Et dès ce moment
E-1 Sure good to be back and
hear the brother pastor give the testimony of the grace of God with his
little girl. That's just like the Lord Jesus to do things like that.
Certainly is.
Now, we are very happy tonight to have with us, a--one of our guests
here at the--as we call it, the prayer service on New Years night, a
good friend of mine, Brother Ernie Fandler, one of the converts to the
Lord Jesus Christ, a trophy of grace. Originating, his home in
Switzerland, is where he came from. And I believe the brother with them
there that--which they're living in Shawano now, a German by descent, a
Brother Waters. We're happy to have them with us tonight.
E-2 Then we have also with us
tonight a--a precious brother of the faith, South Africa, Brother David
duPlessis. We're happy to have him with us too. And we're... David and
I are--are anticipating, or praying, and the Lord to give us some great
work together this coming year into Africa, and different parts of the
world.
Brother David is here now to talk it over, and pray over with it,
between now and Monday to decide just when, and where into-- to Africa,
and different parts of the world to go. As Brother David has had a very
prominent office with the Pentecostal World Convention, and also is
well known with many great religious leaders throughout the entire
world. And's been very influential in persuading and causing, as far a
long as we are now, to help bring the body of Jesus Christ together of
all denominations of faith. Regardless of what the... they... church
they have, or what they--brand they're branded, it--it's that--the
Church in who Christ died for.
E-3 And I've often thought of
that. I used to help round up the cattle many times out West. And we'd
go up, Brother David, and set out there where they drove the cattle up
through the drift fence, up into the mountains to feed them on the...
let them graze on the pastures, the--of the forest. While the meadows
was growing in the bottom, wild meadows, and then they'd cut the
meadows and feed the cattle out through the--through the wintertime,
when there's too blizzard up in the mountains.
I used to set there on the saddle and watch the ranger bringing those
cattle through. And each ranch in the bottom that could raise a ton of
hay... If they could raise fifty ton of hay, that meant they could put
fifty cattle. If they could raise a thousand ton of hay, a thousand
head of cattle could go through.
E-4 Each man carrying a brand
on his cows. They watched the brands, of course, the different ranches,
so they wouldn't get them mixed up. And then when the... The ranger, he
wasn't so interested in what kind of brands was going through, because
there's all kinds of brands. But there's one thing that he really had
to check, that was a blood tag. They had to be registered Hereford, or
they couldn't get through the gate. They would turn them back. See?
And I think that's the way it'll be at the judgment. It'll not be what
kind of brand we're wearing, but if the Blood tag's there. Ha. That's
the thing that'll--that'll count, the Blood tag.
E-5 And I'm very happy to have
Brother David with us. And I--I see Brother Estell Beeler was here just
a moment ago. I seen him raise up back there from somewhere. And other
ministers who we're wanting to hear from tonight. And then, I guess
Brother Ruddell and them will becoming in, 'cause they're going to stay
till midnight.
However, Brother David can't stay till midnight. He's very wanted man
everywhere. And as soon Brother Rogers heard that he was over here, why
he's going to send and have him over there at ten. So that means he
will be leaving here pretty short to get way out there in South
Louisville. And I thought it would be nice, if it would be all right
with Brother David, if--if we had him to come up and speak what's on
his heart. Preach for us, do whatever the Lord lays. We'd all like here
Brother David duPlessis from South Africa.
E-6 Let me say this, that when I was in--over in Africa, in my great campaign the Lord gave us over there, his brother was my interpreter. Brother Justus, I believe his name is, Brother Justus. And a real fine family of people are these duPlessis brothers. I think there's... I guess they're all ministers, as far as I know, and maybe father too that was a minister. And they're from a fine family of people. And Brother David packs a great name amongst all the churches, and denominations around the world.
E-7 And Brother David, I'd like
for you to come up now and speak for us, or whatever God's put on your
heart to say, come right up. And I'm very happy to introduce to my
church tonight, this is Brother Dav... Orman Neville, our pastor. And
to the church, this is one of my precious friends and--and fellow
warriors in the service of God, Brother David duPlessis of South
Africa. God bless you, brother.
[Brother
duPlessis says, "Thank you, brother... "--Ed.] [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]...?...
Amen. We all did. Brother David, hurry right right back and be with us
again. That's very fine. We're sure happy.
E-8 Brother David said some
things there that I just wished I'd had my pen, I could've jotted them
down. But I will always remember "grandsons." the grandchildren.
Well, we sure appreciate the visit of our brother. And he is of a--was
the--connected with the World Conference of Pentecostal believers, and
is a great man in the line of his work throughout the whole world. And
we're fortunate tonight to have brother David come speak to us on this
New Years night. And you can see what great men think about our Lord,
think about His great service.
E-9 Now, I believe that
tomorrow, being New Years... It's just a few hours now. And I have to
leave early in the morning. So I thought I'd just speak a little bit,
if it's all right with Brother Neville, and Brother Beeler, and the
other ministers here. Won't take much of the time. And I think if we'd
say "Amen" and go home, it'd be a wonderful message. And we could be
thankful to the Lord for what that we have heared tonight.
And now... But this being New Years night, we just entertain each other
by the Kingdom of God, preaching until it comes the new year. And I've
got to get up in the morning real early, way before day.
E-10 And I'm not as young as
David. Maybe I... Maybe I don't feel as young as he does. He's a... Of
course, David's a little--little bit older than I am. I think he's
seven or eight years older, maybe ten. But he's certainly a fireball
for God, traveling fifty thousand miles this year for the Kingdom of
God.
On his road now over to preach at Brother Rogers, and tomorrow to be
with some--some somewhere else, and somewhere else, and somewhere else.
And back here again Monday. And I've got to meet with him to make
arrangement for a worldwide tour coming now. And we're to be in Africa,
I understood this afternoon, in March, just this coming March. I'm to
meet Clayton Sonmore, from the Full Gospel Christian Businessmen this
week, or this coming week, first part of it, and make arrangements for
Jamaica, Haiti.
E-11 I go next week into
Kentucky--or down into Georgia, have them meetings there. Come right
back, and come down through Kentucky, a night here, a night there
catching these churches. And come right straight back home from there,
and go to--to At... to Atlantic City for... Begin at the twenty-seventh
through the thirtieth, and lay there the morning of the first. And
begin in--in Kingston, Jamaica, at the ray--race track that night for
ten days meeting there. And from there, on in then to the Haiti's, and
wherever. We don't know where to go from there, just as the Lord will
lead us.
Now, all these are in making. They... I haven't said, "Yes." David's
here, "Clate's" coming. Gordon, Brother Gordon Lindsay's coming for
South America. And--and the rest of the Christian Businessmen for the
Latin speaking America. And Brother David's for Switzerland, Germany,
on down.
But we don't know yet. You keep praying. I don't want to go nowhere
until God says, "Go," in the best of my knowledge. Therefore, if I feel
lead to go, then when I get off the plane, I... And no matter what the
opposition is, I can say, "I come in the Name of the Lord Jesus."
E-12 I's thankful for David, the
friendship that we've had together, because the man is a very important
man. But he--he--he certainly believes this ministry of the Lord. He
certainly does. And--And our names has been associated together
throughout the entire world now, Brother David and I. And I'm so glad
to have a association with a man like that.
But friends, I appreciate that. But the greatest thing that I can think
of being associated with, is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, that great
One.
Now, Brother Neville and some of them will be speaking in a few
moments. But I want to read just a little something out of the
Scripture now.
E-13 And it's good, I think, on
New Year's night to see different preachers, and the way they approach
a text, and what they say, and so forth, and each man having his own
way of preaching.
You know, God didn't make us all alike. He made us different. He made
us different in our stature; He made the world different, and big
mountains, the little mountains, prairies, deserts, and big white
flowers, blue flowers, and all different kinds. He just make us
different; that's all. He makes red heads, black heads, brown heads,
white heads; fat, slim, tall, oh, whatevermore. See? He just... He just
makes us different. God is a God of variety. And I kind of like that,
don't you? But just the same thing all the time... My, my. I like this.
So let us turn now in our Scriptures over in the book of Saint Matthew,
Saint Matthew's Gospel, beginning with the--and the 4th verse. I want
to read for a--read us a text, the Lord helping us. Saint Matthew, the
4th chapter. I believe before we read, let's pray.
Gracious heavenly Father, it is again with g--gr--grateful hearts that
we approach this new year. And we are--approach Thee, and bring to Thee
all of our cares of the past, and ask that You'll put them in the sea
of forgetfulness, and remember our sins against us no more. And may not
only we check up with our spiritual being, but in our--may we check our
fellowship with Thee, and forgive us of all of our sins. And we ask
that Your Spirit will deal with us tonight. And if there be any unclean
thing about us, Lord, take it as far as the east is from the west, cast
it into the sea of forgetfulness, to remember it against us no more,
that we might enter into this new year clean, washed by the Blood of
the Lamb, and be ready. May this 1960 be the greatest year that we've
ever served You. Give us the exceedingly abundantly.
All these meetings that are in progress, Lord, that we're thinking of,
with Brother duPlessis, and around the world, into to the Asia, and
over into Europe, and all--all around. Lord l--let it be Your will and
Your power that'll lead to these things. And if we should at any time
be stepping off of Your Divine ordained path, may the Holy Spirit put a
block in the way and stop us, Lord, and turn us back to the right
place. Grant it.
E-14 Bless this little church,
Lord God, way close to thirty years, I guess, it's stood here now, as a
memorial the grace of God to a humble people. We pray, Father, that
You'll bless Brother Neville, the pastor. Bless all the church. Bless
the trustees, the deacons, the song leader, the pianist, and all the
laity, everyone, the Sunday school teachers, whatevermore. Lord, may we
be able to grow this year in the grace of God. And may our membership
grow into greater numbers, and--and--and more grace of Yours. That...
Then in this has been in the years gone by. Grant it, Father.
Now, help us as we approach this text that we're fixing to read, Thy
Word. And only You, Lord, can interpret. And we pray that You'll grant
it to us for the Kingdom of God's sake, in Jesus Christ's Name. Amen.
E-15 I--announcing just now what
I have chosen for a text for a next few moments, it's found in the
Scripture here, and I will read it. It's call... I want to call it
this: "From That Time."
I didn't think... I said the other night, I didn't suppose I'd get to
come down, because that my throat was getting raw. And my wife said to
me yesterday, or day before, she said, "Then I suppose you'll not be
going down to the church."
And I said, "Honey, I don't think so. My throat's so sore and raw."
And then, no more than that night when I set down and picked up the
Scripture, I run onto this. Brother Sothmann came by; he said, "Will
you be going to church tomorrow night?"
I said, "Yeah, I will be there."
And Meda looked around at me, and she said, "I don't understand you."
I said, "I don't expect you to." See? I said, "or no one else."
E-16 No one that's led by the
Spirit of God can ever be understood. Our Lord, they could not
understand Him. He looked like He talked one way one minute, and
another way another minute, and somewhere else He's talking about
something else. Sometime it was Jesus speaking, the other times It was
God speaking. You see?
Even the disciples said there at last, said, "Lo, now speakest Thou
plainly; now we understand."
Then Jesus said, "Do you un... Do you now believe?" See? after that.
You just can't do it, because you're led of the Spirit. And you start
doing something, you find out that... You see, you're... God wants to
use you somewhere; you got to stop here and go here. Just led of the
Spirit. They're odd, peculiar people, that has a life that you want to
consecrate to God.
E-17 And then I always say this,
"I will do this, if the Lord is willing." See, if I make a promise to
anybody, I will do it if the Lord is willing. See? And therefore, then
if it isn't the will of Lord, and I will be... I will speak on this
message, if the Lord is willing. He could give me a call right in this
message to take off for California. I'd cast aside everything, and take
off for California as hard as I could go.
And I want to live like that. I don't want nothing tying me down. I
don't want no great big something or another where it's worth millions
of dollars, and you have get so much money every day, to tie me down. I
want to be where when God says, "I want to go down here to these
people; there's only five of them. But go down there and stay there
till I tell you to leave." I want to go there. I haven't got no
obligations, just... And if He wants me go overseas...
Now, here it is, just mentioned going to Germany--or to--to Africa, and
some millionaire woman, just the time that the Spirit put it upon me go
to Africa, she said, "I will sponsor the trip and pay every bit of it."
See? That's all. Why should I worry about money and things, when my
father owns all of it. See? He could just speak to this rich man, or
that rich man, or this people, or that people, and no need of me have
to worry about it. See, God just takes care of it all. Brother Roy,
that's the way to live. Just let Him take care of it. It's so good.
E-18 Now, let us turn in our
Scriptures to the 4th chapter, and let's begin to--to read about the
12th verse of the 4th chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Matthew.
Now when Jesus had
been... And now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he
departed unto Galilee;
leaving Nazareth, he
came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the
borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:
That it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying,
The land the
Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond
Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
The people that set
in darkness saw great light; and to them that would set in the regions
of the shadow of death light is sprung up.
From that time Jesus
begin to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand.
I want to speak on the subject: "And From That Time."
E-19 You know, as human beings,
we all think of things, from a certain time such-and-such a thing taken
place, And from that time... And now, many times you meet an old man,
or an old woman, and they like to refer back to a time that something
taken place, that they can distinctively mark it out and say, "It was
at that time."
Now, I suppose there's--practically all of us here tonight, could call
to member--member--remembrance of certain things that taken place at
certain times. From that time something changed. Such-and-such a thing,
it happened at that time, and from that time on it was different. And
it's a good thing that we can. And some of those memories of things
that we think of is worthy thing that changed. And there's some things
that is not so worthy of thinking of.
E-20 For instance: if the woman
of an ill-fame, that she said, "There was a time that I was a good,
righteous, moral girl. And on a certain night, or a certain place, a
certain thing happen." And since that time, she's been on the wrong
road. Her life has been marred with sin and blackness, and darkness;
and only judgment waits her. But she can remember from that certain
time it happened when she took the wrong road.
The--The drunk man tonight on the streets that's trying to drink his
sorrows away, you might pick him up...
Like, I was down on the bowery here some time ago, in New York, the
great center of the drunken people. I was walking with a certain
minister. And there laid a man, oh, just plenty of men, harmless,
helpless, laying there with their front of their cloths all wet, and
the--and the beards all over their faces, and just in a terrible
condition. And they were perfectly harmless.
And this minister said, "Pick that one up, and just ask him."
And I went over to this man, which was laying with one foot across a
bumper of a car, and his head laying down on the street. And where that
he had been unable to--to--to go at times of the--to the rest-room...
And oh, he was just in a terrible condition. And I took a hold of him.
And I said, "Can you speak?" And he wouldn't make me no answer.
So the minister got down. He knowed more about how to deal with him.
And he asked him, "Who are you." And finally he got him roused up
enough, till he'd say, "If you'll buy me a drink..." And come to find
out, he could point his finger to the bank that he used to be president
of.
Well, he said, "We are preachers. Could you tell me what took place."
"If you'll promise me a drink."
Well, we couldn't do that. I said, "I couldn't add sorrow to your
sorrows. I want to help you."
Oh, his story, and he come home one night, and there was a--what he
called a "Dear John" letter on the--the table. Then his wife had left
him, and had... He loved her, and she had taken his children. And he
was divorced. And she'd run away with another man. And he said, "I
didn't know what to do, to shoot my brains out, or what to do, so I--I
went down to the saloon." And from that time, there he was. That's all
over the world.
E-21 The liar, you might take
one, as I said to a man one day, that I thought was telling jokes...
And come to find out that he told so many lies till he really believed
them hisself.
And I said, "What makes you do that?" And I set down to talk with him.
I said, "I want to ask you. Those stories are too wild for people to
believe."
He said, "The first one I can ever remember telling," he said, "I was a
little boy that was raised in a good home." And he said, "I went out
and smoked corn silk cigarettes, just to be smart. And I'd eat some
coffee to take it off of my breath." And he said, "I done it back
behind the old chimney behind the house." And he said, "I will never
forget. When mother caught me up and said to me, 'Sonny, let me smell
your breath.' And I blowed my breath into her face, and she said,
'You've eat coffee to take something off of your breath. What have you
been doing? Have you been smoking cigarette?'" And he said, "Something
told me to tell her the truth." He said, "But I said, 'No mama. I cross
my heart. I haven't been smoking cigarettes.'" He said, "And from that
time..." That started it.
We can all find something that begin at--at a certain time. And from
then on, things was change.
E-22 And there's other worthy
things that we could think of. Men with good intentions has tried to
start things anew, to do things at certain times. For instance when
electricity was first in... found by Benjamin Franklin, and he was able
to conquer it, they begin to say, "From this time on there'll never be
no more wars, because that this electricity could be put into fences
with such a high voltage till no man could cross it." They meant well.
And right after the First World War, when--when the Kaiser Wilhelm
signed the treaty of peace, we were told here in America... I was a boy
of about nine years old. But I can remember of the people all saying,
"We will never have another war from this time on. It's settled
forever." But we had another war.
And when the great U.N... Or I would say before that, they formed what
was called the League of Nations. And they said, "Now, we will have no
more wars, because we've got a League of Nations that will patrol the
world. And if there is an uprise somewhere, these men out of every
nation will go there and police the world." But it was a failure. It
went right on having wars. And the U.N. will become the same thing.
E-23 We are told now by a
prediction that tomorrow night... or Sunday night... The same man that
predicted Pearl Harbor to the exact moment that the--the airplanes
would bomb it, said that Sunday night at twelve o'clock, that
seventy-five percent of the American people would go into ashes, that
Russia will bomb the United States this coming Sunday night at twelve
o'clock: The same man that predicted Pearl Harbor. They're not putting
it out, 'cause people will go frantic. I don't believe it. See?
No, because you can't suffer atomic war. If when one of theirs pass
through the sound barrier this way, we will throw them that way, and
the world will go to pieces. Something's got to happen yet before Jesus
comes. That's right.
E-24 For instance: the young
married couple, there was a certain time that they got married. And
they--they put their vows together, and they pledged one to another
their loyalty. And they said that we will love, honor, and cherish each
other as long as we both live. But there come a time that something
happened.
All these things that are... There's a time when something happens. And
maybe all their vows, and all the Leagues of Nations, and so forth,
maybe had good intentions, but they all come to an end. All become
crumbling beneath the--the--the feet of men. With all the good
intentions we could have, but all must come to an end.
But there is a time that where man can come to something that's
eternal. That's when a man--the time man meets God. That's when
something happens that's eternal.
E-25 We do our mistakes. And we
make our vows on New Years night to only break them the next day. We
turn new pages, and we assign vows, and we go to priests, and the...
(We don't, but Catholics do.) and make confessions, and sign pledges.
And we've come to the altar and turned new pages, but all was vain, for
the next time somebody crosses our path or something, that old temper
will fly right back again. Every time that we get into trouble or
something, it'll happen again.
But there is a place, where a man can come to a time that it'll change
him forever, for eternal. "He that will come to Me, I will in no wise
cast out," said Jesus. A man can come to God, and his whole eternal
destination is changed. And a man can meet God, and he can never be the
same anymore. You can't meet God and ever remain the same person you
was. If you turn away from Him, you'll be a worse person that you ever
were. If you receive Him, you got Eternal Life, and He will raise you
up at the last day by His promise.
E-26 There was a time when there
was a man called Abraham, who come down out of the Chaldeans. And He
dwelt in the city of Ur. And he was just a man, a good man. Perhaps
maybe might have... His father perhaps worshipped idols, 'cause they
come from Babylon. And he was just an ordinary man. And he was getting
old; he was seventy-five and his wife was sixty-five. And Abraham, one
day when he was perhaps out in the field hunting, or whatever he was
doing, picking berries, or whatever his job might've been, he met God.
And from that time he was changed. He could call things that was not as
though they were, because he had met God. He'd knowed the minute and
the hour that he meet God. It changed him. And God called him to be the
father of many nations, and believed God and believed His promise,
because he had met God.
Twenty-five years later, they were discussing--trying to disgust him,
telling him that he'd believed something was wrong. But the Bible said
he got stronger all the time, giving praise to God, because he knowed
that God had to keep the promise.
That's when a man meets God. It changes his make up. It gives him a
super sense.
E-27 As I was speaking the other
night, the natural man only has the five senses. But the believer, when
he meets God, he gets something different; it's a super sense that
lifts him up above the shadows. It makes him believe things that's
impossible to come to pass. He still believes they will come to pass,
because God said so. When a man meets God, something takes place.
There was a time when a man had been trained in all the wisdom, all the
theology of the Word of God. He knowed it by the letter. He'd been
school. He had all the degrees. He was so smart until he could teach
the Egyptian scholars and their teachers. He knowed it all by letter,
but a coward with it, that was run, and went out to the back side of a
desert and was herding sheep for a stranger. But there come a time,
that when God met him there in the burning bush, and from that time on
Moses was changed, because he met God in a burning bush. And face to
face with God, he couldn't be the same anymore.
E-28 When a man or a woman, I
don't care how many vows you make, or how many new pages you turn,
until you meet God you can't be changed. But when you once meet God,
then you're changed forever.
Didn't only change Moses, it changed Israel. It changed Egypt. It
changed the world at that time, because one man met God, and took Him
at His Word.
What we need today is somebody to meet God face to face and talk to
Him. The situation... When men meet God, things are changed. Certainly.
That's the only way that we can have things. And from that time on,
Moses the coward, Moses the one that was running, had been changed. And
from that time, he become the servant of the Lord. It always works that
way. When a man meets God, things are changed.
E-29 There was a little girl one
time not over eighteen years old, or maybe not that old, that has on
her road to a well one morning to get a bucket of water down in
Nazareth. She was a nice little girl. She believed. She had faith. But
that morning, she met God, and God told her something, and she believed
it, and it changed the whole course of life for the woman, and makes
her immortal. Her name was Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus. The
little lady was just an ordinary little girl. But she met God, and from
that time on, something happened. Certainly.
There was a man by the name of Peter, an old rugged fisherman, probably
just as rough as they could come. And he was probably a great big push
of a bully, because... Here sometime ago, I seen the play called "The
Big Fisherman." And I thought it was a very good description of Peter,
because he was such a big old rugged fellow. He didn't care for
nothing. He didn't believe hardy anything. But one day, he met God. And
from that time, he was change. From that time he become an apostle of
the Lord Jesus Christ.
E-30 As Brother David duPlessis
was telling us awhile ago about Saul of Tarsus, a murderer, who held
the coat of the murderers that--and witnessed, and give witness to the
death of Stephen, the martyr. He had letters in his pockets to go down
to the--the head councils of the churches, and arrest the people that
where making too much noise, shouting and praising God. He was a great
man in the sight of the Pharisees. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisee.
But one day he was on his road to Damascus, and he met God. A Light
shined around him, and from that time on, he was no more Saul of
Tarsus, but he was Paul, the humble one, the meek one, because he met
God and it changed him.
E-31 There was a leper laying at
the gate. All the remedies of the medicine could not heal him. His
putrified sores had gotten so great, till his hands was beyond raising
up anymore. And his feet, he could hardly drag them. His case was
hopeless. But he met God one day coming out the gate, and he fell down,
and worshipped, and said, "If Thou will, Thou can make me clean."
And He said, "I will, be thou clean." And from that time, he didn't
have no more leprosy, because he met God.
There was a blind man setting by the side of the road. And he could not
see the daylight from dark. There was nothing could help him. One day
Someone come walking out of the city of Jericho. And when he met God...
And from that time, he could see. His sight come to him. The sight of
light had broke into his eyes and he could see again, because from that
time, when he met Jesus, he was a different man. He had his sight. When
a person meets God, something happens definitely.
E-32 There was a young man one
time, no doubt a good citizen of the country. But spells come on him.
And he was so bad, till the prison house couldn't hold him. And they
bound him with chains, and he had a legion of devils in him, that he
could break the chains and free himself. And the devils drove him to a
graveyard where he stayed in there, and took the slabs, and get so mean
he'd cut his own self. Oh, he was a terrible fellow. When those spells
would leave him, no doubt he'd think, "What am I doing here?" And about
that time, the devils would come to him again and cut him and tear him.
But one day, he met Jesus. And from that time on, the maniac of Gadara
had his ri--right mind, clothed, setting at His feet. He could go back
home as a gentleman. He could return to civilization. He could go back
to his loved ones. He could say, "From that time, I've been changed."
Yes.
E-33 One day yonder on Calvary,
when God and death met face to face, when life and death come
together... But that's when Life--Christ, pulled the stinger out of
death. And since that time, death hasn't had no stinger in it.
I'm so glad of that. God... Death and God met together. Death hasn't
been the same. It ain't got no stinger to it now. The Christian
believer can walk right into it's face and say, "Oh, death, where is
your stinger? Grave, where is your victory?" Why? They both met God.
They haven't been the same since then.
No man can be the same. Nothing can be the same when it once meets God.
You'll never be the same.
E-34 I can remember laying here
on the hospital bed. The doctors give me three minutes to live, my
heart beating seventeen times to the minute. I met God. Since then I
haven't been the same. Something happened to me. No one could tell me
any different. Bill Branham died; I met God, and Something come into
me. I've never been the same since that minute I met Him. He changed
me. He made me something different. It wasn't taking a New Years' vow,
but I met God.
Men and women, when you meet God, you're changed. We make our New Year
vows tonight, go back tomorrow morning to break them, next day to break
them. But what we need to do is not a New Year vow, but we need to come
face to face with God and have Eternal Life, be borned of His Spirit.
E-35 Was an old man one time,
and he couldn't make up his mind. The devil kept beating him out of it.
One day out in the field he knelt down to pray. While he was praying,
he drove down a stob. He said, "Let this be a memorial. Satan, if you
ever come to me again, I will put you to this stob, and I will tell you
that right here I met God, and it was settled from here on."
That's what we need, maybe not a stob in a field, but somewhere, some
secret closet, some place; not a... Oh, tonight there will be hundreds
of vows taken, thousands of them taken. And next year we will have to
take them all over again. We will say, "We will quit lying; we will
quit doing this, and we will lay aside our temper; we will do more for
God; we will do this, or that, or the other," only to find it's in vain.
But what man needs to do tonight, is come face to face with God. And
from then on, he's a changed creature. Hallelujah! Oh, I wished I could
spell it in the way that I believe it. But when a man meets God, he's
changed from that minute. The rest of his days he will never be the
same, because he's got Eternal Life. He's a new creature; old things
have passed away, and all things have become new to him. He looks new.
The sick man can walk in the face of God, when the doctors has said he
is going to die; but he can walk in the face of God and plead his case,
and he will come away a different person, and from that time on...
E-36 Oh, I remember Congressman
Upshaw, setting in a wheelchair for sixty-six years. That night yonder
in California when the Holy Spirit come down and begin to speak, he met
God, and from then on he could walk without his crutches.
I've seen the time where cancer eaten people, laid with nothing but a
shadow, and the doctors had passed by, and said, "They're gone." Their
loved ones gather in to say the last words that they could to them;
encouragement, but they met God. And from that time on, they were
changed. They lived different.
I can see the foul woman yonder on the street. I can see the drunkard
yonder in the alley. I can see the hypocrite yonder in the church. All
those different kinds of people, each New Year, turning a new sheet and
trying to do something different, try to make restitutions and do so
forth. Let them meet God one time, and from then on...
E-37 Jesus preached to those
from then on that set in the regions of the shadow of death.
And I say tonight, if a man wants to have a real change come on him,
let him come face to face with God and meet Him one time, then he can
say, "From then on, from that time on, I was a changed man. I know by
experience."
In a little while, the church will be gathering here around the altar.
You'll be consecrating your lives anew. You'll be giving up things, and
laying things on the altar. Brother, let me give you some advice. If
you've never met God face to face, let me tell you something: You stay
at that altar. Just stay there until you meet God. Then you can point
your finger back to that New Year night, not and say, "I turned a new
page, I made a new vow," but, "From that time on I met God, and life
was changed, and things were different, and everything's become new to
me again, from that time on." The time that you meet God.
E-38 It ain't meet a New Year.
We're going to face it in a few minutes, after while. In about two and
a half hours, I suppose, maybe less than that, we will be meeting a new
year face to face. We will meet it with vows; we will meet it with
pledges; we will meet it with good intentions. We will meet it saying
that we will try to turn a new page; we will try to do different.
That's all good. I appreciate that. Brother, it'll never be eternal
until you meet God first. When you meet God first, and from then on,
everything will be different.
E-39 Let us pray when we bow our
head. Lord Jesus, Son of God, I remember the time when I met You, Lord.
I remember a miserable wretch, living a good moral life, not running
around, drinking, or gambling, or smoking, or so forth. But I knowed,
Lord, when death come stealing up in that hospital room some twenty
years ago, there was something lacking in my life. There I met God, and
from that time, from that time, Lord, I've tried to serve You. I... My
life has been changed, and everything looks different. I'm so glad that
I met You, Lord. And tonight, facing a new year, I'm glad to say that I
can face it with the Spirit of the living God in my heart.
Give us experiences, Lord. Give us of Thy goodness and mercy. Forgive
us of our sins. And let us live through this coming year, O Lord God,
with an experience that we have met You and our lives has been changed.
Grant it, Lord. Forgive us of our shortcomings. Place within us Your
Holy Ghost. Lead us and guide us.
Father God, here's 1960 facing me. And there's opportunities for a
worldwide meeting, where it look like that even tens of thousands times
thousands, and thousands of thousands of raw heathens, of pagans, and
so forth might come to You. O Lord God, with Your Spirit in my heart, I
face Your altar tonight, and face You, and say, "Help me, O God." My
heart's a burning with zeal. I love You, Lord. I give myself to You in
service. Lead me anywhere You want to lead me; send me anywhere You
want to send me, Lord; just speak and I will go.
Bless my church. Bless Brother Neville. Bless all the people here, the
strangers in our gates, and these pastors that'll be speaking time by
time on through the evening. I pray, God, that You'll bless their
ministry. Bless Brother Neville. Bless Brother Junie Jackson, Brother
Beeler, all these other ministers. Bless them, Father. Give us a great
year in 1960. We, Lord, who know that we have met You face to face, and
know what it means to be borned again of Your Spirit, give us of Thy
eternal grace to serve You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.
E-40 You love Him? 1960, don't
let it be that I turned a new page. Don't let it be that I tried to
start a new life. But let it be that I met God, and from that time,
that time on, I had peace that passes understanding; I have joy
unspeakable and full of glory; I have a satisfaction even if death
should come to me, I will be in the arms of God, minute after the--my
last breath's drawed.
No matter what comes or goes, let them blow it up Sunday night if they
want to. If they want to, the bomb will not be through cracking, till
we will be in glory with Him in the millennium. There's nothing can
harm us. Hallelujah!
I'm so glad I met God. I'm so glad that I can say, "From that time,"
pin it down to that spot. When I met God, something happened to me, I
was changed from that minute. I've been changed ever since. I'm so glad
to be on this road tonight as a testimony to the glory and the power of
God.
E-41 A little old something out here, and God come down there and give me His grace, and saved me, and healed me, and filled me with His Spirit, and let me preach His Gospel, which is the greatest honor there is in the world. From that time until this time, I've never had one regret. But I've been thankful all these days, and will be through all eternity that I met God. God bless you. All right...?...