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Transcript of message from TV Broadcast 797 -- taken from Closed Captioning Text -- Brother Thomas: I feel like it would be a good thing in this message--we had these people coming to the church at the old Tabernacle, old Brother McLain, his wife Nan, and his youngest daughter. Her name was Beulah. And so they came pretty regular. I could sort of tell people's spiritual temperature just by observing 'em. She was under conviction. And so they came out one night, they had come down to the front door and I was standing there to greet 'em. I said something to Beulah and she was just about in tears. She knew she needed God. I said Beulah, God's putting his finger on that boyfriend in your life. You will never be saved 'til you give him up. Now, God is not against you not having a boyfriend, but He's against you having a boyfriend you put ahead of God. ( congregational amens ). He's against you having a girlfriend--He's against you having anything that's ahead of Him. ( congregational amens ). I remember distinctly when I was seeking God, I wanted God more than anything in the world. I wanted Him more than anything! I walked and prayed--before every meeting I'd pray. In revivals, I wouldn't go into the service until the last minute. I'd go out to the woods and walk back and forth, about two blocks in the woods back of the church, asking God to be with me, help me, give me the Spirit, quicken His Word to me. It makes a difference! ( congregational amens ). One of the last things God put His finger on was my family. I said, Lord, I want you ahead of my family--my wife, my children. I meant it! He's more important than they are. He's life! He's everything that you need! ( congregational praises ). Hallelujah! Most men never will know the gift of God, because they ain't gonna give up their life. And so, with me, when I was saved, God didn't put His--as many things as He'd had to put His hands on, He'd had to have about four or five hands. ( laughter ). He just put His hand on me. Said I want you. That's all I did, was just give Him my life. ( congregational amens ). But He did one by one put His finger on things later--making money. I liked to make money. Some of you like to make money? Don't let it become your God. Don't let anything become your God! He's God alone! ( congregational praises ). Hallelujah! Praise God. That rich young ruler went away sad 'cause he didn't want to give up what He had. He wanted that more than he did the Lord. Hallelujah! "...One thing thou lackest..." Now, when Jesus said to her, go call your husband, and He told her--He said, no you don't have no husband. You've been shacked up with five different men and the one you're living with now is not your husband. You know it's a strange thing she didn't take any offense at that. But she did know that He was an unusual man. ( congregational amens ). She said, "The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet." Now, that meant she believed He could tell her something. You know today, people don't know who's called of God and who isn't. ( congregational amens ). They have no more respect for one man that's called a preacher than another. We need to have somebody that can tell us something. ( congregational amens ). God esteems His servants very highly regardless, of whether we do or not. And not everybody that's called a preacher is a servant! Some are just hirelings. They wouldn't preach anything but a certain church. They believe certain doctrines. I remember one time I was asked to preach on Easter at the Church of God in this little old town. You know, they--quite unusual thing there, a lot of people come and listened to me. I was a new preacher and they'll come and listen to him and see what he's like. So those people had a measure of respect 'cause they knowed I was raising hell down at this church. What I mean by that, I was preaching 'em in or out. I finally preached myself out. ( laughter ). But anyway, they invited me to preach. That was something now--I know what they believe. They believe in being saved, and then being sanctified and then receiving the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. And there I was, a Baptist preacher. They don't have much respect for a Baptist preacher, especially a Pentecostal. And, so I said Lord--that's another thing now you see. Some preacher might say, boy, I'm gonna lower the boom on them people, but I didn't. I said, Lord, I would like to preach something that they'll have to agree with, and yet be true and honor Your Word. And you know, God gave me a message. And I preached that message and God anointed it. They were saying amen and almost shouting. When I got through, they said he ain't nothing but a Holiness. ( laughter ). -- Brother Felton Wall: Wade out a little deeper. -- Brother Thomas: No that was another place. ( laughing ). ( laughter ). I was preaching in a tent there and they'd come to hear me preach...they'd shake their heads and say, he's too deep for the Baptists--just needs to wade out a little further out for us. ( laughter ). Praise God. I'll tell you one thing, if you get right with God, you'll be in deep water. ( congregational amens ). You'll be in water that you can swim in. Hallelujah! As a prophet, she felt He could tell her something now, being a prophet. And so, this shows you how full of religion she was. She said, now our fathers worshipped in this mountain--probably could see the mountain from where they were at. But, she said, you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place to worship. They're saying that today, too. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. "Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father." They ought to tell these fellows that get these Holy Land tours up. Yeah, ought to. Read that to 'em right there. Because they're getting rich off of your money. They work those tours up, get you lodging places--certain motels, eating-places. You give so much money--I'm thinking about getting me one up. ( laughter ). I won't take 'em there. I'll take 'em out in the woods where I used to pray and say this is my Holy Land right here. ( congregational amens ). Praise God! And that is your Holy Land. Where ever God meets with you! That's sacred ground! ( congregational praises ). When God appeared to Moses in that burning bush, He said, take off your shoes. The place you're standing is holy ground. And I'm gonna tell you, anybody that preaches this Gospel, he's standing on holy ground. I'm not talking about somebody preaches somebody's doctrine, cut and dried. I'm talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm talking about preaching the Truth that'll set men free. Hallelujah! ( congregational praises ). Praise God. Yes, she was full of tradition. Jesus said, "...Neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem..." But God is seeking those that will "...worship him in spirit and in truth." People are full of religious tradition. That's the greatest hindrance today to helping people. They've got their traditions. If they'll come and sit long enough and listen and prayerfully say, God I want to know the Truth--will to do His will, they'll know whether this is the Truth or not. Take your Bible and check up on me with that. Examine what I say by what that Word teaches. Not by what I say, but examine what I say by this Word. Not by your traditions...and every one of 'em got 'em. You've got over 2,000 different ones and they all got their traditions. But that woman wanted something, I believe, a little better that what she had, because she kept talking to Him. You know, tradition is what's made the Word of God of non-effect today. I'm talking about--let's go over here. In Matthew's Gospel, 15th chapter, last part of verse 6 says, they "...made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition." Then in verse 7 through 9, Jesus said, "Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." That's what they're doing. ( congregational amens ). A preacher wouldn't dare say, God I'll preach what you give me. You've got to be brought to a place where you surrender yourself to do that. Hallelujah! We don't want no tradition, we want revelation. ( congregational amens ). Hallelujah! You know tradition is just a substitute, that's all. I'm telling you right now. But I believe that God has given us some truth. ( congregational amens ). Now, how then are people gonna know...where are they gonna go? Most places...there ain't no use to go anywhere. What you need to do first of all...this is a heart matter. It's not something you learn with your head. There's no specific thing that God dealt with me about to begin with. What He wanted was me! When I surrendered to Him, I didn't surrender because of some doctrinal explanation or something I knew in my mind. I surrendered my life! ( congregational amens ). That's what Jeremiah means. Jeremiah chapter 29, verse 13, "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." That's it. You ain't gonna fool God. Joining the church is not gonna help you. We've got millions of church members today. They don't know Christ. ( congregational amens ). They're empty. Head may be full of tradition...like the little girl that Carl invited down here to church two or three years ago. She came about three times and I was genuinely concerned about her. She had a little baby in her arms. She wanted to get it baptized. Now being baptized as a baby ain't gonna help none. That ain't gonna help him. He's gonna have to believe the Gospel. ( congregational amens ). Gonna have to get old enough to know what that is. Believe--being told. Hallelujah! Where does religious people go to. I'm gonna tell you where the church is at today. Turn with me to Revelation chapter 3. This is a picture of it right here. This is a picture of the modern church. Verse 14, "And unto the angel..."--messenger--"...of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God." That's a good point right there. That would knock some tradition in the head. They've got their blinders on when they read such as that. They never took 'em off. I remember a Baptist preacher up there--let's see Godfrey was his name. He's dead now. He'd heard so much about the Tabernacle. He decided he'd go and see. He went to our services. We had good, lively services, people worshipping God, and he come again and again. He quit going to the Baptist church. And finally he talked to me, he said, you know I knew these things were in the Bible, but I never heard anybody preach 'em. You know why? They got their glasses on. They can't see 'em. There's a veil upon their heart. ( congregational amens ). When the Word is read, they're in the same condition as the Jews were in. Jesus said "Search the scriptures..."--in John chapter 5--"...for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." If the Word that's used does not result in people being brought to the Lord, what good is it? ( congregational amens ). Not a bit of good. And I'm gonna tell you another thing, being brought to the Lord, is not the Lord in they sky either. It's brought to Christ in His Body! ( congregational amens ). Hallelujah! That's the tie that binds. Christ is in His Body, in the ministry and His people. Praise God. Hallelujah! We sell all, don't we? For this field, because the Pearl of great price is in it. ( congregational amens ). Praise God. Yeah, they made of non-effect the Word of God by their tradition. People are full of religious tradition. It's hard to help 'em, too, when they are. They know too much. You know in Psalm 105, the Scripture says they wandered from nation to nation and kingdom to kingdom, "...Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm." God esteems very highly His people. I'm talking about the least member to the greatest. 'Course, God sees us as one. Let's go on down here. "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot..." Verse 15, Revelation 3, "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee...." That's their true condition in contrast to what they thought. I go some places and they show me what all they got in their church. They got it all fixed up pretty. Old church I used to go to when I was a boy, had old wooden benches, unpainted building--the old saints loved God. They praised God. They'd meet together and God would meet with them. You don't have to have but two or three if you've got God and He meets with you. He's with us here today. ( congregational amens ). He's here! In Spirit form! "...knowest not that thou are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire..."--That's true faith--"...That thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see." That's the anointing. ( congregational amens ). Notice what He said about the raiment--white raiment? "...that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear...." You see, the only righteousness we really have, is the righteousness of Christ. We're no better than anybody else. ( congregational amens ). Don't think for one second, you earn your salvation. Don't think for one second you're doing good because you don't do this or you do something else. You are, because you have Christ--"...Christ in you, the hope of glory." ( congregational amens ). Hallelujah! Praise God! "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." Now, I want to give you an example of a man that I believe would be a good example. That's in Acts chapter 10. I'm talking about finding Christ. "There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band." Now he was a Gentile. He was over a 100 men...a soldier at that. "A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway." He feared God. Remember this, "The fear of the LORD is..." what? -- Congregation: "The beginning of knowledge..." -- Brother Thomas: "The beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction." And, "The secret of the LORD is with..." who? -- Congregation: "Them that fear him..." -- Brother Thomas: "...Them that fear him and he will..." what? -- Congregation: "...Shew them his covenant." -- Brother Thomas: "...Shew them his covenant." That means if you don't give up, if you keep looking to God, God will reveal Himself to you. Don't run away from the only thing in the world you have that's worth more than the world. That's Christ. Hallelujah! But this man, he feared God. And I'm gonna tell you something, if people would seek God with all their heart--I'm talking about you seek God--you want God. You will to do His will. You want Him more than you want anything else. You're not gonna get Him if you don't. He's not gonna be one among many. He's gonna be your Beloved. He's God's Beloved. He's my Beloved! He's our Beloved! We need Him more than we need life. ( congregational amens ). This life is uncertain. You don't know how long you're gonna have it. It's like a vapor that appears for a short while and then vanishes away. The most uncertain thing I know of is your life. Since we've been sitting here now, as long as we've been here today, no telling how many's done passed over to the other side. They could tell you right now, if they could talk, you listen to the Gospel. You believe the Gospel. ( congregational amens ). It's the power of God unto Salvation. Hallelujah! "...Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." But you're sure not gonna hear it in some Laodicean church. Now, where are you gonna hear the Word of God? So does delusion come by hearing--not the Word of God--by hearing delusion, tradition. People are full of whatever they've been listening to. Hallelujah! Not by hearing 2,000 or more versions of the gospel--by hearing that one man that God has called and given the Gospel to. ( congregational amens ). You say, where am I gonna find him? Seek God with all your heart. He'll lead you. If you want Him enough, He'll certainly lead you. God will come to you. He'll move heaven and earth to reach you. Hallelujah! When God sets out to do a thing, He's gonna do it. Did you know Paul said to the Thessalonicans that we're chosen to salvation through sanctification and belief of the truth. If the two are not working together, you got nothing. Now, you may have a lot of wild fire and say it's the Holy Ghost. That's not necessarily the Holy Ghost. You may have a lot of the Word--just dead Word. That's nothing. Jesus said, "...The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life," in John chapter 6. That's what we need--is that Life! ( congregational praises ). These 2,000 versions of the gospel preached by men that's graduates of some of their schools, that don't mean a thing. How many of those preachers do you think would listen to a recommendation to go out and seek God until you get something? They'd say, why, you're crazy. I just graduated. Here's my diploma. You can't expect people to have faith. They don't hear anything to believe. Hallelujah! But I believe--and I believe this--that God's gonna be faithful to everyone that does look to Him. He's not gonna leave a one of us out. Don't trust in anything but Him--His righteous, His blood! Not what you've done, are doing, or will do, but what He's done! When He died on that cross, He paid your sin debt in full. You don't have to add a single thing to it!It's yours. Just give Him praise for it! ( congregational praises ). Oughta praise Him anyway! Praise Him 'cause He's worthy. Hallelujah! Praise God. That's all. God bless you. Living water is what we want! Water that lives on! We'll drink that water. When He said we'll never thirst, He's talking about in the ultimate sense. ( congregational amens ). This is just a little temporary existence. 
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