You Must Believe

You know I just want to do so much for God that it would take me an eternity to do it. And, of course, I'll get to do it, you know. By and by we'll do whatever we can. But I mean even here in this present world, I just love to do so much for God and for people. It would be so wonderful. But if it doesn't effect you like that, you know, it's like drinking whiskey. Drinking liquor, they call it. Some folks can drink liquor and it effects them one way and some folks can drink whiskey and it effects them another way. You know, and I guess that's the way it effects me. I got a taste of this and it's effected me until__ You know, that's the way I react and that's the way I feel. So, I'm real excited. Bethlehem to me is an exciting place to live. And I love to here people like Joseph say things like he did when he made the statement, you know, no matter what happens to me, no matter how bad it is, Brother Pike, I'm praying one thing, that God will still take me to heaven. No matter what he has to do to me, with him. He wants to be a Christian. And Joseph was always excited over his experience. He tells me things, you know. Preacher hear things that you don't ever here. People confide in preachers and they tell things to preachers personally that you'll never know. They tell people things about their lives, and they tell things about their desires and, of course, you'll never know those things. But, anyway, I say again that if you__ Let me say it like this: If you really knew the meaning of Bethlehem and realized that God established it and Brother Pike didn't have anything to do with it and realize that what is here is the act of God. If you really knew that then you'd be altogether different. Bethlehem would be exciting to you because you would be part of Bethlehem. But, you know, you can live at Bethlehem and still not be part of Bethlehem. There were many people living in the days of Jesus. When Jesus was born into the world there were many people living there, but they didn't really know anything about Jesus. Even today, I go into Jerusalem__ I've been there a time or two, and I go into Jerusalem and when I go there I talk to people about the Lord Jesus and that seems like such a foreign subject to some of them. You know, I was so disappointed when I went into Jerusalem the first time and began to talk to them about God. I thought they just__ You know, I thought, now here is Jerusalem. This is the home of Jesus. My! You know you'd think everybody was just running over with something about Jesus. But you talk about Jesus and they'd just say, Jesus. Jesus? Oh, Jesus. You'd say, Yeah, Jesus. Some would say, I don't know what you're talking about. And someone would say, Well, Jesus, yeah, I've heard about Him. He's, He was a__ I believe they said__ And they'll think around and stumble around and say, Oh, yes, I believe they called Him a prophet or something. Back yonder there was a man by that name. And I mean you'd just be tore up. You're talking about God Almighty, talking about the Savior and them standing there talking and stumbling like they never even heard about Him. That's really amazing, isn't it, folks? But the Bible said a prophet is nor without honor save in his own country and among his own household. So, that's the way it is in Jerusalem. Jerusalem. Well, I mean to say Little Bethlehem. But we started to name this place Jerusalem when we first come here and I thought, Well, we'd better name it Little Bethlehem. But the Brother from over in Jamaica, he always calls this Jerusalem. But, it's the same here at Little Bethlehem. Most of the folks don't know anything about Jesus. They know of Jesus. They've heard about Jesus and those kind of things but they don't know anything about Bethlehem. They don't really know anything about Bethlehem. They just live here, that's all. Like it was said in the foreign country, over in India, or Africa, or somewhere. A man went by and he ask about Jesus. He said, Do you know Jesus? He was trying to tell them about Jesus, and the man said, No. Said, I don't know Him. Said, He may live over at the next village but I don't know Him. He doesn't live around here. And that's the way it is with some folks, you know. He doesn't live around where they're at so you might find Him over in the next village. You might find Him over in the next place. But I'm glad that I know about Him and He lives over at my place. As a matter-of-fact, He makes His abode with me. God is so good. We have many things to say to you. Jesus said one time, I've many things to say to you but you're dull of hearing. And I have many things to say to you but you're dull of hearing. And a lot of times the Lord, He wants us to have somebody else to talk to you. Lot's of times we find this. We try to just take our time until we can tell what's going on. I try to be as honest and sincere with the Lord as I know how to be and I try to listen for the voice of the Lord. But I have people in my midst a lot of times that I don't call on and they wonder why I don't call on them, but I have a reason. And then we have people in our midst that I do call on. And there's a reason. How many of you are really seeking God and looking for something? I mean really genuinely looking for something, or are you just coming to church because it's time to come to church. I think one of the most discouraging things, maybe, that could happen to me would be that I would just be what you would call an everyday Christian. You know, somebody that would go to church__ We go to church, we go to the cafe, we go home and we go to bed and we get up and we go to work and we go to church. You know, I think that would be one of the most depressing, disgusting things that could ever happen to me. I guess maybe that's why some folks aren't excited about Christianity and about salvation. There's a thing that the Bible calls contending for the faith. And the person that lives an exciting life in Christ, that's a person that contends for the faith. That is, they thank God for the measure of faith that they have today, but they're praying and searching and pressing and looking to God to have a greater measure of faith tomorrow. And then tomorrow they're pressing and asking and looking for a greater measure of faith the next day and the next day and the next day, because they are contending with the devil and they're fighting with the devil and evil spirits, to overcome the flesh and get something from God in a greater way. It's like somebody recently was telling me about somebody, you know, some people, that is. They were telling a person how pretty they were, you know. These people were just bragging on this person and just saying you're such a handsome person, so pretty and all these kind of things. Which is of the devil. It was demon spirits doing that, you know. Demon spirits will flatter you to dig a pit for you, you know, to fall in. But I remember they mentioned the person to me and I said, Well, I'll tell you what, I said, That person don't look all that handsome to me. I said, They don't shine like that to me. I said, I know a number of people that outshine them folks, you know. But I said that to say this: we spend too much time thinking about ourselves, looking at our face in the mirror, and listening to vain things, to get us puffed up to kill us and destroy us, to get us in the flesh and to get our minds off of the spirit. You know, the flesh propheteth nothing, not nothing. You know, no matter how you think you look, the flesh propheteth nothing. Have you ever stopped to think like this, that you might look in the mirror and you might think you're so handsome or so pretty, and you might walk past a lion and he might just turn his nose up at you and walk over to a lioness, pay no attention to you. You might not appeal to him at all. All of your beauty wasn't even enough for him to even notice you. And then you might pass by an old hog in the pen and he might just grunt, look at you and then pass by and go bubble in the slop and start eating the slop. You might not appeal to him at all. Have you ever thought about that? So then, being pretty and being handsome it just depends on what it is and where it is and who said it and who thought it. You know, the only reason that a thing is a thing, as to a conformity or image, is just because God ordained it that way. You know, like a pug nosed bulldog. He's a pretty dog is you like a pug nose. But if you don't like a pug nose he's not pretty. But there are people that will just look at a pug nosed bull dog and they just make all kind of fuss over it. And then there are these great danes, you know, almost the size of a cow or something, and there's people that will just hug him and kiss on him and have a fit over him. And there are those little poodles, you know, they'll just zip around his tail and around his tummy and around his ears and they'll just take him and hug and kiss him and he's their darling. Have you ever thought of it like that? See? So it just depends on what's looking at you and what you're looking at as to whether or not you're pretty. That hog that is bubbling in the slop he sees that other old fat hog over there and he thinks that's the prettiest thing. He'll just root on it. So you may not look just like you think you do. You might not look that way. So it would be good sometimes if people would think those things over. A thing has to have a foundation of absolute, as to what it is and what it's for and why it was made like that and ever how God made it, well, that's the way it's suppose to look. And to God it looks nice as long as it's like He made it. But when you get false eye lashes and you put power and paint on, you know, and you grow you a little goatee and you curl your hair back, you know, and you slick up and you might not look as good to God as you think you do. As a matter-of-fact, not to discourage you but just to help you along the way the Bible said the flesh propheteth nothing. If you'll look in the mirror long enough, it would take a few months, maybe a few years, but you keep looking and after awhile you won't like what see at all. You won't like it at all. You'll think, You know, Brother Pike must be right. That thing is changing all the time. Maybe I looked at it wrong. It don't look that way at all. But I'll tell you what, when you get right with God in your spirit and your spirit is really one with the Lord Jesus Christ it won't never look bad, folks. It'll look better and better. As long as you live it will look better and you'll get more like Him and He'll give you beauty for ashes. That old body that you've got, that old face that you look at ain't nothing but ashes. The Bible speaks of trampling the ashes of the wicked under our feet and that's nothing but ashes. The Bible speaks of them that serve the tabernacle. You know, we have a better altar than this. They served the tabernacle. Peter said as long as I'm in this tabernacle. All their labor is for the tabernacle. And they serve the tabernacle, you know, and they deal with the tabernacle and they pimper and pamper the tabernacle. But we're not servants of the tabernacle. We're not caught in that mind of Lucifer that savors the things that be of the flesh, or the tabernacle. See? We're not interested in that. Though the outer man perish yet the inner man is renewed day by day because we serve the inner man and we're interested in the inner man. And they that have mortified the deeds of the flesh, they that have died out and suffered in the flesh, these have ceased from sin. But the more that you pamper the flesh, the more you feed the flesh, the more you dress the flesh, the more you think of the flesh, the farther you are from God. The more you keep your mind on the flesh the worse off you are. So, folks, remember, God is a spirit and there are people that do not serve the tabernacle. They are made for that next world. Now, you talk about beauty and radiance, if you could just unveil one of those inner people they are so astoundingly beautiful until the Bible says they outshine the noonday sun, that even the Daystar, the sun, itself, that lightens all the world, the Bible teaches that it has no beauty and radiance and it will be ashamed and hang its head in shame at the unveiling of just one of those inner people. Isn't it wonderful to be a Christian? All right. I want to read from chapter eleven. If you've got your Bibles turn over to chapter eleven and read with me. I want to read just a little bit. I've tried for a good long while to preach a little bit along, teach a little bit along and just exhort you a little bit. And I've tried to bring out a number of things concerning faith because faith is of great importance. Hebrews chapter eleven. This is the faith chapter here. Chapter eleven. The little heading is, the way of faith. It says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Let me comment a little as I go along. "For by it the elders obtained a good report." "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." "Faith is the substance of things hoped for." Have you ever stopped and considered that Scripture? Have you ever talked to the Lord about it? Do you ever stop and meditate and ask God to reveal to you the contents of the Scriptures? Or do you ever just pray and say, God, let me understand that. God, that's eternal life. These words are spirit and they are life, and I know that if they are life the only way they can be life is for me to turn them into spirit. And I'd like to know spiritually what that is saying. What is that saying? So that my spirit can become one with that, what is that saying, God? Faith is the substance of things hoped for. I heard a preacher one time, he got up and he tried to explain this and he was almost comical. The more he tried to explain it the more comical it got. He was trying his best. He was an Assembly of God preacher and a real good man and just a fire ball of a preacher. And he had a good understanding of the Scriptures but he got a hold of something he couldn't get untangled. And it was really amusing because he really wanted to explain that Scripture. But have you ever ask God to really give you the understanding of the Scriptures. The Bible said pray that God will grant unto you the spirit of Revelation. That is, pray that God will grant unto you the spirit that will reveal, or unveil the Scriptures to you. Jesus resurrected from the dead, walked along the road to Emmaus, and as He walked along He expounded the Scripture to them and they were so excited. They said, Did not our hearts burn within us as he open the Scriptures by the way. See, He open the Scriptures. The Bible said that He went back into the Old Testament and He took the Scriptures and He began to expound the Scriptures to them. And began to tell them what the Scriptures meant and how that these Scriptures spoke of His coming and His resurrection. And it just burned like fire inside of them because those Scriptures had been closed to them and they had never understood the Scriptures. But as He began to expound the Scriptures and open the Scriptures by the way their hearts burned within them. See? This is the wonderfulness of Jesus, to know the Scriptures. To know the Scriptures. To have Christ on the inside of you, the spirit of revelation, that you might understand the Scriptures. He said, Search the Scriptures. Go search the Scriptures, He said to the Scribes and the Pharisees. Search the Scriptures. Go get your scrolls and search them out, He said, because you think that you have eternal life. He said, That's what you think. He said, But there is something you need to know. He said, These Scriptures in the scrolls, these scribings, by the scribblers, we say or by the scribes. He said, These Scriptures, these are they that testify of My coming. They testify of Me. Search the Scriptures for you think that you have God to your credit in the Scriptures but you'll find out that all of those Scriptures was speaking of me. These are they that testify of me, Jesus said. And today it's the same way. See? If you and I are born again of Christ then we are an epistle that's known and read of all men. We are the Scriptures, or the Word of God made flesh. And these are they that testify of the Lord Jesus. So he said, Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. What do I see in that? Faith is the substance of things hoped for? God is saying that faith is so sure to work. It's so powerful that it cannot fail if it's true faith. If it is true faith. Now, faith can fail if it's believing. But if it's true faith from God it cannot fail. Faith cometh by the hearing of the Word of God. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. That is to say, faith is so powerful that it doesn't matter what I desire. It doesn't matter what it is. If it's a million dollars, if it's a brand new vehicle, as we say, if it's a home, if it's land, if it's knowledge, it it's wisdom, if it's gifts of the spirit. Whatever it is that I desire. Faith is so powerful that if I covet a gift, or if I claim any certain thing faith is so sure that if I have faith for that one thing, if I decree in my heart that that thing belongs to me, as Jesus said, when you pray believe that you receive it and you shall have it. See? If I can claim it, it is so sure that it is the very substance itself, I've already got it. I don't have to see a thing. A thing don't have to come to me. It might be ten years before the thing that I'm praying for comes to pass but it is so sure that God said once faith registers in your heart it is the substance that you desire. It is your substance; you have it. You have it. You have the substance and said faith is your evidence that you own it. Faith is the evidence in your heart. It is the evidence. Faith is the substance. It is that substance that you are hoping for. If you've got faith then you've got the substance. And he said it is the evidence of the things that you can't see. It is the positive evidence that though you can't see them, yet it's yours. It is yours. You own it. Now, you might say, Brother Pike, that can't be. I don't believe that. But, see? I know it works. I've done it many times. I've taken that one Scripture and claimed many things and I have received it. When you pray believe that you receive something and ye shall have it. If you decree a thing in your heart, as to believing, you will have it. To decree a thing in your heart, to believe is to have it, is for it to be yours. So then, faith is the substance of things hoped for. How many things have you ever hoped for in your life? How many things have you ever hoped for in your life? Have you ever hoped for healing? Hoped for a new home? Hoped for a new car? Hoped for a good wife? Hoped for a good husband? Hoped for a good income? Faith is the substance of things. Things in the plural; more than one. Faith is the substance of the things that you are hoping for. That's the substance itself. It's so sure that when you get faith you've got the substance itself. And it is the evidence of those things that you've been hoping for, that you've not yet seen. Faith. Isn't that wonderful. To know that you can have faith and have the very substance itself. It says, "For by it the elders obtained a good report." Now, listen. "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." I'd like to comment there in just a minute. "But without faith it is impossible to please him." Somebody would say, Well, I just don't have any faith. Well, you might just as well forget about going to heaven, folks. If you don't have any faith you might as well forget about God because without faith it is impossible to please God. You'll never please God. You'll never do his pleasure. He'll never look in your direction. "But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is." That is, if you come to God you must believe there is a God. You must believe that He is. Believe that there is a God. And you must believe that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. It won't do you any good to pray. It won't do you any good to fast. You can pray all you want to. You can pray five hours a day. You can pray ten hours if you can stand it, but it won't do you any good. Not one time of your praying will do you any good. You can pray ten hours a day. Now listen. You can fast two days out of the week, or thirty days out of the year but it won't do you one bit of good. Not one speck of good unless you believe that God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. If you cannot believe there is a God it's no good. If you cannot believe that God is a rewarder of them that seek Him your fasting will not do you any good and your praying will not do you any good unless you go to God believing that if you serve God, God is going to do something special for you. God is going to do something for you. You can pray for the sick, you can do whatever you want to, but nothing is going to happen unless you believe when you pray. This is why certain people pray for the sick and they see results. They pray for the sick and they get people healed. It's not because they fasted more or prayer more. I've seen people that were so lighthearted until I'd wonder why in the name of reason they got anything from God, but they believed. They believed. I remember a boy__ I've said this in service before; I'd like to say it again tonight. I remember a preacher. He was as lighthearted, seeming to me, as a feather. So far as getting down to business to serve God and really call on God and fast and pray, I hardly ever knew him to do it. Always just having a good time and hollering and going on and eating and drinking and fellowshipping and making money. But, you know what? Always he was getting money. Always things worked out for him for money. I thought, How can this be? I fast. I pray. I seek God. I say, My God! He gets money all the time. He has things all the time. And seems to me like I can't even meet my bills. And I knew the boy wasn't doing what I was doing, but one day the Lord spoke to me and He said, It's not of works lest any man should boast; it is the gift of God. It is by faith of Jesus Christ. And He said, It is the same as the Jews with you, son. He said, You're fasting and you're praying but you're trusting in your own ability and you're trusting in your own works. Said, You're not going to get anything. Said, You're no better to me if you do without food. You're no better to me if you cry all night on your knees to me. Said, That don't make you no better. He said, There is a justification by my own righteousness. And said, As it was with the Jews, so it is with you, going about to establish their own righteousness they stumble at the righteousness of God, which is by Jesus Christ. And I began to see that and I began to understand that. And God said to me, said, Why don't you believe? And I began to search for faith. And I began to believe. And, you know, from that time on things took a change and from that time on God began to bless me. And the Bible said happy is he that doth not condemn himself over that thing which he allows. And as I stumbled and staggered I thought, Lord, I'm trying to do my best, Lord, and here I am, I'm stumbling, I'm making a mistake. I'm a human being but I'm trying to do my best. And I thought, Devil, you're not going to talk me out of my blessing. You're not going to come and accuse me. You're not going to stick something in my ear and cause me to doubt and cause me to be cast down and cause me to be tore up, and cause me not to believe God. I said, I believe God. Jesus died for my sins. He took away my sins. He's perfected forever those that are sanctified. He's sanctified them once and for all by the offering up of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said we had the power to keep ourselves and keep ourselves from being troubled and that whatever we did would prosper. And, Lord God of Heaven, I'm going to prosper. I'm going to be blessed. I'm going to be healthy. I'm going to have a good time in God. And, folks, it works just like that. It works just like that. You say, Well, why do you pray, Brother Pike? Why do you fast if that's the way it works? Don't you fast and pray so God will notice you and so that you will get better than somebody else and you'll be more outstanding and God will do something for you? I certainly do not. I don't fast a day like that. I don't pray like that. I don't seek God like that. I pray and I fast and I study the Word of God. I study the Word of God to show myself a workman unto God; someone that needeth not to be ashamed, to where I can rightly divide the Word of truth and to (Begin tape one, side two.).....the right thing. And I pray and I fast before God for one thing and that is to stimulate my believing in His righteousness. My faith without works is dead, but His faith doesn't need any works. And so then I fast and I pray for one reason. That's to keep condemnation out of my heart, to make sure that my life is in harmony with God and to keep me walking with God by faith in His righteousness that I might receive the blessings of God through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, through the faith by which I'm sanctified. That is why I do it. So then, my fasting has nothing to do with my righteousness and neither does my praying. Let's look a little further now. But without faith it's impossible to please Him. No matter how much you fast and pray, it's by faith. "But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. By faith, Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." Notice that now. The righteousness which is by faith. "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised." Notice now. Right there life is with God. Life is not with years. Life is not with you. It doesn't matter what age you are, life is not in that. And it said, "Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy see be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. By faith Jacob, when he lay a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones. By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharoah's daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land; which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins: being destitute, afflicted, tormented; Of whom the world was not worthy: they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. (Chapter 12) Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Notice this now. It said, Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin. And it says here that we are to consider Jesus, looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith. You might say, Brother Pike, what do you mean by the author and the finisher of our faith? Looking unto Christ Jesus the author of my faith. That is to say, if I'm going to trust in my believing then Christ isn't the author of my believing. But if Christ is the author of this faith that's going to bring me salvation then I'm looking unto Christ. I am looking unto Christ because Christ is the one that started the thing and it is Christ's faith that has brought me to where I'm at. It is Christ's faith that God gave in the beginning that I might have salvation and eternal life. So, it is Christ's faith. He is the author of it. He is the one that started it. I didn't start it. Christ started this faith. He is the author of this great faith that's imputed unto me for righteousness. And not only that, but He is the finisher of this faith. He is the one that finished the works before the world ever was. He's the one that finished the course. He's the one that looked up and said, Father, it's finished. So then, Christ is the author of my faith and Christ is the finisher of my faith so I don't have anything to worry about. My faith has already begun in Christ. My faith has gone through it's transitional changes in Christ and my faith was finished in Christ. So, I don't have to worry about my faith. He is the author of my faith. He is the finisher of my faith. So then, my believing is in the power of Christ. It's by God's works that I believe. I don't believe because of my works but I believe because of the works of the son of God. Because of what Christ did I can believe, because it's like me with you. If we tonight, as a people, had to believe because of our faith then we'd find out that we are under such great condemnation all the days of our life with a wishy-washy thing until we wouldn't have any faith. You know, one day we're up and the next day we're down and one day we feel like we can wrestle a lion and the next day we feel like the lion is on top of us. See? One day we feel like we're super and we just live such a good life, and the next day we loose our temper and we're going around smacking people or saying things about people, and all of a sudden we say, My God! I'm down at the bottom of the stack Lord. So, see? Our faith would never make it through. If you tried to cross over the waters in a ship like that you'd be in trouble. Did you know it? If you had a ship and at every little bit the motor would knock out on you and you'd drift about ten miles and you'd get it started and start on your course again and then it would knock off and then you'd drift another ten miles, you'd be in bad shape. Isn't that right? So then, I'm depending upon Christ. I'm depending upon God's righteousness. God put his righteousness in a human body and he said, George Pike, you're not righteous. Frank Taylor, you're not righteous. He said to you people that are listening to me, He said, You're not righteous. He said all of your righteousness is as filthy rags in my sight. But, He said, I'm righteous. I'm righteous. And He put Himself in a human body and brought that human body down into this world and took the human body and paid for my sins and my wrongs. And Christ Jesus suffered that I might not have to suffer. And Christ went into the chambers of hell that I might not have to go into the chambers of hell. And Christ paid the price for my faith to register in God. So then today, if it's God's righteousness then I know that when the veil was rent in twain and when God actually took His life out of the body of Jesus that He put it on the inside of me. And He gave to to me according to the measure as to what I believe, as to what I submit to, as to what I receive and He gave it to you in the same measure. So then, today I have life on the inside. I have the righteousness of God on the inside of me and He that knew no sin was made my sin that I might be made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. So then, today I have the righteousness of God. Going about to establish their own righteousness, the Bible said that the Jews stumbled at the righteousness which is by Christ Jesus. So then, they went out to establish their righteousness so they missed the righteousness which was by Christ. And they got into the temple and they said, I fast and I pray and I'm not like other men and God said, Away with it, more holy than thou; I can't use that. And the other man just beat on his chest and said, Oh, I'm a sinner; have mercy on me. And the Bible said he went down to his house justified. So then, it is by Christ. It is by Christ that I'm justified. It is by Christ that I believe. If it is God's righteousness then why should I place my faith upon the shifting sands of ideology and my feelings and my frustrations. Why should I found my believing and my salvation, or my believing and my eternal security, or my believing in the blessing that God promised me in this world? Why should I place my faith in those wonderful things? Why should I place it in anything other than the works of the Lord Jesus Christ? So then, I say, Glory to God. I hear the Scriptures and the Scriptures speak to me and the Holy Ghost brings the Word of God to me and He's a comforter and He's a consoler. Something says, You don't have any righteousness. But I hear the Holy Ghost comforting me and He says, But I am your righteousness. And I say, Oh, God, I'm weak. And the devil says, Oh, you're weak; you can't ever make it through. But I hear the Holy Ghost consoling me by saying, But be strong in the power of my might; I'm strong, and because I'm strong you're strong. And I hear the devil say, But you can't overcome. You've got all kind of problems; you'll never be able to to overcome. But I hear the Holy Ghost comforting me and the Holy Ghost will say to me, Be of good courage; I have overcome the world. I've ask God. I said, Lord, what do you mean you've overcome the world and I'm to be of good courage? And He said, Because I overcame it for you. Isn't that wonderful? So then, we've overcome the world and this is that which overcometh the world, even your faith. Your faith in God. Your faith in the righteousness of Jesus, your faith in His sanctifying power to purify hearts, this is the faith that God spoke of. And this is your righteousness for the Bible said Abraham's faith was imputed unto him for righteousness. And it shall be imputed unto them that believe for by faith God sanctifies your heart. The faith by which you're sanctified. And the Bible said that sanctification was once and for all by the offering up of the body of Jesus Christ at Calvary. So then, if God sanctifies me once and for all by the offering up of the body of the Lord Jesus then why shouldn't I accept that by faith? Why shouldn't I believe in that? Why should I doubt that? I don't have to do anything about it. There is nothing I have to do about it; He's already done it. He said, You just believe it. I sanctified you once and for all by the offering up of the body of Jesus. Do you believe that George Pike? I certainly do. I say, Heavenly Father, I believe it with all of my heart. Glory to God, I'm sanctified, Brother Taylor, because I believe it. Do you believe it? If you believe it then you're sanctified. Somebody says, Well, I believe it. But is your believing some intellectual brainstorm? Is it that you're not making any effort to live for God? Have you ever repented of your sins? Have you ever really called on the name of Jesus out of a pure heart? Have you ever really genuinely repented of your sins? acknowledged that you're dirty and filthy and that you don't have any goodness with all of the things that you've done? You know, you don't have any goodness. Somebody says, Oh, I've washed peoples clothes, Brother Pike, and I've cooked for people and I've been kind to people, and I help people. God said all of it's like dirty rags, it doesn't interest Me at all. But He said, I've got something to offer you, even the righteousness of My Son Jesus Christ. Do you believe in it? Do you believe in it? Have you ever really genuinely repented to where you could search for repentance? You know, Esau sought repentance with bitter tears and didn't find any place of repentance? Do you know why that he did not find any place of repentance? Because he could not believe. He could not believe. Someone would say, Now, wait a minute, Brother Pike, you've got to prove that to me. Let me prove it to you. There was only one thing that caused him not to find a place of repentance and that's because he could not believe. First of all, what was Esau searching for? He was searching for the birthright. He wasn't searching for salvation. That was only a typical thing that was used to refer to salvation. He was searching for a birthright. There was a birthright. That is, the death of the father, a certain time of his age that this birthright went to the first born. And the first born took over the household and he got the wealth of his father and he was the big chief, as we say. He was the one that took over everything when his father became helpless, as it was with Isaac when he was going blind. See? If he could have that birthright. And that's what he wanted, but he was so overconfident. See? There's a lot of religious people in the world today and they're so overconfident. They belong to the Pentecostal Church. They belong to the Baptist. They belong to the Methodist. They belong to Catholic. They belong to what they call the Jesus Name Church and they're so overconfident. They feel like, I've got the birthright. See? And he was so overconfident. Esau was overconfident. He felt like he had the birthright so he went out hunting one day and he got real hungry and the Bible said on his return he met Jacob. He met Jacob and Jacob had made a mess of pottage. He had stewed up a little something. He had something in mind. Isn't that right? He knew Esau was coming by. He knew what kind of person his brother was. And so then, he knew what had happened. He knew what his mother had said, that God had spoken to her, as to the wrestling of the children within the womb. He knew about that, when the Lord said there are two nations and that the elders shall serve the younger. He knew about that. See? Jacob had talked with the mother. Jacob had had communication and Jacob knew what was going on so he just stewed up a little pottage and knew that Jacob would be hungry and knew that Esau was a lighthearted kind of a person, you know, that would just do anything. So when Esau got a good whiff of it he came by. And when he came by he said, I'd like to have some of that. Jacob said, I'll make a deal with you; give me the birthright. Give me the birthright. Esau lighthearted, you know, thinking, Why that stupid little boy. You know, about like that. That stupid little boy thinking that he can get the birthright. Why anybody's got enough sense to know I'm the firstborn and I get the birthright. But he wasn't a stupid little boy. So then, he said, Why sure. So he told him that he would do it. So he gave him his birthright and he sold it for a morsel of bread. He said to him. Said, What good is a birthright in that he said he was starving. He said he was hungry and he said what good is a birthright and so he sold it. See? And, folks, later when the time came the mother disguised Jacob and God put it in her heart. The preparation of a heart is from God and the preparation of that mother's heart was from God and so she disguised Jacob. And Jacob went to that blind father and he took the birthright and the father blessed him. And in those days those men knew that whoever they blessed would be blessed and whoever they cursed would be cursed. And it was that he blessed Jacob and he gave Jacob the birthright because the blessing was all of the riches, all of the power, saying, Son, it shall be yours. It shall be yours. And then came Esau. And when Esau came Isaac got nervous and tore up and said, Who is this I've blessed? And because I've blessed him he will be blessed. And Esau said, Oh, my father, my father. Isn't there one blessing for me? Isn't there one? He said, I blessed Jacob. I blessed Jacob. Said, Jacob will rule over you, Esau. I've blessed Jacob. And Esau cried. He wept. He wept. He said, Oh, father, the birthright, the birthright. But see? He found no place of repentance. He had sold his birthright for a morsel of bread and he cried saying, Father, the birthright. But the father said the birthright is gone, Esau. It's gone. You can't have it, it's gone. And he sought for that birthright with bitter tears but it didn't go any good. See? He found no place of repentance because he could not believe. How do you say, Brother Pike, he could not believe? He could not believe that he was going to get the birthright because the father that gave the birthright said, I've already given it away. And he couldn't make himself believe any different except for what he heard. So, he sought repentance with bitter tears but found no place of repentance because he could not believe. He did not have faith. And that's why Paul is emphasizing faith in this chapter saying that we must have faith. We must have faith. To do the things that please God causes us to believe. When I do the things that please God, John said, then my heart doesn't condemn me. When I do the things that please God, he said, then do I have confidence with God, that if I ask God for something God hears me. I can decree a thing in my heart. If I pray to God, if I serve God, if I go with God and walk with God then I have a confidence. I have a faith. And that faith is that God hears me when I pray. And the Bible said if we have the confidence that God hears us and when we know that God hears us we know that we have the petition that we desire of God. If down in my heart I know that God hears me, if I can get that far along, if I can live the kind of life, fellowship God, walk with God and do the things that pleases God then I get my heart persuaded. Hereby, we persuade our heart. I get my heart persuaded and then I become like Abraham; I have full confidence. The Bible said that Abraham was fully persuaded that what God had promised He was also able to perform. So then, I come into a place to where I'm fully persuaded that God is going to perform His promises, perform His acts in my life because I'm walking with God. I love God. I feel close to God. I feel that God will do this for me. I tell you what you can do. You that are married, you go into the house and you get your wife all upset and you get her all out of sorts and you just keep on and keep on and keep on, and I'll guarantee you she won't bake you a biscuit. I don't care how much you want a biscuit you won't get one. You just keep on. You get her into a certain place and she wouldn't cook for you if you were dying. That's the way it works. But if you go in and you love her and you'll caress her and you'll tell her how wonderful she is and she perceives that you're not just trying to flatter her, why she'll just cook you whole trays of biscuits. And that's the way it is with God. You make love to God and you talk to God you become the friend to God like Abraham and you stay close to God and you say, God, I'll do anything to please You. God, I love You. And after awhile your hearts going to jump up with a confidence the same way it does in that wife fixing the biscuits. It's going to jump up and something is going to say, Well, I believe she's going to do it. I believe she's going to do it. Something is going to jump up in your heart and your going to say, Well, I've done the thing that pleases God. I don't feel any condemnation. I don't feel foreign to Christ. I don't feel separated from God. I feel like He loves me. And all of a sudden, something will say, You know what, He's going to give you what you ask for. And a little wheel will start turning in there and something will say, Oh, glory to God. Whee. I'm going to get it. You know, it starts jumping up and down on the inside. Faith is the substance of the things you're hoping for. Once that faith registers in your heart it is utterly impossible for you not to get what you want. There is no way. I challenged Brother Hollis on this. I said, Brother Hollis, go do it. And I said, Believe it. We're going to claim it right now and we claimed it. He walked right off to a place where it looked like it couldn't be done and he's done it. I've challenged Jimmy. I said, Jimmy, let's pray together. Jimmy said, Ain't no way. I said, You believe? He said, I believe. I said, We'll pray together. We prayed together. I said, Jimmy, go get it. Jimmy went right out by faith and it worked perfectly. It works. It works. You know a lot of people get the idea that faith is something that just kind of sporadically works. You know, and just a spastic sort of a thing and it might work and it might not work. But, you remember the sermon I preached the other night on faith not being spastic? Faith is not spastic. And you know, the beautiful thing about faith is that you can just ask God and ask God. He said just ask what you will. You can just keep on believing God and asking God and God will make your cup to run over. So then, to believe God, to decree a thing in your heart, to want to do something. You know, I don't know of anything that I want to do that I can't do. Not anything at all. I don't know of anything that I want to do that I can't do. I was telling Vince tonight as we walked up here talking together. I said, Vince, there has been so many miracles in my life until I'm astounded when I count back and when I think back over the many multiplied miracles of every kind that God has given to me. I was just mentioning some things while we sit down here in the basement of the Multi-purpose building. I was just mentioning something to the Brethren. I started to mention something about a word that I given to somebody that God has brought to pass and they just got to coming, some many of them until I could write a book. Did you know that I could actually write a book on the different things that God has told me to tell people as to thus saith the Lord, or this is going to happen to you. Rich men. I mean wealthy men that God has told me to go to them and say, You're going down. And I've had them to mock me. I've been to them and I've told them. I've said, God said that you're at your end and you're going down. And I mean, they would be up, as we say, around the top of the stack. I mean fabulously rich people. And I've had them to mock me and say, How do you know that God told you that? How do I know that God sent you to me? And I said, You'll know when it comes to pass. Just watch. When it comes to pass, I said, then you'll know that God sent me to you. And, Brethren, it's happened. It's happened to people, even to the extent of one case that I remember, I gave a word to a man's foreman. And this man was on the bottom, having to borrow money during the winter and I gave a word to him, as to God making him rich, and God made him rich. And he told me when I prayed for him, he said, Brother Pike, when God does this I'm going to do such and such for God. I said, No, you're not. I said, Let me tell you before, you're going to be just like all the rest of them and he was. But the other man I said, You're coming down. And he came down to such a low place that when God raised up his foreman he had to go ask his foreman for a job. See? God by faith__ It doesn't matter what it is. By faith. Jesus said if you'll believe that you'll have whatever you say. He said, You say it and you don't doubt in your heart, He said, it'll come to pass. It doesn't matter what it is. You walk out to the graveyard, and you walk out to the graveyard and there in the grave there is a dead person. Just be sure that you know what you're doing. That's all. Be lead of God. Walk out to the graveyard and if that man is under the ground in that casket you speak to him and you tell him to come out and you say, In the name of the Son of God you're coming out of that casket and you don't doubt it, you might as well settle down and don't get afraid because you're fixing to see somebody come out of the grave. Don't get afraid because he's going to be standing before you in a few minutes. You say, Oh, Brother Pike, you're crazy. I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy. Jesus said, There will come a day when everyone that hears my voice will come out of the grave. If He hadn't said Lazarus when He said come forth everybody that had ever died would have come forth if He hadn't named the one He wanted. You know, I had a vision one time where I was going over a graveyard and it was at night and I called out and I said to those people that were in those graves. I said, Come out of there. And they didn't come out of there. I said, Oh, my God! They didn't come out of there. And I kept flying through the air and when I got over the graves I said, Come out of there! In the name of the Son of God. Come out of there in the name of Jesus Christ! And the graves began to pop and they began to pop up out of there. You know what? You say it; don't doubt it, believe it, it will come to pass. It will come to pass. I remember when Betty ran in with my baby in her arms and she was every bit dead, as far as I could tell. As far as Betty could tell the baby was dead and no reviving and by faith I continued to preach, continued to preach as she set there and held my baby that was dead as far any of us could tell. But God said, Don't doubt, believe. Don't you doubt. Betty sat there, like that. She wouldn't even look at the baby. I said, Don't doubt, Betty. Don't doubt. I'd been praying and talking to God all day long; preparing my heart because God showed me something was about to happen. And as I began to go on and as my sermon began to come over toward the end of it my baby began to scream out and come back to life. She came back to life. See? God__ I doesn't matter what you say, if you say it and you believe it and don't doubt it, it will come to pass. It will come to pass. Folks, I could tell you some things. I've had some hard places in my life. I've had some things to happen that right now you're coping with. You're coping with these very things and you don't know what to do with them. But I've over come them by faith in God. I've had them to happen to me and there was no possible was they could work, but by faith in God I did it. I did it by faith in God. Today Bethlehem stands by faith in God. Today the ship is down yonder by faith in God. Or the ship is down yonder. The planes are down yonder by faith in God. The trucks, the tractors, the tent, the video, all that we've got, the grounds, whatever, the properties. God gave it to me by faith because I said faith will bring it to pass. Even the big plane that we bought, five years the man withstood me, but by faith it came to pass. See? It doesn't matter what it is. I don't go around just trying to exercise my faith for this, or for that, because in the first place I don't know of anything I need to exercise my faith for to get because I've got everything anybody could want. He's blessed me with a message. He's blessed me with salvation. He's blessed me with a family. He's blessed me with riches. He's blessed me with fame, popularity. He's blessed me with anything I want. There is just one more thing I want and that's more of Him. I'm exercising (Begin tape two, side one.)...for Him. That's what I want. I'm trying to contend for the faith from day to day to get what I want from God. I've exercised my faith to go to the ends of the earth. God met the needs. See? God wants us to believe. He wants us to believe. He doesn't want us to doubt. Jesus would tell them, when somebody would come to Jesus and they would say, Lord, I've got a problem and they were broken up and they were torn all to pieces, Jesus said, Don't doubt. Don't doubt. And they'd say, Go away, go away, your loved one is dead. Go away. Jesus said, Don't doubt. Keep on believing anyway. Don't pay any attention to that. Said, You keep on believing, don't you doubt. See? The secret is don't doubt. If thou canst say in thine heart and doubt not, Jesus said you can have whatever you want. One morning Jesus started toward the temple. He'd been out somewhere maybe in the night praying. I don't know where. But he'd been out and he started toward the temple. And as he started in he found a fig tree and Jesus was hungry. He apparently didn't have any breakfast and He was doing like me and Betty has done. You know, I come up out of the woods, or went into the woods and on the way pick me a crab apple, or what kind of apple or berry or whatever I could find because I didn't have nothing else. And Jesus, you know, just eating whenever and whatever; God providing His needs and He was hungry. And He came by the fig tree and the Bible said as He came by He desired a fig. But there wasn't any figs. And so then, Jesus looked at the fig tree. Bringing something to pass, now. Something to pass according to allegoric means. He looked at the fig tree and he cursed the fig tree. Now history tells us that at the same time that he cursed the fig tree that the Sanhedrin and whatever were together. And they at that time were rejecting Jesus. History says that at the very time that He cursed the fig tree that they were having a council at that time and in that meeting they rejected Jesus. So He came to the fig tree, likening the Jews unto the fig tree. He came to the fig tree and when He walked by the fig tree, Jesus knowing all thing and knowing what they were doing, He did not allow this fig tree to have any figs on it. And He looked at the fig tree and He said, Because thou hast no figs when I'm hungry__ See? Jesus had come to the Jews. He came with a spiritual appetite but they made no efforts to satisfy Jesus. And so then, Jesus said, Henceforth and forever no more figs shall grow on thee. And when they came back by Peter looked at that tree and He said, Lord, he said, the fig tree so soon has began to wither away. And Jesus looked at him. Peter said, From the roots. You know, trees don't die from the roots. That's abnormal. It dies, as the sap backs out of the top it dies until it gets to the root and that's the last thing to die. But see? Jesus cursed it and laid the axe to the root of the tree. Said, John. John said, I'm laying it to the root of the tree and so the tree began to die. And Peter was utterly astounded. He said, So quick, Lord, from the roots up, said, this tree is dying. Jesus said, Don't marvel because of this. He said, because I say unto you that whatever you say, if you can say it and don't doubt in your heart, He said, it'll come to pass. Folks, isn't that worth contending for? Isn't that worth missing a meal over? Isn't that worth praying over? Isn't that worth coming to church and listening to the Word of God for? Isn't it worth while to try to understand the Son of God and His way of life and to try to understand these things? Isn't it worth leaving off with your television programs and your ball games and looking at your face and powdering your nose? Isn't it worth getting away from your pretty face, as you think, and your pretty clothes and your foolish doings? Isn't that worth it, to be altogether clothed in the beautiful garment of Christ? to put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ? to make no provisions for the flesh to fulfill the lust and the desire of. So, faith. By faith. I read it to you tonight. By faith God did all of these things, not to make mention of Daniel in the lions den or the Hebrew children in the fiery furnace. All of these great things. Enoch translated by faith to escape death. To think that he overcame death by faith. Did you know that I have overcome death by faith? Did you know that I've overcome the grave by faith? Did you know that I've overcome the sickness and the sorrows of this life by faith? All that I've done is by faith. And we can do it by faith but we've got to believe in God. We can't doubt. Jesus said don't doubt. Don't listen to anybody that tells you nay. Don't listen to anybody that tries to persuade you in another way. When your payment comes due on your house and you're trying struggle and pay for your home and it looks like there is no way and the weather is bad. You say, Oh, my God! I can't make a living because of the weather. The Bible said don't regard the weather, throw your seed in and believe God. You'll get a harvest. It doesn't matter if ice is on the ground. Say, God, You're going to feed me. God, You're going to pay my bills. God, You're going to make me to ride upon the high places of the earth. God, You're going to feed me with the heritage of Jacob, and God, I'm going to shout and shine in Your presence. Hallelujah! God, You're going to heal me. God, You're going to deliver me. God, You're going to make my enemies to be at peace with me. Did you know if America tonight would do that we wouldn't be having any trouble out of Russia or anybody else? Did you know that? No weapon that's formed against me, or America, could prosper as long as America, or I, walk in the ways of God. And so then, just say, God, You're going to meet my needs. No matter what, You're going to meet my needs. God, You're with me. Somebody said, Oh, my God! I ain't got no work, Honey, I don't know what I'm going to do. And she says, Honey, I don't know what we're going to do either. And both of them, you know, they're__ But let one of the honeys, as we say, be filled. Let on of the honey hives be filled. Let one of the honeys turn around and say, Well, praise God, you might not know what you're going to do but I know what we're going to do. We're going to believe God and God's going to meet our needs. That's the kind of honey all of us needs. You know, that's the honey in the rock. So then, that's the way to do it, folks. Don't go around and say, God! Oh, my God! I just don't know. Don't do that. Don't do that. See? Testify of God. Believe God. Stand up for God. When somebody comes to you talking, you know, in a negative way, don't have that. Don't listen to that. Somebody says, you know, You poor fellow, you look sick. Say, No. Away with that. Peter said, Nay, Lord, they're not going to do anything mean to you. Jesus said, Away with that. I won't have none of that. You know, we've got a job to do; that's the thing. Somebody come around and say, the poor fellow, you know. Don't listen to that. Somebody come around trying to lift your flesh up, don't listen to that. Say, we don't want none of that. What we want is Jesus. What we want to do is glorify God. Somebody said, My, Brother Pike, if they said all these good things about me and I didn't let them say them, you know, that would be bad, Brother Pike. My! That's just something. When you get those kind of things you need to let them go, let them say them things. Well, you can do that if you want to but you really lose all of the goodness of life. You lose your strength. You lose your health. You lose that beauty that God will give you for that old tabernacle of ashes. You lose that power. You lose that eloquence. You lose that understanding. You lose that revelation. You lose that mind of Christ. You lose that power to ride upon the high places of the earth and be a king and rule from a throne; priest and kings with radiance and beauty that outshines the noonday sun. You lose all of that when you serve the tabernacle. So then, what you want to do is believe. Faith is the substance. You know, I could go on an go on because I like this. I like to talk about faith. I just love to talk about faith and I could just go on and go on and go on. So then, what should I do, Brother Pike? You should believe. You should believe, folks. If you're not believing, you should believe. This is the beauty of believing. You know, you say, I'm going to serve God just as soon as I get home and can find a prayer closet. Just as soon as I can get some money I'm going to give. That's not the way to do it because that's not what serving God is. But serving God begins right now. Faith cometh by the hearing of the Word of God and what you need to do is say I believe right now. Glory to God, I believe right now. I'm going to start working with this heart now. I'm going to get the right attitude toward God and toward my fellow man and toward the things that I desire and I'm going to believe God right now for what I want. I'm going to decree a thing in my heart right now. I'm going to say God that's mine. It's mine, God. I challenge you to do it and see if it don't come to pass. I guarantee you it will come to pass. If one person could believe and prove to me that they believe and it didn't come to pass I would actually get down on my knees and take my tongue and wash their feet with it. That's the truth. That's how sure it is to work. So then, does it work. It works. You say, How do you know? Because I've already been there. I've already been down the trail. I've already been there. I remember when Brother Hollis had nothing. Flat broke, nothing to look forward to and I said, Brother Hollis, God spoke to me, and I said, and you're going to have big money. I said, And you're going to have some big equipment. And I said, God is going to raise you up and he's going to give you money, Brother. Today Brother Hollis, he came, gave a thousand dollars in the offering. A few days ago he came and gave a thousand dollars in the offering. He probably couldn't have given fifteen dollars back then. And he's got big equipment and God is blessing him. And he's becoming more powerful and more powerful. As a matter-of-fact, I believe last night he told me he'd bought him a brick home and bought him some land. God is blessing him. You know, God is blessing. Whenever you do something for God, God will bless you. I got a brother sitting here. I would call his name but he might not want me to. But, anyway, he came and gave four hundred dollars in the offering yesterday and the brother said he determined in his heart he was going to do something and said if God made it work he was going to give it to the work; and he did. And said when he went to pick up his money said the man looked at him and said, Well, yes, I'll let you have it. Said, You've got perfect credit. Perfect credit. And the man was astounded. Said he told him he had perfect credit and he talked like that couldn't be possible. But, you know what? When you walk with God, folks, you've got perfect credit. If you need to borrow anything go get it. Go get it. God made it perfect. He's the one that does all the perfecting. I've got numbers of people here that told me they could not get money from the bank, or wherever, and I told them in the name of the Lord they would get it and they went and got it. And some of them today is making thousands of dollars. Do you love the Lord? I went by the bank one day to pick up some money. My wife said, You know you ain't going to get that money. Said, You're a stranger in this place. You don't know anybody. You don't know the bank. You don't know nobody. I said, Yes, I'll go in there and get it. I'll be back in a few minutes. In a few minutes I came out with it. But you know how I did it? By faith. By faith I did it because it would not have been possible to have done it any other way. It would not have been possible. I went to a bank right here, right here in this town, and I told them, I said, I want to borrow some money. And they said, Well, how much? I said, Fifty thousand dollars. Fifty thousand dollars? I said, Fifty thousand. They said, Why we don't even loan that much money. I said, Well, it won't do me any good then. So then, they called me up later and they said, or contacted me and said, You know, we do loan fifty thousand dollars. Said, that's all that we loan. I said, Well, I want more than that. I've done decided that I want a hundred thousand dollars. And do you know what? We went over to the other bank and I told the other bank, I said, I want eighty thousand dollars. And we went there by faith and they let me have the eighty thousand dollars. I said, I want a hundred thousand. Said, We can't loan a hundred thousand. Said, This is all we loan is eighty thousand. But did you know, before I finished I got way over a hundred thousand. So, it means one thing, folks. You've got to believe. You've got to believe. If you want to do something for God you've got to believe. You know, they tell me the man George Muller actually prayed down about, I believe they said, about eight million dollars in his lifetime. Think what eight million dollars would be equal to in this day. So then, to believe. I believe. I've believe many times when God has given me tens of thousands of dollars. When there was no way to get it I believed God and God gave it to me. I believed God when I've seen people healed, when I've seen God deliver people and I've seen God bring genuine healings by doctors report when the people were dying. Not just sick but dying, and God healed them. God healed them by doctors report and even the doctors said they didn't know what happened. Said they couldn't explain it. By faith. By faith. So then, tonight I encourage you to believe. You know, you talk about these things and somebody says, Brother Pike, you mean that them things really work? Those things really work. Really work. A lot of times I go to buy something and I say, I'm going to buy this thing. You know, and I'm going to buy it without a penny and it may cost tens and tens of thousands of dollars. I've done it. I've gone a number of times and without one dime I bought it when the people said no, absolutely not, even if you give me x-amount of dollars. But I say by faith I'll do it anyway. By faith. Do you love the Lord? Let's stand together. Let's purpose in our heart tonight that we're going to believe God. You know, this may sound like a fantasy to you but this is exciting to me. This is exciting to me because faith will bring me the desires of my heart. God said I will give you the desires of your heart. By faith. You know, you're not going to find very many people in an audience that's going to be able to believe with you or that will think the way that you're thinking. There's not going to be very many people. But to those that can believe, Jesus said, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to them that believe. If thou canst believe. Somebody says, Well, I've ruined my credit, Brother Pike, and I just can't believe anymore. I tell you if that's all the faith you had you don't have to worry about losing that. You didn't lose nothing no way. Cursed is the man that leaneth upon the arm of flesh, or that goeth down to Egypt for his help. Faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. You can't please God without faith. Enoch pleased God. Before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. See? He pleased God because he had faith and faith purified his heart and God could dwell in the heart by faith. See? So, if you have a problem why don't you believe God? Somebody said, Well, I tried, Brother Pike, and it didn't work. Well, it won't work if you try because there's a difference in trying and believing. And I didn't tell you to try it. I told you to believe God. So now, next time don't try it, just believe God. Somebody said, It's so hard, Brother Pike. Let me ask you a question. If faith is so hard how do you profess to have Christianity? The Bible said by faith you're saved. If faith is so hard then that means you haven't got salvation. It means that you are lying, or that you don't believe what you said and you tell me that you've got salvation. If you've got salvation then that means that you received it by faith. Then why is faith so hard? Didn't you use it? If you used it for one thing can't you use it for another? Folks, you better wake up or you might be finding yourself making believe. You might not have salvation. You might not be believing at all and you might be lost. If you've got faith to believe for salvation then you've got faith to believe for anything. It's the same faith. So then, I said that to say this. If faith is so hard to get a hold of, and faith is so out of reach, then I think Jesus wasted His time coming to earth. If faith is not practical, if I cannot get a hold of faith and you cannot simply reach out and get a hold of faith, then Jesus wasted His time and God wasted His time in sending Jesus. If faith is so hard that I can't use it when I need it, and if it's so farfetched and so far out of reach that I cannot practically incorporate it in my daily lifestyle, then faith is of no value to me. Faith is of no value to you. God wasted His time sending it because if faith is that far out of reach then it could never help you and me, so we don't need it. There's no need to mess with it you might as well forget it. But if faith cometh by the hearing of the Word and the Word has given you the promises of security and all you have to do is accept them and it will come to pass, then faith is practical for use if all you have to do is decree in your heart and not doubt. You say, But, Brother Pike, I can't help but doubt. Why come you can't help but doubt? You know, if you take a notion to go to Atlanta, Georgia, if you take a notion to go across the ocean, if you take a notion to go wherever you go, don't you? Don't you go? If you take a notion to get in your car and drive up town, don't you do it? Sure you do it because you believe you can do it. Why should you doubt? If you've got a good automobile and you know how to drive and you've got license and you've got gas in your automobile, why should you doubt that you can drive over the hill? There's no reason for you to doubt. Do you go our there like this, you know, you go out to your car and you say, Oh, my God! I don't know where it's going to run or not. I don't know whether I can drive or not. I may be killed before I get around the corner. Lord, the gas may not last. I don't know. I just don't know whether I'll get over that hill or not. Is that's the way you do it? You know you don't do any such foolish things. You don't go home and say, Well, I don't know whether that's my wife, or whether it's not my wife, or whether she's going to be here today or she's going to go tomorrow. You don't do that, do you? Your little boy or girl come up to you, you don't say, Well, I'm not sure, you know, whether that's my kid or his kid, or their kid, or whose kid. You don't do that, do you? Why then should you approach the things of God with such wishy-washy unstable-like manner, or way. Why should you do that? Why should you come to the Word of God and say, Well, I know that God's__ I know that He said it but I, I, I, well, I, you know. Why should you do that? Why should you do a foolish thing like that? See? All the promises of God are yea and amen. None on them is altered. Not any of them are changed, never to any generation. They are the same to a thousand generations. They are never altered. They're never changed. They are altogether to you without respect of person, because they are not based on any man's ability, or talent, or righteousness, or position in life. They are based altogether on the finished works of the Son of God, so they are to you without respect of person. Why then should you doubt today and try to believe tomorrow, and doubt the next day? Or one minute you say you believe and the next minute you're not sure that you believe? One minute you believe it's the Word of God and the next minute you don't believe. One minute you believe it's going to happen and the next minute you don't believe it's going to happen. Why should you do that? What would it be like if Randall got in a plane and Randall, now he's a pilot, he's got his license. As a matter-of-fact, I was asking somebody today about how well he flies because they said they flew with him. What if he got in the plane and, you know, he got like that. He said, I don't know whether I'm a pilot or not. They said I was. I'm not sure whether these licenses are valid or now, you know. And he got in there and he starts down the runway and says, I'm not sure I can hold this. I don't know whether to take off or not. What kind of a flight would that be? What would happen to Brother Randall? You know what would happen to him? In a little bit he'd be crashed up somewhere and he'd be killed himself and somebody. You what he does? I know what a pilot does. If you've ever took a plane up you know what he does. He might be nervous. He might be shaking. He might be unsettled, but when he starts down that runway he forgets all about that and he says, I'm the man. I'm going to take this thing off. I've got to hold it. It's going to be right. We're going to take this thing off. Because if he doesn't he's in trouble. See? And that's the way it is with God. You might be wishy-washy, you might be wavering, you might do all kind of things, but folks, when you get ready to get something from God you've got to take hold of the horns of the alter and you've got to say, Now, God, I'm dealing with the Word of God. I'm not dealing with Brother Pike, and Brother Taylor and somebody that's said it might happen. The Word of God said thus and thus and that's the way it is. Yea and amen, and there won't be any doubts in my heart. There won't be no wondering today. There won't be no wondering tonight. There won't be no wondering tomorrow. God said it. That settles it. It's my substance. That's it. Amen. This is the evidence. Whee, it happened. The song writer said it happened just like He said, He healed the sick and raised the dead. It happened just like he said. And this is what he said, right here. So then, if you can believe, Jesus said, all things are possible to them that believe. Can you believe? Can you believe? I feel this going out to a woman that's had a lot of problems, going out to a woman. She's listening. She's got a hold of this. She's trying to get this into her heart. She's had a lot of problems physically, but this is going out to her and she's getting it and she's thinking, I can do that. I can do that. That's the way she's thinking, you know. If I can do that then that would settle it. I can go that. I'm beginning to believe that, she says. I'm beginning to believe it. And of course, you're better too, aren't you? Much better. Much better. See? God does that. God does that. That's what brings your healing, is you begin to think like that. As a man thinketh in his heart, as a woman thinketh in her heart, that's the way they are. All right. Somebody said, I'm so tired, Brother Pike, I'm just so worn out I just can't hardly go to my job. You know, say, How old are you? I'm done forty myself. You know, life begins at forty, they say. Give me strength as my day. Somebody said, Well, I'm just so tired. About ready to retire, somebody says. But, you know, I'm going to let you go. Don't worry, I know you're standing. Don't you see me? I'm standing with you.

By Rev. George Leon Pike Sr.

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

Holiness Unto The Lord