You know this world is full of preachers, but just a few were chosen. Stay tuned for Treasured Heritage, a preaching program spotlighting those servants who have gone on to glory. Isaiah 5417 says, this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. And now, Treasured Heritage. Tonight I'm going to travel over familiar territory your feet have trodden before along this path. And yet it's so easy for the path that we have trodden to become full of weeds again that we need to clear it out. And tonight I'm going to lead for you this passage. Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren And the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. Now David was just a little lad, or a lad at the time. Without sending the sheep, this is the time when Samuel came to Jesse's household and said, one of your sons is going to be king. And Jesse trotted out his sons and plated them all before Samuel. And Samuel kept saying, this is not the one, this is not the one, this is not the one. He said, do you have any more sons? Well, yes, he said, I have one. He's the baby boy. He's out taking care of the sheep. You wouldn't want him. And Samuel said, let's go see him. And Samuel went and anointed David as the king. But David said, I shall be anointed with threshold. And anointed with threshold he was. But in 2 Samuel 2, I read, you need not turn to it, in verse 4, And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. Well, I thought David was anointed king before. He was. But now he is anointed with fresh oil. And they told David, saying, that the men of Jabesh Gilead were they that buried Saul. But that isn't all. You come to 2 Samuel chapter 5 and verse 3 and you read, So all the elders of Israel came to the king of Hebron, and king David made a league with him in Hebron before the Lord. And they anointed David king over Israel. This is the third time that David has been anointed king. He was anointed king, back yonder as a lad, tending to the sheep. He was anointed king in 2 Samuel chapter 2. He became king over a portion of the house of Judah. And now that he becomes king over all of Israel, he's anointed for the third time. And that's why David could say in the 92nd Psalm, I shall be anointed with fresh oil. all of the plans and all the efforts and all of the labor and all the sleepless nights and all the toil that had been endured for this pasture school had been endured so that we might in some wonderful way send preachers and Christian workers back home with a fresh anointing and a fresh endowment of the power of the Holy Spirit. And so I read again, but my horn shall thou exalt like the horn of a unicorn. I shall be anointed with fresh oil. Our Heavenly Father, I just don't know how I can do this by myself. There's no way. All these thousands of people in this building. Chairs down all the aisles. People filling the pews where the television screens are. Hallways out there. People out in the hallways listening over the loudspeaker. 49 states and 13 foreign countries in this one room tonight. And in many cases, the key preachers in those states are here. I pray, O Holy Spirit, I pray that you would take this little preacher and lift him out of himself for these moments and do something real in this closing service. Dear Lord, this is it. It's all over after tonight as far as the evening services are concerned. This is my last message on the Holy Spirit. You've got to do something for us. Some preacher is not going to be able to make it if he doesn't get something tonight. He's just not going to make it. That preacher wrote me today and he said, called home, talked to my wife and she said, had a member that caused him trouble because the priest was on tithe on Sunday night. I would have been afraid to go home but I'm not now. I can't wait to get home and fight the battle. Oh give us what we need back home and may oh thy spirit breathe upon us in Jesus' name. Amen. When I was a little boy, growing up under the tutelage of this little lady sitting on the fourth row from the front here, I was a very nervous boy. My father was an alcoholic, and my earliest memories or my daddy coming home at night drunk, maybe hitting a tree out in front with a car, and my mother weeping and pleading with him to be a decent daddy. And I became a very nervous kid. Oftentimes in church my mother would have to have to take me out, I become afraid and I start crying uncontrollably. I'm talking about now when I was 8 and 9 and 10 years of age and sometimes even up to 13. I'd start crying in church. I was a little bitty fellow. And Brother McElroy, our pastor, stopped the service and said folks would have to let me in his house. They'd throw the Jackie boy out. Just like they'd take a baby out of the service. And I'd go out and Brother would try to calm me and I couldn't get calm. I had high blood pressure. Every time I was absent from school, I had such high blood pressure that they'd call from the school and be sure that everything was alright. And sometimes they'd send a nurse by the house just to check on me. I was always the runt. I weighed 92 or 93 pounds on my 17th birthday. They called me Jackie Boy. If they had voted on a personal least likely to succeed, I would have won hands down. I loved sports, but I was too little to play. I didn't go with a girl until I was 17 because the only ones my size were in the beginner department. I, nobody, nobody really took me seriously. The church I went to, Joe Boyd also attended that church. Joe's been here this week, probably here tonight. And Joe was my hero. Joe is 10 years older than I. He looks like he's 25 or 30 years older than I, but he's 10 years older than I. And Joe and I live two blocks from each other. He belonged to what was called the Britain Street Gang. That was the wildest gang in all the area. And my mother used to say, when you see Joe Bork coming, you run home. Joe weighed about 230 pounds, and I weighed about 90 pounds or so. Joe wore a size 52 coat and a 30 waist, and I wore a size 30 coat and a 52 waist. Joe Boyd was an All-American football player, first team, Associated Press, All-American, in 1847 at Texas A&M. He was also the heavyweight boxing champion of Texas A&M and the heavyweight wrestling champion of Texas A&M and he was some guy. All of us in our church worshiped the ground that Joe Board walked on. Now the ground he walked on was sinful ground for many years. And I was at church the night that Joe Board got right with God. I was there when he walked down and gave his life to preach the gospel. I'll never forget what our pastor said. He stopped the service and he said, folks, he said, guess what? He said, all Americans, Joe Boyd has surrendered his life to preach the gospel. And boy, people said, glory to God, praise the Lord. All around me I could hear them buzzing, Joe Boyd is going to be a preacher. Joe Boyd is going to be a preacher. We figured maybe a murderer or a bootlegger, but never a preacher. I said to my friends, man alive, good night, Joe Boyd is going to preach. Boy, I said, God, if I've been you, that's the one I'd have called. I'll tell you what, heaven bingo tonight, I'll guarantee you. Joe Boyd is going to be a preacher. And one night, on a watch night service, Joe Boyd was sitting behind me a few feet, and God called me to preach. And God said, Jack, I want you to be a preacher. And I said, Jack, who? and he said you and I was timid and I said in my breath Lord they will laugh at me and you both they will laugh at me because they know I can't preach and they will laugh at you because you made such a poor choice and they will laugh at me but the Lord said I want you to be a preacher A little teenage girl wrote a note down there. She didn't know I was being called a priest. But the Holy Spirit told her. And she wrote a note on a piece of literature and said, Jack, why don't you surrender to me? I know God's calling you a priest. And I walked down the aisle and I said, Pastor, God's called me a priest. I'll never forget what he said. He said, are you sure? And I said, yes sir, I'm sure. And the pastor, you know, Joe Boardman called the preach, he said, glory to God, folks, guess what happened? But he prefaced his announcement about my decision with these words, folks, all of us know that God is a miracle working God. And he's the God that parted the Red Sea, he's the God that made the sun stand still, and God can still perform miracles. And he said, little Jackie boy Hiles has earned his life to preach the gospel. And the wife said Amen. And nobody said praise the Lord. Several folks I think said, oh my Lord, but that's the nearest they came to get religious. And nobody was happy. And I recall that was on New Year's Eve night, 1944. And then 36 years, let's see, 36 years next New Year's Eve night. late after midnight on January 1st, 1945 in the wee hours of the morning I knelt at the steps outside of the place and looked up at the Texas sky and I said, Dear God, I'm not as big as Joe and I'm not as strong as Joe but I said, I can't give you as much as Joe can give you But I said, Dear God, I can give you as much of Jack Hiles as Joe can give you of Joe Boyd. And God knows this is true. If ever a kid gave you all he had to God, I didn't have much to give. By the way, nobody else wanted anything I had anyhow. And it was not hard for me to give it all to God. I wish I could tell you what God's done. I wish I could tell you what God's done with that little gift I gave him that night. That was New Year's Day. This is not part of this sermon. I feel constrained to tell it. I don't like to tell it. I didn't tell it for many years. You'll know why in a minute. My daddy didn't live with us. My daddy and mother were separated. It was on New Year's Day and daddy called. Some of you children know what it's like when daddy calls and says, meet me at the store or somewhere. And my daddy called New Year's morning and said, son, meet me downtown Dallas. I want to see you. I'd meet him for 10, 15 minutes. He'd give me a $5 bill to take home, you know, and just spend a few minutes with daddy. I got on the streetcar and drove downtown Dallas. On the corner of Commerce and Akron Street, that's where the football team stayed for the Cotton Bowl, and it was New Year's Day. The Baker Hotel was over on this corner, and a bank was over on this corner, and the Adolphus Hotel was over on this corner, and a liquor store on the main floor, and a burlesque theater on the floor above that was over here on this corner. Daddy told me to meet him in front of the liquor store. That's where he was. on New Year's Day 1945 my daddy came out and I said daddy by the way my dad hated preachers if my dad hated anybody he hated preachers I've heard him curse preachers more than anybody else he hated preachers he thought they were all after money and daddy hated preachers And I said, Daddy, before I go any further, I've got to tell you something. I don't want to tell you. I'm afraid to tell you. But I said, God, call me a preacher, and I'm going to spend my life being a preacher. My daddy weighed 235 pounds. He used to be a professional wrestler when he was young. And my daddy took his big old arms, and he hit me like that, and pushed me against the red brick of that liquor store, and began to curse me and swear. And finally, I got so weak, I fell, and he kicked me on the side. and cursed me and said, you dirty son of a blank, blankety blank, I'm ashamed. He's a son of mine to be a blankety blank preacher. He started walking across the street, a little crowd gathered, and I was lying there on the sidewalk, and Daddy turned and came back across the street. Some football players were there even for the Cotton Bowl game. And dad looked at me again, and didn't kick me hard in the side, didn't even bruise it, just sort of like he's pushing a thing to get away or something like that, and he kicked me in the side. Then he cursed me again, he said, well you dirty son of a blank, I'm ashamed and embarrassed for a son of a blank son of a lion to be a dirty blanky blank preacher. He walked away again. He walked halfway across Acker Street, right in the downtown section of Dallas, one of the main corners. It's about two blocks from where the big convention center is now. And he turned and came back again. And he kicked me again. And here's what he said. He said, if you're going to be one of those blankety-blank, son-of-a-blank preachers, why don't you go out and build the biggest church in the whole world? I never told anybody this. 25 years. I feel my talent for that. I never spoke that several years ago. He gave me a plaque as having the world's largest medical school. It was all over. I rushed to my office and filled all my things. And I said, Daddy, I did what you said. I did what you said. When I was called to preach, a fellow named Dan Davis asked me, if I preach for him at the Cedar Temple Baptist Church in Dallas. He heard I was calling to preach. He was going to be on vacation. And he said, Jack, would you preach for me? I said, sure. It looked easy. I never had done it. And nobody told me you were supposed to study. Pastor always said, Lord, I pray you'd lead me in what the Pope is saying. And I thought, what's going to happen? And so I just said, Lord, lead me in what the Pope is saying. I was sitting right here. The deacon chairman stood up and said, ladies and gentlemen, our pastor is on vacation, but he's not left the pulpit vacant. He came as close as he could have. And he said, he's not left the pulpit vacant. He said, we have Reverend Jack Hiles to supply for us tonight. And so I stood up. He said, I'll never forget it. He said, we're all anxiously waiting to hear what God has laid on his heart. And my thoughts were, I don't know about him. I know I'm anxiously waiting to hear what God has laid on my heart. And so I stood up. And you know, God forgot to lay anything on my heart. And I stuttered and stammered and stuttered and stammered. And finally after three minutes I said, folks it sure is hot in here tonight. And then I said, I can't do it. God called me to preach but I don't know how. And I sat down and the folks came by and tried to control me. My best friend came by and said, Jack you better not go through with this freaking business. I saw a fellow, he wants to go down to Texas in a service. I preached one night for an hour and a half. He walked up and shook his head. He said, I can't believe it. I can't believe it. I can't believe it. I said, why? He said, I was in the Cedartown Vatican Church the night you started out years ago. He said, I can't believe it. I can't believe it. He said, you preached three minutes then, an hour and a half tonight. And then he grinned and said, I like to believe it. It's better. But I went off and preached Texas Baptist College. And one of the first weeks I was there, the psychology professor, Hubert Floyd, he came, he said, you're new in student arts, I said, yes I am. He said, are you a preacher? Oh my, oh my. I had three minutes experience. And I said, yes I am, and ask God to forgive me. And so he said, I'm preaching a Bible on the north side of Marshall next week, and I can't get anybody to supply. All our preacher boys are busy. He said, would you go preach for me? And I said, yes I would. That next Sunday morning, I sat right here. I had no outline. I had the same outline I had before. And I blocked the fellow, said he went hunting. He said he saw some birds and he said, bang! And he missed them all. And he said, bang again! And hit him in the same place. And so I stood up. I do not recall What psalm I turn to, I just recall, I let a Bible fall open. The deacon chairman said, we have Reverend Hiles with us, he's going to tell us the same thing, what God laid on his heart. And so I am. I stood up and God had laid the same thing on my heart he did before. And so I just opened the Bible and started reading. And I just, like I don't know where I read, I just read it all over here. And I started reading the psalm. He turneth the wilderness into a standing water. And I said, He turneth the wilderness into a standing water. Not a sitting water, but a standing water. Not the desert, but the wilderness. Not a lake, but standing water. I said, he turneth it. He doesn't let it stand still. He turneth it. And I read the next words. And I said, and dry ground in the water springs. Not wet ground, but dry ground. Not in the Pepsi-Cola springs, but water springs. I mean, and there he maketh the hungry to dwell. Not the thirsty, but the hungry. I said, the hungry! I said, the hungry! I said, the hungry! And I just read a verse and hollered, and read a verse and hollered, and read a verse and hollered. And about 15 minutes past, I said, in the time of my life, absolutely, I said, in the time of my life, just reading and hollering, and reading and hollering. And 30 minutes past, I was still reading and hollering, and reading and hollering, and reading and hollering. And, boy, 45 minutes past, I was still reading and hollering, and reading and hollering. And now, thank God, 35 years have passed, and I'm still reading and hollering. I won't forget it. When they got through, a deacon walked up and he said, take this. I said, what is it? He said, a check. I said, what for? He said, $12. I said, what for? What have I done? Nobody owes me any money. He said, for vacation. I said, you listen to me, buddy. You won't buy me off. I've heard of your kind. you take your filthy look and let it perish with you I said as long as I live I'll never stoop so low as to take money for preaching the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ I'd like to announce to all of our deacons I've changed a great deal in these years and I was a preacher in just a few weeks they called me I was called to my first church A church, you might call it a church. We had 19 members. We had the little old building. The walls both leaned, but thank God they leaned to form a marvelous geometrical miracle. And they stayed up. Had no rusty bell out in front. Had one indoor toilet. No, no, one outdoor toilet in the entire church family. Just one. And no indoor toilets. You say, but, but, but, what, what, don't ask the embarrassing questions. Use your imagination, that's all. One outdoor toilet and no indoor toilets in the entire church family. Only one fella had a telephone in the entire church, he was deaf and couldn't hear it ring. We had one lady could play one song on the piano, and that was Mrs. Charlotte Smith could play Old Rugged Crawl. That's all she could play. And she played the piano, bitch, more than she played the piano. And I might add, she hung off both sides of the piano, too. She, uh... It might be a great deal, this is Godfrey. And, uh... Everything, everything we sang, we sang the tune of the Old Rugged Cross. Now you try singing Dwelling in Beauty Land, the tune of the Old Rugged Cross, and see what kind of problems you got. Wait a minute. Nobody walked out on the first Sunday. And the second Sunday nobody walked the aisle. And the third Sunday nobody walked the aisle. And for a long year, the first year of my ministry, nobody walked the aisle. Not one person got saved. Not one person joined the church by letter. Not one person rededicated his life. Not one person came for baptism. One long, barren, miserable year. And I used to go out in the backyard before I'd preach. I'd go out to another little church now. And the Grange Hall Baptist Church, Marshall, Texas. And I'd go out in the backyard. And I'd say, oh God, I'm about to die. about to die. I can't be a preacher like this. Nobody getting saved. Sunday morning, Sunday night, nobody getting saved. I can't do it. And I grew up out in the country. I grew up toward town. There's a big pine thicket of trees up there. And I'd stay up there in the nighttime. And I'd walk and I'd ring my hands. And I'd say, Oh God, Oh God, I can't go like this. I can't do it. I wish somebody would feel that way tonight. I wish some preacher would say, I'm not going to be a barren preacher. I'm not going to do it. I'm not! I'm not! I'm not! I'm not! I'm not! And I wish before we leave this place you would say, I'm going to go home and I'm going to pay the price and get the power of the Holy Spirit on my ministry and know what it is to have that voice speaking while I preach. I went to the East Texas Baptist College Library. I was attending college. I went to the biography section. I pulled out every biography of every great man I could find. And I know I read dozens of biographies. I read the life of Dwight Moody. And my heart burned on the inside as I read how the two ladies in his church kept saying, Mr. Moody, God has something more for you. And Mr. Moody would say, don't put it for me. I get 4, 5, 10 people say it every time I preach. Don't put it for me. But they said, Mr. Moody, God has a power for you that you don't have yet. And Mr. Moody got sort of provoked at it. And I read how that one day he was in New York City, walking down Wall Street, trying to raise some money for his revival campaign. And he said, all of a sudden, the breath of God came on him and knocked him down on the concrete. And he asked God to withhold his hand for a few minutes. Then Mr. Moody went to the home of a friend and borrowed an upstairs room and sat on his face. He said that he was never the same after that. He said where he preached the same outline, instead of having 5 saved, he had 50 saved. Used the same sermon, same scripture, same notation. Used to have 10 saved, now he has 100 saved. And I can recall I'd sit there, a little country preacher, never seen anybody converted. And my heart would burn. Oh you don't know how my heart would burn. And I said, oh God, what Mr. Moody had years ago, could that be in 1949, in 1950, for a little country preacher in East Texas? And uh, nothing happened. I read the story of Christmas Evans. He was riding on his horse one time and all of a sudden he got so burdened about his condition he fell on his face beside the horse. The power of God came on him and he was never the same after that. And my heart began to burn. Now fellas you say what you want to say. You call me what you want to call me. But there's something you don't necessarily get at salvation that God gives you with which to preach the gospel in the power and the fullness. And I'm not talking about a bunch of city wildfire. I'm not talking about Pat Boone going to a nightclub and singing on Saturday night and talking about his charismatic experience on Sunday morning. I don't want anything like that. And I read about Savonarola. I read his life. It told in his life how he sat in the pulpit one morning for five hours. He wouldn't preach until people thought he was paralyzed. He said, I won't do it. He sat there for one, for two, for three, for four, for five hours! And a hundred people sat there and waited! So Savonarola had the power of God, and he stood and preached in mighty power. And my little old heart in East Texas burned within itself. And I said, Oh God, could that be? Could that be, could that be for Jack Hiles in 1949 and 1950? I picked up a book and read the life of Charles E. Penney. He told how he was filled with the Spirit on the night he got saved. John West told how on October 3rd, 1738, At 3 o'clock in the morning, after praying all night with about 40 to 60 preachers, how that the power of God came on him. And he knew for the first time in his life he had the fullness of the Holy Spirit. I read about George Fox who went alone for 15 days and stayed in a trance and prayed until God's power came on him. And Peter Cartwright who stood and preached his first sermon and the power of God came on him. And verse 1, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because it is anointed to preach the gospel to the poor. And in my little old heart, Sunday after Sunday, I'd go and I'd preach. I couldn't eat anything. I didn't weigh much. I weighed 141. I lost down to under 120. I couldn't hold anything on my stomach. I'd eat breakfast and go back behind the little country church. Had a little creek back there, and I'd vomit everything I'd eaten in the creek. And I go and I sit in the pulpit and say, Oh God, Oh God, do something, do something. And my deacons called a meeting and they said, Pastor, we're worried about you. We're worried. My mother said, son, you're losing weight. You've got to take care of yourself. And my deacons said, Pastor, there's something wrong with you. You've got to get a hold of yourself, and after I can't get a hold of myself, I'm a powerless preacher, and I can't do it! O men of God, in God's name, don't cheat your people. Get out in a peep-out somewhere. Get on your face before God, and wait upon the Lord. David, wait upon the Lord. Shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. And I am. If you had driven down Highway 43 between Marshall, Texas and Henderson, Texas down that little winding highway through the pine trees of East Texas. If you had driven down there many nights in the wee hours of the morning, if you had listened carefully, if you had pulled your car beside the road, if you had heard a little preacher crying, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? Where is the Lord God of Elijah? I prayed and I cried and I went to the pulpit. And nothing happened, and I prayed and cried some more. I don't want to go any farther. On May 12th, 1950, I threw myself down face first into some pine cones and pine needles on a sand hill in East Texas as the sun came up across the east. I prayed all night long, and I said, Oh God, I don't care what it is, I'm willing to pay the price. I didn't know what it meant. I didn't know what it meant. That was May 12, 1956, 6 o'clock in the morning, after all night praying. Went back home, ate about a breakfast, placed on radio broadcast on KMHT, Marshall, Texas. We're sitting in the living room at 10 o'clock in the morning. It was even the Dallas Morning News. Telephone rang. Operator said, long distance for Reverend Jack Hiles. I said, this is Brother Hiles. A voice said, Reverend Hiles, my name is Smith. I've worked with your father for years, hanging drywall. He said, Reverend Hiles, your father just dropped dead with a heart attack. And I said, God, I didn't mean that. I didn't mean that. My daddy's lost. My daddy didn't do something between the time he started to fall and liquor on his breath. And my sister and I went to his little room and found a bottle of whiskey in the top drawer of his chest of drawers. And I fell on my face. And I said, God, I didn't mean that. It's not right. I'm trying to preach. And I want to be honest and sincere. And you know I am. We drove to Dallas. to the old New York funeral home. Same funeral home that had bombed President Kennedy. I walked by it. Only twice in my life has this ever happened. And I stood over the casket of my daddy and looked at his face. I'll never forget how cold it was when I kissed him. I looked at his face and I felt a hand on my arm. I looked and it was pulling like that and nobody had it. I looked to see if anybody was around. Nobody was around. Didn't the Lord say He held His preachers in His right hand? We followed a hearse down to a little town called India, Texas. We laid my dad's body in the grave, down near a creek, close to where my mother's two little daughters are buried. And then we, I heard them thud the dirt on daddy's casket. We went home shortly after I came back down to the grave. And I threw myself face down on daddy's grave and I said, Dear God, I'm not going to leave here. My daddy heard me preach twice in the year before he died. He sat right there on a Sunday morning on the fourth floor from the front and clutched the fuse and I begged him to get saved and he wouldn't do it. I walked out in the pasture that afternoon and put my arms around his big old shoulders and said, Daddy, wouldn't you like to be a Christian? And my daddy said, Son, I'm going to be, I'm going to go back to Dallas and sell out and I'm going to come back in the spring and I'm going to get saved and let you baptize me in the spring. I wish I hadn't taken that. I wish. They never came. I fell on dad's grave. I don't know how long I was there. Somebody that knew me well said several days. I have no idea. All I know is that when I got up off my knees the next Sunday night I preached. The invitation lasted till 11.15. Preacher? I don't care how many things you learn this week. I mean about the nursery. I mean about the foster club. I mean about the fisherman's club. I mean about the building of a Sunday school. I mean about ministry and everything. I don't care what you learn. If you leave this place and the mighty power of God is not upon you, then leave this place at that time. Oh, I remember how that Burl Ackerman down at First Baptist Church, Hollywood, Florida. Running a few hundred and Sunday school in a small little church down there. Came to pastor school one winter morning, snowing. Walked in and said he never felt so alone in his life. He sat here for a whole week and God began to ring his heart out. And Bill Ackerman and Jim Maston! Jim is here! Where are you Jim? I saw you want to go somewhere. How are you Jim? Jim Masters and Burl Ackerman and I'm glad he's here to verify the story. They start to leave town and they got the Sid Limits sign and Burl said to Jim or vice versa, let's stop. And they got out of the car and got on their faces. They had the Sid Limits sign and God's power came on both of those men. Jim went to Wisconsin, built a great church in Burrough Ackerman's church now, running 2500 to 3000 in Thunder School in that giant complex building. And the same thing can happen to you if you'll pay the price and say I'm not going to be a powerless creature, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not! You don't have to! to be a powerless preacher, the mighty power of God for you, as much as it is for me, or Moody or Sunday, or John Ryan or Bob Jones, or Tom Malone or Bob Jay, it's for you! I remember how I used to get the Bible out. I read in Luke 3.16, he said, baptize you in fire with the holy I read in Acts 1.4 about the promise of the Father, and Luke 24.49 about the enduement of power, and Acts 1.8 after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and Acts 2.7 the pouring out of the Holy Ghost, and Ephesians 5.18. If you're not drunk with wine, where is that shepherd? Do you feel with this kid? But now wait a minute. Here's where the mistake comes. The mistake comes when we think that one time is all we need. David said, I shall be anointed with fresh oil as a lad, and sending the sheep. He was anointed. As an adult, becoming king of Judah, he was anointed. When he was older, becoming king of all Israel, he was anointed. And as your ministry unfolds, and as you get more responsibility, you need more fresh oil. I recall A little church with 44 people called me in Garland, Texas. Earl Little, that's not Earl, pastor of that church now. Had 44 people the first Sunday. On our first anniversary, we had 617 I think. On our second anniversary on a big day, we had 1180. On our third anniversary, we had 2212. On our fourth anniversary, we had 3163. On New Year's Eve night. 1944, December 31st, 1954. I went to my study. Oh, I guess, middle evening. Went to my study. And I said, I said, Lord, the church is too big for me. You know, at that time, I didn't even know you're supposed to have a carbon copy with a letter, any type of letter. I had no file. Our budget was called the count the noses and grab the loot method. That's all I knew. I had no idea. When I went to college, I majored in Bible. I also majored in secondary education. Because I knew I'd never pastor a church big enough to pay me a full time salary. And I thought if I had to work outside the church, the best thing to do would be to teach school. Because that way I could at least influence some lives. No Christian schools in those days. I was going to teach in a public school and try to find a little country church. And now all of a sudden, I didn't know how to build a church. The thing just started growing and growing and growing and I was just hanging on, trying to live and breathe. The church got big. And I didn't know how to handle it. On December 31st, 1954, I went to another study. And I said, Dear God, I've got to go. I've got to leave. I said, it's too big for me. I'm not a big preacher. I'm still not a big preacher. I'm not a big preacher. I've got to go. Lord, let me have some little Christian in the corner, a little corner somewhere with a few people. Let me start over again and deal. I can't match with all these people. I don't know how to do it. I got a piece of paper. And on that paper, I wrote, dear members of Miller Road Baptist Church, this is the hardest thing I've ever done. But the church has gotten too big for me. I love you like I love my own life. But I cut ties to the church. In fact, within 30 days is my resignation. That was on Saturday night, December 31st. I put that resignation in front of me and got on my knees and I said, Dear God, if you don't do something for me between now and tomorrow morning at 11 o'clock, I don't got to read it. I don't know what to do! And I prayed. I prayed. 11 and 1130 and 12 and 1230 and at one o'clock there was a knock on the door and that letter was right in front of me. I went to the door. It was one of my deacons named S.O. Barnett. He's in heaven now. Please listen to me please. S.O. Barnett. He only had two hairs. They both were messed up. His pajamas were sticking out about four inches below his trousers. and his life in his eyes and tears began to flow. He said, Preacher, what's wrong with my Preacher? He called me my Preacher, always. What? What's wrong with my Preacher? I said, what do you mean? He said, I couldn't sleep. He said, God woke me up and told me something's wrong with my Preacher. I called your house and they said you've got to be here. So I came down. What's wrong with my Preacher? And I showed him that resignation. He hugged me and cried and said, Preacher, you can't leave us. You want us all to the Lord. Preacher, we're all your babies. We wouldn't know what to do if not this church without you. You can't leave us. But I said, I can't help it. I'm not big enough. I'm a country preacher. I'm a little preacher. He said, let's pray. He prayed. I prayed. He prayed. I prayed. We prayed from 1 to 130, and from 130 to 2, and from 230 to 3, and from 3 to 330, and 330 to 4. and 4 to 4.30, and 4.30 to 5, and 5 to 5.30, and 5.30 to 6, and about 6 o'clock in the morning. Oh, I could not tell you. I could not tell you. But I felt the hand of God again. And I said, Esau, I believe God's done something for me. And Esau said, you mean you ain't leaving? And I said, I'll let you know, I'll let you know in a few hours. He hugged me, lifted me off my feet, and danced around the room, hugging me, saying, you ain't gonna leave, you ain't gonna leave, you ain't gonna leave. That morning, I stood to sleep. Oh, how wish you could have done that. All of a sudden, something came on this creature. Fresh oil, some fresh oil! And so I finished preaching. One by one, the folks came by and said, what's happened to you? And I took that resignation and I tore it up and I said, blessed be God. I'm saying, why? First of all, listen, you don't need a new field. You need a new anointing is what you need. Oh, you ought to say tonight for the grace of God. I'm gonna promise tonight. Listen, I've been here Monday night You say I heard your preach on the Holy Spirit in the layman I heard your Tuesday night on the Holy Spirit in the Bible heard yesterday afternoon the Holy Spirit in prayer And now tonight on that on fresh oil. You want to say I'm gonna find me a spot in the woods somewhere I'm gonna go out there. I'm gonna hang on to God. I'm not gonna be a powerless preacher I'm not I'm not I'm not I'm not and let God in heaven anoint you with a fresh holy oyster That's what you need. We had a wonderful ministry there. I thought I was there for life. Everybody in the church was young like I was. Nobody, hardly anybody was over 30. George Logan was a member there at the church then. Remember who you fellas were? We had a wonderful church. And then in December 1958, I got a letter from the corporate committee of Hammond, Indiana. And they said, after 11 fruitful years of service, our beloved pastor, Dr. Orr Miller, has resigned. Would you like to know how they got my name? Right over here across the alley is a little store. George Huesengate, one of our deacons, owns it. He sells everything. from mink skulls to rat blood. Name it, he's got it. I mean if you want anything from a hamburger all the way to french fried snail, he's got it. he had a shelf about that long big enough to put some religious books on and he got Zondervan's catalog and was reading Zondervan's catalog and came down to Zondervan their writer about my little book How to Boost a Church Tenet and told him about Middle-Earth Religious Church in his book and George Hewson just took it and tore it out the writer about my ministry beside that book in Zondervan's catalog took it to the pulpit committee tossed it on the desk and said there's a fellow you ought to contact And I didn't want to come up here. Paul Gatsby would live up here. But this is from December until August. They tried to get me. And then I got here August 30th. And from that August to the next December, they tried to get rid of me. You won't understand the battles we had. They tried to set our house on fire. Our garage was hooked onto our house. Our garbage cans were in the garage. They set our garbage on fire and the drapes of the curtain right above the garbage cans caught on fire just when the Holy Spirit woke me up. And this boy was five years old. Another hour we'd all been killed. Next night, bedtime, I heard a little voice in David's bedroom saying, Daddy, were they going to try to burn our house down again tonight? I said, no, I don't think so, son. He said, Daddy, would you come in here with me? And I walked in and stood beside his bed all night for seven consecutive nights and held his hand. And I heard a little voice out of Becky's room saying, Daddy, can I come in there too? And then Linda came in. and the three kids on the bed and I sat beside their bed seven nights listen preacher, listen to me we had a lot of fun this week but you'll never see anything rise up like this unless the heat of your veil goes on somewhere they tried to get rid of me I'm awfully hard to shake They tried to get rid of me. I went to Bill Rice Ranch to preach for a week in the summer of 1960. Battle was on. I mean tough battle. President of this bank right down here was on the board. Owner of this department store right over here was on the board. Mayor of the town was on the board. And though they're not bad people, They didn't want me. I was at Gilroy's ranch. I preached all week. On Friday night, I went to bed and I said, Jerry Arden, I know you want me to leave. I know it. Eight different churches had called me in Texas. Eight. And I said, I'm supposed to leave. I know it. I went to bed and couldn't sleep. I tossed and tumbled till midnight and finally got down on either side of the bed. And the Holy Spirit said, Son, I want you to stay in heaven. And I said, I don't want to stay. I don't want to stay in heaven! I want to go back to Texas! The Holy Spirit said, I want you in heaven. And I stayed from midnight to 1, and from 1 to 2, and from 2 to 3, in room 11 of the Widener Inn. By the way, that room is dedicated to me right now. My footprint, I can change the print. or in a piece of concrete and my signature outside and a little article of sign on the outside this is the room where Dr. Jack Hiles stayed and decided to stay in Hammond and they have a special apartment there where I can go down dedicated to me and my picture on the wall and so forth and I get on my knees and I prayed from 4 to 5 and 5 to 6 and about the time the sun came up in the morning the blessed Holy Spirit gave me some fresh oil and I knew I could stay in Hammond That's all I am. I'm 52. I preach over 25,000 sermons. I get tired. I never take a vacation. Never take a day off. God knows my soul. My morning is anointing. I wanted power. I prayed for Bill Kendall the other night. And I got out of the preaching. And I had been praying so hard for God to give me some fresh oil. And I just prayed, Oh God, keep me fresh and keep me powerful. And Oh God, pray the Holy Spirit rest upon me. So many preachers walked out. So many preachers don't pay. So many preachers get all mixed up in the selfless side of preaching. And they lose their power. And I said, Oh God, don't let me do it when I get old. And Bill kind of leaned over, and he put his hand on my knee, and he said, Dr. Howard, he said, I think you had a fashion awning recently. And I said, I hope so, I hope so. Look at this building. Full on Sunday morning, full on Sunday night. And I'm a country preacher. Go out to that college and look at it and learn a little financial law of that college just before me and much and much of the wisdom that's got to be had to hold that school together. Last of all, this little country preacher, I'm saying I'm not smart enough, I'm not wise enough, I'm not big enough, I'm not generous, I've got to have the mighty power of God on my life. By the way, you're not powerful enough either in your class. There needs to settle on fundamentalism in America! Such breath of God. Over 40,000 people call me preacher. I've talked with 150 or 50 or 70 folks a week. I've cried more than once, one time this week, because my people don't have a preacher. And I'm thinking about that family with a mother and several children to see me. I'm thinking about that girl, that young lady in the church, that lady whose husband and father are missing and they need to see me. I'm tired. I'll fall on my face again and again and say, Oh my God! Oh my God! I'm not a Spurgeon! I'm not a Lee! I'm not a John Ryan! I'm not a Moody! I'm not a Sunday! I'm not a Charles G. Finney! But I'm thirsty! And you said, I'll pour water on him who's thirsty! So if I could get you thirsty, would I? If I could get you thirsty, would I ask for Miss Gilligan's dedicated I don't know, I don't know how this is going to look to you. But to me it looked like the whole world could get in here. I never expected to see anything larger than the choir. This building was dedicated and boy it looked big by the way that first day. It was packed, just like it is now. People say, they said 1500 folks standing out in the hallway. And all the kids were junior trenching. I looked out and saw what they said were 9000 people crammed in and around this place. And I walked to my office, and I walked to that door. And I looked through that door. And I took off and ran as fast as I could back to my office. And I said, Dear God, I can't go in there. I can't go in there. I can't do it. I can't do it. I'm not a big preacher. I can't do it. I like that little girl's story. A little girl passed by the pastor's study one morning. He was on his face saying, Oh God, you've got to go with me. You've got to go with me. You've got to go. I can't go alone. You've got to go with me. And service time came. At this opening choir number, the preacher wasn't in there. Deacon Cameron stood up and said, anybody seen the picture? That little girl, she said, I have. She said, you'll be here after a while. Can you still bring that other computer? So the telly helped reach across the computer and go into my room. and knowing God's power walking on me, placed the floor, that I preached across the country time and time again when I knew God's power was on me. And the hardest thing about being a preacher on the road is when you go back to your room after you've had a blessed, glorious service and you haven't got anything to talk to but the dumb television set and it does all the talking, you want to grab somebody and say, and you haven't got a thing but a stupid lamp there to look at. One morning, one morning when I was the pastor of the church in my house, nobody walked the aisle. Now we weren't having nearly what we have now, but we were having 10, 15, 20, 25 a Sunday. One man joined the church, I let him, and nobody walked the aisle. which obviously our people were so shocked. We just didn't know how to close this service without that privacy. And we finally asked somebody to lead in prayer, and I ran to my study, and I threw my stuff down on the floor, and I said, Oh God, is it gone? Has it? Hasn't it done? They've said it on my ministry, but not to hell but there in the grave. Is it gone? Have I lost it? Have I lost it? Have I lost it? I'd been at the yard all afternoon. I couldn't wait to go back to church that night to see if I still had it. Jim Lyons, my song leader, and me in the old building that burned down years ago. That night I told Jim, don't sing that long, let's get to the main event. I wanted to find out if I still had it. Little Ray stand up right here for a second. Jim was leading the choir in the station. Act like you're leading the choir. And Jim was leading the choir. I couldn't wait for the invitation. I wanted to see if I still had it. Right back up there, on the back row, a big tall fella in a white shirt and tie, must have been 35 years old. He took his coat like this and he pulled it down like that, just like that, like old gentlemen used to do. He pulled his coat like that. He put his tie on his white shirt and he came right down to the aisle. And as he started to come, I started to scream, I've still got it! I've still got it! Hey Jim! I've still got it! I've still got it! Jim said, you've still got what? I said, never mind Jim right there. I've still got it! I've still got it! I've still got it! I've still got it! died like Eli of old, who when the journey was departing, he fell off and broke his neck and died in the place without the time, John. Oh, my dear Christian friends, one of our young men, Hannity, was put in jail in North Chicago. for witnessing on the street to a sailor. It's America. That's America. Purchase language in jail. Playboy magazine in almost every bookstore. Jail in less than two blocks from where I stand right now. New dancers dance every weekend. less than five blocks where I stand right now. You can put three dollars, they say, down on the counter and a female will strip down to the waist. With a bare top, she'll bend over and shine your shoes for less than three dollars. Now for almost 21 years, I've stood here in one of the, honestly, One of the most crime infested places in America. And I've tried to stand for righteousness. God knows I have. I've tried to stand against wrong and stand for right. I've got to have God's power. These kids have got to turn out right down here at this hangar now. They've got to turn out right. Those are the girls this afternoon. Our Blue Beret, he let me out there, all of them. As I walked out this afternoon, he let me out there and a whole gang of them. And they said, we love you preacher. Can we walk with you down to your office? And I said, let's skip. And we all skippin' down the road out there together. I got a seat there to turn out, okay. Brother Ray's got some children and I want to help them with it. I've got some college kids out there that need me. I don't know what you're going to do. But I'm gonna beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and beg God, and For sure. I'm so grateful for that grave. I drove down there not long ago. I was down in Texas. Rented a car. Drove down to the grave. But that grave home my dad won't do for the day. I'm thankful it'll go right away. I stay in the same room every time I go down there. It's my room. It's called Jack House. Little apartment there. They put me there. It's not, it's sweet. I thank God for that room. Several years ago, and I won't close now. Several years ago, I was out in California. Let me just tell you what I hope to have the most glory in California. I decided to cut down on the ministry. And one night I was walking up and down all night long, up and down the freeway in front of the Howard Johnson Motel where I was staying. And I walked up and down all night long and prayed for my country. And during that night, Howard Anderson College was going. Fellas, we're going to have to learn to pray all night. Drop Howard Anderson College and do that chanting. Went out there one night, late at night. They had about, I think, 40 students at that big campus out there, Catholic campus. I want to talk to the head guy. He came in with his robe on, and his cigarette, and his finger. I said, I'd like to buy this campus. He said, who are you? I said, Jack Howe. I had to hurt the other kid. He said, we are not going to sell it. And he said, the Baptist will be the last folks to sell it to. I said, I know. I know. I went out there every month. Every month I went out there and prayed all night, one night a month. Took off my shoes. Walked up the hill. Walked across that lake. I trained at campus. One day they called me and said, it's for sale. I prayed those 40, 70 students out of that school. Now I walk down those halls. All I do is jump up and down. Glory to God. Praise the Lord. Thank you. Thank you, Lord. You got to go home without him. He's going to be the same person you were when you walked in the book at that time. You're gonna come and hear a few funny things and do a few insults, learn a few facts, and go home and think. Huh? Huh? Tell him that's all, man. It's a full time job. That's what we're gonna do. People being arrested for going through with it. Preachers in jail for preaching the word of God. Criminal offense for taking care of children, teaching the Bible to orphaned children. What are we going to do? What are we going to do? Oh God, I know this is true. More than we need Congressmen in Congress and Senators and more than we even need a right man in the White House. We need some magnitude of God to change this country. Bless the Lord. Bless the Lord. We appreciate you listening to Treasured Heritage. Tune in at the same time every weekday to hear God's Word.