<TITLE>18. Par 172-179</TITLE>L-172   And, dear God, if there be some setting here this morning, maybe who has put this off for years and years, but constantly there's a little knocking at the heart. Maybe they joined church, thinking, "Well, it'll be all right." Father, sure, the Scriptures has explained it this morning: that you cannot hide behind a church, and be righteous; neither can you be good, not lie and steal and do anything bad, and still be righteous.

L-173 There's only one righteousness we have, not of our own, but His righteousness. He has perfected our salvation. Therefore, being in Him, God does not see our mistakes. When we do anything wrong, there's a spirit in us screams out, "O Father, forgive me!" Then God does not see it. It's... We are brought into fellowship and grace with Him. Grant it, Lord, while we close this service, in Christ's Name. Amen.

L-174   Just for a moment, I like to ask you. No matter what you do, you're lost. Listen to this. Sometime ago... I might have told it before. Here is a little experience happened to me.

L-175 I was up at--at Toledo, Ohio. I was in a revival and--and having a meeting down there and so many people. They knowed the hotels was at; so they taken me out into the country. I was staying out there, a little motel.

L-176 We had been eating at a little Dunkard restaurant. It was a wonderful place, the little ladies in there just as Christian and sainted looking as they could be, clean and real nice. Sunday come, I got hungry. I had been fasting a little. And I want to go across the street to another, order a little. A little road there by a corner, and there was just a regular, common, American place there, to eat. Little, had a little place, a cafe, open all night. When I walked in there on that Sunday, about two o'clock in the afternoon, before going down to preach that afternoon.

L-177   I was so gotten, I didn't know what to do. I walked in, and the first thing I noticed was a young lady about sixteen, eighteen years old, some papa's darling, some mother's darling, standing back there with a boy, with her hands around her hips. Bunch of teen-agers setting at the--at the counter.

L-178 I heard a slot machine. Looked over here, and there was a policeman standing there with his arm around a woman, up around here, her waistline, and playing a slot machine. Now, you know that gambling and slot machine is illegal in Ohio, you Buckeye people here. And you know that's illegal. And here was the law, playing a slot machine; and a man of my age, probably married, bunch of children, maybe a grandfather. A policeman, rode patrol, playing a slot machine. There was that young... What's a teen-age done? What's this done?

L-179   I stood there. Nobody noticed me coming in, they was too busy, half of them drunk. So, I watched. I heard somebody saying, "Well, do you think the rain will hurt the rhubarb?" And looked around over here, and here set a lady setting there, old lady, real... She was sixty-five, seventy, close to it. And the poor lady... I don't blame anyone from looking their best. But when she... She had fixed herself, made her hair blue, real blue-looking. And all cut off, over the top, and made it real blue. And she had on real thick manicure, or what you call the stuff put on her face, and a big spots. And she had on little bitty shorts, and the poor old thing was so wrinkled till the meat, flab, meat was hanging down like that over her legs. And she was drunk. She was setting there with an old man, in the summertime, with one of these old, gray army overcoats on, or olive drab. It hanging down like that, and a big scarf around his neck. Drunk, two of them, and they was with this poor old woman.


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