David du Plessis Part 3 Raise Dead Churches!

Dr. David DuPlessis was our guest yesterday on the broadcast, and we have him back again today, sharing his deep spiritual experiences with you. May I present the man called Mr. Pentecost. Here is Dr. David DuPlessis. I studied the life of Jesus very carefully, and when I, as a Pentecostal, went to the Protestants, And finally to Rome, to the Catholics. And they said to me, how can you do that? You've changed your tune. I say to them, so did Jesus. He started out with just the Jews. I started out with just Pentecostals. Now he says, you've done this long enough. You go to the other denominations and it's to every nation and denomination. nation and denomination. Jesus said that. And when he came, we find him in Acts, he repeats it. And in Acts then, he says to his disciples, now wait in Jerusalem because you are going to experience something more than you've had. You shall be baptized. baptized in the Holy Ghost. Not many days hence. It's only 40 days before that on the day of his resurrection, he appeared with his disciples where they were locked in. And you know, Jesus came in without knocking at the door. They were locked. How did he get in? Well, didn't he say, I am the door? A door doesn't need a door. And sometimes they say to me, David, how did you get into all these councils and all these churches and institutions? Well, I said, always through the door. What do you mean? I said, Jesus Christ is the door. And he's an open door that no man can shut. And I'm in that door. And in that door, I get in everywhere. And they can't capture me. They haven't kidnapped me. I can get in and I can get out. And share with them. Jesus stood there and said to them, as my father sent me, so send I you. How did his father send him? Out of heaven to earth. How? By birth. born of God, born of the Spirit. Wonderful. But when he was 30, he was baptized in the Spirit. He didn't receive the Spirit when he was 30, but the Spirit received him. For upon him settled the dove, and a voice says, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. So there were two great events, his birth and his baptism. And from his birth, he manifested no power. He lived by the Spirit. He was the Son of God for 30 years. Never did a miracle, didn't preach many at all. 12 years old, we found him in the temple, though. He was studying his Father's Word. But when he was 30, the Spirit came on him. And from then on, he had problems because the first problem he had was in the wilderness. And some people think after you get this baptism, you won't have trouble anymore. I warn you, then your trouble really starts. But why not? The enemy came and tempted him. And Jesus didn't draw on his power. He simply said, it is written. All Christians learn the word of God. And when I can say it is written, I don't apologize for it because then even the devil has to back up on it. It is written. It's the truth. And so Jesus now says to his disciples, you shall be baptized in the Holy Ghost not many days hence. And they said, will you also restore the kingdom of Israel? He says, that's not for you to know. I am not. That's not time. That's my father's business. He will do it in due time. But, he said, you shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you. And now listen. You shall be witnesses unto me. Both in Jerusalem. Begin in Jerusalem. Begin right at home. Begin where you live. Begin where you get the blessing. Begin in your own church where you have grown up. Oh, but my church is dead and so were you. And now you come alive, now you're on the way. You know what the Lord said to me in 1948? He said to me, I want you to go to the heads, to the hierarchies of all the churches. Oh, Lord, I said, you're sending me to dead churches. Yes, he said, but I never arrange for funerals. Raise the dead. Raise dead churches? Yes. And so I began to go to these dead churches. And today I see them come alive. In England, a good old Pentecostal said to me, David, you have really. stirred our hearts with your testimony of what you have found the Lord is doing in the churches. You said you were going to stay in England five weeks. I said, yes. He said, then we'll hear you again. I said, where? He said, well, aren't you going to preach? Oh, yes. I said, I've got a program worked out. I preach twice a day. But I said, only in Anglican Presbyterian. Methodist and Baptist churches. He says, you're going to stay for five weeks in these dead old churches? I said, yes. They invited me. He said, I don't understand you at all. I said, what do you think I should do? He said, why don't you go down and wake up the Pentecostals? Oh, I said, it's far more exciting to raise the dead than to heal the sick. And I... I'm excited at the way the Lord is raising the dead these days. Dead churches are coming alive. So when I finally ended up in Vatican Council, 2 ,200 bishops, 8 ,000 theologians, 3 ,000 great Catholics, one little Pentecostal. And the bishop comes and he asks me, how does a Pentecostal feel in this great conclave of bishops? I said, I'll tell you. He says, but I want the truth. Oh, yes, I said, I'll tell you the truth and I'll make it scriptural. Well, how do you feel? I said, exactly like Ezekiel in the Valley of Dry Bones. Oh, he said, that must be the truth, for I don't feel good either. No, I said, you're all wrong. I'm excited. I'm blessed. I'm happy. He said, why? I said, the bones are moving. The bones are moving. He said, are they really moving? I said, Bishop, you're one of them. Aren't you moving? Man, he said, am I glad I talked to you. I thought the council was moving me. Now you tell me the good news. The Holy Spirit is moving me. Oh, have I rejoiced. in what God is doing in what has been called dead old churches. And you know, we good old Pentecostals so faithfully judge the churches for being dead that now we are dying ourselves. For the Bible says, in what you judge the others off will happen to you. You will be measured with the same measure. And I'm saying this to you Christians. Will you stop judging and condemning other people? The next thing I said, Lord, but these people have been enemies to the truth that I believe. He said, yes, maybe. But didn't I tell you what to do with your enemies? Love them. Oh, Lord, I said, how can I love people that preach such funny things and condemn us and reject us? Now, how can I love them? He said, forgive them. But I said, Lord, I can't forgive them. I can't justify them. He said, I never, never gave anybody any authority to justify anybody, but I gave them perfect authority to forgive everybody. When did Jesus do that? When he breathed on them, as the Father sent me, so send I you. He breathed on them and said, receive ye the Holy Ghost. And in the same breath, he said, and forgive everybody. That's John 20. Receive the Holy Ghost and forgive everybody. Why? Because when you receive the Holy Ghost, it... is clear proof that God had forgiven you all unrighteousness, and you had become a temple of the Holy Ghost. Now, like God had forgiven you, you go and forgive them. I was still puzzled, for I had never learned how important it is that I should forgive everybody and love my enemies. He said, if you forgive them, you can love them. And if you love them, you will forgive them. For on the cross, Jesus said, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. And nobody was asking forgiveness. He offered that forgiveness to people that were crucifying him. And you and I have no business to say, If they confess, I'll forgive them. You've got to forgive them whether they confess or not. You have no right to judge anybody because the Lord said to me, you pray, forgive me my trespasses like I forgive those that trespass against me. I had to forgive the Protestants for what they did to us poor Pentecostals. They pushed us out of the church. We were very unpopular. We were a minority. I've always been in the minority. And minorities these days are quite important, you know. But I never thought the day would come when the Lord will say, now you forgive the Catholics too. So I had to forgive the Catholics for what they did to the poor Protestants. And when I forgave the Protestants and the Catholics, my Pentecostal brethren were upset. They said, who gave you the right to do that? So I had to forgive them again. And so it goes on. I said, Lord, you surely spoke the truth when you said 70 times 7. Keep on forgiving, keep on forgiving. 70 times 7. St. Teresa of Avila said, if my Heavenly Father wants me to forgive 70 times 7, 490 times, I'm sure he'll forgive me 500 times. She says, but I discovered that before God got tired of forgiving, I got tired of sinning. I said, that's the word. Wear them out. Wear them out. Forgive them, forgive them, forgive them until they're tired of doing the wrong thing because you keep on forgiving. Oh, how we can change the world. How we can change the world. So Jesus says to them, you have this blessing. We'll have it in a few days. Go and preach the gospel in every city. witnesses unto me, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, uttermost parts of the earth. What did they do? Did they do it? No. They still remembered what Jesus said. Go and preach this kingdom message, but go to the Jews only. For I read in Acts 11, 19. And this was ten years after Pentecost. I find here, they which were scattered upon this persecution that arose about Stephen, traveled as far as Venice, Cyprus, Antioch, preaching the word to none but to Jews only. They're still preaching to Jews only. So for the first 10 years, it appears to me the church was a racist church. It was a Jewish church. And that's why we find so many of the writings have the Jewish system, the Jewish laws, the laws of Moses and Aaron. But the Holy Spirit is ecumenical. So the Holy Spirit did not allow this continue. And he met Peter on the housetop. And Peter saw a vision come out of heaven. A sheep with all kinds of animals in it. And a voice says, slay and eat. Oh no, Peter says, I've never eaten anything unclean. What was in that sheet that Peter didn't like? Usually I get the answer from students. A hog. Jews don't eat pigs. Not supposed to. I said, no, this time it wasn't a hog. It was a dog. Why a dog? Because Jews call Gentiles dogs. Even Jesus did, you know. He said to the little Gentile woman, I can't take the bread of the children and give it to the dogs. And she said, but the dogs can pick up crumbs. And you know what? Her daughter got healed. And I say to people, how is it that this woman can get her daughter healed with one little crumb and you got a whole slice and you're sick? Why don't you eat it and get healed? Can you imagine how Jerusalem felt when they heard that the great fisherman Peter, that bold preacher, has gone to Caesarea? And he's actually lodging in the house of Cornelius. And he's preaching to those Gentiles. Oh, I can hear an old brother say, oh, what's come of the church? What's going to become of our church now? Here is our dear brother Peter and he's gone to the dogs. Can you see the turmoil in the church? The first church. had to change. There had to come a renewal of their vision. And when the brethren in Antioch heard that Peter had gone to the Romans, they said, then we can preach to the Greeks. And suddenly, the church widened their borders. Suddenly, the Gentiles came in. And what's more, The Lord baptized them in the Holy Spirit and used them just like he had used the disciples. They were all Jews. Today, there's a lot of questions about this charismatic movement, about these ministries that we have seen. And I wonder if there's anybody that have seen as many healing evangelists as I've seen in my time. in Africa, in Europe. I've traveled in 56 countries of the world. I've ministered in most churches. I've sat on the platform with these great evangelists. I've seen them in operation, just like Captain Kuhlman, Oral Roberts, and who have you, all that, Tommy Osborne, Tommy Hicks, and different others. I saw the Jeffreys Brethren in England. One of them was in South Africa. I saw Smith Wigglesworth. I saw Africans minister and do miracles. I saw Indians. I've seen this glorious work. Yes, that's true. But something has happened. What used to be called wrong, even of the devil. For we were labeled in the beginning of the century. They said, These people are of the devil because they speak in tongues and they heal the sick. I said to a minister, I don't understand you. You also pray for the sick. And when we you do it, you say it's of the devil. No, he said, we don't say it's of the devil to pray for the sick. We also pray for the sick, but they don't get healed. Well, I said, what are you praying for? We pray for grace to suffer. I said, that's a funny thing. You pray for grace to suffer and you get the doctor to remove the suffering. If you think it's God that makes you sick, why do you get the doctor to heal you? And I know the preaching and the teachings I've suffered under. Today, thank God for the many doctors that have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Even psychiatrists that have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. And now something has happened. There is a move of God that began in 1950. Why? Because Joel said, God said, it shall come to pass afterward. Peter on the day of Pentecost said it shall come to pass in the last days. But Joel said it shall come to pass afterward. After what? after Israel had become an independent nation. And when Jewel prophesied that, it was nearly two and a half thousand years ago. And here, in 1948, the nations of the world agreed to let the Jews have what now is called Israel. Palestine as their national home. We know the problems that have come out of it. But one thing is certain. After that, in 1950, there began to appear various things. Healing evangelists began to stir the world. Billy Graham was out as a great evangelist. Thank God for all these ministries. But I came in quietly. And the Lord said to me, go to the World Council of Churches. I went there, and I haven't missed a meeting of the World Council since 1954. Every seven years, I attend their meetings. Then came the Vatican Council. In 1961, as I came from New Delhi, I stopped in Rome. There I had the privilege to meet Cardinal Beer. And when the Cardinal met me, he said, you are the Pentecostal. When I saw Pope Paul last May, he said, so you are Mr. Pentecostal. I said, that's what they call me. Cardinal Beer said to me, you are a Pentecostal. I said, yes, sir. He said, what do Pentecostals want to say to Rome? I said, Cardinal, I'm sorry, they don't want to talk to Rome. And what they say about you, I'd hate to tell you. He said, what do you want to say to Rome? And quickly I prayed, Lord, give me an answer. And I said, I'll tell you. What I want to ask Rome is to make the Bible, the Word of God, available to every Catholic in his own language wherever he lives. I have the privilege to see Catholics here in this country walk down the street proudly with a big Jerusalem Bible under his arms. And they are not afraid. to read the scripture, to tell it. And when I go to other countries, I learn how that Catholics today distribute more Bibles than Protestants and Pentecostals put together. Isn't that a change? It was Pope John that said the church needs renewal. And Pope John did a marvelous thing. In one breath, He forgave all the millions of Pentecostal and Protestant heretics and promoted them to separated brethren. And now they've taken the separation off too. Because when we met Pope Paul last May, he spoke to us who were busy for five years with dialogue. Pentecostal Catholic dialogue, and I'm the chairman of that with another Roman Catholic preacher, Dr. Killian McDonald. When the Pope addressed us, he said, dear brethren. He didn't say, dear separated brethren. He said, dear brethren. And he said, you have been dealing with spiritual resources. of which the whole human family has urgent need. That's what he said he knew we were doing. He was very well informed. And finally he said, let us continue to walk together in the paths of understanding and growing Christian love. listening with docility and care to what the Spirit is saying today and ready to move into his future with joy and trust.