3/1/1970

Spiritualism Today

Part One

There are tremendous things happening in our country. Most of the things that are happening are not good, they are bad. But they’re still happening. You know, as we teach in the foundational class, that Scripture from Hosea, where God says:

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. -- Hosea 4: 6

This is happening all over the country today. Born again believers are being destroyed everywhere because of a lack of knowledge of God’s Word. Now that lack of knowledge is just not something you put up in your brain cell, it’s something you carry out in your day by day living and witnessing.

Like it should never have been necessary for me to talk about the magazine into those different areas. Where’s our walk? If God is really what the Word says He is, some of us just don’t have time to deal in second-rate matters and trivialities. We have to become as dedicated to our cause of the accuracy of God’s Word as the most severe revolutionary is dedicated to the overthrow of our government.

And until the greatness of that Word really settles itself in our heart, and we mean business for God, the rest is just talk. It’s beautiful to sit in this wonderful place on a Sunday night and hear the Word of God Sunday after Sunday. It’s great to be in the film classes, the tape classes, to be in Columbus. To be in Indianapolis, to open another class at ECU, and down in Florida. But what’s the worth of it, just if it tickles our ears, and doesn’t get us walking and really standing for it and boldly declaring it.

This is my reading material. Up here on the platform. This is just a part of it. Most of this came in this week, so it is pretty current. I have some of this stuff put away for my advanced class one day. I said to just drop it in my advanced class for next year. Then I got to thinking, why would I drop it in there for? I could teach the advanced class week after week by just the current information I gather that particular week. Why am I starting to save all of this stuff for now? That’s right.

We talk about people having boldness. All over the California area, in the stores, on the street corners, every place they can get them. This particular picture of a little black boy being trained to use a gun to kill the white man. Every place. Are they reluctant? Do you think that these men who put this out sit at their televisions all evening Monday through Friday and Saturday? Or do you think that these men work at jobs like you men and women do? And then they take off the moment there through and they go to work to get this kind of stuff out. That’s what they do. This is their life. They’re working at their jobs is just to get a enough money so they can put this stuff out. They don’t talk 10% tithe, they talk 90% of their income plus 100% of your dedication of your physical being. This particular thing is put out by the Black Panther party. And it’s all over the state of California, the areas that I traveled through without any hesitancy, but in all boldness, every place they can get.

There is only one answer to the basic need of the man, and that’s the Word of God. And there’s so much talk about the Word, but no real Word. It’s the cleverest thing old Satan has propagated for centuries. And he’s in the business of propagating his stuff today with the very sharpness, and people, so many of us just asleep at the switch.

And then we wonder, well if I have to give up another hour’s rest. I just can’t get up in the morning at 5: 30 and read the Word of God and pray before I go to work. Because I’m just too tired, I just can’t give that much time. I can’t stay up that many hours. I just can’t do this. The real truth is we don’t want to. It hasn’t come to the place that it’s a matter of life and death to us, but people, I am saying to you tonight as candidly as I know. We have reached that point where it is a matter of life and death. And unless somebody really takes it and stands and moves with it and really, a little handful of people like those of us in the Way Ministry, if we’re going to do it, only God can do it because of the dedication in our hearts and a real commitment that we make to Him. That’s the only way I’ll see it. My life has been spent many, many years on just researching and teaching these great truths. And the years roll by, time goes by and we are not really making any impression. We’ve got to even make a deeper commitment and a deeper decision than we’ve ever made before.

A nation never dies because of pressure from the outside. Nations dies because of disintegration within. Nations representing people, the nation dies because the people are dead and there is only one thing that ever kills any nation and that is spiritualism in the least common denominator. It will come under all kinds of colors all kinds of garbs, everything else, but when you take all the shrouds off, the paraphernalia, of everything going on behind it, it is always some type of spiritualism. Which of course many times today we refer to and is referred to in the extra sensory perception category. This kind of picture that I just showed you put out by the Black Panther organization, can only be inspired by devil spirits in the background. That’s all. So our nation and our people will not die because of a force from the outside, but they’re already dead on the inside, so a force from the outside can overtake. And that in the least common denominator is always spiritualism. I said it in the California class and I don’t know if I said it last Sunday night, tonight I’ll say it again. If I said it last Sunday night, it won’t hurt you to hear it again.

I said that anybody who believes in the Trinity is a heretic. And the reason that God has forsaken His people, is because they have forsaken Him. They’ve got three gods instead of one and God will never tolerate that. You can read your Bible from cover to cover and our God is a loving God, He’s a forgiving God, He’s a patient God. But wherever God’s people forsook Him, it was always under spiritualism of one kind or another. They served other gods than the one true God. Read it for yourself, every place. That’s why, the organized church is dead. And anybody who stands with it, just hasn’t arrived at the place to believe God’s Word, and cut clean. And the Word of God says, we’re not even to have any fellowship with the ungodly. We are not to be unequally yoked together with them. Sure, it takes courage. Well, what you think that stuff takes? Does that take courage? If Satan can give his people more courage than the true God can give to ours, we are serving the wrong God, people. And we’re not serving the wrong God. It is a day of decision, it is an hour of decision, I think Billy Graham has an hour of decision. Never get around to deciding anything. That’s right. Just words. But literally, it’s not an hour of decision for Billy Graham. It’s an hour of decision. Is the Word of God right or isn’t it? And if it is right, are we going to hold it and are we going to talk it. Are we going to share it, are we going to make our little old signs and put them out? Or are we just going to let the world go to hell without us taking a stand? Well, I can’t make up your mind, your the only one can make that up. And you’re the only people that can really make up your mind to let that Word of God really live, not only in your life, but out there where others can see it and do something with it.

In the book of Genesis in the third chapter. We have the record in the second chapter of Genesis that I teach in every foundational class as well as this third chapter. But that the Lord God when he formed made and created Adam and Eve, said to them in verse 16.

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. -- Genesis 2: 16, 17

This was the true God saying this to His people whom He had created - Adam and Eve. He said to them you can do all of this, but the day you do so and so, you shall surely die. And in the third chapter, the old devil, the serpent, they refer to these devil spirits as demons. Don’t you ever refer to them as demons. They are not demons, they’re devils. Demon is a Greek word translated into English, devil. Use the English word either that or speak Greek all the time. That’s right. You know why? Why they want you to use demon. Because it doesn’t sound so cruel to the human ears in English. But in Greek, it’s a real hard word. In Greek it is an even harder word than the word devil is in English. But in English, the word demon is a soft word. The word devil is a hard word. Well, use the word the Word uses. Or don’t use the word demon around me, let’s say devil when you mean devil. That’s right. The old devil, the old serpent. He said to Eve in verse one.

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? – Genesis 3: 1

He knew good and well what God had said. But you see, the first thing he’s got to get to is get people to doubt the integrity and the accuracy of the Word of God. God had said the day thou eatest, thou shalt surely die.

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. -- Genesis 2: 17

The devil said, did God really say ye shall surely die? Just to start, to get them to question God’s Word. It always starts there. How many people do you know today who don’t question God’s Word? How many people do you know really, who believe God’s Word? The Bible is God’s Word. Or do they just believe portions of it are contained within it? He’s done the same thing, he’s still doing the same thing, the old devil. Gets people to doubt God’s Word. It’s always undermining God’s Word. Because the only way you can know God’s Will is to know it through His Word. Adam and Eve knew God’s Will because they had God’s Word. Satan knew God’s Word but he got them to question it. And Satan can’t get you or me to question God’s Word unless we’re willing to have it questioned. He can’t get us to doubt God’s Word unless we play into his hands. In Ephesians, it says that we are not to give place to the devil.

Neither give place to the devil. -- Ephesians 4: 27

He just can’t get any place unless we give it to him. This is why when Satan comes, he’ll always trick people basically first on the Word of God. But if there is no room left in the Word, if they’ve already thrown the whole Word out, then he’ll use a lot of different things. You people ought to expect to fight, because why shouldn’t the devil try to throw the book at you? Because if he can stop you, if he can hold you up, he’s got the whole world hooked today. That’s right. If he can get you to question the integrity and the accuracy of something. Out here, these people who say they believe the Bible, but they don’t believe 1/10^th of it anyways and understand 99% less than what they believe anyways. Why should Satan bother them? He’s already got them all screwed up and all confused. And all in contradiction, right? He doesn’t have to lay the timber to them, he’s got them timbered. But he’s got to take people who are on the move working the Word, doing everything he can to obstruct them from moving that Word. Why, you know he goes through this thing and finally gets down to verse 4.

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: -- Genesis 3: 4

You see he never shows his true colors until he’s got people hooked. When he’s really got people hooked, then finally he’ll show his true colors. He started in by a little question, “Did God really say……….” then he went down the line one after another, but when he had her completely in his hands, he finally said to her, “Ye shall not surely die” but you are going to be like God Almighty. You’re going to know good from evil and from now on, you can run the whole show without God.

The true God had said, the day thou eatest there of thou shalt what? The old devil said ye shall what? And the same damnable error is being propounded all over our country tonight, that when a man dies, he’s not dead, he’s just gone into a higher consciousness. Or he’s passed over the bar. Darn side better off if he had the bar down here and passed it over. And all that devilish teaching ye shall not surely die. The teaching that when a man is dead, he’s not dead is absolutely contrary to God Word. And it’s a real trick of the devil whereby he just blinds millions and millions of people.

The great city of Ephesus was destroyed because of the worship of a pagan God in the temple of Diana of the Ephesians. The Greeks lost their civilization because of the worship of Bacchus and all these other gods and temples that they had. The only difference is that ours had the word Christians written on the temples on the outside today. But the same damnable spirits of devils control the outfit and they are just rapidly, rapidly bringing us into a decadence time that’s almost unbelievable.

This week in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Reverend Henry Paulson, who is the minister of the Christian church at 616 East 15^th Street held a meeting. Here he is in his pulpit on Sunday morning in the church, and in that same church during the week, he holds séances. Every Tuesday and Friday for a donation of $2, the devoted followers of the Reverend Henry Paulson meet to participate in a séance. His followers believe that he goes into a trance and that spirit enters his body to speak to them. Few in the group I joined seem to be younger than 60. The youngest was a clothing salesman who appeared to be in his early 40’s. He was making a second visit. Some observers think men and women who conduct séances provide a link to the spirit world. Others think the mediums have extra sensory perception which enables the mediums to learn what the people at the séances are thinking and then to feed the information back. Others think the mediums are fakes. Here’s a news man writing this. Getting everybody into confusion. But he’s got some things in here he says - smarter than he really knows. We filed into the room and an assortment of ancient chairs, sofas, were grouped in a circle. The cluttered room was dimly lit by two lamps. In the middle of the circle, stood several tall cones of aluminum called the bugles through which they speak to people, you know. And one of the women said, aren’t these sittings of Reverend Paulson just wonderful? There was a murmur of agreement which arose from around the circle. You aren’t nervous, are you, one of the women asked me? I was the first time. Don’t touch the bugles if they come around to you, warned another. Because that’s just a blessing when they hover over you. Finally, Mr. Paulson comes into the room, he sits down in the head chair and then, he gets them all together, turns out all the lights and everybody is asked to join hands with his neighbor. The left palm up, the right palm down. The Lords prayer was recited. Could they do this? Because it’s not addressed. I tell you they go just as far as the Gospels. Then they sang a church hymn. Midway through the last verse, he uttered a small cry and then his voice was conspicuously absent. The next voice was “This is Esther” Bible character, Esther. There she is. Hello Esther. Oh Esther. How are you…. And greetings echoed enthusiastically around the room. I feel the power is a little weak, the voice said. But it’s wonderful to have this opportunity to greet you. I hope you are all well. After a few more pleasantries, the voice bade goodbye. In the next moment, “This is Ezekiel”. Man, those are visitations from heaven, I call them. Wouldn’t you? Oh Esther has been dead for a coons age. So has Ezekiel. But here is this great magnificent preacher, he is able to have them coming in to his own doonflab. Well, he says, I am happy I have this opportunity to be with you. So they give greetings to Ezekiel and meanwhile a small commotion was proceeding around the circle. I heard some small murmurs of thank you, thank you, thank you, because they felt the metallic touch of one of the bugles against one arm, and then against another. And someone said, too late to say thank you. I realize that at this point the bugle blessing had already passed on to the next person, so you have to say thank you at the right time. After a few more spirits joined us, they all expressed their gratitude. Finally, do you know who comes? Abraham Lincoln. Greeted us a short time later. Then Alexander Hamilton who gave us some good advice on material matters and he went around the circle offering hopeful answers to most questions. And he goes on to tell how to conduct this thing this reverend does and finally it says the séance lasted about two hours when the last spirit indicated that the séance was at it’s end. Then the group sang another hymn, the lights were turned on, Mr. Paulson roused himself and the meeting’s over.

This is the church. These are the ministers. This is what we’re supporting when we support the church. People, where are we? Where are we? That stuff isn’t poppycock – it’s happening. That stuff is going on. Now if Abraham Lincoln is dead and will stay dead until Christ returns, that has to be a counterfeit. But, if what we have been taught in the past that when you die, you’re not dead, you’ve gone up to heaven to be with the Lord, then that is not a counterfeit. I believe the Bible teaches a man is dead until Christ comes to get him up.

End of Part One

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