Following Jesus

I told you how for a whole year I cried and prayed and prayed and cried and cried and prayed and prayed and cried, until I had no more tears to shed, because God was leading me. I didn't mean, I didn't mean that I didn't like to follow him, but it meant to forsake everything on this earth, everything that was dear to me, everything. That didn't bother me one bit either.

Good career in business. Two churches had been offered to me. I could have just sat in and had a salary offered me and a choir to direct and Sunday school to take care of and lots of people who loved me.

And to give all that up, all those things did not bother me, but to give up my father, who was the dearest friend I had on earth and my mother, and to break their hearts. That was one item that I could not enjoy. And so for a whole year I cried and prayed, because God made that way before me so clear.

And I said, God, I will go, but I can't. I don't know how. And then the Lord opened the way for me in the marvelous way.

And he led me out of that church that I was in, into a Pentecostal assembly, a Pentecostal church, and gave me a Pentecostal experience and a Pentecostal call. That's 48 years ago, before you were born. But anyway, at that time God had given me that text that I often quote.

And I quote it again, because today I happen to find a picture of all the men that I worked with in my shop and the bench I worked at, upon which I wrote that text. He shall bring it to pass. And I held on to that, because the way seemed so narrow and so rugged and so thorny, and everybody advised me against it.

And yet I knew it was the way that Jesus was leading me. And so when I got into the ministry, I found out that also was a hard road to travel. I didn't expect that.

I thought it would be all heaven, but it wasn't. It was harder than anything I'd ever been in before, even in the Baptist church. And then I came to a convention, right after I got into the ministry, a large church in the city of Milwaukee, where all the Pentecostal people came together.

And I was told that the church had dried up from the roots. They told me that in two years' time, nobody ever got to baptism in that church. But at any rate, here they were, and they were having a good program, about oh, close to 10 ministers on the platform.

And of course, I was the tail end. I was the youngest of all, and I reluctantly came along and sat at the end. And the man in charge, Mr. Fokler, whose wife didn't live with him because she said, I didn't marry a preacher.

I married a builder. And when he became a preacher, she left him. But for that convention, she came to sing a duet with him.

That was an event. That was interesting. I said, the millennium must be at end, when the lion and the lamb lie down together.

And they sang this hymn, Jesus leaves. It went to my heart. I knew Jesus had led me in a most marvelous way.

And when they were through, all the preachers had spoken. He said, want to hear from that young man down at the, at the end there. So I got up, and all I remember saying was, well, Jesus really leaves.

I must have said some more than that. And then something happened that frightened me. The power of God fell upon that place, and the whole gang rose up, and they lifted their hands, and they began to shout, and laugh, and yell, and clap their hands, and, and stamp their feet.

And the power of God swept through that place. And I thought, my goodness, what did I do? I thought I sure made a fool of myself. Well, sir, the result was phenomenal.

God just did that somehow to give me a start to a Pentecostal ministry. I saw that it was not by might or by power, but by the Spirit of God. And I hadn't done anything about it, except to testify to the fact that Jesus really had led.

And even though he led me through a dark valley, here he led me to himself. And you know, the strange thing was this, that even sinners felt it. There was a man that said to his wife after the meeting, say, you always talk about power.

I felt it today. Not unreal. And of course, a lot of doors opened.

Preachers said, I want, I want that young man to come and be my assistant. Another one said, I want him in my church. And Mr. Finner was my boss.

He said, nothing doing. So nothing came of it. But anyway, that was the beginning of a life of letting Jesus go before.

And the reason I speak of it is because I remember that day so well, mind you, just at the beginning of this long, long stretch of road. And today, looking back over 48 years, and having this living testimony that Jesus Christ really led. He really led, and he's really leading, and he will still bring it to pass.

Thank God. I don't care how long eternity is. He'll be my guide.

He'll be my pilot. Praise the Lord. Whether the universe bends back on itself like Einstein says or not, I don't know whether we're going to slide down the Milky Way someday on skis.

I don't know. But I know that he will bring it to pass as long as I let him lead. And that's the privilege of every child of God.

I will guide thee with mine eye. But he says, don't be as the mule or as the horse. How many of us are like mules and like horses? And no matter how many blows we get, we'll still have our own way.

But I've learned these lessons, thank God. And I'm very, very, very happy and very, very, very thankful to God today to look back over 48 years and say he was better to me than all my hopes and better than all my fears. And he has fulfilled all the promises he made in such a marvelous way that I can recommend him to everybody.

Everybody, these young boys here, all these young people, everybody. I can recommend him. The wonderful thing about this guide is that he is within you.

He is the pilot of this jet airliner. This body doesn't belong to me, it belongs to him. This life is not mine, it's his.

It's his life. He's as interested in my life as he is in his own. Thank God I told you how I became the co-pilot of Mr. Uter and how he let me one day just get the feel of that, that wheel.

He ziggles out the wheel, but he didn't see this wheel. This was the wheel of an airliner. And my, what a wonderful thing for me to guide an airliner left and right and up and down.

And if Aunt Wally hadn't been in there, I might have turned a somersault, but I thought of her hanging from the ceiling. That would never do. But at any rate, you know, if I had continued that, I wouldn't be here tonight.

We sure had a crack up. And if you continue guiding yourself, you'll have a crack up as sure as you live. But here's Jesus, I will guide thee.

And he really done. Now surely the Lord Jesus is calling us to go forward. How many will heed his call? How many will put on the whole armor of God? That's been tailored to your size by God himself, the girl of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the shoes of the preparation of the gospel of peace, the sword of the spirit, and the shield wherewith you can quench all the fiery darkness of wickedness.

Who will be recruited today anew into the army of the great champion of your salvation? And sure as we've been sitting here in his presence, Jesus Christ has been marching up and down in this place and looking at your heart. He will still lead you out of darkness into light. I have not been slacking, making you know that I am leading you and make the devil know that dedication and true brother here.

God will perform a miracle of this. We yield ourselves unto the old spirit of God to be equipped with the armor of God and we do accept your request in a new way. Lord Jesus, we thank you for your.

Hallelujah. We take out of thy fullness the grace, Lord. We take the equipment that you give us, Jesus.

We do, Lord Jesus.