"Don't do Church...Be Born Again!" Kathryn Kuhlman Hebrews 6:4-9

You knew it would be a heart -to -heart talk today. At least you were hoping. All right. Oh, I tell you, there's nothing in the world like the Word of God. It is alive. It is practical. I mean exactly that. So is this thing of living a Christian life. It isn't just an experience. that took place for 5 minutes, 15 minutes. It's a life. Literally. Now, when it comes to salvation, salvation is instantaneous. Remember what the word says. Working out your own salvation. But you've got to have something there before you can work it out. You can't work out something that you've never had. When there's nothing there to work out, when are you going to work out? And there are a lot of folks that are killing themselves working at it, making themselves so miserable trying to work at something when they haven't had anything in the first place to work out. Work out your own salvation. But before you can work it out, you've got to have the new birth experience. This spiritual experience, which is as definite as your birth in the flesh. And it's like that. You can't be putting clothes on little babies before they're born. You can't be dressing up the dear little titan bee. Putting him in his crib and feeding him his milk and taking care of him until after he's born. But there are a lot of people who are so inconsistent when it comes to spiritual things. They are getting themselves all dressed up and working out something and they've never been born. They've never had that spiritual birth. You can't dress up a baby until after there has been the physical birth. After the baby is born, then you feed it, then you clothe it, then you train it, then you work on its future. But it's got to be born first. In exactly the same way when it comes to the spiritual birth. There are a lot of people working at something that they had never had. You've got to be born again. You've got to have the spiritual birth first before you can work out your salvation. And your spiritual birth is something that's instantaneous. It's a definite experience. A definite time, a definite place in exactly the same way that there is a definite time and a definite place for the physical birth. Now we got that settled. All right. And you want to know something? There are thousands of people who are so sincere in believing that they are Christians. I really don't believe that they recognize the fact that they have never had this spiritual birth. They go to church every Sunday? For one solid hour? I'll tell you, they're right there. There are those who run to Mass. They're there. They wouldn't miss Mass for anything. There are those who take communion. They wouldn't miss it for anything in the world. They're working on something that they've never had. They've never been born again. Now, that is the reason that this portion of the Word of God that we started in our last heart -to -heart talk is so important and so grossly misunderstood. I should take it very seriously Slowly. I shall speak so. That the little mama who has such a hard time and keeps writing to me and she says, Dear Miss Cooman, you forget. I'm 86 years old and sometimes you talk so fast. My poor little worn out ears. Can't hear it all so fast. All right, honey, Miss Kuma talked a little more slowly today. Yes, for you. Now, let's read it. Let's begin with the fourth verse of the sixth chapter of Hebrews. For it is impossible. What's that word, impossible? And then the two words that follow. For those. Now we know immediately that Paul is not speaking to the folk who are in his presence right there. It is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come. If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance seeing they crucify to themselves the son of god afresh and put him to an open shame for the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it and bringeth forth herbs meeteth for them by whom it is dressed receiveth blessings from god but that which beareth Thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned. But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation. He's talking to two different classes of people. I'm going to say something that will probably shock some of you, and all I ask of you is to sit there with an open mind and open heart. Let the Holy Spirit be your teacher. These things are only spiritually revealed. I don't care what you've been taught. Please just now do not have any preconceived ideas in your mind. Just sit there with an open mind. Let the Holy Spirit be your teacher. Because I know that there are many, many... many different interpretations to this portion of the Word of God. Some feel as though it is the unpardonable sin. It is not. Watch. And before I give the interpretation of this, as the Holy Spirit has given it unto me, I want to just remind you of something. And that is the fact that There are an awful lot of phonies in the world. Oh, the world is loaded with phonies. You've got them in your office. You'll agree with me that wherever you work, wherever you are employed, you've got some phonies hanging around. And you folk who are employers. You'll have to be honest and admit you've got some phonies in the organization. And your neighborhood. Oh, sure. They aren't kidding you one bit. I know. She gets all dressed up like the f***. first horse in the parade, and you know the whole thing is charged, and it hasn't been paid for yet. You know that. Oh, I hear them talk. You hear them talk. We don't say anything, but we know they're phonies. And then, you know, An awful lot of people doing an awful lot of bluffing. Oh, my goodness, a life. An awful lot of bluffing goes on. And when it comes right down to producing, they can't do it. Oh, they've gotten by a long time. Sometimes they get by six months. Sometimes they get by a year. Sometimes they get by five years. But sooner or later, When the crisis comes, sooner or later, when they're brought face to face with something, it's proven that they're nothing more or less than a big bluff. Just a bluff. I hate to admit it, but we've got an awful lot of bluffs and we've got an awful lot of phonies. When it comes to this thing of religion, we're loaded, my friend, we're loaded. And these are the people that have brought such a reproach on the things of the gospel. They have brought such reproach on the things of God. They have literally put Jesus to... open shame. And it's just like that. Every time that I bring a heart -to -heart talk on the power of the Holy Spirit, every time I say anything about speaking in an unknown tongue, I get letters from people who will say, Oh, Ms. Kuhlman, we believe what you say. We know it's in the Bible. This speaking in an unknown tongue is there. It's in the Bible. But we know somebody who can turn it off and turn it on, and they don't live the life. all the things that bring a reproach on something that's very wonderful. Every time I speak on the baptism of the Holy Spirit, I'll get letters from those who say, Miss Gorman, we know it's in the Word. It's there. We have followed you in the Scripture. And yet, there is somebody in our church who professes to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And if the life that they live is a Spirit -filled life, we want nothing to do with it. Even when it comes to this thing of being a Christian. You know somebody who makes a Big pretense of this thing of being a Christian. Even the very attitude of being holier than thou. And these are folk who'll sit on the little throne of judgment and judge. Oh, they'd love to judge their neighbors. They'd love to judge their in -laws. Holy horror. Who we. So self -righteous. But they only do it. It's the only means they have of covering up their own sins. It's a matter of defense. They are really on the defense. Because they know their own hearts and they know their own dirty lives. And it's like that. Mm -hmm. Sometimes they'll get themselves all dressed up in long sleeves and long skirts and long hair and long faces just to cover up what isn't on the inside. Phonies. Ducks. After all, my friend is that which is in the... that's important. You know what the Master said? I want to read just a couple of verses in 1 John, the second chapter, the fourth verse. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar. And you can't be a liar and be a Christian, too. He's a liar. And the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby know we that we are in him. If you've been born again. You'll keep his commandments. You'll live like it. You'll walk like it. You'll talk like it. There will automatically be the fruit of the Spirit. That's exactly what Paul meant here when he said, but beloved, we are persuaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation. There are certain things that accompany salvation. And you don't have to go around and tell everybody you're a Christian. You don't have to. Your life will prove it. The way you live, the things you do, the way you talk. Your very speech will betray you. These things accompany salvation. And in the final analysis, you aren't fooling. Anybody but yourself. Now let's go back to the first part of the sixth chapter of Hebrews. It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, have tasted of the heavenly gift, were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away to renew them again. On to repentance. Seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame, they have never been born again. I'm going to be still just a minute until this penetrates a little bit. Because perhaps you've never seen this. Perhaps there has never been this revelation. And it seems so fantastic to even consider the fact that there are those who've been enlightened, who've tasted of the heavenly gift, who were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come. Do you know that right? Right now, you are tasting of the good word of God. That's exactly what I'm bringing to you. The good word of God. Right now, you are being enlightened. If you've been listening to me for the past 20 minutes, you know the way of salvation. I've made it so plain. You know how to be saved. liked just listening to me in the past 20 minutes to know that you need to be born again. Once enlightened, have tasted of the heavenly gift, were made partakers of the Holy Ghost. How often I think in some of these wonderful miracle services. In some of these wonderful services in the Shrine of the Torium. When the power of the Holy Spirit is falling, and I tell you the truth, there is so much of the power of the Holy Spirit that not only those who have come to attend the service, but even those who are employees, perhaps as union men, who are stagehands, or who have helped to put up the chairs cannot but help feel the presence of the Holy Spirit because the place is literally saturated with the power of the Holy Spirit. Those who stand in the wings, those who stand in the open doorway, if they only realized it, are partakers of the Holy Spirit. And they will acknowledge readily that they have felt something wonderful. There was something strangely different. I'll go even further than that. There are those who have been in great caring meetings. There are those who've been in the presence of others who had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Partakers of the Holy Spirit. They've been those who literally have felt the resurrection power of God going through their bodies. Partakers of the Holy Spirit. They have tasted of the heavenly gift. Sure, when it comes to being born again, they have tasted of the heavenly gift. They've tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come. Totally they know what it's all about. But lo, they are running a bluff. They have never really been born again. Never. There are those in our pulpits. There are those who are serving as... deacons. There are those who are serving as elders. There are those who sing in the choir every Sunday. There are those who hold high positions in our churches, both Catholic and Protestant, who have never been born again. And then, by their actions, not living the life because they can't live the life. They can't work out their own salvation because they've never been converted. Then by the life that they live, they put Jesus Christ to an open shame. And they bring a reproach on the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the neighbor says, if that's being a Christian, I don't want it. And the relatives say, if that's being a Christian, I don't want it. Mm -hmm. I don't care how often you've spoken in tongues. You can turn it on and turn it off. If you don't live the life, it's best you do not speak in tongues. I said a mouthful. It's much more important that you live the life. Why does the word say, after once enlightened, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance. Because, my friend, there is nothing more. If you will not listen to the Holy Spirit, if you will not accept the Christ, even after the Holy Spirit has convicted you, and you have all of this light, there is no further peace. help for you because there's nothing more God can do. There's nothing more left. That is it. If you're looking for something more, there is nothing more to get you to repent. You've had the works. You've refused it. And in refusing it, you're lost. If you don't live it, then don't profess it.