<TITLE>05. Par 46-55</TITLE>L-46 And my subject, like, this morning, is to what state that I think the Pentecostal church is of this day. What stand and what hour are we standing in, and what's the possibility? Now let me quote that again. What state the church is standing in now, and what possibilities lies ahead for it?

L-47   I want to read from the Scripture, for a text, and I want to read from the Book of Judges, the 16th chapter, 27th and 28th verses.
And the house was filled with men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, and beheld while Samson made sport.
And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee,... strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O LORD, that I may be... once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.

L-48 I would like to take the text out of that, from that O Lord, Just Once More. May the Lord bless the reading of His Word.

L-49   It must have been a--a lovely afternoon, something like we're enjoying today here on this campgrounds, here in Hot Springs, Arkansas. And there was a great celebration going on, but very much contrary than what the celebration is today. There was about three thousand Philistines looking down from the galleries, to a strange pair that entered the great arena, and highly honored warlords and their fancy jewel-decked ladies was all sitting in position.

L-50 And as it was then, there was, oh, something like a mushroom that there was, the building setting upon pillars that went out, something like maybe a modernistic type of architect, arc-... architecture. And all these Philistines gathered up there, and had placed themselves up for this great event. And they were in this great celebration, and all eyes were centered to this middle of the arena. They must have stood up, to get a--a better look at the event was just about to take place.

L-51   And now as we sit here this afternoon, let's see if we can, with imaginary mind, place ourself in that position, to look at this scene. What do we see?

L-52 Coming, moving out to the center of the arena, come a little boy, holding the hand of a blind man, stumbling, staggering along. They had had many monkey shows, and--and little tricks, and so forth; but now has arrived the time for the main event, the thing that they had waited on so long, the main event of the day. The preliminaries were over, the halls that echoed all afternoon with drunken revelry. For, they were celebrating the victory of Dagon, their fish-god, over the ark and the promise of Jehovah.

L-53   What a disgraceful sight it is, as we can imagine such a thing taking place; of the fish-god of a heathen nation, celebrating the victory over the servants of Jehovah, all because of the failure of the man to carry out the things that he had been ordained to do. And here was a heathen, drunken, brawling-out, jeweled women, painted faces, a modern Hollywood celebration, bringing the servant of the Lord God, bound in shackles, for the main event of the afternoon.

L-54 The lad must have drug along there, stumbling, come this great mass of human flesh, both eyes out, hair hanging down his back, tied and bound, to make entertainment for a drunken, brawling bunch of unbelievers. He must have stumbled to the post to where they were going to make the fun start from.

L-55   When I think of that, I think about a church that was ordained of God, to do something for God. And it suffered the enemy to blind its eyes from the Word of the living God and the Commandments of God, and to the task that it was ordained of God to do; only to be sport in a hiding place for drunken, painted-face, jewel-decked, short-wearing, bobbed-hair women, and man of the world. A church that ought to be shining in the power and the strength of the Lord! What a disgrace!


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