This evening to the 10th chapter
of the book of Romans, Romans chapter 10. We'll read from there
this evening. I've talked to you this morning
in regard to the so-called simple gospel and the fallacy of that
expression, incompatibility, that expression and the word
of God, they just won't get along, they're
strangers. Men are told simply to accept Christ and that will be sufficient and necessary
for their soul's welfare. I believe that this generation's
been deceived in that matter, which is the most important matter. They've been deceived in it in
that preachers have led them into this path of fantasy. The scriptures say in the book
of Ephesians, talking about our being dead in trespasses and
in sins. It goes on to say that we were
the children of wrath, even as others. Then it goes on in about
the third or fourth verse there and says, but God, who is rich
in mercy, but God, it doesn't say but the preacher, it doesn't
say but the church, it says but God. It doesn't say some proposition,
you'll believe this, God will do that. It doesn't say that.
It says, but God! That's the difference. But God! This is the tenth chapter of the book of Romans. It's kind of a This fantasy world
that most religionists of our day live in kind of have a one-sided
message. It has to do with the love of
God. Talk about God is love and certainly
that's unquestionable. God is love. His love is infinite. inexhaustible. His love is everlasting,
from everlasting. Certainly, the fullness of God's
love can never be told. But yet, the truth of it is,
as we told you this morning, the love of God is only in Christ.
That's where it's found, it's in Christ. God's love is in Christ. Rolf Barnard said, I heard in
one of his tapes one time, that God put all of his eggs in one
basket. God's love is in Christ. You
can mark that down. It's in Christ. You remember
the blood on the door post? That was a sign of refuge and
protection. It was a sign of Christ, really. The death angel, when he seen
the blood on the lentils of the doorpost, he passed over every
home. Now those that dwelled in those
particular homes that had the blood on their lentils were safe
and secure, you see. Outside, outside was what? Judgment and the wrath of God.
Everyone outside of those homes was under the wrath of God and
the judgment of God. See, God's love is in Christ.
Let me give you another illustration of that. The ark that Noah built
was a type of Christ. All those that were in the ark
were safe. They were in the refuge in Christ. They were safe. Safe from the
what? Safe from the flood of God's
judgment. All on the outside were subject
to the wrath and the judgment of God. Every soul outside of
the ark drowned under the flood of God's judgment and wrath.
Every single solitary soul drowned. A whole world, a whole population
drowned. under the flood and judgment
of God's wrath. Because God's love is to be found
in Christ. Christ is the type of the ark
of safety. And only is the love of God to
be found in Him. And I don't care who the person
is if he's outside. If he's outside of Christ, God
to him is a consuming fire. God is a consuming fire to the
individual outside of Christ. The love of God is in Christ.
What does it say here? Let me read something to you
here. It says, Who shall separate us from the love of God? That's
in the 8th chapter of the book of Romans in verse 35. It says,
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation
separate us? Hard times fall upon us. I seen
a fellow the other day and he came up to me and he said, say,
he said, could you help an old buddy out? He said, hard times
has fallen upon me. I said, could you help me out?
Could you lay a little money on me? Hard times has fallen
upon me. Who shall separate us from the
love of God? Shall tribulation and hard times,
distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or even the
sword. As it is written, For thy sake
we are killed all the day long, we are a candidate's sheep for
the slaughter. No, in all of these things we are more than
conquerors through him that loved us. Now Paul says, For I am persuaded,
I am convinced, that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, powers, things present, nor things to come,
height, depth, or any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, where is it at? Which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord. The love of God is in Christ.
This business that God loves everybody, there is no truth
to it. God's love is in Christ. Outside of Christ, God is a consuming
fire. In Christ, there is safety. There's
haven, there's heaven, there's rest, there's peace, there's
righteousness, there's glory in Christ. Outside of Christ,
judgment, judgment. Paul says in chapter... what book is that? Let me read something else in
conjunction with what I'm talking about. I think it's in the book
of Philippians chapter 3. If you care to turn with me just
hurriedly, I want to show you something. In conjunction with
what we've said, Philippians chapter 3 and verse number 9. Listen to this now. The Apostle
here gives a background of his life. And he says, "...Yea, doubtless,
I count all things but loss," this is the 8th verse, "...for
the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for
whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them
but dung, that I may win Christ," verse number 9, that's what I
want you to see, "...and be found in Him." Be found in Him. That was Paul's desire. Be in
Him. Be in Him. I count all things but loss. be found in him, not having my
own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through
the faith of Christ, the righteousness of God, which is by faith." The
love of God is in Christ. Don't forget that. It's in Christ.
But God is not in the preacher. It's not in the church. It's
not in a proposition. It's in Christ. That's where it's at. Well, in
this tenth chapter, of the Book of Romans, he says, "...brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they
might be saved." All of a sudden, this is the burden of my heart,
that Israel might be saved. I pray for them, that they might
be saved. But he said, I bear them record
now that they have a zeal of God. Boy, they're really on fire. You hear that expression? Let's
get on fire for God. Get on fire for God. Let's burn
up some of our enthusiasm in the service of God. Let's go
out and knock on doors and go from house to house and pass
out tracts and tell people that Christ died for them and God
loves them. Let's do that. Let's get busy
and do something. Let's just don't sit all the
time. Let's do something. Let's get busy. demonstrate a
active zealousness that would indicate our love and devotion
to God Almighty. Let's do something. Let's do
something. Let's don't sit still. I want
to do something. I'm tired of sitting still. Let's
do something. Be zealous. Well, I'm not opposed
to that if a man is led by the Spirit of God. But I don't think
that you ought to do those things unless you're led by the Spirit
of God to do them. It says they have a zeal of God.
They're very zealous. They're very zealous. It's not
because there's a lack of zeal in their lives. They have a lot
of zeal. It reminds me of this 20th century
religion that we've been laboring to display to you. This 20th century religion that's
very zealous, very zealous, very active, wanting to do something.
Win the world for Christ. Got a zeal of God, but it says,
I bear you record, they have a zeal of God, but not according
to knowledge. Not according to knowledge. They
don't know anything about the character of God. They don't
know anything about the attributes of God. They don't know the mind
of God. They don't know anything about
submission to God. They don't know anything about
God's divine purpose. They have a zeal of God, but
not according to knowledge, for they being ignorant of God's
righteousness." Where is God's righteousness? It's in Christ.
That's where it's at. It's in Christ. Paul said, "...to
be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of
the law, but the righteousness of Christ, which is of faith."
That's where it's at. It's in Christ. Being ignorant
of God's righteousness, they're going to keep the law. They're
going to keep the Ten Commandments. They're going to keep any other
set of rules and regulations that would render them properly
equipped to come before God and say, well, look here, Father,
you'd be surprised how good I am. That's the attitude of a lot
of people. Boy, God, I bet you're surprised
how good I am. I'm real good. I do a lot of
worthwhile things, being ignorant of God's righteousness and going
about to establish their own righteousness. Very busy making
themselves presentable unto God. The world is full of them. I suspect that there is not one
out of 500 people that you talk to that is not going about establishing
his own righteousness. He's got a code of honor. He's
got a code of ethics. He's got a certain rule in which
he lives by and is willing to die by it. And this code of ethics
or rule of conduct, the idea of it is that it might make him
presentable unto God. He might take it out of his pocket
and say, Lord, look here. Well, look here. Look what I've
got. Well, look here what I've done. You see how good I've been? I've
established my own righteousness here. Well, I don't do this and
I don't do that. Well, I'm very zealous and so
forth. They're going about very busy, very active to establish
their own righteousness and have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. Where is it at? It's in Christ. Does the fourth verse say that?
It says, For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness.
That's where it's at. To everyone that believes, Well, Moses described the righteousness
which is of the law, that the man which doeth these things
shall live by them. But the righteousness which is
of faith speaketh on this wise, or like this, say not in thine
heart who shall descend into heaven, that is, to bring Christ
down from above, who shall descend into the deep, that is, to bring
Christ up again from the dead, but what sayeth faith? What saith
the gospel? What does it say? It says, "...the
word is nigh thee." It's right here. "...even in thy mouth and
in thy heart." That is the word of faith which we preach. It's
so close. It's so close that you're going to overlook it.
You're going to miss it. You're looking for something else. "...that if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture
saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For
there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the
same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then
shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? How shall
they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall
they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring
glad tidings of good things." What is the gospel? Is it a proposition
that you do this and I'll do something else? Is it a recipe
of righteousness? Is that what it is? No, the gospel
is a proclamation of a work already done. It's good news. It's glad tidings of a work already
done, of a work finished. That's what it is. It's finished! That's what Christ said on the
cross, wasn't it? Last thing he said, he said, He's finished!
What's finished? The work that the Father has
given me to do. Who did He do it for? For those
He represented in the covenant of grace before the world ever
was. See? It's an announcement, a proclamation
of a work done, a work finished, a work complete. Christ did it
all. bring glad tidings of good things. But they have not all obeyed
the gospel, for Isaiah hath said, Lord, who hath believed, I report.
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
But I say, have they not heard? Yes, barely. Their sound went
into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. But I say, did not Israel know?
First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that
are no people. By a foolish nation I will anger
you. But Isaiah is very bold and saith,
I was found of them that sought me not. I was made manifest unto
them that asked not after me, but to Israel, he saith. All
day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and
a gainsaying people." The Gospel is too simple if it
neglects to declare the necessity and nature of saving faith. From verse number 1 of the 10th
chapter of the Book of Romans to the 21st verse in particular,
it tells us something of the nature and necessity of saving faith. We have read various scriptures
this morning from the first, second, and third chapters of
the Book of Romans which told us beyond a shadow
of a doubt that the sinner under the wrath
of God must be made to see that he must believe the gospel presented
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, or he must bear God's
wrath forever. We found that out this morning.
He must be told that the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is by faith and faith alone. He must be told that the salvation
of God is to be laid hold of by faith alone. He must be humbled. He must be
stripped and slain as regards to human merit and power. He must be shown He must be shown that they that
are in the flesh cannot please God. You've got to see that. Man's got to see that. They that
are in the flesh can't please God. No way. Make a difference
what he looks like or what he does, however good his works
might appear to be, or even in results of his good works. Whatever
it might be, he must be told, he must be made to see, he must
be made to feel, he must be made to taste, he must be made to
smell that his works are an abomination unto God. He must be made to
see that every work that he hath done is vile and unacceptable
to God Almighty in regard to human merit and power in regard
to his acceptance before God. He must be shown that they that
are in the flesh cannot, not maybe they will, but cannot please
God. He must be brought to the humiliating
truth that it is not of him that willeth or of him that runneth,
but it is of God. that show of mercy must be brought
to that place. Unless this is done, man will
boast of his accomplishments. He'll say, I made a decision.
I made a decision for Christ one day, ten years ago, twenty
years ago, or five years ago, or a year ago. I made a decision! But salvation is not in a decision.
I told you in Romans or in Ephesians chapter 3 there, But God! But God! And you overdid in trespasses
and in sins. Happy Quicken! Children of wrath,
even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy! But God! Well, unless this is done, man
will boast, you see. Man is prone to boast of his
good deeds and his ability. Prone to boast. Man must be shown that God requires
righteousness and that he has none. That's what God requires. God requires an absolute righteousness. That's what heaven demands. That's
what the holiness of God demands. That's what the righteousness
of God demands. That's what Almighty God demands. He demands that
you and I be as righteous as He is righteous. That's the demands
of God. Now, you don't hear that very
much. You don't hear that in what is referred to as the simple
gospel, come up and accept Christ. Will you accept Christ? Will
you accept Him this evening? Christ died for you, won't you
live for Him? Accept Christ. You don't hear
this, that God demands that you and I be as righteous as He is
righteous, and God will accept nothing less than what He is.
God will not accept it. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth. It's of God that showeth mercy.
Well, man must be shown that God requires righteousness, and
that He has none. Man's got to be shown what God
demands, and what God requires, and he's got to be made to see,
to feel, to taste of His Helplessness and hopelessness in the matter
of God's absolute demand. You've got to see that and feel
it. I haven't got any. God requires
it. I haven't got it. Where am I
going to get it? Where am I going to get it? I haven't got it.
And God requires that I be exactly like He is in the matter of perfection. Where am I going to find it?
I can't find it in myself. Oh, when a man begins to feel
that way, When he begins to feel that he hadn't got it, he sees
that he hadn't got it. All of his efforts are in vain
in regard to conjure up some system that would make him presentable
before God. And there's a hole in all of
his efforts and his glad rags that he parades out and presents
to God Almighty. I think is one step from the
Kingdom of God when he sees that. When he sees that God requires
righteousness and he doesn't have any. Then he must be told
that God requires faith and he cannot believe. Man left to himself. You see, apart from divine intervention
of the quickening power and regeneration of God's Holy Spirit, he can't
believe. He can't believe. He's dead.
He's dead. The man outside of Christ is
dead. The natural man is dead. He receiveth not the things of
the Spirit of God, neither can he know them, their foolishness
unto him. He's dead. Come over here. Stand beside
his casket with me. Look at him there. There he is,
he's a dead man. He's dead. I know he looks like he's alive.
He's got his glasses on, his hair's combed. His face has been powdered. He's got his tie, his
best clothes on, but he's dead. You can talk. You and I can,
we'll talk about, we can talk about the joys of this life,
and we can laugh, but he'll not respond to what we're talking
about. Why? Because he's dead! He's
dead! You let the light shine in the window and fall
across his face. A brilliant light from the noonday
sun fall across his face, and he remains expressionless when
it blinds our eyes. Why? Because he's dead. He's
dead. Man's dead! God requires faith! But man cannot believe. He's
dead. That's the truth of the matter. He's dead! Now, I know
that's right. Man's dead in trespasses and
in sin. He must be told. Now listen,
I've already said that God requires righteousness and man doesn't
have any. I said that God requires faith and man cannot believe.
Now man must be told that God alone can dispense these things,
that is, righteousness and faith. God alone can dispense these
things and God is under no obligation to give them to any sinner. Man
must be told that. God's not obligated to give anything
to you and I. He's not obligated to give us
righteousness or to give us faith. Not obligated! Man's got to see that. As man
told that in this simple gospel that's preached, the so-called
simple gospel that's being preached in our day, The preacher has got to declare
the necessity of faith and the inability of the sinner to believe.
But let me tell you this now. I say that the preacher has got
to declare the necessity of faith in the risen Christ. He's got
to declare that. But on the other hand, he's got
to declare the inability of that sinner to believe it. But now
listen, that sinner cannot hide behind his inability. You can't
hide behind your inability. You are the sinner outside of
Christ. He is willfully rebellious, willfully
ignorant. You take this poor man over here
who's dead. You say, he's dead in trespasses and in sins. He
can't do this. He can't do that. You say, well,
I feel sorry for him. I pity that fellow. I pity that
fellow. He's an object of my pity. Well, what do you think
of a fellow who is willfully ignorant of
the Word of God? Willfully ignorant. Listen, the
Scriptures say this. The Scriptures does not say,
You cannot come. The Scriptures say, You will
not come. See? That's what the Scriptures say.
The Scriptures says, You will not come to me for life. You
will not do it. It doesn't say you can't do it.
It says you won't do it. It's not can't, it's won't. You
won't do it. You will not come to Me that
you might have life. Jesus said, I have stretched
forth by hand to a disobedient and to a gainsaying nation. You
will not come. I have stretched forth by hand
and you will not come. You have not regarded Me. You
will not. It's your will. Instead of your
will saving you, it's your will that damns you. You see that?
It's not your will that saves you. Your will damns you. Your will damns you. You will
not come. Man's got to be told, you see. The preacher's got to
declare the necessity of faith and the inability of the sinner
to believe, but he's also got to be told that he can't hide
behind his inability. You've got to seek the Lord. Call. upon the Lord. Well, when this
is made manifest or told, only then will the sinner be shut
up to the hopelessness of his condition and begin to call upon
the Lord for mercy. When he sees that there's no
other way out, he's come to the end of the line, the end of the
rope, to wit's end, when he's shut up in a corner and there's
no way of escape! No way! He's looked to the right,
to the left. He's exhausted all of his means
in every way. He's shut up to the hopelessness
of himself. He's like the woman that spent
all she had searching for a cure for her disease. She's went to
every doctor that she could find, every doctor, and spent every
penny. And the end of her fruitless
search Nothing that would relieve or help her. Nothing. When she
came, when she had spent all she had, shut up to the helplessness
of her incurable disease, then she came to Christ. And it's
only when a man shut up to himself, shut up to himself, and he sees
the hopelessness of his condition. He sees that God requires righteousness,
and then he has none. He sees that God requires him
to have faith and he cannot believe. When he is hopeless and helpless
and shut up in a corner, then will he turn to God and say,
God, our Father in Heaven, I don't understand what is going on,
but I understand the helplessness of my condition. Lord, if you
will, if you will speak to my heart that I might have peace
for my soul, reveal unto me the Christ of God. Well, all of that is involved
in the necessity and the nature of faith. In addition to this,
the Gospel proclaims the nature of faith. It declares that faith
is based upon the knowledge of God. In this 14th verse of the
10th chapter, listen to this now, How then shall they call
on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they
believe in him of whom they have not heard? So you can see by
that verse that faith is based upon knowledge. How shall they
call upon him of whom they have not heard? Ridiculous, isn't
it, for a man to say, I'm a Christian man, I don't know anything about
Christ, but I'm a Christian. Saving faith, you see, is based
upon the knowledge of the gospel. Furthermore, the gospel declares
that faith is trust in the Christ revealed in the Word. No man
can be saved apart from trust, a commitment of his soul to the
Christ that is revealed in the Word. Not to the Christ of our
imagination. Not to the sweet little Jesus boy that Elvis Presley
sings about. Not to the sweet little Jesus
boy that you hear talked about on the television and in the
funny papers and all of that. Not that sweet little Jesus boy
that's trying to do something but he can't do it. Not that
type. Not that little Jesus boy. But saving faith, you see, in regard to the gospel, declares
that we've got to trust in the Christ, in the Jesus Christ,
the Lord Jesus Christ, revealed in the Bible. Revealed in the Bible. The Christ
of the Word, the Christ of the Bible. Not the Christ of my imagination,
but the Christ is revealed here in the Word. Saving faith involves
submission to the Lordship of God. This is where the self-righteous
Jew went wrong. And many a self-righteous Jew
and self-righteous Gentile goes wrong in our day. Saving faith
is the submission of our ignorance to God's wisdom. Saving faith
is the submission of our sinfulness to God's righteousness. Saving
faith is the submission of our pride to God's glory. No man
has exercised saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who has
not first become a worshipper of Christ. And certainly this
is taught in that 13th verse of the 10th chapter that says,
"...for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved." The calling upon the name of the Lord is a Hebrew
expression that denotes worship, calling upon the Lord. A man
that calls upon the Lord is a worshiper. Well, this is also borne out
in that 14th verse. It says, "...how shall they call
on him in whom they have not believed?" How can a man call
upon God? How can a man call upon the Lord
Jesus Christ? unless he has first believed
in Him. Is that what it says? Well, 13th verse, Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Don't take it
out of its context. This is the most mis-abused verse
in this 10th chapter. It's this one right here. Taken
out of its context. Taken out of its context. I'm sure. I was
telling you about that John R. Rice program I've seen. I believe
it was that. But anyhow, he gave the invitation
And people came to the front of the church. They came all
up here and put the camera on some young lady. Looked like
she was 20, 21, 22, 23 years old. And she was up here on her
knees. She had a young lady with her.
And they were both on their knees. And this older girl had her Bible,
and she was thumbing through the Bible to find a passage of
Scripture to lead her to Christ. That was the idea of it. And
I don't know. I have no way of knowing. But
if I was a betting man, I would bet you that she was telling
her, or trying to find, the 13th verse of the 10th chapter of
the Book of Romans, which says, "...for whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." She was going to point
her to that and say, Now you call upon the name of the Lord
and you'll be saved. But you see, the 14th verse says, How
can they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How can
they do that? And how shall they believe in
Him whom they have not heard? Which goes back to this. I said
that the Gospel declares that faith is trust in the Christ
as revealed in the Word. Now how shall they believe in
Him of whom they have not heard? The Christ as revealed in the
Bible! The Christ of God as revealed
in the Bible. Brethren, all that glitters is
not gold. That's right. Well, I'm going
to quit. This is a far cry, though, from
so-called simple gospel, where the lost sinner is not instructed
to believe in the person or the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is not commanded to renounce his own wisdom and his own righteousness
and his own pride. He is not commanded to bow down
and give God all the glory. It is a little wonder to me,
anyhow, as to why churches are filled with countless people
who show no signs of grief for sin and who show no or give no
evidence for a hungering and thirsting after righteousness
and who give no indication of a love for the Redeemer. This,
to me, is the sad fruit and fruits of the so-called simple gospel. Brethren, until the churches
of our day recover the gospel, there will never be no revival
in our land. Never. Never be no revival. We're not in a state of revival.
No, my soul, we're in a state of barrenness, not revival. There's
no revival broke out among God's people. We have a promotion of
the energy of the flesh. on the television, in the newsstand,
various publications, but no revival. Revival comes from God. Revival means a quickening of
the dead. That's what a revival is, a quickening
of the dead. The fellow on the television
here, I think it was today, I just got to part of it there, just
noticed part of it and got away from it. It scares me. The fellow's
been to heaven. He died and went to heaven. Yeah.
He said there's about 400 people now that's died and went to heaven
and come back. They're all here upon this earth
now. He told what he's seen up there. He said he's a preacher. He said, when I got there, he
said, I've seen one long street. I thought sure that that street
would be paved with gold, but he said it wasn't paved with
gold, he said it was like glass. He said, that bothered me. So
he said, when I come back to earth and got to reading the
Bible again, he said, I read there in the 21st, I believe
20th chapter of the book of Revelation where it says that the street
of gold, and he said it went on in the next part of that passage
said that the street of gold was like unto transparent glass. And he said, there it is. He
said, now, if there's anybody watching out here on the television
today, and you've got the people that died and went to heaven,
he said, don't worry about them because, he said, I've been there.
He said, it's a street of transparent glass and all that business.
And people, boy, people just sitting there catching them flies,
just opening their mouth and sucking that in, just sucking
that in. Do you know people will believe
a lie while the truth is putting its boots on? You know that?
When people believe a lie, they desire to believe a lie. The
deceivableness of unrighteousness, they desire to believe a lie.
Belief! Why, you know, wonder what they
do with the story of the rich man who died. The rich man and
last they died. Both of them died. One went into
Abraham's bosom and one went to hell, and this man in hell
in torment. Lifted up his eyes to Father
Abraham. He said, Father Abraham, send that man, that beggar over
here, send him. He said, let him put his finger
in water and put it on my tongue. He said, for I'm tortured, I'm
tormented in these flames. He said, you can't do that. You
can't do that. He said, well, I have five brothers at home.
He said, they have no fear or reverence of God in their soul. He said, send that beggar. He said, send that beggar. Send
him back and let him tell my five brothers about this awful
place. You know what Father Abraham
said? He said they have Moses and the prophets, and if they
won't believe Moses and the prophets, they wouldn't believe one to
come back from the dead. And here's people that's going
all over the country demanding $300 to $1,200 for a speaking
engagement to tell their story that they've died and went to
heaven and God sent them back. One woman, I heard her tell the
same story that this fellow told the other day. A woman, she died
and she went to heaven and she come back. The guy said, what
did you come back for? You know what she said? She said, so I could get a bigger
reward when I go again. A bigger reward. What do you
think about that? Do you think that there's rewards
in heaven? What do you think about that business? That there's
going to be a fellow up there, but he's got more cities? He's
got a bigger kingdom than somebody else? You think there's going
to be any pride in heaven? Oh, if we ever get to heaven,
it'll be by the grace of God. And I don't believe we'll find
any of them yo-yo rewards up there either, as Henry calls
them. This fella have a plain yo-yo, and another fella have
a... What's that kind of yo-yo that's
so good? A Duncan? One fella have a... have a plain
yo-yo, and another fellow have a Duncan yo-yo, and another fellow
have a gold-plated yo-yo, and another fellow have a platinum-plated
yo-yo? You believe all that stuff? I
don't. I don't. That's foolishness, brethren.
That's foolishness. That's part of the simple gospel
method. God help us, brethren. Make our calling and election
sure. Be sure about that. Be sure about that. Boy, try
the spirits whether they be of God, or try them. Try them. Try
them. I don't mind you trying what
I preach. You try what I preach by the Word of God. Don't you
take my word for it because I said it. What I said doesn't make
any difference. It's not worth a hill of beans. Try it by the Word of God. I
know that that's said in every pulpit in Marion County. If there
are any other churches having church tonight apart from us,
that same thing is said that I said. Try what I say by the
Bible. Bless God, that's all I know
to say. Try it for the Bible. Most of you agree with me, I
know. Simple gospel. Leading men and women in this
insane, insane area of unreality. Fantasy land, fantasy land. Bunch
of clowns, bunch of clowns, dressed up like clowns. Who in the world
would want to go to church where they're all dressed up like a
bunch of clowns? I like a bunch of Halloween clowns, gaudy garments
on, the lights half on, can't see to read the hymn book, can't
see to read the Bible, the view blocked out by stained glass
windows with snakes on them, on posts, and lambs and oxen
and straws strolling around, and the preacher in some big
black garment and maybe some sort of a hat on and maybe move
over to this room. I know at some modern churches
that they have a pulpit over here. And they stand over here
and make some announcements. And then when they go to preach,
they put their robes on and they go to this end of the church
building and stand here and preach, so-called. A bunch of clowns. A bunch of sadistic clowns that's
leading people down this path A fantasy into hell. See, into
hell. Not telling the truth. That's
damn true.