Fresh Oil - Part 3 — Jack Hyles

The Need for Spirit-Filled Preachers

I'm not going to be a powerless preacher. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I've got to have, whatever this is, I've got to have the power of God. And let me tell you, ladies and gentlemen, the great need for this nation is spirit-filled preachers, men of God with a supernatural touch upon their lives, men who know what it is to be endued with the power of God, men with a message from heaven and the power from heaven to turn this nation back to God.

Crying Out for the God of Elijah

I cried. I prayed. I begged. If you had driven down Highway 43, between Marshall, Texas and Henderson, Texas, most any night, you could have heard some little voice crying out in the woods, Where is the Lord God of Elijah?

Where is the Lord God of Elijah? On May 12, 1950, the sun came up that morning with a kid preacher on his face, having prayed in the woods all night long, tears streaming down my cheeks. And I said, Oh, God, whatever it is, I'm willing to pay the price.

Surrendering for God's Power

I'm willing to do what I have to do to have the power of God upon my life. And on my face, I cried, I surrender all. I didn't know what I was saying. I didn't know what it meant. I got off my knees, went to our little country parsonage, freshened up, went down to radio station KMHT in Marshall, Texas and preached on my morning broadcast from 9 to 9 .30, went back to my study, and then to my house.

The Death of His Father

I was sitting in the living room reading the Dallas Morning News when the phone rang. Hello, this is the parsonage, I said. The operator said, Is this Reverend Jack Hiles? I said, This is Brother Hiles.

She said, Go ahead, sir. And a man's voice said, My name is Smith. I'm a friend of your dad. Reverend Hiles, your dad just dropped dead with a heart attack. And I said, Dear Lord, I didn't mean that. That's not what I meant.

I didn't mean take my daddy. I got in my car, drove to the O 'Neill Funeral Home in Dallas, Texas, by the way, the same funeral home that embalmed the late President Kennedy. I followed a hearse to a little cemetery in Italy, Texas, where I was born, where my daddy and mother used to live, and operate a small country grocery store.

We laid my daddy's body in a little grave near a creek in a cemetery just outside of Italy, Texas. I took the family back after the graveside service. I went back to the grave. I threw my face on the grave, and face down, I said, Dear God, I'm not leaving this grave.

Persisting in Prayer at the Grave

Can you do something for me? I'm a powerless preacher. My own father sat in the services twice and heard his own son preach, and his own son was powerless. Ladies and gentlemen, we've got to have the power of God upon preachers of this land if this nation knows deliverance from judgment.

And I stayed, and I stayed, and I stayed. I do not know how long I stayed, but I promised God that I was not leaving until something happened to me. My friend said I stayed several days while I was on my father's grave.

The Lasting Fruit of God's Power

Blessed be God. He did a work in my life. I've not been the same since. I am not perfect. I'm not sanctified. I have not yet apprehended. But blessed be God, there has not been one single Sunday since that day on May 13, 1950, when my dad's body was laid in the grave.

Not one single Sunday have I lived without seeing conversions. We have four children. Our oldest daughter is 29. Not one single child in the Hiles family has ever gone to church on Sunday without seeing somebody baptized.

You say, you must be a great preacher. No, I'm not. No, I'm not. For one year, I preached a powerless ministry. For one year, I did not know this amazing power of God. But thank God, for these wonderful years, God's blessing and God's power have been known by a little introvert, reared in the home of an alcoholic, in poverty, and that same power is available for you.

Seeking Power in Every Ministry

It may not come upon you as it came upon Moody on Wall Street. It may not happen to you as it happened to George Whitfield at his ordination service. It may be that you just fall on your face and keep praying for power and you will see a change in your ministry.

It may be that you'll see a change in your Sunday school class, in your bus route, in the rearing of your children. Inside this Bible here, I have the words written, pray for power. On my mirror where I shave at home and in my office where I shave, I have the words printed and pasted on the mirror, pray for power.

On the windshield of my car, I have the words pasted there, pray for power. Inside my briefcase, I have the words pasted, pray for power. On my desk at home, I have a big piece of wood where it's burned across the wood, pray for power.

I pray for the power of God 10 ,000 times a week. While I shave, I say, oh God, give me power, give me power, give me power. While I drive down the street, I say, oh God, give me power, give me power.

As I sit at my desk, I say, oh God, give me power, give me power. First thing I do when I wake up in the morning is pray for the Holy Spirit to use me that day. After I finish my breakfast, I pray the same prayer.

In mid-morning, I pray the same prayer. After my lunch, I pray the same prayer. At mid-afternoon, I pray the same prayer. After dinner, I pray the same prayer. Before I go to bed at night, I pray the same prayer.

Knowing the Unction of God

The old country preacher was praying one day, oh Lord, give me the unction, give me the unction, give me the unction. Somebody came up and said, man, what is the unction? The old country preacher said, I don't know what it is, but I know what it ain't.

And I'm talking to Christians today, you don't know what it is, but you know what it ain't. And because we know what it ain't, it's what's wrong with this country. Oh, for some men of God and churches of God, where people come and they say with the people of old, surely our hearts did burn within us as he talked with us.

David's Repeated Anointings and Fresh Oil

Now, here's the danger. The danger is, all of a sudden, the power of God and the blessings of God come upon a life and we've stopped there. But David didn't. David was anointed, 1 Samuel 16, 13. David was anointed again in 2 Samuel 2, 4.

And David was anointed again in 2 Samuel 5, 3. That's why he said in the 92nd Psalm, I shall be anointed with fresh oil. Yesterday's oil won't do for today. Yesterday's power won't do for today. Fresh oil.

That's what your ministry needs and that's what your family needs. That's what your Sunday school class needs and that's what your church needs. An anointing, not with yesterday's oil, but with fresh oil.

Fresh Oil in a Growing Church

I became pastor the following years of the Miller Road Baptist Church of Garland, Texas. 21 people showed up the first day to vote for me. 18 voted for me. Two voted neutral and one voted undecided. I became pastor of that small church.

The first Sunday I was there, we had 44 people in Sunday school. On our first anniversary, we had 617. On our second anniversary, we had 1 ,180. On our third anniversary, 2 ,212. And on the fourth anniversary, over 3 ,000.