Five Steps to Apostolic Revival

hey Hallelujah open your Bible to second king I am brother said he was nervous had butterflies my knees are knocking one man said I don't worry about my knees knocking it's missing it bothers me oh Hallelujah I am in a quandry I I want to preach 12 different messages and I've only got one I can preach and I have sat here and changed my message at least half a dozen times and so I'm just going to preach a message that is designed that if I want to change courses I can preach all 12 of the others thank you Louisiana for allowing me to come back home and share a burden with you I I appreciate you very much much I appreciate my pastors my friends my family that's here thank you brother Tenny District board for allowing me to be here Second Kings 5 do not preach ahead of me now you've already seen the text if you know the sermon you could be dismissed for lunch no takers non captain of the host of the king of Syria was a great man with his master and honorable because by him the Lord had given Deliverance unto Syria he was also a mighty man in Valor but he was a leper remember this was written from a Syrian Viewpoint personally I don't even like non you're not not going to like him either when I get through you're going to wish he didn't get healed of leprosy when I get through now you haven't heard this sermon and the syrians had gone out by companies and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid and she waited on non's wife and she said unto her mistress would God my Lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria for he would recover him of his lepry and one went in and told his Lord saying thus and thus said the maid it never mentions her name that is of the land of Israel and the king of Syria said go to go and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel and he departed and took with him 10 talents of silver and 6,000 pieces of gold and 10 changes of rment and he brought the letter to the king of Israel saying now when this letter come unto thee behold I have therewith sent non and my servant to thee that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy and it came to pass when the king of Israel had read the letter that he rent his clothes and said am I God to kill and make alive that this man does send me to recover a man of his LEP wherefore consider I pray you and seek how he seeketh a quarrel against me and it was so when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes that he sent to the king said wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes let him come now to me and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel and so non came with his horses and with his chariots and he stood at the door of the House of Elisha and Elisha sent a messenger to him there is a very specific reason why Elisha did not go out that door and touch non for himself if I do not get to that part of my message because the time ask me after service it is worth hearing non was wro and went away and said behold I thought he will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God and strike his hand over the place and cover the leprosy are not abana and farer rivers of Damascus better than all the Waters of Israel may I not washing them and be clean so return and went away in a rage and his servants came near and spake unto him and said my father if the prophet had bid thee to do some great thing would thou not have done it you

may be seated there are eight principal players in this passage that I want to mention briefly of course number one is non he was the captain of Syria he was a man of Valor he was a leper number two was non's wife she fits very discreetly into this message the third is the unknown unnamed little Maid the fourth character was the king of Syria it is amazing how that the king of Syria believed the little girl more than the king of Israel who was the fifth player the sixth player was the prophet of Israel Elisha the seventh player was the messenger of the prophet and the eighth player was non's servants I think it is important to understand that all of us have heard this preached if you've been in the church any length of time about the great healing that El AA performed on non when he dipped seven times in the River Jordan the River Jordan is not important him dipping seven times in that river is not important I don't even think non is important in this passage of scripture and sometimes we are guilty of majoring on the miners and minoring on the majors the scripture said that non was a mighty man of Valor he was was an honorable man but you have to understand that that is written strictly from a Syrian Viewpoint you say what do you mean by that if you go to the north part of our country where General kuster met Crazy Horse they put the statue there to kuster and he didn't even win the battle it was Crazy Horse who won the Victory and we are all shouting about how great kuster was but the the Syrian viewpoint on non is the same as Crazy Horse Viewpoint namon is not the important player for a fact if you study this passage very carefully the he said they sent out companies into the land of Israel and they brought back from one of those raids a little girl when you understand what happen in order to bring that little girl back you'll get a clear picture of what is happening here you remember when the prophet of God told Saul I want you to go and utterly slay the amalekites and I don't want you to leave one of them alive and and you know the story of warfare and Saul obeyed the voice of the Prophet to a point and he saved one man alive but the story is very prominent that he destroyed the Amal cites men women and children and when non sent out those companies they came into an Israelite an Israelite Village and they utterly destroyed that Village in order to find one little girl that they could bring back to Syria and present her as a maid to non's wife someone said in a writing one time that she was having a birthday party and non wanted to to give her a gift that would be remembered forever and and for living with him as a leper and so he wanted to give her a human being for a birthday present and so when they went in to the company of Israel and they brought back that little girl I can see that little dark complected girl with with real dark black hair with ringlets coming down her head I can see her as she has been shoved into the dirt and shoved into the Dust and and I can see her as she looks as someone grabs her by the head and pulls her up into the Chariot and she looks back on a smoldering burning Village and she she looks back at a dead mother that they slaughtered and butchered and a dead father that they left behind and dead brothers that they left behind and and dead relatives everywhere they killed every man woman and boy and girl in that Village in order to bring one little girl back to present as a birthday present to a woman who was a wife to non I don't think non was a very honorable man I don't think non was a very great man it was written from the Viewpoint of a Syrian captain that had done great things for his country but he didn't do too much for this little girl's family and for

her when she becomes a maid to non's wife I'm glad it wasn't me because I would have slipped a butcher knife in the pocket somewhere and I would have slit the throat of non's wife and possibly even non while he was sleeping but you know one day she was behind the curtain and she was looking out at a a gentle Embrace of non and his wife non was a leper nobody touched non nobody hugged non oh yes they would honor him at the Banquets and put him on the White horse at the head of the parade but you know that's not enough for a human being somebody's got to reach out and touch you somebody's got to reach out every once in a while and give you a hug somebody's got to reach out and put a hand on you and the only one in the whole world that would do that was non's wife and one day in a warm embrace With Tears in their eyes that little girl looked out from behind that curtain and something swelled up in her heart and from her voice she said I I would to God that he knew about the prophet of God that is in Israel for he would recover him of his leprosy and you already know the story we've already read the back of the book that NE is going to go to Israel and he's going to be healed of his leprosy but that's not the real story the story is what in the world had to happen to that little girl before non could be healed something had to happen in the heart of that little girl but before non's ever going to dip seven times in the River Jordan I think there are five things that had to happen in her life before non is going to be healed I think there are five things that has to happen in this Apostolic Church before we have the kind of Revival that we are preaching about oh praise God I said I believe there there's got to be some things happen to us that hasn't happened to us yet that's going to happen to us I believe that with everything within me can I have an amen I am not satisfied with just having a Revival on the plains of Kansas it's not enough for me just to have Revival in the city of witch I look at Nehemiah when his Brethren came and they said how are things in Judah and they said the walls are broken down and the gates are burned with fire fire and the Brethren that are left to the remnant they are in great distress how many times that Nehemiah heard that and it never affected him but this time it did affect him and he went before the king and said why should I not be sad seeing that the city of my father sepca Li waste I'm wearing silk robes and eating fine restaurants and my brethren are in Affliction if we're going to have Revival we all need to have Revival I said if we're going to have an outpouring of the Holy Ghost it's got to happen everywhere not just here and there but it's got to happen everywhere when I was a kid growing up we all played The Three Musketeers and they had a little saying it's one for all and it's all for one whether you like it or not I am your brother whether you like it or not you are my brother whether we understand it or not we are a body that is fitly framed together and we need one another other more than we've ever needed it before we are not Islands unto ourselves we need one another the first thing that she had to do before non the butcherer can be healed is there has to come a baptism of forgiveness this is going to quiet in the crowd for a while forgiveness it's amazing how many people's going to go to hell because somebody borrowed $10 never paid you back it's it's amazing how many people are going to go to hell because they offended you and you held that in your heart I'm not going to forgive them until they ask forgiveness they need to stand up and make things right with me and God no they don't I'm not going to go to hell with somebody because they want to do wrong I've got an obligation and a responsibility to forgive how important is forgiveness in Apostolic Revival I hear it all the time I I was in a meeting night too long ago and I was sitting there minding my own

business and and the preacher got up and he had a chip on each shoulder bigger than a Texas cow pile and he stood up and I knew he had something on his mind he thought I tell you what we don't hear enough of we don't hear enough of preaching about oldfashioned repentance woo did that quiet in the crowd and I agree repentance ought to be preached with everything in us but repentance doesn't mean deadly squat until there is a spirit of forgiveness in us somebody needs to shout amen hallelujah you know there there's a story in Matthew that says after this manner pray ye Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven give us this daily bread and forgive us our debts and as we forgive our debtors can I have an amen and verse 14 says for if you forgive men their trespasses your heavenly father will also forgive you but if you forgive not men their trespasses neither will your father forgive you somebody needs to shout amen Matthew chapter 18 it says Jesus said unto him how often shall I forgive my brother and he said I say not into the seven times but 70 time seven that's hard I have trouble forgiving somebody for one thing much less a dozen or 70 time 7 that's utterly ridiculous I'm not going to let people walk on me that much I'm going to stand up for my rights that's because you're a dirty American you got too many rights and not enough responsibility ities oh well I I don't know if I can forgive or not do you know that God put the salvation of the entire world on the backs of one man and I'm not talking about the Christ he put the salvation of the whole world on the backs of one man and said if you don't forgive there will be no Christ because Judah from which the lineage of Christ is to come will not survive and the Lord said just so that you'll have enough to forgive every time you kind of get ahead in life I'm going to have somebody knock you down when you get the coat of many colors on your back I'm going to have somebody rip it off of you and put you in a pit and when you get up out of the pit I'm going to sell you as a slave and when you get sold as a slave I'm going to put you on the auction block and when you get put on The Auction Block I'm going to put you in the prison and accuse you falsely and over and over again God allow that man to be stepped on and bruised and battered oh praise God brother Kenny somebody stole one of my sheep let me tell you if a sheep can be stolen I tell you God I take care of the thief if God don't do it the District board will help you but after the after the storm is over you can sit in your office and you can sit in your church and you can pout for 10 years and talk about how bad everybody is but friend where is the baptism of forgiveness there will be no Revival until there is a baptism of forgiveness in our spirit and so when when Judah and the brotherr come down to Egypt to buy corn they got a face Joseph they got to face the one that they put in the pit the one that they hated with a passion the one that they sold into bondage to the midianites the one that caused him to be put on the auction block and public humiliation in Egypt the one that caused him to be put in the king's prison house can I have an amen and when Joseph Rises to the top and he is the governor of all of Egypt the very woman that accused him of rape and put him him in the prison house to to live to to lay there forever when he got back to the throne he never even mentions that woman she wasn't even worth a mentioning because he had forgiven her a long time ago we are too close to the rapture we are too close to

the coming of the Lord to have to be to have to have the spirit of unforgiveness in our heart and and cause God to let Revival languish in our midst people sitting on one side of the church it won't talk to people on the other side of the church preachers in one town won't talk to preachers in the same town can I have an amen accusing them well I had a I had a preacher not long ago in a seminar he came up and pointed his finger in my face and he said if you preach what I preach you'd have the same size crowd I've got I said that's the reason I Don't Preach What You Preach cuz I don't want the same size crowd you got and I said if You' preach what I preach you'd have the same size crowd I have but you evidently don't want the same size crowd I have we can accuse people of things for which there is no defense and all it is is a spirit of unforgiveness in our lives can I have an amen and this little girl had to for H H how do you want the man healed that butchered your mother how do you want a man healed that killed your daddy how do you want a man heal that destroyed your brothers and your sisters and we have trouble forgiving somebody that won't pay back a $10 loan we have trouble forgiving somebody that borred our lawnmower and bent the shaft we have trouble forgiving somebody because they sang and you didn't get to sing We have trouble forgiving a man of God because it doesn't matter if he does a thousand things right just do one thing wrong preacher because we live in an hour of what have you done for me lately and God help us to overcome that Spirit of what have you done for me lately 30 years ago he forgave me for my sins and I want to tell you that was 30 years ago and if he forgave me 30 years ago then I've got to have 30 years of forgiv foress behind me it doesn't matter what happens to me as long as I've got the ability to forgive those that trespass against me it is difficult to teach a home Bible study and have a breakthrough when your own spirit is impure it is hard to win somebody to God unless your spirit is right and pure before God you say well preacher you you ain't never had anything to forgive I got accused of being a queer and an adulterer in one day by the same man well what did you do I said I just rote him off a double-minded man's unstable and all of his ways folks there's nothing worth going to hell for and and we understand that language but there's nothing worth holding back Revival before there is nothing worth holding your church back and if there's a spirit of unforgiveness in your church I'm going to tell you what ladies and gentlemen there will be no Revival until there is forgiveness now this I don't like to talk about this but you know churches do squabble and Saints squabble everybody squabbles except preach preachers we had lost some folks from our church I like what the black preacher said he was talking to the press and they asked him that during the Revival did he have any blessed additions and he said no but several blessed subtractions brother Tenny now I didn't say this brother Tenny said it yesterday what some Churches need is four or five good funerals I didn't say that brother Tenny said that amen and so when I came on the scene everybody that was left was mad at those that was that was left in the church was mad at those that left the church and they was mad at the preacher for taking them in and so I realized that I had a sticky situation on my hand when one of the Saints came and said if my neighbor and Pastor comes in here we are going to literally throw him through the glass doors as they made it out to be when I tried out for the church because they told me they wasn't a problem one no they were gone and so I started preaching forgiveness one night I preached that those who are not going to forgive and have the spirit of Christ sooner or later you're going to have your name erased from our membership roles and

this woman stood up and she said I'd rather go to hell than forgive and so I walked off the platform and put my finger on her nose and said if you don't forgive you are going to go to hell lady and she didn't forgive and she did lose a lot but not forgiven but I remember the service when our people fell on their knees and cried out to God not for repentance but God give me the ability to forgive so we can go on with our lives and we had a breakthrough through that night and we have never looked back since ladies and gentlemen there can be no Apostolic Revival until there is Apostolic Purity in our lives we've got to have Apostolic Purity in our spirit are you saying preacher that we'll never make a mistake no we know that if we make a mistake that we can go back to the blood but what about people that transgress against us are we going to hold it against them and never forgive them I say nay because if you're not careful you don't forgive God will take back your forgiveness that is book chapter in verse of 18 where one man owed 10,000 talents and one man owed a penny and the man that owed 10,000 talents was forgiven but he had a man that owed him just a handful and he took him by the throat and said Pay me and he said if you'll give me time and he wouldn't and throw him in prison till he should pay all and then the man that he owed 10,000 talents came and said I forgave you of all you your your your debt and you should have done the same thing with your brother and he reached out and took him and put him in the prison house until he should pay all he forfeited his forgiveness because he didn't have the spirit of forgiveness in his own life somebody needs to hear me this afternoon it is imperative that we learn how to forgive and not get hung up for weeks and years and decades on things that happen that we can't even remember the details but there's a second thing that had to happen before non the butcherer is going to be healed well I'm going to forgive but I ain't forgetting and every time you see him you want to hide your new lawnmower instead of saying brother you broke my line more and that's okay you you can't pay me back and I'm going to buy another one but I tell you what I'm going to do I'm going to buy a second one give you one so you'll still have something to cut your grass with and won't have to borrow mine no more why don't we think about stuff like that I'm forgiven but I ain't forgetting I ain't sitting on the same pew I ain't going to sit on the same side of the church with him at District conference you know the best thing that could happen to some of us we just get a good slap in the face you know if we don't start practicing forgiveness we going to strike out in a critical situation you need to be offended this section right here don't agree with me but some of you do you need to be for for you need you need be to be offended every once in a while just to find out if you have that ability anymore to forgive she not only had to forgive but she could have walked around the rest of her life dragging a church down with the memories of the hurts of her past but she didn't do that she decided to have a renewal of life she said my mama's dead my daddy's dead my brother's dead my sister's dead uncles are dead aunts are dead cousins are dead Friends Are Dead I'm the only one left and she could have languished in Syria and died a bitter old lady and there's a lot of bitter old people I I was at I was at the Rapture store I mean Walmart the sound of the trumpet is going to sound like this attention Walmart shoppers and I was standing at the checkout line and back in the automotive and this old man he was up in age and he had went to the battery rack and he had picked out a a seven-year battery or six-year battery the best they had and somebody had come by and taken a cheap battery tag and put it on the good battery sales tag so when he brought the battery up it had a price tag on of$ 1995 and the man rung it up and it was something like

$59 and this man said I ain't paying $59 that tag said 19 1995 and the man was very polite and he said well sir he said said somebody just changed tag I didn't change tag that was a tag that was only I want it for 1995 and he said well sir he said this is a seven-year battery it's the best we have and right here on the scanner it's 59.95 and he said all the other batteries that are like this they have a 59.95 tag on it and that one battery somebody just put the wrong tag on it and that man stormed out of that store because he didn't get a $59 battery for $19 and I thought God when I get to be that old if I ever get to be that old I don't want to be some bitter old man or some bitter old preacher or some bitter old Saints because something happened to me 25,000 years ago and and yes I forgave them but I ain't forgetting no sir friend when you go through a situation and you are offended and you forgive you got to rise up and say I'm going to the altar tomorrow night and I'm going to get a renewal of the Holy Ghost there's not enough renewing among us we need an oldfashioned renewing of the Holy Ghost In Our Lives if we're going to be a soul winner I'm talking to Soul winners if we're going to be Soul winners your spirit eminates from you when you go in that house and you go in there as a Sad Sack you're not going to win anybody to God you got to go in there knowing that your strength is the joy of the Lord and if you're going to be a soul winner you got to get a soul winner Joy she' have a renewal I was asked the other night Pastor how long or how often should we be renewed in the Holy Ghost and I know that has a lot of answers to that but I gave it some consideration some careful thought every time you have a positional change in your life you need a new refreshing of the Holy Ghost and a new experience with God I've watched children with sweet sweet spirits and and they get the Holy Ghost as a four or fivey old the holy ghost that you got as a five year- old is not good enough for a 13year old when you get adolescent age and you start having harmone attacks you need the hormonal Holy Ghost I I see y'all identified with that and you know when you get out of those those rough teenage years and and you become a youth 19 20 years old and you become a young adult the holy ghost that kept you as an adolescence is not enough you need to get the Holy Ghost all over as a young person a renewing of the Holy Ghost I'm not talking about jabing a little bit in tongu on Sunday night and then going to Pizza Hut and joking it away I'm talking about an absolute renewing of the spirit the same as you got it today you got the Holy Ghost when you get married let me tell you something there's a lot of people backslide when they get married because the holy ghost that kept you as a young person it's not enough to keep you as a married person because if you're going to live with that Thunderhead you better get the Holy Ghost as a married person can I have an amen and you know if you change jobs and you go through changes in your life every time you go through a change you need a refreshing and a renewing of the Holy Ghost when this girl decided I'm going to forgive him I want him to be healed there had to be something in her that would stir her and say I've got to have a renewal in my own life Mama's Gone and Daddy's Gone and Grandpa's gone but I got to live here a while longer and I don't want to die a bitter old woman I want a renewing of life in my spirit I don't know about you but I'm still glad when I when I go to when I go to church I plan on going to church I prepare to meet God I was on an airplane one day was going to go to St Louis going to go to the Vatican and I was was during my prayer hour and I had to catch a plane during my prayer hour and so I checked on got on board plane locked my seat belt and I started I I wanted to finish my prayer hour and I I was studying for a message and seeking God for a message and just before take a God's got a sense of humor folks he really has and and God gave me a sermon prepare to meet thy God I don't like that kind of message just before

takeoff or just before we land but when I come to the house of God it's about three things I know I'm going to do I'm going to I'm going to shout before I leave church some of you deadhead Pentecostals you ain't shout in so long you don't even know how no more some of y'all remind me of a Presbyterian Church that I heard about in in a in a paper one time in a Presbyterian Church in our city a a man had a heart attack and died in the middle of church and when the EMS got there they had to clear the church out to find the right one I'm just PL I'm just playing on shouting when I go to church and friend if I'm if I'm carrying the load there's five steps up to our platform the devil better look out when I decide I'm walking down those five steps because I'm going to dance and talk in tongues until I get the Victory and the devil about to look out when I get the victory we need a renewing of the Holy Ghost that says every time I go to church I'm going to meet God somebody might be there that needs the Holy Ghost somebody might need that be there that needs my strength and I am going to stay renewed in the Holy Ghost and renewed in life you know it's interesting it's it's it's it's really interesting that there was a third thing that had to happen to her I'm reluctant to tell the story but I'm going to do it anyway there was a family in our church that live very hypocritical one of my Mexican Brothers said one night he just got the Holy Ghost and he said brother Corell I don't want to be a hio prit and I said well don't worry about it we got plenty of them around he was on the church board at one time never quit smoking he loved preeminence loved tell the preacher what to do if you mess with his young ones the Wrath of the devil came down on you preacher you leave my you you you correct all other young but you leave my young alone I hate those kind of people they make me sick you say you ain't supposed to hate God gave me permission to hate those kind and and when I came to witto he he didn't live for God I I think in 20 years he came to church a couple of times on Easter Sunday want to keep his reputation up and one day he got hurt on a job and applying for workman's comp in process of applying for workman's comp they x-rayed him and it wasn't a work-related accident but he was eat up with cancer you know C that word cancer can change your attitude quickly can it and he when he was hurt his daughter came and said you don't love my daddy you won't go pray for my old daddy I said I'll go pray for him so before he found out he had cancer I went to pray for him and knocked on the door he was there by himself I came in I said I want to pray for you I don't need you here preacher I didn't invite you here you don't if I want you here I'll call you and ask you to come I said excuse me I apologize for bracing your home you won't have to worry about me coming back if you ever need me that's right you call me I left well the next week they found out he had cancer and that he was dying and latter stages and I didn't go see him the old Rascal and and and and his daughter made sure that the whole church knew that I didn't visit her D Daddy and so I just stopped her in front of the whole church I said the reason that I didn't visit your old daddy is because your old daddy said don't call me I'll call you now you go tell that old Thunderhead if he wants to see me for him to call me and I'll come well I got a phone call and it was him and he wanted to come see me I said I'm not coming unless your whole family's present so I went to see him him and the whole family walked in and he said Reverend he said I I need to make an apology to you I said now hold on just a minute hold on just a minute if you think this is going to be a mutual admiration Society are a mutual repentance session you're wrong I said let me tell you and your family I have not done you any wrong and I don't intend to apologize to you or to your family some of y'all backslide if you preach a talk to you like that you'd run straight to the demon board I mean Deacon board there's not a lot of difference

got to preach he said no no no no no no no he said I want my whole family to know that I have been a hypocrite my entire life I have never lived what I have professed I Sinn when I was in church and I never got right with God and I never live for God I want all of you youngers to know that i' done this man wrong i' done the former Pastor wrong and and you have never in your life heard repentance the way that man repented I'm telling you he made every child come by him one at a time and pointed his finger to him and said you listen to your daddy I am the one that's wrong I the one that cussed and lied and cheated and smoked I'm the one that was always a troublemaker in church I'm the one that caused all the Strife in the house of God and friend when he got through confessing that sin and repenting God baptized him with the Holy Ghost you've never seen anything like go I have never in all of my years of preaching ever seen such thorough repentance and he said he said now brother Co he said there's one more man I got to get right with and I understand that he's overseas and he said I've done him wrong I sinned against him I lied on him I cussed him i' done this I done that and he said he said would you just lay hands on me and pray that I live long enough for him to get back so I can get right with him also and a few weeks later he did get right with the other man and a few weeks later he passed on you know what was strange about it is that the attitude of so many family members well if God really loved us why did he let that happen to me oh it makes me sick Hallelujah and at the same time that was happening we had a young couple that was being taught home Bible study and after they got into Bible study after they got got into the word of God their their eight-year-old boy little boy developed leukemia and my mom I never did have a brother and sister and I've always felt cheated in life because I didn't know what it was to have a brother and a sister and a lot of folks have told me that I was blessed and didn't know it so so be that as it may I may have gotten the better end of the deal after all but still I felt that I was cheated just like you felt you were cheated but not being the only one I really did but there there were a few things in that PE class there was nobody out on the football field but just us and it was long toward the last of the class and one of in fact it was the star player on the high school football team I don't know what business he had acrossing the football field but he was on his way across the football field back to the school building I don't know what his business was but it wasn't he wasn't in too big of a hurry because that they're in a world they was all right start towards God start living for God start paying your tithe and their child gets leukemia and and we prayed and God heal that child of leukemia they finished the Bible study got baptized filled with the Holy Ghost living for God and the leukemia came back with a rage I have never experienced a more horrible death in my entire life Sunday afternoon we went to their house and we stayed with them they could not give him enough morphine to stop the pain 8 years old beautiful child straight A student brilliant kid wonderful family I'm telling you a beautiful family and and and and all through Sunday night and all that night the next day and and late Monday afternoon in in in in such a chaotic painful mess that mother was hovering over that child pleading oh God don't let him suffer no more God take him God take him God take him and and and and and she said pastor pray that God take him I can't stand him suffering no more and late that evening he went on to be with the Lord after it was all over my wife and I was on our way home and I said you know I I hate to say this but when the funeral is over this family will never be back to church we had the funeral on Saturday

afternoon I'm telling you it was packed place the city came out the town came out the school came out the School Board everybody was somebody was there and we had the funeral and the next morning I knew they would never be back to church I I I I had already I just knew they would never be back to church and in the door he came he walked up to me he said pastor he said I know you have a policy of not having reserved seats but he said can I have about five or six of these seats right over here and I said for what he said I have brought my family to the house of God today he brought 45 members of his family and brought them to the house of God God he said can I can my wife and I testify and I said sure and and and he stood in my pull pit when he wiped the tears away and we able to talk he said it like this he said I want my family to know you all are bitter at God because of our son [name redacted] dying of lukemia but he said his death was the best thing that has ever happened in our life we would not know God the way we know God if we had not had to pray for the last year the way we've had to pray and he said because of his death he said my wife and I have strength to go on because God has been good to us you know what that girl could have said God let my family die that girl could have said God let me down but no sir she refused to lose her faith in God I'm telling the Louisiana District we cannot must not and will not lose our faith in God oh Hallelujah those skin worms eat my body and they put me in the grave in my flesh I shall see God there's somebody in this house today that you need to get right with God and restore your confidence because God has everything under control she would have never she said I would to God and when when non went to the king of Israel he said am I God he had so lost faith in God that he didn't even know that God himself could heal I'm going be I'm going preach healing if I'm dying of cancer I'm going to preach healing I'm going to preach God on the throne if I'm in the deest dark Valley I've ever walked through can I have an amen we're too close to the end to start blaming God for things that happened in our life that went bad we need to say it doesn't matter what happens God's still on the throne I have faith in God I have faith in God I have faith in God I have faith in God you know there's a fourth thing that happened to her that I think is important you know her Mama's Gone her daddy's gone they've all been butchered and murdered and killed just so she could be presented as a b a birthday present to some puke pot like non and she said I would to God that he knew about the Prophet The Prophet didn't prevent your folks from getting killed the prophet didn't keep your Village from being burned how in the world did she retain her faith in the preacher we had a family moved to which T had a pel of young ones paid their rent on the apartment fed them for six months bought them Furniture filled their house you ever makes don't it just make you sick and and and got him a job finally got him Insurance got the Lord just blessed him and one service I noticed he wasn't there and this is about eight or nine months down the road and noticed he wasn't there again so I called him and said miss you at church so he said can I make an appointment with you and I said yeah you can he came by to see me and he said I'll be changing churches my first thing I want to do was close the door go back in the back room and talk in tongues and Shout I was tired of paying his rent but being the pastor that I was I acted as mad as I could act why change churches my God ain't the will of God for you to change churches the Lord brought you here and just you know you know how we do if you leave here you're going to die and go to hell and the wrath of God's going to fall on you you reck you can straighten this mess out brother the Tenny and I said why are you leaving he

said you preached something the other night I didn't like that I disagreed with I think it was about the third wart on the second horn on the ninth head somebody asked me one day who the Antichrist was I said I don't know I've had seven to die already so you ain't the first one that has disagreed with me on it I preached Revelations 10 weeks to one couple in their home trying to scare them into the church and when I didn't win them I I started a Bible study over and taught nine more lessons and I got after Revelation I talked 10 more weeks on Revelation I shot them with a 357 to their brains hung down their neck and they couldn't die and I stung them with scorpions I put a a 666 on both hands and a magic marker that that wouldn't wash off I did everything in the world will save them somebody said how did you teach them 10 more weeks I said because I forgot what I taught the first 10 weeks I said you going to leave the church because you disagree on one fine point of the Book of Revelation yes sir I said well let me just tell you slime puke one thing I said you've done a lot of things we disagreed with and we put up with you I ain't losing my faith in the men of God because I disagree with them on a few points of Revelation a few points of Genesis I'm going because one day I may need a hand of a man of God on my head to pray for me when I need healing I'm going to tell you what if you go to heaven you're going to have the finger Prince of a preacher on you this is not time to lose faith in the ministry it's time to build up the ministry if we're going to be successful in our Bible studies and saw went it you're going to have to have faith in the man of God I got four more minutes be seated hurry sit down hurry hurry had a had a little couple called me the other day and she said brother Cornwell I said yes ma'am she said I don't want to tell you what to preach now I said okay she said but I but I can I make a request and I said sure she said I've been teaching Bible study for about 20 weeks he said I got this family coming and I told him that if they come to my church they' hear acts 238 preached he said I know you're preaching on something else here lately but he said could you slip in Acts 238 a while tomorrow night at church I said I'd be glad to and that night when I was preaching my sermon I just shut down what I preached and I just laid into acts 238 and and when service was over we baptized her couple in Jesus name and and she came up and boy she was just beaming she said I knew I could count on you I knew I could count on you I knew I could count on you and I walk away there I holding my head up high those kind of people make pastoring worth it when you know that there's people out there that hasn't lost faith in the man of God lost faith in the pull pit I refuse to lose faith in the pull pit let me tell you who's losing faith in the pull pit it's the back row buzzards it's the people in the back of the church that they they don't know what's going on around the front why don't you get your carcass down at the altar and find out what's going on and you'll realize that the man of God has the anointing on him there's a fifth thing that had to happen for her to want nonon to be healed she refused to lose faith in her future she refused to lose faith in her Nation because her city was gone they going to shut churches down to Doomsday but every Church ain't going to be shut down there going to be preachers backslide till the Antichrist shows up they want to backslide let them their choice I don't think they make very good ones but that's what they want to do let them backslide let them go to hell it's their business but I ain't going to stand on the bandwagon and say well the church ain't what it used to be I'm so glad it's

not my God I love air conditioning I love a Chevrolet I love paty pews I love microphones can I have an amen and I I I I don't want to I don't want to be offensive here but if I am you got to forgive anyways it's all right I thank God for the Pioneers that came in but move over Pioneers these leth our Saints got just the same room on the Pew that you got and we're seeing more healings than we've ever seen there's more miracles than we've ever seen there's more revival going on right now that has ever been in the history of the Church of the Jesus Christ can I have an amen yes there was 120 that got the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost and yes that was 3,000 out of the same day but friend we multiply that by hundreds every day in this world that we're living in she refused to lose faith in her future one day she had a hope that she was going to go back and there was going to be a king on the throne a prophet in his house and a move of God in the land when you you're going to be a soul winner you got to get out of this negative rot that we're in so he went to the king and he said am I God he didn't have faith in his in God the prophet or his future but you know what the prophet said send him to me and so here comes non all his a Jay down to meet the prophet hang on I'm on overtime now time and a half I'm Union if I don't quit I'll be going on vacation nonon the butcherer came down to Elisha's house and Elisha didn't even come out but he sent the messenger out and he came out and said the man of God said go dip seven times in the River Jordan and he went back in very brief appearance by the messenger and no appearance by the prophet and he pitched the fit he could have come out and struck his hand over the place and call on the name of his God but he didn't and he wasn't and so his servants came and said look if they told you do some great thing you'd have done it why don't you just try obeying and he went down the river Jordan and and and the butcherer got healed but Elisha found out why non was there somewhere there was a village that was burned with fire somewhere there was a dead mother and a dead father that there was no one to bury them somewhere there was a little girl that became a slave and waited on the butcher's wife and Elisha said I will not negate the sacrifice of this little girl by appearing before him and taking the credit for what belongs to a little unnamed girl I thank God for all the great preachers and all the great churches that we have but behind all the bright lights there's somebody in your prayer room there's somebody taking a Bible study chart around there's somebody driving a bus route on a Sunday afternoon there's somebody teaching a Sunday school class there's somebody out there that will'll never know who their name is but the Lord has a remembrance of the little Maid that said I would to God that they knew about the prophet that is in Israel this church I'm going tell you something is the greatest hour that we've ever lived in we've got to learn how to forgive folks we've got to learn how to get renewed folks we got to learn to have faith in God folks we got to learn to have faith in our man of God folks and we we got to have faith in our future this church ain't going down the last time I read the book there was going to be the sound of a trumpet and this church is going to go up I said this church is going to go up I said this church is going to go up I wonder what would happen if Sunday night our people stormed the Altar and said God I've had all kinds of things

happen but I'm forgiving my brother I'm forgiving my sister I'm forgiving those that trespassed against me and start digging trash out of their heart and leg on you know why backsliders come to the Altar and they pray through and they go back and they backslide it's because it's easy to repent I love to repent there's some folks I just like the cold right Square between the eyes and just bend over so please forgive me I'm repenting right now it's not repentance we got problems with it's the forgiving part that's hard it's the forgiving part that we haven't conquered and mastered yet let's forgive folks let's don't hold grudges folks let's forgive our brothers folks let's forgive our sisters and let's have Apostolic Revival and Apostolic Soul inning my God I'm preaching to you tonight that you're testifying if nobody in the whole multitude agrees with you you're still a witness for what right and if you'll stand up for it there might not nobody be there that'll sing your praise and congratulate you unknown but yet well known unknown but yet well Known Unknown but yet well known you thought it to be you thought it to be Fu you thought it to be of no aail just like that little old darling that stood in that assembly one day and her High School a large high school and there was an atheist that had been invited to that school and it was not it was some some organization or some some group that had invited him the principal and and and the officials didn't even know what the man was there to speak for but when he got through with his address everybody said in that audience appalled and shocked the principal and the officials sat there appalled and shocked that because that man had gotten up and for 45 minutes had lectured on being an atheist and trying to convince that crowd that there was no God and when he got through with his address he goes to sedam and the principal is speechless the officials the teachers the sponsorer of the of of the of the organization that invited him there they sat there speechless not knowing what to say taken by total shock but there happened to be a little Pentecostal in that assembly that day when that man sit down nobody else knew what to say that little bashful humble Pentecostal that never had had the courage and the guts to stand up before he just simply stood up she lifted her eyes toward heaven and she began to sing I shall know I shall know as Redeemed by his side I shall stand I shall him I shall know him by the print of the nails in his hand when she started singing that chorus there was a holy hush and then there was a Sniff and then a tear and then a handkerchief and then the whole assembly joined in on the next chorus I shall know him I shall

know him as Redeemed by his side I shall stand I shall know him I shall know him by the pr of the nail in his hand your greatest testimony will be when you didn't get the Applause from the breachers your greatest rewards will be when there were no lights of shining when nobody there to sing your praise but you stood for what was right and you felt like while you were doing it you were unknown but I've got news for you tonight while you were unknown yet you were well known there was a young lad who grew up in a mediumsized city he had a great musical Talent his family provided him with the best instructor musical professor in a neighborhood college that Professor took personal time with him and trained that young man his ability and his talent ushered him into a a musical Arena to where he was World known he was a world-renowned pist after his great success finally his hometown arranged for him to come back to the City Auditorium and give a musical rendition a concert for his hometown first time he had been back the audience was the building was totally filled everybody was there to see the hometown boy that had made it big he walks out to the Clapping the whistling of the crowd welcoming him back home he sits down to the piano and he begins to play after each rendition the crowd was almost wild they loved it and they let him know but he was somewhat oblivious that night he enjoyed it for a while but in his eyes began to R the building up and down each row his eyes roed finally his search became so intense that his ears were almost silenced to the Applause of the crowd finally he makes it to the last number of the night which is to be the Masterpiece of his concert his eyes are still searching row by row he sits down to the piano for the last tune and he plays is that number everything he has his Masterpiece of the night when he gets through with that beautiful Rend rendition the last Masterpiece T of the the crow is almost ecstatic they Roar with cl and while their clamping is roaring and resounding fins younger in the balcony he sees the face that he had been looking for and while everybody else was prepping so so feverously there's not a t of expr on the faith in the balcony close this without a response from that face he goes back to the piano he sat down again and he just thought he played the tun the first time this time he gave it he just he played until

everything in his body just just ran through his arm onto the keyboard the most beautiful music he himself knew that he had ever produced and this time the crowd waving their hands and whistling but he doesn't pay any attention his eyes are glued on the face in the balcony and while everybody else is going wild there's no change of expression he said I cannot I must not I will not quit I cannot I will not he goes back to the piano he takes his bow to acknowledge the the Applause he goes back and this time he says I'll do it or I'll die try and he almost attacks the piano he did not know that there was music that could come out of his being like that pour on to a keyboard and he plays until it astounds everybody in the crowd the crowd is standing to their feet now they're whistling and they're waving their hand but this time he doesn't pay any attention whatsoever he's just watching the face of his old instructor in the balcony as he just simply smiles and raises a hand that's what I wanted out of you that's what I knew you could do I'll tell you what you do if you want to play to the bleachers you go ahead if you want the if you want the waves the hands of the fans you go ahead you can have it you can have it you can have it I've got my eye just a little bit higher I want my dad to respect me and love me for what I preach I want my people to love me for what I preach I want them to tell me I agree with you I appreciate it I really do I want that but I'm not preaching for their Applause I'm not preaching for what they tell me with their handshake I'm not preaching for their dollar bill I'm not preaching for the food their tithing puts on my table no a thousand times no I'm not singing and I'm not preaching for what you can tell me I've got my eye on a face in the balcony I'm watching him and if I can just get him to say that's good it'll be worth it all it'll be worth it all it'll be worth it all would you stand with me tonight I can't wait brother Barnes I can't wait until some of these campers some of these preachers we get on the other side we thought nobody was watching we thought really nobody cared we thought we were unknown but when we get there Daddy's going to pull us over to the side and say son you remember you you remember you didn't think nobody was watching you didn't think nobody was looking but you held true to your convictions I just wanted to tell you the eye in the balcony was watching you all the time I saw you I saw you I saw you I saw you you may not have time you may have to go and it's all right if you do but I want every camper in this building tonight that by Grace you're going to get your eye off of the lines on the field off of the bleachers you're going to get your eyes off of the lights you're going to get your you're going to get your ears deafened to The Cry of those in the bleacher and you're going to lift your eye to the face in the balcony and you're not going to play to the bleachers but you're going to start playing to the balcony I want those of you that want God to help you get your eyes just a little off there before you go back to get your pass from your Dean before you go back to get your clothes and go home before you even find where Mom and Dad are sitting in the Tabernacle I want those of you that want God to take over your life and to rearrange your priorities so that you can remember that though you're unknown yet you're well known somebody's are

watching you I want you to make your way toward the front of the Tabernacle I want you to throw up your hands I want you to tell God somewhere close to this rail God you forgive me for doing what I do because of people and what they think I'm going to start living for you because you and I have something of going I'm going to be successful not because of what people say but because of what you say wherever you are would you raise your hand right now raise your hand tilt your face toward the balcony there's an eye there's an eye there's an eye make that total dedication and commitment to the face in the balcony