Equality in the Church

Praise God. Well, we have heard tremendous vision cast here today, and I think that God is speaking very clearly and specifically to all of us. This is our hour, amen. And we want to fulfill the will of God. Anybody here interested in fulfilling the will of God? Amen.

I saw something in the Scripture the other day — I thought, as Brother Andy was preaching — you know, God has a unique way of giving you a promise or a name before He fulfills it. I wondered how many times Abraham felt foolish when somebody asked him his name, and he had to tell him that his name was Abraham — "father of many nations." "Yeah, well, how many children do you have?" "One." So there's a lot of shame that comes sometimes with God making a promise, but you just have to continue, because He told Abraham, He said, "At the appointed time I'm going to fulfill everything that I've spoken, and I'll do it." And there is an appointed time for the church of this end time, amen. Everybody said amen. Amen. Praise God.

While you're turning to 2 Corinthians, the eighth chapter — it's my honor to be here, and I consider it a tremendous honor; I do not take it lightly. And we sat in the meeting the other night, and I thought, "Lord, You've got to help me." I will clarify something: I was asked by Brother Kilgore — requested by Brother Kilgore — to preach the sermon, and I was given the option whether to preach it or to preach something else. And my human reaction was to preach something else. Matter of fact, I really wanted to preach something else. But the closer we got to it, I wrestled with it to about 4:00 this morning, praying. And so, in honor to my elder and the Holy Ghost — and there will be a part of this that will sound very fanatical, okay? It will sound very — especially to many of you; to some it won't, but to many of you. But if you'll just ride along, I think the Holy Ghost will help us get past the bump, amen. Everybody said amen. Amen. Praise God. We give honor to Pastor M. and the staff and everyone here, amen.

2 Corinthians chapter 8, verse number 14: "But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality." Everybody say "equality." Equality. Amen. And that's my subject today, is equality in the church — equality in the church, amen. Would you lift your hands and voices, and let's cry out to the Lord. Praise God. "I love You, Jesus. Oh, it's great, it's great — I'm looking for mercy. That's — praise God. I love You, Jesus. I magnify Your name, God. I give You glory, and I give You honor in the name of Jesus. I ask for Your anointing and Your touch today, God. Open our understanding; open our minds, in Jesus' name." And everybody said, in Jesus' name — Jesus. Amen. You may be seated. Praise God.

The apostle Paul, in his address to the Corinthian church, was communicating to them in a concern of his. He was sending Titus to them to finish something that they had promised they would do a year ago. They had told Paul that they would send an offering, a gift of charity, to the churches of Judea, which were in a tremendous famine, and their livelihood basically had been cut off. Of course, Agabus prophesied these things would come to pass. And so the Corinthian church had told Paul that they would send an offering to the churches of Judea. And so it's apparent through the text — if you read 2 Corinthians chapter 8, you'll recognize that something had stopped it, or something had hindered it. And so Paul addresses the subject, and he starts the beginning of the eighth chapter by appealing to them, by pointing out that there were particular churches of Macedonia that had given out of their poverty and out of their tribulation; they had given a tremendous offering to these churches. Matter of fact, Paul was so impressed with it that he told them — he said it is beyond anything that we could have ever dreamed that would have come, or believed that would have come, from these particular churches that had been under severe persecution. That effect — history reveals to us that these churches had suffered so much that many of them had lost their homes and possessions. But yet, coming from Philippi and Thessalonica and Berea was this tremendous love offering, and this gift. And so Paul writes to them and says, "I desire that Titus could come, and that you would be moved by what these have done." He said, "I don't want you to do it begrudgingly, but I wish that you would do it from a willing spirit. I want you to finish what you have started. I want you to perform the doing of it." He said there was a readiness of will, but now, "I want you to perform and to finish the thing that you have said that you would do."

And then he appeals to them, and he says, "I want you to know that these men have given from their poverty." And then he said, "If that's not enough for you to honor and to give," he said, "I want to give you the most perfect example that there is. I want you to look at the fact that Jesus Christ, who was rich, became poor, that through His poverty you might become rich." And he said, "If that doesn't do it, then you're hopeless, and there's no reason for me to talk to you anymore."

Then he appeals to them, and it begins in our text. He says, "I don't want you to be burdened, and other men not be — I'm not asking you to do something that I wouldn't ask others to honor and to do. I'm not trying to put a yoke upon you and let others get by." But he said, when you look at the fact that these gave out of necessity — or these gave having need of things — he said you ought to be willing to give, because you have an abundance of things, right? Praise God. Amen. And so he appeals to them by saying that it is by equality. He said, "God has not given you the abundance that He has given you for you just to take it to yourselves, and to watch other churches respond, and you not do likewise." He said, "If there is above what you have need of, God didn't give that to you for you to waste on yourself. But you ought to look throughout the church and to see where there is want, or to see where there is a need, and then out of your abundance you ought to be able to meet their need or their want, that there might be equality in the church, amen — that there would not be one area in the church that has lack; there would not be one area in the church that has need, amen." He said, "This is the will of God." And he said, "I ask you to do this. I want to see this done, and so Titus will be there shortly, and I have confidence that you will do this — and by it, God will reveal His great grace to you, as He did upon the churches of Macedonia," amen.

I understand today that when you start talking about money and offerings and giving, that Pentecostal people start acting real funny. Some of you are nervous already, amen. I — well, I won't repeat that, not yet, amen. I've preached a lot of places, and preached in a lot of churches, and you can have people shouting and talking in tongues and magnifying God, and all you have to do is say the word "money," and all of a sudden everything in the building comes to a screeching halt. Praise God. I think it's that in here right now, amen. Just — just "money." Money. That's all you've got to say. Money. See?

We North Americans have been tremendously blessed by God, and we have been honored by God, and God has given us more than we perhaps have need of. I've come today to tell you that I do not think that it is the will of God for God to bless us and to prosper us in the manner that He has, for us just to say — and to accumulate abundance, and then look around the world and talk about revival and the things of God, and what God ought to be doing. I think it is the will of God, if He has given us what He has given us, that we need to see the need, and to understand that God has not blessed us in the fashion that He has for us just to talk about revival and to talk about the things of God, but He has blessed us that we could be a blessing to the work of God and to the kingdom of God. I'm going to preach what I feel right now, amen. Amen, amen, amen, amen. Praise God.

Before I get totally into that one area, I want to back up here just a second, and talk to you about some stuff that will lead into where I really need to go. I believe in five-fold ministry. Now, I recognize there's probably some here today that would disagree with some of the things I say, and I honor your opinion, amen. Heard somebody say, "I don't." Amen. But I've looked at this subject, and tried to figure it out, and studied it. And I want to tell you that I understand that we all have different concepts of revival and approaches to revival. I've preached in some churches that I cannot relate to, and they can't relate to me. And so I just might as well save you a lot of heartache of me trying to kill your church, by not coming, amen. Praise God. And the way that I see revival happening in us is with a complete restoration to five-fold ministry, apostolic authority, and apostolic government. I'm just going to be myself and talk about what I feel, amen.

I had the privilege of pastoring for ten years in the state of Oklahoma, and it was a good education. Somebody told me one time, said, "Sometimes God sends a man to a city to build a church, and sometimes He sends a man there to build a man." Well, I think it was to build a man, amen. And I was privileged to be invited to preach out. And I would go preach out, and oh, we'd have church — and I mean, brother, the place would blow up, and they'd be getting healed, and people getting the Holy Ghost. And believe it or not, I was just running people off all the time, amen. And there'd be wonderful things happening. And then I'd go back home and preach the same sermon — yeah — and they would just — and I would think — I think, "Can you relate to that, Brother R.?" — "These people don't value my ministry. They don't appreciate me. They must not have faith, or something." And then somebody else would come in and preach the — I mean, give it a different title, but it's the same sermon, same message — and that same bunch sitting out there would be frothing at the mouth, and jumping and shouting. And I'd think, "Now, there's something wrong around here somewhere. I'm telling you right now, that don't make a lick of sense." Hey, folks — hey, I preach the same stupid sermon! And I'd get frustrated, and I'd complain and whine, and tell my wife, "These people don't appreciate my ministry around here." And finally, through some counsel and some help of others, and the Holy Ghost, God began to deal with me about some things. And He said, "Now listen, I want to tell you: I did not call you to be the evangelist to your church. I called you to be pastor at your church. Now, when you're off out here doing your thing, you may fulfill the role of evangelist, or whatever you want to call it. But when you're here, you are pastor. I feel my help coming now, amen. And when you're pastor — when you're pastor — I have allocated to you a certain amount of authority to fulfill the office that I have called you to fulfill. Now quit being frustrated because this bunch ain't jumping and screaming because you're preaching. Now, there's other areas that you operate in that nobody else is going to be able to come to this church and operate in, because when it comes to — you're the pastor. And where I come from, they said that means you're [top] dog, and you have authority to deal with stuff. And so that's what I've given you to do. When you're out here, I give you a certain amount of authority to deal with things that you need to deal with. It's a completely different office; it's a completely different ministry."

Well, praise God, hallelujah. "When you're out there, do what I called you to do." That's how come when you try to say, "I'm just this, or I'm that" — you call yourself whatever — I got news for you: people can move and operate out of these offices. I'm not here today to advocate that we start getting cards printed: "Apostles so-and-so" and "Prophet so-and-so." I say, just let the offices function. It don't matter what you call it; just let them function, and understand that in each of these offices God has equipped that man, and given him authority to fulfill his God-given call. That's right, Lord. Well, praise God, hallelujah.

Then it used to really amaze me. I think, "You know what? This really doesn't make sense." I'd have guys come in and preach — Pastor, Brother Kenny — and brother, they'd walk to the pulpit, and it's like every devil in that city would come to attention. I mean, it's like they take the whole spirit world and shake it. And I was like, "My God, how do they do that?" I'm going to tell you how they do it. It's going to dawn on us one of these days — I hate to say it like this — but not everybody in here has been given the same amount of spiritual authority. Oh, boy. Amen. But Paul said, "I want there to be an equality in the church." Now, some of you may have an abundance of something over here. He said, but don't get too proud, because the tables will turn, and there'll be a day that you don't have an abundance in an area, and you need this brother over here that does have an abundance of a particular ministry, or gift, or function. He said, "God has given all of you" — not just in the arena of giving — but he said, "He's given all of you the ability. You've all been given God-given gifts and talents and ministries, amen, that when we begin to understand that, there will not be holy competition between five-fold ministry. And the pastor won't look at the — or the teacher won't look at the prophet and say, 'We don't need you.' And the prophet won't look at the teacher and say, 'You dead, dried-up something — what in the world are you talking about?' Amen. When we understand that the prophet has authority, and the teacher has authority, and when we finally put it all together — Paul said, bring your abundance and give it to their need, that there might be equality in the church." Woo!

Now, if you want to get a stir, all you have to say in the organization is "prophet." Prophet. Because see, we are a non-profit organization. Maybe I need to talk about prophets just a second. Prophets — they're strange creatures. I mean, they're weirdos. They've got them beady eyes. Now, I hope this doesn't sound real negative, but this modern prophesying stuff — I sometimes have a hard time dealing with it. Because when an Old Testament prophet came to the city, sometimes it wasn't always "the blessings of God are coming into the city, brother." Sometimes they walked right into the palace of a king, and got that little crooked index finger, and said, "Thou art the man, brother. You better get to repenting; you're in trouble, right?" Boy, it got quiet right there. See, we say we want apostolic revival — I don't know if some of our churches could handle a real prophet walking in and saying, "God has sent me here with a message, and I'm going to tell you something now." Woo, brother. The first time they got the point — first time — is this all right, if I preach like this? First time they just stopped the service — see, there's a difference between preaching and prophesying. Preaching is from accumulative knowledge: it's studying; it's getting a message from God, walking to the pulpit, and going through the notes and the homiletics and all this stuff. But when prophecy hits, it's a direct word from God. It's not something that you've accumulated in your mind and all. It's coming direct. It's God saying, "I'm fixing to talk to this bunch right now." And brother, them prophets, they do strange stuff. They stop the whole service and say, "You know what? I feel like I need to speak this." And boy, people start getting nervous. And boy, I'm going to tell you: when I was pastor, all I had to do was announce — I didn't have to bring them, just announce — "I've been praying about Brother So-and-so coming preaching for us a few services" — and brother, the altars would fill up. People start confessing: "Oh, Brother Morgan, I need to talk to you before Brother So-and-so gets here." And I'd be laughing: "Well, he really ain't coming — but it's working." Praise God. See — how are we going to do what God has called us to do when we get, oh God, a little lopsided, and we master one area of ministry?

Now don't take this wrong; please don't take this wrong. But we've mastered the role of pastors, sir. And somehow we've got this philosophy — and I'm not here venting myself; I'm just saying what I'm feeling in the Holy Ghost — we've got this philosophy: an evangelist — "you go out here and you preach until you get good enough to take one of our precious congregations." I'm going to talk about it here. Then if that doesn't happen — well, here's the bump — then we present a philosophy that if you ever want anything, as far as security is concerned, you've got to be a pastor. See? I got you, because some say, "You're just an evangelist." No — I happen to pastor a church too, and I've pastored. Man, oh, I hope this comes across right. Man, I've had them pick me up, show me all their toys, and then Sunday night rolls around, they hand you a check, and you're like, "My God — is that all?" Right. Elder, if I get a bad spirit, you tell me, okay? "I crank — " He said, "I'm going to crank you; you work on it."

Now listen to me. Then what happens is, this man that is a God-called evangelist feels the pressure of his family — that's it; talk about that — and he gets to looking around, he says, "You know what? If I'm going to be able to take care of my family — I got teenage kids, and I got a family, and boy, I'd like to live in some of the stuff y'all live in, and drive what y'all drive, and have what you have." And now, if that's wrong, I'm sorry, but that's — I mean, that's just, I guess, human nature. You just — and what we do is, we put pressure on these other offices and ministries, that if you want something, you've got to pastor a church. In the United Pentecostal Church, that's the only way that you're going to have any security. Or — I know God's our security, and we live by faith. That's right. I understand that. But some of you ought to try it. It's easy for you to say that, when it's probably in my last Because of the Times.

Now let me just ask you a question. Do you think that God has given you the abundance that He's given you — and then we want to talk about revival, and the love of God. And John said, "I'll tell you about the commandments of God. You want to know the commandments of God? It's to believe on His Son Jesus Christ, and to love your neighbor as yourself." That's what he said. You want to get into the book of Acts? Let's get to the book of Acts, my friend. That was exemplified in Acts chapter 2 — how we believe on His Son Jesus Christ. It's manifested through repentance, and water baptism in Jesus' name, and the infilling of the Holy Ghost, evidenced by speaking in tongues. But finish Acts chapter 2, and Acts chapter 3, and Acts chapter 4 — and they brought their possessions and their goods, and they laid them at the feet of the apostles, and they had all things common. There was not an area in that early church where there was want, or need, or a lack, because when they looked around — and Jesus even told them, He said, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples: that ye have love one — " See, we quote "love one for another" — but it's not "love one for another"; that means something tolerated. He said "love one to another," which means something expressed. You can shout and talk in tongues and say, "I love God, I love God, I love God" — but that is manifested on how you treat your brother, and how you respond to his need. And if you've got abundance, and your brother has lack — John said, "How say the love of God abideth within you, if you see your brother have need, and you have this world's goods and compassion, and you cannot do it?" He said, "Come on now: you are to love not in word only, but in deed."

Now here's what happens. He gets to looking around; he says, "Okay, I guess I'm going to have to do something here." And one of our churches comes open, and he takes it. And it's running two, three hundred, maybe. And within about a year — and everybody's like, "What went wrong?" Tell you what I think went wrong: he stepped out of his office. And you cannot exercise authority that you don't have. Done it. And brother, he makes a mess out of stuff. Now brother, when he was preaching for you, and preaching in your church, he was blessing, and the Holy Ghost was honoring him; and when he walked to the pulpit, angels went to singing. My brother, when he got to pastoring that church, all hell broke loose. God said, "Huh — you ain't equipped to do this. You're operating — " I'm talking to somebody right now. You're about to make the mistake of your life. You know God called you to a particular office. Why are you trying to change it? You're going to get into something that God hasn't given you the authority to deal with. But if you'll hang on — this revival that the Bishop's talking about, it's going to bring about an equality. My God. Hallelujah. Amen. We're going to start understanding — can I say this, to not be misunderstood: there is no way one man can successfully lead his church into everything he needs to lead them into. That's why God has given apostolic ministry. You may have an abundance somewhere, but trust me: somewhere in your ministry and life, there is a lack of something that you need. That's why God said, "I've got somebody coming." You might as well get ready, and fasten your seat belt: there's about to be a restoration to apostolic ministry and apostolic government, and God is going to bring equality to the church.

Well — what time did I start? Seriously. You — when I get right there, just — now, now, I'm not nervous. Trust me, I ain't nervous. See, I said this — I said this to Brother Cunningham. I said, "Brother Cunningham, how are we going to take these major cities by sending a lone home missionary in? Let's raise him a little money; let's send them into the city, and let's see what they can do." Now, I know it's worked for some, but the majority, it didn't work for — and they left disillusioned and bitter. Right. That's right. Let me give you a good analogy. It would be like the United States, in World War II, and the Allied forces saying, "We're going to take Normandy. We're going to storm the beaches. But let's get one soldier — go get him." And when he's laying there on the beach, all shot up and full of holes — "Man, just didn't have it, did he? Boy, he wasted our money. Just didn't have what it — " Now, we — we're going to take these major cities, these spiritual strongholds, and we're going to do it by sending in a missionary and saying, "God bless you. We'll put you on the prayer network and hope you do good. Get you a little Christmas for Christ, and give you a little finances. And you take your family in there, and you operate in a particular dimension of authority and ministry. But you're going to meet stuff in that city you don't have the authority to deal with." I just wonder what would happen if we ever got it all together, and we started putting generals and captains and sergeants and lieutenants and majors together, and we targeted a city and said, "We're going to take that city. We're going to take the Air Force and the Navy and the Marines. We're going to take prophets and apostles and pastors and teachers and evangelists, and we're going to hit that city." We're not talking about just a good service or two; we're talking about a major spiritual invasion, that, brother, when those devils look up, they say, "Oh my God — it's not just a low-ranking whatever coming, but I see somebody coming that has spiritual authority." I've got news: I thank God for revival around the world. But I want to serve notice today: there's a revival about to break out in every major city in North America. You better look out: here come the apostolics.

Let me ask you a question. Every time that plane lands — either in San Francisco, or Oakland, or San Jose — and it flies out and stretches across the bay: I remember, 6.5 million people. Brother Mullings — 27 churches, or 27 cities, with that one apostolic presence in it. Not one ALJC, PAW, or XYZ; not one of them. Nobody. Nobody. So let's snatch up a couple home missionaries and send them in there, and see how they can reach it. No — I've got a better idea. Let's — an army. I lost some of you. I'm going to preach. I lost some of you right there. Now let's raise an army. I wonder what would happen to somewhere like the Bay, or New Orleans, or New York, or wherever, if we could get together some generals. I wonder what would happen to a city if we could bring a Because of the Times on a bigger scale. I wonder what would happen to — I wonder what every spiritual principality in that city would do when they see men of God. That — what would happen, my friend? What would happen? What would happen — first thing we'd have to get past — come on, now, you better sit down. Here comes another bump.

I've been analyzing — and really, I have; it's not just a recent deal — but I wanted to — now, if you say it's negative, it's not negative; I don't view it as being negative. But I wanted to study churches that I've seen that had experienced revival, and then lost it. Now, what causes us to lose a revival? That's why I felt directed to go to the story of Joshua and Jericho — which is a type of the people of God finally coming into their promised possessions. And they got to Jericho, the first city, and God said, "Don't take nothing. It belongs to Me. This is all Mine. It belongs to Me. Don't take anything. If you do, it's a curse." Now, when Joshua told the people of Israel that, he was very specific in his instructions: "Don't take it. You will become a curse — your family — and you will trouble Israel." Brother, they took Jericho, hands down. Got over to that little old place called Ai, sent just a few folks down there, and boy, they got a whooping. And there's a difference between a whipping and a whooping: they got a whooping. So, "Okay, God, I need to figure out: once we get into this territory, what will cause us — " So the first thing I thought is: God said, "It belongs to Me; don't take it" — which, number one, is: it's My glory, right? "Don't take it." That'll stop a revival. They stopped. Then I got to thinking: no, but there's something beyond that. I know what it is: covered sin. I'm not talking about people making mistakes, and honest — I mean blatant rebellion, covering. That's exactly — I said, "That'll stop revival. That'll stop revival." Yes, it will. Then I said, "No, there's more to that." He wanted — he wanted a different garment. I thought: you know what? The first thing that happens to us is, when we finally get here, we want to change our garments. We want to change our image. "Yeah — he got tired of wearing that old coat. I've been wearing this for 40 years, man; I'm ready for something new." So I thought, well, maybe that's what hinders revival. Matter of fact, that's — preach! I see Brother Foster back there somewhere. And I preached at his church a couple Sundays ago. And I thought, "Man, this is — " you know. And when I sat down, the Holy Ghost said, "Oh, that's good, and you're right. But now I'm going to tell you what really happened to Achan. I'm going to tell you how it stopped." How can a man hear all of those instructions, and still take what he took? The greatest enemy to apostolic revival is self. Self. Yeah. Because Joshua said the gold and the silver — "we're going to use it to build God a house." And Achan said, "No — I want it for myself." Here we go.

See, I've met with men in groups, and promoted this stuff: "We're going to take cities. We're going to take — first one we've got targeted is San Francisco, August 16, 17; we're going to do it. Yes." And I talked to them, and you know what the men — you know what they always ask? Somebody in the group always asks, "What am I going to get out of this?" It never fails. "What am I going to get out of this? Where will they go to church?" You know, I've got a quick trigger finger — not yours. I told one guy — I said, "We're coming into your area. We're going to reach people that you never would have reached, that are on their way to hell. And the only — itself — " "What's in it for me? What am I going to get out of it? How's it going to benefit me?" I told one of those guys, "Listen, I'm — we're coming into your area. I don't — I'm not going to get one thing out of this: a lot of headache and criticism. I said, I don't gain one thing out of this, except the satisfaction of knowing that we brought strong apostolic presence into a city that never had it. Who cares where they go to church? We'll give all of you a chance to set up a booth in the foyer, and have a little holy competition, and just let God sort it all out." "Well, how are we going — " I don't know how it all figures out. I don't have all the answers. "What — do we start churches? How — " I don't understand all that, but I believe God does. All I'm saying is, we're going to have to get away from this — "Well, you know — well, who's going to get the tithe? And where are they going to go to church? Is it going to boost my attendance?" My God — maybe God may want to start a church in some other city next to you. I'm telling you what's hindering apostolic revival: it's the spirit of self. Self, self. Me. "What can I accumulate? What can I have?" It all becomes about you, you, you. It's all you. Now everything is coming in — it's like the Dead Sea. That's right. But that was not that early church. And He said, "If you want to see love — I'll show you love: For God so loved the world that He — " not that He received; He gave. He gave. He gave. Can I tell you: there is no such thing as true apostolic revival without a spirit of giving. It doesn't exist.

And some of you are so nervous to talk about giving, because people have you intimidated. "Yeah, well, I don't want to mention your money." I don't mind mentioning money. You're looking at one preacher — and a lot of you know that — it don't bother me to talk about money. Can I tell you why it don't bother me to talk about money? Because it is the major thing that the Americans are going to have to deal with before they have apostolic revival. Because gold has become our God. You can get quiet; I can get quiet too. Praise God. Gold has become our God. And it's all about just accumulating, and building up, and having this, and having that. And then we watch missionaries parade in here, and almost make them Pentecostal prostitutes. Here comes another bump.

We got all excited about raising a million-dollar offering a couple years ago in General Conference. I've got news for you: there's people sitting on those pews that could have gave that million dollars and never even missed it. And we're up there talking about missions, and building churches. Come on, apostolics — you want an apostolic revival? You're going to have to put your money where your mouth is. I feel a fight coming on right now, brother.

Brother — God — when I was preaching a meeting a while back — you know, Brother D., he's just radical. "Yeah — how's radical?" And he said, "Mark, I want you to go with me over to this church." And so — "All right, all right, we'll go, we'll go. Let's go." And then we got there, and I'm telling you, when we walked in — it wasn't a UPC church. When we walked in, the ushers were waiting at the front door. When I walked through the doors, ushers — they checked us — three or four offerings. They told you where to sit. You walked up; they didn't care who you were; you sat right there. And you sat there. And so I got to watch those folks. And while the preacher was preaching — he'd done beat me to it — while the preacher was preaching, those folks started doing crazy stuff. They'd run down to the front, and I seen them throwing stuff on the altar. And there's a little usher over there. I said, "What are they doing down there?" "Oh, that — I see." I said, "Well — " They believe that if the preacher is really preaching, and they believe what he's preaching, they need to sow seed into the word. "So you're joking!" He's not up there begging for an offering; he's not up there telling these silly little stories we tell. Come on. And they're just bringing that kind of money, throwing it on the altar. That's right. I got mad. I got mad. I said, "Bless God — where are the apostolics?" I tell you where apostolics are: they're sitting in a service like this, and they've got the billies on this side, and they're leaning further and further on that side right now.

I had a guy tell me one time — he said — he picked me up there at POA. He said, "Now, Morgan, don't start that giving stuff here. My people's poor, and my people don't — " I thought, "Yeah, I understand why they're poor, and why they don't have anything. I understand it very well — why they're acting like they're acting right now. I can understand; I can understand that real well." So I got there; I said, "I'm not even going to talk about giving." I got to preaching along, and I said, "I'm not even going to say anything about it." And so the last night came rolling around, and I'm not going to say anything about it. And so I was preaching, and this guy sitting on the second pew kept waving something like this. And finally I stopped; I said something — "What's wrong?" He said, "I feel like I need to give something." I said, "Well, just go up there and put it on the altar." He went there and put it on the altar. And then pretty soon — I hadn't said anything about it — and somebody else came running up there, and they threw money. And all of a sudden, people in the church started standing up, and they were weeping and crying. And one lady said, "I've got a retirement that I'd like to give." And — see, some of you are so nervous right now. God, you're so nervous. "Well, what if I give, and it's not the Holy Ghost?" I guess the devil's going to tell you to give to help the work of God! I guess you're going to be sitting in the service, and the devil's going to say, "I'd like for you to give, because it's going to help the kingdom and the work of God." "Well, I want to know what it's going for." Oh, don't put a tracer on the offering. If God tells you to give, you just give, and let God sort the rest of it out. There's some men up here who know what to do with it.

But I'm telling you: those folks kept bringing money, and they kept giving. And the next thing I knew — there's two pews of people; it was a lily-white church up to that point in time; and there's two pews of people visiting from another church, in another color, and they're sitting in the back. And when the Holy Ghost got to dealing with those folks, and they got to giving, the Holy Ghost fell. And brother, both of those pews back there went to receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and a revival broke out in the church. There was a great offering taken that night, and the pastor said, "I can't believe it." I'm telling you right now: if we ever get the concept that God wants to bring equality to this — can I keep talking about giving? Let me explain something to you.

A couple years ago — a couple years ago at the conference, God moved. And it's not the first time; I understand that. But after I left the service, and I was flying back to Lake Charles, I thought, "God, what am I going to preach?" I mean, I've been so focused on this, and this giving. And the Holy Ghost got to dealing with me. He said, "The mistake that people make is — and you need to learn from this by David. David first knocked the bear and the lion down, took the lamb out of its mouth, all right. But the lion and the bear stood up to slay — yeah. And David learned: the worst thing you can do is knock something down, and then let it get up. He said, you better take the sword out of its hand, and cut its head off. That's right."

He said, "Now listen to Me. See, what you don't — maybe some of you don't understand this: money is spiritual. Jesus said you can't serve two masters. He didn't say God or the devil; He said God or mammon — God or money. Those are the two masters of the universe: God, or money. And what we do is, as we get caught up in the spirit like this, and we take it, and we knock it down — and then we go back home, and we forget the spirit of giving. And then what we do is, we engage that — I believe it's a demon of finance — and we engage it, and then, brother, he says, 'Well, you knocked me down, but I tell you what: I've got a big knot on my head, but I'm fixing to come after you.' And then we go back to our churches, and our finances get all locked up. And we're like, 'Well, my God, they talked about giving, and God would bless — that didn't — '"

I'm going to tell you something: I'm not talking about just a one-time, sporadic something in the area of sacrifice. I'm talking about where the spirit of it sweeps across our fellowship, in every service, in your local church. This is the scenario, Jesus. Woo! Folks, can I ask you a question? Let's not just knock this thing down; let's cut its head off. Let's let God open the finances to this revival. We haven't even seen anything. You thought that God's blessed — yet, you haven't seen anything. There's a window of time that God's going to bless the church in an unprecedented manner, and there'll be millions, and millions, and millions of dollars. Come on. Hello. He said deeds and houses — see, that's so — you get talk about some of this stuff. I've been in services where people walk up — and I know some of you have too — but they walk up and say, "Here's the title to my car," and "I'm going to go put my house — " See, that's so extreme, and that's so foreign. But let me ask you a question: you want a book of Acts revival? Do you think you're going to get it without a book of Acts price? You want their power, and their anointing, and their authority? I'm telling you: it's not going to happen till we understand it's not about what I can have, and what I can get; it's about what I can give, and what I can pour out. Let me find a need. Let me find want. Let me find somebody that —