Well, now for a very few minutes, you and I are
going to have a heart -to -heart talk about something
that I feel is most important. We're going to
talk about what one believes. Do you want to
know something? It makes all the difference in
the world what you believe. We've come to the
time when we just accept as a truth that no matter
what one believes, just so one is sincere in
his belief. That's all that's necessary. Just
sincerity in one's belief. I repeat. It makes
all the difference in the world what one believes.
It makes the difference between heaven and hell
as to what one believes. And your sincerity in
your belief Help one bit if you believe in the
wrong thing. The most destructive disease in
our country today is neither cancer or heart
disease. It is spiritual blindness. I know. Cancer
and... The disease of the heart are looked upon
as the two most destructive diseases that we
have today. But cancer and heart disease kill
only the body. But spiritual blindness destroys
the soul. And the most amazing thing in the whole
world is the fact that in the case of... physical
illness, we waste no time, we waste no money
in seeking the very best medical help that we
can get. And if we're that concerned about the
physical, I wonder why in the world we're so
unconcerned about the right help spiritually.
When Our spiritual concerns should be our first.
There's a portion of the Word of God here that
I want to read. It's found in the fourth chapter
of 2 Corinthians. In the fourth verse. In whom
the God of this world hath blinded the minds
of them which believe not. lest the light of
the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image
of God, should shine unto them. Oh, I pray that
somehow, in these next very few minutes, the
Holy Spirit will open your blinded eyes to the
glorious light of the gospel. What? is Paul saying
here? Oh, he knew. He knew so well of that which
he was speaking. The glorious light of the gospel,
he says. Who is the image of God? What is the
image of God? The gospel. The word. You ask me
whether or not I have ever seen God. And I will
have to say without hesitation, no. I have never
looked upon the person of God. I have never seen
God. And immediately, the man without any spiritual
understanding whatsoever will say, you're a fool.
You're a fool, Catherine Kuhlman. giving your
life for someone that you have never seen. And
believe me, I tell you the truth, I would not
work the long hours that I work for any employer
that I know anything about. You could not pay
me enough money. to work as hard as I work and
to live the kind of life that I live. A life
of separation, a life of consecration. All the
money in the world couldn't pay me to live the
life that I am living. And the man without any
spiritual understanding will say, you are living
that kind of a life? for someone that you have
never seen. My friend, I have learned to know
him through the word. I have seen him, his image,
his personality through the light of the glorious
gospel. God the Father is very real to me. Believe
me, I tell you the truth. God the Father is as
real to me as my own dad was in the flesh. Sure,
I have put my arms around Papa's neck. I have
laid my head on Papa's shoulder. I have felt
his strong arms folding me close to his body.
Papa was something tangible. He was my papa.
But I tell you of a truth and try to explain
it to someone who has no spiritual understanding
is almost impossible. But I swear to you. that
my Heavenly Father is as real to me, the person
of the Heavenly Father, the personality of the
Heavenly Father, the nearness of the Heavenly
Father, the power of the Heavenly Father, is
as real to me as Papa ever was. Yet one I have
seen with my natural eye. The other I have seen
through the light of the glorious gospel. You
say, have you ever seen Jesus? Not really. I
have never looked upon that wonderful face. I
have never heard him speak to me audibly. And
yet, beloved, he is as real to me as any earthly
human being could possibly be. So close to me
that there are times when I have actually, and
I admit it, reached out my hand, almost expecting
to feel his person. There have been times when
I think I can almost hear the rustling of his
garment. There are times when I've stood alone
and I've looked at a darkened sky. not the tiniest
star shining. And through the darkness, the blackness
of the night, I think I can almost see him. And
yet, I have never looked upon his person, but
I would gladly give my best body to be burned
at the stake. I gladly give my body, my life,
myself as a living sacrifice for him. For I have
learned to know him through the glorious gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is The word. And
you cannot know him. You will never know him.
Except you know him through the word. For he
is the word. Pause with me for just a minute.
I want you to see something that is very glorious
to my own heart. And it's something that I am
learning. I am constantly learning. I am constantly
growing in the things of the Lord. And these
things that I'm talking to you about today are
things that you do not learn in attending a seminary
or a Bible school. decrying an education, are
underestimating that which is being taught in
our seminaries, our Bible schools. Watch just
a minute. I am saying to you that to know Him,
to become acquainted with Him, to fully appreciate
him. You can only find that fellowship, that
closeness, that great revelation through the
Word. You do not get it through the studying
of the Word in the classroom. Neither do you
receive it secondhand. It will only become a
mental conception of him when you get it from
someone else. You don't get it from much learning.
Jesus reveals himself to you. God the Father
reveals himself to you. The Holy Spirit will
reveal Himself to you through the Word. The glorious
power of the Gospel. The magnificent light of
the Gospel. A second ago, I told you that one
of the most amazing One of the most thrilling
things about the entire life of Jesus was the
fact that he personally gave proof of his authority.
Oh, to me, that's very marvelous. Follow me for
just a few minutes. Someone recently in a letter
asked me the true meaning of the incident that
happened. in the upper room when Jesus took a
towel, did gird himself with the towel, and washed
the feet of his disciples. The writer of the
letter asked me for an understanding of that
incident. We love it. It was so simple, so natural,
so wonderful that you and I must accept it exactly
as Jesus meant it to be accepted. The greatest
of all Christian graces is humility. I repeat
that statement. greatest of all Christian graces
is humility. And Jesus Christ himself gave the
example of what every real Christian should be,
a servant. We are to serve. Oh, pause a minute.
Visualize it. Do you know who that one was with
a towel around him, kneeling there in that room,
washing the dusty feet of mere humanity? Men?
Men created in the image and likeness of Almighty
God. Sinners saved by the grace of God. Just
humanity. Follow humanity at that. And the one
who was kneeling there washing those dusty feet
was literally God in the flesh. He had been present
when the world was spoken into existence. He
was there. The Bible gives proof of it. The Son,
the Father, the Holy Spirit, all three persons
were present when the worlds, the planets were
spoken into existence. That was the very Son
of the living God. That was God in the flesh.
He who could speak and the very elements were
controlled. He who spoke and demon power listened.
He who had control of all spiritual power. He
who could move a hand, a mere finger. and a generation
of mankind could be mowed down as though a sickle
had mowed down the grain in the field. And yet
he was there, kneeling before a man, a mere man.
washing his dusty feet. The greatest example
that could possibly be given of humility. An
example for you and for me. As Christians, you
and I are here to serve. We are to be the servant.
Oh, beloved, again I repeat, The greatest of
all Christian graces is humility. I do not believe
that there's a greater sin than spiritual pride.
Those today who are in our churches, who are
humble and proud of it. And that one thing has
caused more splits in our churches than anything
that I know anything about. When somebody feels
as though they are not getting the approbation
that they should have. And they rise up and cause
dissension. Just a second, I want to say something
else while we're on this subject. I believe in
the power of the Holy Spirit. I believe in spiritual
gifts. I... I want to go on record of saying
that I believe in spiritual gifts. The Bible
teaches that we are to receive spiritual gifts.
But listen, my friend. I believe that if God,
in his mercy, in his goodness, in his love, gives
to one a spiritual gift, a gift of the spirit,
that one will be so humbled with having received
that gift, they'll not boast of it. They'll not
talk about it. It'll be something that's so precious.
They'll guard it. Oh, they'll guard it. That's
the reason when somebody confronts me with the
fact that they have received all the gifts of
the spirit. And how often there have been those
who have said that very thing. Oh, Miss Kuhlman,
I want you to know I'm spiritual. Miss Kuhlman,
I want you to know that I have received all the
gifts of the spirit. I smile and I say, that's
wonderful. I would be so humbled if he would
just count me worthy. to receive just one of
the gifts of the spirit. Secretly, I question
what they have actually received. For I believe
with all my heart that any person who is so consecrated
to Almighty God, so completely surrendered to
Him, so completely died out to self, so lost
in the Spirit, that if they had received a gift
of the Spirit, they would not boast of it. They
would not. before others. In humility, they would
guard it carefully. For it's something that's
priceless. Yes, my friend. The greatest of all
Christian graces is humility. And Jesus himself
was our... Example.