<TITLE>16. Par 147-154</TITLE>L-147   Now closely confine this now. Now He finally, this One that would, arrived and had to be tempted just exactly like the rest of them was tempted. Now notice how striking Satan makes his every attack, just the same each time. Now he tried to give Him the natural bread, just like he did Eve. "If you will eat this, take this," or something another, he's got it.

L-148 And that's what he does to every organization, that's what he does to every individual, he tries to give you the natural things that you can look at. And it's taking you away! "Well, look at this great big church! Why, they got so many millions in it! Our church is the biggest church in the city. Well, our, we have the mayor comes to our church. See all that! Our pastor has a--a degree of D.D., L.D., Ph.D! That, well, that, well, he is bound to be a smart man." A Catholic priest can come around and cover him over, anytime, with his degrees. He has got sixty-some-odd books he has to know as bad as much as you know the Bible, to get his degree to be a priest, so don't try to compare educations.

L-149   That's just like the world, is always trying to compare. Don't compare with things of the world. Don't compare with churches. Compare with the Bible! That's what we're doing today. That's what's the matter with us Pentecostal churches. That's what's the matter with our quartets and singings, and so forth, as we have, we're trying to act like Hollywood. Hollywood glitters; the Gospel glows. There is a lot of difference between a glitter and a glow. See? Hollywood glitters with clothes, and Rickies and Rickettas, and ricochets. But God humbly glows in humility of the believer, no matter how ignorant he is. He glows in humility, not shines in Hollywood.

L-150   Notice, he tried his old tactic on Jesus, same thing he did to Moses, same thing he did to the rest of them. He tried it. He'll try it on you, to get you accept some great big something that looks shiny.

L-151 Reminds me when I used to hunt coons, racoons. I'd get me a... Papa, my daddy, used tobacco. I don't know whether you all ever know one of them old tags that used to be on a twist of tobacco. I would take them, get me a log and bore a hole in it, right around the creek where a coon had been running. And then I'd bore a hole in there, and stick this tobacco tag there. And then drive me some nails, angling in like this. And the coon is always reaching for something shiny. And so when the moon come up, and he run along there, he looked back there, he pushed his hand in there to get it. And he won't turn it loose.

L-152 He is like some church members. Even he knows he is caught, he won't turn it loose. "If I do, they'll put me out of the organization." That's just his death, that's all. All right. Notice. There he holds onto it, he won't turn it loose.

L-153   Now Satan tried his same tactic on Jesus, that he tried on the rest of them. He tried to make Him eat something besides the promised Bread Word. Cause, Jesus said, "It's written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone.'" See? He tried to make Him obey him. Though it looked pretty good, looked like He could feed Himself, and He could have done it. You have...

L-154 You can act any way you want to, too. You can take It or leave It, either one you want to. Now if that coon had sense enough just to, oh, close his hand back, he could pull it out again; but he won't do it, he just holds himself there. And that's the way a lot of nominal Christians does, too. They don't want to hear nothing about It, don't want to come and hear It. They want nothing about It. Go ahead and hold onto it then, see, you'll find out what happens.


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