Alright, now I know everybody's tired and I'm gonna try to hurry here tonight. I know I say that every time, but if you'll listen well, maybe I can get through it quicker. This is something that I've been thinking about for two or three weeks, and I did a lot of studying about it and thinking about it, and so I hope you'll listen. It's one of those things that are really important. It's pivotal. It's one of the things that separates out the real Christians from the ones who are just not. Most people live in this instead of real faith. I'm talking about superstition. In Acts chapter 17 verse 22, I don't believe I've ever heard a preacher in my life, I can't remember ever hearing one anywhere, reading anything, seeing anybody say anything about this subject. Isn't that something? Things like that amaze me when I come across something like this and I get to thinking about it and studying about it and it's so obvious. How come nobody's ever said anything? Have I been in church 45 years and I've never heard a message? Never even heard part of a message. Never heard anything. Never read a book. Nobody's ever said nothing about it. And yet it's so important. Acts 17 verse 22, this is Paul. Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said, you men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are too superstitious. It's only one other time in the Bible that that word in any form is used, and it's in Acts 25 and 19. It says there, "...but had certain questions against him of their own superstition." And it's referring to the believers here. This is a lost, unbelieving, pagan Roman referring to the Christians as superstitious. Their religion is superstition. And of one Jesus, which was dead, with whom Paul affirmed to be alive. I didn't read the context, but they said they brought him to me and I seen what it was. They just had questions about their own superstition. He referred to their religion as superstition. So, what is superstition? Alright, by its definition, it's a combination of two words, Greek words. It's to be faithless and fearful and under the influence of devils or evil spirits. Take that now. It is by definition to be faithless and fearful and under the influence of devils or evil spirits, which is the same thing, but attributing some supernatural significance or relevance to everything that happens. Superstition. Everything that happens has got to mean something. I mean, it's got to have some Meaning besides nothing. Seeing a black cat cross the road in front of you, or an owl, or a fallen star, or if it's Friday the 13th coming up, oh no, or chain letters, or somebody said a while ago, knock on wood. We can just go on and on and on and on. Be careful of them mirrors. Yeah, I walk under a ladder on purpose every time I can, just because. I do. Because I don't believe in superstition. Supposing that certain acts or words or possessions will affect the future or have some bearing on what's going to happen or not happen, like carrying a rabbit's foot in your pocket or having a lucky coin or some other object. Yeah. It's obsession with miracles and miraculous occurrences. You're superstitious if you're fascinated with things like that. It's an obsession with prophecy and being able to discern through different means future happenings, like tarot cards and crystal balls and whatever. There's Ouija boards. There's all kinds of things. It's called divination. God forbids it in the Bible, condemns it as evil. That's obsession with prophecy. That also goes for Bible prophecy, but we'll get to that later. Superstition is religious veneration for objects. What is all this? Even the world, see the lost world in this evil generation, it's a regular thing to see in the news where they see Jesus in some piece of toast or on a wall somewhere or in a cloud or in a piece of cheese or you know. Religious veneration for objects. Superstition is looking for or requiring evidence of supernatural acts or movement in the physical world as a confirmation of faith. Did you hear me? Superstition is looking for or requiring evidence of supernatural acts or movement in the physical world as a confirmation of faith. You say, well, get into that. That's in the Bible. The Bible is, well, you ain't got it yet. Let me just move along here. Superstition is seeking knowledge or insight into spiritual matters by means other than the Word of God, while focused on the physical surroundings or happenings. Saul sought out a witch so he could talk to Samuel. Superstition. Bible forbids that. Forbid what he did. The Bible forbids what he did, but he did it anyway. Superstition is seeking the knowledge or insight into spiritual matters by means other than the word of God. Now, superstition always looks foolish to others. People laugh at your rabbit's foot. People laugh at your little quirks and your fears and your hopes in some meaningless thing. It always looks foolish. Truth is to be our only guide concerning supernatural or natural matters. And the Word of God is the truth. Sanctify them through thy Word. Thy Word is truth. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me. Well, nothing else is done either. In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and you don't know anything if you don't know Jesus. And that's where the answers are, in the Word of God. Yes. That's the only place they're at. You're not going to understand anything about the past, about now, about the future, except what the Bible reveals to us. You ain't going to find it by looking in crystal balls or finding some witch or soothsayer to help you or dealing out a bunch of tarot cards or some other kind of cards or reading your hands or tea leaves or anything like that. Nobody's going to tell you anything true that's going to happen. Why do people want to believe in such nonsense when the truth is so available? The truth is to be our only guide. Not feelings, not fear, not desire to know or to understand. That's not to be what guides us. None of that. The truth of the Word of God. Yes, ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." So many times in the Bible that's repeated and repeated and repeated. The Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. So what do you need to be superstitious for? What do you need other confirmation for? Why do you need to see something? Faith don't have to see something. Faith can rest in the Word of God as the truth. Now, Truth is to be our only guide. It is closely, superstition is closely related to religion. And some equate the two. Like I just pointed out there in Acts chapter 25 and verse 19, the Roman ruler there referred to the Christian's religion as superstition. To him it was just foolishness. He didn't know anything about it. But I'll bet he had his superstitions himself. Because everybody does. If you don't have the truth, you're superstitious. It's closely related to religion. But superstition is actually the devil's substitute for truth, faith, and religion. It's the devil. Superstition comes from the darkness. Truth comes from the light. You want it more plainer? Superstition comes from the devil. From demons and evil spirits and the devil himself. From darkness and fear and confusion and uncertainty and doubt. That's where superstition thrives and comes from. Not from the truth. Because it's focus is on physical manifestations of supernatural powers. Superstition is always focused on physical, earthly, something I can see, something I can touch or hear or feel. That's where the superstition's focus is always on. Superstition is not faith. It's, people can be as fanatical about it as religious fanatics. And by the way, religious fanatics are almost always superstitious people. And this is a, it's a thing. I've thought and thought about it and it's like this big web and you just, you pull here and it pulls over here. And every way you go, you just can't seem to untangle it here. I've got so many things to say that I don't know how to say them in the right order. This is one of those messages that even though I've spent a lot of time trying to put it in order, when I get home tonight I'll probably change things around so that I can be able to express it better some other time. But all evil spiritual practices forbidden in the Bible have their foundation in that matter of sin. you know, physical manifestations of supernatural powers. The things that are forbidden in the Bible, evil powers, witchcraft, necromancy, that's talking to the dead, fortune tellers, astrologers, you know, and what did I say a while ago? What was the other one? But all of those, you know, they're all forbidden in the Bible and every one of them try to work up or present or pretend some spiritual a physical activity, see? Saul called on a witch, so she would call up Samuel, which I don't believe none of that, just to make it real clear. They are liars. Witches are liars, necromancers are liars, soothsayers are liars, fortune tellers are liars, astrologers are liars. They are of the devil and he was a liar from the beginning? Yes, sir. Just because they say. I mean, if that's really true, that a witch has the power to call a man of God back to this earth, out of his grave, out of heaven, what kind of power are we dealing with here? That's foolishness. But you'd be amazed at how much in the minority you are if you agree with me on that. Nobody believes that. They believe in the spooking boogers. It was Samuel. They'll argue with you. Boy, they'll fight you over that. It was Samuel. It was a familiar spirit. A familiar spirit. It wasn't Samuel. It appeared to be Samuel because that's what Saul wanted to see. That's what he wanted to see. You can't call people dead people back from the grave. Nobody can do that. Not even the devil can do that. And God ain't going to do it. So it's superstition. A religious person is likely to be superstitious, but an infidel is just as likely to be superstitious too. Do you ever think about this stuff? There's only faith in God by trusting in truth as it is revealed in his written word or there's superstition. Now you either believe God or you're superstitious. You believe something else. You believe what you see and you look for wonders and mysteries and fantastic things to talk about like flying saucers and Bigfoot and ghosts and that really Now, if you really believe in God, you don't believe that nonsense, that evil stuff. It's evil! And it's darkness. It's not light. The true child of God has one compass, and that is the written Word of God. There are so many people who want to say they're Bible believers. Joel Osteen always tells everybody at the end of his service after he has them pray the sinner's prayer, now go to a Bible-believing church. He don't mean that. Who believes the Bible? Anne believes all that stuff. Nobody. You either believe the Bible is God's Word and it is the authority, the final authority, or you're just superstitious and you're tossed about with whatever you see with your eyes and whatever you feel and experience or what somebody else tells you that they felt and experienced or they saw or they heard. Jesus come down from this right through the ceiling and sit on my bed and talk to me. That's a superstitious wacko. Ain't no such a thing. Jesus never done that for anybody. How can anybody believe that he would do it for them then? Well, superstitious people are reasons out the window. It's like insanity. The answer to every question, every doubt, every fear, every mystery, every future event, the true child of God finds the answer or the peace to just wait. He finds the answer in the word of God or he trusts the fact that God has just chosen not to reveal it to him yet. And he's okay with that. A true child of God is like that. He doesn't have to know. He can search the Word of God. Sometimes God will show you. Wow! But sometimes God don't show you. That's okay with him too. He's okay with not understanding some things. But a superstitious person is not. They're continually seeking for more answers. Superstition gives more authority. and more credence to things seen or done or felt than the Word of God." Where does that leave most of modern Christianity? Which camp are they in? They're superstitious. That's the question tonight. Are you really saved or are you superstitious? Superstition gives more authority, more credence, more attention to what they see, what they feel around them and experience. Superstitious people are always looking for signs and wonders and physical things or happenings to discern where they stand or what they must do. They're guided by the miracles and wonders that they get from people. All these Word of Faith preachers, they're superstitious quacks is what they are. They're not men of God, sent by God. God ain't talking to them. They're superstitious. They're just like a fortune teller, just like a witch. They're making merchandise of the people of God who are too ignorant to know the difference. Because nobody preaches on this. Nobody writes books about it. Nobody says anything about it. They look for things hidden or that must be discovered or deciphered which have been overlooked by everybody else through all these centuries. They can find secret codes in the Bible. That's superstition! Come on! Don't fall for that nonsense! Or they find some hidden truth that's there. In the numbers! The numerology, they talk about the Bible, verse, chapter and verses. The Bible didn't even have chapters and verses in it until recent history. So those numbers, what in the world? Every chapter 13 is a bad chapter. Every verse 13 is bad. I've read Bible scholar books telling you that kind of stuff. That is superstition. That's not faith. It has no basis in faith whatsoever. You don't have to make the Bible some great mystery full of secrets and codes and mysteries that are all there, but you just can't see them until some wise guy comes along and unlocks them for you with a rabbit foot in his pocket or a buckeye or something. He's got an edge on everybody else because he's got that going for him. Well, you might as well believe in fortune tellers and witches and necromancers and all of that too. Same deal. Same deal. Superstition. Those secrets, these secrets and mysteries are always found by some physical means. See? How do we find truth? The Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth as the Bible calls Him over and over. The Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of Truth guides you to the truth in the Word of God. That's how you get truth. That's how you find truth. You don't find it through some man who's got some special gift that unlock the secrets or to put on some kind of miracle or show to convince you, see? That's superstition. Superstition springs from religious feeling misdirected or unenlightened. What's unenlightened? Darkness. Somebody who's religious but in the dark, dark in their soul. They walk in darkness but they come to church. They walk in darkness and they hate their brother. Superstition leads in some cases to excessive opinions or practice, you reckon? You ever meet anybody that got sold on one of these secrets or mysteries or codes or prophecies or some prophecy teacher that's got it all figured out? And you ever meet somebody that's got hooked by one of them? Man, they'll fight you. I mean, they are zealous. They are full of extreme opinions. And they got evidence to prove it in something physical. We watched some videos here years ago. Was his name Ron Wyatt? Pure superstition. All of it. He found the blood of Christ underneath the mercy seat over there. He found the mercy seat. He's found the Ark of the Covenant. He's found Noah's Ark and everything nobody else could ever find. But boy did people go for it because you can see the chariot wheels. You can see the Ark. You can see that blood and see the tests they run on it that showed it wasn't like any other blood. How much of modern religion is superstition then? How much of what the Baptists believe here about all this stuff is superstition? And how much is truth from the Bible? Show me in the Bible where God makes any difference in the blood of Christ from anybody else. His blood was shed. They call it sinless blood. Blood does not sin. Blood does not contain sin. Sin is a moral transgression. It's a matter of the heart. It's a moral issue, not a physical issue. So all the people, you hearing me? Who believe that sin is a physical problem are superstitious. And that is not of faith. That's right. That's heavy. That is a heavy blow against all this superstitious religion. He bought the church with his precious blood. I believe his blood is precious because of who he was. But it's not some magical substance. No, sir. The life is in the blood. He shed His blood. His life was given. He laid down His life. He died so we could be reconciled to God through His death by the shedding of His blood. Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sins. But there was shedding of blood, so there ought to be remission of sins. Why is everybody continuing in sin? Why aren't they in remission? If the blood of Christ has been applied to them, how come they ain't in remission? They just make a superstitious rabbit's foot out of the blood of Christ and then get offended when anybody tells them the Bible truth about what it means and what it is and how it really is. They want to have some physical thing that has some spiritual connection That's why all the relics and the Catholics are big on that and every time there's anything found, this Shroud of Turin has been going on for years and hundreds of years and it's a relic for superstitious people to wonder at and stand in awe at. You don't need to be superstitious. You can have all your soul can contain by just believing, reading, studying, understanding the truth. that God reveals to us in His Word about everything. So, in others, it leads to excessive opinions and practice. In others, to unfounded belief in extraordinary events like charms, events, omens, and prognostics which is telling the future. In Christianity, it'd be prophecy. So not being founded upon the truth of God's word, it produces fear. Superstition is associated with fear. Faith cannot have fear. There is no fear. A perfect love cast without fear. Faith and fear do not go together. The fearful are gonna be cast in the lake of fire. Superstitious people are fearful people. All superstition. Everything that is superstitious is connected with fear. What's Friday the 13th? Why are you supposed to be afraid on Friday the 13th? Because something bad's going to happen. It's Friday the 13th, man. Ain't you afraid? I'm going to stay at home. It's Friday the 13th. That's a day to get out and go around while everybody else is staying at home scared to death. You're more safe. Oh yeah. So being founded on it produces fear. It produces confusion. It produces doubts and uncertainty. Superstitious people are never sure of anything. They just pretend to be. I've got my rabbit's foot, so I'm going to be okay. I hexed that bad guy so he can't bother me. Yep. You hexed out that black cat so you're okay. You ever see anybody do that? His black cat. Superstition always looks foolish to other people. All superstition does. Because it is foolish, that's right. So, not being founded upon the truth of God's word, it produces all those things. Confusion and fear and doubts and all that. Superstition gives rise to an utter disregard of reason. Being convinced that they have a supernaturally inspired guidance by discerning supposed signs and wonders. I know what they're doing. I mean, they've got all the signs and all these superstitious hillbillies. And you know, that doctor, where there's no doctor. When we went to the mission field, we had that book, where there's no doctor. And the theme of that book is all of the superstitions that you had to deal with in savage and uncivilized people. Because they are full of fear. They're full of superstition. It's their life. And so they have all these customs and ideas and beliefs about how to fix things. And you know how they fix one of the most common substances that they use to fix cuts and wounds and sickness and everything? You know what it was? Dung. They'd rub it on whatever was sores and everything. Superstition. What kind of mind? Where's the mind that that idea came from? Yes. The murderer. The devil. The one that's been a murderer from the beginning. One that goes about seeking kill and destroy. Well, that's a good way to do it. Get a cut. Instead of getting, you know, you don't want it to get infected, put some dung on it. But that's common among all of the uncivilized people that are in darkness with no light. The people that sit in darkness and no light. That's the way they live. They live by superstition and they're fearful all the time. And they have these people who oppress them because they can tell the future. They can cast spells. They can make things happen. I've heard missionaries come back from the field and they're sober and say, boy, you better not laugh at that. That's real stuff now. I'm not afraid of superstition. You shouldn't fear the devil. The Bible said, Jesus said don't fear him. Why should we fear that nonsense? It's fear that's controlling us. Everybody thinks these witch doctors and these savage cultures and things have some supernatural power. I remember Marcelino telling me about the priest down there in that little village where they live. Everybody was scared to death of him because he said he could just walk up to a house and look at it and it would just catch on fire. He told me that. And scared to death. That's how you keep people in subjection. Fear. By making them believe that you have supernatural powers. That they can't resist or can't withstand. That's how witches control people and warlocks and all of the... Their mind is closed to anything except that which fascinates their curiosity with superstition. Some new secret, some new way of controlling the future or controlling my luck. What do you think everybody does about trying to win the lottery? How many superstition, foolish, nonsense things do you think people do trying to do that? Oh yeah. Religious fanaticism is always related to superstition. So if a person is superstitious, he will likely be a fanatic if he gets some kind of religion. He'll marry his superstition to his religion. So now he's saved but he's got all this other insight that these other people don't have. Then there's this kind of superstition which makes it easy for a man by complying with certain outward observances to silence his conscience concerning his sin. And even his superstition serves as a support for his sin. You all get me? There's a way of being superstitious so that it settles your conscience. It numbs your conscience to your sin. Your mind rationalizes it all out, and your superstition is your belief. That's your religion. That's your so-called faith. You don't really have faith in God, because faith in God will make you believe. 1 John 1, 2, 3, 4. We've been reading this week. Every time I read it, it's just like, what in the world is the matter with everybody? You want to get squared away on sin and living right? And what a Christian is, just read 1 John 1, 2, 3, and 4. It'll just fix you right now if you'll just slow down and read it. And believe what you read. And throw out the superstition that you've heard from the pulpit and from all these other Christians all these years. Superstition, now this is a quote here, superstition may be described to be either the careful and anxious observation of numerous and unauthorized ceremonies in religion under the idea that they possess some virtue to propitiate God and obtain His favor. So, y'all understand what this old timer here is saying when he's writing? He's just saying that superstition can be described as somebody who's real religious and really pays attention to all of the ceremonies and all of the rituals and everything of their religion. Because they think that that's going to please God, that's going to satisfy God about their sin. This is a superstitious person who's practicing religion like a Catholic. Like a Baptist who thinks sitting in church, being baptized, and belonging to the church, being a member, taking the Lord's Supper, and tithing, he's doing everything right. He may cuss, he may drink, he may be immoral, but he's doing those things and he don't miss. So he's putting all of his stock in that. He's superstitious. He's not saved. Or as among pagans and others, the worship of imaginary deities and the various means of averting evil by religious ceremonies. That's just like the savage peoples in New Guinea or places like that. They have all these ceremonies and they do all these things and they even have blood in it and they do all these terrible things in ceremonies. The Indians did it. All savage people do that. They worship an imaginary, and it's all superstition. It's not truth. It's not looking to truth. It's not looking to God. It's coming from the darkness. It's coming from empty souls full of fear, and guilt, and confusion, and doubt, and unbelief. They're superstitious. So they do something, they look for something to do, they look for something to touch, something that will happen a certain way, some kind of omen, some kind of signal from beyond somewhere to confirm that they're right, or that they're okay, or that they're heading the right direction, or that they ought to go this way. They get their direction and everything from stuff like that. They have, which a heart, these people that do that have a heart. Oppressed with fears and a perverted fancy. and it may dictate to those ignorant of the true God and the doctrines of salvation." Now that was a quote from some old preacher long ago. It's very easy to see, you can observe this, that the transition from unbelief in God, I'm talking about, to superstition is always easy. When somebody forsakes God, and they write him off, and they blaspheme him and say, I don't want any of that. they become superstitious. Yeah. Those who reject the truth of God normally become very superstitious. It's something to behold how steadfastly an unbeliever will resist the truth of God and yet how readily he'll embrace the superstitious nonsense. Aliens from outer space. Life on other planets. How about evolution? How about Bigfoot, ghosts, and demons, flat earth people? What about them? Parallel universe, time travel, and on and on. We could just go on and on and on. There's no end to the fantasies and nonsense that's out there and it's all other worldly. And who believes that? Who believes all that? Except Who believes all that except those who do not truly believe the Word of God? Who else believes that? Nobody. It's people who do not believe the Word of God. They reject God, so they believe all that stuff. They'll believe anything. They're itching to believe anything. They just want to believe so bad. Now, who's doing this? What's the space program about? About finding life on other planets. That's all it's about. They've got to find it because they know it's there. They just believe it so strongly. It couldn't not be there. Not one cell, not one virus, bacteria, not one fossil, not one bit of evidence from anywhere else in the universe. They found a rock down South Pole or somewhere here a few years ago where they found it, but they said it was from Mars. How did a rock from Mars get on the Earth? They busted it open and said it had a fossil in it, looked like. Caterpillar or something. Now, those are superstitious people. You are really reaching, boy. When you pick up a rock off the ground on Earth and say, this came from Mars. Have you ever seen a rock from Mars? No. Have you ever touched one? No. Has there ever been anybody on Earth ever had a rock from Mars? No. But I found the first one. How'd he get here? They're sending spaceships there trying to figure out, they can barely land there once in a while, but they're wanting to get some rocks and bring back home. Well, why? I mean, if they're laying here on Earth, we're just going to go out and find them. I mean, I'm not educated and I'm not so intelligent, but man, I'm not that stupid. If a rock is flying through space thousands and thousands of miles an hour and it enters our atmosphere, what happens to it? It burns it up. But he's got a rock this big he found from Mars. They made a big deal of it and it's the truth and they've said it over and over and over. Everybody believes it and it's nothing but superstition. It's a fanatical belief in some absurd, uncertain thing that they just want to believe because they refuse to believe the truth. God said he's going to send them strong delusion to those who refuse to believe the truth. They'll believe a lie and be damned. Now, I've got to hurry here, but let me just hit this real quick. Try to hurry through this. Listen to me. All spiritual exercises, spiritual duties, ordinances can be turned into superstitious rituals. Prayer. Most people make prayer a superstitious ritual. There's no end to the books that have been written. And if you want to sell a book, write one on prayer. How to praise, things to do, how to get your prayers answered. And it's always by some earthly means. some trick or something. I mean, we're seeing some people even around here use essential oils before they pray so it unlocks some unknown frequency or power so that you can get your prayers answered. Show me that in the Bible. It is superstitious. Those are superstitious people who don't know God. It's superstition. It's from darkness. It's not from God or His Word. Prayer is simply communicating with God. Now, all of you got a phone in your pocket. Now, if you have service, you can call anybody in the world and talk to them. That has a phone too, can't you? You got to be connected. to do that, right? If you don't have a phone, you can't call. You can stand up on top of the roof and holler all you want to, but they're not going to hear you. You have to be connected. So that's only the secret to prayer. You've got to be saved. You've got to know God. And you commune with God. And He communes with you. That's what prayer is! It ain't no trick to it. Ain't nothing else you can do. There's no hoops you can jump through or tricks you can pull or any gimmicks you can do to make God listen to you more. Or to give you what you want more from your prayers. But yeah, you can't pray until something happens. You can't pray harder. Pray hard. What do you mean pray hard? It's not in the Bible. You can pray with importunity. Yeah, that's in there. But even that's not a trick to fool God or to twist his arm or to distort his will. Prayer. People turn it into Superstition. Prophecy. Now we only know, y'all listening to me? We only know what God has revealed to us in this book right here. That's all we know about what's going to happen. Alright? Those who claim to have some special insight or revelation or some way of unlocking secrets hidden in the Bible or elsewhere are doing so based on superstition. They're not doing it based on the truth of the Word of God. I believe that. I believe we've got a bunch of charlatans, a bunch of them, about all of them these days, focusing in on prophecy, claiming they know every detail. What's the guy on the radio, Irvin Baxter? He's a oneness Pentecost. He believes in baptismal regeneration. He believes you're saved when you're baptized in the water. I heard him say that. He don't even know how to get saved. And he claims that he knows every detail about how everything's gonna happen here. He don't believe in the rapture. He's an Amillenist. So, but man, he's raking in the dough. He's got millions and millions of people following him because they are superstitious people being fed superstitious lies. And they're all gonna be deceived and they're all gonna be in trouble when it don't happen like he's telling them it's gonna happen. We only know what the Bible tells us. And it's quite a mystery about the second coming of Christ. We know he's coming. And I believe he's coming. And I believe he's coming before the great tribulation. I don't believe he's coming before we have any tribulation. I believe we're gonna be crying out, oh, come quickly, Lord Jesus, before he comes. But that ain't the great tribulation. I mean, it's going to be rough, but it's going to be way rougher when the church is gone. Those who are constantly interpreting the Bible by current events and therefore continually changing their minds and their stories about it all, they're superstitious, not spiritual. You can't discern the Bible by what's happening in Israel. I mean, you can't look over there and say, well, that's what they're doing now, or Europe, or every president for the last three or four has been the Antichrist, you know. Got to be him. These are superstitious people. They're superstitious people. I'm just trying to hammer it so you'll start recognizing that and quit falling for the lies of the devil because it's coming from the darkness, not from the light. I believe the Spirit of God is quickening the spirits of His real people now because they're looking for Him. There's an excitement in you. There's anticipation because you just know from what you read in the Bible, not what you see on the news. Man, that is just truth I'm telling you. You can't interpret the Bible by current events. Faith. Faith is not sight. We believe God because of what he said, not by what we see. The just shall walk by faith, not by sight. It's simple, profound, foundational truth about faith, real faith, saving faith, faith that makes you born again. You don't walk by sight. Superstition is always by sight. Those who must have their faith confirmed by some physical manifestation are unbelieving and superstitious, not spiritual. And they do not have the kind of faith that God commands. If you have to see God heal your loved one and He doesn't do it and you lose your faith, you're just superstitious and you didn't have any faith to start with. Faith does not have to be confirmed. Faith gets tried. I mean, the real fiery trial of your faith is when all of the circumstances says, you are a fool to believe in God. Can't you see there's not one ounce of evidence anywhere that it's true? And everything says it's not true and you still believe him, you're a fool. That's the trial of your faith. That's why Job said, though he slay me, I'm in a dust pile. Everything's gone. My family's all dead. I've lost everything I have and boils all over my body." He said, if he kills me right here, I'm still going to praise him. I'm still going to believe him. I'm still going to trust him. That's faith. That's the real deal. But it's not faith when you say, I really prayed for that job. I just believed that God was going to give it to me. I just believed that God was going to heal my loved one. If your faith has to be confirmed by some earthly, physical manifestation, it's not faith. I'm just telling you the truth. You're just superstitious. Holiness. Holiness is not found and conforming to the doctrine, the creeds or standards prescribed by anyone. Holiness is not that. Holiness, you know, given any authority or confirmation to some outward show of piety as evidence of true holiness, that's superstitious and not spiritual. You all with me there? Do you understand what I'm talking about? Holiness doesn't, it doesn't consist of your outward appearance, your outward show of religion. It's not what true holiness is. True holiness is the state of your soul. It's what you are inside, which will show itself on the outside. But that's not what, that doesn't constitute holiness. But so many people believe it does and that's as far as they look. We've grown up in this generation where as long as you cut your hair right and you wear the right clothes and you're always at church, if you're faithful to the church activities, you're a fine young man. You're a fine young woman. You're going to go far. God's going to use you. See? That is superstition. It's not real faith. The Lord's Supper, baptism, you know, these things. Baptism's been made into salvation. The Lord's Supper, for many, has been turned into a ritual that accomplishes supernatural things. You know, the Catholics believe that you are literally eating the body of Christ when you eat that little cookie he gives. Transubstitution. They believe that. That's their doctrine. This is a supernatural thing. When the priest gives you that wafer, it becomes the literal body of Christ. And you're eating him. The Word of God says the Lord's Supper is for one thing. Now we've had the Lord's Supper several times. We haven't had it in a while. We need to. But what's it about? One thing. Remember me. As often as you do this, remember me. That's what it's about. No superstition about it at all. It's the thing Jesus instituted for the church to help them remember. To bring it before their minds again that His body was broken and His blood was shed for me. Then they take it and turn it into some supernatural, spooking boogers, fascinating thing from the darkness. The Holy Spirit's work. Oh, this is the biggest one probably. There's so much superstition in modern religion concerning the Holy Spirit of God and it's not just Pentecost and they're tongue-talking, it's the Baptists and they're hooping and hollering and everything else they do. There's so much confusion. Talking in tongues is pure superstition. And it is from the darkness, not from the light. It is a physical manifestation that they demand as proof of evidence of the Holy Ghost. If you don't, with evidence, speak it in tongues. They don't even believe you're saved if you don't speak in tongues. So they base everything on this physical manifestation. This is associated with demons. It's found in every savage culture. Uncivilized people, they all talk in tongues. And then they bring it in the church and say, that's the Holy Ghost. What blasphemy. Any sin against me, the Father, be forgiven. But to sin against the Holy Ghost, Laying to His charge things that He's not doing. Who's doing this? It's superstition. It's fleshly. It's carnal. Where does it come from? The darkness. It comes from the devil and we're saying, this is holy, this is God doing this. It's actually the devil doing it and the people are saying, it's this God doing this. So how does that look from heaven? It's superstition. Just as we've defined it all the way through, that's all it is. All the testimonies about how the Spirit of God told them to do this, and turn here, and then go two blocks, and turn to the left, and then go three more blocks. I've heard these stories, you know, where, oh, the Holy Ghost of God just spoke to my heart, and He said to me, now you take that car, and you go this. Superstition! That's not God. The Holy Ghost does not do that. Show me in the Bible where he does that. He doesn't do that. There's no evidence in the Word of God that the Holy Ghost does that. So where did that idea come from? Where did all those beliefs come from? Where's all that fascinating stuff come from? Superstition. It's the devil playing them like a puppet on a string. Religious people who think they're saved. Oh my goodness. The Word of God tells us precisely what the Holy Spirit will do. what he does in this world. He will guide us into all truth. He is the spirit of truth, the spirit of truth. The spirit of truth says it over and over and over in the New Testament. The spirit of truth. Jesus called him the spirit of truth. He will guide us into truth. That's what the spirit of God does. If you want to understand something, you pray and ask God and his spirit to show you in this book. And the spirit of God will lead you to the truth that you're seeking. Sometimes He leads you to truth and you ain't seeking. Yes, that's true. That's right. The Spirit of God is the comforter. That's what the Bible tells us. He comforts us in our affliction, in our sorrows, in our troubles. He comforts us. The comfort of the Holy Ghost. Jesus said, it is expedient for you that I go away. For if I go not away, the comforter will not come. But if I go away, the comforter will come. I'll not leave you comfortless. I will send the comforter, the Holy Ghost, and he'll make you talk in tongues. He'll make you jump the pews and swing off the chandeliers and talk like monkeys and bark like dogs. That's going on in churches everywhere. Howling and acting like animals and full of foolishness and nonsense. What is that? It's superstition. It is not faith. It's fanatic superstition. It's not God. God ain't got nothing to do with it. God has nothing to do with that. It's out of hell. And it's of the devil. Here, I messed up my papers here. I'm almost to the end. See this end right here? We're almost there. So, if your faith requires confirmation by some physical means, you are superstitious. You're not really saved. Real saving faith does not require confirmation that way. And if the witness of the Holy Spirit of God in your soul is not sufficient for you, then you are superstitious. That's my last punch right there. If the spirit that bears witness with our spirit, that we're the children of God, is not enough for you. If the spirit of truth bearing witness with your soul about the truth, if that just ain't good enough for you, if you got to have something else, you're superstitious. If you can't settle for God the Holy Ghost, Speak in comfort and peace to your heart. You're superstitious. Quit looking for all this nonsense. Just believe the truth. Believe the Word of God. Find your answers there. Look for your answers there. Don't believe all this nonsense in the world and in all the kooky people and their fantastic imaginations about all this supernatural otherworldly stuff. I read 20 years ago that more young people in England believed in aliens than believe in God. I'd say it's probably the same now. Without a doubt. Because the darkness reigns and superstition goes with the darkness. The deeper the darkness, the more the superstition. When the light comes on, all that stuff has to flee. You're the light of the world. What in the world? If you say that you are walking in light but you're walking in darkness, if you say you know Him, if you say you have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, you lie. Do not the truth. If you're superstitious, you're walking in darkness. Oh, well, I'll quit. I told you I'd try to hurry. And I've talked fast, but had a lot to say here. And I hope you understand the main guts of this message here, because it's really important. I mean, it tells who you are. Look at yourself. What fascinates you? What excites your heart? What do you long after? What do you look for? Superstition? Amen. Father, thank You for the Word of God. I pray You bless it to our hearts. It's true. I believe everything I said here tonight, and I pray that it would fall into the ears of somebody that it'd help. It's helped me greatly. I pray it'd help somebody else to avoid the deceit that's in this world through unbelief. Lord, help us. I pray to avoid all this. We're bombarded with it every way we turn. It's on all corners. And it's involved in everything, even religious stuff, even church stuff, even the people we hear in churches we go to, and the things we read. It's full of this stuff. Lord, I pray you'd help us here to be wise and not fall for it. Please help us to get home now. Bless the rest of the week. Help us to be a light out there in this darkness. In Jesus' name, amen.