Last Sunday I was dealing with something a lot of people might take the wrong way. Well I am going to be just as serious this morning. We are not here to play like Christians: We are here to learn to conduct ourselves the way God expects of His children. When God saved my soul fifty some years ago, I purposed to live for Him as He gave me grace to do so. There are three kind of people in this world, and when God deals with them, one element wants to say, Yes, I am a Christian, I want to go to church, but after a period of time, you can see they are just living on the edge of true Christianity. Then there is another kind, once they feel that they have been saved and they have the Holy Spirit, they begin to express themselves like, I have the Holy Ghost: now I know everything. I will say to that element, You are only in a beginning process, so there is much to learn. Then there is another kind, and they always want to stay close to people they like, whether it is an uncle, brother, sister or a neighbor, if they like them, that is wonderful. They think, I can live happy now. Well Jesus Christ never saved you for a life like that at all. Are we willing to face the true responsibility of being a Christian? Christendom, down through the centuries, has suffered a lot of hardship. When I open this Bible, I see what the apostle Paul has written. He has written to people just like you and me in Christian congregations, because he had heard of problems that were affecting their fellowship and walk with God. It will not be very long, as you continue to read, until you can begin to see what the problems were, and most of them were because of a hangover from their former way of life. Some came out of the element of the Law, and they could not stop talking about the Sabbath and other things the law required. Others could not stop talking about circumcision. They became so carnal minded, that if you did not abide by some of those things they advocated, you could not be saved. If you would read the letters Paul wrote concerning these things that affected the Church, you would see that it was not always easy for him to say the things he had to say. Here we are, two thousand years beyond the law and it is still not easy to try to point folks to the middle of the road where the grace of God abounds. There is always an element of people that cannot understand the grace of God. By the grace of God, I have done my best to serve the Lord for fifty some years. In 1952 when my wife and I were first introduced into the realm of Bro. William Branham. was teaching, yet they were sitting there as though they did. We just had to work our way through all of that.
SOME ARE TO BE BLAMED
I realize, that last Sunday morning, we got very close to an element of human flesh. Maybe some of you have misunderstood it. If you did, it is because you were not listening as closely as you should have been. I will say this as I start today, I am not preaching this to everybody in Bloomington. It is just to those it applies to, so do not sit here and say, You are talking about my people, because it is not like that. There are some good people in Bloomington: I know them, and I have known them for years, so I am not talking about them. I am talking about the ones that my words apply to; and they know who they are. When I see an individual or two, begin to want to show that they own everything, and that they can run everything, and they manipulate everything to their advantage, and use me and everybody they want to, to manipulate and have their way, then do not get in my way when I confront it. I am going to read you some scriptures this morning, that I hope you will pay attention to. In Romans 8:1, we find these words, which were written by an apostle. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Now it is one thing to walk in the Spirit and it is another thing to walk in the flesh. I promise you today, that by the time the true Church of the living God is made perfect and complete, if you are in it, you will not be in it because you followed dad and mother to where you are. You will be in it because you followed the Lord Jesus. That is what the Bible says, so notice Verse 5, as we continue reading. “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh.” Well you are talking about my aunt, you are talking about my sister. I am not talking about your aunt or your sister: I am talking about you, if this scripture fits your lifestyle. We are not Baptists, Methodists, or Presbyterians that belong to a lodge: We are children of God and we are in this to learn how to live a proper kind of life; and especially to learn how to walk after the leading of the Spirit of God. As the body of Christ is put together and God manifests and cultivates the gifts of the spirit, these gifts are not to be used to build personal prestige. They should be the means that God has set in the body, so that when He is the head and the ministry is functioning properly, these things are absolutely His own sovereign way of speaking, working to edify, and to bring comfort and understanding among every member of that body. I am going to read a few of these verses, then stop for a little while. Verse 6, “For to be carnally minded is death; (The end result is that.) but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity (It is contrary.) against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” That literally means you cannot live for the Lord while making your friendship on a carnal basis like, I like that person, I love that person, I like the way he says things, and I like the way of this and that. If you base your whole life on something like that, I am sorry to say, You missed the mind of God altogether. “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.” That literally means, that when He gives you the Holy Ghost, He does not give that to you for you to take it and manipulate things in a way of building your own little empire out of your own ideas. “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; (It literally means, as you seek to walk with God and you allow the Lord to crucify your fleshly impulses and ideas, you become more and more subject to the leadership of the Lord.) but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. (11) But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.” I am going on down to verse 14. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” As God seeks to put His Church together, we every one are going to be led by Him. Through the years of time after God spoke to me to start a church, He sent many precious souls along to help and encourage us. I can look back, and most all of them are dead by now, but I can still think of the testimony of every one of those precious souls, how God led them to our little congregation. I can say this as I stand before you today, I have never in my life tried to proselyte anyone from another congregation. I do not go around saying nice things to anyone with the idea of persuading them to come to our assembly. I will not build anything that way. If what I am preaching is truth, and if the life I have lived before you as an example of Christian living for the Lord that Jesus Christ is not enough, then why should I try to persuade anyone to come an listen to me? I will say to you also, There are many times you can get bonded to human flesh to the point you will not let anything separate you: That is not a good situation to be in. I have had that happen in my own life when we started going to the Tabernacle years ago. After the Lord told me to start the church, my idea was, I will tell this brother I like him, and that I love him in the Lord. That was because he was a preacher. I said to him, Brother, I feel led of the Lord to start a church: Would you come along and work with me? He said, Well, yes. When we started out I was going to preach one service, and he would preach another one, but by the time we had four or five services, somehow or other I began to have a feeling come to me, This is not going to work. Then one night I had a dream, and I do not tell my dreams if I see that they do not pertain to something right now, or that they will eventually affect you somehow. In the dream, that brother and his wife and family came down to our home, so I said to him, Let us go out here a little ways and pray. We went out away from the buildings and everything and knelt down where we would not be seen or interrupted and we both started praying. After we had prayed for about five minutes, I opened my eyes and was looking up into the sky. It seemed as though I was looking east. As I looked into the distance I could see a little speck. The thought came to me, I wonder what that could be? As I watched it, that little speck got closer and closer and more clear. As it would get closer to where I was, it seemed like its elevation would drop. Finally it was just about four or five hundred yards away, about two hundred feet off the ground. As I looked at it, I said to him, Look, look at that. He looked up to the same area I was looking and said. What? What? I said, Don’t you see that? He said, I don’t see anything. I said, Look, there it goes. Well what was it? He had been a farmer in his early life and I was too. It was a horse and a mule hooked to a farm wagon, loaded down with farm items. The strange thing was, the wagon was pulling them back, instead of them pulling the wagon forward. Now you might think that sounds like a carnal dream. Well yes it does, but the lesson I got out of it was this, He does not see what I see, therefore anything I would endeavor to do with him, would always go backward instead of advancing. Our work together will never be a success. I just stopped calling on him to preach; and when I did, he stopped coming to the services. To cut the story short, that man kept on living in the area; and ever so often he would go out among some of the Branham people to preach. He was one of the young men out of the seven that had the dreams back when Bro. William Branham was to preach on the seals of Revelation, chapter 6. When that young man had told his dream to Bro. William Branham, Bro. William Branham told him what it meant. A short time after that, he had another dream, and in that dream he stood looking at a church building and saw the word Ichabod written over the end of the church house. He immediately felt that he got a revelation that God would no longer be in any church house, which was because that meant God had forsaken it. That young man from then on, just got worse and worse with that kind of mind set. When we finally moved here to this location, there were times he would come along while we were in service with some tracts he had printed, and would put them on our windshields, but he never would darken the doors with his presence. If he did not put them on the car windshield’s in the parking lot, he would go out and stand at the end of the road and pass them out to the people as they would pass by. To hurry the story along, he finally got the supposed-to-be revelation that put him over the edge. (Listen to this saints). God will use you up to a point, as long as you have God in it first, and you have God’s people as to the objective to benefit by what you are doing, but if you take that and try to build it into something for yourself, to create an image of your own interest, I promise you, God will cause you to become derailed. That is exactly what that man did. It was not long until he got a revelation, that since we were living so close to the end of time, the Christian man and woman should no longer live together in an intimate relationship, and therefore since we were so close to the end, the time had come that we should stop living like this. At that time a family that had moved to this area, a nice family that had children, became his target. He went to their home and had a prayer meeting with them. He preached this message as a revelation from God. The man’s wife fell for that idea; and it led to a separation between her and her husband. Her husband came down to our home many times and sat in our front yard and crying and talking about how much he loved his family. He would say, Bro. Jackson, I love my family, I love my children, but what this man has done has broken our relationship. I prayed for the man, and said to him, Brother, that is not a revelation from the Spirit of God. There is no truth in it, so it can only lead to trouble. To cut this short, that man went on for years with that same mentality, refusing to go into any church house, simply because he saw Ichabod written over the church house door in the dream. That is the way he looked at it, and he would not even consider giving up on it. Every family he could get hold of he would always try to influence them with his revelation, so he always pumped these things into their mind’s, still seeking something that would lift up his flesh. Then his life came to a sudden end and left all those whom he had influenced wondering what they should do. I picked up the Newspaper one day, and there was the story of his death. He had preached that new revelation and brought sorrow and heartache upon those that taken him serious; and suddenly he is gone; and those people were left without anyone to turn to. He had a massive heart attack and stroke and died; and the reason I am telling this, is to say to all who hear me, We are living in a day and hour when you cannot play with God and get by with it. You are either a son or daughter of God or you are not. If you are, you will sek to glorify God in what you do and say. You do not take Him and build yourself into something that only lifts up your flesh. If you are someone who is committed to serving God, then you will do everything within your will and power for the glory of God. That man was cremated. Tell me, Where does that idea of cremation come into the Christian faith? I will say this, I have lived to see a lot of things come to people of this like faith. I could stand here and tell you story after story that has wrecked the lives of people. I am not in the soul and home wrecking business. I am in this to help the children of God find peace, and find out how to live and walk with God. If we are going to be led by God, we are first going to have an understanding of who and where God is. He is going to be manifested to us first in His word. Then He is going to manifest Himself among the people that cherish and uphold the true revelation of this word. I grant you, there are a lot of people today, in various places around the world that have a love for the word of God, but many times they are not given the privilege of hearing it like it should be presented. That is why I am not talking just about the Bloomington church, but in recent months there has been a situation allowed to occur, that involves my name, so that opens up the way for what I am going to say. Because it has been said more than once, to Alabama, to Illinois, to Chicago, and wherever else my name was used I just have to say, I did not get into this to try to build myself into something of my own choosing, but I can stand here and say, For the forty years since Bro. William Branham’s death, I have done my best to preach this word in truth and simplicity for the benefit of all who would hear me. I have gone around the world, wherever God would open the door for me and I have seen the hand of God reach out there and bring in families from out of confusion, out of this and that until today all over this globe there are people that are corresponding with me and thanking me for the truth that I have stood for. Just remember this, I have seen others also, right in this area, that have also had dreams and have perpetrated certain things because of them.
HOW SOME DREAMS ARE USED
Several years ago we had a young man that came here for a short period of time, but one time after he had fed his mind full of wrong ideas, he had a dream that he made a decision by. I knew he was getting ready to leave the church, because he had those ideas all on his own. On this particular night, when the service was over, he said, Bro. Jackson, I would like to talk to you. I took him upstairs for privacy. He said, Bro. Jackson, I had a dream in which I saw you in a foreign land and you were in some kind of vehicle. I saw the vehicle attacked, and there were arrows and spears being shot at you, and you were injured and taken out of that situation as though you were dead. Here is what he said, Bro. Jackson, I may be seeing you for the last time. I said, Well brother, may God be with you. He left the church without ever asked me what I thought about the dream. He does not know how many times, in foreign lands, there has been an element of people that have followed the Branham message, and that have their own ideas, so they will take my image and do their best to kill its influence every chance they get. Do you know, I can look back now and see how God has protected me in so many circumstances and kept me alive to continue what He has called me to do. I hear about some of the things that go on overseas, when someone gets to feeling himself above what he really is. I have never tried to argue with people or debate about these things, because that would not accomplish anything for the kingdom of God. That same young man that never darkened the door any more, was involved in a very catastrophic accident and was almost a paraplegic for a long time. I am saying these things this morning and I say this also, Do not sit there in your pew and think I do not know what I am talking about. I have watched a lot of these things through the years as I have stood here doing what God has called me to do. I do not stand here like I do, expecting any of you to build me up as something that needs to be atop a flag pole. I am what I am by the grace of God. I want to say this also, Just as Bro. Bud preached last Thursday night, The Bride of Christ is not going to be one little isolated church group sitting in the woods somewhere proclaiming, We are right and everybody else is wrong. Get that proud idea out of your head: it will only lead to heartache. The minute you get to thinking that way, you are entering into a one way ride to destruction. That kind of thinking does not belong among those of the true body of Christ. I have never preached that Faith Assembly is going to be the one and only. I pray, Lord, let there be a people in here that know how to embrace this truth, that know how to live this truth and defend it. Sure we are all still in human flesh, and there are a lot of things I can still learn and will learn, when I see something develop that necessitates me to learn from that as an example. Regardless of what comes and goes, I will never tell you that Faith Assembly is the one and only, as far as believing and standing for a true revelation . I have been privileged to preach to people around the world; and I thank God today, for the letters and communication that I get from around the world, thanking me for the truth I have brought into their lives. Then when somebody else comes along and wants to take me and butcher me so they can put themselves out there as something, I have to say, Somebody is going to hurt their image; and I will not be the one doing it, except where I see conduct that will hurt the body of believers. I will say this, and I say it with love and respect toward all of you, If you are going to live in the Spirit, then get a good hold of that flesh you live in and live for God. There may be a lot of things you might like to do, but if you are going to live for the Lord, you are going to learn to get this flesh crucified. You are going to learn to love God’s people and be willing to die to this self that has required so much attention while you were in the world. When Bloomington is brought into the picture, it is not to condemn any group, and certainly not to condemn the entire assembly, because I have known that congregation for years. When we had the moving of the spirit, there were people from here that went up there. Different preachers went up there from Georgia and different places. God was precious to every one of the congregations. I have seen young people from Bloomington come down here and get blessed in the Thursday night services. I will never forget one girl, on a Thursday night, as the service started, she came up to the front, her and another girl. In a short time they were dancing across the front up here. Bro. Bud and Bro. Allen started praying for them. Both of them started speaking in another language. None were told to do this or do that, or anything. I remember another time when a girl came down here; and that girl, at the end of the service, had to be taken out and put in the car and hauled home, because of the way the Spirit was upon her. I just have to say, Praise God, because God is still God. Well that brings me to say this, I will not stand for any woman, or any man, thinking that they are the one and only instrument that God is going to use to put His Church together. Any true Bride saint knows that. Right Bro. Pixley? Bro. Pixley and I have known each other all our lives. He grew up on one end of the hill and I grew up on the other. Well, here in our olden days, we have met again, no longer raising strawberries or blackberries, but doing our best to live for the Lord in the same faith. His wife came from Crawford county and my wife was raised in Harrison County; and here we are, all believing the same thing and working toward the same goal, to uphold truth and be ready to go with the Lord when He comes.
GOD MOVES UPON WHOEVER HE WILLS
As I look over the crowd, I am thankful to God for every last one of you, young and old. Like I have said before, Do not think I don’t know some things that have been spoken. It has been said, Jackson don’t believe in the freedom of the Spirit. Whoever you are that says that, you are a hypocrite. It was not in your congregation that the moving of the Spirit started. Remember that, when you feel like criticizing. It was not your dream that started it. How many know what I am talking about? The dream is not over yet, because there is yet a third part to it and you don’t know what it is. The way some are acting now, I have my doubts they will be around when the third part hits. We are going to learn when to do something in the Spirit and when not to. Just because it might look good is not good enough: we are expected to recognize what our anointing is for. Last Sunday morning when the service was over, a brother came forward and said, Bro. Jackson, I want you to know there are certain individuals in here that run back and forth to Bloomington. I have never laid my hands on you, but I can look you in the face and say this, You run all you want to, because when it is all over, you are going to find that God has showed me something. That is this, I do not allow any woman to go all over the country and tell others she was called to supervise or protect my ministry. I have never read anything like that in the Bible. You could come to me and say, Bro. Jackson, were there not some women that followed Paul? Yes, but you should read it the right way: They did not follow him from meeting to meeting. Well what did they do? Did not Paul say, They have been succors to many, meaning they washed their clothes, they cooked meals, gave them a bed to sleep in when needed, but the same ones did not run from Asia to Europe and then to Israel assisting him. We have a bunch of women around today that could not cook a good meal, simply because they do not stay home long enough. I am not trying to belittle anyone, but facts speak loud in situations like this. I realize times are different, but God’s Bride will not be put together by one man and one woman: You may as well get that straight. I do not care how many friends you have up there: the Church of the living God, universally, will be put together by a ministry of five different callings, not by one man and one woman who think they have it all. When you do what some are doing, you will end up having a cult. How many understand what I mean? Here sits some young sisters, so I ask them this, Am I making you angry because I preach like this? There are always those in every congregation that want to be something special. If I can get people’s attention and get them headed in the right direction as we get closer to the end, you watch, there will be something that God will place in every member of the body of Christ, woman and man, all to fulfill His purpose. Nobody will be in front of the other one. Nobody will be looking back saying, I am in front of you: I run faster than you do, I have a better gift than you have. The Bride of Christ is a humble people, not minded to speak like that. Here, we will say, is a man that came out of a oneness congregation. I know this for a fact, that in some of those congregations of old, God has manifested His spirit in many ways. There have been a lot of wonderful testimonies come out of those meetings, but God’s Church had not yet reached a place of final perfection back then. I made mention of the brother that come to the front and said, Bro. Jackson: we overheard some individuals talking about some prophecies that had been given in Bloomington. One said something like this, The day will come when Jackson will see the light and he will change and come this way. Listen to me saints, You are my brothers and sisters and I promise you, I am going to stay away from that kind of people, because they do not even know where they are going. Like I said when I started out, There are some good brothers and sisters in Bloomington. They are only victims of circumstances. Believe me. Some can be your friends and relatives. Some could be my friends and relatives. Nevertheless, God’s people is going to be a united body and it is not going to be one preacher and one woman sitting on top of everything. Get that out of your mind. No matter how much a woman wants to be spiritual, I say, Be spiritual, but be a part of something that glorifies God, and know your place in it. There were women that followed Jesus, just like there were those that followed Paul. You can read their testimonies and learn that they were not trying to maneuver anything to their own selfish goal. They never followed for eighty miles saying, God has sent me to direct him where to go, what to do, or anything like that. I have had a lot of women in this congregation through fifty years, of which most are dead and gone, that prophesied, spoke in tongues, interpreted and so forth, but they never tried to run the church. They are off the scene now, and God is using others in like manner. Every last person, young or old, as we get closer to the end when this church is going to be reunited and the real ministry allowed to minister to the people, to the local congregation in various ways, the day will come when you young sisters will be just like Philip’s daughters. Hear me saints. When Paul came to Philip’s household that night, Philip had daughters, virgins, never been married, that prophesied. I wonder what got hold of them? The main thing is, they knew how to keep their mouths shut until the anointing gave them utterance. They stood up and gave their prophecy and sat down. That is how it should be in every gathering. We started out in New Albany, in 1955. Then in1959, we had a meeting that lasted for three weeks; and almost every night, there were people lying on the floor under the power of the Spirit of God. They prophesied and spoke in tongues as the Spirit gave utterance. By the time the meeting was over, we had many people coming that had no place to park their cars. That is what caused Faith Assembly to make the move to Clarksville.
LOOKING AT REALITY
Let us now take a look inside the congregation we had from the meeting I have already mentioned. Out of the Methodist Church in Georgetown, was a man and his wife attending our services. I knew them. They both were slain by the power of God and prophesied, but when that meeting was over they came to Faith Assembly for only about two more weeks. We heard later, that one said to the other, I don’t believe we are ready to leave the Methodist Church. They stopped coming; and in less than a year and half they were divorced; and in ten years time their oldest boy had been arrested by the police for dealing in dope. Why do I say this? Every time I have seen a move of the Spirit come through this congregation, there has always been that element of flesh the Spirit falls on. They are the first ones to burst through the doors when they are unlocked; and they are the first ones to go do this and let the world know, Look what I have: I have the Holy Ghost! Well the sad part is when we look at their story later on in life. As I look back to 1994, and on through 1997, how the Spirit moved in various congregations I have to ask, Where are all those characters today? Where did they go and what are they doing? Why did they not stay there where they had such wonderful experiences? When God gave me the Holy Ghost I stayed put, and I have been here ever since. You could try to get rid of me, but I have to say, It will be a hard tussle for you, because I love my brothers and sisters in the Lord. I despise the thing when people say of me, You claim to know everything. Well I certainly do not know everything, but I do know something and I thank God for that. I know also, that there are a lot of people heading down the road that are going to wind up in a spiritual wreck. The true body of Christ is going to wind up following apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. They will come from around the world, not just from Jeffersonville, Indiana. They come from all over the world and if you are what you profess to be, you will be ready to listen to each one God sends your way. I know there are some of you sitting here before me, that are going to listen, because I can see that you want to. That is because you have already seen what the true Church is to look like. You want to be in that number and you know what it takes. Some are accused daily, but the time will come when you are going to stop letting the devil talk to you, like, If you were really what you claim to be, you would be doing this and that. He will also say, If you would go to such and such a place, I would anoint you to prophesy. Brothers and sisters, listen to me, When God gave me the Holy Spirit years ago, I did not go from place to place looking for a place I could speak in tongues: I was hungry for more of what only God could give me. I did not look for somebody’s prayer meeting where I could speak in tongues just to exalt myself. I said in my heart, If this is a true gift of God, Lord, use it before Bro. William Branham. In less than a year of time after that, God was anointing my soul. God soon led us over to Clarksville, to the little building behind the Roberts and Strack Veneer place, which was the building built by the man Bro. William Branham had prophesied to, that he would start a church, but it would never stand. When we finally had to rent it because of the situation, we were there longer than any one group had ever been there, and Bro. William Branham came down there on one occasion, which was Sunday morning and Sunday night. The last time he was there, was on a Thursday night. That was the night I told him the dream I had about him moving west. There is always a time and place for everything, if God be in it. I just want to say these things to our young people, Don’t go out behind the barn and say, Lord, fill me with the Holy Spirit. Lord, manifest your gifts in my life. If there is a gift in your life, the hour will be when God wants to manifest it openly. Of course that will be when you are sitting somewhere with the right attitude. I am aware that some have heard, Well you see, Jackson don’t allow liberty in His meetings. Whoever told you that bunch of foolishness? You tell that person to come here and say that to my face. I don’t want people to wind up like a lot of others did that were in here: where are they at now? How many know what I am talking about? I am looking at the overall picture. I want to see some people that know why they are here and the devil and high water could not take them out of here. I want them to feel that they have the liberty of the Spirit and the freedom to yield to whatever God anoints them for. Yet when I say that, there are some that will say, Well, I can’t speak in tongues as much as I would like to. I just say to such a person, Then you do need to be somewhere else. Why do you say that Bro. Jackson? Because God does not want any certain person to be a star, with every eye looking to him or her as something outstanding. He wants you to be an individual that can be humble, and one He can anoint to manifest that certain gift He has blessed you with, without you becoming a star. That gift will be manifested for one purpose, and that will be for edification of the people who witness it . It will always be truthful and without any purpose of selfishness on the part of the anointed instrument. Sisters I say to you, Do not just follow some of the other sisters for the purpose of learning how to be spiritual. The devil will always be ready to lead you into a trap, and you will not be able to blame me for it: I am warning you ahead of time. God wants all of us to be able to sit together in unity in whatever congregation we are associated with. I personally witnessed what God did for some of the other young ones in here when they received the Holy Spirit, and I did not hear anything about them running around all over creation to put their gift on display. I am not saying these things to be hurtful to anyone: I just want to help you all I can. There are a lot of people that look at me and say, Bro. Jackson, you need to see how it is, because it is like this, or that or something else. Yes, I know it is like that, but when I was a young fellow I knew a lot of people that lived in the Jeffersonville area: they were like some of you could end up being. They thought it was all going to be done in a house meeting somewhere. I have been there, and I learned from it rather than being captured by a certain spirit that was there. Do you know what I heard in those meetings most of the time? Oh, Bro. William Branham is a prophet of God, so the Church has to be like this, so they each have their own ideas. I went to one place one night and they told me it is wrong to have a platform to preach from, because that only shows that you are trying to exalt yourself. As I sat there and listened to all that nonsense I thought, Then why did Jesus take them out in the countryside and He go up on a hillside and preached to them down in the valley below? Why? He knew how to use the terrain to build the acoustics, so that what He said could be heard. A lot of people know everything, to hear them tell it, but it is not going to be their way if God is allowed to do the directing. That platform is not to make anybody a star: It enables the speaker to stand and look out over you; and it enables you to likewise view the speaker. I would not be comfortable standing where I could only see the faces of those in the first two rows. I like to see the rest of you wherever you are sitting back there. That kind of fault-finding is only for those who have nothing constructive to talk about.
A DREAM AND ITS MEANING
Last fall, when we had a convention, something meaningful took place. I am going to take my time and tell this, because it is important. The convention lasted for six days. There were different ones here from Alabama, Illinois, East Chicago Indiana, Georgia and around about, and were here for a purpose. I had been given a dream several months prior to this meeting that I am now going to tell. It looked as though I had the entire congregation down on the farm for an outing. I could see all the church people there. I was going around shaking hands with different people, and I recognized different other ones. Finally I went over and sat down on the end of a row of seats. (I am telling this just like I saw it.) All of a sudden in front of me, crawling in the grass, was a little baby boy. As I watched that little baby boy, he crawled over to my knee and pulled himself up and stood there patting my knee. As I looked at the little fellow the thought came to me, I wonder whose baby this is? Along about that time, I had told this particular sister, that did eventually come and get the baby, that she was going to have a baby boy. Then when it became known she was going to have a little girl, I thought, Oh, this would have been the first dream I had ever had that would be utterly wrong. However as I kept watching, I realized the dream was not going to be fulfilled in the natural at all. That baby means something in another way. As that little baby boy stood there patting my knee, he did it like he knew me. He then began to reach up, so I picked him up and held him in my lap. That little baby boy began to rub my face and pull my ear, just like he had known me for a long time. (He was not even walking yet.) Pretty soon he closed his eyes and laid over in my arms, sound asleep. I kept thinking, Whose little boy is this? I heard some of the sisters say, Come and get it, so I knew it was time to eat. I thought, This little fellow is sleeping: I don’t want to wake him up. (I have a reason for telling this, so I want you young people to listen carefully.) The sister that I recognized, because it was a certain type of skirt that she had on, came over and picked the little fellow up from my lap. I just assumed it was her little boy. When I began to think about it more closely, here is the real meaning of that dream. The little baby boy did not crawl out of the tent where the women were sitting: He was already out here on the lawn. Nevertheless he came to me like he knew me. Then when it was said, It is time to eat, I realized she represents a type of young people. They have sat here long enough to know why they are here. They are not going to follow every Tom, Dick and Harry just because they have something to say. All last fall, every preacher that preached a message, preached a message that lined right up with each one the others had preached. Furthermore every one of those men said, Bro. Jackson, we are with you: we stand with you one hundred percent. They let me know it had been my ministry that had provided and paved the way for what they now see, and they know what is getting ready to take place. That is why it was the ministry, in its infancy, in the dream, but the time had come, that it is going to come on the scene and make itself known. How many understand what I am saying? Since then, these same brothers have communicated with me. I am saying all this for a reason, so Church, there is going to be a ministry of men established in the ranks of the true Church; and it is through this ministry that you and I are going to be put together the way God wants His Church put together. Every gift will be in place. There will be no one woman as a star, nor one man as a star. If God called me to be an apostle, I want to be exactly that. I know this, If what I have been doing is what God called me to do, then I will stand here and I will preach this truth until the true body of Christ is in its perfecting position. There is not going to be one woman or one man running everything, because the true body of believers are not going to become a one man or one woman show. There will not be a one woman show off, given any place. True Christians are going to come to where there is a body of people that recognizes the grace of God, young and old alike. I want to be Christ like in all my ways. I have no reason whatsoever to try to exalt myself, because I am what I am only by the grace of God.
SOUND WORDS
Brothers and sisters, I have preached what is on my heart. We are going to learn to be led by the Spirit of God, or we are going to go off a cliff somewhere and wind up in the devil’s junkyard. (Verse 15), “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.” Yes brothers and sisters, we are going to learn to be led by God’s Spirit, if His Spirit is in us. I have said all this to say, You are my brothers and sisters. Regardless of what your family name is, you are part of my family, because we are all children of God. We are so blessed, to be part of God’s family. May God bless you everyone.
CLOSING PRAYER MORNING SERVICE
Heavenly Father, take these words today, and put them together in our hearts, young and old. Help us to realize we are looking toward a climax of all of this. God help me to have an understanding that I can see each person endeavoring to give themselves to you completely, that you can mold that person, anoint, and use that person. Lord, may you guide Faith Assembly that it can be a shining light, a light that can reflect to the ends of the earth. Whatever we publish, or whatever we put out there in the form of video or through the internet, God use it, I pray. Because we realize time is short now. Help the people, that somehow or other have gotten off course, thinking their physical person is going to be something great, when we know you are not going to receive that greatness of the flesh. The greatness has got to be how Christ is formed in each one of us. Lord I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Bless every brother and sister. Amen
INSTRUCTIONS FOR PROPER CHRISTIAN CONDUCT IN LIFE
As we continue on here I would ask of you, Remember, especially the Bloomington congregation: I have known many of those people for years, and I know there are some good people up there, but being good people does not give anyone else a right to hide under the shelter of those who are upright people, and perpetrate things to exalt themselves as though they have something that has a priority to the Bride of Christ. Nobody can show me anywhere in the Bible that any woman stood out above men in the early age of Christianity. It mentions women, but you see the context of what was talked about. I have to say therefore, that many have been accused of lying, and that all of what we have been dealing with is all because of a lie. It is not a lie: It know for certain, that what I am dealing with is the truth. What was projected, what was said, why it was said, what the aim and purpose was in all of it, is what we are concerned about. The Church of the living God is not built on lies. Neither is it built upon any certain person trying to place his or herself above everyone else. In all these years, I have never looked at myself as anything above and beyond whatever God wanted it to be. I have accepted the responsibility of what God has called me into; and I am thankful that He allowed me to go around the world four times, preaching revealed truth from His written word. I have been privileged to preach to people of all races and colors without any prejudice. That is why it hurts so much when I come home to my own area and find someone who tries to perpetrate certain things and leave the implication that what they are accused of is all lies. I will never call anyone a liar outright, but if it is proven that some has been lying, and doing it in the name of the Lord, I will not let you sit still very long. I am not getting up here and preaching to you a bunch of lies out of the scriptures. You know what the Bible says about deviating from the ways of righteousness, and the end result, as is completely covered in the 5th chapter of Galations: those who do such things have no part in the kingdom of God. That is what the book says, so it is very strange how some people make such an appearance, yet they want you to believe that everything they have said is the truth, and over and over it is repeated and comes out that it is not the truth at all. The main person in question, many of her relatives sit right here in this congregation and have spoken to me about this situation. They want me to know, Bro. Jackson, we know what you are faced with; and we want you to know we stand with you one hundred percent. Therefore Brothers and Sisters, this is the message, the finish of it, and it is not to downgrade the Bloomington church. Some have taken refuge in that church, using it as a shelter, so they can perpetrate their own ideas, hoping to affect people who sit there with a true Christian outlook, but God Himself is the shelter for those who love truth. You can come on now Bro. Steve; and finish what you have to present to all who will hear this.
BROTHER STEVE YAHRAUS SPEAKING
I will pick up where I left off before, in the middle of this letter from Brother Davis, to Tim. “Most of our church went up to Bloomington on Labor Day weekend 1996, and and I preached in one of the services. One of the sisters that were at the prayer meeting the night I became angry, rode back to Fairhope with Larry and Corrina. On the way home she told them what I had said that night, which made them furious. Bro. Larry called me on the phone to see if I had actually made the remark to which I admitted. By the end of the week a sister in the church called me and told me Corrina was going to expose me as being false, in the Sunday morning service. Sis. Pat MacLish came down to support Corrina in what she felt she must do, so I was told. I was never concerned about being exposed as false, but as I prayed about it, I felt I had been wrong to lose control of my temper in front of those sisters that night. I felt the only course of action for me was to apologize, which I did. I only apologized for losing control in front of the other sisters. In my message I took particular care to point out that as pastor I have a responsibility to observe and evaluate a person’s behavior, so that I might discern unclean spirits, but I have to carry that gift with care. I never apologize for discerning what I believe to be the spirits of jealousy and slothfulness in their lives. I hold that even today. Following the service, myself, my wife, Sis. McClish and Sis. Corrina were left in the sanctuary. Sis. Corrina told me that throughout the week she had been so hurt by me that she had lost all confidence in my ministry, but after I had stood up there and apologized, her faith was renewed in me once again. She said, People have always misunderstood her relationship with you. God had called her to be a protector and a defender of your ministry and after today she would defend my ministry as well. On Monday or Tuesday following my apology, Sis Corrina and Sis. Pat came to visit with my wife while I was gone to work. During the visit Corrina told my wife there were two other occasions where a woman tried to destroy your ministry through seducing you and she had to remind you that your ministry was too important to be giving in to lust. I have no knowledge as to who she was referring to. She said she would do whatever she had to do to prevent you from losing your qualifications to be in the ministry. Corrina also told my wife that she and Sis. Pat and Bro. Larry would all sit down in the living room and they would go into a trance and be shown horrific scenes of destruction and devastation, explained it as if there would be a veil lifted from the spirit realm. The following Sunday I took the verse of scripture in the book of Titus, where Paul instructed Titus to sit in order the things that are wanting and I had all the men I as pastor recognized as spiritual leaders or mature Christians sit up on the platform and I explicitly addressed the young people and instructed them that the men that were sitting on the platform and their wives are the people in this assembly that I have confidence in, that can give you sound counsel. I told them if they go anywhere else for spiritual advice, they are just playing games with the word of God and some day we were going to meet head on. After the service Sis. Corrina approached me and said, you preached that because of me, didn’t you? To which I simply said, Sister, the Lord has called me to pastor this church and that is all I am trying to do. That was when she began looking to move back to Indiana. When she moved back to Indiana, I could tell things were not the same between us or our assemblies any more. I believe it was because of the reports you were hearing concerning us. It was my intention to call you on the phone and explain these things to you, but before I could, Wanda came to me and told me she had been given a dream that really concerned her. She did not know that I had planned to call you at that time. In the dream a group of us in the Fairhope church were standing in the altar area of the old church building. Corrina was standing about midway between the platform and the front door and she was crying and weeping, almost howling. The front doors were opened and you and Dean were standing there facing one another. You would occasionally look over at Corrina and Wanda could hear you and Dean say to each other, Why do they hate her so, what do they have against her? I can’t understand how they could mistreat her like they do, and other statements like that were heard. As you and Dean were speaking, Wanda saw Corrina lift up her head and smirk at her, then she bowed her head again and began to howl again. When she told me that dream, I believed then, and I still do, that you would not give me access to your spiritual ear. I believe God was telling me to keep quiet because you wouldn’t believe me, and it would only make matters worse. The truth is Tim, I should never have had to tell these things to anyone ever. I held these things nearly seven years with no intention to ever reveal them. When my sister told me that dream, I prayed Lord, I won’t approach him in any way to bring the subject up, but if he asks me what happened, I am going to tell him off. You never asked. You would always tell me how much you appreciated me and how much confidence you had in me. In reality, it contented you to believe I was judgmental, spiteful, negligent and pretty much a novice. When Corrina moved back up there, I told Faith this, That devil can’t hide in the bushes for ever. If she doesn’t get deliverance, Bro. Stewart and Tim will have to discern it and deal with it or there is going to be trouble. You boast how you are not going to follow the flesh of Raymond Jackson, yet you let a woman lead you around like you have a ring in your nose, then you turn right around and encourage brothers and sisters to follow your flesh. The sad part about the whole thing is, God really didn’t even require you to discern the spirit, he gave you another outlet because that is how rich his love and mercy is. Yet for all that, you still didn’t submit. The first that was given to you by Bro. Jackson simply instructed you to gather the sisters that were so fond of traveling with you and tell them to stay home. That would have aggravated that devil so he could be dealt with in a much gentler way concerning the vessel that he had manipulated. When the second reproof came, God times it so that it would be given the Sunday before I would leave to go to Mexico to minister with Bro. Bud. I knew then, I had to tell these things to my brother. He advised me to call Bro. Jackson with the information. Bro. Bud took responsibility for causing me to speak these things to my brother concerning the sister I seek to do no harm to. But Bro. Bud is not responsible. You have forced the issue and I call upon you as a brother in Christ, repent and humble yourself to the full counsel of God that has been delivered to you through the servant of God. You are my brother and I love you, but you are wrong. Your brother in Christ, Bro. Russell Davis”
END OF LETTER
Thank you Bro. Steve. (Bro. Jackson speaking) Now brothers and sisters, we have another short note here we will read in a moment. I will not give anybody recognition in this church that has absolutely, behind my back, or anyone else’s back, perpetrated suppositional things to be truth, when it is a lie. I will not call anyone a liar until it is a proven fact that they are. Some of you might think, Well I don’t think the church is the place to correct this. Where in the world do you think Paul would have corrected it? He corrected everything in the open. I don’t want anyone to be confused about this subject, so I am dealing with it openly. The devil has tried his best to bring a lot of confusion through this, to confuse innocent minds and make it appear that this person is guiltless. Brothers and sisters, they have got by with it for a long time, but no longer will they. Sunday morning when I preached what I did, I went to a certain restaurant, and a certain brother said to me as I passed his table. Bro. Jackson, I would like to tell you something concerning the subject you are dealing with. When they got through eating, they came to our table and told me some things. This occurred in his own home. I do not want anybody to tell me Corrina Glass is innocent concerning the things we have been dealing with. I never asked this brother to tell me this: He just told me. She can tell some people, Well it is all a lie and go right on down the road propagating the same thing. Do you remember, It has been about a year ago that Corrina Glass went to Norway. How many remember that? When she got back from there, on a certain occasion she was in this brother and sister’s home, so now Bro. Bud, come and read this. (Bro. Bud reading) “I felt I should have said something to Corrina about her being out of her place, but I didn’t. My wife and I were very concerned after they left. Then about a week or so later, Sis. Bryant and Naomi stopped by the house. My wife questioned Sis. Bryant about what Corrina meant about her ministry to help Tim. Sis. Bryant said she thought Corrina meant praying for him. But I told her I thought she meant more than that. On the same day Naomi was talking about how she also thought she would have a phone call saying Bro. Jackson had died. My wife told her we couldn’t understand why God would do that since Bro. Jackson was the apostle of the hour and felt God was using him to perfect the Bride, to get us out of this world.”
END OF READING
There is more that could be told, but we will not go into all of it at this time. Brothers and sisters, I am going to come back to the text we were on this morning. I am grateful to the Lord for His word. When the apostle Paul wrote, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” That means exactly what it says. We are going to learn to be led by the Spirit of God. I grant you, there are a lot of things in life that you are confronted with, that you have to deal with in a natural realm. Those things are not necessarily things related to the kingdom of God. However when it comes to things related to the kingdom of God itself, in the Church, I have to ask you, What is the church? It is not a lodge. It is a place where we all come together as children of God, thanking God for His mercy and grace, and learn more about God and His plan of salvation for us, and how we can grow more and more in the image and likeness of Christ Jesus. Yes, it is a fact down through the years of time, that there has always been a little character here and there, that was always manipulating certain things, trying to build his or her own image into something important. We find the same thing in the scriptures. That is why I said this morning, Some will try to perpetrate this or that, just anything to make it something special, like they had a special revelation. Well we also know that the apostle Paul did his level best to put out everything that brought division, and that caused flesh to become exalted. By the grace of God, I have tried my best for the past fifty years, not to exalt my person, but to lift up the ways of the Lord. I do not want people to think that I am something that should be stuck up on a flag pole for some special recognition. I am thankful though, for the truth God has put in my heart; and I know it was not just for me to enjoy, but for me to stand up and defend. I will tell you, when the truth that you stand for becomes a means for the devil to use other carnal minds to throw darts at you, trying to hinder you, you cannot help but watch to see where it all comes from. Somebody in the congregation is the last person on earth that we should expect darts, false accusations, and such like to come from, but it does happen. When I see this whole picture that has been perpetrated by Corrina, as well as Tim, I have to say to those people in Bloomington, the body of true believers, Please, for the sake of almighty God, wake up and realize what the devil has done in your midst. I say, It will not go on like this forever. One of these days somebody is going to do the wrong thing one time too often and this thing is going to take a down hill slide. That is because God will not let His true people be bound up and caught up in a snare like this and become tools for the devil to play with forever. We all many times are faced with something, but sooner or later we are going to learn a lesson and ask God to help get us out of it. I have to realize this particular person, if we call her a sister, she has used her influence on other sisters to try to convince them not to come down here with their husbands like other sisters. I don’t want any sister in Faith Assembly to ever reach out and touch anyone else’s wife, unless it is something that is necessary for their encouragement, not where they go, but their encouragement on how to overcome a trial or a test or something that the devil has thrown in their pathway. I have never preached anything through all these past years that has brought about a separation between a man and his wife. I will preach the truth for all to hear. I will say also, There could be times that one within a household will grab hold of that truth and the other one may not. Therefore I can realize, that many times a conflict will set up that could come between the believing one and the spouse, whether it is the husband or the wife, or vice versa, but I will not give advice to purposely separate that man and that woman in such a conflict. I believe this, If God has laid something on a person’s life to bring them out of darkness into the light, He is able to lead the unbelieving person in a manner and a way to help the one that is trying their best to believe and be an overcomer, because, as they pray and ask God to help them, He eventually makes the way. I have observed through the years of time, how there are some always putting themselves in the wise spot, to try to help somebody else because they want to create an interest. I am not in this for that kind of interest. I want to help people find themselves within the body of Christ. I will have to say, The devil has caused this little group at Bloomington to be separated, and they have become a tool in his hand, to be used by these certain individuals. I just have to say to them, Please, wake up, it cannot stay this way forever. I am not trying to destroy the Bloomington assembly: I am just trying to get some people to wake up and face reality. Please do not think I would ever want to destroy anyone or anything. As for the folks in the Bloomington Assembly, I have known many of those people for years. We have had fellowship together through years past. Nevertheless I would have to say to anyone, regardless of whether it be my own blood sister, or blood brother, if I had one, when they step into our midst to perpetrate something that would seek to bring division or misunderstanding, That character must be dealt with according to what is laid out in the scriptures, showing no favor because of human ties. You will not find any negative comments coming out of my mouth on this subject. I know what God is after in the life of every true believer; and I am standing ready to fulfill my part in His plan. I believe with all my heart, that we are approaching an interval of time that the God in heaven is going to lay upon our hearts a responsibility that we must take seriously. We are going to learn personally, that we as a believer of the word of God are to know what truth is. You cannot just sit somewhere for fifteen years of your life, then fail to decide what is and what is not right. God will not allow you to waste fifteen years of your life, listening to this, that and whatever, running here, running there, and then you never know what is or what is not right. That is just plain nonsense. You certainly do not grow in the grace and knowledge of the Son of God, like that. That is why I said this morning, There are three kinds of people in the world. There is one kind that just want religion. They want to sit on the edge and play along with what they agree with. Then there is another kind, if they do find something that is real, many times they wind up in a fanatical stream of thinking. Only God knows the fanaticism they begin to cultivate, because in their way of thinking, they are being spiritual. Saints there is nothing spiritual about being fanatical. The devil is being allowed to drive their flesh into a fanatical concept of the ways of God, but they cannot serve God that way. Reality is this, If you are absolutely called of God, sooner or later, you will be tried and tested: God will not allow you to sail through life without a problem. Believe me, those trials and tests are going to come out and bear fruit to your benefit, because you will have learned something dealing with them, what is and what is not right in the sight of God. You will begin to make up your mind what God has really led you into and you will know exactly how to take your stand.
ANSWERING A QUESTION AND GIVING ADVICE
I received a telephone call one night last week, from a man that has known me for several years, but he lives in the south, and I will not mention his name. He calls once in awhile and asks a lot of questions. Therefore I will try to explain some things the best I know how. He called and asked, Bro. Jackson, do you think we are going to see the day that is going to be just like it was when God would pour out His Spirit and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, old men shall dream dreams, young men shall see visions, do you think that is coming? I said, To a certain extent it is already here. Oh, it is? There are people sitting in the Branham camp today, looking for God to do something, but they have been doing that for thirty nine years and to this day God has done nothing like what they are expecting. I have to say tonight, I am thankful to God, that through the years He has given me a dream when I needed one to help me through a trying time. I believe with all my heart, we are entering an interval of time now, that if we are truthful with God, and if we are sincere with God, and we want His Spirit to be that which is allowed to lead us, you are not going to have to make long distance telephone calls to find out what you should do. The God that has called you and given you His Spirit, is able to show you what to do if you are sensitive to Him. I have to say tonight, There is no need for anybody to sit back and watch this scene go on, with this one lone woman perpetrating these things and this one lone preacher following along with her, like he has somehow or other been charmed into doing. You everyone know as well as I do, that nowhere in the Bible can you find that the apostle Paul or any of those other anointed men, ever followed a lone woman that claimed God had called her just to pray for their ministry and protect them. Prayer can have a lot to do with many things, but that does not mean you are going to come out and make a public display of your own personal part in what is done. You get in the bedroom, or in a closet somewhere and pray, and then keep your mouth shut. If your prayers are heard, God will honor them and the world will never know. I am aware that we are living in a generation of time when in the world about us, there are people in the natural realm that want to exceed and excel, which is alright to a certain degree, but for goodness sakes, a Christian should not perpetrate lies against another person just to get up there where you can be recognized. You may get by with that kind of conduct for a while, but when it comes to the family of God, we are not in this race to destroy someone else: I personally want to do everything I can to help my brothers and sisters along the way. I believe every true believer desires that also.
EXPLAINING A DREAM
When I mentioned the dream this morning, the one I had better than two years ago, about the little baby boy, let me say this, When I found out the lady was not going to have a baby boy, but a little girl, then later I got to looking at it seriously and said, This is not a natural dream: it is a type. Well when we had our September meetings, these different brothers that came from Alabama and different places, and sat here on this platform and expressed themselves to me, I knew what the dream pointed to. Not one time did I ever say anything like, Now are you with me? Will you stand with me? I did not have to. They knew why they were here. Therefore I will say this tonight, You are my brothers and sisters. When I saw that meeting begin to go like it did, I said, This is that little boy in my dream. You might say, Well I don’t get it, so I will say to you, You are not listening to me, or you would get it. That little boy came out of nowhere. He did not come from any one particular direction, he just suddenly appeared in front of me, there on the ground. When I looked at it that way, I could see this ministry that has been in the backwoods for years, (so to speak) has each one been separated by God, based on the truth we have stood for, for the last thirty nine years. Never have I put out a plea, Now please stand with me: I have not had to, because they were standing for the true revelation of God’s Word. Never have I had to ask any of them, Do you believe what we are printing? Sooner or later they have one by one said, Bro. Jackson, what an article! I want you to know I stand with you one hundred percent. One by one these men, when they would preach and the congregation could see spiritually what they were saying, how it lined up with the other person’s message, I knew for sure, Here is that little boy, right here in this ministry that is coming out of the past. That ministry is coming into view now, because of their love for truth. From now on, the five fold ministry to the Bride of Christ is going to begin to sound off and have an affect. I have to say, I thank God tonight, because through the past year I have been able to communicate with them. All these brothers, I am thankful for what they have learned, because it has been the Spirit of God that has put us all together. Then when I refer to the sister that came and got the baby, I had to look at it in this light, It was not because she was the mother: It was because she set a type of the young people here in Faith Assembly. They have a spirit of recognition, they know what to believe and what to accept. They are ready to embrace it. How many understand that? I have to say young people, Please, for the sake of God’s righteousness, do not sit here and say, I haven’t learned anything. If that be true I would have to say, Then maybe you haven’t been listening. The truth of God’s word has been preached here through the years; and we have printed articles for years that would have helped anyone understand if they were serious about understanding. I get letters from overseas saying, Thank you Bro. Jackson, and thank you Faith Assembly, for the truth that you have put out and sent to the world through the years: You just don’t know what this means to us, having access to God’s revealed truth for this end time body of believers. Yes saints, It is that truth we have stood for, for the past forty years now, that these letters speak of, so watch what I am telling you: God is going to use it in the hands of these other brothers. He is going to put a body of people together, and each one is going to learn how to live and walk in the Spirit of God. We are not going to be repetitious, or copy cats, but the revelation of this truth is going to live in each of us. It is going to motivate our thoughts and lead us in the right direction. I say to every young person in here, God is not through with you yet. The hour is coming, when our hearts and our motives are right, that God is going to start anointing you for certain things. He will let some of you see some dreams that will benefit you, as well as the body. Sometimes it will be God’s way of showing you a step ahead of time, what is about to take place. I have to say, When this body begins to really come together in true unity around the scriptures, I am not going to look upon you as a bunch of little nincompoops, and you will not look upon the ministry as men who are trying to make themselves something. They are going to be something, because God has made them something. You are going to learn to thank God for every truth that you hear come out of their mouth. Every brother of the true, called out ministry is going to see eye to eye. That is not just my prediction: That is what the Bible says. They are not going to be copy cats either. They are going to take what God puts in their heart and then deliver it to the people the way God wants it to be expressed. I will say this, No minister in the true body of Christ will ever have to worry, Am I preaching it right? When you allow the Holy Spirit of God to work in your life, He will direct your spiritual mind the right way: He will let you see the subject, the object, and all of that which is to be obtained. He will cause you to see everything the right way, and that will enable you to deliver everything just the way God wants it. I say these things, and I want my brothers and sisters to remember, We do not have twenty more years to learn how to be perfected. Perfection the way God speaks of it, is knowing how to live right and knowing how to look at each other, and then talk right. A true minister of God is not always bragging about what he is, and what everyone else is not. We begin to be thankful to God for what He has done for all of us. I am thankful for every one of you who have allowed me to preach to you through the years. It is only by the grace of God that any of us are anything worth what He has bestowed upon us. We can all have trials, but we do not have to just settle down and live in the trials, talking about them all the time. If we do have a trial, sometimes it is best just to pray about it instead of talking about them all the time. As we are nearing the end, watch what I tell you, When the other person really begins to be concerned about the part they play, here is where the Spirit of God can show some brother or sister in a dream, that a certain person needs prayer. You can see yourself many times going to that person and saying a few words that will be an encouragement. It is not to show them how much you know: It is saying certain words that God inspires you to say, that will help uplift them while going through a trial, and that is because God will see that you say the right thing, the right way. That person will say, Brother, or Sister whichever the case is, God sent you just in time: I cannot tell you how much this means to me: I have been depressed for a long time. Let me say also, I am not coming down with a bad cold just because my voice is like this: I am eighty years old, so tell me how many other eighty year old men can get up like this, and their voice holds up on and on. I have seen eighty year old men who could hardly talk at all, so I am thankful that I can talk as well as I do. I have said, Lord, as long as you put a revelation in my heart, I might have to squeak it out, but I will do my best to teach it. My voice is not going to hold up like it used to, so I ask that you learn to bear with me in these times. I will manage to squeak it out somehow. The main thing is, that you understand what I have said. I love my brothers and sisters, and I want to be a help to every one of you. I want to encourage you any time I can. I will confess to this while I am talking, It really bugs me, to know there are always one or two off somewhere in a corner, that are always trying to manipulate themselves into a place above everybody else. To them I say, You think you are really something, but you are only what you are by the grace of God. That is all I will ever be saying of myself. I have never asked God to put a bunch of stars above my head, or make me anything special. I am only what God called me to be, and I always pray, Father just give me the grace to speak what you lay upon my heart so it will benefit the people it is meant for. Remember this, After tonight, I will not touch on this anymore for a long, long time. I have another message to preach; and it is not along this line. I want to be sure I have said enough concerning this subject, that you will know from now on, that I am not playing with it. I have not said behind anybody’s back, the things that need to be said. That kind of conduct does not belong in the Church of the living God. Regardless of whether you are a brother or a sister or a preacher or whatever, I want my brothers and sisters to be able to sit here and feel that I respect them, and to know they are my brothers and my sisters. As I said to the young people earlier, I feel like I want to adopt all of you. Why do I say that? Simply because I have respect for all of you. I will say to every one of you, I am thankful for the way you have sat here through the years, and for the respect you have shown me, or whoever else might have been in this pulpit.
CONCLUDING WORDS
I will say again tonight, what I told one person already, Watch, up the road ahead, as God begins to put His end time Church together, there are some people living out there in isolated places, having no place to go and fellowship in the like realm of their faith. Once they do recognize a body of people, a congregation that they can begin to see worshiping God according to a revelation of truth, they will want to be a part of that fellowship, so watch what I tell you, and be ready to extend a friendly hand to them. I will not proselyte anyone, but I am persuaded that truth will draw them here. I pray that we will have proper respect for them, and for them being led by the Spirit of God to come here. Many times they will lay down a lot of things just to be here. You are going to see the hand of God at work, how He provides and makes a way for them to be able to leave certain areas and come here, moving everything they have into this area to be here. Why? Just to look at your face? No sir. It is to be here with you and me to worship God in the same Spirit and in the true revelation of His Word, that their spiritual being can be edified. I have to cherish people like that. They will not come here complaining: They will come here because they are thankful to be among people of like faith. Lord, help us all to know how to be led by your Spirit. I pray that Faith Assembly will continue growing and be able to shine a spotlight upon truth for people that are not looking for halos, but for a place of like faith where they can come together and worship our Creator. This is an hour of time when we all should be knowing how to conduct ourselves and live before God among each other without bickering. God bless you brother, God bless you sister. If God has shown you something, be sure it is simple enough and humble enough that you are not afraid to share it. When we begin to see one another in like faith, with like appreciation so people can feel it, then they will want to be a part of it. I like to be with that kind. That is why I have said, Please, do not sit here for eighteen years and then say, Well I am not sure that I am in the right place. I want all of you to make heaven your home, and I pray that you recognize what you have fallen heir to, because you suddenly realize, this is what you have been waiting for and living for all along. God is not going to tolerate this nonsense of us down here, humanly using excuses, I have been here and I have been there, and not found anywhere I can stay. I remember meeting a young man years ago that really seemed to have a hunger for the word of God. Then for whatever reason, he left here and went to Oklahoma for a while. When he moved back into this area, he never did come back to Faith Assembly. Then after several months, a brother met up with this one young man somewhere and asked, Where are you going to church now? I don’t go anywhere. Why not? I can’t find anybody that believes like me. Brothers and sisters, Faith Assembly is not going to be put together with people like that. We are all going to wind up believing the same thing, or something will cause some of you to go elsewhere. When God gets through dealing with the Bride Church, all that are in it are going to be believing the same thing. Do not tell me you will not. You everyone will, young and old, black or white, because that is what the Church of the living God is to be like. That book we carry and profess to believe it is the written Word of God, only points to one picture, one object, one objective. When that is in our hearts, we are no longer a Baptist, we are no longer a Methodist: We are children of God and we know it. You will not sit here for years and never learn anything. I am thankful to God for what He has taught me through the years. Brothers and sisters, young and old, if it were not for the grace of God, we would not be anything worthwhile, because we deserved nothing God has to offer. I am thankful for what He has taught us. I know it is the truth. I know also, that if we hold to it, there is yet other things to come, but we will not have to throw one thing away in order to pick up what is yet to come. What God has taught us, you will keep that and He will always add a little more to it as long as we remain in this life. How many understand that? You are my brothers and my sisters, young and old, because the Church of the living God is made up of young and old. Those who have been in a military unit will understand what I mean by not trying to know it all, because you did not go in there and tell them what to do, and neither did you conduct yourselves like you knew it all either, did you? Well when God saves us, we have to lay down a lot of ideas we had carried through life up until then. It is one thing to read the Bible, but it is another thing to know what it contains, how to read it, how to digest it, and how to accept the kind of picture that comes out of it. Therefore brothers and sisters, this particular problem I have been dealing with, I hope you understand by now what we have been looking at. Am I trying to condemn a body of people? Not at all. I just want to show you, that you cannot stand back and look at some lone person, woman or man, preacher or otherwise, and allow them to project something out here that affects peoples lives in an adverse way, because their growth and walk with God is interrupted until they get straightened out. They may want your fellowship, but that fellowship is not worth anything when it is not approved by the Word of God. I can have respect for a person, but after they begin to show themselves to be that kind of character, the only way I am going to recognize them, is maybe just to shake their hand: that is the human side of it, but that does not mean I am going to pay any attention to their unscriptural ideas. If any person like that ever wants me to recognize them as being anything, they are going to have to confess that they were wrong, and I was right concerning scriptural conduct and fellowship. How many understand what I said? I am closing this message by saying, I have not condemned Bloomington; and I am thankful to God for every one in here that is from the Bloomington assembly, but I did not proselyte to get any of them here. It is the truth we have stood for through the years, that has shined out into the world and drawn certain ones here. As for those from Bloomington, they got tired of sitting there in that conflicting atmosphere: I would too. I certainly do not want any of that kind of spirits hanging around here. I will say very plainly, Do not come down here with that kind of junk: It will not be tolerated. I want to shake hands with godly people that come here to learn how we can all sit together in heavenly places in Christ. I will stand for truth until there is not one lone person among us manipulating and pulling some kind of deal to draw attention to themselves. We have all come here to learn by the grace of God. Therefore I believe, if that is the motive of our hearts, God is going to teach us many things in the days to come.
SOMETHING TO PRAY ABOUT
Only God Himself knows some of the things that are going on right now in the political realm, and in the economic realm. How do we know that there is not something drastic coming down the road? The way things are out here in the world around us, a bunch of these Muslim extremist could turn something loose and create a lot of ruin, havoc, and danger in many places. You might be glad then to have a brother or sister that you can go to and have fellowship with. We do not know for sure, that we will be able to keep this building open for every service under conditions like that. We will do our best in every situation, by the grace of God, to have a place open where we can worship God together. I am saying no more on the subject we have been dealing with. How many understand what I have said about it? Everything I have stated is the truth; and I do not want that in Faith Assembly, because I did not start it. There will not be a lodging place here for self-serving ideas. May God help us keep our head’s on straight. As I look out here, I see a young fellow that had not been coming here very long until I saw him sitting up here beside this little sister. Listen to me! I am concerned for every one of you young people sitting in here in this assembly. I will never tell you, that just because time is so short, that you should stay single. If Jesus is coming tomorrow, and you see a person you love and that loves you, and you want to get married, that is your business. Let the rest of us leave it alone. My point is this, Don’t look at me because I am eighty years old and think I do not feel for you young people. I have great concern for every one of you. I refuse to come down the road all bent over, making life miserable for other people. I want to think like a Christian person ought to think. That is why I tell these young people once in awhile, I am going to pick at you, I might make you laugh, but I will not make you cry. You everyone know what I mean by that. I am thankful for every one of you, because we are a family and we are going to be a family that gets better at knowing how to conduct ourselves. We are going to get stronger as the days pass. May the Lord bless all of you. Amen.