by
Pastor Jack Hyles
(1926-2001)
(Chapter 34 from Dr. Hyle's excellent book, Meet The Holy Spirit)
A mighty sermon by Dr. Jack Hyles...
Luke 9: 14-23, "And when He came to is disciples, He saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them. And straightway all the people, when they beheld Him, were greatly amazed, and running to Him saluted Him. And He asked the scribes, What question ye with them? And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto Thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit (now dumb spirit means that he could not speak, not that he was stupid); And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to Thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. He answered him, an saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto Me. And they brought him unto Him: and when he saw Him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, an wallowed foaming. And He asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if Thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."
I like the Scriptures that have the limitless power of God. "All things are possible!" I like the Scriptures that say, "...we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us." (Romans 8:37) "I can do all things through Christ Which strengtheneth me." (Philippians 4:13) "...and there is nothing to hard for thee," (Jeremiah 32:17) "For with God nothing shall be impossible." (Luke 1:37)
Mark 9:24-29, "And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief. When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him:: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up; and he arose. And when He was come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, Why could not we cast him out? And He said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting."
There is so much superficiality in our Christianity, so little that is real. I told the Lord years ago I was not going to be a preacher if I could not be real. I am not going to be a sham. I am not going to waste my life on something superficial.
I go a step further. I am not going to waste my life on something that is not miraculous. Our people have a right to expect the miraculous when they come to our churches.
The Bible says, "This kind (this miraculous kind that everybody knows God does) cam come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting."
It doesn't come by education, though I am for education. It doesn't come by talent, though I am for talent. It doesn't come by human wisdom, though I am for human wisdom. This kind, where everybody knows that God does it-this miraculous kind- cometh forth by no other way except by prayer and fasting.
Our Lord had been up on the Mount of Transfiguration. (I think it was Mount Tabor. Some think it was Mount Hermon.) Peter, James and John had accompanied Him. There they had spoken with Moses and Elijah. Our Lord had had His body transfigured, likened to His glorified body and given them the foretaste of the coming kingdom.
Our Lord comes back from the transfiguration. As He returns, a man comes to Him and says, "My son has a dumb spirit. He wallows on the ground. He foams at the mouth. He pineth away. While You were gone, I went to the disciples and asked them if they could do something, but they could not."
After our Lord had cast out the devil, the disciples came to the Lord privately and asked Him, "Why couldn't we do it?" Jesus answered, "The reason you could not is that this kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting." In Psalm 35:13 the Psalmist said, "I humbled my soul with fasting: and my prayer returned into mine own bosom." In I Corinthians 7:55 the Apostle Paul admonishes us to give ourselves to "fasting and prayer." In Joel 1:14 the people were admonished to sanctify themselves. Daniel 9:3, "And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes." In II Corinthians 11:27 the Apostle Paul was giving his little biography of his life and he said, "in fastings often." Something you don't hear much about any more is "prayer and fasting."
It has been a way of life at our house. It was nothing unusual for our children when they were teenagers not to eat for a few days.
To this day, when Cindy has a heavy load or heavy burden or some big decision to make or when she needs something big from God, it is not unusual for her not to eat anything for a day or two or three or more while she fasts and prays.
What I am trying to say is this: If we want the supernatural, we have to get back to God's methods and God's ways. You don't get this by having just a Sunday school contest, nor by simply having a degree from a college or seminary. You get this supernatural kind, this kind that happens where everybody in town knows God did it, by prayer and fasting. There is no way man could do it. This is a work of God.
Now, "this kind...." You can have pretty good meetings with a good evangelist and a singer. You can have a special meeting. You can have a few children saved and a few other folks saved along, but if you want a revival that will shake the whole town, it must come by prayer and fasting. If you want the drunkards, the harlots, the prostitutes saved, that comes by prayer and fasting. To get the town atheist saved, the town drunk saved-that comes by prayer and fasting.
I don't care how suave you are, how much personality you have, how big your reputation is, if you want God to work where everybody knows He did it, then you have to pray and fast.
I am talking about seasons of prayer, all night in prayer, begging and pleading
with God.
1. This
Kind of Miracle.
I was a very quiet introvert, the most timid boy in my class. No one ever
suspected I would ever amount to anything. I failed public speaking, didn't go
with girls, and couldn't make any kink of a mark when I was a kid.
I went off to college. In the first chapel service a Presbyterian spoke. I do
not know the scripture he used, nor the topic of his message. The one thing I do
remember was this statement: "Young people, be a miracle! Be a miracle! I
challenge you to be a miracle."
I went alone and prayed, "Dear God, if I ever amount to anything, it will be a
miracle! But if You will help me, I am going to be a miracle!"
A long time after you have forgotten the name of this speaker and the title of
this sermon, I would like for you to hear those works ringing in your ears: BE A
MIRACLE! BE A MIRACLE! BE A MIRACLE!
I call your attention to Judges 6:12, 13. The angel of God came to a young man,
Gideon, who likewise was a timid fellow, and introvert. We read: "And the angel
of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou
mighty man of valour. And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with
us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all His miracles which our
fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the
Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites."
I want to call your attention to that little question Gideon asked the Lord,
"Where be all His miracles?" Elijah prayed it would not rain, and it didn't! And
he was a man of like passions as I.
Years ago at a Bill Rice Ranch, Dr. John Rice was preaching. Suddenly it began
to rain. Dr. Rice stopped and prayed, "Lord, stop the rain." I saw it stop
raining right around the tabernacle while it rained all over the county. And as
soon ass John Rice finished preaching, it started raining again.
On May 16 this year we had over 170,000 people attend our services in places all
around Chicago area- in outdoor services, in football stadiums, in parks, etc.
Our people worked as I have never seen folks work. We just couldn't have rain!
All day Saturday-an Avalanche of rain! All night Saturday night-torrential rain!
And the forecaster said it was to rain throughout the weekend. Well, I prayed,
"Dear God, You stopped the rain for Elijah. You stopped the rain for John Rice.
Now, do it for Jack Hyles tomorrow. I claim a dry, beautiful day
tomorrow-Sunday." We had the most beautiful Sunday we had had all year long! On
the news report that night, the weather man said that something unusual had
happened. He reported that there had been all day Sunday a solid mass of rain,
clouds and torrential rain storms all over the Midwest from Iowa to Ohio except
for a little spot over Hammond. He then, "Folks, it is like a miracle." AMEN!
Now, you listen! We DO have a mighty omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God Who
still stops the rain an starts it for His people. Where be all the miracles?
Am I talking to somebody whose body is eaten up with cancer, or has a baby with
a tumor, or who has a building had built and you cannot finance it, or has a son
in a distant city of dope, or has a daughter who has run off with the hippie
crowd and is on narcotics? Am I talking to a man whose wife is unsaved, or a
woman whose husband is seemingly hopelessly lost? Oh, go back home with a new
faith in the omnipotent God of Heaven and say, "I am going to be a miracle for
Jesus Christ."
One Sunday morning, we were having services in the Civic Center, downtown
Hammond, while we were enlarging our auditorium. I preached and gave the
invitation. A man who had been blind many, many years, with the nerves in his
eyes gone, came running down the aisle saying, "Pastor, Pastor! I can see! I can
see!"
I was preaching on a Sunday night in Hammond. I stopped in the middle of my
sermon an said, "God is going to do a miracle right now." ( I have never said
that in my life before nor since.) I said, "Tonight something miraculous is
going on in this room. I don't know what it is."
I got a letter the next week from a Moody Bible Institute student who was in our
services. She said, "I have an eye that I have never seen with. When you said
that last Sunday night, I saw through that eye!"
Now, how does one get that? You feet that when you come to know God, when you
walk with God, spend time with God, and beg and pray, and sometimes fast.
People often say, "I want to go see what this fellow looks like who pastors the
largest church in the world." They come. They say, "Well, is THAT Jack Hyles?
There is nothing unusual about him!" No, but he spends a lot of time with
Somebody Who is pretty special! This kind, I mean this kind of miracle where
folks in town know that God does something down there, comes by nothing but by
prayer and fasting.
Years ago in Texas, one of our fine ladies called me on the phone. She was
weeping. "Pastor, my little girl is four years old. She has cancer of a kidney
and we have to have a kidney removed."
They went to the hospital. The doctors removed the kidney eaten up with cancer.
It was only a few weeks until this same lady called again. She was beside
herself. "Pastor, she has cancer in the other kidney and the doctors say there
is no hope. Pastor, doesn't the Bible say something about anointing with oil and
praying and fasting?"
Singer Bill Harvey went with me to the home on the east side of Garland, Texas.
I took a little olive oil. We got down on our faces and prayed and confessed our
sins. I said, "Dear Lord, I pray You would heal this little baby." Bill did the
same thing. We anointed her on the head with oil. I was in Texas just a few
months ago and a beautiful young lady walked up. "Dr. Hyles, do you know me?"
"No, I don't." "I'm 22 years of age. Do you know me now?" "I just have one
kidney. Do you know me now?" I said, "You are not the little girl we anointed
who had the kidney cancer?" "Yes, I am." She said, "I am going to get married in
a few weeks. Brother Hyles, I have been well now all these years."
A dad lay in the hospital dead. His death certificate had been made out. The
funeral service was announced in the church service. He had been dead for hours.
A deaf young man walked inside that room an he had something he wanted to say to
his daddy before his daddy died. He pulled the sheet back off his daddy's dead
body and said, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" Those dead eyes opened, that dead mouth
spoke, an that dead body lived for another day so that boy could tell his dad
some things he wanted to tell him. The man died. The boy had some more he wanted
to tell his daddy. The fellow had been dead for a while. The son walked back in
and talked to his daddy who had been declared dead twice and whose service had
been announced in church again to be the next day. The night before the service
was conducted, that man who had been lying dead for hours an hours with a sheet
pulled over his head-that son, who is a deaf lad about 22 or 23 years old, said,
"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!"
And the Lord in Heaven seemed to say, "Make up your mind when you are through
talking to your dad." The Lord said to the dad, "Go back down there for awhile;
John wants to talk to you." And his eyes opened and his voice spoke and his lips
moved, and God proved again He can do anything but fail. "This kind can come
forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting."
We had a lady in our church with a tumor on her brain. The doctor had shown me
the X- ray several days before. I went to the hospital the morning she was to
have surgery. (The doctor said it would be a five to seven-hour surgery.)
I took a bottle of olive oil. I put a little on her forehead and prayed, "O God,
heal this lady and show that doctor there is a God in Heaven Who still perform
miracles." They rolled her up to surgery. I was waiting out in the hall. In less
than an hour they rolled her back. The doctor was beside her. I said, "Doctor,
is surgery over?" "She didn't have surgery." "Why?" "The tumor is gone!" You
don't get this because you have a D.D. You don't get this because you have been
to college and seminary. You don't get this because you have taken Strong's
theology. You get this because you realize there is nothing in the world you can
do, and you throw yourself at the mercy of God Almighty and say, "O my God, You
have to do something!"
Two weeks ago I was in a certain city. Folks brought a little three-year-old
child to me. They said, "Dr. Hyles, the doctor said both of us were sterile and
could not have a baby, and a few years ago out East you took a little bottle of
olive oil and anointed my wife's head and mine. You prayed for God to open her
womb and give life to my seed. Brother Hyles, within a year's time we had a baby
and we want to show you the baby."
What we need in our Baptist churches are some preachers who know God, walk with
God and can say, "I spend time in prayer, I fast, I beg and plead. Night after
night I walk with God and day after day I walk with God."
"This kind can come forth by nothing, but by t prayer and fasting." This kind of
miracle!
I prayed for twelve months for God to give us the beautiful Hyles-Anderson
College campus we have right now. I said to the Catholic priest, "We would like
to buy your campus." He said, "It's not for sale." For a year I fasted and
prayed for a day and a night each month. I got a call from the Catholic priest
twelve months later. "We have only nine students now. Do you want to buy it?"
"Yes, I sure do."
You get that by all-night prayer meetings. You get that by fasting and praying.
You get that by walking with God. This old country needs some men of God to
stand up before the pulpits and let the people know they have been with God.
I decided years ago that my people might not have the best preacher in town, and
they might not have the smartest preacher in town, but members of the First
Baptist Church of Hammond were going to have a man on Sunday preaching to them
who has walked with God for six days during the week.
I was in New York. The pastor there had had his third heart attack. The doctor
said he could not live very long. I asked the pastor to come up on the platform.
I put my hand on his head. We had a sincere prayer meeting. I fasted and prayed
during the whole conference and begged God to give back that pastor. I prayed
for God to give him the victory and to heal him. He has been healthy for many
years.
I could stand here and bless God over and over again and tell you the mighty
hand of God Almighty in prayer and fasting. This kind! This kind of miracle!"
What is it you need? Is there some son who has gone away on dope and narcotics
an you can't sleep at night and your heart is broken? Is there some daughter who
is breaking your heart? You carried her in your own body and gave birth to her
and fed her when she couldn't feed herself; you loved her before she even knew
who she was and gave her the name she bears-has she broken your heart? Is there
some problem in the home? Is there some problem in the church? Is there a church
that is languishing inn mediocrity? Is there some disease? Does a little child
of yours have leukemia? What is it? "This kind can come forth by nothing, but by
prayer and fasting."
2. This
Kind of Conversion
Where be all the miracles concerning conversions? Where are the old-fashioned
conversions we used to know? Where are the drunkards who used to get saved
because we prayed all night for them? Where are the harlots, the prostitutes?
Where are they? I will tell you where they are. They are still going to Hell
because of preachers and Christian laymen who know nothing about the power of
the Holy Spirit.
I was preaching in Pennsylvania on "This Kind Cometh Forth by Nothing, But by
Prayer and Fasting." I gave the invitation. I said, "If there is something
tonight you are going to claim, something supernatural, God is going to have to
do it.
The preacher cannot do it, you cannot do it, your husband cannot do it, your
wife cannot do it, your mother cannot do it, your father cannot do it, the
church cannot do it; whatever is done, God is going to have to do it
supernaturally." I said, "Come down this aisle tonight and you tell the pastor
or me what it is and we will have a prayer, and you dedicate yourself to go home
and fast and pray until the victory comes and the miracle takes place."
The aisles were filled. One young man came and said, "I have a tumor on the
brain. I believe God can heal it. I am going to pray He will." He knelt to pray.
One lady came and said, "My son is in Canada, a draft dodger with the hippie
crowd, on dope. I am going to pray and claim and fast and pray until he comes
back."
One little young lady came and said, "Pastor, my husband loves me but he is a
wicked man. He hates the church. He hates preachers. Everybody has given up on
him. Preacher, I am going to fast and pray until my husband gets born again."
I turned to the next person. "Sir, what are you going to claim for God?" He
said, "I want to get saved." I said, "I did not say anything about getting saved
tonight. Who are you? He said, "Her husband." I said, "She did not even know you
were in church tonight!" He said, "I was not in church tonight. I drive my wife
to church and come back and get her. Tonight I waited and waited. But," he said,
"all of a sudden they began to sing the invitation. Then my car door opened on
its own. The handle went down and nobody was there but me, and I was not
touching it; and, Reverend, a hand grabbed my arm. It pulled me out of the car,
pulled me inside and all the folks were coming forward and I thought, I have
never been in a church before, and I may never come again, so I had better get
saved while I am in here!"
What are you going to do about it? There are thousands of broken hearts in this
room tonight. There are people in this room who know there lurks in their own
bodies a disease that is incurable by human science. There are wives in this
room who have husbands who have been visited and visited and visited by
everything but an old-fashioned visitation Holy Ghost revival. There are young
people who cannot see their way to go to college. There are mothers and fathers
who are brokenhearted because of sons or daughters they have loved, reared, fed
and clothed and who have taken their hearts and broken them.
Say, I believe God could help along there, somewhere! I believe God could do
something about that daughter. I believe God knows where that son is. I believe
God is powerful enough to save that old drunkard husband of yours. God could
raise your church budget for you. I expect God might could build that building
you need.
I was out soul winning one day in Hammond. I knocked on a door. A big tall
fellow came to the door. "I am Brother Hyles, Pastor of the First Baptist
Church." The fellow, about six feet, four, said, "Yeah, I know who you are. You
are the biggest fake in town!" I said, "Sir, I am not much of a preacher, but I
am not a fake. I am sincere from the crown of my head to the sole of my feet.
God knows it and I know it, and I'll bet you know it, too, if you will just
admit it." He said, "You are the biggest fake in town." He turned around and
said, "Hey folds, old Hyles is here." (He had 13 people in his living room.)
"Old Hyles is here from First Baptist Church, the biggest fake in town." "Sir, I
don't think you ought to say that any more." "Are you trying to scare me?" "No,
I am not trying to scare you, but if you say it one more time, we are going to
find out whether I am a fake or not." "He said, "What do you mean?" I said,
"There are 13 people in there who need to know I am a man of God. Now you said I
am a fake. If you say it one more time, I am going to put my hand on your head
and pray for God to kill you. And if God doesn't kill you, I will admit I am a
fake." He said, "You are not going to scare me." I said, "I don't aim to scare
you. I aim to pray for God to kill you." I had never done this before and, to be
quite frank with you, I was scared. I thought, "What in the world have I said?"
I never had said it before and never have said it since! He said, "Hey, folks,
old Hyles is going to pray for God to kill me! Hyles, you are a fake!"
That did it! I put my hand on his head and I said, "Dear God, You know I'm not a
fake and I know I'm not a fake, but there are 13 people in here who need to
know. I pray, God, show this man I am not a fake. Show these people I am not a
fake. I pray right now, in the name of the God of Isaac and Jacob and the God
Who sent fire on Mount Carmel, the God Who caused the sun to stand still, the
God Who parted the Red Sea, the God Who caused the axe head to swim-I pray in
the name of Jesus right now that You would cause this man..." He said, "Hold it
Reverend. Hold it! Hold it!" I said, "Dear God..." He said, "Hold it Reverend!
You ain't no fake! You ain't no fake! You ain't no fake!"" We had a revival
break out in that room that day!
Listen, every city and village and town and neighborhood in America ought to
have one person who walks with God so much that everybody in town can know he is
God's man, everybody in town can know the power of God is on him, and they can
know that God works when that man works.
3. This
Kind of Revival
I learned years ago what you have to do to have real revival. I don't mean "sign
a banana to be the one of the bunch." I am not against that. We have signed
everything there is to sign. I don't mean, "Sign up, be a white sheep instead of
a black sheep." I don't mean that. I don't mean campaigns or promotion, through
I am certainly not against that. Brother, when you get them there because they
signed a sheet, it is not going to do one bit of good unless the pore of God
falls on the place.
I decided to have a revival in Texas in the church I was pastoring. I called it
"The Home Folks Revival." Bill Harvey was my song leader. I said, "We are going
to have a revival, Bill. I am going to preach it. You are going to lead the
singing. We are not going to have any guests in, nor any kind of promotion. I am
not against that, but we are just going to have revival. I am going to go to the
motel down the road toward Dallas and rent a room. I am not going to eat all
week. I am going to spend my time preaching and then staying on my face in that
motel room.
The meeting lasted eight days. It started Sunday morning and lasted until the
following Sunday night. Not one bite of food went in this mouth during that
revival. I would go outside the motel room only to preach; then I would go back
to the room to pray and beg God. I prayed for God to show my people there is a
God in Heaven Who can send miracles.
I won't tell you all about the revival, but it was the best I have ever seen.
There are eleven pastors in America who were saved in that one revival campaign
of eight days.
Preachers, I am not preaching to you; I am trying to help you. What you need is
to get to know God. What you need is to pray while others are playing. I don't
play very much. I like to play. I like to have fun. I like to tell funny
stories. I love sports. I love to go to ball games. I never go to a ball game. I
love to play golf. I have an expensive set of golf clubs in my basement I have
never used; my staff gave them to me. I have bowled about one time in the last
ten years.
You say, "Don't you like to bowl?" I love to bowl. "Don't you like to play
golf?" I love to play golf. Don't you like to go to ball games?" "We have a high
school basketball team. I seldom see a game. We have a high school football
team. I seldom go see a game. I love it. I follow it. I pull for the Dallas
Cowboys. I am saying, if you are going to have "this kind," you have to pray
while others play. You have to be alone while others are having fun. You can't
do a lot of things if you are going to have this kind of revival!
I was in a town conducting a revival meeting. They had more bootleggers in that
county than in any county in Texas. I preached at the First Baptist Church in
that little town when I was a young preacher. On Sunday night nothing happened.
The pastor said this was the meanest bunch of people. I preached against liquor.
The bootleggers heard about it, and they would come by and shoot guns up in the
air while I was preaching. Sunday night nothing happened! Monday night nothing
happened! Tuesday night nothing happened! Wednesday night nothing happened!
Thursday night nothing happened!
I decided to pray all night Thursday night. I got in the room while people were
outside shooting guns up in the air, driving by and calling me dirty names,
threatening to kill me. I said, "Dear Lord, I'm not going to sleep or eat until
You give revival!" I prayed all night. I got the idea that if I could get the
head bootlegger saved, maybe we would have some revival in that town.
I went to the pastor, woke him up, and said, "Pastor, who is the meanest man in
town?" He gave me the man's name. He said, "He is as mean as the Devil. He will
kill you on sight. He is in charge of all the bootleggers in this whole county."
I said, "Let's go see him." We got in the car and drove down a winding country
trail to a little one-room shack. This man was out in the yard with a fire. He
had eggs and bacon and coffee cooking in the yard on a summer morning.
I got out of the car and walked up. This big tall fellow looked down at me. I
said, "I understand you are the meanest man in town." "Who told you that?" I
said, "Never mind. God Almighty is going to judge you and your Hell is going to
be hotter than anybody else's in this town. You are breaking homes, robbing
wives of their husbands, wrecking little children's lives and sending wives to
premature graves. You are the cause of the trouble in this town. I am going to
pray God's judgment on you. God is going to judge you!" To make a long story
short, before we left, he had gotten saved! Word spread all over town that he
had "gotten religion" and was going to "join the church" that night. He went
with me that afternoon and bought the first suit of clothes he had ever owned,
the first tie he had ever owned, the first white shirt he had ever owned. That
night he was at church.
Bootleggers came. They were outside looking in; some were sitting in their cars
listening. We had hundreds of people in church that night, in a building which
seated 200 people, in a town of two hundred population. The county came!
Bootleggers came out of the woods like groundhogs out of their holes.
I preached that night! I announced I was going to preach on, "Will There Be Any
Drunkards in Heaven?" Invitation time came. The old bootlegger stood up, stepped
out in the aisle, and walked down the aisle, the cars outside began to honk and
folks began to holler and shout. Eleven bootleggers who were not even inside
that building got out of their cars and came inside the church and came down the
aisle and got converted! A revival broke out. We had more people saved in the
next three days than lived in that town. Why? A little scared preacher prayed
and fasted and said, "We are going to have revival!"
You live your life in a dead kind of ministry if you want to: you go ahead if
you want to and let nothing ever happen; you go ahead and say that miracles are
not for this age; go ahead and die and face God someday with the blood of
sinners on your hands who could have been saved and a nation could have been
spared if you had spent some time with God. "This kind can come forth by
nothing, but by prayer and fasting." I am going to tell you now the sweetest
story I know. When I was in my early twenties I was asked to go to a Southeast
Texas town for a revival. The pastor didn't want me. The young people chose the
evangelist once a year and they chose me to come preach a revival sponsored by
the young people. It was on the north side of town.
I drove down on a Sunday afternoon. The pastor took me off to the side and said,
"Now, Brother Hyles, I am 72 years of age- 50 years older than you. I want to
tell you before the revival starts that I did not want you and do not want you
to preach this revival. You are not my kind of preacher, but we told the young
people they could vote. They voted for you. This is why we have you here. We
have some rules! In the first place, nobody ever hollers in this pulpit or hits
the pulpit while he preaches. Nobody ever shouts and screams. Nobody ever cries.
Nobody ever says, "Amen." We are a dignified group. We have a wealthy
membership. We don't have any display of emotion. Now, you can preach, but you
can't holler and scream and you can't cry and you can't tell a bunch of funny
stories. You have to be dignified." I stayed in a little parlor room out on the
side of his home. I never spent a more lonesome week in my life. I preached
Sunday night. Not one person walked the aisle. I preached Monday night. Not one
person walked down the aisle. I preached Tuesday night. Not one person walked
down the aisle. I preached Wednesday night. Not one person walked down the
aisle.
I went to my room that night and prayed, "Lord, I am not going to be a powerless
preacher. I am not! I am not!" I said, "Lord, I promise You something. I am
going to pray all night long every night. I am not going to eat a bite of food.
I am going to fast and pray until revival comes to this church."
I have never seen a prettier church building. It seated about 1,000 people. It
had beautifully padded pews with upholstered arms. It had carpet-you would have
a hart time seeing your shoe when you walked down the aisle, the carpet was so
thick and plush!
The choir was up in a balcony like an opera balcony. Then you had to go outside
to the hallway to get down to the audience from the choir. I never have seen a
church like it.
I prayed all night. I can't explain this, but the Lord put His hand on my
shoulder and said, "I am going to gibe you revival tonight." I knew revival was
coming. Have you ever prayed until you knew the answer came? I knew revival was
coming.
I got up off my knees. I preached that night. Well, since revival was going to
come, I thought I would preach my best sermon. I preached on "The Prodigal Son."
When I preach on the prodigal son, I act it out. I always call the prodigal son
Bill and call his brother who stayed home John. I always act it out.
I began talking about the early events of the parable and got to the point of
naming the prodigal son, but to save me I could not think of the name Bill. I
backed off and started over again. When I got to the name of the prodigal son,
again the name Bill escaped me. The third time I tried. Again and again I tried.
Finally I called the prodigal son by his brother's name, John, thinking by the
time I got to the brother I could give him the name of the prodigal son, but
still I couldn't think of Bill. I had already given Bill John's name and I was
trying to think of Bill so I could give that name to John. I backed up and tried
again but still could not think of the name Bill. Again and again I tried and
failed. Finally in desperation I said, "The brother didn't have a name. They
called him little Bud for short." So there I was calling Bill John and John
Little Bud. Did I ever get confused! The sermon seemed to be in every way a
failure; in fact, some folks, realizing my predicament, were snickering.
When I finished the sermon I could hardly wait to get out of the auditorium and
away from my embarrassment. During the invitation, however, a young man in the
back on my left started toward the aisle. To be quite frank, I was surprised
that anyone would come to the aisle after my message. When he arrived at the
aisle however, he turned and went toward the back door. Again, to be frank, I
could hardly blame this fellow for walking out. However, when he got to the back
row he stopped and put his arm around a lady, and she began to praise the Lord.
Then the two of them ran down the aisle and three themselves at the altar.
Seeing this, the chairman of the deacon board who was sitting in the front row
jumped in the altar an began praising God with them. Soon the pastor who had
told me that no emotion was allowed was on his knees at the altar joining in the
praise. The choir began to weep and could not sing. The music director could not
see to lead the singing. Numbers of other people joined the happy altar scene,
and real revival broke out. I had no idea what had happened, but I knew I liked
it!
Finally the pastor gained enough composure to ask me to lead the closing prayer,
after which I walked toward the side door. Just as I arrived at the door the
church secretary took me by the shoulder and turned me around. With tears and
emotion she asked, "Who told you?" I replied, "Who told me what?" She said, "Who
told you to preach on the prodigal son? You see, the young man who came forward
tonight was the son of the deacon chairman. He was a prodigal son who ran away
from home one year ago. He is now twenty. No one knew he was within a thousand
miles of this place tonight. Then when you announced that you were preaching on
the prodigal son, we knew you must have been told of his presence. He came home
tonight, got saved, and is going back to his parents. That is what happened at
the altar tonight."
I felt praise swelling in my own heart and turned to walk out the door. The
church secretary then asked, "But who told you his name was John?" I could
hardly believe my ears. `Twas the Holy Spirit Who kept me from remembering the
prodigal son's name. It was the Holy Spirit Who led me to call the prodigal son
John instead of Bill.
The church secretary had still another question. "Who told you he has a brother
whose nickname is Little Bud?"
By that time, I was about to shout! `Twas the Holy Spirit Who would not let me
think of the name Bill and who led me to call the prodigal son John an his
brother Little Bud.
This young preacher went to his room that night an stayed on his knees most of
the night in praise, prayer and thanksgiving that there is a living God Who
leads His preachers who pay the price of waiting on Him.
There is a God in Heaven. Oh, we Baptist preachers need to find out about it.
This kind- this kind of revival, this kind of old-fashioned, Holy Spirit power,
this kind of miracle, "This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and
fasting."
4. This
Kind of Church
The first full-time church I ever pastored was a great church. I was called by a
vote of 27 to 26. One adult and 26 young people voted for me. One lady named
Mrs. Lambert; her daughter, Jean the pianist; and she rounded up all the
kids-they voted for me. I prayed all night, night after night, in the pine
thickets of East Texas. I was afraid to walk in the pulpit Sunday after Sunday.
God gave us a great church! Over 40 pastors in America right now came from that
little church.
I went to Garland, Texas, to pastor. The church grew faster than I could handle
it. I won't go into it, but the church became a great church one New Year's Eve
night when I prayed all night long.
I went to Hammond. The same thing is true in Hammond. There is a little
apartment at the Bill Rice Ranch now that has my name on it and it has some
concrete out in front with my hand print, my footprint, and my signature because
that was where this happened. I was going to resign the First Baptist Church.
I went down to the Bill Rice Ranch and one Friday night there, after I had
preached all week, I said, "Lord, I am going to leave First Baptist Church of
Hammond! I am not going to stay!"
I went to bed and couldn't sleep. I tried and couldn't. I finally figured I
should pray. I prayed all night there in Room 11 of Widner Inn at the Bill Rice
Ranch.
About sunup the dear Lord Jesus said to me, "I need somebody to take a great big
American Baptist church and turn it upside down and fight the battle and prove
that churches can be transformed."
After all night in prayer, First Baptist Church of Hammond was born.
"This kind" of revival, "this kind" of miracle, "this kind" of church, and "this kind" of conversion can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting. I am hungry for the old-fashioned kind.
A fellow came and got saved the other day. He said, "I spent all night last
night in a house of prostitution. I want to get saved."
The next week a lady came to see me. She said, "I am a prostitute inn Calumet
City; I have been for several years. I want to get saved. One of my customers
came back to me this week to tell me what happened to him last Sunday, and I
want to get the same thing."
She now goes to our church and is a regular and faithful, never missing a Sunday
morning or Sunday night or Wednesday night. This kind!
What you really need is a new breath, a new unction, a new heavenly breath upon
your ministry! This kind!
Don't you think you ought to learn how to pray and fast? What is it that you
need? Do you have a wayward son? Is there some disease lurking in your body and
you don't know what it is? Is there a little child not well? Is it a husband who
is an alcoholic and a drunk? Are you tired of getting beaten for going to
church? Is it a dead church, languishing in failure? This kind! This kind! This
kind! This kind where God does it, and God has to do it, can come forth by
nothing, but by prayer and fasting!
Chapter
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
[34]
35
More Life Changing Sermons by Dr. Jack Hyles:
Do you know for sure that if you died today,
you would go to Heaven? You can
know!
Click Here to find out how!
"I am an old-fashioned preacher of the old-time religion, that has warmed this cold world's heart for two thousand years." —Billy SUNDAY
Ye Must Be Born Again! | You Need HIS Righteousness!
No comments:
Post a Comment