<TITLE>15. Par 54-58</TITLE>L-54  Looking up there and think of the those old times, I started crying; wife said, "I thought you come home to rest."
I said, "Honey, I think about those things. I think, 'Where is Ralph Fields?'" Said, "Gone." "Where's Wilmer?" Gone. "Where's my brother, Edward?" He's gone. "Where's Rollin Halloway?" Gone. Here we have no continuing city.
I looked back up on the hill to see where the old place was. I thought if I can just visualize seeing that little old line, little old--through that broom sedge there, going up to the house... Gone. The house is gone. Daddy's gone. Oh, my, here we have no continuing city, but we're seeking one to come whose Builder and Maker is God.
My friends are gone; my brother's gone; daddy's gone; my home's gone. Mother and I left, for the story.

L-55  Notice, then... Think of all those things and how I cheated my brother out of a handful of popcorn. It all come back to me then. Brother, sister, don't never do anything wrong, for it'll come back to you just as sure as you're living. Do right; you're bound to come out right.

L-56  And then, I remember... I'll have to hurry 'cause it's getting late, get right down now, it's... Have to leave in a few moments. And you'll give me your attention as you have been, I think you're awfully nice.
On down I wish I had time to move in and get the story of the coming of the gift and so forth, but I'll have to kindly skip that. I remember the time (many of you'll read it in book and so forth), how the Angel of the Lord appeared to me down, told me never to smoke or to drink or defile my body in any way, that there'd be a work for me to do when I got older: appeared to me in that bush, and how they have misunderstood it. My mother could give you the story, standing here. And how that even my best girlfriend, one time, called me a big sissy because that I wouldn't smoke a cigarette.

L-57  And I always had my opinion of a cigarette smoking woman and I haven't changed it. That's right. It's the lowest thing that women ever done. That's right. To see them setting in a place... The other day I started to holler, "Fire." right here in this city. A woman setting there, and smoke coming all out around her like that, and a poor little baby laying in her arms; I thought, "You want that baby eyes being ash trays? God never give you that baby for that purpose: your duty to raise it right."
And women, listen here, take my advice, if you do smoke, oh, in Jesus' Name forget about it. Never do that; that's awful. Don't do that for I know if this spirit that bothers me... Now, don't get up and go, everybody will know how guilty you are. See?
Now, and I know one thing, if this Angel of the Lord comes from God, as I know It does, you'll certainly answer at the day of judgment for doing it. We're in the spirit of the latter days: people, heady, high-minded, can't tell them nothing; they know it all. They won't stop and listen to human, to reasoning. Listen. Stop those things. Live right and live before God.

L-58  I tell you one thing, you get the Holy Spirit, and then you can go ahead and smoke after you get the Holy Spirit. Someone said to me the other day, "Did you ever baptize anybody that smoked?"
I said, "Look here, brother, I haven't a yardstick at my church. (See?) I teach the people what's the truth, and then when they receive Christ, Christ takes care of the rest of it."
Here's there's an old oak tree out here. It holds its leaves all the year through, all the winter. Springtime come, there's them old dead leaves hanging on it. You don't have to go pick the leaves off to make new ones come on. Just let the new life come up, the old leaves goes off. That's right. Let the Holy Spirit come into a person's heart, they clean up and fix up and a few things like. That's right. Just get them to Christ; that's all. Then it's God's business from then on.


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