We Are The Sons Of God

I always appreciate the brothers and sisters in Christ, because as Paul said, They are my joy in the Lord. Truly, truly it is a real pleasure to come back. I had planned to go into Israel, as you know, and I kept running into a problem and kept being hindered. They had ask us to come over and minister for them and I've had a lot of invitations from around the different parts of the world, some I can get to and some I can't. Which reminds me, Brother Taylor, there are some things over here that came from Brother Milad and from the church. Some pictures and whatever. Also the registration that I spoke of and there is also a letter from New York where they want us to come up to New York and preach, hold a crusade. But anyway, also in there, there is a certificate. It's from Brother Milad. They started a college there and he gave me some of the certificates, college certificates to bring back. He wants to completely leave off with the Baptist Church, Southern Convention, and be altogether under the leadership of this ministry and that it might be the Abundant Life work, the Eternal Abundant Life work there in Jerusalem. As a matter of fact, he signed some papers to that effect and they are over there, Brother Taylor. We did not get to purchase the properties as I had hoped to. We had everything lined up for the purchase of the property and run into a problem, and found out there is a lien, or a mortgage against it. They do things strangely over there, but the lady is ready to sell to us. There is about several stories in this little place that we are speaking of, and the mortgage was as to secure money to build on the top, which they did. Now they don't know whether they can get it free, as to the encumbrance, so that we can have the lower part. They sell the lower part, or they sell the top part, or they sell the middle part, or they sell any part. I told Brother Milad, I said, I don't know how you all get anything unscrambled to do that, but they've got it worked out. And I do know that here in America, you know, they'll sell you an apartment, or whatever. But he said he was going to see what he could do about getting the bank to release the lower part and that would give us about a third of the ground that the building sets on. And that's all you get; just what the building is setting on because the rest of it is building and building and building and road and whatever, you know. It's got a little narrow road, some places about four feet wide, and some places about ten or twelve feet wide that goes down in front of it. It's really something the way they build those little roads. You can be coming in at the New Gate, which so far as I can tell, I know that's Zion's hill where the tomb of David is, and so far as I can tell, this little place that we're speaking of, it's little in that there are little bitty rooms, and yet it's not so little, because there are quite a number of them. It's two or three stories. It's built very odd. Over there they build so strangely it appears it's on Zion's hill. But they build so strangely that it's hard to tell, to give a description of anything. For instance, the pillars and the walls, whereas, the pillars come up in a curve over like this, and the ceilings like this and like this, and then the walls, or the pillars, are about six feet thick, and just rock, and the walls are all about five or six feet thick. It looks like they built a fortress. This is the way it's built and it's very, very had to describe. I tried to give a description to some of the brethren. It's very difficult. Maybe we'll get some pictures inside and out and around it and you can understand it a little better. But you come in the main gate, as to the New Gate, and you go down a little road like that, I don't know, I guess it's maybe twenty feet wide, is it, or it's wide enough for two cars to pass this way. You have to squeeze past. Sister Betty, she got into a bind over there that they couldn't get around her, and they were really upset. But anyway, you go down a ways and maybe about as far as from here to the front gate, then you park the car, you get out and you walk down a wide place that goes under buildings and through buildings and out buildings, between buildings and it is, as some of you know, you've been there. It's wide and rocky and steps, steps, steps, steps and you get down and you come to a turn and you go down steps, steps, steps and then you come to a place and you make a little turn down a little narrow street. Like I said, it varies from about four or five feet to about ten feet, or maybe a little wider, and it's on that little street down there that you'll find this building. Whereas, you can't tell much about it. To me all of it's building, you know. It's like it's all built together. But Brother Milad says it's the mother of all those buildings there, that it's the pretties one of all. I can't tell nothing about it. I just see walls and walls and walls. But anyway, there's a possibility that we might be able to get it free of the encumbrance, as to purchase the lower part. If we don't the other sister that has the other part, she wouldn't consider selling until after we go over there. Her husband met us and he kind of took to us, and the people took to us, and they really enjoyed the message. They are real skeptical to the extent they don't want the Jews to have it. They are Armenians, or Greek, and they don't want the Jews to have it. And though the Jews have offered them three hundred thousand dollars for the entirety of the little building they won't take it. But we did talk to them, or had Brother Milad to talk to the other sister, which I didn't get to meet; I just met the husband, about the top part where is the little room for the church and she at first said fifty thousand dollars. And finally she said thirty-five thousand when her husband chided with her a little bit after having met us and talked with us. He was wanting it to be a church. So, I don't know what she's going to do, if she's going to come lower than that or not, as to let us have it. I gave them a price as to offer, and we could have gone ahead and negotiated and bought that, and I was to go to the lawyer the next day, but something kept coming up, and coming up, so finally I decided to just leave it in Milad's hand and come on back over here, because we was running out of time, so far as our schedule, and they had moved it up a day, as to our return so I decided to come on home and let him handle it. He said that he would do that. He said, I will definitely handle it for you and it still looks good, as to us purchasing the property, having the property there within the walls of the old city, and also having the college and the work. And Brother Milad said he also would like for me to go down into Egypt, if I would and hold a crusade in Egypt. Now some of you went down into Egypt with us, and if you remember it, some of the people were so hungry for the gospel that riding at high speed down their streets the cars would catch up with you at high speed, roll down the window and reach and take a tract from you as you went sweeeet, like that. And number and number of tracts were passed out like that. Anyway, he said, I know of a place we can get where there will be several thousand people, Brother Pike, that can get in there if you'll go down there and hold a crusade. And I told him that we would, the Lord being willing, because we planned to go down into Egypt and have a meeting. And he said, I would like for one of the brethren from Bethlehem, since we're going to be under the work and affiliated with the work. And by the way, since this work has started in Israel, if you remember, Sister Betty said we've paid for it since it's been there, a year, more than a year, whatever. But he said, I would like for one of the brethren to come and take my work here and pastor it for like x amount of months, several months I believe he suggested. And that would give me a chance to be free to go down into Egypt. And I have a desire to go there and build a church, as to organizing a group of people to follow the Eternal Abundant Life ministry. Said, I'd love to see this Eternal Abundant Life ministry down in Egypt. And of course, he's an Egyptian. And also he said that he felt that he wanted to be under this ministry. He said, My wife is a praying woman and very skeptical, and said, just about every time anybody comes through, as to any person, said, she usually says, Be careful of that fellow. Be careful of him, something just ain't right. But said, Brother Pike, this has swallowed her up and she says this is God. This is the right way. This is the right thing. And the people in the church, numbers of them, we have people like as to the Egyptians was represented, maybe the Armenians and Greek and the Arab and the Jews. They were all there listening to us. We had a right good congregation there. The Lord really was moving. You could feel the power of God and they also had communion while we were there. But I noticed that he gave a chance for a number of them to get up and witness and testify, or whatever, and as they go up and witnessed they kept saying over and over in different languages, whatever it was, they'd say, I want this revelation. This is what my heart wants, is this revelation. They were greatly moved. Already from the support that we've given there out of the little meeting, or the little mission, there is connecting works, groups, that have sprung up, from what I understood of Milad, they've sprung up all over the countryside down maybe around Haifa, Mount Carmel, and miles and miles away in different towns and places. And Brother Milad said, You know, if you were going to be here a while if we could do something about the circumstances as to the war and the problems. Said, You could just go right on preaching at different places we've got, and said, Now we've got a yearly gathering of the ones that's coming to know the Lord. And he said, I would like to have it fixed under the Eternal Abundant Life work. Said, I would love to have it fixed to where we could have a yearly meeting, a gathering of a yearly meeting, and we all could get together and worship the Lord together. So, I told him that I would do whatever I could, we would see what we could do, and find out what the Lord was wanting us to do. They wanted us to stay longer. They wanted to, they did fix us a meal while we were there and invited us over. They have a pretty nice place there in Jerusalem to stay and they wanted us to come over and have a lot more fellowship with them, which I would have like to have done, but we didn't have the time to do that. So then, I ask you to pray. If you will, pray that God will bless those people and He will help those people and help us to help those people. And help us to reach out through Jerusalem across through the land of Palestine and to the other places to be able to win some souls to Christ and to be able to help those people become stable in the gospel. I had strange experiences. I met a man on the plane. His name was — I said, Isaac. I was tell Brother James. It was Israel. If James is here I'd like to correct that. I couldn't think of that man's name. His name was Israel. I thought it real strange. Israel. I was talking to him about the Lord. I was trying to tell him about the good things of God, and you know, how I appreciated God dealing with the Jewish people and you know, we realize that we are a chosen people for God's work and he stopped me. And he said, Chosen people? I said, Yes. He said, Chosen for what? And I just kind of looked at him with a blank expression, and he said, Israel is not a chosen people. Said, No more than any other people. Which that was great that he understood that, that much. But anyway, he said, Chosen for what? And he pulled the sleeve of his shirt up and he said, I was in the Holocaust, and he showed me where they had tattooed the number into his skin, a long number. And he said, And in that holocaust, within the holocaust, said, I lost most of my loved ones, as to children, wife, whatever. And he said, What do you mean, chosen people? He was very deeply grieved and bitter. And I said, Well, Israel, you know, is a religious people, a very religious people. And he stopped me again. He said, Israel is not a religious people, said, Israel is like I am. Said, Most of the people in Israel are like I am. And he didn't even believe toward God at all. Well, anyway, after I talked to him for a while I kind of got his spirit and I said, Well, you know, no matter what you say, or how you feel, I said, Israel is still a chosen people. And I told him in essence what they were chosen for, to some extent, and he had told me in the conversation, he said, this thing about land grant where God has given us land and all of this, he said, I don't believe in that. He said, we've got a little piece of ground over there, said, What I don't understand is why the Arabs nations don't leave us along. Said, All we've got is this piece of ground and said, They've got all kind of land and they can't rest. Said, They always want to take ours away from us; which is true. And then I stopped him. I said, Let me tell you what the problem is. I said, There is a real Satan. There is a real devil. And a real God. I pointed out some things. I said, Where the problem is is that since Israel is chosen, as to the royal seed through which the Messiah must come, I said, then the devil wants to make extinct this nation, to do away with it. I said, it's not the Arabs. I said, It's the devil. And when I said that something just broke off of him. It was like a bird just flew away and his spirit just kind of melted, and you could feel the Spirit of God touch him like it just went into him, and he just yielded himself into my hands. And he said, You know, when I was a boy, he said, I was taught these things, but then he explained how that it came about that he got bitter and all these things happened to him, as through the years, and I could tell that I had broken his spirit. God had taken control of his spirit, and that we had gotten through with a testimony to the man. I thought, Now that can't be coincidental. That's Israel. Let's give the Lord a hand! I thought, That's wonderful, you know. God's trying to tell me something. And sure enough it was a wonderful experience. I talked to a woman. Betty and I talked to a woman that was also a Jewish woman, and she contended, you know, that the difference between us as Christians and them as Jews, said, You know, you all want to go through somebody. Said, We just go straight to God. Which isn't true at all, you know. We don't go through somebody. We go through the high priest, and I know for sure the only way they get anything done is they've got a priesthood and they go through the priest. But the only thing is, I pointed out to them that they are just mixed up as to which priest, which is the high priest. And finally, after talking with her, we really won her over, as to friendship, and she just had to come back and talk and talk. And finally she said, You know more about my book than I do. Let's give the Lord another hand, can we? The Lord really got His point over to a number of them and I thought it was wonderful the way that God dealt with them. There was quite a number of Jews that opened their heart to us and a number of the young girls and boys and women and whatever, seemed to be real congenial toward us, and the Lord blessed us to get into some of their hearts, as to the Word of God. Israel is different to a great extent toward America than any other time that we've been there, because whereas, before a hostility seemed to prevail in that they thought we were just glory seekers and looking for pleasure and when they saw that we went to war in their behalf and that our boys were spilling their blood for them, it really tore them up. Then when they saw Betty and myself come over that really torn them up, because they questioned us and questioned us. They couldn't understand why in the world that we would come, or what our purpose was, and when I insisted that I was a minister and I come there to pray for Israel they just couldn't put that together and finally they just said, Thank you. That's all they could say, was thank you. One boy he questioned us so much until he just finally, he left and then they sent a girl over there to question us and she finally just, she didn't know what to say either. But we did spend out time in prayer while we were there. That's exactly what we did, praying that God would stop the war, which He's going to do and move Hussein, which He's going to do, and prayed that God would stop the missiles, which He did while we were there, as to them coming into Israel. We kept praying. While we were there we had about four missiles hurled at us. The first time the siren went off it was just an unusual feeling. It sounded so loud and everywhere and Sister Betty. I had quite an experience with Sister Betty. When that siren went off she grabbed for her gas mask, because the people were scrambling all through the hotel and wherever, you know, to go down to the bomb shelter. And I got tickled at Betty. I said, Betty, I said, no need to get excited about it, you know. And she said something about going to the bomb shelter and I said, Well, I really don't see any need of it, Betty. And she wanted to put on the gas mask. I said, Well, I don't see any need of that either. And she said, But I smell something right now. She said, I can taste it in the roof of my mouth. I got so carried away, you know. I got to laughing at Betty until she said, You're crazy. She said, You're crazy. And I finally — Of course, after that experience Betty was all right. She was real courageous. She never had any more problem with it. But it was real comical. I couldn't help but laugh at her. Another thing was, she told me, she said, She told the soldier that issued us the gas masks, he said, You can just drop them off down stairs when you go to leave. And she said, No. Said, I'm going to take mine home with me. And I thought, Well, Betty is just talking, you know. So, time come to go home and I was looking for her gas mask and I couldn't find it and I found out she had it pack in the suitcase. And the suitcase was such a terrible thing because both of us had to sit down on it to get it locked. I said, Betty, surely, surely, you didn't do that and we'll have to open this thing right here in the terminal. But see, the plan was she wasn't planning to open it. I said, Betty, you can't do that. I said, You can't do that. That's stealing. I said, You can't take that. She said, But I told the man I was going to take it. I said, But Betty you can't do that. You can't take this gas mask home. And I said, Not only stealing, but that's stealing from the government, the worst kind of crime. And so when we got there she told the lady she had it in there and they didn't open it, but I perceived the reason was they had told us to take the gas masks and keep them until we got on the plane, you know, so if anything happened it would be right there, there in Tel Aviv, they'd be right there, you know, having the gas masks, because even the little children, whether Judaism, or whatever, they took their gas masks, and of course, even in Jerusalem there was some folks that didn't even sleep all night. They were up all night, you know, just staying up. They were afraid to sleep. People just about paranoid when we got there, but before we left the Lord had stopped the missiles and they were getting back to normal. They had even started their school back. They had even stopped the children from going to school. It's just hard to believe. Down in Bethlehem, we'd gone down into Bethlehem, and we'd gone down to Bethany. The soldiers had stopped us and forbid us, and said, You can't go down into Bethany. And Betty and I, we went anyway. We went around the backside from the Mount of Olives down the Dolorosa Street, down hills and through whatever, and I don't know. We finally got there. And then we went into Bethlehem and when we go into Bethlehem it was just closed up. I mean it was like a dead place. I told Betty that it had to do with the resurrection, and sure enough it was dead. And then we went down into shepherd field, and then when we returned Brother Milad, he was all disturbed over it. And he said, You should never have done that. He said, You should be stoned. And he talked on and on and he was real excited about it. And finally he said, It's one hundred percent sure that you should have been stoned, said, if you went down in the shepherd's field. But nevertheless, the Lord took care of us. He said, They've done broke my windows out four different times, or glasses out of the car. But anyway, as I was saying, the Lord blessed us. And to get back to our original thought here we was then, at this time, over in the areas of Tel Aviv, and fixing to leave on the plane. Whereas, as I said, the little ones even in Jerusalem carry the gas masks, and all around Tel Aviv, wherever, we had it and was fixing to leave and I perceived that the lady let it go by for the purpose that we was to keep it until we got on the plane. Whereas, we never used it anyway, because I never did even feel uncomfortable over there myself. I just went on with my prayer life like I always do, and I just never did feel anything about it at all. But nevertheless, I got a gas mask. She brought it home. And I couldn't hardly believe it. I said, Betty, surely you're not going to take it home. But she brought it home. She said, I told the man I was going to bring it home. I said, I know, Betty, but you can't do that. So, I don't know of nothing to do but write them folks and tell them that we brought the gas mask and we'll just have to mail it back to them or do something. Which Betty ain't too much in agreement with that, but I kind of got her under conviction a little bit. But to say the least, we have had some unusual experiences and the people received us so well. They said, Brother Pike, we know that you really do care, said, to come over here at a time like this. They said to us, said, Aren't you afraid? I said, No. I'm not afraid. I really didn't see anything to be afraid of. But they said, We really respect that and said, It means so much to us, said, Because at a time of support others are just going out, and they were gone, and tourists were stopped, and they said, They just come over here for pleasure and to see things, you know. And said, coming at a time like this we know that it's real in what you are doing. And Brother Milad spoke of the sharing, he spoke of you people sharing. He said, You know, Brother Pike, said, the rich come in here and they don't do this. But what we had, as to money, Betty said, I've hardly used any of it. Said, We gave it away. And the Lord made a way for us another way. And he was pretty much carried away with it. But a good testimony has been left there in Israel. We were able to carry maybe a box of tracts, about two thirds full, I'd say, left it there with Brother Milad. And then we gave out some books and tracts. And the ones we left there at the mission, there were people that were already coming to get those tracts before we could get away. And something just crossed my mind. I just happened to see past these blurring lights in the balcony, and I believe that we've got — Did you say that was your nephew? The nephew. I met him yesterday. I didn't recognize him until just then. It's kind of hard to — Greg Wise? Greg Wise, is he from over, is he around from Marysville? Oh, Knoxville. That's right, Knoxville. Okay. Let's give him a hand, can we? Well, maybe I won't talk to you but just a few minutes, because I've took up quite a bit of time mentioning some things. A lot of things we'd like to mention, but I was just sharing those few things with you and sometimes we laugh, you know. Maybe it's not all that good to laugh so much, but like it was when one sister in the Bible met another sister, as to the coming of John the Baptist and Jesus, and one said to the other, said, And the Lord maketh me to laugh. And sometimes we laugh. He maketh us to laugh and sometimes it's just pleasantly that we associate ourselves one with another as to a laugh, and the main thing is that we don't have any laughing and rejoicing over that which is evil, but rather over that which is good. So, the Lord He maketh us to laugh and we do laugh in the Spirit. Or that is, we rejoice in the Spirit and sometimes very pleasantly things come to us that the Lord shares a laugh with us. All right. Let's read from chapter three, I John, and maybe we'll comment just a little bit here. Glad to have our Brother Fountaine. He's still around. He wandered off like a prodigal for a while there, then he returned back home. I think he's here to stay. And then Bob and the wife, they're here to stay with us. I suppose. Is that right? (Begin tape one, side two.)....You're out? Okay. Let's give these folks another hand. All right. So their little family is still with us. These are wonderful children of God that love the Lord and we're so glad to have them here with us. Brother Snyder and his wife have really been a blessing to us since they've been here, and Brother Snyder taught school there for quite a long while and Brother Taylor hated to let him go, because he really was a help. We're glad to have these people with us. There's numbers of people that want to come to Bethlehem, even some Jewish people out of Israel. And I've been able to get to some of them and talk to them. They have the strangest kind of approach. Maybe I ought to mention this before we get into this. I hope we can get into it. I keep on talking and we'll have to dismiss. They have strange approaches. For instance, a priest says he can't understand Jesus as the Messiah, because he cannot conceive of the idea that God would kill His own Son, so this is the hang up that he has. Whereas, we have to remember that God didn't kill His own Son. God didn't have any plans of killing His own Son. And He didn't kill His own Son. He sent His Son to die for the remission of sin knowing that this was the only way to regain those that were lost, and the only way to atone for sin. So, He gave His Son. He was willing to give His Son, as to the smiters, and to the murderers, in that the Roman powers murdered Jesus. It was murder. They killed Him. They couldn't find any fault in Him at all. Even Pilate said, I was my hands of the blood of this man. Said, you know, as to an innocency, said, I find no fault in this man. And even the wife of Herod said, I had a dream and suffered many things in a dream, as of last night or whatever, concerning this man. And the Jews said it's not lawful for us to put a man to death, as to their feast day, and the Romans did it. But the Jews said, Let His blood be upon us and our children. That's why they suffered. So God didn't kill His own Son. That's strange that a man is so learned, as to the Bible, didn't understand that. And then, as one of them said, You know, we go straight to God. We don't go through somebody; we go straight to God. And I told the ones that I talked to that that's not right. I said, The Jews go through a priest. They've always gone through a priest. The high priest always, as to the tenth month and the seventh day, or seven and ten. Ten and seven. I'll get it right in a minute. As to this month, the high priest went in once a year to take blood for an atonement. And in that this was offered for an atonement that was their means of remission. And like I told a priest over there in a conversation, I said, Now, you say such and such as to what the Torah says, I said, Let me ask you a question. You feel like you go straight to God and you are justified, in that I had ask him how he got to God. I said, What do you do about the blood? And he just looked at me with a hollow expression. I said, What do you do about the blood? I said, You have to have blood. Oh, he just passed it on off. I said, No, wait a minute. I said, You don't even know your own Bible. I said, You have to have blood. The Bible said, Without the shedding of blood there is no remission for sin. I said, And you folks don't offer up a sacrifice anymore, as to an animal. Now what do you do? See? For in the Torah, as to Deuteronomy it states that all things were sprinkled with blood as Moses read all of the precepts to the people and said, This is what God has enjoined unto you, as to this law. And sprinkled all of the things of the ministry, and everything was dedicated as to the tabernacle, and then to the individuals being sprinkled by the blood. And as Paul said, And almost everything was sanctified, or purged, as to blood. And without the shedding of blood there is no remission. That is the Torah teaching. And that's when he got furious. He got upset with me, as you remember, when we were there with Solomon. See? There must be blood. You must have blood. And the only way that the Jews have gotten by with what they are doing is that there is a Lamb. God gave His Son as a Lamb, and that blood is on the seat of atonement. And when God let the Romans and the different ones come in to put the pressure on the Jews to stop them for the abomination of sacrificing animals, from that time on the only thing that they had as to their benefit, as to atonement was the blood of Jesus, as to the Lamb. And this is why that the Lamb will appear on Mount Zion. Will appear on Mount Zion, as to the hundred and forty-four thousand that they may know that all of this time that God has given them mercy that it's not been by their righteousness, or by their doings, but by the blood of the Lamb that was on the seat of atonement, not only for them, but for me and you, and all the rest of the world, that they might know this. God has done this for them. And as quick as the church is translated and taken out that blood won't be there. They have to be sealed to be taken care of through the first part of Daniel's last week. And I said that to point out that we are under the blood and they are under the blood. And without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin nowhere for any people throughout the entire world. And as to the Jews being a righteous people, they are not a righteous people, so far as being a chosen people. It's only as to a work and a purpose, as we have explained and will explain more in detail as we go along from day to day in preaching to you. But to prove to you that they were not righteous it is stated in their Torah, as to Moses after forty years of being with them and tutoring them, he said, I witness to you this day that out of forty years that I have led you, or tutored you, as we would say, that your eyes have never come open and your ears have never come open. And you have never perceived in your heart. Forty long years and, he said, you have never perceived in your heart. And as to the crossing of the Jordan, he told them just before they crossed the Jordan, he said, And I know that you are going to forsake God. Said, Just as soon as I'm gone you'll forsake God. He said, You have been a rebellious people from the first time I have ever known you. And said, You are still rebellious people, and he said, When I leave you are going to forsaken God. And said, And these are the things that's going to come upon you in the later times. And told what a horrible experience it would be, as to what would befall them in the later times, because they would forsake God. And they had forsaken God in such a way under the regime of Moses that forty years, God being upset with them, let them wander around until the last man of war died before He'd ever take them over. And He raised up children to take them over, making a new covenant. For as the Bible said, Finding fault with the first then it being unprofitable as to the weakness of the people to perform it, then God saw another, even a more perfect way of life and a more perfect law, as to give us a better benefit. Or that is to say, the death of the Lord Jesus to redeem them that were under the law, or that which was under the law to bring forth a new order, and that after the order of Melchizedek. Finding fault with the first He done away with that saying that the blood of bulls and goats could never make the comer thereunto perfect. So, He done away with that. He inaugurated a new thing and brought forth a better covenant, a better way of life, with a more sure Word of prophecy. And some night maybe we can go into it and relate it as step by step as how He brought it about, which is contained within the Torah. And Jesus giving His life to bring forth that as to a redemption of that that was in the Old Testament seeing that even the high priest himself that went into the sanctuary, or the most holy of holies, he could not, even by his own efforts and offerings, move sin away from his own conscience, as to be able to intercede for a people. He was just as much in trouble in his conscience when he went out as he was when he came in. And it never could, as to those offerings move the consciousness of sin. But where these things are, as to the new covenant and the blood of the Lord Jesus, in entering right into the heart and the holies of holies and the heavenly Spirit of Christ Himself, as that which is divine, going into our heart, after this there is no more conscience of sin, so there is no need for any other offering for sin, for He offered Himself as to once and for all, as without spot and blemish, as to do away with sin. And as Daniel said, to make an end of the transgression. So then, we could go into that and say a whole lot about it, but we've done took up a lot of time and it would take quite a bit of time to break that down, as to detail it. But let us read Chapter 3. (Brother Pike reads verses 1-10.) Okay, now. He said, And now beloved are ye the sons of God. It doth not appear as of yet as to what you are going to be, as to visibility, or visual sight. You cannot look at one another and determine as to what a Son of God looks like as of now, because we've never gone through the change, as to the body to make that change over to what we had been made into at the beginning. And that is to say, having been made after the order of God in the image of God as to the illumination of the Shekinah. See? We cannot say now, because we cannot look at each other and tell. We lost that through the fall but we gained that, we regained that at Calvary, as to an inward adorning of the inward man. Whereas, the Bible said when even the woman adorns herself let it not be as to the outward adorning of that which is the plaiting of the hair, the wearing of gold, all these kind of things as to a protrudingness, but rather as to the inward man, the hidden man of the heart that we might adorn ourselves in meekness, in humility, esteeming others to be greater than ourselves, looking on the things of the others, seeking the welfare of another, coming out from the world and the things of the world that we might be different in the sight of God. All right. So now are we the sons of God. We have already passed from death unto life. And so many times I point this out to you, Now are we the sons of God. It was like I was telling somebody just recently. It is a startling thing to see how that God works. All of a sudden here we are at the end of the world. And there as it would be, God, a chosen people, the Jews, and now all of a sudden we realize that God's real chosen people are Christians, not the Jews, that the Jews were only symbolic as the Christians. And like I was telling somebody, you know. We get so haughty, as it would be, even as religious people, to think that we are and they are not. But, like I was saying as to the little story about the two little girls, I believe it was, one continually telling the other little girl saying, You are an adopted little girl and I am the daughter. And always tormenting her as they grew up, and the other little girl not saying anything until it got so bad as they grew, (You remember the little story.) that finally the parents had to tell the little girl that kept bothering the other little girl with this, that she was not the daughter but the adopted little girl. And the one that she had been saying things against and accusing was the true little daughter and she had loved her enough that she would not answer her back, nor to hurt her, or to do anything to dispute what she said. And see, that's the way it is with the Jewish people, all down through the years feeling that they were God's chosen people, it has come to pass that they are going to have to realize that they are the adopted ones, as to come in by the law. Whereas, we are the children of God. Now beloved are ye the sons of God, born into the family, that we are actually born of God and we are sons and daughters of God. And they have only been called in the sense that as through a prophet and by a law, as to teach them to conform to the ways of God that they may come into the family and be born of the family. So then to come down to the end of the way to find out that with all of this that they are the adopted ones and that we are actually the born again children of God. Let's give the Lord a hand! How great and mighty is God the way that He does things, and how He confounds the world, not only the Jews but you'll find the religious people of the world are the same. Jesus said on one occasion, He said, and the drunkards and the harlots go into the kingdom before you. Said, You saying that you would go you did not go; they saying they would not go repented and now they have gone in. And they are being born of God, and those that are so religious, a lot of time even at Bethlehem, or wherever I go, I hear somebody telling somebody else how they are not, and how they are. Or putting them down in the sense of pointing out that they are not the true children of God and they are all messed up in their lives, but as to say, you know, them taking it to themselves that they are the true children of God and how they magnify themselves. On numerous occasions I catch this and then when I check their spirits to see what's going on I find it's like the little story. It's just exactly in the reverse. The person that's trying to project themselves, esteeming themselves better than somebody else, point out their abilities and talents and skills, as to put the other person under their leadership to lord over them, I check it out and I find out that the person that keeps putting them down is the person that has to be put down, and the person that's willing to stand by in humility and not retaliate as to a repulsive sort of a thing to them, then we find out that that's the child of God. That's the child of God, and though it's repulsive they don't allow it to be repulsive because they don't allow their heart to be troubled by it. And they just go right on like the little girl did, as to the story and let them feel comfortable while their hearts are torn. So you don't need to look on others than being less that you, but the Bible said to let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus. And that is, He washed His brother's feet. And the Bible said to esteem others better than yourself, to look on the things of another, to seek the welfare of another, to make yourselves a servant unto others instead of expecting others to serve you, and trying to be a brother to them, and deny yourself and to give to them rather than expecting them to give to you. This is the way that God sees it. This is the way that it is folks. This is the way the Bible teaches it. All right. So then, we find that a lot of people in the world today, religious people are greatly mixed up, and they are in derision in their minds and they can't find their way, because they are blinded by their own desire of life, in that the Bible said that every man's ways are right in his own eyes, and he's always going after his own thing, for the Bible teaches that every man has turned to his own way, and he desires that of his own way of life, as seeking his own gain, and letting the house of the Lord lay waste, as to say, This house, or this building, not to say that, but to say this building of our body. We are not walking in the light a lot of times, not doing the things we ought to a lot of times, not obeying God and conforming to the ways of God, and thus this building, as to to say this house, not made with hands as to what God has made, this building, we've turned it into to place of money changers and into lust and into covetousness, and gullible desire, as to the things of the world looking for pride, prestige, looking for positions, wanting to be a celebrity or some great dignitary, or wanting to do something in the world as to bring glory and honor to us. So we find out in that that we are the bastard child when we do that. Later on it will be revealed to us that the other one loved the Lord, though we might have called them a drunkard, or harlot, or whatever. If they come to God, they repent of their sins, and they get born again, they are clean and they are holy, and they are just and right with God. When Joshua took the children to go over into Canaan, though the people had been called out of Egypt and though they were to be God's chosen people, and God's chosen nation, they complained so much that God sware in His wrath that these people shall not enter into My rest, and let them wander for forty long years until all the men of war died because they discouraged the hearts of people, they would not trust God, they complained against Moses, and then raised up their children and took them over into Canaan. And the Bible said, And He circumcised all of them, bringing in a new covenant because these were children born of the others and it wasn't sufficient, as to the first covenant, to get over the Jordan because of the grumbling and the complaining, though they had gone through the modes of the covenant, as to the circumcision, or whatever. But God just laid it all aside and they had to go through the whole thing again with a new generation that they could come over the Jordan and inherit new harvests, or that which was in Canaan. So then, God is doing the same thing today. The elders are dying in the wilderness. Everything, as to religion and all these other things where they have exalted and raised themselves up, God is putting them down and they are turning to the world and they have gone after the world and they've complained against the ministry and they've found fault and God is bringing in the youth and giving the youth a great and a new day. It's like the boy Orion, the Jew that we talked to while we were over in Israel. He said, You know, even concerning the war, he said, We're glad that America is in here fighting for us. And even as Mr. Bush, lifting God up in it so that God could bring us into a new thing for God. There was young boys and also girls that were involved that's dying and spilling their blood over there in the behalf of a religious nation. God protecting Israel. Why would God do that? Because God cannot protect Israel in the condition they're in, and He can protect them, as to the church being in America, having America to move in the way that it's moving, He can protect them from this move of America, because we are not just a religious nation, but in the midst of us the real genuine church of the blood bought of Christ is here. And as long as the church is in the midst of America, America will never be a defeated nation. When the church goes out then America will be just like all other nations. So then, God defending the Jews, in that in the later times He will bring them back in. In the later times to save them He has raised up America. You remember we said that Mr. Bush was God's man for the hour, that he would go into office, and what we understood. And when it looked bad for him as though he would not go it, yet God did put him in. And he has so excelled in this that I understand that recently some Chinese professor, a long with other people, was praising Bush out along the streets saying that his name would be immortalized and that he would be worshipped for millions of years, I believe was the terms that they used. Anyway, I'm just saying that to say this. that God is still looking for a people. He's still looking for somebody to be born again and somebody to be filled with His Spirit. And as I told the brethren last night, it doesn't matter if we belong to Bethlehem and it doesn't matter if we come to Bethlehem, it doesn't matter what we do, as to sacrifice whatever it might be, if we are not filled with the Spirit of God, or born of the Spirit of God then we don't have God. The Bible said if you have not My Spirit you are none of Mine, in that God is a Spirit and if we don't have the Spirit of God it doesn't matter what we do, all of our other efforts are void and vain. We must have the Spirit of God to be able to be translated into the kingdom of God. You are not going to wait around and suddenly the change is going to take place and you are going to go away to heaven. It isn't going to work that way at all. God is a Spirit and the first thing that He does as a Spirit is to translate your spirit into the oneness of His Spirit. And from that He begins to work that that indwelling Spirit of Christ on the inside of you, as to the nature and the likeness of God, as to the Son of God's way of life, that it be made manifest in your mortal genes little by little as from light to light, that is, understanding to understanding, and transformation of mind until you reach the full measure of the full stature of the perfect man Christ Jesus, going on to the full reward that God has given us in Christ Jesus by virtue of what Christ Himself has done for us. And if you don't have His Spirit in there then the translation isn't going to take place. Number one is the translation of your spirit, for the Bible said the law and the prophets until John, since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, men press their way into it, and the Bible said that we, pressing our way in, that our spirit is translated into Christ's Spirit. Or that is, we are translated by faith in the works of Jesus into the kIngdom of God to be the sons of God. For now, beloved, are ye the sons of God, though it does not appear as to your change into the glory that will outshine the brightness of the noonday. But you are already sons of God. As to your inner being having been translated into the marvelous kingdom of God we're already sons of God. The flesh profiteth nothing. It's dead, buried in baptism, and we're waiting for the change. Even though we've been resurrected from the dead, and buried with Christ in baptism in His death, so are we risen with Christ and we are alive forever more, having passed from death unto life, then we are alive forever more, and here we are tonight sons and daughters of God. But if you do not have His Spirit, then you are not His child. And if you do not have His Spirit then you must be born again. If you are not born again, whether you are Jew or Gentile, Greek, whatever it might be you'll not even see the kingdom of God. How could you be a chosen people when you'll not even see the kingdom of God. See? Every man must be born again for God is a Spirit. And they that worship God must worship Him in Spirit and in truth, even Jesus being among the Jews, though He was not a Jew, He was of divine conception He still had the Jewish mother. And even Jesus, the Lord Jesus, witnessed to the woman at the well. Said, Though salvation is of the Jew, that is to say coming through a mother, here comes Christ as in His name. Salvation in none other. In none other name under heaven given where you can find salvation. But still He said God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and truth. Talking to the woman at the well, not that she was a Jew, but talking to the woman at the well He, being as we suppose a Jew, and yet not a Jew, because all nations, Gentile or Jew, or born of one blood. And that blood, as to the blood of Adam, as in Adam all die in that the life is in the blood. God will not accept that blood, because that blood is contaminated whether it be Jew, Gentile, whatever it might be. But in Christ all is made alive in that divine conception of this blood seed, and our life is hid with Christ in God whom the heaven have received until the time of the coming of the Lord, or the restoring of all things. Or that is to say, And when He, our life, comes to us, or He our life returns, the Bible said. So then, when He comes we know that we'll be like Him for we shall see His as He is. But as of now, you have to have His Spirit. You have to be translated into the marvelous kingdom of God. That's the only way you can do it. If you have not His Spirit then you are none of His. If you are born of the Spirit, then your spirit has been translated into Christ's Spirit, and whether you know much, or know little, you are still a child of God. Though you might be just a babe in the Lord and have to desire the sincere milk of the Word that you might grow thereby, yet you are still a child of God and should the change of the body take place then you would be there, because you are already on the inside as to the translated spirit you have already been changed and translated into the kingdom, and when that glory, as to Christ, appears the glory within you will make contact with this in between, as to the veil being rent, in that Christ rent it in your behalf, that body is gone. There was no veil in between you and God and all of a sudden the glorified flesh of Christ, or the body of the Lord will be there and you'll find out that because you had His Spirit, then that made you His son. So then, in Christ neither male nor female. That means that you are sons of God, having been born of God and that is because you have His Spirit that you are His. All right. I thank the Lord for having a chance to exhort you a little bit, still kind of tired, jet lag or, whatever you want to call it, from the trip and I have to stop and think just a little bit as I go along, but we're still strong and healthy in the Lord. Still being blessed of the Lord. Still ready to witness for God, whether on the home front or abroad, whatever it might be. Let's everybody stand together and sing a chorus or two before we dismiss tonight. I'm not going to hold you any longer, as to talk with you, because already we spent a good bit of time, as to the little prelude, as to talking with you and because of that we won't spend a lot of time. All right. Can we sing together? I want to say again that we're glad to have you here tonight. We're thankful for you being with us. We appreciate you coming out. Every time that you are here we appreciate your presence. We greatly appreciate those that make an effort for Christ, giving honor to all, and the Bible said double honor to them that labor in the Lord. And we do give double honor unto them that labor in Christ, that are willing to share their time, or their strength, or their substance, or those that have a concern for world evangelism and people's needs around the world. The Bible said hating the garment that's spotted with sin, pulling them out of the fire. So we appreciate you and your efforts. May the Lord bless you. I am praying that He will. I'm praying that He will. Praying that God will (Begin tape two, side one.) bless you. The song writer said, May the Lord bless you real good, give you joy and peace, as we say, in your neighborhood. We're looking for His will. May the Lord bless you real good. I'm praying that He will. Let's sing a little chorus together, can we? (Sings Sweep Over My Soul.) Tonight while we're singing the altars are open and you can come if you like and pray together. (Sings Haven Of Rest, I Need Thee, Don't Turn Him Away and Everybody Ought To Know.) Let's sing this little chorus. (Sings Sweet Jesus.) One more time. (Continues singing.) Can we give Him a hand? Jesus, Jesus, what a wonder You are. More precious, more precious than gold. Let's sing one or two more choruses then we'll dismiss. (Sings I Don't Need No Gold Or Silver.) Let's sing this little chorus. (Sings Let Tomorrow Be Tomorrow.) Sing that with me. (Continues singing.) Can you sing that one more time? (Continues singing.) One more time together. Help me, Frank. (Continues singing.) Help me sing it. (Continues singing.) All right. Let's lift our hands up together. I've enjoyed being with you. I know you are probably tired tonight. I'm a little bit tired yet I'm still enjoying the wonderful praises of God. I feel like singing this one before we sing that one. Just lift your hands up and let's close our eyes. (Sings Across The Bridge.) Sing that one with me. (Continues singing.) Sing that with me. (Continues singing and sings I Will Praise Him.) One more time together. (Continues singing.) I think I'll ask Brother Bob to come up and dismiss us. Since Bob is with us tonight from California I'd like for Bob to come up and dismiss us if he would. (Continues singing.) One more time while Bob is coming. (Continues singing.)

By Rev. George Leon Pike Sr.

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

Holiness Unto The Lord