WEBVTT 00:00:00.490 --> 00:00:03.649 Here's a little gem that's rich in beauty and 00:00:03.649 --> 00:00:08.490 simplicity. And it's a part of William Jennings 00:00:08.490 --> 00:00:13.009 Bryan's great lecture on The Prince of Peace. 00:00:13.189 --> 00:00:16.429 I'm going to give it to you. I just love it and 00:00:16.429 --> 00:00:21.070 I read it ever so often because it's just so 00:00:21.070 --> 00:00:25.789 practical. I was eating a piece of watermelon 00:00:25.789 --> 00:00:29.010 some months ago and was struck with its beauty. 00:00:30.030 --> 00:00:34.210 I took some of the seeds and dried them, weighed 00:00:34.210 --> 00:00:39.509 them, and found that it would require some 5 00:00:39.509 --> 00:00:44.929 ,000 seeds to weigh a pound. One of these put 00:00:44.929 --> 00:00:48.929 into the ground when warmed by the sun, moistened 00:00:48.929 --> 00:00:52.490 by the rain, takes off its coat and goes to work. 00:00:53.090 --> 00:00:56.229 It ornaments the outside with a covering of green. 00:00:59.820 --> 00:01:04.859 a layer of white. Within the white, a core of 00:01:04.859 --> 00:01:09.799 red, and all through the red, its scattered seeds, 00:01:10.219 --> 00:01:13.680 each one capable of continuing the work of reproduction. 00:01:15.060 --> 00:01:21.000 What architect drew the plans? Where does a little 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:25.540 seed get its tremendous power? Where does it 00:01:25.540 --> 00:01:30.140 find its coloring matter? How does it collect 00:01:30.140 --> 00:01:35.519 its flavoring extract? Until you can explain 00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:40.420 a watermelon, do not be too sure that you can 00:01:40.420 --> 00:01:45.500 set limits to the power of the Almighty or say 00:01:45.500 --> 00:01:56.420 just what he can do or how he will do it. All 00:01:56.420 --> 00:01:59.620 right, here's another one. You know, we think 00:01:59.620 --> 00:02:07.079 we're so smart. And after all, we're so stupid. 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:16.740 And it's the person who is really smart is the 00:02:16.740 --> 00:02:22.039 first to acknowledge how little he really knows. 00:02:24.099 --> 00:02:29.900 Science can't explain this one. Mary and I brought 00:02:29.900 --> 00:02:33.759 home a miracle yesterday. His name is Mark Matthew, 00:02:33.979 --> 00:02:38.280 and he'll not be a week old until 11 o 'clock 00:02:38.280 --> 00:02:41.759 tonight. Just before his mother decked him out 00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:44.000 in a yellow knitted suit for his trip home from 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:47.560 the hospital, he weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces. 00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:54.840 A normal 5 ounce drop from his 8 pounds. I think 00:02:54.840 --> 00:02:59.900 he's a handsome boy. Alert. But it's not fatherly 00:02:59.900 --> 00:03:04.580 pride that insists that he's a miracle. To me, 00:03:04.580 --> 00:03:07.360 he's a miracle because nine months ago he didn't 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:11.300 exist. And now he's taken over every one of the 00:03:11.300 --> 00:03:16.560 bedrooms in my house. Science is wonderful. But 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:20.300 this is one that science can't explain adequately 00:03:20.300 --> 00:03:25.219 to me. Science, for instance, can't explain to 00:03:25.219 --> 00:03:30.030 me how... Come, this boy has a full head of black 00:03:30.030 --> 00:03:33.449 hair. Sure, both his mother and father have black 00:03:33.449 --> 00:03:37.189 hair, but who arranged things so that this boy's 00:03:37.189 --> 00:03:41.810 hair should be black? Mark Matthew has ears and 00:03:41.810 --> 00:03:47.909 eyes, a nose, a mouth, hands, and feet, a healthy 00:03:47.909 --> 00:03:52.569 cry when he's hungry. He snorts and he sneezes 00:03:52.569 --> 00:03:57.740 and he frowns. Who arranged all that? He likes 00:03:57.740 --> 00:04:01.960 to rub his nose with the back of one hand. Where 00:04:01.960 --> 00:04:06.340 did he learn that at such a tender age? Two days 00:04:06.340 --> 00:04:09.740 after he was born, he was feeding happily and 00:04:09.740 --> 00:04:14.699 greedily at his mother's breast. Did science 00:04:14.699 --> 00:04:17.920 furnish him the little mimeographed sheet of 00:04:17.920 --> 00:04:21.240 instructions telling him where his dinner was 00:04:21.240 --> 00:04:25.240 and how to get it? When he closes his eyes, it's 00:04:25.240 --> 00:04:29.279 dark enough for him to sleep. Did an Einstein 00:04:29.279 --> 00:04:34.500 figure that one out? I know that as time goes 00:04:34.500 --> 00:04:38.319 on, he'll learn to talk and to walk, that he'll 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:41.360 grow a set of teeth. There's a big apple tree 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:43.040 out in the backyard, and I know the day will 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:46.839 come when he'll climb it. I know that at first 00:04:46.839 --> 00:04:51.199 he won't like girls, and then he'll like them 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:54.990 but refuse to admit it. I know he'll dislike 00:04:54.990 --> 00:04:57.329 vegetables and try to save his appetite for the 00:04:57.329 --> 00:05:03.350 ice cream. I know all that will happen. But science 00:05:03.350 --> 00:05:11.449 can't tell me why. It can only suggest. And then 00:05:11.449 --> 00:05:16.209 there's a theory about this and that. And they 00:05:16.209 --> 00:05:19.639 can tell me from experience how to... cope with 00:05:19.639 --> 00:05:22.660 a small boy when he does all these things he'll 00:05:22.660 --> 00:05:26.899 do in the years to come. But science can't tell 00:05:26.899 --> 00:05:34.439 me who, or if you will, what is behind this miracle. 00:05:37.339 --> 00:05:40.779 And if Martin Matthew is not a miracle, then 00:05:40.779 --> 00:05:43.660 why do I feel about him the same that I felt 00:05:43.660 --> 00:05:47.800 about the three girls and one boy who preceded 00:05:47.800 --> 00:05:53.199 him in that? Quit. Argue with me if you will. 00:05:54.959 --> 00:06:02.819 But we brought home a miracle. It's just like 00:06:02.819 --> 00:06:07.740 that. How can you look at a sky full of stars 00:06:07.740 --> 00:06:12.120 and say there is no God? How would the flowers 00:06:12.120 --> 00:06:16.660 know it was spring except for a smile from God? 00:06:18.860 --> 00:06:21.620 How can you gaze at a sleeping child and not 00:06:21.620 --> 00:06:25.519 feel the angels near? Do you thrill with the 00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:28.800 song of a happy bird? Do you realize that it's 00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:37.519 God that you really hear? Of all that was and 00:06:37.519 --> 00:06:44.220 all that shall be, God is the beginning and the 00:06:44.220 --> 00:06:50.160 end. And if the heart... that he gave you cannot 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:54.819 understand, then I'm sorry for you, my friend. 00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:01.079 And it's just like that. You talk about a miracle? 00:07:02.660 --> 00:07:09.439 You say you do not believe in miracles? I believe 00:07:09.439 --> 00:07:13.779 in miracles with every atom of my being. I would 00:07:13.779 --> 00:07:18.060 be a fool not to believe in a miracle. and in 00:07:18.060 --> 00:07:24.019 miracles. But I believe in miracles because I 00:07:24.019 --> 00:07:31.959 believe in God and for no other reason. All right, 00:07:32.019 --> 00:07:34.939 we're going to turn to the ninth chapter of John. 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:41.399 We take the Word of God. And as Jesus passed 00:07:41.399 --> 00:07:45.959 by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:50.800 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, 00:07:51.060 --> 00:07:55.579 who did sin, this man or his parents, that he 00:07:55.579 --> 00:08:01.680 was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:05.579 this man sinned nor his parents, but that the 00:08:05.579 --> 00:08:08.720 works of God should be made manifest in him. 00:08:09.500 --> 00:08:13.120 I must work the works of him that sent me while 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:16.990 it is day. the night cometh when no man can work 00:08:16.990 --> 00:08:22.069 as long as i am in the world i am the light of 00:08:22.069 --> 00:08:26.670 the world and when he had thus spoken he spat 00:08:26.670 --> 00:08:30.610 on the ground and made clay of the spittle and 00:08:30.610 --> 00:08:34.850 he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the 00:08:34.850 --> 00:08:39.690 clay and said unto him go wash in the pool of 00:08:39.690 --> 00:08:46.679 siloam He went his way, therefore, washed, and 00:08:46.679 --> 00:08:53.759 came seeing. The neighbors, wouldn't you know 00:08:53.759 --> 00:09:00.960 it, he had neighbors too. Neighbors are no new 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:08.399 things. Here came the neighbors. The neighbors, 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:12.399 therefore. And they which before had seen him 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:17.039 that was blind said, Is not this he that sat 00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:23.139 and begged? Some said, This is he. Others said, 00:09:23.320 --> 00:09:32.320 He is like him. But he said, I am he. Therefore 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:38.299 said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened? 00:09:39.950 --> 00:09:46.870 Tell us, what happened? Just what happened, confidentially? 00:09:47.809 --> 00:09:52.690 How were thine eyes opened? And he answered and 00:09:52.690 --> 00:09:57.070 said, A man that is called Jesus made clay and 00:09:57.070 --> 00:10:01.769 anointed mine eyes and said unto me, Go to the 00:10:01.769 --> 00:10:06.549 pool of Siloam and wash. And I went and washed, 00:10:06.730 --> 00:10:12.129 and I received sight. Then said they unto him, 00:10:12.330 --> 00:10:19.549 Where is he? He said, I know not. They brought 00:10:19.549 --> 00:10:22.750 to the Pharisees him that aforehand was blind, 00:10:23.009 --> 00:10:25.669 and it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the 00:10:25.669 --> 00:10:29.090 clay and opened his eyes. Then again the Pharisees 00:10:29.090 --> 00:10:31.549 also asked him how he had received his sight, 00:10:31.649 --> 00:10:37.350 and he said unto them, He put clay on mine eyes, 00:10:37.629 --> 00:10:45.580 and I washed. and do see. Therefore said some 00:10:45.580 --> 00:10:49.500 of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because 00:10:49.500 --> 00:10:54.779 he keepeth not the Sabbath day. Others said, 00:10:55.100 --> 00:11:01.139 How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? 00:11:02.500 --> 00:11:08.019 Then there was a division among them. They say 00:11:08.019 --> 00:11:12.340 unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of 00:11:12.340 --> 00:11:18.019 him that he has opened thine eyes? He said, He 00:11:18.019 --> 00:11:21.940 is a prophet. But the Jews did not believe concerning 00:11:21.940 --> 00:11:25.679 him that he had been blind and received his sight 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:29.840 until they called the parents of him that had 00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:33.360 received his sight. And they asked them, saying, 00:11:34.600 --> 00:11:40.879 Is this your son who ye say was born blind? How 00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:47.919 then doth he now see? His parents answered them 00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:55.220 and said, We know that this is our son, and that 00:11:55.220 --> 00:12:01.720 he was born blind. But by what means he now seeth, 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:07.720 we know not. Now who hath opened his eyes, we 00:12:07.720 --> 00:12:14.759 know not. He is of age. Ask him. He shall speak 00:12:14.759 --> 00:12:20.039 for himself. These words spake his parents, because 00:12:20.039 --> 00:12:23.559 they feared the Jews. For the Jews had agreed 00:12:23.559 --> 00:12:26.980 already that if any man did confess that he was 00:12:26.980 --> 00:12:30.000 Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. 00:12:30.899 --> 00:12:36.279 Therefore his parents said, He is of age. Ask 00:12:36.279 --> 00:12:41.919 him. Then again, Then called they the man that 00:12:41.919 --> 00:12:47.240 was blind and said unto him, Give God the praise. 00:12:47.580 --> 00:12:54.399 We know that this man is a sinner. He answered 00:12:54.399 --> 00:13:02.580 and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know 00:13:02.580 --> 00:13:09.889 not. One thing I know. That whereas I was blind, 00:13:10.350 --> 00:13:20.429 now I see. And it's just that simple. There's 00:13:20.429 --> 00:13:24.509 something about the simplicity of this whole 00:13:24.509 --> 00:13:29.610 thing. How often I've gone through this whole 00:13:29.610 --> 00:13:34.399 thing myself. It's as real as though... It had 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:36.600 not been taken out of the word of God, but had 00:13:36.600 --> 00:13:38.480 just happened yesterday at the great miracle 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:42.659 service, or will happen again at the next great 00:13:42.659 --> 00:13:47.279 miracle service. Here's somebody wonderfully 00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:53.019 healed of cancer by the power of God, and after 00:13:53.019 --> 00:13:57.059 that one has been gloriously healed, has returned 00:13:57.059 --> 00:14:01.700 home, the neighbors will say, well, how can it 00:14:01.700 --> 00:14:04.649 be? Maybe... that one didn't have cancer at all. 00:14:06.889 --> 00:14:10.649 Maybe the thing was not diagnosed correctly by 00:14:10.649 --> 00:14:16.029 the doctor. Oh, the neighbors will talk. Even 00:14:16.029 --> 00:14:19.909 the church people will talk. Your best friends 00:14:19.909 --> 00:14:23.710 won't believe it. How often after a great miracle 00:14:23.710 --> 00:14:26.029 has been performed by the power of God, and I've 00:14:26.029 --> 00:14:29.029 said to them, and you've heard me ask the questions, 00:14:29.230 --> 00:14:34.059 well, uh, what... Did the folks say after you 00:14:34.059 --> 00:14:36.539 went back healed? Went back home carrying your 00:14:36.539 --> 00:14:41.980 brace? And invariably you get the same answer. 00:14:42.039 --> 00:14:47.600 Some believed and some didn't. When I went back 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:53.100 to work, there were those who believed and there 00:14:53.100 --> 00:14:58.259 were those who didn't believe. It just couldn't 00:14:58.259 --> 00:15:09.029 be. I love this portion of the Word of God. And 00:15:09.029 --> 00:15:15.190 the answer that the young man gave, he didn't 00:15:15.190 --> 00:15:22.610 understand it. I don't know, he said. I can't 00:15:22.610 --> 00:15:27.509 give you the answer. I haven't even stopped to 00:15:27.509 --> 00:15:33.320 try to analyze the thing. one can't analyze the 00:15:33.320 --> 00:15:37.940 power of god you can't do it in desperation he 00:15:37.940 --> 00:15:42.039 said all that i know and there is only one thing 00:15:42.039 --> 00:15:46.940 that i do know and it's just this where as i 00:15:46.940 --> 00:15:58.190 was blind now i see you accept The power of God 00:15:58.190 --> 00:16:02.750 in exactly the same way that you accept the person 00:16:02.750 --> 00:16:11.149 of God. Who can analyze a little thing like a 00:16:11.149 --> 00:16:14.889 watermelon? Who can? Now really, this is such 00:16:14.889 --> 00:16:17.809 a homie, such a simple little thing, but it's 00:16:17.809 --> 00:16:26.210 a gem. Who can? Oh, sure I know. From the standpoint 00:16:26.210 --> 00:16:32.350 of science, we are rich when it comes to science. 00:16:32.850 --> 00:16:36.830 In this generation, we've gone to the moon and 00:16:36.830 --> 00:16:42.110 back. Oh, look at the scientific discoveries. 00:16:43.070 --> 00:16:46.970 There's television. There's a thousand and one 00:16:46.970 --> 00:16:50.450 things that this generation has discovered through 00:16:50.450 --> 00:17:02.740 science. And yet, who can really analyze the 00:17:02.740 --> 00:17:08.559 planting of a little seed? And after such a length 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:16.400 of time, here we have our vegetables. We have 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:22.529 our beautiful spring flowers. Try to analyze 00:17:22.529 --> 00:17:25.430 these things from the standpoint of science? 00:17:26.789 --> 00:17:33.170 Oh, sure, but beloved, at the basis of everything, 00:17:33.430 --> 00:17:45.150 there is God. We try to analyze life in the human 00:17:45.150 --> 00:17:50.529 body. We take it apart and we try to analyze 00:17:50.529 --> 00:17:55.630 it. But yet, beloved, when it comes to the final 00:17:55.630 --> 00:18:02.369 analysis, it's God who gives that life. We come 00:18:02.369 --> 00:18:07.390 to the human body. With all of our great scientific 00:18:07.390 --> 00:18:12.150 discoveries, we still haven't been able to make 00:18:12.150 --> 00:18:18.349 a human hand. There it is. Four fingers, one 00:18:18.349 --> 00:18:25.099 thumb. and all the millions of dollars in the 00:18:25.099 --> 00:18:32.859 world cannot buy a human hand should that one 00:18:32.859 --> 00:18:42.759 lose that hand. Miracles? And you say you don't 00:18:42.759 --> 00:18:50.809 believe in miracles? Put that hand over that 00:18:50.809 --> 00:18:56.630 heart of yours and feel the beat of that heart. 00:18:57.990 --> 00:19:04.549 Sir, just be big enough to put your hand over 00:19:04.549 --> 00:19:08.670 the heart, your own heart, and feel that heartbeat. 00:19:11.829 --> 00:19:17.630 And that heart is only beating through the mercy. 00:19:19.180 --> 00:19:28.579 that god gives it's just like that he giveth 00:19:28.579 --> 00:19:37.180 life he taketh life one thing i know said the 00:19:37.180 --> 00:19:44.380 young man just one thing i don't know the theology 00:19:44.380 --> 00:19:49.450 of the thing From the standpoint of science, 00:19:49.730 --> 00:19:57.930 I don't understand. All that I know is that whereas 00:19:57.930 --> 00:20:06.990 I was blind, now I see. For years, I've seen 00:20:06.990 --> 00:20:12.410 the manifestation of God's power. I have stood 00:20:12.410 --> 00:20:18.960 there. I have watched. Men and women receive 00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:23.440 the healing for their sick bodies. I have stood 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:28.200 there and I've said, can you hear me now? And 00:20:28.200 --> 00:20:30.980 that one standing there holding the hearing aid 00:20:30.980 --> 00:20:35.660 in their hand will say yes. I've stood there 00:20:35.660 --> 00:20:40.660 with my hand over an eye that was good and the 00:20:40.660 --> 00:20:43.180 one was seeing out of an eye that had been blind. 00:20:44.269 --> 00:20:47.029 And I've raised my hand and say, how many fingers 00:20:47.029 --> 00:20:51.849 do I have now? How many now? And I've stood there 00:20:51.849 --> 00:20:56.029 thrilled, knowing that I was witnessing the power 00:20:56.029 --> 00:21:01.190 of God. I knew better than anyone else that I 00:21:01.190 --> 00:21:04.710 had nothing to do with that which had happened 00:21:04.710 --> 00:21:11.369 in that physical body. I have seen them come 00:21:11.369 --> 00:21:18.019 to the stage. tearing their braces. And I knew 00:21:18.019 --> 00:21:21.240 better than anyone else in that great auditory 00:21:21.240 --> 00:21:24.859 that Catherine Cooman had nothing to do with 00:21:24.859 --> 00:21:30.079 that miracle. I had no healing virtue. That one 00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:35.220 was healed before they ever stood in my presence. 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:46.400 Beloved, We need to get back again and realize 00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:56.900 that God is still God Almighty. The God of Abraham 00:21:56.900 --> 00:22:03.259 is our God. The God of Moses is our God. the 00:22:03.259 --> 00:22:05.759 god that supplied the little widow with her meal 00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:10.200 and her oil is still god almighty the god that 00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:17.279 made the iron to swim is still limitless in his 00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:26.359 power yes that thou shouldst so delight in me 00:22:26.359 --> 00:22:35.309 and be the god thou art is darkness to my intellect, 00:22:35.750 --> 00:22:40.349 but sunshine to my heart.