LOVE NEVER FAILS!        GP 25    12/70

         1. REMEMBER, LOVE NEVER FAILS! All the introspection, analysing & agonising, are merely works of the flesh, which will have to be repeated next week: "Battles Never Cease!" "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivereth him out of them all."--Psalm 34:19.
         2. ONLY GOD CAN DO IT! OUR SALVATION IS ONLY BY GRACE, NEVER BY WORKS OR CONFESSION SESSIONS OR BATTLING IN THE FLESH WITH OUR SINS. IF GOD CAN'T DO IT, NOBODY CAN! And if you're trying to attain some state of sinless perfection through some false doctrine of eradication, such as the "Holiness" people pretend to have, you're doomed to disappointment!--You'll never make it!
         3. IF YOU THINK THE TIME'S COMING WHEN YOU'LL NO LONGER HAVE TO FIGHT SELF, SIN & THE "OLD MAN", YOU'RE MISTAKEN! I'M still at it! How about YOU? That's why we have so many victories--we have so many battles & so much to fight against--mostly our own damn stinking selves!
         4. GOD KNOWS, WE SHOULD BE GROWING & MAKING SOME PROGRESS & PASSING A FEW TESTS & surviving a few trials & having a few triumphs & testimonies. But don't think you're going to make sinless saints, overnight wonders, out of these poor bungling babes!
         5. I HAVE A HARD TIME BAWLING OTHER PEOPLE OUT FOR THE SAME THINGS I'M GUILTY OF myself & of which most of us are guilty, even worse, so about all I can do is give'm hell for it momentarily, confess what a helluva mess I made along the same line, weep a little, cry a little, pray a little, sympathise a little & take each other in each other's arms, forgive each other & try again.
         6. "FOR IF YE FORGIVE NOT MEN THEIR TRESPASSES, NEITHER WILL YOUR FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN FORGIVE YOU YOUR TRESPASSES."--And you've got plenty of them, let's face it!--Only bigger & even worse, because of your importance & the size of your job. "Seek not therefore to be teachers, for unto you is the greater condemnation." I think all of you are going to find out sooner or later, that the "thorn in the flesh" God is going to use to keep you humble is probably going to be some besetting sin, which you'll have to fight for the rest of your life, which will take a lot of the Grace of God to keep overcoming & keep battling, for the rest of your days. This is what helps keep us in shape, as I've often said, "NO TRIUMPH WITHOUT A TRIAL; NO TESTIMONY WITHOUT A TEST; NO VICTORY WITHOUT A BATTLE; SO KEEP FIGHTING!"
         7. YOU'RE BOUND TO WIN SOMETIMES, & WHEN YOU LOSE, IT'LL HELP KEEP YOU HUMBLE & HELP OTHERS TO KNOW YOU'RE ONLY HUMAN, & GIVE GOD ALL THE GLORY! I do not believe in the "Holiness" doctrine of Eradication--neither in the Baptist doctrine of mere Suppression, but rather in the good old Bible Doctrine of Habitation, "Christ in you, the Hope of Glory." "Without Me, ye can do nothing." Even Jesus said of Himself, "I can do nothing, but what the Father showeth Me." So-called "Holiness" is usually a pride trip of self-righteous, sanctimonious, holier-than-thou hypocrisy! You might as well face it:
         8. YOU CAN'T GET THE VICTORY! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU TO GET THE VICTORY! ONLY CHRIST CAN! "LET GO & LET GOD!" YOU CAN'T DO IT YOURSELF. "Not of works, lest any man should boast!" "For by GRACE are ye saved, through FAITH, & that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God."--Only GOD can give it! YOU CAN'T EARN IT, WORK FOR IT, WORK IT UP, PRAY IT DOWN, PRAY IT THROUGH & become so wholly sanctified, that you're some kind of a sinless saint!
         9. YOU HAVEN'T GOT ANYBODY'S RIGHTEOUSNESS EXCEPT CHRIST & HE'S THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN GIVE IT TO YOU! Your own righteousness stinks! It's "filthy, menstruous rags!" So quit trying! Let GOD do it! LET the LIGHT in!--And the darkness will flee of itself!
         10. GET SO FULL OF THE SPIRIT & THE WORD, YOU DON'T HAVE TIME TO WORRY ABOUT YOUR OWN DAMN STINKING SELF!--Or how bad you are! Of course you're bad! So are all the rest of us! Only Jesus is good! So "Let's talk about JESUS," huh? I gave up on myself a long time ago--like Paul did in Romans 7:17-25, "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." He's the Only One Who can do it! All the filthy confession sessions in the World aren't going to do it! I don't believe in advertising the Devil's goods; I don't like to hear about his dirty work.
         11. YOU'RE GLORIFYING SATAN WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR SINS. YOU'RE GLORIFYING SELF WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR FAULTS!--Because you're talking about yourself instead of Jesus!
         12. YOU JUST CAN'T POSSIBLY TELL PEOPLE HOW BAD YOU ARE: SO QUIT TRYING! LET'S TALK ABOUT JESUS! And let's quit disciplining people so severely & so harshly for poor little blunders of the mind, rather than the heart, when you're such a tyrant yourself, merciless & unforgiving!--Let's FORGIVE one another, as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven us!
         13. YOU NEED TO APPLY TO YOURSELF WHAT JESUS SAID TO THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS HYPOCRITES, "YOU NEED TO LEARN WHAT IT MEANETH: 'I WILL HAVE MERCY & NOT SACRIFICE'!" We've forgiven some of you leaders for a whole lot more than what you've condemned some of these babes for, & some of the people I was ready to throw out, you in mercy loved back in, so for God's sake, let's remember that only Jesus can do it & quit trying to LEGISLATE righteousness. It's a GIFT of GOD! Let GOD do it!--LOVE NEVER FAILS! JESUS NEVER FAILS!
         14. WHAT EVERYBODY NEEDS IS LOVE! IF THEY'RE NOT GOING TO FIND IT HERE, WHERE ARE THEY GOING TO FIND IT?


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