In this sermon, the speaker recounts a story from the book of Acts about the Apostle Paul being caught in a powerful storm at sea. Despite the ship being in distress and the crew losing hope, Paul reveals that an angel of God stood by him throughout the storm. The speaker draws parallels between this story and the end times, suggesting that it serves as a reminder of the need for divine intervention in difficult times. The sermon also includes personal anecdotes about the speaker's own experiences of facing challenges and the importance of paying attention to God's attempts to get our attention.

I don't think I have any really bad habits. Well, I have one, and that's buying books. The pastor graciously gave me some books yesterday, and he told me I can have some more, so I'm going in there later. Anything that's free I like. Grace is free, mercy is free, the joy of the Lord is free, the burden of the Lord is free. Outside of reading the Word of God, I find that maybe the most profitable reading is reading biographies or, if they're available, preaching autobiographies. There are two great big volumes on the life of Hudson Taylor. He was the founder of the China Inland Mission. The first volume is called The Growth of a Soul. It shows the expansion of his life spiritually, intellectually, and in every other way. The second volume is called The Growth of a Work, because he founded the Gospel of Christ right in central China, never once asked for a penny to support his cause. And there are two great volumes on the life of William Booth. They were written by Begbie, and they're astounding. I think I could write the life of most men in two volumes. But God writes the life of one of the most wonderful men to ever cross the bridge of time, and he writes it in two words. He prayed. No man is greater than his prayer life. It's amazing to me always that the disciples never once said to the Lord, teach us to preach. They didn't say teach us to do miracles, but they did say teach us to pray. The most awesome time in the life of Jesus, I think, was when he went there into the Garden of Gethsemane and he prayed. And nobody could bear that. Now, I don't know how it sounds, but my voice is echoing all the time. Is that normal? He's working on it. Good for him. Maybe you need to work on me. What are you going to do? Over the roof? Well, here is a man, I say again, one of the most amazing men to ever cross the bridge of time. And all it says is he prayed. You could say of him he subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. You know, if any of you are tempted to get proud, and I suppose you are, I mean proud of your spiritual achievements, proud of your spiritual development, proud of your spiritual vision. I think the one great remedy for me anyhow, if I'm tempted that way, is to go to the 11th chapter of Hebrews. One of the most amazing chapters, surely, in the whole of the Word of God. And there you have men and women. What does it say of them? It doesn't tell you a word about their social standing or their intellectual powers. It says of them they subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. Women received their dead, raised for life again. Here's the repair man. Which is wrong? Good. I'd rather kiss my wife than kiss this thing. What's this problem? Okay. But the staggering thing about reading Hebrews 11 for me, when I read what they did, it doesn't say they went to Bible schools. It doesn't say they had degrees. It says they had one thing that we all need so vitally. They had faith. Listen, they subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, stopped the mouths of lions. Women received their dead, raised to life again. And you know what knocks me flat? Not one of them ever had a Bible. Don't brag about your Bible knowledge here. Wait till you get to the judgment seat. You'll possibly discover it will shrink. You see, we've made a big mistake in America and other countries. Almost every magazine you pick up, know your Bible, know your Bible, know your Bible. No, it's not know your Bible. It's know God. You can know your Bible in Hebrew and Greek and Latin and all the rest and not know God. It says the people that know their Bible shall be strong and to exploit. Does it say that? Not in the reverse version. The people that do know their God, know him intimately, know something about his majesty, his glory, his resources. So here you have a man comes on the stage. About 50 years after dividing of the kingdom, we read that Elijah came onto the stage. He came in one of the most, the darkest hours in the history of the nation. There have been at least five kings before Ahab. The second king did more evil than the first. The third did more evil than the second. The fourth did more evil than the third. The fifth did more evil than the previous four. And finally Ahab came and you take all the aggregate iniquity of the nation and Ahab exceeded it all. He broke every law, every commandment of God. He led the people to strange gods. He rebuilt Jericho, which God said should never be rebuilt. And he built altars to Ashtaroth and to Baal. And yet it's all summed up in this word, he prayed. And in James 5 it says he prayed the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man. So we know that he was a man. And God's looking for men. He doesn't despise women. He helps their infirmity. But, thank you. He says I sought for a man to stand in the gap. There was a man sent from God. I looked for a man. John the Baptist was a man. Elijah was a man. He wasn't half God and half man. He was a man. He must have been a man. He stood up against 800 men and ran away from one woman. So he must have been a man. Very fallible. But then, it says in verse, in the first book of Kings in chapter 16 they said in verse 32, he read up an altar to Baal in the house of Baal. And he built in Sama. And Ahab did more, made a grove to Ahab. He did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel and all the kings that were before him. And all you do, if you read that story slowly, you see it's a kind of list of impiety and impurity and deliberate, determined opposition to the revelation of God. You know, I believe right now, well let me put it this way, in the last two weeks I've received three prophecies from different parts of America. People that don't know each other are all saying the same thing. That this is going to be, the next three years are going to be three of the darkest years in the history of America. I don't know that Senator Sam Nunn is a, I know he's a politician obviously. I don't know whether he's a Christian. But somebody asked him, since you're a very popular, mature senator, you know the affairs of America. You know about its economy. You know about the world situation. Why don't you run for presidency? So Senator Nunn said, could I honestly go, could I honestly go in front of a congregation of people and say, vote for me to be president of the United States in the next four of the most difficult years in American history. And the answer is not in the politicians. The answer is not in the White House. It's in God's house. That is if we put our house in order. If we humble ourselves before God. Well here is this amazing, amazing man. Montgomery, Bishop Montgomery was the grandfather of Lord Montgomery. There was a famous man in World War II. Montgomery said that prayer is the simplest form of speech that infant lips can try. Prayer the sublimest strains that reach the majesty on high. Yes, I love that 24th psalm. You see, prayer is the language of the poor. Here is a man, he's written more psalms. He lives nearer to God than any man in his day. And he is mighty in battle. He supersedes the kings before him. And yet though he sits on the greatest throne in the world, he says, bow down thine ear and hear me. I'm poor and needy. Or again, he says, this poor man cried. I'll tell you what, you can't have arrogance and pride and pray. The one cancels the other. Yes, the secret is in Psalm 24. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? He that hath clean hands. That's our relationship with the world. Now you can't live wrong and pray right. You've got to live right to pray right. And we've got to humble ourselves under the hand of God. You see, the self-sufficient don't want to pray. The self-satisfied don't need to pray. The self-righteous cannot pray. Prayer is based, predicated on these two things. My relationship with the world is clean and my relationship with God. My heart is pure. My motive is purely to the glory of God. Well, let me jump into this here. On the 17th chapter of the first book of Kings, Elisha the Tishbi was the inhabitants of Gilead. And he said unto Ahab, as the Lord God of Israel liveth. Nobody knew that God was alive. Here is a man saying God lives. The God that divided the Red Sea. The God that opened the windows of heaven and fed them with manna every day. The God that did the miraculous. The God that sent a pillar of fire and led them by fire during the night and by cloud during the day. And he says to a heathen king, listen, I want to tell you something. The Lord God of Israel liveth. I remember Gypsy Smith coming to the college that I went to. I went to a little Bible college. A small one. Only 30 young men there. No girls were allowed. They're too distracting. Just thirsty men. And very often I sat and had dinner with this wonderful fellow, Gypsy Smith. I remember him saying he was on a train in America and he began to testify to a man. The man said to him, sir, you look intelligent, but you're a fool. So the gypsy said, why am I foolish? He said, because God doesn't live. You're dreaming. Well, then he pulled out a little notebook and he said, in that train in America, I wrote this hymn. The world says I'm dreaming, but I know it's Jesus. And the chorus is, let me dream on if I'm dreaming. And he said to the man, listen, I'm having a wonderful dream. Don't wake me up. I'm not dreaming, but we know in whom we have believed. Here is a man. Oh, what I was going to say. This man said to him, how do you know God lives? He said, because I talked with him for half an hour this morning. That's pretty good proof, isn't it? Somebody once asked D.L. Moody, how do you know the Bible is inspired? Because it inspires me. Dear God, I go to my office past midnight usually, and boy, I'm more excited. I don't like the word excited. I'm more inspired when there's nobody there than even when there's a crowd there. You see, God isn't very busy after 12 o'clock. So I get the Lord all by myself. It's wonderful. You try it. You lazy bones, you try it sometimes. No wonder you're fat and overweight. You stay in bed too much. The Lord God of Israel before whom I stand. Why does a man stand before royalty? To take command. To receive some word of authority. He recognizes he is in submission. And it says, listen so clearly here. The Lord God of Israel before whom I stand. Do you know what? Our generation thinks that God's gone out of business. I said this morning, and I'm not facetious, when a young person says to me, I don't go to church. Church is as exciting as a Tupperware party. Not so when God is there. Dear God, there's life in a cemetery compared with a church when God isn't there. What do you do when you have a dead preacher giving out dead sermons to dead people? That's a qualification for the highest rank of nonsense. But when God is there, and Elijah says, God before whom I stand. This is the most awesome thing I think in the world. It's not only the God before whom he stands, but listen. He says, the word of the Lord came unto me. Does God ever speak to you? Supposing you lifted the phone and it was a president of the United States. You'd be all shaky and say, this is wonderful. But supposing you knew a man who really walked with God, and then you talk with him. What a difference there is. And Elijah says, God before whom I stand. What did he say to him? Get thee hence and turn eastward, and hide thyself. Hide thyself. That's why I had you sing, trust and obey, there's no other way. Go hide thyself. Look at the next chapter, verse 18. And it says in verse 1, go show thyself. It's wrong to show yourself when you should hide yourself. It's wrong to hide yourself when you should show yourself. You see, there's a timing in the affairs of God. Well, even Shakespeare said, there's a timing in the affairs of men which, if taken of the flood, lead on to higher things. Sometimes a boat has to stay outside of the harbor because the tide doesn't bring enough to bring it in. You know, I believe there's a tidal wave of holy power coming over America. You see, God once poured out his spirit, and since then the Holy Ghost has become the prisoner of our theology. Your preacher believes in the Holy Ghost. He quotes him, just before you go to sleep. No, right at the end of the service, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That's the only mention of the Holy Ghost in most meetings. But we're going to see a manifestation of the power of God to supersede all other powers that we've ever known. God is jealous for his glory. This man is jealous for the glory of God. He's not jealous for his name. But God says, go hide thyself. I don't know how he was there. How long? Nobody else does. Some say he was there a year. Some say two years. Some say three years. Well, you try. Go hide thyself. How often do you say, oh, when I get the children off to school, boy, I'm going to be quiet. The first thing you do is turn the dumb old TV on. And some of you, of course, have been in the shadow of death and sorrow ever since P.T.L. died. Because you were living on what you got from that junkie thing. I said this morning, not many people live on God. We live on meetings. This man didn't. He heard the voice of the Lord say, go hide thyself. That's the most difficult thing in the world to do. We love companionship. What did he do in that, in that cave? For the years he was there, he wasn't counting the bats and the rats, for sure. Go, he says, and hide yourself. You know, when preachers come to me or call me, they say, Mr. Raymond, I'm very tired. I think I need a, I need a vacation. I say, you don't. You need a cave. Get away from telephones. Get away from people. Be still and know that I'm God, is as much the scriptures be filled with the spirit. The Lord said, go tarry in Jerusalem. People say the last word of Jesus was, go ye into all the world. That's nonsense. It wasn't so. That was the last word of Jesus to the disciples. The last word of Jesus to the church was, repent, repent, repent in the book of the revelation. And until she repents, we'll never have revival. God isn't impressed with our buildings, and our programs, and our star preachers, and all the fundraising. As I said this morning, you see, evangelists are fundraisers. Revivalists are hell raisers. And I'll tell you, when God comes, it's not a very pleasant thing, to be confronted with God. Be still and know that I'm God. You know, almost every man that God has used has had a period of darkness. I have three big volumes of what St. Teresa's, and one of them is called, what the, The Dark Night of the Soul. And sooner or later, somebody goes through that. A time of splendid isolation, when other helpers fail and comforts flee, when God seems to be a million miles away, when there's no one you can trust, when you seem you've run into a wall. And they're in the darkness. I'll tell you, it wasn't much daylight in the first submarine that was ever invented. Do you know when, who traveled in the first submarine? You don't know Mike? You ignoramus. Would you imagine a pastor of a place like this, never heard of Jonah? So he goes down. What does Jonah say? He's at the bottom of the Mediterranean Ocean, and it's the first waterbed that was ever invented. No, it's a rubber bed. Every time the whale goes, he goes. You know, and it's like you do on your waterbed. But what does he say? Round about him is all the flesh of the beast, and round that you have the big rushes, and round those you have the mountains. But listen, he says, from the belly of hell I cried. Do you know what I believe? Disbelieve it if you like, I don't care. I believe the generation, this generation, this nation, this generation, is going into the belly of hell. We're going into the darkest period in our spiritual history. Darker than it was when Jonathan Edwards was used, and those people in the 1600s, 1720s. We're going to the darkest place. I'll tell you a picture. Read it. It's in the 27th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. You remember Paul was on board a ship. Isn't it wonderful? He got on as a prisoner. He finished as the pilot. He got on as what? They thought he was a murderer. But he was a messenger. What does he say? He says, for 14 days and nights. Have any of you been in mid-Atlantic in a storm? I crossed the Atlantic about 16 or 17 times on the Queen Mary, the Queen Elizabeth, the United States. Boy, you look at that ship. The ship is half as long again as this. It's the length of a football field and a half. A monstrous boat weighing 80. Queen Mary weighs 82,000 gross tonnage, and carries about 3,000 people. I looked up at the deck when I was standing there. I thought, well how do you get the thing going? But when I got in mid-Atlantic, you know the mid-Atlantic tossed it around like a rowing boat. Boy, people screamed and yelled. And the storm only lasted about 12 hours. But I'll tell you it was terrible. You can't get off. That's the trouble. And you can't go forward. You can't go backward. It was a mess. But in this storm that the Apostle Paul, it's typical of the end days, I believe. So what happened? He says, for 14 days a night, the sun never appeared. The ship was rolling. The seas were boiling. The sails were ripping. And the structure was all snapping. And the women were screaming and shrieking for 14 days and nights. So what? Everybody's lost hope. They throw the cargo of the ship out. They cut the life boat off. Everything's gone. And so now they're in a terrible state. And it was then, Paul says, when all hope was gone. Not before. He let them go through the misery. He let them see there was no human help. There was no deliverer. That nobody could stay that ship. It was at the mercy of the storm. It was in the grip of what they called uroclidan, which is the most powerful storm you could ever have. And he let the thing go on. And then suddenly there was a change. The captain of the ship says, hey, come here. What? You get that little guy in his chains and bring him up here. So the captain says to him, you know, we've lost the ship. We've lost a million dollars worth of cargo. We're in deep distress. What can we do? I don't know what to do. All hope is gone. Paul says, well, I want to tell you something. Boy, did that captain's ears go up. He said, in the midst of the storm, when you were terrified last night, when you were all throwing up overboard, there stood by me an angel of God. Dear Lord, isn't that wonderful? You can have your friends. Let me have the angels. Boy, it's wonderful when the angel of the Lord appears. And he said, the angel stood by me. Who's God? Whose I am and whom I am. Isn't it amazing? Paul said, what about, he said, I live, move, and have my being in God. He wasn't a weekend preacher. He wasn't sanctified one day a week. He didn't have one Sabbath a week. Every day is a Sabbath when God indwells us. Every day is a convention. Every day is being lifted into heavenly places. Every day. Because we're seated with him in heavenly places. Where do you live? You say, I live in Kansas. I pity you. It's a dump of a place. Why don't you live in heavenly places? Why don't you live above the world? You sing, I want to live above the world. Or Satan's darts at me and hurls. I'm pressing on the upward way, new height. I'm gaining every day. Sure. That's what God wants. Revelation is progressive. God's challenges are progressive. Anyhow, Paul says, there stood by me an angel of God this night, whose I am and whom I serve. And the storm ceased. I believe we're going into that situation where there'll be no hope in the White House. People will turn in droves to God house because God is the only answer. We've tried everything else. We've tried every gimmick and gadget in evangelism. Forget it. We don't need some new thing to draw the crowd. We need a pillar of fire. We need God the Holy Ghost to move in the midst. And you don't have to say God is here. You don't tell people if you're going to a room full of flowers, you smell the fragrance. Well, if God is in the place, I don't need to tell you God is here. You'll feel stirrings and moving in your spirit such as never before. Okay, let's go back a minute there to Elijah in the cave. What did he do? He obeyed. Well, look, why didn't he say, why me, Lord? You told me to go. What about my brother Elijah? He's the most spiritual man in the world. Can't you make it two? And the Lord says, no, I deal with individuals, not couples. Well, he could have said, well, Lord, you know, I'm a very busy preacher. I'm planning to go next week and I'm planning to go next week. I mean, the next next year I'm booked to preach Tuesday and Thursdays for the next year in the school of prophets for my friend Elijah. It's not convenient. Well, very often it isn't convenient. If it's convenient for you to do the will of God, you're in trouble. I saw an automobile going down the road and on the back it said, try God. That's junk. You don't try God. God tries you. Think of the old lady. She prayed. She said, Lord, you've tried me with sickness. You've tried me with poverty. You've tried me with loneliness. Please try me with money. And he didn't. What do you think he's doing in that period of loneliness? Come on, you think you're pretty strong. Shut the door someday. Go in a room and say, I don't want to see anybody for a day, for 24 hours. See what it's like. You see, sometimes God tries to get our attention and we won't listen. So then he comes. I did a wonderful meeting for Dr. Tozer in 1951 in that great church in Chicago. The glory of God came. The meetings went on till midnight every night. They had to open the gallery for the first time in years. And it was marvelous. And the very last night, the hotel we were in caught fire. I had to jump out of the third story into the street, breaking my back, my legs, all my body was broken. But you know, I just planned to go around the world. Boy, I was going to change the world. Well, you know the result. I didn't get around the world, so you see the mess the world's in. You see, God couldn't get my attention, so for two years I had to stay at home. I was brought up with the holiness people, and they believed that insurance is of the devil. And you know, I was in that hospital, and in 1951 when money was money, it was over a hundred dollars a day. And you know, not one of them ever sent me a penny. They thought it was of the devil. I thought something else. But you see, God was teaching me a lesson. A lesson of faith. Be still and know that I'm God. Sure, I suppose somewhere in your history, you heard somebody quoting about John Knox, one of the greatest men in history. What did he do? Well, he so prayed that Mary, Queen of Scots, bloody Mary, said, I would rather know the armies of England are marching into Scotland, than know that John Knox was praying. So what? This is John Knox, a man sent from God. A man that came with an anointing that revolutionized the country. Where did he come from? He came from 12 years in prison, away there in France. There was a very famous ambassador. At the time of John Knox, England and Scotland were fighting each other. And a fellow by the name of Randolph, was a British ambassador in Scotland. He wrote a letter and put it on the, on the, on the stagecoach. Deliver this as quickly as possible in London. And when he got there, they opened the letter. And the letter said from Randolph, John Knox has come back. He'd been 12 years in prison in France. He'd been two years as a slave on a ship, rowing a ship. And at 14 years of trial and testing. And Lord God had forsaken him. The meals were rotten. The crew were the most vulgar, vicious men you could find in the world. And God sets him down there in the midst of them all. So he comes back after 14 years of loneliness. What happens? Well Randolph says this. Listen carefully. He says John Knox has come into Scotland. His voice is worth 500 trumpets. Why? Because of his spiritual vigor. Because of his integrity. His honesty. His purity. You know there are three things about preaching. I don't want to prove them and David won't prove them. There are three things missing in modern preaching. Intensity, immensity, and eternity. You know I love you so much. I hope you don't sleep one night this week. I hope the Lord gets hold of you for that promise. The promises you've made. The disappointments you've been to God. The vows you've made and you haven't kept. The time to said you were filled with the Holy Ghost and instead the fire of the Spirit. You were not just the chosen, you were the frozen people. But John Knox served 14 years in quietness. God got hold of him. Go hide thyself he says in chapter 17. And in chapter 18 he says go show thyself. And there was a sore famine in the land. You know we're in a stage of awesome difficulty. When Elijah went down the street or when he saw the groves to Ashcroft and to Baal he was angry. I read this afternoon there that 16th chapter in the Acts of the Apostles. Where Paul this man for all seasons. He went into Athens. You see Paul's life began in the ancient capital of the world Tarsus. He finished in the military capital of the world Rome. In between he went to the he went to the religious capital of the world Jerusalem. He went to the corrupt capital of the world Corinth. And he went to the intellectual capital at Athens. And he met the stoics and poets and philosophers. And every one of them he beat them all. But what did he do? He went down the main street. He saw temples to strange gods. And in the sleepy Elizabethan English it says. And when he saw the temples to strange gods and the devotees and all they did. His spirit was stirred within him. But if you read the translation by J.B. Phillips he says that when he saw the idolatry he was exasperated. Isn't it amazing what people will do for false gods? I noticed the other day in the news that I turn the news. It just said this new fella Tyson is going to fight. And what do you do when you're not fighting? He said I get up at the same time every morning four o'clock. I go to bed at nine at night. I go I get up at four in the morning. I do so many miles training by myself in the cold wet morning. I'm going to stay champion of the world. Dear God when those youngsters come out of those colleges that the Mormons have. And they have to go to some part of the world. And the parents have to support them. They're not supported by the church. If you six children you have to support those six children for two years in a foreign country. And when they leave school they're told this. You can't write home to your parents. You can't telephone your girlfriend. You can't go to movies. You can't you can't go dancing. And lots of things you can't. And they take it as discipline. Do you think you could run a Protestant Bible school Nazarenes or Pentecostals if you put all those restrictions. Forget it. They say listen you're interfering with my freedom. But Madame Guillen says my freedom is my grand control. You see we don't want to live under discipline. And yet the greatest men that have lived in the kingdom of God have been disciplined men. You know there's not much said really about the praying of this man. Let me put it this way. I'll use this another night. But this man Elijah is bracketed with the most distinguished men that ever walked on the face of the earth. Now this is a strange world we're living in. We've got some men living in America that walked on the moon. We've got some men that walk on the bed of the ocean off Miami looking for debris from something that exploded in the air. But the greatest men are not men who walk on the moon. They're not men who walk on the bottom of the ocean. The greatest men in the world are men who walk with God. And this man is in the greatest of all classifications. Why? He's called by a name that I think we use too easily. He's called a prophet of the most high God. There used to be a brilliant Jewish scholar in this country. His name was Bux Basin. And he was converted to Christ. Not to Christianity thank God. To Christ. And he said this about the prophets of the Old Testament. He says the prophet by the very nature of his calling is a unique and tragic figure. Because he has a fierce loyalty to God. And he has a broken heart over the sin of the people. How many men do you know that qualify as prophets if that's the standard? A broken heart over the sin of the people. And a grief for God because his laws are violated. People have forgotten the mercy and deliverances of God. But this is where this man stands. Elijah the prophet of God. The word of the Lord came unto him. Get thee to Zarephath. Well why to go to Zarephath? That's the stronghold of the of the opposition. That's where the greatest captains of Baal were. That's where they had their college if you like to put it that way. But he's going to walk it as it were into the very jaws of death. And the Lord says to him the same Lord that said go hide thyself says I've commanded a widow woman to feed thee there. Oh you hear these TV prophets say well I don't mind asking you women to send me money. Even you widows. Elijah did that. He didn't send a letter to every widow in the nation. Dear God all he did was talk to one widow. And God supplied his needs to that one person. But again let me go back a minute here. When a man has been still and he really knows God. I'd love to know exactly what happened in that cave and I don't know a thing about it. Except I'm sure God became more real and more vital and more wonderful to him. But you see we don't have time. Dr. Charles Eustace and me often again say Len in America we're activists. We have to be doing something. We have to be going somewhere. We have to prove something. We won't be still. And listen to God. I was asking brother Noel about a man that lived in in in Africa a few years ago by the name of what was his name again? Duma. D-U-M-A. I went to see Dr. Charles one day and he had a piece of ragged paper and he was stroking it and he said I would rather have this. It's from a black man in Africa. I may never see him and he didn't. But he said I get these letters from Duma. Well I quoted this in a church. Where was it man? Spartanburg. Thank you. Spartanburg, South Carolina. There's a man at the back. Big guy you know. Wealthy looking. So I knew he was a preacher. And and he kept nodding his head and nodding his head and nodding his head. And I said he said you told the story of Duma. I said have you heard it before? He said that was my daddy's church. You said that little black man was conspicuous in the white people. He came to the altar and as he went out my my daddy said to him can I do something for you? And he said yes give me a church. He give you what? Oh oh he said now I see you you've got a different suit. You're the you're the little black man that was kneeling at the altar. He said no I'm not. He said now come on you are. There's only one black man in the meeting tonight. You're the black man. I I remember the suit. You were kneeling at the altar. You're that black man. He said I'm not. What do you mean you're not? Oh he said you saw a black man go. But I'm not that man. He died at the altar. He said I'm a new man. But then he came back to the pastor and said give me a church. So the pastor said we can't do that. So he went after the church in Durban. He walked up the road. He came to a forest. He found a path in the forest. He walked through the forest and he found a stream. He walked to the side of the stream till he saw a cave. Then he took a piece of a rock and he marked outside on the side of the on the side of the cave. And he stayed in that cave 21 days and 21 nights and never ate food. He just drank water from the stream like Elijah. And he said Lord you make it clear to me if I'm to be a preacher. And the Lord and he's a Baptist. Listen the Lord enjoys funny things. He said to this Baptist man you're going to be anointed. You're going to be a preacher. You're going to heal the sick. Well you don't do that in Baptist churches anyhow. What did he do? He went out and everywhere he went people were healed. There were signs and wonders miracles. Well after he got known as a man that had these this miracle power. Of course people came from all over to see him. Well one day went to the hospital. He called a couple of deacons and he said let's go to the hospital and pray for somebody. They were used to doing that. So they checked into the counter and they asked about a man whoever he was Tom Jones. And the lady said yes he's number 22 in room 13. So one deacon nudged the other and said room 13 is the morgue. So they said pastor he's dead. People asked me do I ever pray for the dead. I say no I preach to them. So what did he do? This little short guy he goes and he pulls the screen on one side sees the body there takes the cover off it climbed on top of it and began to pray. I never prayed like that. So he's laying on top of the corpse and he spoke. He said Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life. And he said I say to you in the name of Jesus rise. And the corpse just coughed like that. Boy if he'd done that with me on him I'd have hit the ceiling. So what happened? Duma just put his arm in the man and walked him home. Well I won't tell you the name of the preacher. One of America's most famous preachers in my office. And I said there's a book called Take Thy Glory Lord. It's the life of Duma in Africa. And he read it and he says Len I can't take that at all. It's not documented. All these evangelists are exaggerated. You know evangelistically speaking. And he said I can't take it. Last year a fellow I think that brother Noel said he knew Roger Volk. Roger Volk came and knocked on my door. I said well Roger good to see you. I said by the way did you ever know a man by the name of Duma? He said William Duma. Yes. I said well I've got a book there it's full of miracles. God that man stood in the authority of God or the death or the diseases or the demons. He had his birthright in Christ. He had what God wants to restore if he can trust us again. He's trusted some men with it. They prostituted it. These men wanted to get on every radio and tv in the world and they got there. Not for proclaiming the gospel but for polluting it. Side two. The only thing you have to do to speak in tongues you really go straight to forget it. There's infinitely more than that. It's God that worketh in you. We want to be it should be God controlled individual. Anyhow Roger Volk I told him I said well according to this book Duma raised the dead and he said I'll tell you something better than that. I said what's better than raising the dead? He said I've got a daughter at home and a month before I left South Africa my daughter presented me with my first grandchild. So what's wonderful? I'll tell you what's wonderful. A third of a brain was moved. They gave permission to the doctors. I'll give you the name of the doctors he said. They moved a third of her brain and one day I there's a knock at the door. I went and there was William Duma at the door and he said I've come because you've trouble in the house. Nobody told him. He'd taken a train from Durban down to I think where to Johannesburg maybe. And just because God spoke to him in the night he came. And he said you're somebody's sick. He said I took him in the other room. My daughter was lying on the floor totally helpless. She hadn't enough saliva even to cool her lips. She couldn't utter a word. It was very difficult to breathe. And so he went and took all of her pray and took all of her hand and nothing happened. He prayed a second time nothing happened. So he said to this brother Volk. He said brother Volk I'm going away. I'll be back in a few days. Three days afterwards he came back. Roger Volk said where have you been? He said I've been in the forest in my tabernacle. And he said I believe now we can go talk to your daughter. So he went in and took all of her by the hand and said in the name of Jesus Christ rise and walk. And she did. And was immediately healed. And with only with only two thirds of her brain the doctor said you'll be sorry about this. She'll be a vegetable all her life. She'll be a handicap. You'll be fettered to her. Instead of that he said God restored her. She has a beautiful grandchild and now she knows something of the power of God in her life. Well why should that be so marvelous? After all that's normal in the scriptures. Let me go back to this a moment. The Lord says I've commanded a widow to feed thee there. So what happened? It says that the the the raven brought him bread and flesh in the morning and bread and flesh in the evening. Well why would a raven do that? It's carnivorous bird. It doesn't eat it doesn't eat rotten things. It eats when everything else. If a lion was to tear up a beast and all the other jackals come and the other creatures come the ravens go last and get the scruffiest rottenest piece. But I'll tell you what when it came to Elijah it was the most beautiful food on earth. I've commanded a raven to feed thee there. So what happens? Do you think Elijah went up that tree every morning crying Lord don't let anybody shoot my bird down. I'll starve to death. Sure he didn't. That bird came every day. Boy you talk about bacon and eggs. I don't think it's bacon and eggs. You know what the scholars say Mr. Rainer don't get excited about that. Do you know what? That word there raven in the Hebrew is the same as Arab. That's great. I can see that if you like. A bird called a raven comes and brings him bread. It wasn't a raven it was an Arab. Isn't that wonderful an Arab feeding a Jew? It magnifies the miracle if you want to put it that way. I've commanded the raven. So she went and what? She went to that barrel of meal and it was flooding over the top and spilling. She went to the oil and it was shooting like an Oklahoma gusher you know through the door and down the street. No. I'll tell you what she did. Every day of her life she took the last handful of meal out of the barrel and she shook the last drop of oil out of the can. That's how faith works. I'm trusting him day by day. My God shall supply all you need. He doesn't give me 10 years resources. At one weekend he could but he doesn't. Maybe I couldn't handle it. Anyhow let me skip over. I'm just telling you the outstanding points here. The most terrible man on the face of the earth was this man Elijah. Elijah. Prophets are not pleasant men. They're men who walk in the presence of God. And I'll tell you what. Be very careful. Because if you say I want the love of God there's something else you have to take. You have to take the anger of God. It's a wonderful thing when a man when God puts his hand on a man and takes hold of him. But I was reading there in Exodus 20 or 32 tonight. What does it say? It says Moses went up on the mountain with God and he said God why are you so angry? Why are you so angry? Why are you so angry? Turn from my fierce anger. At the end of the chapter it says that the high priest of the day who was Aaron. Aaron says Moses turn from your fierce anger. Why? Because he'd been in the presence of God. And God boils with anger against nations. He's angry with America tonight. We've had more privileges. We've more Bibles in America than a nation in the world. We've more Bible schools in America than all the other Bible schools put together. And we're a dying nation. One of the most tragic things in the world to me is a sick church in a dying world. The church tonight is sick in America. She's sick in England. Do you know what? When we were kids I used to say be careful because there are wolves in sheep's clothing. Today a man doesn't need to be a wolf in sheep's clothing. He's just a wolf. Go down 42nd Street in New York. I've done it many times. The cops will tell you that man is the leading pimp. That man has taken more girls and introduced them to prostitution than any man in America. They know who he is. He's not a wolf in sheep's clothing. He's just a wolf. You say another man. They say that man is one of the kings in the underworld. He's got more kids into drugs. He's not in sheep's clothing. Everybody knows him. And he doesn't need sheep's clothing. He goes arrogantly and says he's selling flesh. Is God looking down and not concerned? Of course not. You see what we need in a church of God is an a baptism of anger against iniquity. Against the violations of the law of God. Sunday isn't Sunday anymore. It used to be the Sabbath. We changed it from the Sabbath to Sunday. It's not Sunday. It's fun day. Have the big races on Sunday. Some of you love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. It's a long while since you spent 30 minutes alone with God in prayer. But you watch the Super Bowl for three hours some of you guys. What do you think God felt about it? I'll tell you what to do with your TV before you watch it. Bow your head in prayer and say Lord bless this program. When your wife's gone to bed and you and you're looking at this rotten TV. Pull a chair up and say Lord Jesus sit at the side of me and watch this film through tonight. Come on. He's looking anyhow. You're not deceiving him. You deceive yourself. Well there you are. Well what are we going to do? Is God going to wink at a Christian nation that kills a million babies a year in abortion? Nobody dares to give us the number of preachers and priests that have AIDS. England is in far worse condition. England birthed the greatest revivals in history. England gave the Bible the work to the world. The Salvation Army had revival. They went to 70 countries in 90 years. Not 70 cities. 70 countries. Very ordinary men got filled with the Holy Ghost. Again you never have to advertise a fire. So the greatest men in America went to England when William Booth, an uneducated man, started the Salvation Army and put blood and fire as a sign on his banner. That that mighty anointing has to come back again. Otherwise America's going to hell and England too very quickly. And the hope is in the church having a real true Holy Spirit revival. Let me skip to this. He says in verse 17 of this 17th chapter. It came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah that Ahab said unto him art thou he that troubleth Israel. Now he's a troublemaker. Now look what it says in verse 19. And Elijah said send and gather unto me all Israel. Isn't that stupid? The most hated man in the country says gather all the nation here. The rich people. The poor people. Believers. Bring them all together. Maybe two million of them. They haven't had a decent meal for years. He shut up heaven. They haven't any decent clothes. They were ragged. They were poor. And he gathers them all together. Bring them. And here he's taking command. He's telling the king what to do. We're going to come to such a crisis in America and England that they'll be looking for men of God and they'll be asking what should we do next? Where is deliverance? And these men are going to come. God has them heading away now. You've got some men that's right like brother Paul Cain and brother Bob here. I'm not too interested in some of these young prophets just come up on the end of the block. But when men have been away for years like Paul Cain. I remember Paul Cain 26 years ago. When a man's been close with God and heard God and heard the voice of God repeatedly. Had an angel of God talk with him. I listened to him. He's a man with maturity. He may not be infallible. But he's got some inspiration. He's got something which isn't the run of the mill. And I'm sick to death of mediocrity in the church. Which reminds me. Tuesday morning David's going to. I asked him to speak Tuesday morning. He's going to give a message that always tremendously moves me. He's going to speak on the Superman in the Bible. By the name of Samson. And it's a wonderful message. We've never done this before. We don't travel much together. Hardly ever. But he's going to preach on that in the morning. And I'm going to preach on it at night. So what he misses out. I hope I'll put in. But if he preaches from morning till night. That's okay. I'll give way. God's going to bring these men back again. Okay. Elijah said unto the people. Come near unto him and he repaired the altar that was broken down. Did you hear that? Some of us have broken down altars. And we want to build a new one. God says go repair the old one. You know there are some things that God will never put right in your life. I think of a woman that was on Pete on 700 Club. She lives not far from us. When she was young she's still fairly attractive. And she was well-placed and had money and everything. I think she divorced two husbands. And she said on 700 Club. I gave two of my lovely children away. That's easy to do. Get them out of the way so you can have your fun. But what happened now? That's 10 years ago. Now the little kids that were six and seven are 16 and 17. They hate their mother. They hate Christianity. They hate everything to do with religion. And she weeps and said oy for me my children. They're not her children. Somebody else raised them. They love another mother. They love another person. And she can repent and pray as much as she likes. She'll never get them back. Some things that God does not take care of. And those things that mercifully he does. And he came and he took the stones and he rebuilt the altar that was broken down. Let's skip over that. Now when you come down to verse 36. Here is this man. He's got the nation before him. Every priest in the nation is angry about him. Think of what James says for a minute. Elias was a man of like passions as we have. He had emotions. He got hungry. He got tired. There were times when he felt exhausted. Time when he was cast down. Listen tell me this. Did you ever think of this? In one of the darkest hours in his life. When Ahab was digging a pit for his feet. Ahab was digging a pit for his feet. And behind him Jezebel was coming. Breeding, threatening, put a price on his head. Do you think that that man in that crucial hour. When he had to say, I even though I only am left. I haven't seen my friend Elisha. I've had no communication with the Bible college there. The school of the prophets. I'm terribly lonely. Do you think he ever thought in that moment. As I say with a pit at his feet. That hellish woman breeding down his neck. And feeling at the bottom emotionally. Do you think he ever dreamed that one day he'd stand on the Mount of Transfiguration with the Son of God. Don't you think it'll be worth it. Do you know that chorus. It will be worth it all when we see Jesus. You don't know that. Goodness what an ignorant crowd you are. But I'll tell you what. If I could do what it says in the fourth chapter of Revelation. If I could push that door open an inch. And you could see into eternity. If you could see the glory that lies ahead. If you could see the Lamb's supper of the Lamb. If you could see the marriage away there in eternity. You'd never backslide anymore. You'd never get depressed anymore. You'd never get under weather anymore. You wouldn't care about what you possess. You see we're not eternity conscious people. That's our trouble. So Elijah says let it be known that thou art God. And that I am thy servant. I've done all these things according to thy word. Hear me O Lord hear me. That this people may know that thou art God. And then the fire of the Lord fell. Isn't this an amazing man to have. Again I ask you. In your crisis moments. You know when you're disappointed. When people have done you some dirty thing. When somehow the meeting hasn't risen to the height you expect. And you go home a kind of semi-depressed. Look away there into eternity. Again I ask you. Do you think in the most depressing trying terrible moment of his life. He ever thought he'd stand on the Mount of Transfiguration with the Son of God. Or do you think he ever thought of the book of the Revelation when he's one of the two witnesses. In the book of the Revelation. When all of time is ended. When all the kingdoms of the earth have vanished. When all industry is gone. When we're not living in this mortal flesh. When we're no longer scrubbing around trying to get a few gallons of gas or something. Listen it's time we started living for eternity. Living different from other people. For the things that are seen. The things that are seen are what? Temporal. Thank you. He does know something. The things that are seen are temporal. The things are not seen are eternal. You and I ought to walk in that invisible world. I have a statement by Ebenezer Brown in the 1600s. He was a preacher. Listen to what he says you preacher fellows. He said six days a week I walk in eternity. On the seventh day I come down and share with people what I've seen in eternity. How many eternity conscious preachers do we have? Yes yes. Let me say one other thing here. I love that phrase where it says about Moses. He endured as seeing things invisible. Doesn't it say that? And he esteemed what? What did he esteem? The reproach of Christ. Not the kingdom of Christ. Not the marriage. The reproach of Christ. Well how did he know? Nobody ever mentioned him. You see there are things. I'm trying to think. I think it was Pascal said there are things that the heart understands that the mind cannot understand. And Moses somewhere away there in heathendom. One day he had a revelation and he made up his mind to surrender the greatest empire in the world. The richest empire. They had the greatest possessions. They had the greatest jewels. They had the greatest authority. He turned his back on the whole lot. Why? Esteeming the reproach of Christ. Greater treasure than the things of Egypt. Esteeming the reproach of Christ. Well how did he know Christ? Where did he have a revelation of Christ? I don't know. What does it say about Enoch? He walked with God. What does it say? It says of him that in that day there wasn't a Bible on the earth. There wasn't a prophet on the earth. There wasn't a preacher on the earth. And yet Enoch what? Prophesied that Jesus Christ would come with 10,000 of his saints. That must have seen been the most insane thing anybody ever heard. For a man to say that somebody was coming in the clouds of glory. It's just about the day in which we live. You say you're not a bit nervous about the world system. Not long ago one of the greatest magazines in the country took a poll right across America from New York right to California. What are you afraid of? I can't give you the correct order but I'll tell you what one was. I'm afraid of an atomic war. Number two I'm afraid of getting cancer. Number three I'm afraid my 16 year old girl may come home and say she's pregnant. Number four I'm afraid that Russia may invade this country. Number five I'm afraid the economy may collapse and I lose all my savings in a day. And they went down the list of what they were afraid. Not one person was afraid of death and not one person was afraid of eternity. Dear God we live like dogs. There's one breath between you and eternity. That's all there is. Doesn't make any difference about your social standing. And that has to come to the preaching again and eternity consciousness. Where people leave the place fully persuaded. You're not just up in shut up in a little mortal body forever. Suddenly the thread of life is going to break. You're going into eternity. Either a lost eternity and remember this hell has no exits. There's no way out. I'm going to heaven. I'm not going for the weekend. You know I don't really want to go to heaven. You say why? You know there's one place better than heaven. Well where is that? Here on earth. On this dump. Yes because here you've a chance to put your life right. You can rebuild the altars you've broken down. You can start keeping the vow. You read the word of God more. You pray more. You love people more. You'll sacrifice. Once you're in there there's no chance of repentance. Between death and the judgment seat there's no u-turn. Whether you're on the broadway or the narrow way. It's a single way there. You know it's a glorious thing to live with a real fear of God and no fear of God in the sense of terror. So nobody ever said in that poll that they took that they're afraid of death or they're afraid of judgment. Well I say again let me see this. It's an amazing thing that this man prays and the fire fell. He prayed and the rain fell. He prayed and the people fell. You know I love this part and I'm sure our David could preach on this part better. I'm going to wind it up. This man has supplied the need as it were. She supplied the need. You know people say that woman went to the barrel and she took the last handful of meal out of the barrel. She didn't. She took the first. She took the first of thousands that were coming. She shook the last drop of oil out. No it's the first drop of a new supply. Well he came in one day and she said you know I've done everything for you. I've cooked your meals, washed your clothes, given you a nice bed, given you all the creature comforts. And what do you do while you're out? My child dies. Well what did he say? He said lady don't you realize I'm the greatest evangelist in the world? Don't worry about it. He says he took the child and he ran up into a loft. And what did he do? He prayed for the child. What happened? Nothing. He prayed again. What happened? Nothing. The third time he laid down on the child and and he took the child and prayed over it. And then he comes down with a baby alive. What did she do? She said by this. Not by the barrel of oil. Not by the meal. By this. I know you're a man of God. Why? Because he brought life where there was death. That's why the church exists to bring life where there's death. It's nice to have a gathering of this. How many people get saved in this sanctuary every week out of all the lost people here in Kansas around about? And that's what our business is to produce life. To be able to see the dead come to life again. And that's the greatest miracle of all. You know when Moody went to England about a hundred years ago, almost a hundred years ago, do you know that guy couldn't speak English? He said Jerusalem in two syllables. Jerusalem. He said Daniel as Daniel. But he went and he didn't go for a one night stay. He stayed there six weeks and he left a permanent impression. He went to Scotland and there for six weeks in Glasgow. He went to Edinburgh and Alexander White sat at his feet. Henry Drummond that wrote that amazing book on the greatest thing in the world sat speechless. He said I listen to this ignorant American with the anointing of God upon him. Listen we're putting so much capital on degrees and all that stuff. Listen they have no authority in themselves. Go hide thyself. Get alone with God. Then you have the final thing. You say when he prayed the rain fell. When he prayed the fire fell. But when he prayed for the child he had to pray three times that life would come. And then when all this had been over and there's no rain the man of God runs and he hides in the sea. He goes to the cave a second time and he waits on God. And then he begins to pray again. And he says to somebody run and see if there's a cloud as big as a man's hand. How many times did he pray? Once, no seven times. There are some times when God in mercy delivers us. There are times when he withholds. He checks us. Are we concerned about this? Are we willing to lay our lives out in order that this revival may come? Again it's not by might or by power but by his spirit. Again this lonely figure triumphs. I love to read about the loneliness of these men. They're willing to spend hours and days and weeks and maybe years with God. I remember in the Bible School of Wales. I was privileged to speak there a number of times. And one morning after speaking with the staff I went up the staircase and stood on the terrace of that great mansion overlooking the sea. And Reese Howell's wife came and she said brother Rabia look at the door there. And it was just a very ordinary door. And she said daddy, meaning her husband, daddy went into that room at six o'clock in the morning and he stayed there till six o'clock at night every day without missing for 11 months. No wonder he had the anointing of God. I remember World War II. The headlines of newspapers would say the little Welsh miner, the coal miner is prophesying again. But out of his prophecies almost every one of them became true. So what? I'm talking about shutting itself away with God. Forgetting the opinions of people. Coming here tonight, wasn't it? Who mentioned Bonki? You mentioned Bonki brother? No, you mentioned him today. Okay. There's a man in Africa today drawing 300,000, 400,000, 500,000 people. The acts of the apostles are being repeated. So what? What's the secret? One secret, a woman told me was in our meeting some weeks ago. He knows a woman who has the spirit of intercession. He sends her to a city a month before he goes. She gathers the praying people and they fast and they pray. But here, I found a secret I believe. Why is he having, he says God is calling to go from the Cape to Cairo and there's going to be an invasion. Do you know there never in history has been a spiritual revival, a Christian revival in a Mohammedan country? What have we done? We've argued with them. You go talk to a Mohammedan, hit him on the head with your Bible, he'll hit you on the head with the Quran. He wants to see the mighty power of God. And that's happening right now. Okay. So this man is reaping. People go there aghast. They're amazed at what they see. What's the secret? Well, I found out the secret. Nobody else knows it. So I'll share it with you. Do you know what? This precious man in Wales had a little boy by the name of Samuel. Samuel is still there. And he's like Samuel in the Bible. He's a man of prayer. And Rhys Howells and his wife made a vow before God that they would go to Africa and live there until the Lord told them to come home. They didn't see the little guy until he was 15 years of age. What happened? Rhys Howells went to Africa. He fasted, he prayed, he believed God. He didn't say do it now. You see, we want God to do something so we get the glory. Elijah says, let it be known there's a God in Israel. I'm not going to pray for the restoration of Jimmy Swigert or anybody else. They had their chance. I want to see God's glory. I want to see something that no man dares stick his name on it. Boy, everybody wants to stick their name on something. Let's give God the glory. Give God the glory due to his name. So here is a man goes and buries himself in a strange country for 15 years, fasting and praying for long periods. He didn't say, Lord, justify me. Lord, let my relatives change their mind. They think I'm a crazy man leaving my precious boy and leaving Wales and coming to Africa. And remember, it was a different Africa when he went all those years ago. Maybe that's, I guess, what, 40, 50 years ago. It's a very, very different country. And yet day by day, he's in a cave. You couldn't have got that man out with a team of horses. God called me here. Oh boy, it's hard to take criticism, isn't it? I could take you down a street. I say, you see that man there? He has the greatest brain in the world. He has a colossal, he's a genius. He speaks a number of languages. He's written 14 books. He's a marvellous man. And you say, oh yes, what's he called? His name is Paul, the apostle. They say he's an apostle. Okay. We go back a year after. He's still there. What's he doing? Oh, he says, please don't interrupt me. I'm writing a love letter to my friends. Who's your friend? Oh, the saints at Philippi. I've just finished one to the saints in Ephesus. I'm writing love letters. What are you writing love letters for? The world's going to hell. You can raise the dead. You can cast out demons. You're wasting your time. No, you're wasting your time if you do anything outside of the will of God. I'm convinced of this. There are men all over America. They call me day by day almost. Young men that are praying, seeking the face of God. Some of them in twos and threes. Some of them six or ten young people in a church. Some churches now have restored prayer. Dear Martha and I were in a church Christmas day. A man called Clint Denning down in Beaumont, Texas. Do you know when that man went there, everybody ridiculed him. A Pentecostal, a holy roller. People said, you preach the holy rollers. I said, I like them better than rock and rollers anyhow. Do you know what happened when he started that church? They banded themselves together to pray and love each other. Do you know what happened in the first 10 years in that church? Not one person was seriously sick. Not one person went to hospital. Not one person was divorced. The whole place was filled with the glory of God. And then he got on TV. Then he got on two stations. Then 20 stations. Then 30 stations in South Texas and lost the anointing. Last year he called the church to attention. He said, listen, when you made sacrifice and you came here at five in the morning, not six, five o'clock and prayed till six or seven. We never had a family broken with divorce. We'd no sin amongst the children. We'd no disease. God kept his word. We're going back to it. So now the church has gone back to a five o'clock prayer meeting every morning plus a 12 o'clock prayer meeting in the middle of the day. And the glory of God is coming. You see, we don't need advertising. All we need is a presence of the living God. Let it be known this day that there is a God in Israel and that I am thy servant. Forget all about personal appreciation and just cling to him. There is no other answer. The God that raised up Dumas is going to raise up men like that in his last hour in which we're living. The glory is yet to come. Sure I'd like to have in the days of Finney and Wesley and others, but I'll tell you what, there's something coming that those guys never had either. The glory is yet to be revealed. The next outpouring of the spirit, nobody's going to put their name on it. It's not going to be Penny Costler or something else. He's going to pour his spirit on all flesh. Young men see vision, old men dream dreams. And on my servants and handmaids, well, here's a text. There was a man by the name of Elijah, a man of like passions as we are, and he prayed. And all his prayers were answered individually and for the nation. And we have, I still have, as much as I'd love to pray, the first, the best thing my dad ever did for me, he never took me to a professional ball match. He took me to a half night of prayer when I was 14. And when I got there and they prayed from 12 at night till 2 in the morning, and I heard my daddy with tears, saw him take his coat off and throw it down, a big man that he was. And I wanted to go back next week and next week. I'll tell you what, once you've been in the fire, you're never dissatisfied with the smoke. And boy, once I got into that meeting, I tell you, I saw the glory of God. And God is still waiting for that. You need you young people with families, for goodness sake, get a family altar. We have a lovely couple came to see us a few days ago. They'd just had their sixth baby. Boy, that's quite a load these days. But do you know what? They get up at four o'clock every morning and the husband and wife have an hour together in prayer. Then at five o'clock they wake the children and they talk with the children for another hour, teach them. Do you know what's happened? The little guy there, he's, let me get this straight. How old is this boy? Thirteen, about? Twelve. Okay, he's twelve years of age. His daddy's a busy man. But daddy gets up at four every morning, prays with his wife until five. They have their devotions together, then five to six, they deal with the children. And then they let the children go to bed for a while because they have homeschooling. Okay, so what? The little guy, twelve years of age, he has memorized the first sixteen chapters of the book of Proverbs. Also he's memorized the Lord's Prayer. Also he's memorized a number of Psalms. Also he's memorized the Sermon on the Mount. And the little guy next to him is ten, and he's already in the fifteenth chapter of Proverbs. And you see, they're instilling the Word of God into the hearts of these youngsters. The Psalmist says, Why would have I hidden my heart that I might not sin against thee? If Jesus tarries, those children are going to be outstanding people. There's nothing more precious than your family. It ought to come right after serving God himself. The treasure of, I'm glad we have three wonderful boys. Two of them are preachers, the other one's a senior curator in Smithsonian Museum, a brilliant guy. One of them, pioneering in South America, he's a brilliant guy. He went out with no church backing. I don't know how he does it. You see, if you're in God's will, it doesn't make any difference where you go. In the darkness again, the Word of the Lord came unto Elijah, maybe in the garden, talking to Abraham, talking to Ahab. The Word of the Lord came unto Elijah in a cave, down at the bottom of the Mediterranean. That amazing man said, Jonah, from the belly of hell I cried, and the Lord heard me. You know, how do you visualize God? I tell myself every day I pray, the God that heard Elijah hears me. The God that heard the cry from the belly of hell hears me. But prayer again is the language of the poor. Bow down thine ear and hear me, for I am poor and needy. You see, the destiny of America may be in this very room tonight. If two of us agree as touching anything, it should be done. What would happen if 200 get together? You know, you ought to have prayer meetings in this city where two or three hundred gather. We've just finished our 500th prayer meeting in the facilities that were loaned to us by last days. For 500 Friday nights, people come two hours, three hours, four hours, five hours, six hour drive to a prayer meeting. There's nothing fancy. It's just an exhortation from the Word of God. And yet we finish at 10 o'clock. They get home at two and three and four o'clock in the morning. They don't care. They bring their children sometimes. And God has answered prayer. You know, my joy is, and I'm through with this, when we started praying, so those men would stumble around. They weren't used to hearing their own voices. They didn't know anything about the burden of the Lord. But I'll tell you, when you go to a prayer meeting, we have a full-blooded Indian there. He hated the white man. He'd been taught to hate the white man since he was a child. But before long, he got a burden. He got a broken heart. He'd pray with tears. He'd pray with travail. After him, a Quaker brother would pray, one of the wealthy men of the district. And he'd be bathed in tears. And he'd say, oh God, don't let this generation of young people die in Tyler. You see, the devil's a vicious foe. There are 21 ministries around where we live. We live in Smith County. All right, of the five industrial nations, America has the highest rate of teenage pregnancies, as well as teenage abortions. America has the highest out of five industrial nations. All right, there are 50 states in the United States. Texas has the highest rate of teenage girls pregnant. Out of Texas, there's a little county called Smith County where we live. And in Smith County, we have the highest rate of 14-year-old girls, pregnant girls, in the whole of America, in the whole world. The devil set up business in the middle of our ministries. And that makes me angry. We're in God's name. When are we going to get serious about being serious about the most serious thing in the world, the destiny of the human heart? Dear God, we're not, even if we avoid the war with Russia and whatnot, we're not going to avoid Armageddon. It's coming. It's on God's schedule. And we better get ready for that dreadful day. We say we want to see the day of the Lord. But what does it say, Hosea says? The day of the Lord is a day of gloominess. It's a day of terror. What do you think will happen when the stars start falling out of heaven? When God begins to bring his wrath upon the earth? And it's going to happen. And the only ones that can stay that, ask God, Lord, please, please, in mercy, in wrath, remember mercy. We deserve judgment. We deserve hell. Come on. Before you get a burden for a lost world, what about your lost parents? What about the lost children that sit at the table with you every day? They're not saved, and you know they're not saved. Have you shed tears over them? You travel over them? Preaching is the most serious thing this side of eternity. And my prayer is that God will light a fire in Kansas this week that will never go out. And it means the fire has to come in you and me in a fresh way, a new anointing, a new revelation, a new fear of God, a new awe at the devil's control of the world in which we live, when we should be controlling it in the power of the Spirit. It's not by might, it's not by power, it's not by rich gospel corporations, but it's by the Spirit of God. Well, thank you for your patience in listening. I'm going to preach on the morning in intercession, so let the bishop close the meeting.