In this sermon, the preacher focuses on the rest that believers can find in Christ, a rest that was not fully realized in the Old Testament. He emphasizes the supernatural nature of the Word of God, describing it as a living and powerful sword that penetrates deep into the soul and spirit, discerning our thoughts and intentions. The preacher encourages listeners to live a supernatural life, rather than being consumed by earthly concerns. He also highlights the transformative power of the Word of God, which exposes false professions of faith and leads to genuine salvation.

Well, I trust the Lord will open his hand tonight and reward you, dear people, for coming out on a night like this. Last night we were concerned with a subject which is more or less disturbing. A subject of a new penetration of the tongues movement. One could be more sympathetic with it if one felt that it was serving a purpose. As I go back into the early chapters of the book of Acts, I can see the purpose why God enabled his people to speak in other tongues. We noticed last night that those tongues were a sign, and not only those tongues, but miraculous gifts of healing, the fact that the apostles could even pick up deadly serpents or drink poison and still exist, still live. Those things were a sign to the Jewish nation. God had said in prophecy that he would speak to them with people of other tongues, not using that language, the Hebrew language in which God had spoke to them in times past. You know, actually we see this same principle in effect today. Many, many people who have grown up in the assemblies, or grown up in an area where they heard the truth of God, and thought that it was a local thing, and just a matter of more or less a composite opinion on the scriptures, they have gone away to a different area and found out that God was in that area. And to hear the truth sometimes from a different source indeed speaks to our hearts. Many, many a person has left home and thought he was leaving some peculiar opinion of a people on the word of God, and run out into the truth of God in another area, and it has spoken loudly to their souls, and God has saved them. Because his truth never changes. Now, in the matter of the tongues as being a very special sign to the nation of Israel, to hear the truth of God in any other language to the Hebrew, the Hebrew must have struck them, it did strike them of course, with a terrific impact. And God used that method of speaking to the Jewish nation. Now, tongues were never a childish plaything. And even in the 14th chapter of the book of 1 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul warns them against being childish in the matter of the gift of tongues. Paul reminds them that he spoke in tongues more than they all, and actually if it weren't for that verse, we would never have known that the Apostle Paul ever spoke of tongues. At all. It seems to me that we should take some stock in a verse like that. I speak in tongues more than you all, and if it hadn't been for that verse, we wouldn't have known that Paul spoke in tongues. Nowhere else recorded. Paul says, I thank God that I speak in tongues more than you all, but I would rather speak five words with my own understanding, that others may be edified, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue. Now, Paul used the gift aright. One could be sympathetic with its late penetration of tongues if there were a use for it, but it is absolutely superfluous as I see it. I can't see that it's serving any purpose. And God is a God of conservation of forces. Nothing is superfluous with him. When they fed the five thousand, they gathered up the fragments that remained. And I object to anything becoming a spiritual plaything. And Paul warned them against being childish. They were taking a childish delight in this gift. As a matter of fact, the gift of tongues and the interpretation of tongues is at the very last of the enablement of the Spirit, and it's only mentioned in connection with the church at Corinth outside of the book of Acts. And Corinth was the most unspiritual church of all. Now, why should we want it? I don't want it personally. I don't need it personally. And as far as I have been able to see, those that have had it have simply, that it has been a diversionary tactic upon the part of, I believe, the devil, to detract them from the truth of God and to turn their minds inward to be occupied with their own feelings. And I've never seen anyone yet that gave a testimony in connection with it, but when he doesn't talk about his own aesthetic feelings, the own ecstasy of his own heart, there are other reasons to believe that it's not of God, as far as I'm concerned. There are other reasons. I can't help thinking of the fact that it has not come through the channels. Now, some object to this point of view. They say that we try to put God into our own, fit him into our own little mold. As if he can't use young men. I know he can use young men. But the tongues movement got its great impetus, its modern impetus, back in an inter-varsity fellowship meeting at Yale University. It sprang into Christian circles there in a remarkable way among men who, by their very writings, reveal that they know very little about the word of God. Men in their early twenties, perhaps their late teens, wouldn't one have more respect to something like this if it had come in through godly men, who had spent their lives in the work of the Lord rather than through this mean? As we mentioned last night, the great men of God throughout the centuries have not spoken in tongues. John Knox, Charles Wesley, John Wesley, C. H. Spurgeon, Moody, men of that caliber, they haven't spoken with tongues. Now, of course, we don't want to pour God into our own private little mold. But God does have ways of acting, doesn't he? He does follow set plans, doesn't he? And if the Spirit of God is sovereign and grants His gifts as He chooses to do so, then I wish that some of you would tell me, of all the godly men that I have known during my lifetime, that the Spirit in His sovereignty has not come upon at least one of those men and empowered them to speak in tongues. Now, I may be too logical about this matter, but I believe there is a desirability of being logical spiritually. And it has simply not happened. Furthermore, this late penetration into assemblies has in each instance come through men. This is not a matter of gossip, and I don't believe I'm being uncharitable. And this is a matter of my own opinion. If you knew these men, you might not agree with me. But I feel that I have at least a reasonable appreciation for a man of God when I see him. And may I tell you right now, without mentioning any names, and you probably wouldn't know these men anyway, the instruments of penetration into the assemblies have not come through commended workers that I consider spiritual. As a matter of fact, one of those men has been guilty of causing trouble among the people of God wherever he has gone. Now, one would like to respect the channel, wouldn't he, in these respects? But we must be realistic. The penetration has come. What are we going to do with it? Why has it come? I feel that it has come. I think it has moved into a void, a spiritual void, in Christian circles today. I think we have lost the sense of the supernatural in our lives. We have become earth dwellers. We have become influenced by the materialism of our age. Now, I'm not accusing you dear people here at 45th and Hamilton of being materialistic in your views. I'm not accusing you of that. But these material things do rub off on us, in spite of ourselves. We're living in an age, the Cold War itself. I wonder if we are able to really estimate and analyze the effect that it has had upon us. This age in which we are living, I wonder if we've really been able to appreciate what it's done to our nervous systems. We're living in an age where godliness is not conducive. We're living in an age where we have drifted, largely. Where we're putting up with things that 20 and 30 and 40 years ago, we wouldn't put up with. There have been some changes. Now, that and the fact that Satan realizes, and I believe he does, he's a terrifically... That word is overworked. He is a very, very intelligent being. And we know from the scriptures that in the last days, evil seducers are going to wax worse and worse. May I refer you to a scripture that we did not look at last night? 1 Timothy chapter 3. Perhaps we should have looked at it last night. I felt a sense of futility last night. I don't know whether you were able to detect it or not. But I felt a sense of futility last night in trying to deal with a subject that we were dealing with. I thought I was coherent. It's a big subject. And I should have read this scripture last night, but didn't. But I'm going to read it now. 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 15. But of I, Terry Long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the pillar, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth. And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. Now, the church, the house of God, the church of the living God, is the pillar and ground of truth. It's the base and the pillar of truth. The church is the depository. I want to be careful here. The church has been charged with the responsibility of maintaining the truth. And it lifts that truth up in the form of a pillar so that others may see. It's a witness, as well as being the base of the truth. The truth that we're to witness to is the person of Christ. We are told that we are the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. Verse 16, of course, brings out the truth to which we are to witness. That is, the person of Christ. Now, ordinarily, there is so much substance in the 16th verse of the 3rd chapter of 1 Peter that we forget the first verse of 1 Timothy. I mean, I don't mean Peter. There is so much truth in the 16th verse of the 3rd chapter of 1 Timothy. That we forget the first verse of the 4th chapter of 1 Timothy. I want you to notice it. Now, the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Now we have the truth in verse 16 of the 3rd chapter of 1 Timothy. The very next verse tells us of the perverting, corrupting influences that are going to creep in in regard to the truth. Never read the 16th verse of the 3rd chapter of 1 Timothy without going right on into the next chapter. You see what's happening? Immediately, the Spirit speaks expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits. Now you know what seduction is. Seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Wherever we have false doctrine creep in among the people of God, it's just not somebody's idea. They have infernal help. It's just not somebody's idea that we must have a revival of certain things in order to give the Church its supernatural character again. There's a seed that's planted in the minds of men. We've got to go deeper, deeper into the matter of false doctrine than simply somebody's idea. There's a seducing spirit back of it. There are devils, demons involved. Now, these are the last days. Be careful what you consider. Weigh well what you consider, because it needs to be examined. I think that it's time that we were considering this tongues movement from this point of view. Somebody says, aren't you afraid to attribute to Satan the works of the Spirit of God? Some, I think, are afraid to take their grounds in regard to the tongues movement for fear they will commit the unpardonable sin. And that's attributing to the devil the works of the Spirit of God. Well, in the first place, I don't think you and I can commit the unpardonable sin. Very obviously we can't. And I don't think that a verse like that would keep you and me from investigating what is of the Spirit of God and what is of demons and seducing spirits. I have no fear in that respect at all. And I'm not going to be on the fence in regard to this. This thing is either of God or it is not of God. And we should be very, very plain about it. Now, the latest tongues penetration, I think, has, as we have already said, moved into a void in Christian churches. And I use the word Christian undoubtedly. Now, I think the antidote against it, when we realize the ecstasy that some go into over the tongues movement, and your own heart is going to be examined when you realize how commonplace and how mundane and how earthly your Christian experience is, it's not going to put you in a very good light. You're going to start examining yourself. And I think that the contrast between your own life and the life of these people who have claimed this blessing may put you in a bad light. And you may begin to examine your own foundation. It makes you think. And I say this, that if this penetration, this latest penetration, accomplishes anything at all, it will be to drive you and me back to a supernatural life. Because we have become earth dwellers, I fear. Business as usual. I know it's easy. It's easy to become occupied with the everyday things of life. In fact, we have problems, don't we? Especially this time of year. And it's hard to keep your mind on spiritual subjects. But I'd like to talk about the supernatural life tonight. I want to talk under about five headings. I gave you a number of headings last night, and we just touched on them slightly. I don't know whether you could even identify them as we went down the line. But tonight I want to talk about the supernatural character of our lives. That we might live a supernatural life. Because if we live a supernatural life as we should be living, we won't need the supernatural manifestation of tongues as a shock, as a spiritual shock in the arms. I want to take up the supernatural experience of God speaking to us through his word. It is supernatural. I want to take up the experience of God hearing and answering our prayers. And then God's providential dealings with you and me. And then the satanic forces aligned against us. If there's anything that will remind you that you're living a supernatural life, any plainer than the supernatural fold that's aligned against us, I'd like to know what it is. He certainly will convince you, unless you're, unless we're asleep spiritually or dead spiritually, He certainly will convince you that you're living a supernatural life. We have a supernatural fold. And he will remind us on occasion that we're not simply living a natural life. And then last of all, our ministry is supernatural in character. That is the salvation of precious souls. We're not seeing enough of it. We need to be charged. We need to see souls saved. We need to see lives changed. Our lives were changed once. And if there ever was a time in our lives when we realized that we had a supernatural existence, it was when God first saved us. As a matter of fact, there was very little about us at that time that seemed natural. Now let's talk about the word of God, first of all. We're living, and God is speaking to us. I started out to say, we're living under the direction of a supernatural word. It's true. This book is supernatural in character. This book is not like any other book that you pick up. This book is the only book that's got the answers of the riddles of life and death. This book, under the direction of the Spirit of God, its author, can give me everlasting life. Have you ever thought of it? This may thrill you to think of it. And I hope we get some thrills tonight. That's what we need. We need a few. Every time I pick up this book, I'm reminded of the fact that I may not sit down. But I may not lay it down and be the same person. Every time I pick up this book, it's within the realm of possibility that my whole course of my life may change. Have you ever thought of that? This book is absolutely supernatural in character. The Lord says, it is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit and they are life. Now, this book proved to be supernatural in character when God first saved us. This book is mentioned in Hebrews chapter 4 as being like a sword. Let's turn to Hebrews chapter 4 and try to follow our exposure to the Word of God and its wonderful effect in our lives in a kind of a chronological order. That is, the way that God spoke to us, first of all, when he saved our souls. Verse 12 of the fourth chapter of Hebrews. For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Now, in the fourth chapter, the third and the fourth chapters of Hebrews, the Apostle is speaking about the rest that you and I may enjoy in Christ. A rest that was not fulfilled in the Old Testament. Joshua did not lead the people into the rest of God. David spoke of a rest that was to come. And the Apostle is dealing upon that rest. And he does not want us to falter short of God's rest for you and me. And he says in the eleventh verse of the fourth chapter of Hebrews, let us labor or let us strive, that's a paradox, let us strive therefore to enter into that rest. Let any man, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. And the example of unbelief that the Apostle is alluding to is when the children of Israel were standing at Kadesh Barnea, ready to go into the Promised Land, they sent in spies. The spies brought back an evil report. And consequently they faltered in unbelief, and God condemned them to wandering in the wilderness for a total of forty years' time. They faltered in unbelief. And God was displeased with them. And then God said in his judicial judgment, he says, you are not going into that land. You wouldn't believe me, you're not going in. They tried the next morning, they tried to fight their way into it and to reverse the decision of God, but you know they were defeated immediately. And God in his righteous judgment says, you're not going in. Now they failed to enter into God's rest. And Joshua didn't give it to them either. They failed to unbelieve, I'd better say, and not try to carry you into the thought of rest any further. Now, we may not have entered into God's rest. Their failure was very, very apparent. Your failure to enter into the rest of God may not be so apparent. You know, as I look on this audience tonight, I can tell pretty much who is saved and who isn't saved. But I'm certainly not infallible about it. I'm certainly not infallible. And once in a while we get really jarred about the fact that somebody who has claimed to be saved all their lives, finally turns up and gets saved. It really gives us a jolt. You and I cannot tell. I'm glad for that scripture, the Lord knoweth them that are his. Oh, I'm so glad he does. I don't. I think I do. And I certainly have a right to try to discern who is saved and who isn't saved, because the scripture says, be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. And you know, I've got to make up my mind who an unbeliever is in order to obey that scripture. There are lots of people, oh, you dare not say who is saved and who is not saved, because that's judging. Judge not one another unless ye be judged. And that same 7th chapter of Matthew, incidentally, where that verse is quoted, tells us not to cast our pearls before swine. But how can you follow that scripture if you don't make up your mind who are the swine? Now, but the fact does remain, sometimes we're wrong. But there is one agency that can tell whether or not you have entered into that rest. And that agency is the word of God. The next verse of the 11th verse of the 4th chapter of Hebrews says this, 4. The word of God is quick, it's living, it's powerful, and it's sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. We're dealing with a supernatural book. And it was this same sword that came into your life and my life and took away our false profession of religion that showed us that we were being hypocrites and that we weren't saved. And we needed salvation. As a matter of fact, the word of God is so powerful that at times I have seen people take offense at the preacher because they thought he was being personal when there was absolutely nothing else than the supernatural character of this word. As the sword that cuts, I know how it cuts. It's got two edges. It cuts common and golden. As the sword of the spirit was at work, and they thought the preacher was being personal. And he wasn't being personal at all. And I have had times in my own experience, unwittingly, of touching upon subjects in ministry that I would have been afraid to talk about if I'd known the circumstances of the audience to which I was ministering the word. And the reason that I wouldn't have said a thing about it is because I would be afraid of doing it in my own strength. But thank God the knowledge has come to me after I've done the talking. And I've seen it happen. I said, oh, I'm glad I didn't know that when I ministered on that portion. The word of God is quick and it's powerful. And it's sharper than any two-edged sword. And you and I are dealing with a supernatural book. I've had in my own experience, not too long ago, a man came to our assembly in Boulder, Colorado, from Pasadena, California. And as a matter of courtesy, like those of old in the Book of Acts, we said to the brother, if you have any word from the Lord, say on. And he did. He took the family Bible hour that morning. I wish I could confide to you what he did to me. I was having a problem. I was having a problem. A problem in my thinking. That man couldn't have done half so good a job as ministering to my soul this morning if he had been told what my problem was. He absolutely, under the direction of the Spirit of God, opened this word and the ministry fit me like a glove, like the proverbial shoe. And I put it on my feet. This word will do it. I've gone to conferences, Bible conferences, and I've had problems in my own mind before I've gone. And the Spirit of God has been so evidently there that the very things that were troubling me were touched upon by the word of God in that conference. That is a supernatural experience. Do you have these experiences when you read the word of God? Or do you do a lot of duty reading? I must confess that I do a lot of duty reading. I read the Bible through once a year, and I've done so for the last 35 years. I go through it generally in the first few months of the year, and then I, like Hiawatha's canoe, I go where my fancy leads me for the rest of the year. But I go through it. Well, now, I must confess that in the early chapters of 1 Chronicles, I do some duty reading. And I must confess that there are some places where I just wade through and say, now, listen, the Spirit of God wrote this. You'd better read it. But, well, I've cut the little ribbon out of my Bible a long time ago it got in the road, but sometimes I could use it, you know. Do you have to use a ribbon to find out where you read the day before? Or do you have to use a bookmark? Shame on you. Shame on me, too. Sometimes I do. Did I read this psalm yesterday morning? Or come to the dinner table, get halfway through a chapter in our daily devotions? Listen, we read this yesterday. Is that the way we read? You know, this book is supernatural in its character. God speaks to us through this book. And you know He does. Do we have the experience, though? Is it a matter of experimental knowledge with you and me that God does speak to our souls through this book? When was the last time He spoke to you? In this book. When was the last time He spoke to you? I'm not going to tell you when the last time He spoke to me, but it's since I got here in Omaha. I'll tell you that. I was planning on saying something. God says, you keep your mouth shut. And He couldn't have told me any plainer than if it had spoken right out of the heavens above me. Do we have the experience of opening this Word and having God speak to us? We should know something about this. And just not read our little chapter, all the ways He speaks. He proves that He's a living God. I have an experience. I've got four headings down here that this Word can be used to show us the supernatural character through guidance, through comfort, through warnings, through strengthening. I'm not going to refer you to all these references. With one exception, in regard to comfort. This is just by way of illustration of my point. A number of years ago, some dear friends in Colorado invited us out to their ranch in western Colorado. They had horses out there and a nice trout stream and beautiful scenery and everything. And they thought we needed a little bit of rest from our summer's work. So they invited us out to the ranch. And my friend, some of you have heard me mention him many times, Mr. Carol Brown and I, we went around to some of his construction jobs to see how they were doing. And when we drove into one of the construction areas, the superintendent told Mr. Brown, he said, Mr. Brown, a call came to you from the ranch. Somebody was thrown from a horse and was taken to the hospital in Glenwood Springs. Well, I immediately, I felt I knew who it was that was thrown from the horse because Mrs. Brown and my Ruth were going riding that day. That afternoon, while we were on our trip around that part of the country checking on the construction work, they were going riding. My heart quavered with fear. I could almost see my wife lying in the hospital bed. And I wondered, well, believe me, we conducted our business at record speed and we got home. But before we did get home, God gave me a portion of scripture that I had read that very morning, in the 112th Psalm. And I'd like to refer you to it. Now, you may be well able to duplicate this experience yourself. My psalm for that morning was the 112th Psalm. I have a habit of reading a psalm a day. At least a psalm a day, shall I say. And in the course of this 112th Psalm, in verse 6 we read, Surely he shall not be moved for ever. The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings. His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. I remembered when I heard this call had come through of one being injured and taken to the hospital. I remembered this word that I had read, but that morning. And I clung to it. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings. His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. I clung to that verse until we got home. We found out that neither of our wives had been thrown by the horse. It was an expert horseman who was saddling them up for the wives to ride. He got on the horse. The bit was forced between a couple of teeth of the horse. He had a tooth out in the back of his jaw. The bit was forced down into that area. And when the man mounted the horse, he pulled on the bridle to the extent that it tied on these teeth. The horse, in a fit of agony, went right back up and right over on that man. And he could not free himself in time to get away. And the horse fell on him. And he was taken to the hospital. It was the horse that my wife would have been on in a matter of a minute. Now, the word of God can comfort us. I thank God for the message of this book. Now, I don't mean that we've got to have experience like that every day, but is this a living volume? Does God speak to my soul from this book? This is a supernatural book. And God speaks. And oftentimes He speaks as plainly as if He spoke in audible words. Do we have the experience? It's such experience as that that it makes me feel that I don't need tongues as a supernatural evidence of the power of God in my life. Let's go on to the matter of prayer. God hearing and answering our prayers. And I'd like to refer you to Isaiah 65 in this respect. Now, I know that I'm duplicating the experiences of some of you dear folks here tonight. Well, if I am, just rejoice. I think God likes to have us get together and compare notes once in a while just that we might receive mutual help and encouragement. In Psalm 65, or Isaiah 65, I'm sorry, verse 24. Isaiah 65, verse 24. It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer. And while they are yet speaking, I will hear. Now, I know this is in connection with the nation of Israel in the latter days. Their prayers weren't being answered in Isaiah's day for a very good reason. But God says the days are coming when before they call, I will answer. And while they are yet speaking, I will hear. When they are restored to him. But when you and I are in a place of close fellowship with God, I think the principle obtains with you and me. I think that we enjoy this very same thing. And I'm sure that our sister Miss Q could tell us of instances where God has answered prayer on the field where the answer had to be on the way for weeks before it got there to meet the emergency that was mentioned in prayer perhaps in the very morning of the day in which the answer arrived. There's only one conclusion that you can reach that God in his omniscience foresaw the need. Moved upon the heart of some human being some human heart of flesh and blood and sent the answer had it on its way knowing that the emergency would rise and knowing that the person would take that emergency to the Lord that that prayer might be answered. You know it's wonderful to see God acting in these ways. Now this doesn't happen every day I suppose in my life. But it does happen. Does it happen in your life? Do you ask God? Are you specific in your requests? I trust that we're not of such character as those of Laodicea that were rich and increased with good and have need of nothing. I trust that we realize our dependence upon God and I trust that we're an asking people and I trust that we're a dependent people and there are many specific things about which we pray. You know I love that verse in Colossians 4 and verse 2 we touched on it some of us the other night or perhaps the other day I should say Colossians 4 and 2. Continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving. To continue in prayer is to be in the attitude of prayer. We can't pray 24 hours a day very obviously. We've got to work for our employer and we should give him his time. We should not forlorn his time. But even while we're working we can be in an attitude of prayer and the apostle writes continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving. Now we're not only to pray but we're to watch. After we have asked God something we may have started a chain of reaction that will go to Europe and back before our prayer is answered. But after we've asked then we should step back a reasonable distance too and give God room for action for he will act. He delights to honor our requests. He delights to show himself strong on the behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward him. And he wants us to be specific. I think we should pray so that we know when our prayers are answered. I think we should be specific at the weekly prayer meeting and not pray for all the missionaries and all the preachers of the gospel and pray in such a way that we wouldn't possibly know if God answered our prayer. I think we should pray in ways that we will know when God answers our prayer. And I expect that God wants us to be specific. Continue in prayer and watch in the same. And then don't forget those last two words with thanksgiving when he sends the answer. When you have been fortuned the throne of grace for a certain need one of the most interesting parts of the Christian experience is to see God in action answering your prayer. And as it has been well said the only time that the devil ever trembles is when he sees a saint of God on his knees because he knows very well that if God chooses to answer his prayer all hell and its combined forces can't keep God from doing it. I wonder sometimes if we really realize the value of prayer. Continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving. I think there is absolutely nothing that will confirm the supernatural character of our lives than to see God answering our prayers. And he can do it. I think we shall have to go on. We prove the supernatural character of our lives by God's providential dealings with us. And by these I mean the dealings that he takes with us without which we have had no knowledge and about which we could not pray. Just the hand of our God undertaking for us. And he does do it. I think probably I can best illustrate it by a story of Mr. Jack Charles known and loved by many of you here a number of years ago. Jack told me of this experience. I'm going to tell you one of his because if I told you one of mine you'd think I was bragging. So I'll tell you one of his. Mr. Charles was up in I believe it was South Dakota having meetings. And he was in an area where there was not too much Christian support and he was in a pioneer field. And it became evident to him that his period of service was over in this particular locality. So he wanted to go back home to Kansas City. And he took a little survey of his finances and found out he didn't have the money for the ticket back to Kansas City. So he did the strangest thing. He went down to the railroad station and he laid his money on the counter of the ticket office. And he says, I want a ticket toward Kansas City as far as this money will take me. Well, I suppose the agent gave him a second look. But he complied with his request and he gave him the ticket toward Kansas City as far as that money would take him. And he may have pushed back a penny or two left to Mr. Charles. Well, Mr. Charles got on the train and he rode his ticket out as far as it would take him. And he got off the train and left it on the track. He got off the train and went down and sat in the waiting room of the station where he was. And he says, Well, Lord, here I am. And he hadn't more than said that until he was conscious of the fact that somebody was looking at him. And he turned around and looked at this person. And this person says, Well, of all things in the world, Jack Charles, how did you get here? Jack says, I'm on my way to Kansas City. He says, You are? And he says, Isn't that the Kansas City train out there? Jack says, Yes, it is. Well, he says, Jack, he says, I know you've got to get on that train pretty soon. He says, I've been exercised about this for a long time, but I want to have a little fellowship with you. And so he gave Jack a bill. Jack went over to the ticket office of that particular depot and he bought his ticket to Kansas City and got on the train. Didn't lose a minute. He lived a supernatural life. I want you to just think with me for a minute. What could have happened that week? Suppose he'd bought an extra postage stamp and the resources that he had left would have landed him in the town up the line five or six miles. Suppose he hadn't bought the stamp that he did buy and his money would have landed him seven or eight miles down the line. Can you think of the possibilities that could have happened to keep that remarkable circumstance from happening? But the point is those circumstances didn't happen. God had it planned. Do you have those experiences in your life? Are you looking for those things? Does God undertake for you? In his providential dealings with you? Are we alert to these things? Are we sensitive? Or have we become earth dwellers? I could tell you some stories myself that you'd think I was bragging. I guess it's all right to brag on the Lord. I wouldn't be in any other circumstances than I am. I'd rather have the Lord as my boss than the United States government and his paychecks were always there to the United States government. Of course, he took part of it away from me, too. My boss doesn't. If I want to give something back, that's all right, too. I think of the circumstances that took the life of our late president. I think of the thing that he... I think of the scripture, the very scripture that he was quoting, that we're going to quote that night in his speech in Dallas, Texas. And I just want to read to you the scripture that he had written into his speech. And here it is. Except the Lord build a house, they labor in vain, but build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh, but in vain. And President Kennedy might have added, and except the Lord watch over the president, the whole secret service watcheth but in vain. His life was taken. It was ironic that he quoted this scripture. Now, I don't mind telling you that President Kennedy had to die with God's permission. I'm not going to give you my thoughts on that at all. But God is sovereign. He is over all. There could have been a sudden shower that could have caused that bulletproof top to have been raised. Someone could have come onto the floor, if indeed that was where he was shot from, on the floor of the Texas school supply and frightened the assassin. Any number of things could have happened if they didn't. I wonder how many times that God has intervened for your safety and mine. Can you think of any? In his providential dealings with you that he proved the supernatural character of your life? I can name some. I can name some. By all means, I have no right to be before you here tonight except by the providential care of my Heavenly Father. We are living supernatural lives. We fail to think of it. As a matter of fact, I think sometimes that if the story of your life and mine was written, camouflaged, and we were to read the story of our own lives, it would make thrilling reading. The supernatural character of it. We are living supernatural lives. God does provide. God does watch over us. Our steps, our stops, and our supplies. And his good hand proves that. And I suppose that you think that I'm in a position to appreciate that more than anybody here. I'm not so sure that that's the truth. You may have just as much reason to appreciate that as I do. And certainly something that will prove the supernatural character of our lives is the supernatural character of our enemy, the devil. I don't know whether you have the trouble with him, but I have. But sometimes I think I can smell him. He's so close. And believe me, if you try to do anything for the Lord, I don't mean to lead into that in that way. I mean anybody that tries to do anything for the Lord. You'll find out that he's real. It takes sometimes the efforts of the devil to prove his supernatural character and to prove the supernatural character of our lives. I can see him at work. And I'm not so sure about what you shouldn't be able to see him at work. Right here in the city of Omaha, he is at work. We're fighting a supernatural foe. We ought to fight him shoulder to shoulder. We ought to indeed draw strength upon each other's experience in the matter of fighting Satan. And that connection, just let me refer you to 1 Peter 5. 1 Peter 5 and 8. Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil has a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. And sometimes it does us good to know that we have a common foe. Sometimes we draw strength from each other's experience in the matter of dealing with the devil. But I'm telling you, he's real. He wants to stifle your testimony. He wants to make an earth dweller out of you. He wants to stifle the collective testimony of God's people. And he's doing it in places. He's real. We have a supernatural foe. And once in a while you may be drawn up quite short. You may be brought to consciousness of these things very abruptly by some of his efforts. I could tell you stories along this line, too. But I'm quite alert to his ways. As a matter of fact, I quite expect him to act. And I see things happening in my own life. What I know is due to the efforts of his faith. I think it's the majesty of the devil. Now, let's just not attribute things to hard luck. There is no such thing as luck anyway. It's a chance. And let's be intelligent and alert to these things. There are things that are happening around us that have spiritual significance. We ought to be alert. We ought to be a thinking people. We ought to be a praying people. Lastly, we're engaged in a supernatural business. I can't think of anything that proves to you and to me the supernatural character of our lives than to deal with a soul, neither when it's soul is his wife, to deal with a soul and to see the light of heaven dawn upon the darkness of the human soul. To see that light changed. To see a complete right about face in that person's life, evidences of the power of God. We don't see enough of it. You know, physical babies are interesting. But I don't think they're a whip more interesting than spiritual babies. We don't see enough of spiritual infants. We don't see enough of the power of God in the lives of his people. What is our contribution in this area? Can people see that you and I are a supernatural person? Are we moved with motives and allegiances and loyalties that go beyond the sphere of this life? Are we looking at the things which are not seen? Not at the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen. Are we motivated by the Lord, the Spirit of God, or are our ambitions all centered down here? And we have indeed slipped into the lay of the sea and error of being slugged and satisfied. Now, I leave these things with you. Our time is up. We are living supernatural lives. And I say this, that in the very degree that we realize we're living supernatural lives, we won't need tongues to authenticate the supernatural character of our lives. I say the tongues movement has moved into a void in Christian circles. And I say the way, the antidote to to compete with it, the antidote to stop it, is to be living a supernatural life. Really, I don't think we take enough time to think. We don't take time for introspection. We don't take time to examine these things. But you know the Christian life is a thrilling life. It's real. It's a real battle. It's a real experience. May God help us to realize how real it is, that He may indeed thrill our souls with what we have. We ought to be thrilled. Absolutely and completely thrilled. Not only happy, as we mentioned Tuesday night, but thrilled with the supernatural character of our lives. May God help us to realize it for His name's sake. Now I've been closing every night in the prayer, and I don't think that's necessary.