The Source Of Faith

(Singing) Can you wave the answer back? One more time together let's wave the answer to the Lord. (Singing) Let's give Him a hand, can we? I don't see why David didn't go ahead and minister. I had ask him to minister for me this morning and I didn't know he was on the platform until I turned around and there he was. But I really felt the anointing, didn't you feel the anointing? I feel like he could have really preached to us. I don't see why he didn't. Well, he was talking about being hoarse, I stay that way. I don't know, somehow or another the floor doesn't work as good as the bed and no matter how warm it is it seems like that some way or another you take cold. Let's sing this little chorus Brother Taylor. I'm tied up pretty much. David really should have ministered for us. Give me another key. (Singing) You can be seated. I didn't know I was as tied up as bad as I am tied up this morning. We use to sing that song quite a bit, hold the fort. I always like that song. Now, I'm just going to talk to you a few minutes. I was hoping David would minister. First of all, the other night we got into the dispute over the body. What is this that Jude spoke of when he said the dispute over the body? He really had a vision and a revelation to look way back in the days of Moses to see the dispute over the body because it's not recorded in the Bible unless it is in some of the other scrolls somewhere. Whereas, there are some things that's recorded in some of the other scrolls that you don't have in this Bible. I've run across them and some of the things that are recorded in this Bible are in other scrolls. I've run across those. Even kind of like what's called the Dead Sea Scrolls, or the Essene Scrolls that were found over near the Dead Sea. He went down to see those. Remember how that they had gotten them and found out that they were valuable and they had torn them into little giblets. Had sold them to the people and they had put them together, little tiny giblets, a great mass of things they had put together like a puzzle to protect those scrolls. And they have them in an archive over in Jerusalem. But when we say the dispute over the body, He spoke of the dispute over the body. The other night we brought this out pretty much, as to what the dispute over the body was and why that the devil would dispute over the body. And we explained how that man being in the feminine perspective of life how that this is why that Satan did it. It was an act of harlotry in the garden and it has been an act of harlotry ever since and that as Eve was stolen by the beast it was really Satan stealing the body from God and the real Eve was Adam. And the real Adam was the Spirit of Christ which later returns as the second man Adam. Or Adam returning and that the other was only a symbol and a type that God, who in His great awesome wisdom gave so that we could understand and communicate with the invisible world. You know, like the song writer said, Invisible hands they will guide me and invisible hands will show me the way. Well, Paul uses such an approach in the Bible when He says God is the invisible God, the God whom I serve with my spirit. And God being a spirit then that means he is invisible and it means that He is ever present. He's ever present, above you, in you and through you. He filleth all in all, and when He ask Solomon and David, what kind of house can you build me seeing that I fill all in all? Heaven is My throne and earth is My footstool. But He allows us to have little houses and little places of worship but in all reality God's house is your body and it's many members. And it has been for six thousand years, almost. So it's a big house. In My Father's house there are many mansions. If it had not been so I would have told you. And those mansions have to do with the elect body, the change of that body into that beautiful celestial being that you're going to be. And that is many member's, for the Father's house is the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And those many members that are there in that body, it is the flesh and bone of the Lord Jesus Christ, and those are mansions. And He said, I go away to prepare a place for you. If I go I'll come again to receive you into my own, that where I am there you may be also. So He did. He returned. He went away, He said I prepare a place. And the preparation was that He took His own blood as a priest, as a priest Christ, the high priest, took the blood of His own body and set that body as a blood dipped vesture yonder at the right hand of the Father. And today it's on the seat of atonement. As long as it's on the mercy seat, neath the covering cherubs, then that means everybody can go on living. Whether they live right or whether they don't live right, they are still in heaven. And there is a real dispute, you know. I've never heard anybody preach that. I've never known anybody to say that, but nevertheless, that's what it shows. It is that they are in heaven. And everybody being in heaven, as I said, they're enjoying the wonderfulness, even of this great America. And being in heaven, sometimes that's a little bit besetting to us, or we get beside ourself about these things because we think, Well, you know, Brother Pike, you're just eccentric. You don't know what you're talking about. When you say in heaven, this can't possible be. But I can assure you it is exactly the way that I tell you. The only thing is, it's not that I don't understand what I'm saying, it's just that some of you don't understand what I'm saying. And though you think you do, you don't. See? And where you make your mistake is that you don't understand heaven. Now, if you understood heaven and if you understood hell and if you understood the world — You don't even understand the world. Many of you don't even understand the world. But if you understood these three things then you'd know precisely what I'm saying and there wouldn't be any questions in your mind. But these things are for advanced scholars in Christ and people that have given themselves to Christ. The Bible said the meat is for the strong. They who have by exercising their senses they discern the good and the evil. And even though you have preachers everywhere, hundreds and thousands of preachers and they are advanced, but they still are not advanced far enough to understand like they need to understand. They just kind of work with the milk of the Word. But one of the problems where we get a hang up is when I say that they are in heaven then you go to your human reasoning and you start reasoning according to your human logic and what you've been taught in school and what you've developed, as your human being from the birth of the first man Adam. Now you'll never find it there because the Bible said though you be ever so brilliant, even as Einstein, as we say so often, the natural man receiveth not the things of God and neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned. So that means they are foolishness, the Bible says, to him. And so, to us the wisdom of man in all of his speculations are foolishness to us. For God hath made the wisdom of this world foolishness because they did not recognize Christ at His coming, as to say God when He came in human form. So, when we get a hang up one of the places we get a hang up is that when we say heaven we say, Well, my God, Brother Pike, are we going to be up there with all of these renegades and all of these people and all of these devils? Fornicators, and liars and cheats and swindlers? If we're going to be up there with them well I about as soon stay here in the world. I've heard people make statements, you know, along these lines but that's because they don't understand. Though they have great ability and though they are real intelligent they still don't understand. And the Bible said not only do they not understand but the Bible said the wicked shall not understand. And they are blinded by the ignorance within them. Whereas Paul said, I would not have you ignorant, blinded by that ignorance of the intellectual tree of knowledge and the human logic of life. So they do not understand. God said they do not understand. So if you dispute with that then dispute with God; don't dispute with me. I'm just here to tell you what God said. The Bible said he that God sendeth will speak God's Word. That's God's Word. So then, with your brilliance you argue with Him. They don't understand. He said they don't understand. If He said they don't understand, He made them, He knows they don't understand. But one hang up is that when we come to this thing one of the things that we need to understand, like the Lord told Brother Branham one time when Brother Branham got lost off in the snow and he couldn't find his way back to the camp and it looked like that the snow was so bad that he would die in spite of all and he was needed back at the camp. And it was a real time of peril. But he said he heard a voice and the voice said, William Branham, you need to know something that you don't know. Or that is, you don't know something that you should know. And, of course, Brother Branham thought for sure that he did know. He was a prophet and he thought sure that he did know. And that's where we get into problems, see? We think that we know. Even though we have a preacher and we feel like we're going to listen at the preacher and we're going to listen at the lesson, but we're just going to listen for more things because we know that we know. And then that's when we get into problems because it is a proven fact that we don't know. And since we don't know that makes things complicated enough, but beyond that not only do we not know but then we can never know if we think that way because we are carnally minded and the carnal mind is enmity with God and God won't never even get near it. And when we think that we know something that we don't know something, we don't something as we ought to know, the Bible says. (Begin tape one, side two.) ...carnal man never receives the things of God. Not only do we not know it but we will never know it. With all of our scholars, with all of our institutions we will never know it and we will never understand it. With all of our Einstein we will never even get near it. He says that the eyes will never behold it. The eyes of a vulture will never see it. The wayfaring fool that stumbles on everything during his lifetime, he stumbles into the bar room, he stumbles into the church, he stumbles everywhere. Said, he will never run across it. And said, Eye hath not seen and ear hath never heard it. And said, It will never enter into their heart and they shall never see light, which is understanding. So then, that means that not only do they not know and understand, they are ever learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth. They'll never know. So you say, Well, what are you saying, Brother Pike? I'm saying that they are ignorant and Paul said, I would not have you ignorant. With all of their learning they're ignorant. Not only are they ignorant but it's going to cost them their lives, their soul. It's going to cost them their wealth. All their life they're going to labor for wealth to lose it. Labor for businesses, labor to become the ecclesia of the world, to become great statesmen and dignitaries and lose every bit of it. Lose all of their talents, all that they labored for because they are ignorant. The Bible said they are ignorant. God said they are ignorant and blinded by the ignorance that is within them. If the blind lead the blind, he said, they all fall into the ditch. So all of them are going to fall into the ditch. Three million people came out of Egypt and went blind to the extent that the Bible says concerning three million Jews, or there about, He swear that they would never enter into His rest, never, because of their mumbling and grumbling and they were so conceited and so sure with their acts of diplomacies in that day that even when Jesus came he said, Pharisees, Scribes, doctors of the law, he said, hypocrites, he said, you're blind. You are whited sepulchres and you're full of dead men's bones. And they were suppose to be the elite of religion. But, nevertheless, He confronted them. Even in Noah's day Noah had a revelation and this great revelation led him to do what God said and they just called him a fool, so to speak and mocked him and all of them perished. And then when Moses brought them out of Egypt, three million people, the Bible said all day long I've stretched forth My hand to Israel but you are a gainsaying people and you wouldn't listen at me and I'll provoke you to jealousy with a people that is no people. I'll go to the Gentiles and I'll get me a bride out of the Gentiles, so He cut them off. And the Bible says because you worshipped your God Remphan and Moloch, He said, I give you up to the host of heaven, to worship the host of heaven and He turned His back on them and left them and three million of them perished because they didn't understand when they thought they understood. They said, Where is this Moses? We know not what has happened to him? Build us a calf and give us something to worship. And so they did. They would dance and they had their frolics, life they're doing today. Give us something. Religion is old fashioned. Let us do something. We want to drink and we want to dance and we want our music and we've got a lot of entertainers and we've got all kind of programs and all kind of plans. What has happened to this great leader that we're suppose to have, as to the minister? Where did he go? We know not what happened to him. And so they took their gold and their silver and they spoiled everything and God got so angry He broke the covenant. And when He broke the stones of the covenant He swore that they wouldn't enter in and He made Moses go down and grind it up and put it in the water and make them drink it. And they're having to swallow down the bitterness of it right now. Their gold and their silver, He said, you'll throw it to the bats and you'll run for the mountains and cry for the mountains and rocks to fall on you and hide you from the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne in the coming of the great day of His great wrath. And all of your skills and all of your ability will mean nothing. Well, anyway, this is the case. And as I say, one of the things that we get a hang up on on the heavenly part is that we don't understand that there is three heavens. Though we hear this taught that there are three heavens; yet we cannot get a hold of a first power and a second power and third power. You know, it's really amusing because in the school they have a little ole type of what God's doing. They are like little children playing with a rag doll but they still believe in it. They believe in it. They teach them these things and they believe in it when really there is nothing to what they're doing except just a lot of heresy and a lot of foolishness. The Bible said it's nothing but foolishness. But there is a real God power and it's told to us as those three that bear witness in the earth as water, blood and spirit. And it's told to us that there are three that bear record in heaven and it brings it to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. So these three are three different offices and powers of dominion and there are three heavens in that Paul said, Such a one as I knew was caught up to the third heaven. So when we see this then it makes us realize that when we say these others are in heaven they are in heaven. Someone would dispute that and say, Well, that don't sound too logical to me. But see? That's where you get off trial, is with your human logic. The natural man cannot receive the things of God because he's got to have a logical explanation and there is no logical explanation. I challenge anybody in the world to give me a logical explanation for God. Show me where He's at. Show me what He's doing, put your finger on Him and let me look at Him. You can't do it. See? God is beyond human logic. Human logic is nothing but a lot of foolishness. And not only foolishness but it's all vanity and vexation of the spirit. It's an ever learning and never finding any truth in it. And because of that the world is taken in their human logic and they're caught within the radius and confines of their human senses which makes them a bondschild on their belly like a serpent and all of their labor is for their belly and their mouth because their belly and their mouth craves it of them. So, instead of having a mouth of God, instead of being the gates of heaven that when they open their lips the sweet odor of Christ comes and the wonderful heavenly treasures begin to express themselves. They are the gates to hell and when they open their mouths, it's like smoking a cigarette. When they open their mouth the smoke foams out of them and evil comes out of their lips. And from the heart the mouth speaketh and blasphemy and adultery and all of the evil things for the Bible said the poison of asps is under their tongue and their tongue is full of deceit and their eyes full of destruction. And God has put them on their belly. So like the serpent they crawl on their belly. All of their labor is for their belly. And they eat dust all the days of their lives. All they do is feed off of the fat of the land because that's all they can do. Well, anyway, when we come down to these things then we realize then that this great world is nothing. It's actually vanity. All that in it is vanity. The wise man Solomon said it is vanity. Said, Not only is it vanity, which is a reflection, not only is it vanity but it is vexation of the Spirit of God. That it is carnality and that it vexes God, that God has nothing to do with in that Lucifer is the God of this world. He is the God of this world and this world belongs to Lucifer. And the people of this world belong to Lucifer and he runs it according to his intellectual indoctrination of his institutions which is the old tree of knowledge. And I say again, sin gets its strength by the law so he forces it by the badge and gun, even from the little child on up so that he can keep control of everything. And not only that. He puts it under a numerical order because he does not, Satan does not have enough sense to know how to run the thing and he does not have enough sense to be able. And when I say sense I'm differentiating between human senses and your five senses and the sense that we speak of as having a mind that has the ability to control. So he is a robber. He is a thief. He is a liar. He is a cheat. He is a deceiver. He is a con. He is a fornicator. And he is a power of destruction. He goes about to destroy but the Lord has destroyed him and it will be made manifest that He has. And Paul said God shortly shall bruise his head under our feet, which means the old intellectual head. After awhile we'll put it under our feet and rise up with the revelation of God so high that these intellectual brilliants will look so bad that you will know that it's like making a comparison with Jewels and the difference between a zircon and a diamond, or a phony, as we call it, and a real jewel. Because that's all they are. They are not real jewels; they are phonies. But the Bible speaks in the book of Malachi and it speaks of making up the jewels. It speaks in some of the other places in the Bible, when I make up my jewels. And he has reference to them as different terminology, but he said when I make up my jewels I will write a book of remembrance and I will spare them as a man spareth his son because they spake often of me. Because there are jewels and these are those that have the day star dawning within them of the revelational light of this wonderful brilliance that excels so, as in the days of Stephen. They could not withstand the wisdom by which he spake as they beheld his face as that of an angel. And he being just a common fellow, but they were suppose to be doctors of the law of that day and yet they could not withstand his wisdom. And one day, the Bible said, they that have turned many to righteousness shall shine as the brightness of the noonday. So, when we see this wonderful thing then we know that we are a royal generation. We are a chosen priesthood. We are kings in the earth. I have made you priests and I've made you kings. Priests as intercessors because unless you pray I will not hear the people. You must intercede for them. The Bible said making intercession for them as the body of Christ Jesus, standing in Christ's stead and beseeching God that these should be reconciled unto Him. And beseeching God that He would grant repentance unto them that are in the earth. This is why God chose the Jews. He used them as a priesthood and the priesthood continued all those years and it was the intercessors for you and I and they became the scapegoat. And even today they have gone out of the presence of God so that you can stay in the presence of God. And as the head of that body died, which was Jesus, so died the members of it. As the head of it suffered so suffered the members and one day they will be brought back for the Bible said they're enemies as touching the Gentiles and the church, as to the elect. They are God's elect. When it comes to God's elect they are beloved and He's going to bring them back because they are in the earth for a thousand years to restore all that the intellectuals have taken away. And that's what we are hear at this time. The reason our body hasn't been changed is to make us relate to the world as a near kinsman that we might keep on until we bring everybody out from among them people. You know, and this is what is so besetting to me and besetting to God and the real Christian people, is instead of bringing them out from the world our preachers are indoctrinating them that they should be good people in their community. They should seek for the offices of the community and the offices in our government. And that they should look for all of these things that belong to the world so that they can find prestige and they can find the pride of life, in that the devil is the king of pride and find the pride of life and everybody will look on their church and really accept their church and that they can get into the olympics and they can mix a little ball game with it and television and all these other things. A little partying, and be moderate and social drinkers. That in doing this, if they do this then they will be part of the world and the church and the world gets together. But see? God didn't say do that. He said, Come out from among them and be a separate people. I don't want you messing with those people. I killed that image. I despise their image, He said. The light has now dawned and I despise their image. He said in the old testament, I will despise your image in the morning. And the morning light came and it dawned and the day star came and now has come light, He said. And great light has sprang up unto them that sat in the regions of the shadow of death and now you are a separate people. Now your light has come. Put on your beautiful garments, O Zion. Get away from all of that thing. Don't chew the rag with the old goat. Get away from it. Those people are animals, even the Jews knew they were animals and they looked on you as dogs and swine because they knew that they were animals because they were the chosen priesthood. But the only thing is they got it all mixed up because they didn't get God's Spirit. And God's spirit was only with them and they didn't realize that they were the same as all the rest as all born in Adam or the same and came through the beast unless you have the potentiality of that of the butterfly, as in the cocoon, that will change you and bring you through the metamorphosis of Calvary, see? And they did not know that they were not the true Jews and that the true Jews were yet to come. And then when the true Jew came then we could look back and realize in pity, not in prestige and pride and Lord over them, but in pity and realize that those people are animals and that is all they have. This is the land of Esau. And you remember Esau was so hairy, like an animal. Jacob was a smooth man. So, in seeing this we realize also that Jacob didn't care about hunting and going out in the fields and being out in the fields to hunt and all of these kind of things. He was different from that but Esau wanted to be with te wild animals; always out there. And finally the thing that caused him to lose the birthright, he was gone out to get something for his dad, to kill something, you know and make him that meat, that vinson meat, that vinson meat that he liked and then he finally lost the birthright. And, you know, we made this statement a number of times, if Isaac had gone by the voice, whereas the Bible said, And the voice of one, you know. And His sheep know the voice. And if he'd gone by the voice that he heard, he said, You voice sounds like Jacob. But having the little sheep skin on, or whatever the goat skin was, whatever he put on it, see? Having this when he rubbed over that he said, but you feel like my son Esau. And that's what people do, they do by their feelings. They say, Well, I feel like I know. I feel like I understand. I feel different about it. See? They say think but actually your thoughts are nothing but feelings, which is like an old catfish putting out his little feelers, you know. And when he puts those things out it kind of types a little message on the brain. It's feel, it's human feelings, it's a human quickening and if he had gone by the voice he would have given the birthright to the one he wanted to give it to, but God made it so that he wouldn't do that because the birthright didn't belong to Esau. And we've tried to explain that, that the Bible emphatically states that Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated. Jacob being a type of the spirit and Esau being a type of the animal part, which is the body. And God had given Jacob this birthright from the foundation of the world for the Bible said by foreknowledge you have given us these things in the mind of God and then brought them to light at Calvary through the rent veil and has preached them to us down through the church ages that we might comprehend the heights, depths and the width, which is Jacob's stairway into heaven through the transformation of the mind coming from the human senses into the wonderful mind of God. Which I say, Satan, doth not have that kind of understanding and senses and all he does is just keep the whole world in a turmoil and in a mess. He keeps the ocean roaring. He tears up the heavens, he wrecks. There is nothing but disaster, there is nothing but sorrows and diseases, He intermingles and he doesn't have any thoroughbreds. He always cross breeding and it's just foolishness. It's just foolishness in his mind. His old mind is the intellectual wisdom displayed through the intellectuals, as to the houses of prostitution, or institutions of the world which Martin Luther said was becoming the gates of hell in his day. So then, he doesn't know how to run anything and the whole world is therefore, because of this, waiting for the manifestation of the Sons of God. For the Sons of God will come forth. And when the Sons of God come forth they're going to have the mind of Christ and they're going to know how to order things and they're going to take it out of the hands of this perverted law and perverted government that we've got and this perverted educational system and they're going to bring the truth and their going to have the right kind of mind and they're going to come to that wonderful place to where all they have to do is speak something and it will come to pass. Decree it in their heart and will come to pass. Ask and believe and don't doubt and it will come to pass. And, you know, and we think of this as something that's foreign and something that's way off and that maybe someday these things can be and what we would do, you know, if God would just hurry and bring that on. But this, again, is the error of the misunderstanding of the world. The church world doesn't understand because it is no such day as that coming. It is such thing that that already is. For now, beloved, are ye the sons of God. Say what you will and it will be done. And when Jesus cursed the fig tree, at the time that He cursed it Peter marvelled. Though he'd been with Him he marvelled and He said, Why do you marvel at this? He said, I say unto you, all you have to do is just say to that mountain over there, be removed and don't doubt in your heart and it will happen. And whatever you say will happen, Peter. Now, you know, I want to say this, take just a moment or two to elaborate but I'm not going to hold you long. We think, Well, Lord, this could be. If I could fast about ninety days and I could fast about ninety days about a hundred times, and if I could pray all night, you know, and pray all night about two thousand times, you know, and if I could live about forty years and I'd get everything in tact and, Lord, when I get everything out of my life and I don't make any mistakes then I just know that this would happen. But, folks, I'm telling you that's ignorance. That's an erroneous thing in your life that will never be. There will never come the day when you don't make a mistake. That will never be until you are changed in this body. It will never be. And if that's the time that you're going to display the power of God then what need is it to display the power of God because it's like the little superman theory, you know, of the world or the little whatever you call it. It wouldn't be a theory it would just be one of the ignorance of the people that God has allowed to be here to give you a typical thing. You know, on the planet all of them were superman. And if you're going to be up there with the angels and you're going to be in heaven and all of you are the same, then why wait. What God was wanting was for you to administer through this body which has never been changed that it might be valuable to Him in this present world that you're living in. In this present world. He needs an administration in this present world. He wants you to do that right now. He said I want you to bear much fruit. Bear much fruit. I want you to do that. Don't come asking me. I want you to do that. I tell you ahead of time. And you're fruit shall be that whatever you ask in my name I'll do it. And I want you to bear much fruit. He told the disciples, He said, You haven't ask anything in my name. From hence forth ask in my name that you may have fruit. Now, when we consider this we say, Well, how does this work? And I've said this a lot of times: The Word being a personification in the body, just said, Peter, come. Because he wanted to come. Peter walked on the water. It had never been done before except by Christ Jesus but there he was showing that the man that was a servant could be as his master, and there he was walking on the water like his master. And the very minute he took his eyes off of the Word then his faith went out on him like that and fear struck him and down he went. How quick did that happen. That quick. Just as quick as he changed those eyes, as Peter said look on us, and got his eyes of understanding — It wasn't his eyes that saw the water that did it. That wasn't what it was. It was his eyes of understanding and fear struck because he was a fisherman. He knew the raging sea. He knew the depths of that sea and they say it's one of the most treacherous in the world. So down he went. That's how quick faith works and how quick faith fails, that quick. And then all of a sudden Peter screamed and looked up and said, Oh, God save me! And the very minute he looked back at the word, down went the hand of the Lord. For He said, My hand is not short that I can not reach you. My ear is not dull that I cannot hear you but said, Your iniquities have separated between thee and thy God and held thee back from good things. Iniquity is the results of unbelief and evil heart. And the very minute that he took fear, which was faith in reverse, then that meant that, or believing in reverse. That meant that he was in trouble. He had lost his faith. So then, faith is from the heart. Your human reasoning and believing up here, that's one thing. And we could preach right now for maybe three solid hours and barely scratch the surface on differentiating between faith and make belief. But, anyway, I said all of that to say this: That same Peter learned a lesson to the extent that though he had cursed, though he had denied that he ever knew the Lord he cursed. He not only denied him thrice as Jesus said he would, but he cursed and denied Him. And yet Jesus so gently looked at him and said, Peter, I prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. I say so many times to you, his works had already failed. But I prayed for you, Peter, that your faith fail not. Now when you are strengthened you go strengthen the Brethren. Or that is, when you get converted, Peter. And when he got converted look at Peter, raising the dead, doing the great things he done. But, you know, it taught Peter a lesson because Peter thought, I know, I can do it. And the Lord said, Peter, you can't go with me right now. But he said, Lord, I can go with You. I'm ready to die, because he was a courageous man. I'm ready to die. It's evident he was courageous or he wouldn't have stepped out on the water. He said, I'll go with You. I'm ready to die for You, why can't I go with You. And Jesus said, Peter, would you die for me? Verily, verily I say unto thee that before the cock crows thou shalt deny me thrice. Peter couldn't believe that but when Peter denied Him and he realized what he had done then you find Peter thinking differently. And over there when Peter healed the man that was the cripple at the gate, he took his hands, he lifted the man up and the man's ankle bones immediately received strength. He leaped. He ran. He praised God going into the temple and about five thousand people supposedly gathered. And Peter said, Why look ye so earnestly on us as though we did this by our own holiness? See? He knew. He knew. God taught Peter a lesson. He knew. Why look ye on us? You know, that is to say, if you knew that I cursed and I denied the Lord. If you realized just how weak I really am and contemptible, just how contemptible I really am you'd know that it's by the faith of this man and the faith of Jesus Christ whom with wicked hands you've taken and crucified, as to the Lord Jesus, when Pilate was determined to let Him go and couldn't find any fault with Him. So when he realized that it was by faith he was altogether different. See? Your salvation is by faith. You have never done a deed in your life, not one deed. Not one deed in your whole life that was ever the pleasure of God. All that you ever done in an act of righteousness was filthy rags except when it was sanctified by the Holy Ghost after that you were born again and it was the works of the Holy Ghost and the unction of the Holy Ghost and it was the Holy Ghost emanating from within you and Jesus said, And it is He, the Holy Ghost, that doeth the work. It is My Father that doeth the works. That is to say, the tree that bears apples would say to you, I have nothing to do with it. It is my nature to bear apples. My nature just puts forth at the springtime when the great sunlight draws and out comes the sap and out comes the apples. I am only a carrier of this thing. So you are Sons of God and you dwell in these tabernacles and the tabernacle has nothing to do with it. God has killed it. He's done away with it. He's destroyed it. He despises it's image. It doesn't matter how passionate you feel. It doesn't matter how you favor the human senses, how much education you've got, how much brilliance you've got, how much skill you've got, how much intellect and money you've got. It doesn't matter how you dazzle before the public or whether your profile is beautiful to behold, or your body. It doesn't matter about that. That doesn't matter at all. That's like Marilyn Monroe. I believe they said she had the perfect body but God didn't care about that. She's dead. She was dead as a young woman. So God isn't interested in that. That doesn't mean anything to Him. Charles Atlas, the man with the perfect body, but his dead. That didn't mean anything to God. See? The flesh profiteth nothing. It doesn't matter what you've ever done, what you're planning to do. It's always been selfish. There's been a motif behind it but what the Holy Ghost does is charitable. There is no personal ambition. There is no selfishness about it. It is God administrating through the body. What He wants to do is become interwoven with your spirit that you should administrate through this body and that His mind should control your body. And in doing that you can say what you will because with His mind — He said, Let this mind be you that was also in Christ Jesus. With this mind also comes His faith. And the faith that comes in that is the faith of His mind just like the faith that you have, or the believing that you have. It is of your human senses which is your mind, a derivative from the world. And already contaminated to start with. You're interwoven with it from your first birth. He hates your image. But you know what? We can give our image to God. He hath nailed it to the tree. He hath poured His wrath out on it in the fullness and taking the very best of us. That is to say, Jesus was the best but no flesh glorying in the sight of God. He smote it to say, None of you are good enough. (Begin tape two, side one.) ..and the faith that comes with that is the faith of his mind, just like the faith that you have, or the believing that you have. It is of your human senses, which is your mind; a derivative from the world and already contaminated to start with. You are interwoven with it from your first birth. He hates your image, but you know what? We can give our image to God. He hath nailed it to the tree. He hath poured his wrath out on it in the fullness and taking the very best of us. That is to say, Jesus was the best but no flesh glorying in the sight of God. He smote it to say, None of you are good enough. None of you are good enough. And the Christ smoke it, put it out of the way because it's in the image of iniquity saying, Don't anybody ever trust in it because if I wouldn't do it for My Son you can be sure I won't do it for you. But, folks, when you receive the Spirit of God, if you don't have His Spirit you're none of His, and when you receive the Spirit of God you are perfect. You are sanctified. You are justified. You're glorified. And do you know where the problem comes in? It's like faith. When it comes to faith you don't have to pray all night. You don't have to fast all night, all day. You don't have to do these things to believe God. Somebody says, But, Brother Pike, I've got this thing figured out. I'm a Bible scholar and I've been in the Bible and I know the Bible said fast and pray and you know, I know that to. How many of you know that I know that, too? But I also know the Bible said where they fasted and prayed, wherefore, have we fasted, say they, and Thou takest no knowledge? Is this the fast that I've chosen, that a man should bow down his head like a bull rush and spread sackcloth and ashes under his feet? Or under him? Is this the fast that I have chosen, or is this the fast that I've chosen that ye should loose the bands of wickedness? That is, help people. Loose it from yourself. Loose it from others and take the hungry in and feed the hungry. And take people that are naked. That is, people overseas, people around your own community. Take them into your heart. Take them in and feed them and cloth them. Then thy health shall return unto thee speedily, thy light shall break forth as the morning, thy reward shall be the Lord and it shall come to pass that He will hear before you ever even speak. So, then when we think about this, what are we doing? We are confidenting the heart. John said if we do the things that please God then do we confident the heart. And when we confident the heart we know that God hears us. That's faith. And Paul said, Always I strive to keep a conscience void of offense toward man and God. I don't let things build up that offend God or man. And when we have this confidence we know that God hears us and if know that God hears us then we know that we have the petition we desire of Him because by foreknowledge His already given us all things in Christ. Before we were ever born into the world He saved us while we were yet in our sins. He saved us before we ever came into the world. Jacob have I loved. By foreknowledge He wrote our names down in the Lamb's Book of Life. And slew the Lamb from the foundation of the world and made us elect according to foreknowledge. Now, so then, He brought this to light at Calvary. We find ourselves then trusting in His righteousness and with the heart believing unto righteousness. How is it I can have faith? Somebody would say, Well, Brother Pike, if you don't do these things you cannot have faith. Well, how did I get faith? I've never done any of those things. I never remember fasting and praying so that God would save my soul. I never recall that. And if I had it would have been like filthy rags anyway. Because the offering, even the Jews, their offering, the Bible said that the Holy Ghost had to come as the high priest to even sanctify the people in our day, like the Jews. It had to be sanctified by the Holy Ghost as to the spiritual Jew. It had to be sanctified by the Holy Ghost. So is the Jews. They couldn't even get a prayer through except it was sanctified by the Holy Ghost. When Joshua went up to battle he said, Don't send me up to battle unless that invisible Christ, that Rock that followed them, that they drank from when they drank the living waters. See? That water. This Christ is ever with us. He never leaves us. He never forsakes us. This Christ is with us. If you send me up to battle let this Christ go before me. He's the captain of host. He's the captain of my salvation. He's my strength. He's my joy. He's one I trust in. He is the Word. He is the resurrected Word though you don't see Him in body unless I look at your body, which is His body, bone and flesh. But I see Him in Spirit through the eyes of understanding. He is resurrected from the dead. And they gave proof of the resurrection of Christ from the dead by great things that they did through faith because He administered through their body. His body wasn't there to administrate through other than them and they are His body. And He said these things that I do shall you do also and greater things because I go to the Father. I make it possible for you to do these things........and on a greater scale today. On a greater scale and more greater throughout the world are things being done today than even the Lord Jesus Christ did. Even the crowds that He preached to, there are still greater things being done today. And the whole world is hearing the gospel and it's going out through television, through radio. It's going out through testimony, through crusades and God gave the Word and great was the multitude of them that published it. And great and phenomenal things are being done. Instead of one miracle where Jesus worked it there are miracles everywhere. There are all kind of miracles. Natural miracles. Financial miracles. There is every kind of thing that is happening. Great phenomenal signs in the heavens, through science and whatever, because the blood is on the seat of atonement and the allowance for these great mighty inventions and things that are taking place. So phenomenal are they. Well, anyway, that proves that believing is not the results of fasting and praying. It doesn't say believing comes from fasting and praying. It doesn't say that believing comes because you live a holy life. There is none good; not one. All has corrupted it's way. Faith comes by hearing of the Word. That's what the preacher is for. You hear the Word and you believe. Now that's where the simplicity is, right there. Someone would say, Well, Brother Pike, my feeling is that I'm not good enough. Or, my feeling is that I've just not matured to the place that I need to mature. Or, I'm not experienced enough. Well, has it ever occurred to you that Jesus was a young man. He only had three years in the administration and those apostolic leaders were also young men and they only had just a very few years of experience. And so then, when it comes to these kind of things we say, Well, you know, I just have that feeling, you know, I would believe. I would just believe, Brother Pike. But, you know, there are just so many things that is wrong. But you know what the wrong is? How could there be anything wrong with a perfect man? How could there be anything wrong with a sanctified woman? How could there be anything wrong with a person that is the body of the Lord Jesus Christ in which Pilate could find no fault. How is it that the Bible said they are blameless and they keep themselves without spot wrinkle or blemish and the evil one never touches them. How could anything be wrong with a justified or sanctified or glorified or perfected forever individual? What can you do to add to that? What can I do to add to that? What can I do to make you more righteous than His blood? And there is no remission without the shedding of blood. Somebody says, Well, I got baptized, so what? So does a duck dip; that doesn't mean anything. A fish stays in the water all the time. If it's a matter of being in the water then that settles it. Somebody says, Well, don't you believe in baptism? Well, I just as soon you not be baptized if you're not going to go through the name of Jesus Christ because there is no remission in it. Remission is not in the water. It's not in baptizing. There's remission of sin in none other name except the name of Jesus Christ. And that's because He died for your sins and your believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. And in that you died with Him at Calvary you're buried with Him in water baptism, identified with Him in death and raised through that name unto a new life. In that you were buried with Him so are you resurrected unto life. What difference does it make how you go down? Being baptized don't mean nothing, even in His name don't mean nothing unless you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the blood. There is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood. It doesn't say there is remission of sin just by the name. It is remission of sin by the shedding of blood. Remission is in the name because it identifies the one that shed the blood and you are baptized in His name so that you are partakers of the blood. That is, you come up with the royal blood and now you have royal blood flowing through you and the life is in the blood. Just as your life is in your blood, the new life is in His blood. And now that you are the second man Adam, as to the membership, you have the second man Adam's life which is a quickening spirit the same way that you had the first man Adam's life with that as to the beasts blood. That is to say, the contaminated. Well, anyway, I'm going to say just a few more things and close. So, when it comes to faith where does this hinge? In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God and the Word is still God. And it's the same to a thousand generations. So then, it's not a matter of whether God will heal you, save you, prosper you, bless you, guide you, keep you. It's not a matter of whether He will or not, or whether He won't, or whether He wants to or don't want to. That doesn't have anything to do with it. He hath nothing to do with it. Can you understand that? Can you grasp that? that He hath nothing to do with it, whatsoever? Not anything. Someone would say, Well, Brother Pike, that's baffling to me; I don't understand that. Well, this is real simple as to an explanation. He hath nothing to do with it. He has placed it entirely in your hands. He gave you all things that pertain unto life by the sacrifice of His Son. He gave you righteousness. He gave you healing. He gave you the salvation. By foreknowledge made it manifest through Calvary. Brought it to light, or understanding, that you would know it. Now it belongs to you. He hath not given you one thing but the Bible said He hath given you all things through the great and mighty Word. ...promises that He hath given unto you. All things that pertain unto life. He hath given us Himself and said as He is so or we in Him. Can you grasp the fact He said that what I have done it was you? Where I live that is you? What I am that is you? That all of that was you, and that I died and I left the presence of the Father and now you live in heaven and dwell in heaven and you're in the presence of the Father? And that whatever you ask that's Me? That's me; that's my body. Ask what you will, Don't doubt because the thing that makes you My body is to believe My Word. If you abide in My Word and My Word abide in you. The Bible said He sent His Word and healed them. He sent His Word and cast out the unclean spirits. It's all in your hands. Every bit of it is in your hands. It's not a matter of whether He will or won't, or respect of persons, or who you are, or whether He likes you or doesn't like you. Whether you're old or whether you're young, whether you're rich or whether you're poor, whether you're strong or whether you're weak. It has nothing to do with it. Whether He wants to or whether He doesn't want to; it has nothing to do with it. All of that is settled. It is you. It is simply that you must believe His Word because that's faith. What He said you believe it, that's faith. Try it; I've tried it many times. It works one hundred percent. So when it comes to this then you say, Brother Pike, do you mean to tell me that all I've got to do is learn the Word of God? If I get born again of His Spirit, that's the first thing, to believe the Word, to be born again. Ye must be born again. And then all I have to do is just believe, even as a little baby. The Bible says out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hath God perfected praise. He put rulers in about in at about nine years and made them kings, made the others bow down to them. See? When we look at the Word what does the Word say? The Spirit will bring it to our remembrance, everything that He said. There's a comforter in every case, under every condition. No condition but what there isn't a word for it. See? And when we look at the word and we say, Well, my God, Lord I've got a problem and all I've got to do is believe what you said about the problem. That's what you believe when the doctor tells you, you take the little pill. That's all you do is accept the remedy and the Word is the remedy. The Bible said, Heal thyself, physician. We're physicians. There's a remedy for every case, everything. And you say, All I've got to do it just believe that Word and that Word is spirit and life? and that Word will do to me what I want done and God has nothing to do with it? for the Word is God and there is God in me? Becoming one and it is not a matter of decision. It's not a matter of what He thinks. It's a matter of me and that the strength of what I get is going to be from the Word. And according to how strong I believe that Word, as to that promise, you mean to tell me that it's that simple? It is so help me God and I hope I die before I breathe another breath, if that isn't exactly the truth; not somewhere in the neighborhood of it, but that's exactly it. And you can study this Bible and you can memorize it and you can live and you can think; do everything you want to do for a hundred thousand years, when you get through this is the answer, this one thing. That was it. It's that simple. And while others are accepting it and believing it and getting the benefits of it you strain at a gnat and swallow a camel trying to, as the Jews, bring your righteousness and your fasting and all these other things and really wind up in intellectual ignorance and darkness and never get the benefit. Now, beloved, are you the Sons of God. Say what you will. Ask what you will. Decree it in your heart. Don't doubt; it will happen. So, this is why that we say the things we do in conditioning the heart. When you please God --. This is why the Bible said obedience is better than sacrifice, conforming to the Word, loving the Word, believing the Word, walking in the Word. See? Becoming one with the Word until every thought that you've got is gone so that you can persuade your heart, convince your heart. The heart is desperately wicked. It is deceitful above all things. You have to persuade it. You have to overcome it because in your head believing will never do you any good. That's intellectual senses, but when the heart believes it believes unto righteousness. You have done nothing at all. I invite you to come to the Lord. Just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It shall come to pass that whosoever calleth on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Remember, these tapes go around the world. So, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's all there is to it, even in the heathen countries where these tapes and messages go to. Believe. It doesn't matter who you are. Believe, see? And you'll find out you can believe. And because you believe with the heart in what he did for you. You automatically receive salvation by calling on His name because the remission is in His name. Because when you call on His name that's identifying Him. That brings Him present and you say I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe He was the Son of God. He died for my sins. He was raised again for my justification, delivered for my offenses, raised for my justification. I believe, just in what He's already done; the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And you will. You will. If you are foreordained and you're elect, you will. See? You will. The rest of them will not believe. They'll never believe. They are not ordained to believe. But, see? The believing is already taken care of. It was an ordination for you. The holiness is already taken care of. The works was finished from the foundation of the world. When they said what must we do to work the works of God? I am the works of God. It was finished from the foundation of the world. I was the Lamb slain. He took care of all of that. All it is, is the preacher preaches it and when the preacher preaches to you all you do is believe. But, see? That's the confounding thing. That is so simple that one will never try it, as a rule. One will never accept it as a rule. One will never get the benefit of it as a rule because it's too simple. It's too simple. We've got to have some kind of mathematical approach. We've got to have some kind of formula approach. We've got to wrestle around in the confusion of the intellectual geniuses of this world trying to prove something so we can say, Look, we know and you don't know. See? And God made it so simple. Hide it from the eyes of the wise and prudent and made it revelation unto babes, such as will learn and said, You pray that God will grant unto you the spirit of revelation. So that's it. I can tell that went over your head. Even in telling it I can tell it went over your head. There's just a very few of you that even got a hold of that little simple thing. You got a hold of practically everything I said but when I got to that it was too simple. You reasoned in your mind. You reasoned it your mind and I saw the things you reasoned over. See? Because a sinful, adulterous generation seeks a sign. They do after a sign. Where is it at, Brother Pike? It went over your head but nevertheless God knows your heart. That's a good sign to you. Jesus told them the thoughts of their hearts and perceived their thoughts in His spirit. But still there are the minority. There is the one or two, here or there out of a hundred maybe one, maybe not one. Maybe two. Out of a thousand there might be three. Maybe not; maybe one. Maybe none. But it is that narrow. Well, let's stand together. I said that I was just going to take a few words here. Don't get scared and feel like I'm going to keep you too long. I've got understanding too, just like you have. I know about where to stop, where to start. And just because the wind goes out of your sails that don't mean that I don't understand. I know. And just because you do that that don't govern me and make me stop. Because I'd go right on and right on and right on. But I know about where He wants me to stop and just about how much you can feed on and how much you can receive. But this is the truth. That's the way it works and I say this, as Paul did to Peter and to the Galatians, O, foolish people, He said, who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the truth. Are you so foolish, He said, having begun in the spirit you're now made perfect by the flesh? Are you so foolish that you believed when you'd never fasted or prayed or never done anything? And you've never done anything in your life but just committed corruption and yet you were able to believe and be saved and receive the greatest thing that God could give, even His Spirit and salvation? Are you so foolish to think now that you've got to do special things and you've got to be a special person and you've got to accomplish a special task, a religious fervor, to be able to believe? That's foolishness. That's foolishness. It's by grace through faith that you are saved and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. So then, as we go along put it to the test. Give it a chance and your world will change. Suddenly you'll find out that your cup will run over. You will have the abundance of wealth and riches. Even until this day, this very day, my bills are paid. Things are caught up. Even when the brethren lagged through this camp meeting, as they always do, through Christmas time and those kind of things and there was no money hardy coming in God met mine abundantly. Not just up to date, but abundantly. Somebody says, Well, I can prove He didn't. I challenge you in Jesus name to do it. I'll prove you're a liar. He met it abundantly and He met it outside of the brotherhood. God did it by the thousands of dollars. I had to meet thousands of dollars. But, nevertheless, God always has done that. He's always met my need. In every way He's met my need. So He not only meets my need but He gives me the desires of my heart. I can go anywhere in the world I want to whenever I get ready. I've been able to do that. I've been able to have whatever I wanted whenever I wanted it. Isn't it wonderful? Somebody says, Yes but, Brother Pike, I know for sure that I get into problems. I go by the whipping post. I do too. Isn't that wonderful. Them that He loves He chastens. If you didn't that proves that you are a bastard child. So if you ain't having any problems and you're one of those people that don't have any problems and don't go by the whipping post, let me give you an invitation to get born again. It's not only given to us to reign with Him but also to suffer with Him. You're His body. Let's sing a little chorus together. In all of these things, I've made all things for all men that I might reach some of them and save some of them. (Singing) Sing it like this now. (Singing) Let's just lift our hands up. The altars are open and you're welcome to come. Contending for the faith that was once delivered to the saints. Most people make no effort toward the faith. They don't make any effort to contend. They don't try to get to it. You say, Well, how can I do that, Brother Pike? Somebody said, Shouldn't I fast and pray? Yes, you should fast and pray. But you should know why you're fasting and praying and how to fast and pray. What the purpose of it is and not get misconstrued, as to fasting and praying making you some great person because you did without. You're not better if you go hungry than anybody else that goes hungry. That don't make you any better to God. God is a spirit. Why then do I fast? I fast so I can subdue my natural energy and get the zip out of my body because the body is filled with human zip and your body is filled with the desire of passion and reproduction and your desire is filled with ambitions of the world. And Satan savors the things that be of the flesh through the human senses. He brings the carnal mind. To have the natural things of life, God has given them to you, but when it becomes an obsession of your carnality, as to mind, it's enmity with God because He wants His mind to rule. And it's like a resistance toward electricity, but there has to be so much resistance against electricity to magnify, as God raised up Pharoah so that he would resist Moses so he could magnify himself. So when you fast what are you fasting for? It's to get your natural ego out of the way, your natural energy out of the way and subdue the natural parts of your body, causing it to slow down. Like Peter on the house top; he was very hungry. He fell into a trance when he became weak. It's like people sometimes when they are dying, they get so weak they begin to do what the world calls hallucinate and sometimes it's not always an hallucination, they're seeing visions. The spirit is coming out of the body. You know, like this generation that's so ignorant. They say, We take a trip. And they take dope and all kind of things. They're not taking a trip. That's ignorance. They're losing their minds. See? They're injuring their senses and they're taking control of that mind by some strong thing that is ceasing upon them as a seizure and when it's over that means that they are weakened that much in their human senses, as to their brain reaction and will eventually become a vegetable or hallucinate and never be a normal person again and pass it on even to their children, even in reproduction. But because of their ignorance they do that, not understanding. And because of God's greatness He allows that to show that young men shall see visions in the later times and it has to be in the natural. So you fast to subdue the body. But then that's because the body is dead and God wants it out of the way. That is to say, He's not angry with your body. He's not upset with your body. He gave you your body. He's going to save your body down to every hair. Not even a hair of your head will perish. But he wants to get rid of the infiltration of Lucifer and He's got to get that out of you, to get that old mind out of you. What gives me problems when I'm preaching? It would be my mind warring against me, or your mind because your mind is not synchronized in holiness and purity and godliness and it hinders. And when one does that it hinders the body of Christ and you have blood on your hands because your thoughts are evil and wretched and ungodly. Your heart is desperate wicked above all things. No one can know it though they think they know it, but they're not intelligent. The more intelligent you are in the world the more that God has confounded you because brilliance to Him is ignorance unless it's God brilliance. (Begin tape two, side two.) The more confident my heart is that we're friends and that I can feel Him, that He's near me though I don't go by feeling but it encourages my heart because my heart is a muscle. My heart is tissue. My heart is blood. My heart is nerves and it encourages my body and with my heart I have to believe because it takes the muscles to believe with. It takes the nerves to believe with but it has to be the tenderness of the heart because it's a very tender thing, as to relating to a dove-like spirit to record the dove-like spirit. It doesn't take that to record something in your head. Hard headed, whatever, He can record anything up there. That is, naturally, but to record something in your heart you have to be gentle like a dove. The Lord is very sweet and tender, very dove-like and He sheds abroad in your heart thoughts. For the Bible said love is shed abroad in your heart, thoughts of love by the Holy Ghost, by the tender sweet lovingness of God. But you harden your heart with the desire of monetary values of businesses, of your faces and forms, of eating and drinking and buying, of your position in life and what you think and disputes and arguments and proving your point and you're no good to God. But you that stay tender and sweet and loving and kind — See? Praying, it just means your spirit is contacting God. I pray with my understanding. I pray in the Spirit. I sing with my understanding. I sing in the Spirit. When David was up here this morning He was singing with his understanding. You were singing with your understanding. All of a sudden in converted over. You got interested. You put your heart in it. You enjoyed the song. The voice sounded real good. It thrilled you and then your spirit went into it and you were singing in the Spirit, as John was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. That's the anointing. It's always there, above you, in you and through you all the time. So then, that's why you fast and pray. It's not to build your faith or anything else. You're building up your self in the Holy Ghost on your most holy faith by believing the Word of the faith that cometh by the hearing of the Word and your subduing the bodily energy to get it out of the way because the only problem that you're ever going to have in life is not whether or not God will do it, whether or not you're good enough, whether or not you're out of sorts today or in sorts. It's not whether or not God will make a decision and favor you, that has nothing to do with it. It's whether or not you believe His Word. Whether or not you believe His Word. Everything depends on that. Whether or not you believe His Word. Somebody says, Well, Brother Pike, I just feel like I'm wretched. Well, let me say amen and that will help you. You certainly are. O, wretched man that I am, and O, wretched man that you are. And at Paul's very best He realized that He was a wretch and that he wasn't good because he belonged to the Sanhedrin. And he wasn't brilliant because he'd studied all his life. And he wasn't blameless because he said, I'm blameless as touching the law. It had nothing to do with his justification at all. Let me say amen. You are wretched. You are corrupt. You've been that way. That's why I'm preaching to you and you're no special person. Only you that are born again are justified and holy and godly and that's not because you've lived good and you've done good. It's because He's good that you're good and He hath perfected you forever by His own body. So then, try believing and God will impute your faith unto you for righteousness. He will sanctify you and it will bring the spirit of holiness into you, even God's holiness, as Peter said. Not by own holiness. That is, our own works. And try believe and God will see that sin is never imputed unto you for blessed is the man unto whom the God will not impute sin. And blessed is the man unto whom God imputed faith for righteousness. And blessed is the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works. Does that sound right? Yes, without works. The works that was finished by the Father. He doeth the works. Try believing and you'll see your ministry increase. You'll see that you'll get a different outlook of that wretched person that you are and you'll face it and you won't be modest and say I'm wretched. You'll realize you are wretched and that it is a body of death and you'll start trying to escape that body of death which is your intellect, your intelligence and your thought. That's what it consist of, as to the mind of the infiltration of Lucifer, the devil himself which is in you in thoughts as a mind. And God's mind will come into you and take your body. And when it takes that body that body will become the Bride to the Spirit and He will love it. He will love it and adore it like a man loves his wife and give you everything that your heart can desire and make you beautiful for He beautifies the meek with salvation and you'll be the princess of all. The little story we say, Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the most wretched of them all? It's the world with all their powder and paint. It's a bewitching thing. Who hath bewitched you? Paul said. But you that love the Lord, as the little mirror answered in the little fable, Snow White. After awhile the world changes. He said I've made you white as snow. And the Lord appeared before John with his hair and face as white as snow. See? And He will make you as white as snow. Though your sins be as crimson, which means the color of blood, or be blood life as to the beast, I'll do away with that and I'll give you the Spirit, like a transparency of a pureness. I'll make them as white as snow. I'll cleanse and purify and you'll be a quickening spirit instead of a living being as a beast with blood and intellectual pulsation of passions. Let's just lift our hands up together, close our eyes, think on these things. Give them a try. Somebody says, Well, I don't know whether they'll work or not, Brother Pike. Well, I've been using them for many years. Many years. It's like David Paul was down there the other day. I've taught him these things and he believes them. That morning he was sitting in my room in there and he said, Dad, I've got to have two thousand dollars. Said, I haven't got it. He said, I just haven't got it. He said, But I'll guarantee you God will give it to me. I'll guarantee you He will. He started after this fashion, not exactly those terms but after this fashion. Within just a little while something happened. He stepped out for a few minutes. He came back and he said, Dad, I've got my two thousand dollars. That's how quick it works. That quick Peter went down when he doubted. That quick Peter came up when he believed. How much do I have to do? How long do I have to fast and pray? How long does it take me to approach this faith? Just turn your eyes on the Word. Turn your eyes to Jesus. We sing that little chorus, turn your eyes upon Jesus. And it also says, as to another song writer, keep your eyes on Jesus and He will calm the troubled waters of your soul. While we sing this little song, I will praise Him, we're going to let you go after that. Pray for us. We never know what will happen when we leave the Sacred Desk. WE never know where we'll go. We never know where we'll be. Not you nor I. Philip preached to a man, baptized the eunuch, the Spirit of God caught him away. And we are subject to the Spirit, all of us when we are Sons of God. If we're not and we've just got our routine life then we're subject to vanity in our mind and in our enterprise. And we're not led by nothing except our own intellectual reasoning, which is Satan. But when we follow Christ we may be here today and over yonder tomorrow. We may do like Abraham and sojourn in a strange country not knowing where we're going. And we have to get out of the land of our kindred. You boys and girls that stay right with mama and daddy, right under them and in the land of your kindred and when you are not there your mind is back home in your old homeland and your old stomping ground and you've got them coming to see you or you're going to visit with them, or you're going to wonder around over there in their country, or you're going back into that in your heart, going back down to Egypt in your heart, you're never going to be anything in God. You're never going to be anything; you're still out there with the World. Because they're your family that don't mean you can associate with them and run with them. Two can't be together unless they're agreed and if you walk with them and spend your time with them that means that's what you are. It doesn't matter what you say, that's what you are. Get thee out of the Land of thy kindred. That means get out of the land of the flesh. Get away from all your ideas about what you want to do and be in the world and get in the Spirit. While we sing this little chorus, I will praise Him, let's just lift our hands and close our eyes and give God a chance at your Spirit. He's the invisible God. He's right there. Remember this: He is a present help in the time of need. You don't have to say whose going to ascend into heaven to bring it down? nor whose going into the deep to bring Him up? If you've got a problem, a sickness, if you've got poverty, if you've got heartaches, depression, He is right now present to meet that need. He is a present help. He never leaves you. He never forsakes you. He is with you right now. What will He do for me, Brother Pike? If you can't get your wife to do right and you want her to do right He'll give you the desires of your heart. If you need something, an automobile, a home, all things are yours. But when you get your mind on it you're on your way to hell. Anytime you get your mind on those things and on business you're on your way to hell. No matter what your testimony is you're on your way to hell. So then, let's sing this little chorus. (Singing) Just be satisfied to love Him and praise Him and all these other things will be added unto you to the desire of your heart. He'll make you rich and won't add no sorrow whatsoever. And if you delight your self in Him He will give you the very desires of your heart. So then, walk in the Spirit. If you live in the Spirit walk in the Spirit. Abide in the Spirit which is the Word or His mind and let His Spirit and mind abide in you and you can say what you will, have what you will, ask what you will. You can call the shots, as the world says. And I'll fill up your cup. David said mine runs over. He'll open the windows of heaven. He said try Me. Try Me; give Me a chance. Try Me, herewith saith the Lord. Just give Me a chance. See if I won't keep My Word. I never alter It or change It to anybody, any generation. See if I won't open the windows of heaven to you and pour you out a blessing that you will have to share with somebody. You won't be able to receive. Do you realize what that means, as to open heaven? That is, the Spirit will open up to you and you'll have every thing that you're heart could wish for. I don't mean one thing but everything. Did you know that I can truthfully say from my heart that I have had everything that my heart has desired. Everything. I don't know of anything. I challenge anybody to come and tell me something that I didn't have. Everything that I've ever wanted He always gave it to me. Why? Because He opens the windows of heaven. I delight myself in Him. I just love Him with all my heart, with all my strength, with all my mind. I don't care to put my mind on something else, my heart in something else, my strength in something else. I don't want any sidelines. Not even any sidelines. And it's for sure that if I had anything it would be a sideline for God. It's my first love in my interest. And the Bible said you've strayed from your first love. Go back to God. Make Him your first love. Mediate in Him day and night. Love Him above your husband, above your wife, above your father and mother, above your brother and sister, above your wealth, above all the admiration of your life and heart. Love Him and He'll give everything else to you abundantly, filled up and overflowing for He is the Prince of Life. (Singing) Not only that but everyone that be of good is of a good understanding. You'll understand all things. You have an unction from the Holy One. You don't have to worry about education. How do you know letters not having learned?. The understanding was so great the nations of science feared them and they couldn't withstand the wisdom by which Stephen spake. You'll know all things for the Spirit of God will reveal it to you. Just when you want to know it or need to know it it will just come out from seemingly nowhere because God will give it to you. (Singing) We're going to sing it one more time. Just close your eyes as we close and lift your hands. (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