<TITLE>11. Par 42-45</TITLE>L-42 So when He had made the promise that Jesus would come, they failed to understand it. Yet the Bible plainly said that He would be born lowly, and how He would come riding on the foal of an ass and so forth. The--the Scriptures was fulfilled when He made the promise, because God made a way. He had a virgin to bring the Child. He had all those things all ready because He had spoke it. And when He speaks it, He's got to keep His Word. Amen. Oh, my. If you could only see that, it would be--it'd simple to you then. See? If you just see that when God makes a promise, He's got to stand by that promise. He can't leave that promise. See?
When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego went into the fiery furnace, they said, "Our God is able to deliver us. But nevertheless, we'll not do anything contrary to His Word. We'll walk right straight into it." And God made a way of escape. He just come down Himself and fanned the breeze off of them (See?), talked to them a little while, and went away. "I am the way." He has got to make a way every time because He promised it; "I'll never leave thee, neither will I ever forsake thee." He's got to keep His promise. So that's the way He does it.

L-43 So when He made a promise that--that the Christ would come, they believed it. And when the Christ come, He ought to be the greatest answer to this ladder that I know of. He talked to one, one time, an Israelite in whom there's no guile.
And when Philip came to Him and got saved, he went out and got Nathanael. And measuring that off, that's from where Jesus was preaching that day, you had to go around the mountain, way over several miles, where he found Nathanael under a tree, praying.
Here stood the Son of God; people did... Many didn't believe it. The poor people believed it; the poor people received Him; they believed it. They believed in the supernatural. But the orthodox, the starchy, "Aw, it's telepathy. IT's..." See, they didn't believe it. Yet they professed they believed the Word, but believing it in the way of their tradition, and believing it the way God wrote it, was two different things. Jesus was coming the way God promised it.

L-44 And here He was standing here, a Man of low estate, born a human being, standing with one robe in His lifetime, poor, not a place to lay His head. How could this be the aristocratics' God? You see? It couldn't be. But He was a God to the poor. He was a God to those who would believe Him.
And there He stood there. And Nathanael, he was so excited, or Philip, rather, he went around, about four or five miles around in behind the mountain, and he--he found Nathanael under a tree a praying. So he just waited till he got through praying. Then when he got up, he said, "Come see Who we found, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph."
He said, "Now, could any good thing come out of Nazareth."
I think he give him the best answer I know of telling anybody, he said, "Come and see." That's the best thing to do.
They say, "Is there anything to that old-time heartfelt religion?"
"Come and see." That's the best thing. Get some of it one time, then you be the judge.

L-45 When I was a little boy, we used to go in swimming. And I'd always had about the less clothes--least clothes of any of them, so I'd just had a... In the summertime we wore a pair of overalls, and I had a fodder-twine. How many knows what that is? A fodder-twine around over my head like this, and a nail here for a button... So we'd all run down through the field, boy, just banner maker who'd get in first. And nearly all of them, they'd have to take off shoes; I didn't have any shoes. They'd have to take off shirt; I didn't have any shirt. So only thing I'd had to do, was just pull this one nail, and I--I was ready to go in.
I think that's about the way we ought to come to Christ (That's right.), with not too many traditions to lay down, just pull one nail and jump in; that's all. Amen.


<A HREF="P12">Next Page</A>