In this sermon, the preacher focuses on the story of Gideon from the book of Judges. He begins by describing how the Midianites, Amalekites, and the children of the East gathered together and pitched in the valley of Jezreel. However, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, gathering people to him. The preacher then goes back to the opening verses to provide background on Gideon's calling. He mentions the story of William Carey, an agitator for revival, and Charles Finney, who wrote extensively on revivals of religion. The sermon also includes a personal story of a man who was moved by God to give a generous gift for the Lord's work. Overall, the sermon emphasizes the power of the Holy Spirit and the importance of being obedient to God's calling.

Tonight from the 33rd verse and the 34th verse, that is Judges 6, 33 and 34. Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the East were gathered together and went over and pitched in the valley of Jezreel. But, hallelujah, but, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon and he blew a trumpet and Abiezer was gathered after him. Now, to see the background of this historic occasion, when the Spirit of God came upon this little, insignificant, obscure man, let us just go back to the opening verses, just to get the background of the picture. You don't really see the picture unless you see the background. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. And because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, in caves and strongholds. And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up and the Amalekites and the children of the East, even they came up against them. And they encamped against them and destroyed the increase of the earth, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor ass. For they came up with their cattle in their tents and they came as grasshoppers for multitude. For both they and their camels were without number and they entered into the land to destroy it. And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites. And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord. Now that's the background of the historic occasion when obscure little man Gideon blew a trumpet. Israel was greatly impoverished because of the enemy. And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord. Israel had sinned. And so we read in verse one. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. And the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. Now this is a principle in God's economy. My brother, my sister. The moment you sin as a believer, you're going to be judged. God's going to chastise you. And it is better for you, friend, to judge yourself than let God judge you. I always tremble when I hear a brother or sister say in the prayer meeting, Oh God, humble me. That is not a scriptural prayer. Peter says humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God and he will exalt you in due time. It is not your business to ask God to humble you when you can humble yourself. God's not going to repent for you. God's not going to confess your sin. You must do it yourself, my brother, my sister. And we have a peculiar expression in one of the Psalms. I cannot expound that psalm to you. But out of the psalm we have a peculiar expression. Moab is my washpot. Moab is my washpot. God used Moab, the bitterest enemy, one of the bitterest enemies of Israel, to chastise and cleanse God's people. Moab is my washpot. And unless America repents of her sin, God will use the enemy to chastise and cleanse her. And unless the church of Jesus Christ and your Baptist churches repent of your sin, God is going to chastise and cleanse you through the enemy. Think of it, friends. There was left no sustenance for Israel. They were to be the conquerors. God says, now go in and possess the land. All things are yours. But my dear friend, they did not drive out the enemy. They compromised with the enemy. And here we find the children of Israel, they have no complaint to Cain. They didn't possess and conquer the land. They are defeated. And now they're greatly impoverished because of the enemy. And I want to suggest to you tonight, if you have any spiritual eyesight, that I want to suggest to you tonight that the enemy has invaded our beloved America. I read an article in a newspaper today. I like to pray over the newspaper. And you know, in the state of Oklahoma, the corruption, in the senate, and among the judges of the state, bribery of money. And even one man, a judge, a leading Baptist writer, accepting money from people of influence in our nation. In this Reader's Digest of February, there's an article at the end of a book called Detective. And oh, my brother, my sister, if you could read that article about New York City, your greatest city in the world, and read that article, and not cry to God. Oh, my friend, you could not believe that it was your beloved America, our beloved America, that we're reading about. Yes, it must be Tokyo. It must be Tokyo. It must be Moscow. And I know New York City. And I suggest to you that the enemy has invaded the people of God. I suggest to you the enemy has invaded our churches. And so we read that they were left with no sustenance. They were greatly impoverished. And you know, the devil has so come into our churches that we are left with no spiritual sustenance. The Word of God tells us a coming a day when there'll be a famine for the Word of God. That famine's on us right now. And my dear friend, we're greatly impoverished spiritually. Oh, you know, so many pastors in so many congregations are so blind. They do not know how poverty-stricken they are. They do not know how far from God they are. Our brother mentioned, dear Duncan Campbell, I was with him at a convention, and he said to me, Brother James, I cannot find God anywhere near this convention. There was 9,000 believers. And I believe, friend, it's possible for us to have what you call a revival meeting. But please don't call it. You insult the Holy Ghost by calling it that. It's possible for you to have a protracted meeting in a Bible conference in your church and the Holy Ghost not 2,000 miles near you. Going through all the ceremony like the Jewish nation on the day of Pentecost. They're going through all the ceremony, the outward ritualism of Pentecost, but they didn't get the Holy Ghost. It was only a little handful in the upper room in Mrs. Mark's upper room. And friend, this was the hour of crisis. This was the background when the Holy Ghost raised up an obscure man called Gideon. And why did the Holy Ghost raise up Gideon? I'll tell you why. Because we read there in verse 6, And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord. And as already suggested by your beloved brother tonight, revival always comes because of a remnant. A little group of believers in a village, in a town, in a city, in a country, in a nation, in a church, in a family. And they say, oh no, this is not God's norm. This is not Pentecost. This is not dynamic New Testament Christianity. This is not the victorious Christian life. This is not the beauty and the glory of the Lord. We are greatly in poverty. Satan has invaded our nation. Satan has invaded our churches. And Satan has invaded my home. And I am going to resist him in the all-conquering name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that person, that little group, they become the Lord's minority. You see, the tragedy of the seven churches in Asia was that the overcomers were in the minority. And those who were the short comers, they were in the majority. But my dear friend, we believe that God has raised up these camp meetings. Now, you know, I'm a Scotsman. I'm outside this picture. But every time I come back to my southern wife, I tell her, I said, I believe that the Holy Ghost has raised up these camp meetings for these last days. Friend, we believe in churches. We live our life in churches. We believe in churches. But my dear friend, unless the churches, unless the local Baptist churches and other churches repent of this cold, dead, mechanical, organized Christianity, the Holy Ghost is going to write outside, Ichabod, Ichabod, Ichabod. And you can carry on. But God's not with you. As I suggested in the Lord's Day, Christ says, your house is left unto you, David. Before it was God's house, the temple of Jehovah. But it was the... Christ says, your house is left unto you, David. It's no longer my father's house. And in my brief history of 42 years evangelism, I could tell you of churches, local churches, and churches that have magnificent buildings where the Holy Ghost worked mightily. And today, friend, there's an unseen sign that only a man of God can read, a woman of God can read. And it says outside Ichabod. They have a big, a big, beautiful sign. What a magnificent Baptist or Methodist church it is, and what a great preacher they have, and what a great choir and organization they have, and what a budget they have. But the anointed eye can see a sign in red light outside Ichabod. That means don't go in there. I've left there. I've left there. That's their own house. It's desolate. And dear believer, no matter how young you are in the Christian faith, no matter how ignorant you are in the Christian faith, if you are truly born again of the Holy Ghost and have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, your house will be left unto you desolate if you're not there. I mean your house, your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. And your house will be left unto you desolate. Will the Holy Ghost leave? You know, the Holy Ghost will withdraw Himself, shut Himself right up in you. You see, sometimes in the home, the father is not speaking, or the wife is not speaking, or the child is not speaking. Why? Somebody's been hurt. Somebody's been grieved. They're not angry. They're grieved. Why? Because, you see, they love that person more than anybody else loves them. And if I grieve my wife, she's hurt more than anybody else in the world. I could hurt my mother more than anybody else in the world by something unkind remark or unkind action. Why? Because they love me more than anybody else in the world. I know I want to tell you the Holy Ghost loves you. I was going to say awfully a lot. I say, friend, the Holy Ghost loves you. My dear child of God, the Holy Ghost loves you. And He indwells you. My dear friend, He will withdraw Himself. He's hurt. Not a thing on it, a person, a living, loving person, the Holy Ghost. And He's hurt. He's offended. And He's grieved and He weeps. You see, how do you know all this? Listen, if you were an intercessor, sister, brother, you'd soon know. You'd soon know. I can tell when I pray. The Holy Ghost is offended. He's been wounded in the house of His friend. And if you're not careful, my dear brother and sister, I say, no matter how young you are in the faith, no matter how immature you are as a Christian, the very fact you are a child of God and born again supernatural Holy Ghost is the fact that your house will be left and you dazzle it, the temple of your body, the cathedral of the Holy Ghost. And you'll have a dazzling Christian life until the day you go to heaven. And my dear friend, if there's any weeping in heaven, you'll weep the most. You'll weep the most. Why? Because you haven't gone on with the Holy Ghost. My friend, the church of Jesus Christ is impoverished tonight. Satan has entered. And instead of being victorious, we're defeated and we're hiding in caves. As our brother said yesterday night, we're not bold like Elijah and crying out, thus saith the Lord. We have no message. We're afraid. But glory be to God, if there's some here tonight that got the burden. We are not in the least, dear brother or sister, not in the least interested, and I say it kindly, whether you like us or don't like us. We're not in the least interested whether you like our preaching or don't like our preaching. You see, that's none of our business whether you like us or like our preaching. That's not our business. Oh, no. You see, friend, don't try to get away from the message by the vessel. Smash up the vessel. Spit in the vessel. Crack it up if you like. But you can't do that with God's message. You'll hear different, you'll see different vessels bearing the message of God to you. Forget about the vessel. Paul says it's a fragile vessel of clay that God has put the treasure in. We're nobody, but Jesus Christ is everything. And I want to ask you tonight sincerely, have you come to this convention, one with a burden? Some of you may be burdened for your mission field, for some particular mission field. You may be burdened for Texas. You may be burdened for right here in Baton Rouge. You may be burdened for New Orleans or burdened for Houston. But, oh, have you come with a burden? Are you going to be among those like in Gideon's day who was among the godly remnant who cried unto the Lord in distress, Oh, God, this is not my will. This is not thy Word. This is not what thou hast promised us. Lord, Lord, move. Lord, defeat the enemy. And I thank God, friend, that I'm going to be among this number. Will you join us right now? Don't wait till the end of the week to get awakened. Join us now. If you love your nation and love the Lord Jesus, join us now. And so we read, And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet. Will you notice, first of all, that he had to do two things before the Spirit of God came upon him. He had to deliberately and definitely destroy the altar of Baal, which his father had built. And then, second, he was commanded by Jehovah to offer up a special sacrifice in the ordered place. And I suggest to you tonight before the Spirit of God will come upon you and before you will blow a trumpet, you also must do these two things. Is there an altar of Baal in your father's house? Is there some sin in the camp? Is there something ugly, secretive in your heart and life and in your church? Is there an altar of Baal to smash? It took courage. It took boldness for that young man, Gideon, to go and destroy the altar of Baal in his father's home. Because, you see, they were compromising with the enemy, and instead of having an altar for Jehovah, they had an altar for the enemy. And God said, you have to destroy that, Gideon. Now, we may pray, and I say it again very tightly, we may pray to our black and blue in the face, pray to doomsday, for revival, for the Holy Ghost to come upon us, but we will pray in vain unless we destroy the altar of Baal in our house. Is there any secret sins in your heart and life? Are you willing tonight to go alone with God and let the Holy Ghost search? I have always a sneaking suspicion in the back of my mind that the Holy Ghost will find some secret sin in the heart and life. Oh, brother, sister, you could hinder revival. I have just finished writing a little biography of Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers, called Spurgeon, Glorious Spurgeon. And I just got a letter of Spurgeon we discovered in a second-hand bookshop in Belfast this past summer. And one of Spurgeon's letters, we never knew it existed. Spurgeon is ill, and he is in Montaigne in the south of France recuperating where he used to go to escape the foggy winters. And he writes to his church again, his pastor letters, it is every week. And so to be able to read it to the congregation on Sunday and be placed in the London newspapers on Monday morning. And he talks about revival and the Holy Ghost working. And he says, Oh, my dear people, I sometimes am afraid that your beloved pastor may be the hindrance to the blessing. When I saw his quaking handwriting as an ill man, near death, near translation, my eyes were blinded with tears and I said, Oh, my God, if dear glorious Spurgeon could utter such words to his people, I might be a hindrance to revival and blessing. What about James Alexander Stewart? There is a possibility, friend. Those who are trying to speak this week could be a hindrance to blessing. Have you dealt with a sin? Have you got some ugly sin in your life? Or you say, Brother Stewart, I haven't got an ugly sin in my life. Well, have you got some secret sin in your life? Something that you love more than you love Christ? Something that you love more than you love the church? You say, It's not very shady. Never mind, friend. It's shady in the sight of God if it's an idol. You see, this altar of Baal was actually an idol. Why was it an idol? Because it wasn't the shape of an idol. It wasn't built like an idol. But it was an idol because it took the place of the altar of God. And anything in your church and anything in your life that takes the place of God is an idol. Will you be honest with God? And then he was asked to make a particular thank offering in the ordered place. Now, please remember that God is a God of order. He's not the author of confusion. And the Holy Ghost is order in the church. He's order in everything. And this sacrifice was to be offered up in the ordered place. Now, we have that expression the ordered place. I think it runs in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. The ordered place. You don't give haphazardly to God. Oh, no. You wait upon God. And the Holy Ghost tells you just exactly what God wants you to give. Now, as you heard tonight, God wants you to give yourself first of all. There is no use giving your talents and your money until you have first given yourself to the Lord. And when you have first given yourself to the Lord, it will be very easy to give money and talents to the Lord. Now, we have a group of believers in England I like. They call them the peculiar Baptists. Thank God, they're peculiar all right. I love them. They name themselves well. And, you know, they have a magazine. You can get a Bible exposition. Sometimes they manage to get one in. But it's usually witnesses and testimonies. Brothers so and so went home to heaven. Sisters so and so went home to heaven. And then they give you a little light story of that person. Just an insignificant old lady lived out in the country in this peculiar Baptist church. How she was saved and who preached and what were her favorite hymns and so on. And then, you know, they have a great habit. Before they give an offering to the Lord, they testify. And so I was at at Brice House's convention in Wales one year. And a brother distinguished looking businessman came to me and he said, Brother Stuart, you've caught a fish with a golden coin in his mouth. Oh, I said, Hallelujah. I said, How much is that in the golden coin? Oh, he says, a lot of money. And I said, Well, praise God. I said, We need the money for the missionary work. I was ready to receive the check, but he wasn't ready to get it. And you see, days passed by and he never handed over the money. And I knew he was a very distinguished and very orderly businessman and he would give me the check for the missionary work. And then he said, he came to me and he said, Brother Stuart, I've called a meeting of some of the friends and we're going to have a meeting in the drawing room at four o'clock and I'm going to give the check to Mr. Howells. And then he can divide it among the different missionary people. So we went into the meeting and I thought it would be all over in ten minutes. But the dear old brother, he stood up and I could have kissed him. He looked so distinguished looking, white, silver hair, over 70 years of age. And I thought, what I saw, we were in for all afternoon. He started to tell how he was born, how he was born again, the hymns that blessed him, the verses that blessed him, and how God blessed him in business. And it is his Ebenezer to the Lord. And then he said, tears rolling down his cheeks, I don't know how long we were there. He said, now he says, God moved me as Brother Stuart was preaching the other day. As a thank offering to my loving heavenly Father, Brother Howells, I want to give this gift of money for the Lord's work. And you know, I left that place, I felt so good, so sanctified. I'm in heaven. You see, the brother glorified God in the gift of the money. It wasn't an impulse. He was doing something that was definite, something that was logical, something that was reasonable. You see, and he said, now, this is the goodness of my God, and I want to give a love offering unto Him. And he gave a large sum of money. And I can tell you, friend, that when I was just waiting for the war to begin, World War II, and the crowds were gathering in London, and I needed thousands and thousands of dollars before the war would break out to evangelize the capital cities of the thousands. A businessman came to me and said, Brother Stewart, the son of the Lord Mayor of London, I want to give you three thousand dollars for Bibles, for Bibles, for Bibles for evangelism. And God raised up different people at the crisis hour, and the need was met. Now, it may be during this week, it may be tonight, God is going to speak to you. And I believe, friend, that before the Holy Ghost is going to come upon you, you have to make a love offering unto the Lord. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's for the missionary work. Maybe it's going to be for the women's dormitory of this place, because they're going to need another dormitory and another one and another one and another one. It may be, that God wants you to give the love offering of yourself to Him tonight, or your children. I always told my children, if you're not all missionaries, I'm going to shoot you all. Well, glory be to God, they're all saved and serving the Lord. Maybe it's your grandchildren you got to give tonight. Some love offering. Then again, will you notice, when Gideon blew the trumpet, oh, I like this, it was when the enemy was encamped all round about him. Hallelujah. But, it says, but, you know, let's quote the scripture properly. We say, Philippians 4, 19, my God shall supply all you need. That's not true, it's but my God shall supply all you need. Don't forget the but, sister, don't forget the but, brother. Oh, you see, what does it matter about the but? It matters everything. If you miss the but out, you miss the blessing. You see, the but tells us it's only those who sacrifice and give their money to God's work that get this promise. The apostle Paul says, you have sacrificed. Now, you've given your money to spread the gospel. Now the Lord is no man's debtor, but my God will supply all you need. You have given sacrificially to the Lord's work and you alone. Philippians 4, 19 is only for one class of believers. And the word of God says, but the Spirit of God came upon Gideon and blew a trumpet. It's quite easy to blow the trumpet when the enemy is nowhere inside it. But my dear brother, it takes the Holy Ghost to come upon a man to blow a trumpet. Anybody can shout the shout of faith after the walls of Jericho have fallen flat. But it takes Holy Ghost men and women to shout the shout of faith before the walls of Jericho fell flat. I saw something I never saw before and I felt so stupid. You ever feel so stupid? You preachers know what I mean. You feel, what, and I've been reading the scripture all my life and never saw that before. And even knowing Hebrew and Greek and didn't see it before. Didn't you ever feel so stupid? And I just saw there in Romans 4 the real meaning about Abraham. He weakened not his faith. Brother, sister, have you been weakening your faith during the past weeks and months? Abraham weakened not his faith. You can weaken your own faith. But, not weaken faith but he, he wasn't weak in faith because he didn't weaken his own faith. He wouldn't let the devil or circumstance to weaken his own faith. But he was strong in faith, giving glory to God. Being fully persuaded what God had promised he was able also before. In other words, what does it mean? Yes, it means that strong faith glorifies God, weak faith dishonors God. Sure, he was strong in faith giving glory to God but that doesn't what it really, that's not the real picture. It means, friend, that he, he glorified God. You see, he was showing glory, glory before it came to pass. Before his prayer was answered, before his wife bore the son, he gave glory to God. And he cried, O loving heavenly Father, hallelujah, thank you for the son. Glory be to God. Father, I thank you for the son and I embrace my little child. But he didn't have the son yet. Sometimes I go on with some things and then my wife says to me, wait a minute, James, but, you know, you don't have that money for that. No, you don't have that money for that. That's five thousand dollars. You don't have, well, I said it's just as good as here anyhow. Praise the Lord and it's there all right. It's there all right. Glory be to God, it's there. It's there. Now, friend, that's when he blew the trumpet. Now, may I say kindly, don't try and blow a trumpet when the Spirit of God doesn't come upon you. I've lived long enough to see fanaticism. You see, there's a difference between faith and presumption. You have that in Hebrews 11. By faith, Israel crossed through the Red Sea and the Egyptians are saying or attempting to do so. What happened to them? Huh, they were drowned. Now, friend, I pray God, the Spirit of God will come upon you tonight and you'll blow a trumpet. Now, dear brother, Ed has blown a trumpet tonight. May I hurry? There's so many beautiful pictures here that it was one lone trumpet solo. I love that. Just one lone trumpet solo and the Spirit of God came upon Gideon and he blew it. And I can see these miserable and excuse me calling them miserable, I don't know another name. I mean, I couldn't even call I couldn't, I don't know a higher name to call them. I'll put it that way. I wouldn't call what, the way some of you dear southern preachers call the Christians in the church I mean, you've got terrible names, Father. But, eh, eh, I mean, I'm a gentleman. And, eh, the, I mean, the highest and kindest name I could call you are them, these poor, miserable, dried up, self-seeking, smug, complacent, I better not go on. I'm getting too kind of to you. But that's about the biggest thing I can say. But, you see, they come along, these critical, cold-hearted Israelites and said, Gideon, shh, quiet, quiet, quiet, quiet. Quiet, the enemy warn us to cause more harm. Gideon, don't blow the trumpet, we'll get into trouble. But for glory to be to God, he couldn't stop. How could he stop? He wasn't blowing the trumpet. It was the Holy Ghost from with his blood. Gideon, how could he blow a trumpet? Isn't that a miserable thing? Look, he was in hiding for many nights. Sometimes I wonder if the Lord was using sarcastic language when he says, Oh, thou mighty man of valor. Huh, he didn't think he was a mighty man of valor. He, the miserable old fellow, was hiding for many nights freshing the wine, the wheat. He was a coward, maybe. But the Lord says, you're a mighty man of valor, come out there. Could he blow a trumpet in his own strength? No, friend. No, friend. Every revival took place. Every mighty movement of God in history took place because of some man or woman being brought upon by the Holy Ghost and blowing one single trumpet blast. And Gideon blew one single lone trumpet blast of defiance against all hell and one trumpet blast of faith in the living God. He said, I believe God. You take, for example, William Carey. He's a shoe cobbler, as you know, in Nottingham, England. And there he is in his little shoe shop. You could almost stretch out and touch the four walls. But there as he cobbles shoes, he has the maps of the world. There's India before him and Africa, China, the Russian nation before him. And as he cobbles the shoes, an insignificant little man, the Holy Ghost burdens him. And as he cobbles shoes, he's weeping, Oh God, Oh God, these crisis millions in India. Oh God, these crisis millions in Africa. And glory be to God, William Carey became an agitator. Oh, I love agitators. As I said last November, this one revival is too tame. It's a revolution we need. Revolution. And he became an agitator for foreign missions. And he agitated and agitated and agitated this obscure little insignificant man until he became a perfect nuisance all through all through Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. And his name became a household name as a fanatic. And his hair dry out. But glory be to God, William Carey blew a trumpet solo for missionary work. And one famous Baptist auditor came. And he said to a distinguished congregation, a mighty group in the city. He says, listen, he says, if God wants to evangelize the world, He'll do it without you. He didn't mention William Carey, but he meant William Carey. That foolish man didn't know the truth about the sword of the Lord and Gideon. And Gideon. And William Carey blew a lone trumpet missionary blast and he became the father of modern missions. If it wasn't for 200 years ago, that just simple insignificant shoe cobbler blowing a trumpet solo, you wouldn't have a Southern Baptist missionary organization today or any other missionary organization today. You know, I sometimes wish I were a painter. Because I would like to paint many pictures. Like David Livingston went through the jungle after being mauled by the lions and so on. I'd like to paint many pictures. But oh, one picture I'd love to paint is a broken-hearted man in middle age. The Holy Ghost is wrought upon him. He's had mighty revivals in the North of America. And he lost his health. I have lost my health in revivals in Europe because sometimes I haven't been in bed for days and weeks. I haven't been in bed for days and weeks. And this man has lost his health. And the physicians say, I'm going along sea voyage. To recover your health. And he goes along. He goes for six months through the Middle East and Europe. And he goes on a long sea voyage. But as he's coming back home, his heart is broken. And he cries, Oh God, once more. Once more. Once more. Like Samson. Once more, Lord, is once more, Lord. Is in the days of yours. On this day, allow thy spirit pour. Said America, now on fire. And that dear man, the Holy Ghost comes upon him. And he goes and begins to write. And he writes and writes and writes and writes and writes. And then he gives what he has written to an editor of a revival magazine. Until all the Christian church know the writings of Charles Finney on revivals of religion. And glory be to God, that sick man, Holy Ghost came upon him on the board of the vessel. And he blew a lone trumpet blast for revival. May I say, the other picture is beautiful. You don't blow your trumpet solo very long, brother, until God's going to raise up other trumpeters with. When I was a young man, I had to blow a lone trumpet for God. A lone trumpet solo. And nobody likes to play trumpet solos. We'd rather play with quart heads. I had to play a lone trumpet solo. Until, I was an agitator for Europe. Everywhere I went, I agitated for Europe. Until at last, and I thought in despair, Europe would never be recognized as a foreign mission field. Until I was asked by the English Catholic Convention for the first time in the history of that convention, in 1939, to represent Europe and give them a picture of Europe as a foreign mission field. And friend, now, there are hundreds of missions in Europe. But before the war, as a young boy, I was a lone trumpet. And friend, in the next chapter, you'll find there's 300 blowing a trumpet with Gideon. Brother, sister, are you blowing a lone trumpet solo for revival in your church? Are they critical because you won an all-night premium? Are they critical because you're weak for souls? And you say, this is not of God. I rebuke Satan in my church. This is not of God. Are you a missionary here tonight and your heart's broken for the evangelization of your people? Brother, sister, are you the only one in your family that's a believer? Are you blowing a trumpet solo? Dear brother, have you a passion, a big thing on your mind? God has called you to a mighty work. And is it where your wife doesn't have very much faith, maybe? Maybe, sister, your husband doesn't have so much faith and you're blowing that trumpet solo alone. Brother, sister, keep on blowing. There's plenty of the Holy Ghost left. I say reverently. The Holy Ghost is an eternal person. He's a divine person. You could never exhaust the Holy Ghost. Keep on blowing. And I want to tell you very soon, you're going to have another 300 trumpeters along blowing the trumpet with you. He's going to raise up praise. Every time I come home, come back to America, broken, weeping, oh my God, the millions never heard the gospel. How will I get enough money to carry on this mission work? Why don't I just settle down and be a pastor and forget the souls in the foreign lands, go to hell and take it easy? How is God, how am I going to get the money? My dear friend, I'm not blowing my trumpet very long until God raises up someone to help me. Brother, sister, God is going to do the same thing for you. I'm closing. There's two sides of the picture now. When the Spirit of God came upon Gideon, what did he do? He blew a trumpet. Now, don't get a false experience of the anointing of God. Just as you can have counterfeit conversions and counterfeit consecrations, you can have counterfeit anointings and you can leave a Bible conference, you can leave an altar of praise and you can say, I have anointing, I receive the baptism and yet you receive nothing. Now, friend, you're dealing with God. Let me help you. You're dealing with your loving Heavenly Father and He'll never deceive you. He loves you. But I want to say this, how will I know when the Spirit of God comes upon me? I'll tell you how I'll know. I'll blow a trumpet. That's simple enough. The brother-in-law of Evan Roberts said to me, he said, Mr. Stewart, what do you think, do you think that's an apt title for the book to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Welsh Revival? Mr. Sidney Evans worked with Evan Roberts. They were the two key men in the Welsh Revival. And I said, yes, Mr. Evans, that's a wonderful title. You know what the title of the book? Something Happened. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And a director of a school, a famous school in Wales, she wrote the biography of the Welsh Revival and she named it Something Happened. And it was used as a textbook in the schools of Wales. They teach history, it's a history book to the children. On this most historic occasion when the Holy Ghost took up his residence in Wales for two years, in 1904 and 1906, something happened. And friends, something always happens when the Spirit of God comes upon a person. It can be a child, a teenager, an elder person, anybody. The Spirit of God comes upon them, something will happen. They'll blow a trumpet. He'd be actually a pastor. Every time they were filled with the Holy Ghost or they were full of the Holy Ghost, something happened. And last, and so, don't go away with a false experience. And don't, sometimes you have to take it by naked faith. You understand, I take the promised Holy Ghost, I take the gift of Pentecost to fill me to the uttermost, I take, he undertakes. And you stand in the naked Word of God against all hell. Feelings are no feelings. Emotions are no feelings. Emotions, I believe that I'm filled with the Holy Ghost. But I believe no matter how timorous you are, no matter how shy you are, no matter how weak you are, no matter how insignificant you are, when the Holy Ghost comes upon you, you're going to blow a trumpet. Glory be to God. And lastly, the other side of the picture. Gideon never would have blown a trumpet if the Spirit of God had not come upon him. I remember I was speaking to a group of American, British missionaries in Peru many years ago. And after I had finished my meetings that day, six or seven messages, as usual, I either left my barrel, my hat, or my coat in the tabernacle. That's my usual looking for my barrel, my hat, or my coat. And I, I don't know what it was I left in the tabernacle, but I went back and I felt the power of God in the building. And then I heard a weeping and a crying. It was dark. And I went away to the corner of the building. And then in the darkness there was a young man crying. And I knelt down beside him and put my hands around and kissed him. And I said, Brother, what, what is wrong? And then he, I could see him in the darkness a little and looked up through his tears and said to me, Brother Stuart, I'm back in my second funnel. And he says, I'm going into a district where there's two million people who have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. And he said, I'm a missionary. And he says, unless I'm filled with the Holy Ghost, I might as well go back home to USA. And I'm not going to leave this tabernacle until I know that beyond the shadow of a doubt I'm filled with the Holy Ghost. One of my missionaries came to me, to Mrs. Stuart, rather, in Europe and said, Mrs. Stuart, I'm going home. My wife said, going home? What do you mean? Is your people, people ill? What's wrong? She said, I'm going home. My wife said, but why are you going home? She said, Mrs. Stuart, I'm going home. I'm going back to secular work. But my wife said, why? You're needed desperately in your country, among the Roman Catholics. God is using you. She was a very quiet, modest, unassuming young lady, but very stern. And again, she said, Mrs. Stuart, I'm going home. But my wife said, has my husband allowed you to go home? He's the director and you cannot go home without the general director allowing you home. She said, Mrs. Stuart, I'm going home. My wife said, but why are you going home? She said, because I'm going because I'm a failure. And she said, unless, she says, the Holy Ghost tells me, there's no use of me being a missionary. I've tried everything. I speak French perfectly. I speak this language perfectly. I know all the mechanics of hard emission words. But unless the Holy Ghost fills me, there's no use. And my wife had the joy of praying together with the young lady. And she said, And together they worked and prayed together. I know this young missionary. She came into the glorious experience of a definite fullness of the Holy Ghost that revolutionized her entire life. And then, friend, she didn't go home. She stayed. Did she become an eloquent Mrs. Catherine Booth? Oh, no. But there was a power in the ministry. Quiet, modest, unassuming young lady. But wherever she went, there was power. Power in the ministry. And she left a blaze of blessing wherever she went. And to all over the people saying, You don't need to seek churches to preach and if the Holy Ghost comes upon you. The Word of God says, A man's gift makes room for himself. And my dear friend, God bless you in one church, the one church, the second church, third church, fourth church, fifth church, sixth church. He never would have blown a trumpet unless the Spirit of God had come upon him. Let us bow in faith. This message was preserved and made available by Revival Literature in Nashville, North Carolina. For more information, you can visit them online at revivallit.org.