Once upon a time, there was a tiny little seed
planted in the ground. It was an acorn. And after
a while, it shed its little overcoat, cuddled
away in the arms of Mother Nature so that it
might be dead and grow. All through the long
winter night, she kept that little seed warm.
And when the springtime came and the sunshine
came out, its little acorn heart burst open with
joy and delight. It had started to grow. Oh,
what a thrill! And then a man came along, and
he put a big, heavy rock over the little seed.
Commenced to worry and to fret, for Beard could
never be able to raise his little head to where
it could see the light of day. It wanted to wear
a garland of leaves for its hair. and to grow
to be beautiful and strong. But in that moment,
it seemed so defeated. Maybe it would never see
the light again. Maybe it would never, ever see
the light again. But one day, its feeble hands
touched the rock. They were such tiny, tender
little hands. And the little growing tree felt
so helpless. But it didn't struggle. It didn't
try to move the rock, which was the enemy of
his heart and life. It just grew. And then one
day, the rock was lifted. It was... pushed out
of the way, and the little leafy hands clapped
for joy. But let me ask you, who lifted the rock?
Did the little seed lift the rock? No, of course
not. No little seed has the ability to lift the
rock. It was something within the seed. which
no man in the world has ever been able to reproduce.
It was God's power that pushed over that rock.
Listen, my friend. You are a little seed. You
too can grow into something noble and beautiful
for God. I don't care who you are. I don't care
how defeated you may feel this hour. I don't
care whether you're rich, whether you're poor,
whether you're with talent, without talent. I
don't care what your environment may be. I don't
care how defeated you may have been throughout
your life. I want you to know something. You
too can grow into something that's noble and
beautiful for God. The power of faith can be
manifested in your life until literally men and
angels will wonder. But however, when the battle
is over and the victory has been won, don't you
dare say, look at what I have done through the
Lord, but rather kneel at the foot of the cross
and say, Isn't it wonderful that His grace and
His faith should be manifested in me? It's the
power of God. It's the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's that light in you that is the hope
of glory. And He is the one who has to give you
that divine life. Let me give you an example.
Every place I go, the very first thing that reporters
will say to me, Oh, Miss Cooman, do you have
some special gift? You know, because they see
the miracles. That's one of the very first questions
reporters ask me. And I'll always answer and
say, No. Not really. It isn't Catherine Kuhlman
who performs these miracles, no. And remember
something. There isn't anyone living who believes
more in the fruits and the gifts of the Spirit.
I believe in the gifts of the Spirit with all
of my heart. I do believe that there are certain
gifts. that are given to men and women. Paul
speaks of them. He gives a few of them as an
example. And I believe that there are many more
gifts that are given to Spirit -filled people
than just those that are mentioned in Corinthians.
But Paul mentions the gift of wisdom, the gift
of knowledge, the gift of healing, the gift of
faith. You know, it's there. But... Do you know
why I absolutely refuse to acknowledge any gift?
It's because I've got sense enough to know that
whatever it is that he has given me, it's still
not something of myself. It's still not Catherine
Kuhlman. It's the power of the Holy Spirit. It's
still his power. And God forbid that I should
ever come to the place where I will look up and
say, look and see what I did. I pray to God that
he'll take me in death before I would ever utter
one word. that would give any inkling whatsoever
of the fact that I may feel as though I have
something of myself. I have nothing. I'm as helpless
as that little seed. Whatever he has given me,
whatever he does through this body of mine, through
these lips of clay, through this... which is
the temple of the Holy Spirit, that which I've
surrendered unto him. It is not Catherine Kuhlman.
And all that I can say to the whole world today
is, isn't it wonderful that his grace and his
faith and the power of the Holy Spirit should
be manifested in such a wonderful way? As we
walk off of the stage after having seen the miracles
that had been performed, it's so wonderful to
be able to say, wasn't it wonderful what the
Holy Spirit did? If you've been a part of the
services and you walk out of the great service,
wherever that service was held, and as you leave
having seen the manifestation of the supernatural,
always crossed the threshold of that auditorium
saying, wasn't it wonderful what the Holy Spirit
did today? It's that simple. It was God's power.
It was the power of the Holy Spirit that pushed
over that rock. It will be the power of the Holy
Spirit that will push over any rock that is an
obstacle in your life. Remember what Paul said.
We are more than conquerors. Through our own
efforts, through our own will, by our own struggling,
Not on your life. Continue that which Paul said.
We are more than conquerors through Christ who
loved us. You can stand there that open grave.
And the one whom you loved more than life itself.
You can stand there with victory. In your own
spirit. You can stand there strong. I'm not saying
that tears will not run down your cheeks. Of
course they will. You're still human. But you'll
not be defeated by that which has just happened.
You'll not be defeated in that hour when that
love has been taken away from you. You'll not
be defeated in that moment of death. Why? Because
you have found victory not through your own willpower,
not through your own struggling, not through
your own determination and by gritting your teeth
and saying, I will, I will, I will. And sometimes
those people find at the end of their I wills
a nervous breakdown. You don't do it. You have
found that you have victory over that tragedy
through Christ who loves you. It's that simple.
That victory is through Him. He's the one who
gives you the victory. You have to just surrender
yourself to Him. Stop struggling. Stop crying
to do it in your own strength. Many a man will
say, I'm an alcoholic. And I want to be delivered.
More than anything else, I want to be delivered.
Are you sure you want to be delivered? So much
so, Miss Cooman, I've tried everything. I've
tried to stop. I've used my willpower. You know,
some of the strongest men I find. have really
very little willpower when it comes right down
to it. That's just right. Because you see, you're
bucking Satan. You're bucking a power that is
greater than your willpower. When you have to
buck Satan and buck the demons of hell and buck
the evil one, No man's willpower is strong enough
to overcome the enemy of the soul. When you get
to the place where you will say, I not only want
deliverance, but I'll turn myself, I'll turn
this habit, I'll turn the whole thing over to
God. I'm a little seed. I cannot move the rock
in my own strength. I don't have the strength
to move the rock that's blocking the sunshine.
But there is one who has greater strength than
any man's willpower. His power is greater than
this habit that I'm trying to overcome. It may
not only be for alcoholism. It may be for smoking.
It may be for dope addiction. Who knows what
it is? A thousand things in that life of yours
that you won victory over. You've tried everything
under the sun. You've tried medication. You've
tried pills. You've tried the psychologist. You've
tried... Name it. You've tried it. And yet the
thing that will give you the victory is so simple,
you've missed it. You know, if it was some big
thing, some great thing, or some great price
that you had to pay, then you'd be glad to pay
the price. You would do it. But what Jesus is
talking about is so simple a little child can
understand. So simple that in this scientific
generation we miss the whole thing. It's just
too simple a thing to let God move the rock.
You know? Sure. We have to do it through a scientific
way. Mm -hmm. Our mentality must go through science.
It has to be some hard thing or else it couldn't
possibly work. Now just relax and look up and
say, Dear Lord Jesus, I simply cannot. Move the
rock. I'm a little seed, a tiny little seed planted
in the ground. Sometimes I feel that because
of this rock in my life, I'll never see the sunshine
again. My hands are so feeble, but I take these
feeble little hands and I reach out. To the rock
that is stronger than I. I reach out to the greatest
power there is in heaven and earth, the power
of almighty God. Such a little thing for him
to do. All you have to do is to come to him in
all honesty, in all sincerity. Don't you understand?
Understand? Salvation is like that. You want
to be born again. You want that wonderful new
birth experience. You cannot attain it through
your own struggles. It's all bought and paid
for by the very Son of the Living God. It's there.
Salvation is a gift. All you have to do is to
reach out. Those tiny little feeble fingers.
Reach out. And just accept what Jesus did for
you on the cross. That's all. Come. Jesus said,
all you have to do is to come. You have to be
willing. Any man can come. Any woman can come.
Salvation is possible to every human being in
the world. There's never been a man or a woman,
there's never been a human being who has been
a part of humanity. To whom salvation was impossible.
Know that. All you have to do is to come. And
when you come, you precious tiny little seed.
Confess your sins to him. You can't save yourself.
You can't forgive your own sins. You can't give
yourself eternal life. It's a gift. Everything
you and I receive from him is a gift, a gift.
Salvation is a gift. The forgiveness of one's
sins is a gift. Deliverance from sin is a gift.
Receiving the fullness of the Holy Spirit is
a gift. Not through our own struggling. I have
seen folk praying for the baptism of the Holy
Spirit. My goodness, you would never know that
the Holy Spirit was a gift. They agonize. They
plead. It's a guilt, my friend. Do you want victory
over that thing in that life of yours? Do you
really want victory? You do. can grow into something
noble and beautiful for God. This very moment,
defeat can be turned into victory. If only you'll
turn yourself over to a person and a power that's
greater than yourself. The power of faith can
be manifested in your life until it... those
around about you will wonder at the miracle.
But remember, never say, look at what I have
done. Kneel at the feet of Jesus and say, isn't
it wonderful that his grace and his faith should
be manifested in me.