(inspiring music) - [Voiceover] In every generation there have been revivals, massive moves of the Spirit that changed the course of history. In every revival there were believers like you, who chose to answer the call, to become the one their generation. Discover your call to be the one in your generation. Welcome to Revival Radio TV. I'm your host Gene Bailey. Listen, I've got pictures here. We got pictures on the set of Brother Copeland and Jerry Savelle from the early days of ministry.
I know you enjoyed last week. Let's get right back into the interview this week, when we talk more about the early days of ministry. Watch. - Well, you've finally come to the place where your mind begins to be renewed, and you transcend the flesh. And you get out in there, into that area where there is no time. Oh, man, this is-- - See, before I even came to work with him, I didn't have any money in those days.
I mean I still have business debts I'm trying to pay off, and personal debts, and I'm trying to prepare for ministry, and I wrote him a letter, and I said, "Brother Copeland, "I don't have any money to give to you, "but I'm not without seed." And I said, "I had prayer time." And so that's where I would go every morning and spend my first hour praying for him. - Wow, I didn't realize that. - Interceding for him. And then I believe that's part of the reason why this all came together.
- Oh, I know that's true. - When Brother Copeland heard from the Lord about me being part of his team. - And now you talk about, Jerry's talking about being sensitive to the spirit of God. When Jerry came in and said, he said now, "The Lord's calling me out in a month. "On ministry but we'll be partners for life." I had, get a shot of my notebook, this is an outline on introducing the spirit of power. And here it's continued.
Well, he and I went to-- we were both speaking at Full Gospel Goodness, Men's Regional Convention, and he came in from one place, I came in from another, and we've actually met in the lobby. We got in at the same time, and so the Mens' president of the chapter there came over and he said, "The thing starts at 9. "Which of you gonna preach tonight?" I don't know, and Jerry said, "Let him." I said, "No, let him." He said, "Both of you gonna preach." I said, "Okay, Jerry goes first."
Okay, he went up to his room, I went up to mine. I had my outline in there on the power and the authority of the name of Jesus. Well, and I'm just praying and seeking the Lord about what He wanted me to do. And it came up in my spirit. I want you to teach that, but start on Part 2. Okay, well it never occurred to me, I didn't know what he was gonna do. President of the chapter is sitting right here next to me.
Jerry stands up there and he said, "Well, the Lord has instructed me tonight "to talk about the power and the authority "in the name of Jesus." Man, I punched him, I said, "You wanna see a miracle?" "Yeah." (mumbles) So I open this same little book. I've had this thing long time. I open it, I just laid it there, Part 2. And Jerry talk-- oh, the anointing was strong in there. He got up right to the Scriptures where I started. He even read them. - Wow. - And he said, "Well, praise God.
"Come on, Brother Copeland." And that guy looked at that and he said, "That beats all I ever saw in my li--" but that wasn't the first time that it happened, because it happened over and over and over and over to the point that we would wear the same color suit. - Wow. - I told you'd never catch me off guard again. (laughter) - Communion in the Spirit to where you don't naturally know, you supernaturally know. You're actually moving in the area of interpretation.
Where you're not just interpreting a message in diverse kinds of tongues, but you're interpreting the move of a service, and you do that in prayer, Gene. People that don't ever pray can't do that. - Now to me one of the most exciting things is when you start seeing it like on a screen in your spirit. The service. - [Gene] Explain. - Well, you pray in the Spirit, Jesus said, "I do nothing except I hear or see "my Father doing first." Hear or see.
So apparently he must have saw it in his spirit or heard it in his spirit, and it doesn't happen all the time, but I don't go into a service without praying in the Spirit, and many times, in some of the meetings where I've gone where it turned out to be an extended meeting, It's always happen. Where I'd go for one night and the Lord say, "Stay until I tell you to leave." And I'd stay 21 nights. No services were al-- no two services were alike. I would be in my room praying in the Spirit all day.
And at some point, it was almost like a monitor. And I'd see that entire service, everything I'd say, everything I'd do, and I'd just go out and reenact it. And it happened exactly the way I saw it in the Spirit. - Praise God, yeah? - Like in Toronto, before that Toronto blessing came, I was there, preceded that, and went to this church that I was scheduled to be in one night. Never met the pastor before.
And on the way up there, the Lord said, "Will you stay here for as long as I tell you to stay?" And so, "Well, Lord, you know "I'm supposed to be in two other cities "in the next two nights." He said again, "Will you stay here "as long as I tell you to stay?" I said, "But Lord, I have two other meetings "tomorrow night and the next night." And pastor don't like you canceling their meeting the day before you get there.
He said again, "Will you stay here "for as long as I tell you to stay?" I said, "Lord, I'll do anything you want me to do. "I'm trusting You to take care of those pastors." Both of them called me that afternoon I got in my hotel. Said, "Brother Jerry, I don't know what's going on, "but God told me to release you." Both of them said the same thing. - Praise God! - Wow.
- So when I got to the church that night and just met the pastor, he said, "Brother Jerry, "I been believing for a move of God in our church. "We desperately need a move of God. "Will you stay here until the Lord tells you to leave?" I said, "Well I agreed to do that on the way up here." And he said, "Well how do we go about this?" I said, "Well let's just go in there and have this meeting, "and if we both agree that God's in it, "we'll stay another night."
I said, "You can announce to the people "we will stay another night." And so we did that for like a week. And then I realized something else. It was very important for this meeting to do what I believe God wanted it to do. Not only was there prayer, not only was there hunger, but everything had to be subject to change. And the pastor and I agreed. If we don't get to sing, we don't sing. If we don't get to receive an offering, we don't receive an offering. - Now that's hard on some folk.
- But this pastor was so-- - Break the traces of that habit track. - And so we agreed that he-- when I would walk in, the people were so hungry they would take off work. When they'd get off work, they'd come straight to the church. - [Kenneth] Yeah, amen. And most of that's public transit out there. Subways, the trains. It's right in town. There's not a whole lot of place for parking your own car. They'd come straight from work to the church.
By the time I'd walk into the church at 7:30, it sounded like a hornet's nest in there. The buzz, the electricity of the place, because they'd pack out the auditorium praying in the Spirit. They didn't talk, they didn't discuss what they did that day, they walked in the church, started praying in the Spirit. By the time I got there, and I'd already seen the service in the Spirit, and I'd tell the pastor, "We're not singing tonight." "Okay, no problem."
Said, "We're not receiving an offering "one night or something." I said, "In fact, I'm not even preaching tonight. "We're just gonna flow with the Holy Spirit." Gene, I stayed 21 nights, no two services were alike, the Lord said, "Go home and rest for a week." I came home for a week, and went back and stayed another 14 nights, no two services were alike. He said, "Go home and rest for a week." I came back for a week, and I went back and stayed nine more days.
It was one of the greatest moves of God I had ever been in at that time. And then the Lord released me, and He said, "Okay, you're done." - What stands out to me about that is He told you to take a week off and go rest. - I was so locked in. I had morning services and evening services. I was so locked in to that meeting. In fact, when I got up there, I'm a small stature guy, it was the heaviest I'd ever weighed, 172 pounds. I'd never weighed that in my life.
My shirts were so tight across my neck, across my waist, my slacks, I got into that meeting and saw what God was gonna do, and I went on a fast. And I fasted the entire time I was there. I only drank liquids, and I lost like 20 pounds. During that meeting. But it wasn't just the weight loss that turned out to be good, but it got me more sensitive to the Holy Spirit. That's what fasting does.
You taught one time on fasting, and you said, "Fasting causes your spirit to reach "an ascension over your mind and your body." - That's right. - And that's exactly what happened. And so I was so locked in that meeting. I didn't leave the room, I didn't do anything but pray in the Spirit, get them out of the Lord. It was so intense that at the end of 21 days, I needed a rest.
And I came home for a week and just rested and did whatever my family wanted to do, and went back and locked in the same way. In fact, a lot of pastors came up for that meeting, and then they wanted me to come to their church afterwards. They'd say, "Come and do the same thing there." I'd say, "Well I can't promise it'll happen "there in your church." Brother Nichols. Brother Nichols was so hungry for a move of God.
I took Harold and Lou up there to see it. - [Kenneth] You talk about a man sensitive to the voice of God. - [Jerry] Brother Nichols said, "Come and do it at our church, Brother Jerry." After I left Toronto. I said, "Brother Nichols, I can't promise anything. "The outcome, and if God's in it, "I'll stay until He says, 'Leave.'" The first night there, it was like pulling teeth. I thought, dear God, I am not a glutton for punishment. I am not staying here another night.
Well, as soon as I got through, Brother Nichols said, "Brother Jerry, "go to my office and pray." And Brother Nichols addressed the congregation. He said, "Now, Brother Jerry's gonna let us know "if we're gonna go another night." I'm in his office and I got my speech all prepared where I don't wanna hurt Brother Nichols, but this is not anywhere close to a revival. And I got my speech all prepared. He comes in, and he opens his door, and he just sticks his head in.
"Do we go another night?" And I heard come out of me, and it was not what I planned to say, "Yes sir, we're having a revival. "You go tell them we're going another night." He took off running, I said to myself, "You idiot! "This is not even close to revival!" But then the Lord taught me something. He said, "Now tomorrow night when you go in there," He said, "I wanna teach you the law of combustion."
I said, "Lord, what does that have to do with a revival?" He said, "Tomorrow night, when you go in that service, "and Brother Nichols turns it over to you, "turn your back on the congregation, "and you preach to the spark "that's in there, Brother Nichols." He was on the platform. I turned my back on the congregation, I only preached to Brother Nichols. And He said, "Now you watch the law of combustion. "The sparks will begin to fly." We stayed two weeks. - Praise God! - Maybe we'd end up--
Wow wow wow. - Great movie. - Wow. - So I learned something that where a place is dead, if you had to stay, then preach to where there's a spark. - Aww, that's good. - And the law of combustion will take place. - That's excellent. That is good. - Now, a pastor like Harold Nichols or any heartfelt pastor, you have to be subject to change. And you're not just changing things trying to get something to happen.
(clears throat) We'd be invited in to the church, and back in those days, you never knew what they were gonna sing. They'd sing songs embalmed with unbelief, just terrible stuff. You almost had-- well, it wasn't almost, our meetings were always three weeks long. Because it'd take two weeks to preaching the Word of Faith to get the traditional stuff out of there, and then that third week, man, everything would break loose.
I would say to the pastor, I'd say, "Now," in behind the morning service, I'd say, "Now, we're not gonna do any singing. "I'm just gonna open them up. "We'll just preach for now." "Well, okay." He couldn't do it. - [Gene] Why is that? - He couldn't do it. He would get up there and say, "Well, you know, Brother Copeland said they don't-- "no song, but let's just have one little chorus." He couldn't do it. - Couldn't break. - He was in such a habit of it, and he thought he had to have it.
And the reason we're there is because he needs a move in his church. The reason he needs a move in his church because he's stuck in a rut. And he's not moving by the Spirit for the most part. And he's chasing fires. God is not moved by the needs of the people, Gene. - [Gene] That's right. - If Jesus if He allowed Himself to move just because you need it, He'd just be following the Devil instead of the following the Spirit of God.
But if you'll come into intercession, any pastor, any Sunday school teacher, I don't care who you are. All right, any person in the church. And you decide, "Man, we just got to have "a move in this church. This has got to happen." And so just start praying in the Spirit. "Well Brother Copeland, I don't pray in tongues." Well that's your fault, not God's. He provided it 2, 000 years ago, all you gotta do is open your mouth and talk and be born again.
If you will begin to pray in the Spirit concerning a church, concerning your past-- "Well, we need a new pastor." No, you don't. That's God's business, not yours anyway. You just begin to pray in the Spirit for the church. Pray in the Spirit for the people that you don't like the most. Begin to just move by the love of the Spirit of God. Just pray and intercede. Go over there and get Romans 8:26 and 27. Just set it right up there in front of you. And just pray in the Spirit.
The King James version says, "He helpeth our infirmities." That is three Greek words compounded together. He takes hold together with us against our infirmities. He takes hold together. But with word. In fact, last night, Gloria and I were listening to Brother Hagan (clears throat) before we went to sleep. And I thought, "I'm just gonna look that Scripture up "in the Greek concordance, just to see--" and I got it there on my phone. And I looked it up in several different translations.
And one of them aww man, it said "He takes "hold together with us "with words," let's see, how was that going, "that with things that are just too deep for words." Just groanings that are just too deep for words. Well the only way you can get there is with that language that you didn't learn. And you speak in not unto men but unto God, and you're interceding for the people in the church. You're interceding for the ministry of your son or your daughter.
I remember (clears throat) this was back, oh, it was right after Creflo and Taffi Dollar and Gloria and I became such good friends. We were in Atlanta. I heard the word of the Lord so clearly right in here. He said, "Believe you receive when you pray in the Spirit." I'd never thought about that. He said, "Stand on Mark 11:24. "When you pray, believe you receive them, "and you shall have them." It didn't say as long as you understand what you're praying. And it just lit me up.
And I mentioned it to Creflo, and he kinda got that look in his, you know Creflo. I mean he gets hold of something like that, he just like a-- (barks) We were there the whole weekend. And I don't remember now what we were doing, the four of us were in the car. Anyway, Oh, that car was just full of glory. And I just started praying in the Spirit. And we just driving along. I'm driving. (chants in foreign language) Creflo said, "I agree with that. " I said myself in agreement with that.
"That's your ministry that's now mine." (laughter) And the Wayment Translation says you pray divine secrets. Secrets going between you and the Father. And the Devil hadn't got a clue what you're talking about. Amen. - [Gene] Amen. - So you can't foul it up. - No. And you can't either. (laughter) - Just what I was thinking. - Building up yourself, preying on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. Why is it your most holy faith? Because you can't get in it with your mind.
If you're doing it by faith, and you're walking in love, if you're not walking in love, you just making a lot of noise, according to the 13th chapter on 1 Corinthians. You're speaking the tongue of men and angels. And you can very well be saying something that Satan don't wanna hear. Because God is ripping into him in the Spirit, and you don't even know it. Because he's a fallen angel.
And there's been times over the years that the anointing would just come on me in the Spirit to speak to him in tongue. And man, he don't wanna hear that. Because God just really read him the riot act in a language that He can understand, you know. Amen. - You know, you talked about earlier about Brother Roberts. You knew you had the privilege to drive him and co-pilot and all that there was there.
And you mentioned about how he didn't-- the last thing he heard was what he was gonna hear from the Lord before you got-- what else stood out to you in those days about Brother Roberts and his ministry that you think or believe are keys to what he did? When he would finish preaching, and give an invitation, all his people would come up and answer that invitation, and then he would lead them in the prayer of salvation, then he would immediately turn them over to Brother DeWeese.
He had a little thing probably a little smaller than this here that they would set up in every place whether it was a tent or an auditorium, wherever it was, you come through the curtains of the back of the platform there, and he had this is back in the days when you had to have microfiche. It was information that was put microscopically. They did it first for newspapers, so you could store all back newspapers, and you have to put them in a reader.
He had the names of all of his partners on microfiche. Now think about it. These are the people supporting his ministry. He would stop immediately On his way to the invalid room, where people that could not manage the crowds, and he would go pray for them. But he would stop between five and ten minutes. Right behind that little black curtain. He had a little basket in there, and all of his partners' names on that microfiche. And he would hold them up before the Lord and bless his partners.
Bless those people. Amen. Now think about that. - I think he actually incorporated it into his services. - Oh yeah, every service. He's under there anointing the gauze. And then he would come into the invalid room, and I had the privilege of working in there with him. And oh, oh, oh Gene, miracles most hair-raising things I've ever seen in my life. And my very first day in there...
The message coming from the auditorium or from out in the tent would be on speakers in there, and we're listening there. Well, I'm outlining the message. And then my boss called in Steele during the meeting. He said, "Now, you outline it, "and then you go back over the main points of the message "and prepare the people to have hands laid on them." Well, he walked in there, and I just stepped back out of the way. And he surveyed the room, in times like that, he never was sad looking.
He just surveyed the room, and boy, they some sick people in that room. And he reached over and got me. He said, "Now you're gonna do the praying, "and you're gonna do the laying on of hands. Right?" I could feel awe. - Everything. - I'm changing colors here, you know. And he laughed. He said, "Don't worry about it. "If you make a mistake, I'll be there, I'll fix it." - Do you remember the first time you went to pray for somebody? I remember when I did, it was really scary to be quite honest.
I was afraid to do that. And that's the whole thing is I was in fear. You know, we can pray for anybody and see lives changed. Just like Brother Copeland talked about. It's time to step out. Even when you don't know what to say, and maybe you don't even know exactly how to pray, God honors faith. And when you step out and pray in faith, listen for someone, and they say yes, and they're actually allowing you to pray for them, what a marvelous gift that you're giving them.
But also what a marvelous move of faith that you're making, but that God's going to step in. He's gonna step in and be that for somebody. So I wanna encourage you today. Step out in prayer, offer prayer for someone. I have yet to see anybody that just absolutely didn't want to have somebody to pray for them even if they didn't believe in God. So take that risk today. Step out, be that man or woman of God that steps out and prays for somebody, and watch God do something. You'll be shocked.
Thanks for coming our way today on Revival Radio TV. I'll see you next time. (inspirational music)