J.C. Hibbard shares a heartfelt message from his hospital bed, emphasizing the need for the church to make a deeper dedication to God amidst his personal suffering. He reflects on the power of prayer and the importance of the church being in the right position to receive God's healing and blessings. Hibbard encourages the congregation to prioritize their relationship with God, urging them to seek Him earnestly and to make a commitment to prayer and service. He believes that through this dedication, not only will the church be revitalized, but he will also experience healing. The message serves as a call to action for the church to align itself with God's purpose.

Well, this is the voice of your old shepherd, and it's a thrill of my life to be able to come into the auditorium this morning by this way of bringing what God has laid on my heart for you this morning. I have looked forward to it, and it has been something that has really moved my own soul. I have gone through a lot of suffering, and not only myself when I say that, I mean my precious wife. Many times through the night, two to three times, we might have to... I'll have such sweats that I'll get raining wet and have to get up and change. And in the wee hours of night, two and three o'clock in the morning, it makes it very hard on her. And I would appreciate if you would really hold her up in prayer. I've laid here now, it's two weeks with the virus, and we had a little relapse. Then I got up and started back at about two weeks, and I felt stronger. And I was getting ready to go back into full swing as soon as I could, you know, snap out of it right then. And then this other thing happened, which was three weeks ago. My collarbone was fractured. And not only that, but all the ligaments and the muscles pulled in that shoulder while I was here laying at night at sleep. And it set a kind of a reaction of that pain took away... I filled my stomach with such pain that it was almost impossible to eat and enjoy it. And so naturally I began to fall off weight, and at the present time it's 21 pounds that I have lost. And as I have laid here, I suppose I have suffered more than I've been healthy and been strong. You can't keep a good man down. He's going to come out some way. And I know there's going to be a sunrise right away. I have that uttermost confidence in my church and my... not only my church, but friends all over this city. And since I didn't understand the whole thing, I had to have an understanding with God. And so laying here night after night and many nights getting up and having to sit from one chair to the other and back to the same place, the pain become very severe. And the weakness really was very strong. I mean, weakness was effective in my body. But one thing, I kept looking to God, and several nights I just felt that I couldn't stand, I couldn't lay down, and I couldn't sit up no more. And I'd look to him, and I'd say, Lord, now just for a little answer, let me go over and go to sleep. And he'd let me go sound asleep, and I'd get me some rest. God's been very close to me, but I wondered what was going on. I wondered what was happening. We were all praying, and I had, I don't have to call preachers' names, but the greatest in this whole country has come in, anointed me with oil and prayed the prayer of faith. For 50 years I have spent my life laying my hand on sick people and God performing all kinds of miracles. And I know God answers prayer, and I know his promises are true, and I know you can rely upon them, and I know if there's one truth in the Bible, it's divine healing. It's as true as when Christ walked this earth. And God wants to perform miracles, but sometimes strange things happen. When I heard that they were praying for me in Oregon, in Washington, in California, they were praying for me in Kentucky, they were praying for me in Houston, they were praying for me all over this country, Louisiana down there, they're praying for me. And all the churches in the city have been calling and telling that they have been praying for me, but seemingly I received no benefit of any. It is only the little times when I'd say, God, I must go to sleep. As far as healing my body, it was not healed. It put a question mark in my mind, and I said, God, I don't know what this is all about. This one I'm telling you now happened about two weeks ago. I said, I don't know what it's all about, but I do know and I'm very conscious that something is happening here. You've got a purpose in mind, and I want you to have your way no matter what it costs me or what pain it may cost. I want you to have your way. And the Lord never answered me back. But after one week, God began to talk to me, and God began to speak to my heart. He said, Son, all the churches in the city and all the churches all over the nation are praying for you, and they're asking me to heal you. But this is for a purpose, Son, and that's why I haven't healed you. Isn't God good? Anyway, I laid here and the Lord began to talk to me, and he said, Son, all these people praying, they not only need to pray for God to heal Brother Hibbard, they need to pray for God to move the objects out of the way that stand in the way of your healing. There's a job that has to be done, Son, and I have no source to turn to but my church. I can look no other place but my church to do it. And my church must be in the position it should be in to do what I want done. And there is a thing I want done in the church. It's not only for the church itself. It's for the whole country. But this thing that I have in mind cannot be done. The church is not in the position to do it. The church has grown much closer to me since your affliction, and many have come in and made greater dedications. Others who had slacked in carrying the load that must be carried or it's not carried have moved up, and they begin to carry that load. There are others on the outside edge that were drifting away that have turned and come forward, and they've come back. But at the present time, Son, the need has not been met. There is no preacher that I know of in the country that could stand in your pulpit and preach a message and cause the people to do what I want them to do. And if you yourself was healed instantly by my power, which I intend to do when my people do what I want them to do, he said, when instantly I could let you stand in the pulpit strong as six months ago, and I could let you have the anointing that you've always had when you have preached lately, especially with a heavy anointing upon you. But your preaching would not get this job done. It's not a hard job for anyone, but it's one that hasn't been done yet. They love you. They want you to get well. But many of them, they have not seen the condition of their own soul. And I want to tell you what I want them to do. As I said, many of them are wanting to be drawn. Many of them have wanted your healing and all. But he said, if you stood in the pulpit today and you'd preach your heart out after this healing, yet, knowing my people, there's many of them that never make a move, and the thing, object that stands in the way would not be moved out. I'm depending on you, son, to bring the message that I give you from the bed, and I want you to tell them what I want them to do. I want them to make a dedication, and I want this dedication. It's not that they're not Christians, and it's not that they're not coming to church, but these are the things that I find that makes the church disqualified for me to operate and do the work that I must do for the great need. It must be done. And this is the only source. I want every one of my people that are here this morning, when you bring this message, I want every one of my people to take time to forget the time and forget everything and put one thing paramount in their mind to do, and that is to obey you when you tell them to come to the front and you tell them what you want them to do. I want them to make a dedication. Many have made dedications, but it's not to the extent that I require. I want them to put me in the place that I require. There's no way that I can really use their life and they can get the fullness of my blessing unless they're operating in that one place. It's me operating in the place in their life. There are many things that takes their time and attention, many things they look to to get their entertainment. This will not be done when I find my right place in their heart, in their dedication. Automatically they will do just what I want them to do. They will pray. Prayer will find its place in their life, which must be there. Many of them have let prayer come secondary. It has not had priority over other things. Prayer must be considered. If I do the job, and this job must be done, and it must be done by my church that I have loved and showed favor, not favor, but showed mercy to and extended my great arm of mercy. I believe that when this message is given, it cannot be given strongly from the pulpit, nor by other men. It must be given by you from your bed while still afflicted. I want them to know that when they make this dedication, it's not going to be anything hard to do. It will not take hours to do, but it will take a consecration and a dedication and putting everything out of their thought, but the one thing. And when you reach that place this morning and you cry out to me with your hands raised before God and ask me to come into the place in your life that will put the Bible reading in its right place, prayer in its right place, and attendance to my services, I have admonished my people to forsake not the assembling of the self together. Many have their way of worship, but it's not my way. It does not satisfy me. When my doors are opened, I expect my people to come, and with my position in their heart and me taking the place in their life that I should take, it will be easy to attend the services. One thing I have been greatly grieved over, I have seen my church, when she would come together in service, but instead of going in and sitting down, they would not do that. They would go in the prayer room, and in a short time, I could see faces turn heavenward. I could see my men with their arms raised praying under the anointing. I could see young people. I could see my teenagers. I could see the youth in the prayer room, from one end of the prayer room to the other, praying before the service and asking me to be a blessing. They'd come out of that prayer room into the services, and we would see wonderful things happen. My people have entered into a state of lethargy, and it's easy to come and sit down and go into the service without first touching me, and then I find that when they neglect this prayer, it has effect on the services, where if I have found my right place in their heart, they're going to long and look forward, and they will be pleased to come and kneel in the altar and seek my face, and they'll put the revival back in the prayer room, and every opportunity that they can, they'll find themselves in there waiting on me. Now, the thing that I have in mind is not just for the Gospel Lighthouse Church. It must be done. The dedication must be done by my people at the Gospel Lighthouse. The consecrations today must be done, but the result is the thing I have in mind that I must do, and it must be done, but it can only be done by prayer and by dedication. Now, the dedication I've asked you to make is not hard. It's very easy, and it'll bring such joy and such peace, such contentment, and as you look right and left in our nation, is it coming apart? It's receiving my judgments now because of its turning from me. As the world has turned from me, so my church have turned from me from the full dedication I require. So I want you to know that when you're praying, it's not just to get yourself closer to God so you'll be sure to make heaven. It is to bring yourself into the position that I can do what I must do, and if you do not, and if you throw it off on someone else and say, well, I'll let all the rest of them pray. I am an all-seeing God. I see every heart. You must respond to God yourself. You must say, I cannot fail. If everyone else fails, I must be true to God. This sacrifice is not something that is out of ordinary. It is something that will bring a new hope in life to your home, and while we see things coming apart around about you, it will put a strength. It will put a confidence, and I will be with you in your trials and in your troubles, and we will see God. You will see God again move as you have seen Him in times past. This thing has been purposed in my heart, and my servant, when this is accomplished, my servant will be healed. The prayers I have not wanted for prayers of faith, they've gone up, but there's something that only can be brought about by this suffering, and you obeying His voice. Now let me say this. Our brother Ledbetter was in the room three days ago, and I said to Brother Ledbetter, Brother Ledbetter, God has been talking to me for two nights. I've got to do something, and I told him how that we had already engaged our brother Morrison Sunday morning. He had something else to do Sunday night. Brother Pulley was coming Sunday night. God spoke to me and told me, He said, I want Brother Morrison to preach Sunday night, and I want you to tell him that you're going to take the program and you'll preach Sunday morning and bring my message to my people. There's something got to be done, and they are the only ones that can do it, and I'm depending on them. And now you call Brother Morrison and tell him that I want him to preach Sunday night. Well, before he had been engaged, but I called him, and when I told him, I said, Brother Morrison, as a pastor to pastor and a spiritual leader to one, and knowing the Holy Ghost, I know you'll understand me. I must bring a message Sunday morning, which I'm doing now. And I said, Brother Morrison, I hope you understand. God has laid on my heart that some things have got to be done, and it can only be done while I'm suffering and God's people, and we tell them what God wants them to do. He began to rejoice. He said, Brother Hibbard, that's God. And he said about Sunday night, yes, I can be there, and I am so happy. Let me tell you what happened on my end of the line. He said, God gave me a message that burned in my heart, for I didn't know when. I knew I wasn't supposed to be there Sunday night, but this message was burning on my heart for Sunday, but I could not bring it. Something else had to be done before I brought it. There was a need, and I believe that somehow this need must be brought before the people before I could bring my message. He said, You've hit it on the head. That's exactly what God wants. Now I have my message burning. I can follow it up Sunday night, and it'll be exactly what God wants. And while I was sitting talking to Brother Ledbetter, he said, Brother Hibbard, let me tell you what happened to me. About six or eight months ago, about six months ago, he said I was taken down with a terrible affliction. I had prostate trouble, and I had blood flowing from my body, and this blood couldn't be checked, and we prayed day and night. I got weaker and weaker, but this flow of blood kept coming, and it seemed the doctors that had checked me had exhausted all they could do, and they said, Brother Ledbetter, we're just having to wait and hope, and he said I went down to where I knew that I couldn't live. I was so weak, but I had a church that had really had a revival. They had really prayed, and they was praying for me, and they was seeking God, and they was really getting closer to God, but yet the thing wasn't accomplished, Brother Hibbard, that should have been accomplished. Just exactly like you were talking about, and he said my wife left me on that Sunday night. I'd sunk so low until she said, Honey, when I went out the door, I never expected to see you alive again. I had to go to the church, but you was so weak, the blood hemorrhaging could not be stopped, yet I had God fearing people praying, falling all over the country, and God could have healed me in a second, but he didn't. There was something had to be done, but he said she came to church, and she said I left your pastor in almost a dying condition, so weak, and I doubted that I'll ever see him alive, but she said let's make a dedication that we've never made, and who can tell, but this is what God has wanted, to bring the church to a place that it's never been, and he said they got a hold of God, and for 30 minutes or 45, they each one made their little dedication, sincere from their heart, no hypocrisy. It wasn't something to be done tonight, and going back in the same old rut Wednesday or Thursday, but it's making a complete sweep, settling everything, and after about 45 minutes, she left, and she said I'll go back to the hospital where my husband is just hanging on for life, and she went. He not only had God touched him and healed him, but he was setting up with his pants on, looked at her in life, said honey, how you getting along? She said honey, you don't look like the same man when I left you. He said I do. He said something happened a while ago. He said all I want to know is what happened at the church. She told him. Brother Ledbetter said to me, brother, that's been several months ago. My church is a brand new church. It's never done the same. There were major things that had to be done that could not have been done. They wouldn't stand for it. They were uncooperative. They were ones willing to put my son in his position to take charge, and I could be there as pastor, but let him take charge. They were willing to do anything, but they made the consecration, dedicated it, but got God right in the right place, and when they did that, he said I've been well ever since. It's almost a duplicate of what God, and he hadn't mentioned that until I told him what God had moved on my heart, and now you've been so sweet. You're the greatest people in all the world. You've been so kind, but not just for my sake. I told Jesus with tears, Lord, I'm willing. Whatever it takes. However long I have to suffer, I'm willing, but for this thing that is going to mean so much to so many people, make my people be willing to do what you want them to do, and now I want everyone to stand to your feet, and I want you to start moving to the front, and I want to have you come to the front, and I'm going to pause just for a moment. If God should want to speak, he can speak, but I want you to start moving to the front, and then I'll pick up again. I, the Lord, search the hearts and know the reins. I know the thoughts. I know the intent of every heart. I see the inmost, inmost, inmost being of thy very soul. I know thy good points, and I know thy shortcomings. Some have left your first love. No longer are you thrilled with my blessings in my house and spiritual things, but you're taken up with cares of this life and deceitfulness of riches and lusts of other things, right things in wrong places. Some, the seed, the Word of God, has fallen on thine heart, but you have such shallow roots until when tribulation comes or test comes or trials come or misgivings come, then you're offended and you just absolutely lose out in your soul with God, your Maker. Then evaluate these things and search thine own heart and say from the depths of thy soul, Lord, here am I. Search my heart and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and let me make you Lord of my life and put you first, first in my thinking, first in my waking, first in my going to bed at night, first on my job. You come first, Lord, and let me put proper things in the proper perspectives and oh, God, here am I, use me. I am right with you, believe me. If ever Brother Hibbert was right there in that church, I am right there now. I want my first words to be spoken to all of our young people, young married couples and young teenagers. God spoke to me and he's very concerned about the youth of this church. You love God and you love Jesus, but you have not entered into the place where God wants you to be. You have not put the Lord in that place that he requires to be put. He wants this young people to make the dedication this morning and as soon as I get through speaking, I want just the young people, the teenagers, to go in the prayer room and the young married couples and I want the boys on one side and the girls on the other and I want them to kneel in the big circle and I want them to join hands and the Lord has made me to know that when you do and you begin to pray for each one you're holding hands for, that as once never before in your life, you're making a wholesale dedication. You're laying every problem and everything on the altar. You're putting Jesus right in the right place and you're putting your daily prayer right in its right place and when you do that, God made me to know the Holy Ghost is going to come upon you and you're going to feel the power of God and our church is going to have a revival and the youth has a great part in bringing about this thing that God has in mind and now I turn to the sweetest people in all the world, the people that love God and that I love you and Jesus let me know how much He loves you and what He's asking you to do. Children is not a big thing. It's just merely selling out and saying, God, now once and for all and I don't want anyone to be standing. I want you to find your comfortable place and I want you to get on your knees and say, Lord, if I don't eat until the later part of the evening, Lord, I don't care how long it takes me. I just want to dedicate and I just want to let you know that I see the need and it's not one or two and it's not a few of them but God's depending on every one of you that are listening to my voice and He's depending on you when you get up on your knees you know you have touched God and God has moved into the place in your heart that He wants to occupy and I believe the thing that God wants brought about will be brought about by your love for God and your pastor and that in so doing God is going to heal my body. I want you to kneel now and as you begin to pray I want Brother Pete Pulley that sang two weeks ago that wonderful song Under the Spirit of God and as he sings under the anointing I want you to open your heart and your pastor's with you and right this minute I'm praying with you and the Holy Ghost is ministering and confirming what I have said Oh God bless you start praying