the best in serving Jesus. Wouldn't you? I'd love for it to show up in my life, you know, in such a great way, the life of Jesus Christ, to where I, people would say, Well I know he loves Jesus. I know that he love's Jesus. Cause that's what I believe it ought to be. All right. Now, let's just slip our hands up. Can we folks? God bless you all. God help you. God be with you. God protect you. Love the truth. You know, the Bible said because you have not a love for the truth God will turn you over to a reprobate mind, let you believe a lie and be damned. You know, lean not to your own understanding, but trust in the word, the Lord, with all your hearts. See, acknowledge the Lord in all your ways and He'll direct your path. Casting down imagination and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity every thought under the obedience of Jesus Christ. So then, let's be perfect. Let's have the mind of Christ¨ We need the mind of Christ, children. We need the mind of Christ. Let's ask God to put the mind of Christ in our heart. You know, we can have anything that we desire but a lot of times, the things we desire isn't best for us. Years ago I wanted many things and the Lord gave them to me. I still meet people and they'll say, You know, Brother Pike, Oh, God gave me such great things, and there I am, I'm listening, you know, and I think, Why, you don't need that. My lands, you just got something that's detrimental to you. But they say, The Lord said I could have it. And he worked it out. And you say, There you are standing there and you don't know what to say, cause see, you've been down that trail. You've done been that down that trail. I meet people that's got mixed up in two or three marriages and they'll say, I'm so happy, Brother Pike, with my last wife, my last husband. I say, But that's so wrong. And, oh, but they'll say, Brother Pike, God told me I could do it. Don't you believe that? And there I am. There I am. I'm standing there and what can I say? I say, yeah. I believe it. I believe it. What can I say? You say, but, Brother Pike, did God do that? Did God give them those things? Did God tell them that? The Lord said, Go on Balaam. I tried to tell you the right thing. You didn't want it, so go on. You got a word from the Lord. Go on. So you wind up with that. Sure enough the Lord told you. He let you do what you wanted to do. So, you got a word from the Lord. You got what you wanted. You got what you wanted. For this cause have I raised up Pharoah. He-. (Begin side one tape no. two.) You can have what you want, but I tell you something. It's so much better to learn the secret of the Lord Jesus, the son of God, and His secret was; Father not my will be done, but thine. Oh Father, Heavenly Father, let Thy will be done in my life. For, Father, I don't know what things I ought to pray for. Let the spirit make intercession with groans and moans within me, for I know that it shall come to pass that ye shall hear even before I call, Father. You know what's best for me. Father, Thy will be done. Thy will be done, Heavenly Father. You know when we do that, then the lord will look down from out of Heaven and bless us, and all the things that are good for us, that's what we'll get. We'll get the best. He'll make us to ride upon the high places of the earth, feed us with the heritage of Jacob. The blessings of the Lord maketh rich, addeth no sorrow. the world maketh rich but the Bible said for the man of God to flee these things for you pierce yourself through with many sorrows desiring to be rich. But God, His blessing will make you rich. The Bible said it'll add no sorrow. No sorrow. He'll give you everything that you want, even your hearts desire. But our heart's desire above all things should be Jesus. It should be Jesus and his will. Let's sing this little chorus. Just lift your hands up. Close your eyes. Let's pray before we sing. Father, Lord of Heaven, in Jesus name, I ask of you again to bless my brothers and sisters. Bless them. Bless them. Bless them. Oh, Lord you said whoever we bless they'd be blessed. I bless these people in the name of Jesus according to the will of God and the faith of these people in the word of God. In the name of Jesus. I bless them, Heavenly Father, and you said if we'd bless them them they would be blessed and I bless then in Jesus name. Oh God, I ask in Jesus name, that you help us. Whoever we curse is cursed, whoever we bless is blessed. Lord whosoever sins we remit shall be remitted, whosoever sins we retain, shall be retained. Whatever we bind on earth you said you'd bind in heaven. Whatever we loose on earth you'd loose in heaven. Oh God, bless these people. Loose their sins tonight. Loose their sins tonight, my Father. Loose them in the name of Jesus. By faith in God, loose them tonight. Loose them, and bless them, Heavenly Father. Heal their sick bodies. Strengthen them, Oh Precious Father, you love your people so dearly and so very much, their the apple of your eye. They're the treasure, Lord, your great loving treasure, your peculiar treasure in the earth, that great, wonderful, beautiful thing that belongs to you. Oh, loving Father, I pray that you would do this for me. I pray that you would do this for me. In the name of Jesus forgive our sins. Help us not to do the wrong thing, but the right thing, for not our will be done but thy will be done. In Jesus name. Amen. Hallelujah! Let's sing this little chorus. We sing this little chorus so often. (Brother Pike leads congregation in singing, There's Room At the Cross For You) Can you sing it again, now? (Continues singing) I want you to come and stand before the alter. I want to pray for you again tonight. I felt something just as we went to close tonight. (Continues singing) Can you come tonight and sing with'em? (Continues singing) (Changes song to Every Hour I Need Thee) Sing it like this now. (Sings, I Want Thee Lord, I Want Thee) Now I want you to lift your hands up again. YOU know, I used to hear Dad sing that song, I'm nearer home than I was yesterday, and then I used to sing that song, Each Step Takes Me One Step Nearer Home. You know, you're getting closer to your destination, closer, and closer. And we're all human beings. We're all going the same way to this extent, unless we touch God and make that great wonderful change, we're all going to lay down and sleep. We're all going to lay down in that little box, down in the dirt to wait for God to call us. Though we may be rich, though we may be poor, no matter what, we may young, we may go after we've tarried, come to a great old age, whatever it's still going to be the same. But there's one thing for sure. You can make preparations. Because of Jesus it makes mu heart so happy. It makes my heart so happy. What if Jesus, what if Jesus had not made it possible for us. Oh, Brother, Sister, what a horrible thought to know that we are walking toward eternity and what if we were going tonight without any hope. How much we ought to love Jesus tonight. How much we ought to worship Him tonight, to thank him tonight, because he made the way. We should never spurn the love of Jesus. We should never at any time turn away from the beckoning hand of God, be careless, be unconcerned. We should be so grateful that He made a way, hat He made a way. I'm so grateful to God tonight. I'm so thankful to God tonight that Jesus made a way. I could never forget it. Whether you are young, whether you are old, you're still going to sleep and lay down in the clay and the skin worms is going to eat your body. All of the life is going to depart from that body, and that's going to be the end of the trail for you unless you can live again. I like what Job said, Though the skin worms devour my body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. I'm still going to se God. I'm going to see God. God's still going to make a way for me. God's still going to make a way for me. Do you believe that? I believe that tonight. I want you to lift your hands up and I want to pray with you. I want to ask God to make a way for you. Father in Heaven, once again I come before the throne of grace in the time of need. I ask of Thee tonight to save this people, for it shall come to pass that whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Holy Father, in the name of Jesus, we call upon the name of the Lord tonight. I ask Thee Father, in the name of the Lord to save these people. For give their sins, Gather, Forgive their sins, Heavenly Father. In the name of Jesus, forgive their sins, in Jesus name tonight. I feel you forgiving sins tonight. Forgive their sins, my Heavenly Father. Father heal their bodies. Give them the sense of direction in their life that they understand and need and know the way to go, my Father. Give'em a brotherhood. Lord, give'em sisters in Christ, a family, Oh God, in this earth, that they can love one another, Father, and Lord, that they can have strength and have courage and somebody to turn to and somebody to walk with here in this present world, to be strengthened, to be helped, Father. May it be so tonight, Jesus. And may Brother, Lord, may brother, Lord, reach out to brother and sister reach out to sister. And Father, may brotherhood unite tonight around the world. And Oh, God, may the love of God flow from breast to breast. Lord God, of Heaven, as you draw the church together, I believe, this year, Lord, that your going to draw it together. Draw it together in the name of Jesus, the son of God. Father, draw it together. Let the great love of God come down. Oh! Hallelujah! as I feel your presence, Jesus, draw them together, Father and let them do great and mighty things this year. Great and mighty things. Raise them up, Father, in this great magnificence of God. Lord God, of Heaven, I pray that you would do it. I pray that you would do it. Heal and save in Jesus name. I ask you to do it for your glory tonight. Hallelujah. In Jesus' wonderful name. I want to sing one more chorus just before I let you go. We are always singing this chorus. (Brother Pike leads congregation in singing Sweep Over My Soul)

By Rev. George Leon Pike Sr.

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

Holiness Unto The Lord