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Warning to America 1987
Lester Sumrall

Lester Frank Sumrall (1913–1996) was an American Pentecostal preacher, evangelist, and missionary whose dynamic ministry spanned over 65 years and touched more than 110 countries. Born on February 15, 1913, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to George and Betty Sumrall, he was the sixth of eight children. Raised in a Christian home by a devout mother who prayed for him to become a preacher before his birth, Sumrall experienced a life-altering encounter at age 17. Suffering from tuberculosis and facing death, he received a vision of a casket and an open Bible, hearing the words, “Lester Sumrall, which of these will you choose tonight?” Choosing to preach, he awoke healed the next morning and began his ministry soon after. In 1944, he married Louise Layman, whom he met in South America, and they had three sons—Frank, Stephen, and Peter. Sumrall’s preaching career began at 19 when he founded a church in Green Forest, Arkansas, and was ordained by the Assemblies of God. He later traveled globally, ministering with Howard Carter in Asia and Europe, and establishing churches in places like Brisbane, Australia. In 1957, he founded the Lester Sumrall Evangelistic Association (LeSEA), which grew to include over 100 books, television and radio stations, and World Harvest Bible College. A pioneer of Christian broadcasting, he launched World Harvest Television, earning the title "father of Christian television." In 1987, at age 74, he established LeSEA Global Feed the Hungry, delivering millions in aid worldwide. Sumrall died on April 28, 1996, in South Bend, Indiana, leaving a legacy as a preacher who combined fervent evangelism with humanitarian outreach.
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This sermon warns about the predicted decline of America, highlighting the departure from historic faith, endorsement of pagan religions, and acceptance of doctrines of devils. It also addresses the rise of rebellion in various aspects of society, including labor unions, homes, and youth. The speaker emphasizes the need for revival in America and the importance of turning to God amidst moral decay and societal confusion.
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America is in worse condition than this nation. I said, God, I don't understand this at all. He says, you're going to see it. He says, here are seven things to watch. And God gave me seven things that I must observe. The number one was, America will depart from its historic faith. Now at that time, the Supreme Court hadn't done any of those strange things. Such as permission to kill unborn babies. And given such rights to homosexuals. You see, none of that had happened. And God said, there will be an amazing departure from the faith. And he says in 1 Timothy 4 and 1, God says, this is that time for a departure from the faith. I was overwhelmed. God says, go help save America. That America is the bastion of freedom on planet earth. If America falls, the whole of western culture goes down with it. Go bless America and help save America. I spent most of my adult life as a missionary. From the time I was 20 years old until that time. In a hundred nations of the world. And I said, God, I am your servant. I will do whatever. He said further, I'd like to tell you that America will endorse pagan religions. I said, what do you mean? He says, America will endorse all the pagan religions. Hinduism, Buddhism, Muhammadism. Oh, I said, no, not for sure. I've been to India where there's Hinduism. It hasn't done anything for those people. I've walked through the Arab cities thousands of times. It hasn't done anything for their poverty. I said, I've seen Buddhism. All through China and Japan. It hasn't done nothing for them. It hasn't lifted them up. I made them prosperous. He said, America will endorse pagan religions. Just like Israel did in the Old Testament. After I had blessed, after I helped. Then they turned from me to other religions. I sat in my office with the most bewildered people you've ever seen. Writing it all down. God said, you will see it. You will certainly see it. I want you to know that Hinduism in many forms is growing in this country today. The Hare Krishna's, mostly led by young Americans. Are showing that Hinduism can grow in this timing of unbelief and materialism in our country today. They come saying, we're full of love. They've told me that so many times. I said, well, I wish you could get full of God. Because He is love. Then you'd know what you were talking about. The Lord spoke to me. He said, not only will they turn from those religions. But they will also endorse doctrines of devils. That's in 1 Timothy 4 and 1. That man should depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits. And doctrines of devils. The devil gives birth to doctrines, such as reincarnation. The Bible says there's a point when a man wants to die. And after that, the judgment. Never again on planet earth. The heathen cooked that up from the devil. And many people in our country are believing it today. You say, what in the world are the devil's doctrines? The devil's doctrines are, don't believe that Jesus Christ is a savior for the whole world. That He is just a tribal God. Just for the Americans, the English, the British and the Germans. You see? But not a world God. Don't believe that Jesus Christ's blood can cleanse some sin. Don't believe, oh, don't believe that you get better, better, better, better by working your way up the ladder better. And don't believe that Jesus Christ is ever coming back to this earth to receive His own unto Himself. And these are doctrines of devils. They don't want you to believe the truth. And the Lord spoke to me further and said, I'd like to confirm this further with you. There will be Satan worship. Not just heathen religions. But there will be Satan worship. Where people will worship Beelzebub. Where they will worship Lucifer. Where they will have rituals of human sacrifice. And there will be a rising of Satan worship in that country. Sitting in downtown Manila. In the heart of that country. I just couldn't believe it. And God said, now this is why. I want to send you back home. You know all these places. You've been there. You know what their religion did for them in their native spot. It can't do more in another spot. And that the people will not know. And they will believe a lie. And they will be damned. He said, you must go help save America. And he said, I want to tell you something. I'm going to give you one million souls on television alone. You're going to bring them to me on television. So I told my wife, I said, honey. We've got to go to America. To live. She didn't want to. She's a missionary. I first met her in Argentina. And she was already a missionary. And that we've been missionaries together. For all these years. And God said, wait, I have more for you. He said, in America there will become a spirit of rebellion. He says, you will see it in labor unions. And therefore, no cause at all. They'll have a strike. He says, men that are thirsty for power. Prestige. That face. On the news. And in the newspapers. He says, there will be anarchy. Among the youth. Running through the streets, throwing bottles and sticks and canes. And all kinds of things. Rebellion. Rebellion on the campus. Where you can't go to that school anymore. Not only the universities. High school. Not only the high school. Junior high school. He said, let there be rebellion in the home. Women will not want to live with their husbands. Want to live a gay life out there. Without responsibility. Husbands are sane. Won't want to live with their families. But go off and do that which is unseemly. For a man who is a husband. And who is a father. Now, I can't tell you what went on inside of me. Because this was several years ago. He said, there would be a spirit of rebellion. That it would be in the whole of the social structure. Of our country. That it would not be just in one part of it. But in the total social structure. There would be rebellion. And God said, the greatest place of rebellion will be in the home. A place that used to be a place of tenderness. Love. Comfort. Then it will become a place of war. They will stop laughing. Stop playing with one another. And start fighting each other. Homes will be destroyed. People will get married one time, two times, three times, four times. Little children drug from place to place to place. Wonder who to love and who to hate. And I said, God, could it be? Because I was brought up in a loving home. With a loving mother. And I lived around people whose homes were secure. And strong. And great. And I couldn't, you know. I couldn't accept it. God said, you will see it. You will see it. With your own eyes. He says, so coast to coast in your land. It will be like a tornado ripping through. Turning structures to pieces. Business will go to pieces because of divorce. Homes will go to pieces. Lives will go to pieces. People will become so confused they have to go into special hospitals. Because they have broken down the very fabric that creates a society. It's broken down. And that spirit of rebellion. Screaming at each other. Hating each other. That it will boil like a tornado. Twisting homes and twisting people. And twisting families to pieces. I sit there in my office in Manila. And I was weeping. I said, Lord, I'm so sorry to hear it. I don't know what to do with it. What can I do? And the Lord says, you can go and warn them. Tell them that I told you before it came to pass. And so that they will know it for sure. That these are part of the last days. When we predict. Of that 2000 A.D. And that we must not be part of that rebellion. Many students leave school today because they've been there enough years to leave. They don't know very much. And when they leave there, they're in total rebellion against teachers. Against the police. Against their family. And many of them roll the highways and the streets of our great cities. Full of rebellion and hate against society. It can become a revolution. It can become a terrible thing. Maybe that's the reason crime has risen so high. It's because of a spirit of rebellion in our country. And that you and I should do something about it. I sat there and I was writing between the tears. I said, God, my country. I hadn't seen this type of thing in my country yet. I said, how can it be? God said, I wish to tell you more. And I said, yes. As he spoke gently to me. He said, America will have a tremendous change in its morals. An amazing change in its morals. I never could have believed that officials, principals and teachers in schools would hand condoms to a young man and say, don't make the girl pregnant. You see? He had told me that. I said, you're crazy. But God told me that. He told me, he said, so far in America, homosexualism has been practiced behind closed doors. It is a spirit that comes upon a man to cause him to lust for the body of another man. In Romans 1 and 24, it says, God said that a man would give themselves to uncleanness through lust of their own hearts. In verse 25, it says these words, who knowing the judgment of God. I think the people of this world understand and know the judgment of God. That they which commit such things are worthy of death. Not just jail. They're worthy of death. And only, not only to do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Millions of persons that are not homosexuals, they stand up and say, let them do it. They have a right to do anything they want to do. But when they get age, they want everybody to come to their protection and come to their help. Very few lay people have any idea the magnitude of age. I've never heard one official or one mass media anchorman say, well let's stop homosexualism. Let a man find a girl. Rather than an abnormal situation of taking a man to be a lover. Why don't we just change our ways? Nobody says that. They say take billions of dollars of tax payers money and try to stop age. If you did another disease, it would break out just as deadly. But they won't be able to do it. They don't know how to heal post-mature diseases. They can't handle cancer. They spent hundreds of millions trying to. They don't know what to do with it. The things of a young man, until he can get to God. Until he gets to know God. Until he loves and serves God. Then of course he is not. He cannot do the things that God would have him to do. Homosexualism is absolutely abnormal. Lesbianism is absolutely abnormal. And you have to be possessed of a spirit of lust to carry it on. And Jesus loves you. He can set you free. But God told me before you came out of the closet. Begin to march in front of the cameras. Walk down our main streets. He told me what happened. And I have come home to this nation to bless America. God has given me television stations. In order to bless America. He assured me that if we walk in his ways. The good ways. The right ways. The correct ways. The happy ways. If you walk in his ways. As I was writing at my desk. In Manila, Philippines. God says I would like to also tell you. That bestiality will come similar to homosexualism. And that you will see on your television screen. And you will see in your news print. I have a life magazine in my office right now. Where a woman. Naked. In the upper parts of her body. Is lying the full length. Of a German police dog. And they are sucking each other's tongues. In the picture. In full color. There will be a time when women will say. In order to get my dog to be comfortable. And to get his nerves down. We will have to. We have to do this. Now it is wrong. For a human. To have intercourse with an animal. In Leviticus chapter 20. And verse 15. It says if a man lies with a beast. He shall surely be put to death. And ye shall slay the beast. They shall both be put to death. And if a woman approach unto any beast. And lie down thereto. You see. Thou shalt kill the woman. And the beast. And they shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. That is in the book of Leviticus. Chapter 20. Verses 15 and 16. And God told me these things. Before they came to pass. Today they are coming to pass. We need a revival in America. And that is what God told me. He only told me seven things. And the seventh one here was. That like Daniel in Babylon. I began to weep. Before God. Not for Manila anymore. But for my country. My country. This country. And God told me. He said. Like he was in Acts chapter 2. I shall pour out my spirit. Upon all flesh. And your sons and daughters. Shall prophesy. Your young men shall see visions. Your old men shall dream dreams. And on my servants and my handmaids. I will pour out of my spirit in those days. And they shall prophesy. These are the days. Of the greatest outpouring. Of the spirit of God. The world has ever known. There might be darkness. But there is also light. There might be degradation. But yet there is elevation. God wants to bless. And not curse. But you have to understand. The fabric that put this universe together. If the sun didn't want to come up tomorrow. It didn't come up. And if the moon says. I am tired of messing around. I want to do something else. You would have a mess up. In your cosmic world. The same is true. In your moral world. You mess it up. And it's messed up. The same is true in your spiritual world. You mess it up. And it's not right. It doesn't matter how well you defend yourself. And say you have rights. You don't really have any rights. You have some responsibilities. And until we get to know that. America needs revival. We are in the beginning. Of the greatest revival. Ever known. Among men. There will be those that will commit the things that we have talked about. In deep sin. And there are going to be multitudes. That will say this doesn't satisfy. And I am not interested in it. I want God. And the outpouring. Of the spirit of God. In the gifts of the spirit. And the miracles of heaven. Will take place. In a nation after nation. Upon the face of this earth. And I believe this will take place. Before the year. All nations as Western Europe. And any other of the nations other than Israel. I believe that Western culture has been fulfilled. I believe the times of the Gentiles. Has gone into a state of confusion. At this moment. Our whole modern world is confused. Politically. Financially. Economically. Whatever morally. Spiritually. And there is awful confusion on the face of the earth. As to how to conduct our own lives. How to conduct our families. In our country. There is a divorce. For every two marriages. A child born today. Only has a 50-50 chance of living with mom and dad. That's in our own land. You can't have a good country like that. And I hope you know that. That is a sick nation. You know. Children growing up to hate. They don't know who to like. You know. And so we need. In this country. A mighty. Revival of God. We need it. But if it is prophetic. And the end is coming. Then all we can do is warn you. Don't be part of the problem. Be part of God's answer. And if you do that. God will certainly love you for it.
Warning to America 1987
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Lester Frank Sumrall (1913–1996) was an American Pentecostal preacher, evangelist, and missionary whose dynamic ministry spanned over 65 years and touched more than 110 countries. Born on February 15, 1913, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to George and Betty Sumrall, he was the sixth of eight children. Raised in a Christian home by a devout mother who prayed for him to become a preacher before his birth, Sumrall experienced a life-altering encounter at age 17. Suffering from tuberculosis and facing death, he received a vision of a casket and an open Bible, hearing the words, “Lester Sumrall, which of these will you choose tonight?” Choosing to preach, he awoke healed the next morning and began his ministry soon after. In 1944, he married Louise Layman, whom he met in South America, and they had three sons—Frank, Stephen, and Peter. Sumrall’s preaching career began at 19 when he founded a church in Green Forest, Arkansas, and was ordained by the Assemblies of God. He later traveled globally, ministering with Howard Carter in Asia and Europe, and establishing churches in places like Brisbane, Australia. In 1957, he founded the Lester Sumrall Evangelistic Association (LeSEA), which grew to include over 100 books, television and radio stations, and World Harvest Bible College. A pioneer of Christian broadcasting, he launched World Harvest Television, earning the title "father of Christian television." In 1987, at age 74, he established LeSEA Global Feed the Hungry, delivering millions in aid worldwide. Sumrall died on April 28, 1996, in South Bend, Indiana, leaving a legacy as a preacher who combined fervent evangelism with humanitarian outreach.