<TITLE>13. Par 116-124</TITLE>L-116   "For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one Body, and become members of that Body." I don't care what brand you got on you, that don't have nothing to do with it. You are absolutely a Christian by birth, and that's the only way. That's the only way you can be; not by joining, not by creeds, not exciting this, or reciting this, or any other thing, nor by education, theology. You're a Christian when you're born again, and you cannot be born again 'less you've been elected to be born again. "For no man can come to Me except My Father draws him, and all that My Father has given Me will come." Amen. "I'll raise him up again at the last day."

L-117 These great so-called Bible schools we have, they'll say, lean upon their own learning. Oh, my. They, no matter what the Word says, they can so plainly explain it, oh, to their ownselves, make their ownselves believe it, and their own kind believe it, that, "The days of miracles is passed. There is no such thing as prophet, prophets, apostles. There is no such a thing as gifts of healing, and so forth. It all ended back in the Bible days." They can make themselves believe that.

L-118   You know, the Bible said, "You can believe a lie and be dammed by it." See, that's exactly the Truth. They form, no matter what the Word of God says, they lean to their own understanding. They, they lean on it, they believe it, they think it's the Truth. You can keep believing a lie, over and over and over, till it's the Truth to you. That's right.

L-119 But how do we know whether it's Truth or not? God proves it's Truth, 'cause it's in His Word and He vindicates It. He does His Own interpretation of It.

L-120 How do they do, get to this? They do it by their culture, their education, of their understandings of the--the degree of doctor's degree, and so forth, that they have come from some certain seminary and learn these things.

L-121   But look, friends, listen. Nowhere in the Bible are we asked to understand. We're not asked to understand It. We're asked to believe It. Believe It by what? By faith. If you understand It, then that makes faith annulled. You can't understand It, but you believe It anyhow. If I could understand God, I wouldn't have to believe God. I do not understand God. No man understands God. I cannot understand the Word of God, but I accept It. I believe It. I am not asked to understand It.

L-122 I don't, went to no seminary and all this great understanding of man's knowledge on That. I just know that the Bible says That, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever," and I look for Him in that same category. I know He promised what He would do in this day, I look for Him to do it and He does it. That's right. He promised grace, I looked for it and I received it. He promised healing, I believe it and I accepted it, and I received it.

L-123   Now don't want to take too much of your time, but I want to ask one thing if you'll bear with me a minute, to consider some of those who did not lean on their own understanding; some characters of the Bible, just for a few, that leaned not to their own understanding, regardless of what the understanding of their age was.

L-124 Let's take, for instance, Noah. Noah lived in a day of great scientific research. In the days of Noah, they probably built the pyramids, that they cannot reproduce again. Now we haven't got nothing to do it with, nothing to lift the boulders up there. They could not, today. Them days, they had some kind of a chemical they could put in dye and make the clothes look natural till today. They had an embalming fluid that they could make a mummy; we could not make one, today, if we had to. We've... a lot of the arts that we have lost. The day that he lived, in a smart scientific age.


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