<TITLE>05. Par 17-20</TITLE>L-17 Now, we lose our glory, if we lose faith. Now, if we get away from faith, then we take the church into an intellectual realm. And many times, it's been thought amongst people, that because a congregation was large, and they had great churches, great steeples, and a great lot of well-dressed and groomed peoples, and a lot of finances, that they could afford such things, we many times, thought that was inspiring--that this certain church must be inspired. Or we've often referred to different ministers, who get out on the field and have great gatherings of crowds, and we think, sometimes, that they are the signs of inspiration. But that's not altogether the truth. That's human inspiration.
But the real inspiration comes by doing the will of God (See?), whether it is a one or just a handful. Whether it is a big church or a small church, it matters not. Whether he is a great eloquent speaker or just a man that hardly knows his ABC's, it doesn't matter. It depends on the message that he brings, whether it is inspired by the Word of God or is it inspired by intellectuals conceptions of human inspiration.
Some people can be inspired because of an eloquent speaker. That doesn't make it right. Sometimes they're inspired, because the man is so trained, till he could put his point over. That doesn't mean that it's of God. See? It's only through God's everlasting, eternal, blessed Word can we receive inspiration, and that's given by the Holy Ghost. By faith we receive it.

L-18 Now, we would think of Moses and this great time of his life. And we read back, of his birth, and how that God had cared for him. But there come a time in Moses' life, to where there had to be a choosing time. If we read right, we find out that he was the son of Pharaoh's daughter, and was the heir to the throne, and would have been the next Pharaoh in Egypt. So he would notice as he looked around, after he'd become of age and of accountability, and there would be those slaves, working out in the slime-pits. And Moses, as he looked through the windows of the palace upon the same slaves that Pharaoh looked on, but what a difference there was in the looking.
I want to base that thought, this morning, for a few minutes, and may the God of heaven drive it home to every heart here: it's how you look at anything, what makes the difference.

L-19 The great evangelist John Sproule, which was a convert of Brother Bosworth's ministry, who many of you remember, years ago, of the old glory barn. He said, one day he was taking a trip, before the deceasing of his beloved companion and wife. They were in Alsace Lorraine, France. And I had the privilege of visiting the same place. And the guide was taking them out through the gardens and showing them the different things, and they come upon a certain statue of the Lord Jesus, the crucifixion. And Mr. Sproule was standing off, looking at it, he and his wife, and in their hearts were criticizing, what the artist must have had in mind, or the sculptor, rather, when he hewed out of a stone such a horrible looking thing to be--to represent the suffering, and the love, and the pity of the Lord Jesus, and how it was all crudely and chopped-up looking.

L-20 And the guide came to Mr. Sproule, and he said, "Sir, I suppose that you are criticizing this statue of the Lord Jesus?"
And he said, "I am."
And he said, "I am not a bit surprised, because most people that look at it first, they do criticize it."
And Mr. Sproule said, "Why, I can't see any pity or any inspiration from looking at such a thing. So I'm wondering why the sculptor every made it like this."
And the sculptor said, "Mr. Sproule, the statue's all right. And the sculptor had the right thing in his mind. But where the trouble is, is with you; it's the way you're looking at it." And he took he and his wife by the hand, and led them down to a--a altar at the foot of this said cross. And he said, "Now, Mr. Sproule, look up, now." And when he looked up, he said his heart like to have failed him.


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