<TITLE>07. Par 25-28</TITLE>L-25 Now, we are living in a terrible time. We're living in a time of a great falling away. We know that. We are aware. Last evening I was preaching on the subject of "Presuming" down at the other church: people taking some kind of a something, and just presuming they are Christians. And the word "presume," as we explained last night, means "to adventure without authority." And too many people are presuming today. "Well," they say, "I did such-and-such. I joined church. I--I was immersed in water. I presume I am a Christian." That won't work. That... You can't presume what... You've got to be sure you are. See? You--you got to really know that you are a Christian.

L-26 So today, I feel, in the face of... Our nation has more membership-Christians than the nation's ever known of. But did you know, last year according to the statistics that there hasn't--the--no seminary--one just barely compared with the year before, but every other seminary, or school, or Bible school fell under its quota of ministers. Where young people with calls in their life to go out into the field, and so forth, that goes for their training, and so forth, how they used to stand in line to be enrolled in the schools; and now you can hardly persuade them in. There's something wrong somewhere. See? I believe with all my heart, without any, hoping not to be saying anything wrong, but I believe it's because of a lack of interest, concern--not enough concern. There's too much concern about making a atomic bomb, too much concern about who is going to get on the moon first, and--and... I ain't caring about getting on the moon. I want to get in heaven, is where I--I want to get.

L-27 You know they're always hollering about "We got a man in space first." Russia keeps hollering to us, "We put a man in space." Why, we've had One in space for two thousand years. Sure, we ain't got...?... They're--they're so far behind. They're two thousand years behind us. We had a Man in space way back yonder not two thousand years ago, rose up out of the grave, and is in space, and all over everywhere. Certainly. So that's the One that we are looking to. He'll take us to where He said, "In My Father's house are many mansions, and I'll go and prepare a place," somewhere beyond the space yonder. I do not know. But He'll come back to receive us. That's the thing. "Let not your hearts be troubled, neither be afraid." Oh, I love that. That just lets me know that there's a home in the rock somewhere, way beyond the mountaintop, as the poet said.

L-28 Now, this falling away is a lack of concern for the body of Christ. I believe that maybe the right thing hasn't been presented. So many young students that would take a call in life sees so many failures out here, and really see that the order and program of the day has failed. Not... Christ hasn't failed, but the system that we have created has failed. Christ's program hasn't failed, but the people's system has failed. Now, Christ has a program that we must enter in.


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