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Now in Hebrews 11, 8 to 10, By

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faith Abraham, when he was called to go

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out into a place which he should after

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receive for inheritance, obeyed.

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And he went out not knowing whether he

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went.

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By faith he sojourned in the land of

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promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in

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tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with

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him of the same promise.

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For he looked for a city which hath

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foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

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Now I haven't selected this for the morning,

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it comes in consecutive order as we're studying

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the book of Hebrews these Sunday mornings.

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Abraham, when he was called.

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And I have been thinking about the critical

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moments that are in the life of people.

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Naturally the first and most critical moment is

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the time of our birth.

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For a birth is a promise, or a

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warning, or a prophecy, or a portent, or

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all of those things.

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I was thinking that about 72 or 73

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years ago there was a family by the

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name of Schickelgruber, quite a long name.

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And they'd had some children and then the

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midwife came out smiling and said to Mr.

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Schickelgruber, you have a son.

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And he tried to look pleased, maybe he

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was.

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But he could hear a little thin wail,

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that little wail that's human and yet not

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quite like anything human, it's the sound of

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a newborn baby crying.

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Now if there had been a prophet there

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with ability to see the future, I'm sure

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that he would have heard in the wail

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of that newborn baby a threat to the

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human race, I'm sure of it.

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I'm sure that he would have recoiled in

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horror at what he was hearing, for that

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little baby grew up to be Adolf Hitler.

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And a little later than that, maybe 20

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years later than that, another boy was born

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in that same family.

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And they said to the waiting father, it's

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a boy.

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And six million Jews might have recoiled at

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that and the whole world shuddered.

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For that boy was Adolf Eichmann, who was

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personally responsible, so it's charged, and so I

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think it has been proved, for the murder

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of about six million human beings made in

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the image of God, who just a few

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days ago was hanged by the neck until

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dead for his crime.

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And they tried to pay with one dollar.

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Now those two births, if we think of

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them on the horror side of the ledger,

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they were portents and warnings and threats to

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the human race.

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But I think of another family, a man

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by the name of Jesse had quite a

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family of boys.

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There were eight of them, anywhere from good

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-sized boys, half grown up to tiny little

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chaps.

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And then they came out and said to

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Jesse, you've got another boy.

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He might have said, what could, they said,

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why don't we name him?

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They had all the names, he'll be the

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last one.

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And that was David, the son of Jesse.

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And if the prophet had been present there

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that day when they brought the little wriggling

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pink bitch, trying to work up a cry

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when there was nothing to cry over, you

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know how they do, and wailing his little

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protest to the world.

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If there'd been a prophet there who could

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foresee this, treat him very, very carefully.

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He's going to keep him, handle him carefully

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now, because you've got to keep him going

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and keep him living, because he's going to

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write the 23rd Psalm and out of the

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23rd Psalm, hymn after hymn and anthem.

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There was a prophecy, this boy's birth.

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I say that there are things that are

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critical and important predictions, and

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birth is one.

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And I suppose I couldn't get away from

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it, this being the month of June.

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What is so rare as the day in

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June?

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Then have ever come wedding days.

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And this is the day, the month when

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people marry, why I would never know that

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they do.

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That is, I mean, why they'd choose this

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month, not why they'd marry, I think.

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Why they would choose June, but they do.

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And that reminds us that getting married is

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a long way from being the casual thing

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that people make it out to be in

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our time.

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It's very casual now.

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People get married as they might buy a

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car or a cottage in the woods, or

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go for a trip to Maine.

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Just something they'll do, and if they don't

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like it, they won't do it.

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But under God, and it's odd, isn't it,

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that nature has so arranged it that when

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two people are doing the most important, neither

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one of them can see.

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You know, both of them are blind, and

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emotionally so groggy that it's impossible for reason

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to have any words at all.

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And yet it's one of the most important

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things in the world.

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But to others of you who are looking

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forward, I say, don't feed it into it,

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and don't.

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I know a young fellow, started running around

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with a young woman, and everybody began to

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say they're going to get married, and he

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heard it, and accepted it, and from that

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on he got married.

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And while he never told me in so

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many words, I have every reason to believe

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that he never planned it that way at

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all.

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He was squeezed into it by the pressure

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of public opinion.

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Don't allow that to happen, and don't allow

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merely the desire to get married.

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There are lots of worse things than not

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being married, and one of them is being

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married to the wrong person.

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It's a most critical thing.

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But I say, birth and marriage and the

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choice of a job and lots of other

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things, they're very important.

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The most vital moment in the life of

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any man or woman is when Abraham, when

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he was called.

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Notice that.

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When there is a time factor, a mark,

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you put a stake down, and you say

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that was the time, Abraham, when he was

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called.

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Abraham was called, and that was the most

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vital moment in his life.

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He was nothing compared to most persons.

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They come into the world like puppies, they're

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born into the world or hatched like birds,

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and their education is for life here below.

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They're strictly one-worlders.

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They believe in this world below, and they're

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educated for it, whether they know it or

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not, in educating themselves to live with people,

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to make a living, in the famous five

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points of Spencer.

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But it's all for down here.

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It's all for this life.

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There isn't anything to do with God.

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And the idea of God or the thought

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of God comes rather remotely, and it sounds

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unreal, because they've been educated for the world

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below.

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And then to some there comes a critical

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moment, the call.

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The time in this circumstance varies very widely

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indeed.

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There was Moses, and he was called while

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he was out keeping sheep under the brow

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of Horeb.

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And God said to him, I have heard

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the cry.

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That was Moses.

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That was one set of circumstances.

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Then there was another man by the name

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of Jacob, and Jacob was in the waste

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-howling wilderness, running away from a bad situation

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at home, when suddenly he saw a ladder

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set up on the earth, and the angels

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of God ascending and descending on it, and

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God standing above it.

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And God spoke to various others.

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It doesn't make any difference where you are,

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nor quite when it is, whether it's a

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holy day or whether it's Monday morning to

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some people.

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Maybe not to all, but to some people.

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The call of God is for everybody, but

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not everybody hears it.

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The scripture asserts this very clearly, that most

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persons, they know it in a way, but

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it never becomes an incident.

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And that is true of most Christians.

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It is never anything that takes place.

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It is something they know vaguely, but that's

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about it.

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Then comes that one clear call, and they

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do hear it then.

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If it's to that, that man does hear

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it.

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Many live and die and never hear it,

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but some do hear it.

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Abraham heard it.

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If there was no other reason why you

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ought to get still and wait once in

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a while, it is maybe God's been trying

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to get you when your line's busy.

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Maybe God's been trying to reach you and

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can't because you've been preoccupied.

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This American idea that has certainly come over

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to Canada too, that the go-getter is

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your man.

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The go-getter, the man who never to

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be still.

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He's your man.

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He's your man who will turn the world

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over.

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An old Quaker lady, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, was

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boasting to her in a good-natured way,

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how he'll live.

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He said, when I get up in the

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morning, while I am memorizing Greek, while I

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am shaving, I am memorizing something else.

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And while I'm at breakfast, then he has

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something else he was doing.

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And she listened unimpressed.

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And it's necessary sometimes that we stop and

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think.

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Some of the most useful things you can

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00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:29,480
do is to do nothing at all for

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a little bit.

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Sometimes you can go the fastest by not

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going at all.

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And you can go the farthest by standing

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still.

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00:13:38,260 --> 00:13:40,400
And you can talk the loudest by not

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saying a word.

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Abraham was down in Ur the Chaldees, and

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tradition says he was an idol-maker in

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the home of his father.

250
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Of course, he knew not Jehovah, the God

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that we say now, the God of Abraham,

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00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:01,060
Isaac, and Jacob.

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00:14:01,900 --> 00:14:03,600
He was not yet the God of Abraham,

254
00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:06,160
but he was listening.

255
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He was hearing.

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Some busy people cannot hear.

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00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:15,260
I know people that are so socially minded

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that they will be in misery if they

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are by themselves.

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One young fellow said to his father, a

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doctor.

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He was in the hospital, this young chap.

263
00:14:26,100 --> 00:14:29,220
He said, Dad, bring me a record player.

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Something, he said.

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If I don't, because he lived the kind

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00:14:38,740 --> 00:14:40,320
of life he had lived, it was hell

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00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:44,770
to think that Abraham didn't find it hell.

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I don't know how much Abraham had to

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do with all this.

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We will allow the Calvinists and Arminians to

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argue this all out.

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I believe that God is always previous, and

273
00:14:56,010 --> 00:14:58,890
I believe in prevenient grace, and I believe

274
00:14:58,890 --> 00:15:06,190
that if God hadn't moved toward Abraham, Abraham

275
00:15:06,190 --> 00:15:07,410
never would have moved toward God.

276
00:15:07,450 --> 00:15:08,350
I believe that.

277
00:15:09,270 --> 00:15:12,410
But I also believe that if Abraham had

278
00:15:12,410 --> 00:15:14,890
not had his ear cocked to another world

279
00:15:14,890 --> 00:15:16,330
than this, he would never have heard the

280
00:15:16,330 --> 00:15:20,180
voice of Abraham when he was called.

281
00:15:20,300 --> 00:15:22,940
What a critical moment that was in the

282
00:15:22,940 --> 00:15:23,840
life of Abraham!

283
00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:27,380
If Abraham had set his jaw and said,

284
00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:29,520
I'm not going to fool with this religion

285
00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:33,160
business, and had gone back making bigger and

286
00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:36,260
better idols, the whole history of the world

287
00:15:36,260 --> 00:15:42,630
would have been a different market, and different

288
00:15:42,630 --> 00:15:43,350
for the worse.

289
00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:48,020
It says here that Abraham was called, that

290
00:15:48,020 --> 00:15:49,580
one, and he was called to go out.

291
00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:52,580
Now, Abraham was negative.

292
00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:54,760
Abraham was called to go out.

293
00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:56,340
He was called to go out.

294
00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:57,040
Is that so?

295
00:15:57,140 --> 00:16:00,060
There he was, but the place where he

296
00:16:00,060 --> 00:16:01,540
was wasn't the right place.

297
00:16:01,900 --> 00:16:03,840
He was in Ur making idols, and that

298
00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:05,300
wasn't the right place for him.

299
00:16:05,300 --> 00:16:09,060
Eternal God had something better for him, so

300
00:16:09,060 --> 00:16:10,400
he called him out.

301
00:16:10,980 --> 00:16:13,240
Ur was not God's place for Abraham.

302
00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:15,980
In order to become a friend of God,

303
00:16:19,170 --> 00:16:19,290
he had to go out.

304
00:16:19,290 --> 00:16:21,470
Now, there is the offense of the cross.

305
00:16:21,690 --> 00:16:24,750
Nobody cares how religious you are, particularly in

306
00:16:24,750 --> 00:16:29,170
this present moment, in this what they call

307
00:16:29,170 --> 00:16:32,270
the intellectual ferment that's going on now.

308
00:16:32,610 --> 00:16:34,350
As a boy on the farm, I know

309
00:16:34,350 --> 00:16:37,450
what happens when things ferment, and I'm a

310
00:16:37,450 --> 00:16:38,730
little worried about that expression.

311
00:16:39,490 --> 00:16:44,010
But this moment we're in now, this cross,

312
00:16:49,990 --> 00:16:52,850
it's quite respectable now to be religious, though

313
00:16:52,850 --> 00:16:56,930
I well remember not too long ago, after

314
00:16:56,930 --> 00:16:59,010
the First World War, when it was highly

315
00:16:59,010 --> 00:17:01,910
unrespectable to be a believer in God.

316
00:17:02,550 --> 00:17:06,990
Now, at last, we have made terms with

317
00:17:06,990 --> 00:17:10,790
religion, and the world says it's all right

318
00:17:10,790 --> 00:17:14,010
to believe, provided you don't believe anything very

319
00:17:14,010 --> 00:17:17,510
much, and provided what you believe doesn't change

320
00:17:17,510 --> 00:17:20,050
you very much, and again, provided what you

321
00:17:20,050 --> 00:17:23,369
believe doesn't reflect unkindly upon somebody that doesn't

322
00:17:23,369 --> 00:17:23,810
believe.

323
00:17:25,310 --> 00:17:29,330
Catholics, Jews, Gentiles, atheists, unbelievers can all get

324
00:17:29,330 --> 00:17:34,720
together on a panel discussion with the idea

325
00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:38,220
that each is expressing his viewpoint, and then

326
00:17:38,220 --> 00:17:39,740
shake hands and go out and have a

327
00:17:39,740 --> 00:17:40,000
soda.

328
00:17:41,100 --> 00:17:43,120
Nothing matters much anyhow.

329
00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:45,500
Whether Jews are right, or the Catholic and

330
00:17:45,500 --> 00:17:47,040
the Pope are right, or whether the Protestant

331
00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:49,000
gospel groups are right, or whether the atheist

332
00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:51,280
is right, that's nothing to worry about.

333
00:17:51,380 --> 00:17:52,940
The point is, we've fermented.

334
00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:56,200
We have had the dialogue, we have aired

335
00:17:56,200 --> 00:18:02,210
our beliefs like budgies in a cage, talking

336
00:18:02,210 --> 00:18:03,530
to each other but not knowing what we're

337
00:18:03,530 --> 00:18:03,870
saying.

338
00:18:05,310 --> 00:18:09,770
So, Christianity is all right, provided you don't

339
00:18:09,770 --> 00:18:11,390
let it become exclusive.

340
00:18:12,770 --> 00:18:15,410
Christianity is perfectly all right, just so long

341
00:18:15,410 --> 00:18:18,250
as you don't say, this is the only

342
00:18:18,250 --> 00:18:21,310
religion there is, and Christ is the only

343
00:18:21,310 --> 00:18:24,650
hope there is, and through Christ alone men

344
00:18:24,650 --> 00:18:25,150
reach God.

345
00:18:25,170 --> 00:18:26,670
As soon as you say that, you're dead.

346
00:18:28,250 --> 00:18:30,970
They say, he's a dogmatist, take him out.

347
00:18:32,230 --> 00:18:33,830
They'll have nothing to do with the fellow

348
00:18:33,830 --> 00:18:36,470
after that, because he dares to believe not

349
00:18:36,470 --> 00:18:39,050
that there are several ways to heaven, but

350
00:18:39,050 --> 00:18:39,570
one way.

351
00:18:42,010 --> 00:18:43,750
And one thing the call of Christ does

352
00:18:43,750 --> 00:18:45,450
to us, one thing the call of Christ

353
00:18:45,450 --> 00:18:46,590
does is to call us out.

354
00:18:46,710 --> 00:18:49,050
Abraham, when he was called, he was called

355
00:18:49,050 --> 00:18:49,770
to go out.

356
00:18:50,830 --> 00:18:53,470
So he was called to go out, because

357
00:18:53,470 --> 00:18:55,110
where he was wasn't the right place.

358
00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:01,860
I'll tell you this again, I told you

359
00:19:01,860 --> 00:19:03,560
this a couple of years ago now, but

360
00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:04,800
I want to repeat it.

361
00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:09,380
Some of you know the Irish evangelist who

362
00:19:09,380 --> 00:19:11,240
has just now gone to heaven, maybe less

363
00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:13,140
than a year ago, by the name of

364
00:19:13,140 --> 00:19:13,920
Billy Nicholson.

365
00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:17,160
Now, I personally knew Billy Nicholson, he was

366
00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:18,500
one of my good, warm friends.

367
00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:25,760
But he was a great man, he was

368
00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:27,860
one of the greatest evangelists of his day.

369
00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:33,360
Saved Ireland, they tell us, from one people

370
00:19:33,360 --> 00:19:34,860
to God by the other.

371
00:19:37,060 --> 00:19:38,480
Well, he was called to go to a

372
00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:39,300
certain church.

373
00:19:39,460 --> 00:19:41,060
Now, I'm not going to mention the name

374
00:19:41,060 --> 00:19:42,260
of that church, if I can help it,

375
00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:43,640
but if it slips in, I won't be

376
00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:47,130
too sure.

377
00:19:47,290 --> 00:19:48,790
They called him in and they said, we'd

378
00:19:48,790 --> 00:19:51,110
like to have you put on an evangelistic

379
00:19:51,110 --> 00:19:51,910
service here.

380
00:19:52,050 --> 00:19:53,370
He said he'd be glad to do it.

381
00:19:53,750 --> 00:19:57,720
Well, the pastor after he got there, one

382
00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:01,920
thing about it, Mr. Nicholson, he said, we

383
00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:04,900
live in this town, it's a liquor town.

384
00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:07,460
And he said, some of my people are,

385
00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:12,760
he said, in fact, the chairman of the

386
00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:13,860
board of the church.

387
00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:18,660
And he's also the town undertaker.

388
00:20:18,980 --> 00:20:28,000
And he said, I'd just like not to

389
00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:28,980
say anything about liquor.

390
00:20:30,690 --> 00:20:32,970
Well, that first night the brother got up,

391
00:20:33,050 --> 00:20:35,110
Billy Nicholson got up and preached on John

392
00:20:35,110 --> 00:20:40,700
3.16. He didn't mention anything, only the

393
00:20:40,700 --> 00:20:41,420
love of God.

394
00:20:41,500 --> 00:20:42,920
And the pastor said, well, won't this be

395
00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:43,300
wonderful?

396
00:20:43,460 --> 00:20:57,010
We'll get all of evangelism, evangelistic men up

397
00:20:57,010 --> 00:20:58,110
to the edge of the platform.

398
00:20:58,550 --> 00:21:04,690
And he said, ladies and gentlemen, I understand

399
00:21:05,670 --> 00:21:07,470
that you have a man on the board

400
00:21:07,470 --> 00:21:10,590
of your church who makes liquor to damn

401
00:21:10,590 --> 00:21:11,550
people's souls.

402
00:21:12,510 --> 00:21:14,930
And he said, also, he's an undertaker so

403
00:21:14,930 --> 00:21:16,750
that he can bury them when they die

404
00:21:16,750 --> 00:21:17,610
and go to hell.

405
00:21:18,470 --> 00:21:20,170
And then he let in from there on.

406
00:21:20,630 --> 00:21:21,410
That was Billy.

407
00:21:23,330 --> 00:21:25,030
They closed the church on him and locked

408
00:21:25,030 --> 00:21:25,550
the door.

409
00:21:25,750 --> 00:21:27,810
Billy never got another chance at that church.

410
00:21:27,830 --> 00:21:29,350
He told me that was the only time

411
00:21:29,350 --> 00:21:30,390
he'd ever been locked out.

412
00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:34,940
Well, you see, if Billy had just allowed

413
00:21:34,940 --> 00:21:38,200
them to drop in their liquor, if he

414
00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:40,640
had just allowed them to stew in their

415
00:21:40,640 --> 00:22:01,040
gin, they'd never have

416
00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:01,960
done that.

417
00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:03,700
But that was Billy Nicholson.

418
00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:21,570
And as

419
00:22:21,570 --> 00:22:22,930
soon as they went back to not being

420
00:22:38,260 --> 00:22:42,280
and don't make it mean much, nobody will

421
00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:42,980
bother us.

422
00:22:43,460 --> 00:22:45,280
But as soon as we've been preached at

423
00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:50,670
the call, they'll get on us right away.

424
00:22:52,110 --> 00:22:54,370
But Abraham was called to go out.

425
00:22:55,150 --> 00:22:57,230
But I want you to notice another thing,

426
00:22:57,390 --> 00:22:57,490
too.

427
00:22:57,610 --> 00:23:00,110
Another preposition lies alongside of that one.

428
00:23:01,730 --> 00:23:03,850
He was called to go out into.

429
00:23:05,090 --> 00:23:07,170
Here's the difficulty in some churches.

430
00:23:07,390 --> 00:23:10,150
They're always against something and never for anything.

431
00:23:10,390 --> 00:23:14,650
The only reason I'm ever against it, I

432
00:23:14,650 --> 00:23:16,910
am for something, and that makes it necessary.

433
00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:22,440
So Abraham was against idol making in order

434
00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:24,540
that he might be on the side of

435
00:23:24,540 --> 00:23:24,860
God.

436
00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:29,020
God called him to go out into, said,

437
00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:31,240
Abraham, come and I will show thee the

438
00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:31,620
land.

439
00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:38,600
So the call of God is always into.

440
00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:39,840
Keep that in mind.

441
00:23:40,460 --> 00:23:42,400
God calls you into what?

442
00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:44,340
He calls you into eternal life.

443
00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:46,900
He calls you into holiness of living.

444
00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:49,680
He calls you into fellowship with his son.

445
00:23:50,300 --> 00:23:52,920
He calls you into a life of fruitfulness

446
00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:53,960
and usefulness.

447
00:23:54,660 --> 00:23:56,840
He calls you into purity of the heart.

448
00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:01,040
He calls you to walk within as Enoch

449
00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:01,840
walked with him.

450
00:24:01,900 --> 00:24:02,780
He calls you into.

451
00:24:03,580 --> 00:24:05,620
And he calls you into the sweetest fellowship

452
00:24:05,620 --> 00:24:07,520
in all the world, the fellowship of Christians.

453
00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:10,700
He calls you into something, but in order

454
00:24:10,700 --> 00:24:12,360
to do it, he has to call you

455
00:24:12,360 --> 00:24:14,680
out of where you are, because where you

456
00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:15,820
are isn't the right place.

457
00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:17,700
You were born on the right.

458
00:24:25,250 --> 00:24:27,570
And then remember, too, that what he calls

459
00:24:27,570 --> 00:24:29,750
you away from isn't anything compared to what

460
00:24:29,750 --> 00:24:30,690
he calls you into.

461
00:24:30,690 --> 00:24:32,390
Lecture 11 Justification and Sanctification 22 I get

462
00:24:32,390 --> 00:24:34,490
a lot of sour amusement out of these

463
00:24:34,490 --> 00:24:38,330
half-converted opera stars and half-converted singers

464
00:24:39,900 --> 00:24:43,840
who tell about how they nobly gave up

465
00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:44,500
at the altar.

466
00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:47,040
Beating the bench with tears, they gave up

467
00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:48,100
an opera career.

468
00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:51,100
They couldn't sweep off the stage.

469
00:24:51,820 --> 00:24:53,780
But they gave up an opera career to

470
00:24:53,780 --> 00:24:55,740
follow the Lord, and to give the impression

471
00:24:55,740 --> 00:25:00,220
that the Lord should reward them particularly because

472
00:25:00,220 --> 00:25:01,360
of what they gave up.

473
00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:05,480
Well, granted, now, granted they gave something up.

474
00:25:05,540 --> 00:25:07,060
I've never met one yet that gave up

475
00:25:07,060 --> 00:25:07,380
anything.

476
00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:09,380
Always they couldn't quite make good.

477
00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:15,140
A fellow that can't sing a lick well

478
00:25:15,140 --> 00:25:16,960
enough to sing an opera can always manage

479
00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:18,300
to stagger by in churches.

480
00:25:19,260 --> 00:25:23,140
And the man who is unable to toot

481
00:25:23,140 --> 00:25:25,040
a horn, they wouldn't have him even in

482
00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:26,020
jazz orchestra.

483
00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:28,520
He can talk to the Young People's Society

484
00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:30,460
and get a reputation and be called around.

485
00:25:30,460 --> 00:25:31,780
He says, I gave up.

486
00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:33,920
You know what you gave up, Junior, God

487
00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:34,440
bless you?

488
00:25:34,860 --> 00:25:36,240
You didn't give up anything.

489
00:25:36,380 --> 00:25:38,280
God called you to himself.

490
00:25:39,900 --> 00:25:41,300
What did I give up when I got

491
00:25:41,300 --> 00:25:41,680
converted?

492
00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:44,000
I gave up the rubber factory.

493
00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:48,420
I was working making tires in a rubber

494
00:25:48,420 --> 00:25:49,900
factory, and I gave that up.

495
00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:52,320
I was scared half to death, and I

496
00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:53,020
gave that up.

497
00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:55,860
I was miserable and gave that up.

498
00:25:56,660 --> 00:25:58,260
I was covered with sin and I gave

499
00:25:58,260 --> 00:25:58,820
that up.

500
00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:05,180
I had ambitions to do so many things,

501
00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:06,860
none of which I ever would have accomplished,

502
00:26:06,980 --> 00:26:07,800
and I gave that up.

503
00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:11,260
But what did I get called into?

504
00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:13,580
Well, I gave up certain friends, I admit

505
00:26:13,580 --> 00:26:13,940
that.

506
00:26:14,460 --> 00:26:16,080
I gave up certain friends.

507
00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:22,900
Now, I didn't have the experience in order

508
00:26:22,900 --> 00:26:24,740
that I might be a Christian, because I

509
00:26:24,740 --> 00:26:27,100
met my wife in the basement of a

510
00:26:27,100 --> 00:26:30,880
Methodist church, and I hadn't had any girlfriends

511
00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:33,020
before that, so that was out.

512
00:26:35,220 --> 00:26:37,020
But I didn't give up anything that was

513
00:26:37,020 --> 00:26:39,220
worthwhile, but what I got was everything.

514
00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:42,120
If God takes away from you an old

515
00:26:42,120 --> 00:26:44,380
beat-up dollar bill and hands you back

516
00:26:44,380 --> 00:26:47,200
the mint, and says, here, the mint's yours,

517
00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:51,400
help yourself, God called Abraham out from making

518
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:51,800
idols.

519
00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:54,440
If Abraham had ever thought to grumble about

520
00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:55,700
it, God would lay him go back and

521
00:26:55,700 --> 00:26:56,260
make idols.

522
00:26:56,380 --> 00:27:02,220
But God called him out and said, kings

523
00:27:02,220 --> 00:27:05,100
are in your loins, you will be the

524
00:27:05,100 --> 00:27:06,660
father of the Messiah.

525
00:27:08,060 --> 00:27:11,400
Down the long line from Abraham on down

526
00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:14,800
to Mary, you will be in line for

527
00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:15,400
the Messiah.

528
00:27:16,700 --> 00:27:18,400
Now, the blessing that came to him because

529
00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:19,100
he got out.

530
00:27:19,780 --> 00:27:21,640
Now, that's the only reason I tell people

531
00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:22,900
that they ought to get out from the

532
00:27:22,900 --> 00:27:25,280
world, in order that they might get in.

533
00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:26,780
You know, the Puritans, they used to say

534
00:27:26,780 --> 00:27:27,960
about them, I don't think it was true

535
00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:29,840
at all, but they used to say about

536
00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:32,420
the Puritans that they opposed bear baiting.

537
00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:35,960
And they said they didn't oppose bear baiting

538
00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:39,200
because they pitied the bear, but they opposed

539
00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:41,280
bear baiting because they didn't want the people

540
00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:43,180
to have any fun baiting bears.

541
00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:46,660
I believe that that is a scurrilous remark

542
00:27:46,660 --> 00:27:47,840
and don't believe it's true.

543
00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:51,200
But I have met people who, I'm afraid,

544
00:27:51,660 --> 00:27:53,240
were just a little bit on that bear

545
00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:54,920
baiting side of things.

546
00:27:55,500 --> 00:27:56,860
They were always against it.

547
00:27:56,860 --> 00:27:58,740
I got a letter and now I've got

548
00:27:58,740 --> 00:27:59,520
a bunch of books.

549
00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:03,740
I'm going up to Minnesota in between Sundays,

550
00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:06,440
and of all things I'm going to preach

551
00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:09,260
on the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

552
00:28:09,340 --> 00:28:10,620
And who do you suppose I'm preaching it

553
00:28:10,620 --> 00:28:10,880
to?

554
00:28:11,380 --> 00:28:12,280
A bunch of Lutherans.

555
00:28:12,340 --> 00:28:22,030
They invited me to come and was taking

556
00:28:22,030 --> 00:28:24,930
me to task, warning me and telling me

557
00:28:24,930 --> 00:28:26,970
not to go near those Lutherans.

558
00:28:27,090 --> 00:28:27,970
I said, don't you do it.

559
00:28:28,650 --> 00:28:29,350
They're not Orthodox.

560
00:28:30,310 --> 00:28:31,410
I can't help it.

561
00:28:32,290 --> 00:28:34,630
Imagine, will you, if you were to call

562
00:28:34,630 --> 00:28:36,270
up a doctor and say, don't go near

563
00:28:36,270 --> 00:28:37,450
that man, he's sick.

564
00:28:39,610 --> 00:28:40,990
Don't go near him, he's sick.

565
00:28:41,050 --> 00:28:43,050
Of course, that's why the doctor goes.

566
00:28:44,550 --> 00:28:46,870
I'm saying to a schoolteacher, don't you go

567
00:28:46,870 --> 00:28:48,250
near that little boy.

568
00:28:48,370 --> 00:28:49,050
He can't read.

569
00:28:49,870 --> 00:28:51,510
We should go there to teach him to

570
00:28:51,510 --> 00:28:51,750
read.

571
00:28:53,170 --> 00:28:55,050
And so my good Lutheran friends, I hadn't

572
00:28:55,050 --> 00:28:55,590
ever met them.

573
00:28:55,750 --> 00:28:58,730
I know one fellow among them.

574
00:28:58,930 --> 00:29:00,250
Outside of that, I know nobody.

575
00:29:00,390 --> 00:29:01,650
But I'm going up there and preach a

576
00:29:01,650 --> 00:29:03,050
series of sermons on the Holy Ghost.

577
00:29:03,170 --> 00:29:04,570
I preached here at Avenue Road Church.

578
00:29:05,850 --> 00:29:08,370
This man that wrote me, he warned me.

579
00:29:08,570 --> 00:29:10,650
He said, don't you know they're using you?

580
00:29:10,770 --> 00:29:12,930
He said, they're going to use you.

581
00:29:13,490 --> 00:29:15,070
I don't know how they can use me.

582
00:29:15,150 --> 00:29:16,350
I've never been used yet.

583
00:29:17,310 --> 00:29:19,310
And I'm too old to start now.

584
00:29:19,930 --> 00:29:22,110
But I'm going to preach on God, the

585
00:29:22,110 --> 00:29:23,610
Holy Ghost, and what he can do in

586
00:29:23,610 --> 00:29:25,130
the lives of men that let him.

587
00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:31,400
And I'm going to tell them what God

588
00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:32,140
calls them into.

589
00:29:34,060 --> 00:29:36,040
And I say, come out, come out, in

590
00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:37,340
order that you might get in.

591
00:29:40,220 --> 00:29:42,420
Now, Abraham obeyed, and I'm finished.

592
00:29:43,540 --> 00:29:44,480
Abraham obeyed.

593
00:29:44,540 --> 00:29:45,960
By faith, Abraham obeyed.

594
00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:48,100
Faith gave him the grand courage to go

595
00:29:48,100 --> 00:29:51,540
out, to leave all the old safe mess,

596
00:29:53,670 --> 00:30:01,490
his pension, and his seniority, and that comfortable

597
00:30:01,490 --> 00:30:07,980
chair, and the change, and the loss, and

598
00:30:07,980 --> 00:30:10,080
the human uncertainty that came to him.

599
00:30:11,060 --> 00:30:14,760
He became a pilgrim now, to wait and

600
00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:16,000
to look upon God.

601
00:30:18,430 --> 00:30:24,880
Lost his Social Security, lost his friends at

602
00:30:27,090 --> 00:30:27,690
his age.

603
00:30:29,810 --> 00:30:32,630
At his age, every piece of furniture in

604
00:30:32,630 --> 00:30:33,530
the house fit him.

605
00:30:34,130 --> 00:30:35,250
You know, if you sit in a long

606
00:30:35,250 --> 00:30:36,250
enough, they come to fit you.

607
00:30:37,510 --> 00:30:39,210
Everything fit him around there.

608
00:30:40,350 --> 00:30:41,470
Everything was comfortable.

609
00:30:42,330 --> 00:30:43,870
You know, just where to sit and when,

610
00:30:43,950 --> 00:30:46,590
and everybody knew what Abraham would do.

611
00:30:47,510 --> 00:30:48,950
God said, I want you to get out

612
00:30:48,950 --> 00:30:52,250
of this whole comfortable place and follow me.

613
00:30:54,710 --> 00:30:57,870
Abraham had good spiritual sense enough to obey

614
00:30:57,870 --> 00:30:58,310
God.

615
00:30:58,670 --> 00:30:59,690
He got up and went.

616
00:31:01,730 --> 00:31:04,150
He went because the scripture says, and says

617
00:31:04,150 --> 00:31:05,710
it so much more beautifully than I have

618
00:31:05,710 --> 00:31:06,030
said it.

619
00:31:06,830 --> 00:31:12,140
It says, because he regarded the city, because

620
00:31:12,140 --> 00:31:14,940
he looked for a city which hath foundations,

621
00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:18,860
whose builder and maker is God.

622
00:31:20,180 --> 00:31:22,860
He never did quite believe in the permanency

623
00:31:22,860 --> 00:31:24,460
of the city where he lived.

624
00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:24,860
Err.

625
00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:27,660
He never quite believed in the permanency of

626
00:31:27,660 --> 00:31:28,680
that home of his.

627
00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:29,360
Never.

628
00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:33,180
Never quite believed in the permanency of the

629
00:31:33,180 --> 00:31:34,380
job of making idols.

630
00:31:34,860 --> 00:31:37,820
Something in his heart, placed there by God,

631
00:31:38,300 --> 00:31:41,400
disturbed him and made him discontented and troubled.

632
00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:45,080
And when God said, Abraham, come out, he

633
00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:46,800
went immediately and followed God.

634
00:31:48,940 --> 00:31:52,820
As Bud Robison said, Abraham went out not

635
00:31:52,820 --> 00:31:54,960
knowing where he was going, but he knew

636
00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:56,120
who was going with him.

637
00:31:57,220 --> 00:31:58,640
And that's all you have to know.

638
00:31:59,740 --> 00:32:00,760
He looked for a city.

639
00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:03,220
He was interested in something that has permanence,

640
00:32:04,100 --> 00:32:07,000
whose builder and maker is God.

641
00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:09,880
That's life's summum bonum.

642
00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:13,240
The end after which the human race strives

643
00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:14,020
and doesn't know it.

644
00:32:16,220 --> 00:32:20,020
Jerusalem, wrote the old monk, Jerusalem the golden,

645
00:32:21,100 --> 00:32:24,620
with milk and honey blessed, beneath thy contemplation

646
00:32:24,620 --> 00:32:26,260
sink heart and voice oppressed.

647
00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:29,240
I know not, oh I know not, what

648
00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:32,180
social joys are there, what radiancy of glory,

649
00:32:32,500 --> 00:32:34,920
what wealth beyond compare.

650
00:32:35,420 --> 00:32:37,580
Abraham saw that way back there.

651
00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:40,320
Jesus said, Abraham saw my day and was

652
00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:40,800
glad.

653
00:32:42,060 --> 00:32:43,960
He looked at the city and he left

654
00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:44,920
his little town.

655
00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:48,060
And he went out with no town, nothing

656
00:32:48,060 --> 00:32:50,020
but a tent, because he was seeing a

657
00:32:50,020 --> 00:32:50,280
city.

658
00:32:52,690 --> 00:32:54,310
And as he went, he might have said,

659
00:32:54,510 --> 00:32:57,310
for thee, oh dear, dear country, mine eyes

660
00:32:57,310 --> 00:32:58,410
their vigils keep.

661
00:32:59,450 --> 00:33:02,390
For very love beholding thy happy name they

662
00:33:02,390 --> 00:33:02,850
weep.

663
00:33:04,190 --> 00:33:06,250
The mention of thy glory is unkind to

664
00:33:06,250 --> 00:33:08,630
the breast, and medicine, and sickness, and love.

665
00:33:11,550 --> 00:33:15,150
He dedicated himself to eternal things, and I

666
00:33:15,150 --> 00:33:16,790
don't have to make a case for it.

667
00:33:16,990 --> 00:33:23,070
The long, glory-studded history of Abraham is

668
00:33:23,070 --> 00:33:24,650
its own justification.

669
00:33:26,150 --> 00:33:28,370
God bless the man who heard a voice,

670
00:33:28,750 --> 00:33:31,550
who obeyed it, who went out and in,

671
00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:35,620
in obedience to a heavenly call.

672
00:33:36,460 --> 00:33:39,020
God make us like Abraham, at least in

673
00:33:39,020 --> 00:33:39,280
this.

674
00:33:39,500 --> 00:33:39,600
Amen.