Consumed by Zeal

Hallelujah to God be the glory to God be the glory to God be the glory hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah praise God while you're standing I'd like to read a verse of scripture it is an honor be asked to preach here and to be the general superintendent of this great body it's not something I ever planned or dreamed or envisioned but I do count it a great honor and I'm so thankful to my wife she really is probably at least 51 percent of my Ministry or maybe even more than that if you if you ask the church where I pastor if my wife never ever got into a major disagreement I knew they would choose her over me every time so so we I tried never have a disagreement but Psalm 69 9 I'd like to read from the first half of that Psalm 69 9 says this for the Zeal of thine house hath eaten me up a little bit of unusual expression is it the Zeal of your house has eaten me up I want to preach tonight consumed by zeal consumed by Zeal you may be seated I do want to say just

a little bit more about my family my oldest son Jonathan and Sarah you heard her tonight I do remember we started the church and her family came I think she was five years old they were from the Catholic Charismatic movement I remember the first time they came and they enjoyed it we were just a small church and a little rented building and she said you know we well we and we are having afternoon service because that's only time we could have the building and they started coming Faithfully to our little church they decided when they moved to Austin they would look for a Spirit-filled church instead of a Catholic Church and they found us of all things and I remember when they had to miss the next Sunday she said well we're going to have to miss Mass next Sunday but we'll be back I said okay and all these years later they're faithful and so Jonathan and Sarah are serving in in essence is kind of like a granddaughter work but there have a church and a rented building where they're the associate pastor they're in the transition process to be the senior pastor

they've got land and getting ready to build and so it's exciting to see my kids involved in missions they've got three kids that are all in church filled with the Holy Spirit and then my second son and his wife Daniel and Kaylee they work for North American missions as the production coordinator and actually he was asked to to coordinate the last couple of General conferences it wasn't really my plan but I think he's doing a good job at least so far so uh we appreciate Daniel and then my daughter Lindsay and Hersman Cullen he's and Daniel and Kaylee have two little girls the older has received the Holy Ghost and then Lindsay and Cullen Cullen is a professor at urson college and they've just launched well a few erson kids they've just launched a whole missions church or North American Mission Church in Wentzville Missouri and so they're also they've got one child and uh we have one grandson on the way so we're excited about that from Daniel and Kaylee but I admit I take the time to mention that because the main thing for me is all of my family is serving the

lord and that's the most important um and I know sometimes you heard a wonderful message about prodigals you could be the best parent in the world and still have a prodigal I understand that but I'm just thankful it makes my job so much easier because I have that kind of faithful support and it's a bonus that four of them are credential ministers and Sarah I think is getting ready to meet her District board and I think maybe one more might be trying for it in the future I'm not sure but what an amazing thing that my kids are also not only involved in Ministry but credentialed ministers so it's just such a blessing and it's a Heritage that I receive and I'm so thankful they're involved in missions North American missions all of them uh because that's our heartbeat and of course I'm the conduit my mom and dad were credentialed missionary Ministers of the upci for over 50 years Pioneer missionaries to Korea my mom was first generation my dad his family came in the church when he was a child so we have a wonderful Heritage I'm taking that time because I'm trying

to convey something important tonight consumed by zeal now the passage I read of course first and foremost applies to Jesus Christ in fact the apostles noted that in John chapter 2 but I think it's also applies to us because we're supposed to be like Christ and what I'm trying to convey tonight and you hear the theme of this conference we're a blessed people we're blessed as American and Canadian citizens probably greater than any people in the history of planet Earth but yet we also are blessed spiritually to have a great heritage even if your first generation like the dillinghams what a Heritage they have of a testimony of Deliverance how God brought their family in the Church of all things we don't go to a bar to hear from God but God can talk to somebody in a bar what a heritage and behind me is our executive committee and also our ministry leaders I appreciate their faithful support because they're 100 percent working with me praying with me and all of you I feel so much support and prayer but I want us to go beyond the comfortable you heard it the last two

nights and you heard it with Brother Dean last night but somehow there must be an urgency there must be a burden that word zeal means fervor eager desire enthusiastic diligence passion somehow we've got to have that kind of zeal a passion for the kingdom of God that will motivate us to move forward into the will of God it's true we are a missional church we're a missional organization we exist for the whole gospel to be preached to the whole world by the whole church it can't be something added to our agenda it has to be our heartbeat we have to be consumed with Zeal to do the work of the father consume by zeal and so I go to John chapter 12 verse 24 through 25 what does it mean to be consumed and Jesus explained and again it applies to himself and to his sacrificial death but by extension it applies to us as followers of the Lord John 12 24 verily verily I say unto you except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die it abieth alone but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit he that loveth his

life shall lose it he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it until life eternal so verse 24 is talking about Jesus first and foremost that if he did not die he could not save the world but then he applauded to us we obviously cannot make atonement for the sins of anybody but we must have that same sacrificial attitude of giving our life away it's paradoxical but if we hoard our life and consume it with pleasure in the end after 70 80 or however many years it's gone it's over there's nothing left but if we spend our life for the kingdom of God if we're consumed by Zeal for Souls if we give ourselves away if we lose our life in the end we will step into eternal life that's the only life worth living a life of zeal and fervor and passion for the kingdom of God somehow we've got to go beyond the ordinary The Superficial the average the routine the media Joker the everyday and we've got to be passionate about the kingdom of God we've got to be perfect in worship we've got to have a hunger and a

thirst for righteousness we have to have a love for Souls a love for particles it must consume us it must eat us up it must dominate our thoughts and our plans our dreams and our Visions we need to be consumed by zeal the words that come to mind or consecration commitment sacrifice notice those words in John are the key to the Harvest the key to the Harvest he says verily truly it's the truth except there's no way around it unless is the only way you've got to fall into the ground you got to humble yourself you can't glorify yourself and win souls you can't glorify yourself and build a church if you do it'll be a superficial church but it will not stand the test of time if you want to be great in the kingdom of God you got to fall down if you want to win a soul and disciple a convert you've got to fall down if you want to be a church planter you got to fall down you've got to humble yourself get rid of yourself forget about yourself don't seek an office or a position or a title but

you seek the kingdom of God you see when you're consumed by Zeal a title really doesn't matter brother Howe thank God for the privilege of serving but I'm not here for a title I'm here to make a difference and if I can't make a difference forget it I've got to be consumed by zeal for the house of God I'm talking about commitment I'm talking about consecration I'm talking sacrifice fall in the ground and die unless you do that it's the only way will abide alone but when you die you'll bring forth much fruit he's talking about wheat in that analogy or parable one Spike of wheat could have a hundred grains do a little math first harvest you got 100 grains really not enough for a meal but if you could take 100 seeds and replant them now you got ten thousand you take ten thousand plans again by the fourth Harvest you have billions of seeds so we could have a million Soul Revival and a billion Soul Revival we're just a few harvests with just a few people falling in the ground and dying and they're doing it again and do it again

by the fourth Harvest we're going to have a Revival that will literally shake this entire world but we got to be consumed by zeal so we go the first century the early Apostles we like to say we're Apostolic well 11 of those Apostles according to early history died of martyr's death and the 12th was exiled in the isle of Patmos how Apostolic do you want to be the Apostle Paul Second Corinthians chapter 11 beaten Shipwrecked stoned hungry naked attacked by beasts and if that was enough the care of all the churches attacks inside as well as outside that's our Apostolic heritage we don't like to Major on that but Apostolic Heritage is sacrifice Apostolic Heritage is commitment not only first century but the modern Pentecostal movement we don't really know our history let me just hit highlight just shortly a few stories Eleanor Gamblin Canadian she wrote a book called The Sparrow song years ago I don't think it's even in print but she and her husband Garland Leonard went to China this was in the 20s and 30s and they were engulfed by Civil War and then the invasion of the Japanese and he

was killed and so she became an Apostolic missionary Widow returned back home to Canada she married a second time another preacher whose name was Sanford Johnston and they felt a call to go to Columbia one of the first missionaries to Columbia South America he was a great intercessor they didn't have much success as far as winning Souls but subsequent missionaries credit the great Revival much to the intercession of this man Sanford Johnson but he died in Columbia on Mission field and so Eleanor Gamblin came back a missionary Widow the second time not a great success story not something you'd want you to want Emily the great revivals that we have in China and in Colombia I believe God honored the sacrifice the commitment the prayer of an Eleanor Gamblin twice a missionary Widow that's our heritage 20th century Pentecost Werner Larson one of the Pioneers to Columbia also from Canada he went over there was this young wife and two children and preached and didn't have much results but one of the Pioneers his wife died in childbirth while he was on the mission field they were evangelicals in a Catholic country nobody would bury

them nobody would do the funeral service he had to build the coffin for his own wife he had to personally put his own wife he had to dig the grave and put his own missionary wife into the ground and left with two young children that's a United Pentecostal Church a missionary Pioneer in Colombia later had a million Soul Revival because of sacrifice like the intercessor Sanford Johnston and like the sacrificial Pioneer Werner Larson we don't know those stories we just know the victory stories well there was also Bill and Molly Thompson they were from the UK missionaries actually trinitarians converted to Oneness she wrote a book I'm not sure it's in print of Caesar's household and she talked about the great persecution that came to Colombia in the 1950s where our own United Pentecostal people were persecuted chased from their homes chased from their Villages chased out of the valley and she attributes the great Revival that swept that nation and went into other countries because just like the first century Church the Believers were chased out of their home area to all parts of Colombia and South America and many of our other works

in South America have roots from that great Colombian Revival but it wasn't all Rosy some of the these these Bandits would come and they specifically attacked the evangelicals the United Pentecostal Church of Colombia became the largest church outside the Roman Catholic Church they became a target of these people who hated the Protestants or the evangelicals or the Pentecostals they would hump them up they would beat them up they would chase them from their homes sometimes they would kill them our Saints Emilio and Rosa okindo were sitting in their home attacked by these anti-pentecostal Bandits they forced sister Oquendo to make them food and then they did what they called the T-shirt cut El Corte de franella chopped off their head so he looked like a t-shirt and that United Pentecostal couple were martyred for their faith a young man named Nelson Galvis was coming home from church 18 years old the bandits were lying awake for the pastor they saw this young man coming up in the dark they thought he was the pastor so they attacked and killed him just a teenager martyred for the Faith United Pentecostal Church even here in the United

States Homer white his stories and profiles of Pentecostal preachers volume two he was a United Pentecostal Church minister he was the second person baptized in Jesus name east of the Mississippi River so one day Homer and white was going to church a trinitary mom to attacked him started beating him up broke his nose they said we'll show this Oneness person what he needs to do they took him to a horse trough and they immersed him three times so he would have a trinitarian baptism then they took him to the bridge they were going to throw him in the river give him another baptism probably would have killed him but they were stopped somebody rescued him so here's Homer white rescued from the mob beaten bleeding bruised wet muddy what do you think he did well I told you he was on his way to church so he dusted himself off and he went to church that's our Pentecostal heritage second man baptized in Jesus name east of the Mississippi how many of us here right here tonight are baptized in Jesus name east of the Mississippi it's because of people like Homer white who are

consumed by Zeal all they could think of is repentance baptism in Jesus name Holy Ghost Holiness worship go to church Preach teach Pray Love some of you have heard me tell the story of my parents but I think it's worth telling their stories in the Korean Frontier but the reason why I am here the reason why I am what I am is because of my parents commitment so they were called to Korea and they were appointed in 1963. I'll just tell a few highlights I was a little kid of seven years old when in this story I was eight when we went to Korea and I do remember it from being part of it I also remember my parents telling me the story many times and I helped edit my dad's book so I know the details of the story but I remember we bought a brand new car to go on our deputational travel and as we're heading to New Orleans to get our passports to ultimately go to Korea we were hit head-on had a terrible automobile accident and there we even have the report from the newspaper of that accident but I

remember personally so my dad would have been 33 years old my mom 32 and I remember looking up my dad's nose was bleeding both of his arms are broken his nerve in his right hand was severed the doctor said he wouldn't ever be able to use it but God later healed him and he was able to shake the doctor's hand and show him the miracle praise God my mother's neck was broken the doctor said she came within a hair's breath of death she had a brain concussion she did not remember six weeks of her life I remember waking up in that car after the accident looking up seeing my dad bleeding sitting there patiently waiting as people gather around there trying to pry us loose from the car I felt something in my head I put my hand on my head and I had a cut from the front to the back which you can't see today because I use it to part my hair but I remember I remember bringing my hands down full of blood I started panicking I started gasping and my dad said it's okay everything's okay don't worry you're gonna

be fine and I remember the ambulance getting my mom and me out we rode in the ambulance to the hospital my mom calmed me down she didn't remember anything it took my dad another 30 minutes before they could pry him out of the car so we got to the hospital I had to stay with relatives for six weeks and my dad was in the hospital while there he began witnessing to a nurse she repented of her sins and been crying in the hospital room he sent her to a upci church where she was baptized in Jesus name received the Holy Ghost even the midst of trial so a few years ago this lady passed away her son contacted me and he said I want to get a message to your dad my mom has passed away but she stayed in the church the rest of her life she brought her whole family in the church he said I'm a Pentecostal preacher we're all in church today because of your dad's testimony in the hospital God doesn't exempt us from trials but God can work in the middle of our trials so neighboring Pastor came to

my dad visited him in the hospital people actually would one lady came to the hospital one of our relatives and when she saw my dad She fainted it was so bad well this guy came my dad's neighboring pastor friend and he said brother Bernard God's trying to get your attention God's trying to tell you you missed his will he's trying to stop you from going to Korea now what would you say my dad's 33 years old lying flat on his back in the hospital can't feed himself can't dress himself both arms immobilized his wife my mom is in the Next Room incapacitated unconscious they don't know if she's going to live or die what would you say well my dad said God only has to tell me one time what to do we're going to Korea commitment consumed by zeal I didn't realize the full impact until my parents passing my dad's funeral brother Jerry Jones who was then General Secretary I was general superintendent and brother Jones shared this testimony with our family he said I was a young man in college feeling call of God but feeling I couldn't do it so he's

now struggling to feel that I was not able or worthy he said I went to a missionary service he said your dad gave that testimony and brother Jones said well my dad gave that testimony God has to tell me only one time what to do and I'm going to do it brother John said God spoke to him and said how many times do I have to tell you and that's the night brother Jones accepted he had already felt the call but that's the night he's accepted the call I asked him if it's okay for me to tell the story consumed by zeal and so what impressed me at my dad's funeral here am I the general superintendent of the upci here's the general secretary's testimony of the upci there's no way that 30 actually 33 year old man lying flat on his back there's no way he could understand the consequences of his decision over 50 years later but that commitment that sacrifice that Zeal that irrational decision so to speak dramatically affected the history of the United Pentecostal Church International I wouldn't be here without that commitment maybe brother Jones wouldn't have accomplished what

he had accomplished without that commitment not to speak of the United Pentecostal Church of Korea hundreds of preachers hundreds of soldiers Americans and Caucasians African-Americans Hispanics Koreans hundreds and thousands by that one decision you can't look and play in your career you have to be consumed by Zeal you have to be committed you have to be consecrated you have to sacrifice you count the cost but then lay it aside and say regardless of the cost I must do the will of God regardless of the Sacrifice unconsumed by Zeal it's eating me up I cannot do anything else consumed by zeal and that was just the beginning so we got on a ship to go to Korea with all of our belongings out in the Caribbean the ship caught on fire we raced to the Panama Canal Zone we've got the story of the ship catching on fire and it was a freighter it's a long story we're had kerosene gallons of kerosene barrels on the deck we finally got to the Panama Canal Zone which at that time was U.S territory American firefighters took the ship out to sea put the fire out and they

told my dad five percent more heat the whole ship would have exploded and there was a Chinese dentist who was the other passenger and we'd shared our testimony in fact I was eight years old there was a brand new book called they speak with other tones I was reading it was about the charismatic movement and he saw me reading that book He's wondering I wanted to know what it's all about so I told him about the Holy Ghost I told him about Acts 2 38 speaking in tongues and so so he when he heard the firefighters say that he told my dad we're a lie because of you missionaries your God protected the whole ship Because of You missionaries we're we're saved because of you because your God protected you now in those days we were we went to Korea for five years before returning home and that was before Partners in Mission so my parents had to sign a statement saying they understood that the budget was not guaranteed it would just propose and depending on how much money came in to headquarters it would be divided among all the missionaries that month and

if there was enough in their budget they would get it but if there wasn't enough they wouldn't get it so they had to sign a statement saying they understood no money was guaranteed to come in that first five years we only had three visits from American preachers when we left by why my mom's mother had cancer inoperable she knew she would never live to see my family again she told my mom I'm saved I'm okay people in Korea are lost you got to go win the lost and so my mom at age 32 said goodbye to her mother never to see her again that was before internet before email actually even before satellite there was a cable but you could to call America you had to pay an exorbitant sum of money go downtown to the post office get get in line and wait half a day to the cable to open up and get a just a scratchy time lapse connection and so we had to communicate by letter so the way we found out my grandmother had died is my mom opened the letter in the obituary obituary fell out the funeral was

already gone and that's how we knew the grandmother had passed away it just so happened my dad's mom also passed away during that first time so they never saw their mothers again it's a lot different than it is today it was isolated and so I remember my dad going into the basement where he had an office and he would pound on that manual typewriter hundreds of letters by hand pleading for money finally got enough money to build a piece of to buy a piece of property in the city of Seoul so they erected a tent I think I have a picture of that tent that was the first United Pentecostal Church of Korea and then after that uh maybe it'll show there it is and then after that he raised enough money to build a basement so then we had Church in the basement and then after that he built raised in a bunny for the first floor and then the second floor and then the Bible school and then the dorms but it was at Great cost and sacrifice that's just a little bit and after there was great Revival back then now this

is the 70s I saw in one week's time hundreds of people receiving the holy ghost that was unheard of I saw what was possibly the greatest Jesus name baptism since the day of Pentecost and maybe one of the greatest today in one hour I watched 12 preachers baptized 550 people in the name of Jesus Christ one hour but it was sacrifice after that it was great persecution I I came back to go to college or I remember visiting them while I was still a college student in the meantime they'd suffered a lot of persecution physical persecution trinitarians were trying to stop the Oneness message and I remember sitting in the car the Land Rover the cheese for Christ moved the mission vehicle and my mom was telling me a story she said yeah we were in this little church dad was at the pulpit leading service and a group a gang of trinitarians ran in there to stop the service they attacked your dad he refused to stop preaching he just kept right on going while they're attacking him he just held on to the pulpit so they had to knock the pulpit over grabbing

by the necktie and physically drag him out of the building and she said of course she was small and petite but very proper and always a southern woman with impeccable manners and dress she said they picked me up bodily and just they just threw me in the street she said I was so embarrassed in front of hundreds of people walking up and down the street this dirt street says I've just thrown out lying out on the ground middle of the streets I pick myself up I try to dust myself off but she says I straightened my dress and then she said I got so excited because I remembered acts 5 46 they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name she says I started worshiping she said I was bruised I was hurt but I felt like running up and down the street saying I'm worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus I'm worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus an Apostolic I'm Apostolic when she finished tell me that story she said I was up at walking down that dirt street and she said when I

walk up the streets of gold when I walk up the streets of gold how my heart will rejoice in that morning when I walk up the streets of gold that's my heritage that's my Heritage my parents were not famous but they rejoiced that they could suffer shame because they saw the Revival and so I went to college I felt like I wanted to be a lawyer I did go to law school I did pass the bar became a lawyer I was always going to work for God and I did work for God taught Bible studies one Souls I was involved in youth ministry children's ministry nursing home Ministry you know campus ministry you name it I was involved in everything but people would say you're going to be a preacher just like your dad you're going to be a missionary just like your mom and dad I would say no way I wasn't running for the call but I knew look that's sacrifice that's commitment God would have to call me there's no way I could do that unless God absolutely called me because I Knew Too Much I knew that there was I would

have to be consumed by Zeal this can't be a family business this can't be passed down like a monarchy this can't be well this is the best career that will make more money than the Alternatives no I had to have a burden I had to have a Zeal it had to be I can't do anything else it would have to be a fire shut up in my bones if if if you feel like preaching if you could choose any other career and be happy you should choose the other career and be happy and let God bless you in the local church but if you can't do anything else then you know when you're consumed by zeal then you know when there's no where there's a fire shut up in your bones you can't do anything else consumed by Zeal I'm not a preacher by choice I'm a preacher because God said this is what you're called to do obviously we have a choice but you must be consumed by zeal so my last year of law school I did feel the call to preach and I won't go into all that story I do tell

it in my book reaching Austin but I was kind of naive brother Gleason if a young man came to me and asked advice I probably would not tell him do what I did because what I did I had all these job interviews lined up with law firms from Washington DC to Houston to Austin to Los Angeles I had all these job interviews or potential interviews and I just shut them all down because God called me to preach so when I graduated from law school I'll be a preacher so I get to March of my graduation and so I get ministerial license with the Texas district and uh I've been dating we got secretly engaged and we got March I got public engagement I didn't have a job when we got married so I'm graduating in May getting married in June and I don't have a job and my dad said you want me to start calling on my pastor friends and seeing if they'll let you preach some words and no doubt I got this is something I got to do on my own God's going to open the door so right around April the

30th I got called to go to Jackson for an interview and I was hired on or around April the 30th to be a full-time instructor and administrator Jackson College of Ministries in Jackson Mississippi graduated in May got married June 6 two weeks later we're in Jackson we're in full-time Ministry it was a close run thing that's why I say I wasn't sure I'm not sure I'd recommend somebody do that but see that's all I could think about I'm going to be a preacher I'm going to be full- time in a Ministry by the time I get married I'm going to have full-time Ministry position didn't make sense but somehow it worked out and then in 1992 we went to Austin felt a call and started in our home rented building for four years first building second building I'm so thankful for pastor Rodney Shaw that when we when I was elected general superintendent there was a church of about a thousand people we had a number of daughter works today they're they're 23 daughter works or daughter works or churches that were started by a preacher or taken over by a preacher 23 in the

new life Network and it's a beautiful building on the freeway initial seating capacity a thousand room to add 2500 500 parking spaces 36 million dollar value from starting in our home it's just amazing I could have never planned it I could have never known it and understand I'm telling you my story because I think any church Planet could relate you don't have to try to duplicate whatever we did but I really don't attribute to me I attribute to my parents because all the time I was thinking me and my parents opened a whole country my parents brought Revival to the whole country my parents by by the time they left Korea they they planted 23 churches and three military fellowships there's no way I could ever do that so I'm thinking no matter what I do it will never be that good I just have to work hard and do whatever God's called me to do and then they had a second career of opening Spanish Ministry in Louisiana and that's another story but I attribute it to my parents commitment my parents sacrifice they fell into the ground and died and I'm here today

and I can tell nice stories about what God did in Austin not really because I sacrificed but because people going before me were consumed by Zeal and maybe I was able to capture some of that Zeal maybe I was able to capture some of that fervor that's what it's going to take today even today around the world we've got persecution in Myanmar chin State hundreds maybe thousands are believers have been driven out of their homes some of our churches burned down same thing in Northeast India Manipur same thing in Papua New Guinea the highlands same thing in Pakistan with Muslim attacks on United Pentecostal Believers same thing in Haiti with our Bible school and orphanage overrun by gangs so you know that persecution seems so foreign to us but United Pentecostal Believers around the world today are paying the price for serving Jesus Christ I don't think I want to stand next to them in the judgment I think I want to be I don't even think I want to stand next to my parents in the Judgment I think I want to be like 10 spaces behind them put me behind a bunch of

Americans of the 21st century Church don't put me next to Haiti and mine bar in in Pakistan but what about us What About Us what about North America what are we supposed to do we aren't facing that kind of physical persecution I'm not suggesting we should desire it but I do believe there's social persecution I believe there's ostracism there's ridicule there's attack on families there's attack on children there's attack on schools but it's a different kind of persecution but the same kind of commitment and Consecration and sacrifice that I told you about from the first century and the 20th century and the missionaries and the overseas constituently somehow we are Americans and Canadians must get some fortitude some determination some commitment some Zeal we've got to be consumed by Zeal our circumstances may be different our battles may be different our sacrifice may be different but it should be no less than all the rest we've got to sacrifice we've got to commit we've got to be consumed we've got to stand how do we do that you know our culture is I think exactly like Isaiah 5 20-21 woe unto them that call evil

good and good evil that put Darkness for light and light for darkness that put bitter for sweet and Sweet for bitter wound to them their wives and their own eyes and put in their own sight that's our culture that's our school system that's our government that's our media that's that's the culture we live in the inversion of Good and Evil and we're being called the ridiculous people because we want to say good is good and evil is evil so what do we do let me share a few things number one seek the truth by the truth and sell it not seek it First Kings 22 King Jehoshaphat the good King was alive with King Ahab the evil King they were going to fight the syrians and so they were getting ready to march to battle in the in The Godly King said wait a minute before we do that in First Kings 22 5.

first let's find out what the Lord says and so Ahab says okay sure fine I got 400 Prophets and they all prophesied go God's going to give you Victory Joshua it says isn't there a Prophet of the Lord I mean I just don't want a word I want a word from God I don't want a sermon I want the truth I want to doctorate I don't just want to Doctrine I want the word of God I don't want a denomination or an organization or a cultural message I want to hear from God there might be 400 false prophets but I gotta find one true prophet they did find Micaiah he sized up the situation it's obvious he must have been sarcastic because he says because they warned him ahead of time now 400 prophets already prophesied you better fall in line says okay he says go everything will be just fine and even Ahab said you're supposed to tell me the truth he said if you want to know the truth I saw you did that's what I saw if you don't if you go you're going to be killed and they have said lock

that guy up till I come back and the prophet said if you come back I'm not a prophet you're not coming back and the word came to pass I'm saying don't go by the majority don't go by the culture don't go by denominationalism we got to seek the truth we got to hear from God we need a prophet of God we need a man or woman of God in this culture in this hour we cannot just follow the trends of the world no matter how enticing they meet we need to hear from God we need to hear from God we need the word of God we need the truth number one seek the truth number two stand for truth it's not enough to know it you got to stand for it not when it's easy when it's hard I don't mean being hateful obnoxious caustic but you got to stand for truth Daniel and the three young Hebrews now notice they had great influence their society they were engaged in politics they Rose High in secular society I'm not against all that but in the back of your mind you've got to remember I'm a

Child of God I'm an Apostolic I can go places I can have influence I can speak to politicians I can have places in business I can have a profession I can do all kinds of things but let me tell you in I believe this in every person's life and in every preacher's life there will become a decisive moment do you wonder why their prominent preachers and their sons rise to prominence and please let me say this because I'm a preacher's kid okay and I've got preachers kids and they rise to prominence because of their parents and maybe they step into a great church and then five or ten years years later they've totally changed the doctrine and you think how could that be how could you be raised without Heritage and where's the ethics of taking your father's church and destroying his legacy go start your own church with your own Doctrine leave your hair to if you don't like your hair just leave it back if you're going to be the prodigal leave the father's house but don't mess with the Father's Farm don't burn down the father's house don't steal this crop just

go do your own thing and prove how big you are but let me tell you why that happens I don't care how Apostolic you are and how great your heritage is there comes a time when you will have to make a personal decision and you have to have your mind made up before the time comes so the three young Hebrews were in this High position and then the king made an unfair decree when the music starts you gotta bow to the idol so they're all standing the music starts the whole congregation bowed but these three young men the king gave him a second chance and they said you know whether God delivers us or not it doesn't matter we already made up her mind if we get thrown in the fire furnace to burn up we already decided now we believe our God will Deliver Us don't worry about that but if he doesn't we already made up our mind we're not going to Bow we're not going to bend we're not going to compromise we're going to stand for truth if it kills us we're going to stand for truth if we're the only

one standing the Zeal of your house has eaten me up the Zeal of your house has eaten me up I'm Gonna Stand For Truth you can engage you can influence but don't compromise sooner or later you will face a decision seductive and deceptive influence and you will have to make a decision at the key moment don't bow maintain your integrity and your commitment number three that's not even enough you gotta love the truth you gotta love it if you don't love the truth one of those times you'll be deceived and you'll actually think it's the truth and it's not the scary thing is revelation and deception can feel the same now we believe in the move of God we believe in emotions but if you're just preaching on your feelings if you're preaching because it sounds good and the audience responds you better be careful because Revelation and deception can actually feel the same how do you know the difference you got to love the truth you think that's too strict second Thessalonians 2 9 through 12 the coming of the Lawless ones according to the working of Satan with all power lying power signs

lying wonders with all unrighteous deception deception among those who perish why because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved and for this reason God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie that they may all be condemned who do not believe the truth but had pleasure unrighteousness now I was raised in Korea the majority are non-christians they're Buddhists they're Spirit worshipers they're nature worshipers they're ancestor worshipers but there's a lot of good people good moral people and so you struggle can all these people be lost are there good denominational Christians that don't really follow the truth as we know are they all going to be lost and so intellectually and theologically have reason like this well everybody has a witness in creation everybody has a witness and conscience and those who have the Bible have the witness of the Bible and so God can say if you would have sought it I would have shown you more and if you'd love what you saw I would give you more and eventually I'd give you enough to be saved look at Cornelius he didn't know the

truth he didn't know Jesus but he sought what he knew and because he saw it God kept leading him until he found enough truth to be saved so I can say that Pagan is going to stand before God and he won't get off because he didn't love the truth that denominational person who didn't really pursue the Bible God can say you didn't love the truth okay wait a minute what about me I was raised in this it was just handed to me I just got it if I don't really love it how can God tell that Pagan you didn't love the truth and you never found it that denominational person you didn't love the truth so you never saw it but you United Pentecostal your parents were saved and you didn't really love it either but you were lucky you went to a children's Revival you got saved so you get to go to heaven no I think at some point in everybody's life even if you're raising this if you don't love it if you're not passionate about it if you're not willing to sacrifice for it if you're not willing to commit if

you don't get a zeal then if you don't have a love something will come along and convince you to go another way that's why we have people that inexplicably have gone another way we gotta love it it says if you don't God will send delusion now I believe where there's life There's Hope I'm going to always pray unless God tells me not to but think about it this way if God sends you a delusion who's going to undilude you who's going to send you revelation if you say hey that new revelation is from God if you think that who's going to show you its deception that's a scary place to be in no matter how much we fail no matter if we are a prodigal no matter if we sin no matter if we backside somehow contain a respect and a love for the truth because there will be a way back and let's hold on to truth let's love it let's desire it let's preach it let's teach it let's study it let's read it let's meditate upon it let's put it in our system we've got to be eaten up with the word

we've got to be enough with the spirit we've got to be eaten up with the move of God consumed by zeal and then finally proclaim the truth if you don't Proclaim it you're not going to keep it but if you're Proclaim it becomes part of your DNA you know I've had the privilege traveling all over the world before I was general superintendent and I'll just tell you there's a very large access challenge nation that I won't mention that I travel before and after being superintendent it's now increasingly difficult I tell the story my little book to the end of the Earth so I'm not going to name the place but I can tell you story after Story we have multiplied thousands of Believers it humbles me I remember the last time I went there I had to cancel the trip prior trip because of I got word we have leaders high up in government to get word what's going on and they told me don't come it's dangerous so a year later I checked with the leaders by indirect means said is it okay to come this is what they said it's very humbling they

said you're a man of God you will pray and God will tell you if it's okay to come and if he tells you it's okay to come we'll be there I'm thinking wow if I miss it I could get arrested kicked out of the country I'm American citizen I'll probably be okay but if they believe my word and show up and get arrested it's on me I gotta hear from God that was a humbling thought I did go and I won't tell you all the things they did because it's better not to know but they rented a facility that we were had control of they posted five Lookouts on the property they boarded up the windows and and the door so we could think nobody could see us nobody could hear us we could worship we could pray and there are several trips like this I remember one of those trips we had leaders from all over the country I'll tell you how humbling this is these are leaders of house churches leaders of cities and here be a young couple in their 30s they're professional have a master's degree doctorate in professional careers teachers

Educators and yet they're they're putting everything at risk and they're leaders of House Church there's one young woman single young woman maybe 30 something years old and they introduce me she's the leader of 50 house churches in her City so she's probably a district superintendent I don't know if you can be that but she was something like that so all these people from all over the country their various provinces and they showed me the provinces they hadn't yet reached and who they were going to send to reach every province and this is where we're having to meet in secret and they said would you pray for us we want we're going to come up person by person couple by couple and we want you to lay your hands on and pray for each leader now think about this we had to arrive secretly over a couple hours time just straggling into church and be quiet and I had to baptize people in my hotel bathtub and we walked out in the river baptized one hiked up a mountain to a stream in about because we had to be very careful about everything so every time

these people come to church they're risking getting arrested in prison fined losing their careers and then they told me a lot of these young adults they're such a housing Schwartz they live with their parents their parents are unbelievers spirit worshipers and there'll be a little altar in their home where people their parents sacrifice to the idols and the spirits so when they go home they battle evil spirits so how would you like it if you're a Pentecostal preacher or a bishop every time you go to church you're risking getting arrested every time you go home you have to face evil spirits so wouldn't you think their prayers are like God why this why that God Deliver us God save us God get us out of here but here they had two prayer requests they said number one pray for our Witness because if we witness to the wrong person we get arrested we have to know who to witness to pray that we will witness with boldness and not be intimidated but we just have to have Discerning of spirits to know the right person to witness to and then they said the second thing

pray for miracle signs and wonders because we can't convert people by intellectual argument we can't convert people from atheism or communism or Spirit Worship just by presenting an intellectual message we must have power when we pray they must feel the presence of God when we pray they must get healed demons must be cast out so they said pray for our boldness of witness and pray for signs to accompany our Witness two prayer requests it was so humbling that I would pray for them but then I remember in Acts 4. does that resonate to you acts 4 29 after the apostles were beaten up arrested and they were finally released and threatened Don't Preach this message anymore acts 4 29 here's their prayer now Lord look on their threats and Grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word by stretching out your hand to heal that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus and when they had prayed the place where they were assembled together was shaken they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they spake the word of God with boldness

they were praying for boldness of witness and signs to accompany that's Apostolic that's happening in our day what about us the Zeal of your house has eaten me up let's stand I've got more I was in Fiji last year 50th Anniversary 50 years ago no Apostolic people now 12 000 constituents over one percent of the population of the country 193 received the Holy Ghost you can see some pictures 25 were healed one of those pictures in the middle there's a woman who is blind received her sight another picture a woman who was deaf received her hearing right here and you heard the name service but I was privileged to do two dedications in one day in June in New Jersey Secaucus the pastor sold his house to buy a church invested his house savings because there was a little dilapidated parsonage part next to the church and between contributors and the Loan Fund the Hindus were going to buy that church but instead the United Pentecostal Church bought that church but it was a sacrifice of the pastor and his friends and upci Loan Fund and then Hamilton New Jersey brother Wyatt our district superintendent

he it was a miracle again it was upci church in a day coming on side in in North Central Jersey where it's so hard to start a church and so hard to get a building but in one day God gave us two beautiful buildings that would seat hundreds of people I'm saying there's Apostolic Revival but we've got to be consumed by zeal I'm giving the altar appeal right now here's what I'm asking number one stand firmly number two serve Faithfully number three go zealously I'm not just preaching to preachers who will go to your family would you close your eyes if God is speaking to you if you are being consumed by Zeal not just stirred not just touched but God is calling somebody to win your family God is calling somebody to win your friends God is calling somebody to win your school your job your community and you can't be still you can't not do it you can't not teach a Bible study you can't not win a soul I'm talking to young people I'm talking to faithful Saints it's got to be more than a Pentecostal tradition it's got to be more

than a church culture it's not going to be got to be more than good singing it's got to be more than good preaching who's going to win and disciple a soul and now I'm preaching to pastors who will go to the next town who will go to the next town it can't be a trendy idea it can't be just signing up to say you did it you got to be consumed that town is going to be lost my town has a witness but where's the witness of the next town I can't not go I can't not pray hey I'm the Zeal of your house has eaten me up that next town is calling a