<TITLE>11. Par 112-122</TITLE>L-112   In Matthew 11, we find out that when John sent disciples down to there where... John paid Jesus the--the least respect that he could, after he had already seen the sign over Him. And said, "That's Him. He that told me in the wilderness to go baptize in water, said, 'On Whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining, He'll baptize with the Holy Ghost.'" He said he was sure of that. He saw the sign. Then after his eagle eye got filmed over, down in the prison, he said, "Go ask Him if He really is the One, or another." That was disregarding the Word.

L-113 But Jesus knew that. He paid John a great respect. He said, "Who did you go out to see, a man dressed in soft raiment? They don't handle the sword. They're kiss the babies and bury the dead, they're in kings' palaces." Said, "What did you go out to see, a reed shaken with any wind? When one organization offer him a little more than the other, or some community, he'll move to that community 'cause...? Not John.

L-114 Said, "What did you go to see, a prophet?" Said, "I say unto you, and greater than a prophet." He was. He was the messenger of the covenant. He was the breach. He was the keystone between law and grace. "What'd you go out to see, a prophet? And I say unto you, more than a prophet."

L-115 He said, "He was a bright and shining light, for a while." Why? He was the Word made light. He was the Word manifested.

L-116 Then when He come on the scene, he said, "I must decrease; He must increase." Two of them couldn't stay at the same time. John had to go; Jesus remained. See? It's always that way.

L-117   God did that in the days of Noah, and we find out then that that was the phenomena. It was something, well, it was a paradox, that God floated that ark; when the whole world a rocking, with the waves probably bigger than the mountains today. When it swung from its... When them stars moved back, or whatever taken place, and that world moved out of its orbit, swung itself out there, and those great waves; it was certainly a paradox that that little old wooden ship could rock, for forty days and nights, on that, in that water. It was a paradox. It was a paradox, that God could bring water out of the skies, when there was no water up there to bring.

L-118 But He can fix the situation to make it suit His Word. He is still, like Genesis 22, Jehovah-Jireh, "the Lord can provide for Himself a sacrifice." See? He remains. That's one of His compound, redemptive names.

L-119   It was a paradox, when the Hebrew children was throwed into the fiery furnace. How that three man could walk into a furnace, so hot that the intense heat even killed the men that were pushing them in. And yet they stayed in that, only delivered them. That's the only thing it did. See? It delivered them from the bounds that they were bound with. It was a paradox.

L-120 Sometimes, in our own lives, that paradox repeats. Sometimes you're brought to a showdown, where you have to make a decision. You have to stand on that decision, like they did, and it all works together for the good. What did it do? It never hurt them. It loosened them. Sometimes we are caught in that position. First thing we've got, just like the man drowning in the river, you've got to get the man out of the river 'fore you can get the river out of the man. Yeah. And that's sometimes what a man has to do, is come out and make his stand, get the thing out. And get him out of the--the thing, so he can get the thing out of him.

L-121 That's what the Hebrew children had to do. They had to get out of the fire, and God caused a paradox to happen.

L-122   David, we see David, just a kid, just a boy with a slingshot; not a spear, sword. He was put over some sheep, to watch after them. His father's word, was, "to care for those sheep." He was a shepherd.


<A HREF="P12">Next Page</A>