<TITLE>06. Par 51-58</TITLE>L-51 But, today, it's too bad. We kind of look to a well-trained scholar or something. That's who we think we find Christ in. We go to schools. We send our boys, and off to school, to seminaries; which is all right, but, we find out, they learn how to speak eloquent speeches, and they make great talks. And--and they're fine men, there is no doubt, and thousands of them. And they know how to put the program over. They know how to stand on the platform, they know how to--to introduce Christ to the people. But you come to find out, most of that, a lot of it, too much of it, is just that man; not being exactly a representative of Christ, but a lecturer. See, knows, he is trained to give lecture. You could ask him to give a--a talk that would actually astound the people, from his eloquence of speech and how he could hold himself, and how he could hold the people spellbound. And, but we find out, he learned that in a seminary somewhere, somewhere where they trained him how to do.

L-52   How different it was from Saint Paul, when he said, "I never come to you with the excellency of speech or with wisdom of the world, but in the power of the Holy Spirit; that your faith would not be in the wisdom of man and his culture, but in the--the power of the Holy Spirit."

L-53 Yes, we have another group we kind of, many people, look to, is a fellow that we call the good fellow. He stands up on the platform, he is a good jokester. He can tell a few jokes and get all the people laughing, and people will crowd out everywhere to hear those jokes. And maybe they're not bad jokes, they're just jokes told from the platform, but I--I don't think that's right. Now I--I... this is no place for joking.

L-54 This is the place for the deepest of sincerity. That's what's the matter with the church today, we get away from that deep sincerity. We got to be right down to the bottom, sincere with this, you see. And then, God loves sincerity, and we don't get sincere enough with it.

L-55   But we find out, this person can get everybody laughing and going on, and we kind of look for that man. But, to me, he is called, to me, maybe an "entertainer," or maybe just simply a "pulpit clown," that's all, see, to stand up there and--and just get the people laughing. When, they should be, in--in the Coming of the Lord, in the deepness of sincerity, watching every moment for His appearing, for we don't know just what time He might appear. So, we don't need lecturers, we don't need entertainers, and so forth.

L-56 Then there is another class of people, that looks for God, if they was looking for Him, in the dress of a person. Many people see a man coming down the street with some great... some kind of a religious hat on, and--and religious clothes hanging down, and--and, they, they think that that's very religious, that's Christlike. And I don't think so. If that would be so, then... Christ didn't dress like that, so it isn't in dress. "The Kingdom of God is not in meat and dress, but it's long-suffering in the Holy Ghost."

L-57   They look for the people, many of them, look for the people, people look for Christ, rather, among their relatives. You say, "My mother, she has been a certain-certain member of a certain-certain church for so many years, or my father come up." And they look for Christ amongst their people like that. "My family raised me up to be such-and-such." But we don't see Christ, see, we don't see It.

L-58 You know, Mary and Joseph made that mistake, one time. They were good people. But they went up to Jerusalem to the feast, and on their road back they missed Jesus among them. And so they sought Him among their people, but He wasn't found. And I think that's a whole lot, today. And they went trying to find where He was at. Did you know where they found Him? Right where they left Him. That's right.


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