Laying the foundation

First you must be borned again. And then when you're borned again, you have faith; you believe the Word. Until you're borned again you'll argue against it.

If you're just religiously inclined, and you've got a little human knowledge that you should do right, you'll never be able to agree upon the Word of God. You'll never do it. You've got to be borned again; and borned again, it produces faith.

Now you can grow
All right. Then after you get faith, this right here: F-A-I-T-H faith, then you're just in position of growing.

Now, a lot of people go up to the altar and pray, and say, "Lord, forgive me," and a great experience of sanctification come upon them, and things, then you have a great time, get up at the altar shouting. You go back and say, "Bless God, I got it." No, you just started to a place where you can grow. You ain't done nothing yet. See, the only thing you've done is just laid the foundation.

Faith is the foundation
Now, you're going to build a house. And you pour the foundation and say, "Boy, I got her." See, you've got the foundation to build your house on. Now, you've got to build the house.
Now, there's where the thing comes in this morning we're going to talk about now. All right. A house, this foundation is first.

What is the foundation of Christianity? Faith in the Word of God. That's your foundation. Then you begin to grow. Then you start. You begin to add to this foundation.

WMB ("Stature of a Perfect Man" - 1962)
Scripture reading: 2.Peter 1:5

The Word Interpreted

Jesus in His age, what was He? Just like the prophets of their age. Each one of them was God's Word being interpreted for that age.

Moses was God's Word interpreted. God said, "I'll send down there and I'll deliver them. I'm sending you down with My Word. I'll do great signs and wonders." He did it. Mary, she was God's Word interpreted, "A virgin shall conceive." That was God's Word interpreted.

Not what they expected
Now, here comes Jesus on the scene, the God of the prophets. And here they was so organized, and discriminated, and oh, in such a condition till they didn't even recognize Him. He didn't come the way they thought He ought to come. They thought God would pull a little lever here and let the corridors of heaven down, and He'd walk down and say, "Caiaphas, high priest of God, I have arrived."

Jesus, the Word
But He had a baby born in a manger, down in a little cave stable in Bethlehem, way down there with the straw and manure of the barn, a little baby wrapped in swaddling cloth and laid into a manger: had no schooling. Watch how He corrected the word. And He was the Word. He is the Word. He ever remains the same yesterday, today, and forever. Right.

WMB ("Identified Christ of All Ages" - 1964)

I wish you a merry Christmas, and a blessed time together with your family and friends AND with the Lord. Perhaps you will join me in this prayer, "Lord, let me focus on You and not forget You in all this celebration... after all, it's You we celebrate. Thank you Lord, that You came into this dark world and died instead of me. Accepting this wonderfull grace, I want to live for you, and be the Word manifested for my age. Let it be unto me according to Your Word! Amen."

Put The Holy Spirit To Work

The trouble with the people today, those who have the Holy Spirit, they just don't know what to do with It. They blow It all out in steam, instead of making It work for the Lord. They shout It out, and praise It out. That's all right, but let's put It to work. Let's make It work for the Lord.

Like Benjamin Franklin, when he caught electricity, he begin to scream, "I got it. I got it." But just to say he had it, could... 'cause he felt it. He had it, but it'll never do no good till he puts it to work. Now look what it does.

Let the Holy Spirit Work
And the Holy Spirit will light up the world with the Gospel just like electricity did, if we can put It to work. But you've got to let the Holy Spirit work.

People Want To Be Entertained
People today are entertained. If you'll notice on the platform and different places, everywhere--not only here, anywhere--the people come by, they expect... They've had too much of this here high pressured, latter day, Divine healing campaigns. It's exactly right. People saying, "I got it in the hand. Whew. Feel it? Feel it? You feel it?" No, you don't feel it. You might feeled your hand, but that's all you feeled. That's right.

It's Faith - Not Feelings!
Jesus never did say, "Did you feeled it?" He said, "Did you believe it?" See? Not did you feeled it? do you believe it? Faith is not feeling; faith is something that you don't feel; you have no senses will declare it, only that sixth sense, that faith that knows it. You don't feel, taste, smell, or hear it; but you know it. Because Jesus said so; that settles it.

Hollywood Evangelism
And if I could ever get a message sometime that would shake the people away from all this here Hollywood evangelism and get them down to the Bible to THUS SAITH THE LORD, then something will happen. And that's what I've longed to see. We've had a stir here in the Temple. But I'd like to see a revival in the Temple.

We Need A Revival
Now, a revival is not bringing in new members, a revival is reviving what you've already got. That's what we need, is a revival.

Did you ever see the sea have a revival? Sure. When it goes to leaping and jumping, and the waves a beating, there's not one drop of water more in it than it was when it was perfectly quiet. But it's got a revival, throws all the trash up on the shore. That's what it does.
And that's what the church needs tonight, is a revival to throw all the nonsense out of it, and throw it out on the shore, so they can get back to Gospel solid foundation.

We Need The Golden Character of Christ
That's what the Bible said, "Come and buy of Me, gold--pure gold, tried in a fire." The old beaters used to take the gold when they beat it, and they would beat that gold, and turn it over, and beat it, beating the dross out of it, until the reflection of the beater, he could see it in it. Then he knowed he had the dross out of it.

The Bride Makes HERSELF Ready
And that's the way God takes the Holy Spirit, and takes the Christian and the Church, and beats it with the Gospel, and back and forth, and back and forth, until it reflects Jesus in it. The Holy Spirit can see the works of Jesus going on in the Church, then things begin to go fine.
But there's too much dross in the Church today. Too much. Now, they're fine people, the best in the world, the cream of the crop. But the Church needs to make Itself ready. Get ready. The Bible said, "The Bride had made Herself ready," as I preached on it at Pisgah the other day.

WMB ("El Shaddai" - Los Angeles, CA - April 16th, 1959)

Keep A Positive Confession

People say, "Well, I'm weak; my faith is not very much; I'm not a very good Christian." That's just what the devil wants you to say. You're just talking his language right then. See? You mustn't never say that.

Don't never let your testimony be negative; let it be positive all the time. "I am saved. I have God in my heart. I believe Him with all my heart." Do you believe in Divine healing? "With all of my heart."

Do not permit negative thoughts
Let your testimony always and your thoughts, everything... Never permit a negative thought to come in your mind if you can help it. When it starts that, don't entertain it. Well, you say, "I can't help the thoughts from coming." Well, that'll be like the farmer that said he couldn't stop the birds from flying over his place, but he could sure stop them from roosting.

Do not entertain negative thoughts
So that's a good thing. You see? You can't help the thoughts when they come, but don't entertain them; just pass it on. "No, sir. Jesus Christ is my Saviour; all things are mine by God. And I'm going to keep them. I'm going to testify of them."

Confess what God says
And God can only bless you as you confess that He has done it for you. See, He's the High Priest of our confession. Is that right? Hebrews 3. He said that He's the High Priest of our confession. He can only do for us as we accept it, and believe it, and confess it.

WMB ("Law" - 1955)

Keep Your Eyes On Christ

No matter which way the wind's blowing, we're still looking to Calvary, whether it's opposite, or whether whatever it is, we still are set towards Calvary. That's the true believer. And then we're not tossed about by every wind of doctrines, and this comes in, and that comes in, and this takes place; we just got that one pilot course that's right to Calvary.

Do not drift around
I think that's what God meant when He spoke through Jude over there and said, "A clouds without rain, wandering stars..." just wandering around about. That's not right; we shouldn't do that. We should just... When a Christian is first borned in the Kingdom of God his affection, his life, everything is set right on Christ. If he's just a little bit smart, if you don't watch he will put all of it over on education and go off to real cold formal, and indifferent, and everything, some theology, or some great interpretation of Greek words.

Trap no.1: Formality and Intellectualism
I met a man here some time ago, and he said, "Billy, I just learned a certain Greek word. I've been on it for five years, trying to learn the real meaning of this Greek word." Said, "Oh, when I found it, is it a blessing."
I said, "You've been five years learning one Greek word?"
"Yes."
I said, "In that five years, by God's grace, I've won a half million souls to Christ not knowing any Greek word."

It isn't what you know; it's Who you know: To know Him is Life. And we spend so much time on those things which is foolish. Just, I don't mean foolish, which it doesn't do us any good... When you do know, what good does it do you? None. So you just might as well know Him.

Trap no.2: Emotionalism and Fanaticism
And then if he becomes, this person that's centered on Christ, if he's just a little bit nervous or emotional, if you don't watch that individual, he will drift off to this side into fanaticism. And he will become a regular--just every way the wind blows, here he goes. Everywhere the rattle comes, why, he will take after it.

But you don't want that. One's just as contrary as the other one is. But we want to be centered, Christ and there alone. Look to the Lamb of God. Look and live.

WMB ("Father The Hour Has Come" - 1956)

Faith Ignores The Symptoms

The trouble of it is with the church today, we come with hope in the stead of faith. Faith is positive. Faith needs no booster; faith knows what it's talking about it's talking about. Faith is strong. Faith has hairs on the chest; it speaks and the rest of them shut up. Symptoms can't even speak at all when real godly faith speaks. It's got the floor. It knows where it's at. It's had an experience.

Jonah had plenty of symptoms
When I hear people say of their symptoms, I think of Jonah. If there was any man who had a right to complain about symptoms, it would been Jonah. We would think him to be backslid because he was out of the will of God when he had failed to do what God told him to do. And then he had his hands tied behind him; he was in the belly of a fish, and out into the stormy ocean with a big tornado on top of the ocean, in the belly of a whale with seaweeds around his neck and vomit. And if he looked this a way it was whale's belly. Every way he looked it was whale's belly. You talk about symptoms, he had them. There's no one here tonight in that condition.

Jonah believed in the power of prayer
But look what that fellow done. We think he was backslid and so out of the will of God, and we are perfectly in His will. And under that kind of a setup he said, "They are lying vanities. I won't even look at them. But once more will I look to Your holy temple." For he knew that when Solomon dedicated the temple and prayed this prayer to God, "If Thy people be in trouble anywhere and will look towards this holy temple, then hear their prayers, Lord, and deliver them..."

We should look away from the symptoms
And he believed in Solomon's prayer and a temple that was built by man. And under those symptoms and them circumstances, if he could believe Solomon's prayer, and a temple that had been made with men, what ought we tonight under these circumstances, not look to a temple made with hands or an earthly man who prayed, but to the throne of God Himself where Jesus stands at His right hand with His own Blood making intercession upon our confession, when He died for that purpose. We should look away from our symptoms and call those things which are as though they are not. God made the promise.

Believe God - Expect Great Things!
And look what God did for that prophet under those circumstances. He kept him alive three days. Now, we know that the people of Nineveh worshipped idols. And their god of the sea was the whale. And all the fisherman along the banks, and here comes the whale swimming right into the shore and spits the prophet out on the bank: the god producing the prophet. Certainly they would hear it.

And as he went through the city preaching, the people who did not know which is right and left hand repented till they put ashes and sackcloth on their animals. And Jesus referred to that, that the people of Nineveh repented at the preaching at the preaching of Jonah, and He said, "A greater than Jonah is here." And they called Him Beelzebub.

WMB ("The Sin of Unbelief" - 1958)

Get Among Believers

God's going to give you the Holy Spirit. He's going to give It to you, 'cause you asked for It; you want to make a surrender. And if you did that, I tell you what I want you to do.

I want you to find some good church who believes in the baptism of the Holy Ghost; go there. Go there. And if you're in that kind of a church, go to your pastor, tell him, say, "I raised my hands the other night in a little meeting."

You don't even have to tell him where it was at. Say, "I raised my hands; I want you to pray with me, pastor. I'm seeking the baptism of the Holy Ghost. I want It. I must have It. I must have It to live. I just must have It. I've seen the Light." Oh, God grant It to you. Will you do it now?

WMB (We Have Seen His Star, 1963)