FOR GOD'S SAKE, FOLLOW GOD!      DFO 4    10/70

         1. IT JUST THRILLS US TO SEE HOW IT'S GOD WHO IS DOING ALL THIS!--No one in particular, no personality cult, no individual who has to be there, but the LORD by the power of His Holy SPIRIT! So it's thrilling to us how the Lord is working & that God has started this, God is keeping it going & He is going to conclude it in His time.
         2. YOU CANNOT LOOK TO YOUR OWN WISDOM, you cannot rest in your own understanding, you must look for the supernatural, miraculous & powerful leading & guidance of the Holy Spirit. It's IMPOSSIBLE to solve these problems on your own. Lean not to your OWN understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge HIM & HE shall direct your paths.
         3. SO REMEMBER THAT YOU CANNOT POSSIBLY SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS IN YOUR OWN WISDOM, your own strength, your own mind, your own understanding, your own trying to put two & two together. But you're going to have to ask the Lord by the supernatural, miraculous power of the Holy Spirit, to give you downright, outright, upright revelations, HEAVEN-RIGHT, straight from Him, to show you exactly what to do.
         4. NOW THIS IS WHAT WE'VE ALWAYS BEEN DEPENDENT UPON: HE'S THE ONE we've always had to look to for leadership in all the former decisions & in the laying of plans & programmes. Some of you know me well enough, you've lived with me long enough, you've watched me in operation long enough to know that I never make a decision on my own if I can possibly help it.
         5. I NEVER EVER MAKE A SNAP JUDGEMENT OR USUALLY EVEN A QUICK DECISION. Some people get very impatient with me because they think I'm so slow, because I can't give an immediate answer. This is because they're giving too much credit where credit is not due, & that's to ME--that I am the one that ought to know & I'M the one that is making the decision. But you know me well enough by this time, & you know by our history for years now that this is not so.
         6. MOST OF THE TIME I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. We always have to ask GOD & look to HIM for HIS direct revelation, or His impression, or His leading, or His burden, or His guidance, with it being confirmed by the mouth of two or three witnesses, or by His Word, or by some fleece, or by some revelation, or by some leading. God has always worked with us that way.
         7. WE'VE TRIED NEVER TO DEPEND UPON OUR OWN WISDOM, our own understanding, or what we think is the thing to do, but to look directly to Him & expect His direct revelatory, revolutionary, immediate guidance.
         8. BUT I WANT TO TELL YOU, THIS IS GOD'S WORK, & if this thing be of GOD, NO man can stand against it & it's not dependent on ANY man, you understand? It is not dependent on ANY man or even any GROUP of us. If this thing be of God, no man is going to affect it one way or the other. But if it were of MAN, then the whole thing would come to naught!
         9. DON'T FOR ONE MOMENT GIVE YOURSELF THE CREDIT FOR ONE LITTLE THING YOU'VE DONE, or say, "Look how big WE are, look how WE'RE growing!" lest you get like the people of the tower of Babel & God has to come down & strike & confuse & scatter! Because the moment you get the slightest bit proud of your SELF, or you think YOU'RE doing something or accomplishing something, watch out!
         10. GOD WILL REALLY SET YOU BACK ON YOUR HEELS & SHOW YOU WHO'S THE BOSS! GOD is the One Who is doing all this, & if we follow HIM we can't fail! If we follow the LORD, it's IMPOSSIBLE for us to fail, because HE is the One Who's doing it!
         11. DON'T THINK YOU HAVE TO COMPLETE IT. Don't think, "Well, I know God STARTED this thing, but now we're going to have to FINISH it." You'd better get that idea out of your head right now, because we CAN'T finish it!
         12. POWER, POPULARITY & PLENTY ARE DANGEROUS, SO WATCH OUT! As long as we're still struggling for every penny & for every need, & as long as we're still weak & utterly dependent on God, & as long as we're still persecuted & unpopular there's hope, because all we've got is God & He's the only One that can possibly see us through.
         13. WE HAVE TO UTTERLY DEPEND ON THE LORD as long as we are still persecuted instead of popular, as long as we are still weak instead of powerful, as long as we are still poor instead of too plentiful. Then I'm not too worried about us going astray, because we'll look to God for every little decision, we'll not make a single decision on our own, because WE don't know WHAT to do.
         14. IT'S ONLY WHEN YOU GET BIG & POWERFUL & POPULAR & PLENTIFUL THAT YOU THINK YOU CAN MAKE DECISIONS ON YOUR OWN, & you think you know what to do, & you think you can get along without God.--And that's where you run into a stone wall! That's where you crash! That's where you make your mistakes, & watch out for that.
         15. THE LORD SELDOM SEEMS TO OPERATE ACCORDING TO "NATURAL" EXPECTATION. It takes an impossible situation for God to do a miracle, & time after time we have gotten in such impossible situations that it had to take a miracle to get us out of it!--Or where we had to get in some place, God had to do a miracle to get us in!
         16. SO QUIT TRYING TO FIGURE IT OUT YOURSELF & to reason it out & to do it in your own understanding. Get down on your prayer bones & get desperate in prayer before God! Get your leaders together & fast & pray & cry out to God as Moses & his disciples did, & as I'm sure Noah & his family did, & as David & his family did. You can read their prayers & outcrys in the Bible as the Prophets of God & their little groups of disciples cried out to God.
         17. GOD HAD TO DO THE WHOLE THING! GOD ALONE is the One Who could do it, for GOD is the One Who wants to get the credit. GOD is the One Who wants to get the glory & GOD is the only One Who can do it. Then He wants you to praise & thank Him & glorify Him because He did it. 'Cause if YOU could do it, you could pat YOURSELF on the back for it, & say,
         18. "WELL, LOOK WHAT WE'VE DONE! LOOK HOW GREAT WE ARE! Look how wonderful we're doing!" Watch out when you talk like that, you're headed for trouble! You'd better keep saying, "Wow, look what GOD has done! Look what the LORD'S doing! Look how great HE'S working! Look how many disciples HE'S getting!"
         19. GIVE GOD ALL THE CREDIT ALL THE TIME AT EVERY TURN FOR EVERY LITTLE THING, & He will never fail to continue to prosper you, empower you, protect you, keep you, multiply you & do all things just like He did for the Early Church!
         20. WE'RE GOING TO FIND OUT IT'S STILL NOTHING BUT GOD! God alone can do it & God alone can show us what to do, how to do it, & protect us in doing it, supply the needs & lead & guide us EVERY STEP of the way. So don't try to figure it out for yourself. Get down in desperate prayer & desperation together. Cry out to God & ask God for the solution, & God will never fail.
         21. HAS HE EVER FAILED US? HAS HE EVER FAILED TO SHOW US WHAT TO DO? Even if He didn't show us right then what to do, He went ahead & did it Himself. Even if He didn't tell us what He was going to do, HE did it. We sometimes didn't find out what He'd done until after He'd done it. So you don't even always have to KNOW what He's going to do.
         22. YOU DON'T ALWAYS HAVE TO KNOW ALL THE ANSWERS. Someone recently asked, "Well, what shall we say when they ask this? What shall we say when they ask us that?" Well, one of the best answers is, as Dr. Irwin Moon said: "I can answer any question you ask me, only MOST of my answers are going to be: 'I don't know, I don't know!'" So, why don't you get smart & just say, "I don't know"? Just be honest, say, "I don't know, let's ask God." The quicker you learn that you don't know, the better off you're going to be, because only God has the answers!
         23. ONLY GOD KNOWS WHAT TO DO, & only God knows what He wants done & only God can DO it. Do you get the point?--Now don't forget it! God has His OWN plan. God has His OWN way. God knows what He's doing. So for God's sake let Him do it & just look to Him to find out what He's doing, & what He wants YOU to do, & which way HE'S going!
         24. SO FOR GOD'S SAKE, FOLLOW GOD!--Not yourself, not your own ideas, not your own plans & programmes, but for God's sake follow GOD! If I was going to entitle this little talk anything I guess that would have to be the title: "For God's Sake, Follow God!"
         25. DON'T TRY TO REASON AROUND WITH YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING, but get down in prayer & cry out to God with strong crying & tears & desperation, & look to HIM ALONE for the answers. GOD ALONE has the answers & God alone can DO it. It's HIS business, HIS programme & HIS plan. We're HIS people, it's HIS World, it's HIS idea & it's got to be HIS WHOLE LEADING, HIS decision. It's got to be HIS protection. It's got to be HIS provision.
         26. HE'S THE ONE WHO HAS GOT TO LEAD, BECAUSE ONLY HE CAN! He's got the PROGRAMME, He's got the PROVISION, He's got the PROTECTION & He's got the PREVISION to see the future & to lead & guide us. So don't try to figure it out on your own. You've got to get together in prayer.
         27. IT'S WONDERFUL, IT'S THRILLING WHEN YOU REALISE THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO IT! It's GOD'S business & it's HIS problem, so it's got to be HIS provision & HIS protection & it HAS come to THAT, you have just GOT to trust the LORD!
         28. FOR GOD'S SAKE YOU'VE GOT TO SEE GOD! He's the only way you'll ever survive, & the only way you'll ever be able to heave that sigh of relief & say, "Well, thank God I DON'T have to solve it! Thank God I DON'T have to know what to do! When the time comes, GOD will do it."
         29. FOR GOD'S SAKE, STOP WORRYING ABOUT TOMORROW! It's TODAY that you have to have faith for! It's TODAY that God has provided the strength & the provision for & the protection for & the problems for, & today is all you have to worry about! You don't even have to worry about TOMORROW, much less next WEEK or next MONTH, or for God's sake, you certainly don't have to worry about next YEAR!
         30. IT'S SO SILLY TO WORRY ABOUT THAT FAR INTO THE FUTURE! It's so ridiculous even to worry about next month! God will take care of things when the time comes. It's foolish even to worry about next week!
         31. YOU JUST PLAN THE BEST YOU CAN, DO THE PREPARATION AS FAR AS GOD HAS SHOWED YOU, & when the day comes, GOD will provide.
         32. QUIT WORRYING ABOUT TOMORROW! THAT'S A COMMANDMENT! It's not OPTIONAL. It's not something that's just good ADVICE--it is an ORDER! "Take therefore no thought for the MORROW: for the MORROW shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."--Mat. 6:34. That is God's WARNING, God's COMMANDMENT & God's PROMISE!
         33. YOU TAKE CARE OF WHAT YOU HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF TODAY, because He has given you the faith for today. I dare say, there's not a single one of you who hasn't got faith for today. Today is HERE, & you already know what God is going to do or has done today, & He's already given you the faith for what's going to happen today. Amen? So you're not worried about today.
         34. IT'S ALWAYS TOMORROW THAT THE DEVIL TRIES TO MAKE US WORRY ABOUT, so just STOP it! Now that's an order: Stop it! Stop it right now! Quit worrying about it! Quit fretting about it! Quit discussing it with others & crying on their shoulders about: "What are we going to do tomorrow?" Praise God! When tomorrow COMES, GOD'S going to take care of it! Now let's get busy & pray about what we're supposed to do TODAY!
         35. WHAT IS ALWAYS THE FIRST THING YOU SHOULD THINK ABOUT WHEN YOU BEGIN TO THINK & PRAY about God's answer, & you look to the Lord for an answer? What is the first thing the Holy Spirit always reminds you of? She always reminds you to look back to His WORD! Look for a similar situation in the Word, always look to the Word first. The first thing God did was to say by His Holy Spirit: "Well, I've got it all down in the Book. Think about the Book!"
         36. HE HELPS YOU IF YOU DO YOUR PART & OBEY & help yourself as much as you can. Do what you know YOU can do, & then stop worrying about the rest that you CAN'T do, GOD will take care of THAT part. God will do what you can't do. You do what you CAN, & God will do what you CAN'T.--Is that clear?
         37. DO WHAT YOU CAN & GOD WILL DO WHAT YOU CAN'T! Now that is the way it's always been. Like when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, the PEOPLE couldn't raise him from the dead, but they COULD roll the STONE away from the door. So what did Jesus do? Did He roll away the stone?--No, He said, "Roll YE away the stone," & they DID it. That was something THEY could do, so why not let them? Their obedience in rolling away the stone also was a manifestation of their faith that God was going to do what they couldn't do. Do you get it? Your obedience in doing what God tells you to do shows your faith that God is going to do the REST, what you CAN'T do. c
         38. LET'S NOT WORRY ABOUT TOMORROW, BUT LET'S DO WHAT WE CAN DO TODAY, right now! Because look what God's going to do tomorrow! Wow! God's going to do mighty miracles tomorrow! He's going to do greater things than we ever imagined! Let's do what WE can do today, so GOD will be able to do what HE can do TOMORROW!
         39. WE CAN DO THE "WENTING." As my Mother used to quote, "As they WENT they were healed." God told them, "Go thou & do this! Go thou & do that! Go wash at the Pool of Siloam. Go home & tell your loved ones." And "As they WENT, God HEALED," or "as they WENT, God gave them the POWER." We have to do the "wenting."--Luke 17:14.
         40. WE'VE GOT TO DO THE OBEYING. We've got to do what we know God has told us to do! We have to first of all do the forsaking, the dropping out, the dedicating to God, the utter dedication, the complete 100% COMMITMENT to God. We don't have to know what's going to happen tomorrow or what He's going to do in the future or what's going to happen as a result.
         41. WE DON'T HAVE TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TOMORROW! All we have to know is what God is going to do today. Obey God & do what He has told us now.--Right now! Do it NOW, you've got to do it now! You can't wait for tomorrow! TODAY is the day of salvation. You cannot do it tomorrow!
         42. GOD HAS HIS TIMES! LET ME TELL YOU, FOLKS, YOU'D BETTER OBEY GOD IN THAT SPLIT SECOND OF THAT GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY! If you miss God's timetable, you're going to not only miss the TRAIN but you'll also miss the BOAT, & you'll get left behind & things will never be the same again! When God says, "Now! Right now!" let me tell you, you had better do it now, or you are going to miss the boat & suffer for it! God help us to obey instantly when God lays something on our hearts.-Do it now! Right now!
         43. WHEN WE FOLLOWED OUR OWN PLANS INSTEAD OF GOD'S PLANS, EVERYTHING WENT ASTRAY! We just made a mess! Nothing went the way it should have & we really didn't accomplish anything for the Lord.--Not much at least. He'll still USE you, & He'll still use you for a little WITNESSING, & He'll still use you SOMEHOW, but it won't be His HIGHEST & His BEST! It won't be the main thing HE had PLANNED for you. o
         44. WHEN YOU MISS GOD'S TIMETABLE YOU HAVE TO WAIT for the next train, & it's a long, hard wait sometimes! When you miss GOD'S schedule, you've got to wait for the NEXT boat, & let me tell you, things can get TOUGH & ROUGH! So may God forgive me for failing Him!
         45. DO TODAY WHAT GOD TELLS YOU TO DO TODAY! DO IT NOW!--DON'T WAIT FOR TOMORROW! Do it NOW! Do it NOW! What is it Jerry Rubin says? Sometimes even the World's got better sense than WE have! He says, "DO it! DO it! DO it!"--The title of his book. In other words, "DO it! NOW'S the time! DON'T wait for TOMORROW! DO it NOW!" May God forgive us for not having enough sense to obey & follow God, when we know Who we're following & obeying. Let's obey God & follow God! Do it now! Obey God NOW!
         46. FOR GOD'S SAKE, FOLLOW GOD NOW! For if you won't follow God obediently & willingly & promptly, He'll have to put the pressure on you to get you to follow Him!--Don't wait till then as that can sometimes hurt! How much better to follow Him here & now before it's too late! "Trust & obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus!"--Follow God NOW!