Citizenship in the Kingdom: Surrender, Spiritual Discipline, and God’s Life Within

Speaker Identification

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher: The principal speaker identifies himself repeatedly as World Pastor Tony Alamo and delivers the prayer, commentary, personal testimony, sermon, salvation appeal, and closing remarks.

Speaker 2 – Reader / Program Assistant: This speaker reads listener correspondence and prepared teaching passages for the host to discuss. The host addresses the closing assistant as Sharon. It is likely, but not completely certain from the transcript alone, that Sharon reads all of these portions.

Speaker 3 – Congregation / Supporting Voice or Voices: Brief spoken responses such as “Amen” appear during the prayer and letter-reading portions. The transcript does not establish the number or identities of these voices.

Items Requiring Verification

- The choir director’s name is rendered most likely as “H. C. Barney,” but the audio transcription is not fully clear.
- The early announcement appears to give the address as 13136 Sierra Highway, Saugus, California. The exact address and the stated service schedule should be checked against the recording.
- The Ugandan correspondent signs as Boniface from a place rendered “Mumbala, Uganda.” The locality may be mistranscribed.
- The Indian correspondent’s locality is rendered variously as “Jaga Mapeta” and “Jagamapheta,” Andhra Pradesh. The exact spelling should be verified. “Marissa” may be a production cue or a person’s name rather than part of the letter.
- The Ghanaian correspondent’s name is rendered “Adoné,” and the locality is rendered “Summa Ahingo, Ghana.” Both spellings are uncertain.
- A brief reference to a university or marketing program immediately before the discussion of political promotion is too garbled to reconstruct confidently.
- Several names said to be associated with the Kennedy group are unintelligible in the raw transcript and have not been invented.
- “Gorgeous George-type promotion” is the most likely reconstruction of a description of the singer’s publicity campaign, but the exact wording is uncertain.
- “K-Tel Records,” “Earl McDaniel,” “American Health Studios,” “Silhouette Figure Form,” and “Bobby James” are the most likely renderings of names in the promotional anecdotes, but each should be checked against the audio.
- The names “Benji” and “Susie” in the Disneyland-wallpaper anecdote are the most likely renderings but remain uncertain.
- The Yiddish expression used by the attorney is rendered “meshuggeneh,” meaning crazy. The exact pronunciation in the recording should be checked.
- The identity of the woman described as entering bars with a pickaxe is not clearly audible. The transcript does not provide a reliable name.
- The statement that a Beatles album could be worth fifty to one hundred million dollars is preserved as the speaker’s claim. The figure is clear enough to transcribe but was not externally verified.
- The host’s reconstructed calculation of 365 million dollars per year follows the surrounding “one million dollars a day” statement. The raw transcription incorrectly rendered the unit and should be checked against the audio.
- All theological, historical, scientific, political, medical, legal, and numerical assertions in the sermon are preserved as statements made by the speakers and have not been independently verified.

Corrected Publication-Ready Transcript

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

Hello again. This is World Pastor Tony Alamo. Listen to our choir, our artists, and our message to you. God has a message for you this evening, so make sure you stay tuned.

“How to Have God’s Life Living in You,” Part 119. This is Program 221. These programs go together.

There are four different ways that you can receive a copy of today’s message. You can also order the singing that you hear, conducted by H. C. Barney, his choir, and our sister. You can hear music like this at our church at 13136 Sierra Highway in Saugus, California. We have services every night at eight o’clock and on Sunday at three o’clock and eight o’clock. We serve meals after the services.

We have letters and messages for you, and we are just about ready to begin. First, however, we need to go to the throne of God. Let us all pray that God will anoint this service. Praise the Lord.

Isn’t that music wonderful? We do not sell any of the gospel material, Bible tracts, or other material that we have. You can look at and listen to portions of these recordings on our website. At the end of the program, Sharon will give you four different ways to receive a copy. You can also visit the website and obtain a copy of today’s message.

Right now, let us go to the throne of the Lord. Let us invite Him, ask Him, and plead with Him—as I know He wants to do—to anoint this service.

Father, send down the Kingdom of Heaven and let it flow through me into the hearts and souls of everyone in radio land, both the saved and the lost, so that they may become born-again Christians in these very last moments of time.

Lord, we know that even people in observatories who constantly survey the sky day and night say that many meteorites are coming toward this planet and that many have already struck it. They say these things happen daily. We cannot see many of them because they are so high above us, but they are striking the earth.

The Book of Revelation tells us, Lord, that You are going to send one so huge that it will be like a great mountain striking the sea and causing a tsunami that, according to this interpretation, will cover half of the United States of America.

We need to get right with You, Father. Let Your Spirit and Your Word flow through me and into the entire listening audience, so that people may be saved and strengthened before it is everlastingly too late. In Jesus’ name I pray.

Speaker 3 – Congregation / Supporting Voice or Voices:

Amen.

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

All right. Where is the first letter from?

Speaker 2 – Reader / Program Assistant:

From Uganda.

“Dear Brother Pastor Tony Alamo,

“Greetings to you in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ. May peace, love, knowledge, and wisdom abide with you as you continue giving service to God’s people.

“I would like to thank you for the wonderful vision with which God enlightened you. It is changing many people all over the world. I would also like to thank you for the literature that you mailed to me. Indeed, your literature seems to have a magnet in it, because whoever reads it becomes a changed person.”

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

That magnet is the Holy Spirit. It comes directly from God.

I hope this person is listening to the radio program there. We are on the air throughout the world. You can receive the call letters and frequencies of the AM and shortwave stations carrying the program by calling us. All of that information will be given at the end of the service.

What does the letter say next?

Speaker 2 – Reader / Program Assistant:

“Many people are saved through reading your literature.”

Speaker 3 – Congregation / Supporting Voice or Voices:

Amen.

Speaker 2 – Reader / Program Assistant:

“You mailed me literature that included newsletters and the book entitled The Messiah. I read The Messiah, and it helped me spiritually.”

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

All of this is from the Lord. What comes next?

Speaker 2 – Reader / Program Assistant:

“After finishing the book, I gave it to a friend. There are now many brothers who are interested in reading and distributing your newsletters in markets, prisons, hospitals, and schools.

“Your literature has led me to make the following decision: I have accepted you as my pastor, and I have decided to study under you so that I may learn more about what God truly wants. My family and I have read the literature and have accepted membership in the church.

“I request that, when you make plans for your church, you also include plans for the church in Uganda. Many brothers say that the literature they have read has led them to become members and true disciples of Pastor Alamo.”

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

They should be disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. I will certainly work, as the Lord works through me, to be their pastor. What else does the letter say?

Speaker 2 – Reader / Program Assistant:

“In addition, you said that you could send T-shirts to those who distribute your literature. I would like to request that you send them to me, because I have stood firm and spoken to others about the literature and the saving message it contains.

“I also request more literature to distribute to people. I have a team of five people who have developed a sincere desire to serve. Finally, I request that you send me five Bibles for use in expanding God’s work.

“I hope that Almighty God will continue to bless you as you serve God’s people worldwide.

“I remain your brother and disciple,
“Boniface
“Mumbala, Uganda.”

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

Praise the Lord. Next letter.

Speaker 2 – Reader / Program Assistant:

This one is from Jaga Mapeta, Andhra Pradesh, India.

“Dear precious brother and World Pastor Tony Alamo,

“Holy salutations to you in the mighty name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I trust that you are all doing well and enjoying the blessings of the Lord.

“Thank you kindly for the World Newsletters, the booklet The Messiah, and your letter. My family members and congregation are busy distributing the World Newsletters. Your literature has strengthened us more deeply in Jesus Christ.

“After reading your literature, many non-Christian families have come to know their true Savior and have become saved. Please send us World Newsletters regularly.

“We are very happy to know about your broadcast on Sundays at 9:30 a.m.”

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

What day is it heard over there in India and Africa? Sometimes it may be Saturday there, but in the United States the program is heard every day. It is also heard in Canada, Central and South America, Mexico, and elsewhere.

Speaker 2 – Reader / Program Assistant:

“We believe that we will be blessed by listening to it. Thank you kindly for joining me with the Lord’s compassionate, soul-winning church believers and team.

“Most of the people around us are poor. They cannot speak or read English. I request that you send literature in Telugu, as well as Telugu Bibles.

“We love you, and we pray for you. Please pray for our ministry.

“Humbly in Jesus Christ,
“Brother David
“Jaga Mapeta, Andhra Pradesh, India.”

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

Dawn, you are the one handling the language printing in India. Make sure that this is done. Send many more Bibles and much more literature. Is there anything else?

Speaker 2 – Reader / Program Assistant:

Yes. This letter is from Ghana.

“Dear Pastor Alamo,

“Warmest greetings from me and all the members of your fellowship here. The Bibles and biblical literature that you sent have been received. Your newsletter is greatly changing many lives in my town.

“I distributed the Bibles and literature to many people. Everyone who had the opportunity to receive one surrendered his or her life to Christ. Like Oliver Twist, however, they are asking for more—especially copies of The Messiah and the Holy Bible—because there were not enough for all the people who wanted them. I entreat you to send us more copies.”

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

They may have as many as they need. Just let me know how many. The writer does not specify a number. Give me a report showing how many have already been sent. If it was five or ten thousand, double it. If it was one thousand or five thousand, send more. Keep them busy.

Speaker 2 – Reader / Program Assistant:

“I would like to receive your ministry’s T-shirt and sweatshirt, as you mentioned in your letter. I prefer white, size large.

“It is also my wish that one day I may visit your ministry and that you may likewise visit mine.”

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

That would be nice.

Speaker 2 – Reader / Program Assistant:

“May the Heavenly Father reward you abundantly for promoting the gospel even in remote areas of the world.

“Hoping to hear from you soon,
“Yours in Christ,
“Adoné
“Summa Ahingo, Ghana.”

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

The greatest compliment in the world is for the Lord God to ask you to promote something for Him. I was once considered one of the best promoters in the world. I knew how to promote things, even though I do not always understand the terminology used by modern marketing experts. I can start reading some of their material and not understand it, but I knew how to promote better than many of them did.

There was also an unclear reference here to a university or marketing program. I was asked to conduct promotion for the President of the United States. Members of the Kennedy group came to see me, along with several people whose names are not clear in this transcript. I also met with people in downtown Los Angeles. They wanted me to handle promotion or marketing for the entire Democratic Party.

When the Lord visited me in an office, I tried to argue with Him. He was telling me to stand up and tell the people in the room about the Lord Jesus Christ and that He is coming back to earth very soon. The message was that I must do it or die and go to hell.

There was a whole entourage of people in that office. At the time, I was running a campaign and promotion for a rock-and-roll singer. The entourage included six Los Angeles motorcycle police officers who were working off duty. Their motorcycles were outside. We also had chauffeured stretch limousines, with the singer and me riding in the back.

Wherever we went, the police would run lights and sound their sirens. We had people with us, including a barber, a nurse, someone to light our cigarettes—because I smoked back then—someone to open the door, another person to roll out a red carpet, another to spray us with cologne, and another to scatter rose petals before us when we got out.

It was a Gorgeous George-type promotion for the singer. The records reached number one on the charts in each area where I released them. I released about six records, and they each reached number one in different areas, sometimes within a day.

The Lord spoke to me in that office while my attorney, another attorney, and several motion-picture stars were discussing investing in the singer. Suddenly, my natural hearing was shut off. The office was only one floor above street level in Beverly Hills. The windows were open on a beautiful day, and I had been able to hear the traffic outside. Then I could no longer hear the traffic, the motorcycle officers moving around, or the rest of the entourage.

There were about nineteen or twenty people present, including my attorney, his wife, another attorney who was interested in the project, and the motion-picture people. My hearing went off, and I heard a voice moving throughout my entire body. It sounded metallic and passed through my arms, legs, chest, feet, toes, and fingers.

The voice said, “I am the Lord thy God. Stand upon your feet and tell the people in this room about the Lord Jesus Christ and that He is coming back to earth again, or thou shalt surely die.”

I thought, “Everyone calls me a genius, and I have heard that geniuses sometimes lose their minds. I guess I am going crazy.” I remembered stories about a famous artist who cut off his ear and sent it to a woman. I also thought about my friend Don Gibson, who wrote “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Oh Lonesome Me,” and many other major songs, including a song recorded by Patsy Cline whose title I could not remember at that moment. He had spent some time at Camarillo State Hospital, and people still considered him great.

I did not think losing my mind would necessarily be the worst thing because I thought I belonged to the same category of genius. Even the President of the United States wanted me to do promotional work. I was also the one who started a “Twenty Original Hits” record offer. Time-Life, Warner, and K-Tel Records later used similar ideas.

I also once took an idea to Disney. The concept involved sending Disney artists into people’s homes to paint murals on the walls of children’s bedrooms, Dutch-themed kitchens, tropical-fish bathrooms, dining rooms, and other rooms, including Japanese cherry-tree designs. The proposed charge was one thousand dollars per room. An artist could complete roughly one room per day.

I told an attorney at Buena Vista that, if I could use clips from Fantasia and other motion pictures and advertise the service on television, it could become very successful. They were excited about the idea and told me to return the next day because the attorney had a meeting with Walt Disney.

I was only about nineteen years old. When I returned, they told me that Walt loved the idea and believed it could make millions of dollars, but that he was hesitant. They said Disney could rerelease Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs every seven years and earn a million-dollar profit, whereas this mural business might earn a million dollars a day.

I could not understand why they would reject something that seemed more powerful than what their movies were earning. I believed it could make a million dollars a day in the Los Angeles area because homeowners could use payment plans, putting a few hundred dollars down and paying the rest monthly.

They said they wanted to protect the Snow White image at Buena Vista. They were also afraid that salespeople going door to door after television and radio advertising might misrepresent the offer, perhaps promising customers a lifetime of groceries at Safeway, Ralphs, or some other business. They were concerned that children might drink the paint, and they did not want that liability.

They told me, however, that I had given them the idea for Disneyland wallpaper. They offered me a royalty for the rest of my life and said it could continue to my children. I became angry and said, “You people are so Mickey Mouse.” I was young and walked out. I thought, “What would I receive—two or five cents for each roll of wallpaper?”

I told them I was talking about a business that could make one million dollars a day, or approximately 365 million dollars a year. I argued that Lloyd’s of London could insure the company against a child drinking paint or a salesperson misrepresenting the offer. Walt did not want to do it, so I walked away and received no money from the wallpaper idea.

After we had been in the ministry for perhaps twelve or fifteen years, we adopted a little boy because his mother had left him. Benji and Susie wanted to prepare an upstairs room for him. Susie was decorating the room. I walked in and saw Disneyland wallpaper on the wall. I said, “Susie, you do not know what this means.” It affected me deeply.

I knew how to do promotional work, and it was a great compliment when the Lord called me in that office. After speaking to me three times, He began pulling the breath in and out of my body.

He said, “Doubt not. I am the Lord thy God. Stand upon your feet and tell the people in this room about the Lord Jesus Christ and that He is coming back to earth again, or thou shalt surely die.”

Then He opened my mind, and I knew. I do not know how I knew; He gave me faith to know that Heaven and hell exist. He put the power of God upon me. I understood His intelligence and believed that He knew every hair on every person’s head, arms, legs, and body. He knew every mole, every fiber of dust in the carpet, and every strand of carpet in every place.

God, as I experienced Him, possesses intelligence beyond anything a person can imagine. He is aware of what everyone is thinking at the same time. No human being can comprehend that kind of intelligence.

When I tried to leave the room because I thought I was losing my mind, He began pulling the breath in and out of me. I thought, “If there is a God, there is also Satan. If this is Satan, I am going to make a fool of myself. I am going to start telling people about Jesus in the middle of a business meeting. They will send state authorities with butterfly nets, put me in a straitjacket, and carry me away.”

I would not have minded checking into a private mental institution, showing them that I had money, making a few wallets, doing finger painting, stringing beads, or whatever they used for rehabilitation, and then eventually being released. People could say that I was there because I was a genius who had temporarily lost his mind.

But when I tried to reach the door, the breath went in and out of my body, and I knew He would cause me to drop dead on the floor. I told Him, “I will tell them tomorrow. I will send wires or cables and call them on the telephone, but do not make me tell them now. They will think I am crazy.”

He said, “Tell them now.”

I said, “God is telling me to tell you that Jesus Christ is coming back to earth again.”

The breath began leaving my body again. I thought, “What is the matter, Lord?” I did not need to say it aloud because I believed He knew everything I was thinking.

He placed before my eyes a crystal-clear, condensed version of the promotions I had created during my life. I remembered advertisements such as, “Hi, this is Earl McDaniel with the most fantastic record offer of all time: twenty smash hits on one big album for only $2.98.”

Before that, I had promoted American Health Studios and Silhouette Figure Form, advertising that young men could add inches to their arms and chests and that women could take inches off their waists. I also remembered promotions such as, “Here is Bobby James, the world’s next phenomenon.”

I had told everyone that this singer was a phenomenon. Now that I knew God was real and believed He had the power to pull the breath from my body, all I had said was, “You people know that I never believed in God, and God is telling me that Jesus Christ is coming back to earth.”

I thought, “Oh God, I am so sorry. Nothing in this world matters except You, because You have the power.” It was embarrassing to speak that way in front of the people in the room, but it would have been even more embarrassing to drop dead in front of them because I refused to obey.

I had seen people drop dead on sidewalks. Their bodies bounced, their bladders released, and other bodily fluids came out. It was a terrible sight. I told the Lord that I had never read the Bible and did not know how to convince the people.

The message I received was, “Now convince these people that I am speaking to you.”

My mind raced as I tried to remember anything religious I had ever seen. I had rarely gone to church. Sometimes my mother took me, but I did not pay attention. One year she might take me to a Catholic church, and a year or two later she might take me somewhere else.

I remembered walking into a movie theater in New York because I was bored and seeing Elmer Gantry. I thought it sounded like an old Southern movie. I bought a ticket, went inside, and heard someone saying, “Believe in Jesus.” I thought, “Oh my God, I am Jewish,” got up, and started to leave. Then I heard him say, “Repent! Repent!”

I thought that must be what I should say. I began telling everyone in the office, “Repent! Get down on your knees and ask Jesus. Jesus is coming back to earth again.” I said it loudly and doubled up my fists. Everyone stared at me, and I thought the entire room was going to erupt.

The attorney behind the desk was Jewish. My hearing began returning, and I heard him say, “Get him out of here. He is meshuggeneh.” That means crazy.

I thought, “You are the one who begged me to come here. If I am so crazy, how did I excite you so much about this project that you wanted to meet with me?”

They continued saying, “Get him out.” I thought that, if I were the attorney, I might have had someone throw me out or even throw me out the window, although we were only one floor above the ground. They believed I was coming unglued in front of them.

That was not what I believed was happening. I believed the Spirit of the Lord and the Kingdom of Heaven had come down to visit me and command me to speak. My hearing returned, and the Lord said, “That is enough.”

I walked out of the office, and the entourage followed me. There was no elevator because we were only one floor up, so I walked down the stairs. The limousine, motorcycles, and other cars were outside.

I told everyone, “Get into your vehicles and leave. I am going to go by myself. I am going to walk.”

Big Jim, who later drove for Cher, tried to get me into the car. This was around the time of Sonny and Cher and their later separation. I told Jim to leave me alone or I would have a man with a baseball bat come after him.

I knew some rough people in Hollywood at that time who would do whatever I paid them to do. If someone bothered me, I could call them, pay them, and they would come. I threatened that I would have Jim’s head split into “thirty-one different flavors.”

People do not know that side of me because I have been saved for almost forty-two years. If I were still that kind of person, many people who have bothered me during the ministry would no longer be bothering me.

At that time, I also did a promotion for Pete Best of the Beatles. He gave me a Beatles album that I still own. I have been told that it might be worth fifty to one hundred million dollars if I sold it.

Susie told me never to sell it. She said that God would cause the ministry to grow throughout the world and that people would eventually accuse me of being in the ministry for money. She said I should keep the album as evidence that money was not my purpose.

That is enough about that. I do not know what prompted me to tell part of my testimony, but please continue reading the passage you were reading before, and I will comment when you reach the end.

Speaker 2 – Reader / Program Assistant:

“In the lives that God created, nothing can continue to function properly when it is removed from the original kingdom environment for which it was designed.”

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

In other words, God created a kingdom or environment for fish. Take a fish out of the water, and it cannot live. It will flop around and die.

God gave birds wings and feathers so that they could fly. A bird can live without constantly flying, but it was designed with the ability to fly. Animals have their kingdom or environment, and human beings have theirs. The Lord created an environment for fish, birds, cattle, other animals, and humans.

Continue.

Speaker 2 – Reader / Program Assistant:

“In the fish kingdom, a fish taken out of water will quickly suffocate. A human being—”

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

A human being will not like it and will die. Continue.

Speaker 2 – Reader / Program Assistant:

“A human being placed underwater without special breathing equipment or apparatus will soon drown.”

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

The Lord created a world especially for human beings, the sea especially for fish, and the air especially for birds. Each has its environment.

Humanity, however, fell away from the Lord because our original parents, Adam and Eve, sinned. According to this teaching, their children were born in sin and darkness. We were born into the kingdom of darkness and initially knew only the world in which we were raised.

The Lord’s purpose in coming into this world was to do everything necessary for us to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. He did not sin throughout His life. He was a perfect baby, a perfect boy, a perfect young adult, and He reached complete adulthood and maturity. Then He became the Messiah and entered the ministry.

The Lord wants us to leave the environment into which we were born and enter the environment of the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God. Continue.

Speaker 2 – Reader / Program Assistant:

“One of the main principles of creation is that, whenever God creates something, He forms and designs it according to its reason, purpose, and intended function. He also creates an environment in which that part of His creation can live.”

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

Fish cannot rule the world, and birds cannot rule the earth. They were never given the ability to do that. Cattle, dogs, cats, and other animals cannot rule the earth.

God gave human beings the capacity and spirit to rule. He made them living souls and gave them authority over everything He had created, including fish, birds, cattle, cats, dogs, worms, and all the rest.

He also gave human beings the ability to reconstruct areas of the earth—for example, to build dams and control water. According to this teaching, humanity did not work before the Fall and did not have to work. Continue.

Speaker 2 – Reader / Program Assistant:

“In other words, when God created birds to fly, He gave them wings and a reason to fly. When God created fish to swim, He placed them in an environment where they could swim and gave them gills so they could breathe in water.

“When God created mankind to have dominion over the earth, He imparted the ability to govern, rule, lead, and manage the earth, its creatures, and its resources. Those whom God has chosen as leaders and authorities in this world are called to lead.”

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

God, however, always appoints particular leaders. Not everyone in a congregation is a leader.

Many of you have read the Book of Enoch, which, according to this teaching, men did not allow to remain in the Bible. There are said to be four books of Enoch. One vision described two rams who would come among many sheep in Egypt. The sheep represented God’s people, and the two rams would lead them out of Egypt.

They would travel through the desert and come to the Red Sea. God would open the sea and allow them to pass through. This vision was said to have been written in a book of Enoch many years before Moses came on the scene, before Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the tribes of Israel, and Moses, who led the people out of Egypt.

I regard Enoch as one of the greatest prophets of all time. I believe he prophesied these events long before they happened.

Some people say that anyone who preaches a doctrine not found in the Bible should be accursed. I argue that this teaching was represented in biblical tradition. The man Enoch and statements attributed to him are mentioned by Paul and others, and some of his statements are also associated with the teachings of Jesus.

I teach that Enoch is on earth now, that he is one of the two witnesses, and that his wife is the other. Some people say one of the witnesses will be Elijah. I answer that Jesus said John the Baptist was Elijah.

I also teach that Enoch and Elijah had to return because it is appointed for every person to die and then face judgment. In my interpretation, Enoch is now on earth. We are living in the last days, and he and his wife will be the two witnesses.

Continue.

Speaker 2 – Reader / Program Assistant:

“The Lord wants us to rule ourselves by His Word. He wants us first to rule over ourselves and then to follow His rulership.”

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

The wording in that text may be difficult to understand. The meaning is that everyone must allow Jesus, through the Spirit, to rule over us. We must discipline ourselves so that we can be disciplined by Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit. These three are one.

God does not want us to rule ourselves according to our own will. He wants us to choose His will rather than our own will or the will of the powers of darkness. We must personally make that choice. Continue.

Speaker 2 – Reader / Program Assistant:

“He wants us first to rule over ourselves and then to follow His rulership through His tutors, governors, prophets, teachers, preachers, evangelists, and others whom He appoints.”

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

Ultimately, we are ruled by His Spirit. All who walk in the Spirit of the Lord are ruled by the Lord.

It is voluntary. God does not force you to do it. He tells you the right way to go, and you choose whether to follow. I teach that, if you refuse, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Lord spoke to me in 1964 and told me what to do. It is now 2006, and in September I will have been in the ministry for forty-two years. The Lord has led me through all these years. Nothing has destroyed me, and I do not believe anything will, because I intend to remain in the Spirit.

No matter how strongly the Spirit of the Lord works in me, I must still choose every day to be led by the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, I would never have reached this point.

I have endured many things that I believe most people could not endure without the power of God in them. I have seen people fall away over matters that seemed insignificant. They fell away because someone did not cater to them as much as they wanted, because they did not receive what they wanted, or because they believed they were giving up something important in this world.

They forfeited the Kingdom of Heaven and the blessings that I teach belong to the commonwealth of the Lord. They gave up healing, Heaven, eternal life, communication with the Lord, and the ability to receive communication from Him. They gave up prosperity and defense. The Lord defends those who are in Him, and, according to this teaching, no one can truly harm even a hair of their heads.

Even if our bodies die, I believe that, in the twinkling of an eye, we are in Paradise and in the Kingdom of God.

It is worth allowing God to rule over us, but we must choose it. If we simply do whatever we want, God is not ruling us. If you go through much of the day without concentrating on the Lord, then you are not being ruled by the Lord. You have not yet chosen to give yourself completely to Him.

If you want to enter Heaven, you must do that. The way is strait and narrow. I teach that the original Greek conveys a path so narrow that a person must squeeze, press, and push forward into the Kingdom of Heaven. It requires effort on our part.

People who preach that we do not have to do anything to enter the Kingdom of Heaven because Jesus has already done everything are, in my view, speaking words from the devil.

Some also say that God loves people unconditionally. I teach instead that there are conditions in the Word that must be kept in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. I teach that breaking one law makes a person guilty of breaking them all.

Continue.

Speaker 2 – Reader / Program Assistant:

“God wants us to be governed by His rulers.”

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

That means rulers who are themselves governed by Him, until you reach sufficient maturity to be fully ruled by the Lord. Continue.

Speaker 2 – Reader / Program Assistant:

“We are designed to manage ourselves according to the Word of God.”

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

When you live according to the Word of God, you are being disciplined by the Holy Spirit, because the Word of God is the Holy Spirit and is our life. That is what the passage means. Continue.

Speaker 2 – Reader / Program Assistant:

“We are designed to manage ourselves according to the Word of God, not to be managed by worldly powers.”

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

We must make this choice for ourselves. People say, “Just be yourself,” but the Lord does not want you to live according to an ungoverned self.

You should dedicate your body to God and surrender your entire body as a gift to the Lord, because the Lord gave His body for us and shed His blood for us. I teach that it is our reasonable duty to give our bodies to the Lord.

When you give someone a gift, you do not take it back. The person who receives the gift may use it as he chooses. If I give you a new automobile and the keys, it is yours to drive. If I give you a box of candy, it is yours to eat, discard, or give to someone else.

If you give your body to the Lord, He has a special purpose for it. I believe the Lord gives everyone a purpose. One purpose is to witness for Him. We must be living witnesses and allow the Lord to live His life in and through us. Continue.

Speaker 2 – Reader / Program Assistant:

“We are designed to be led by the Holy Spirit and not to follow those who are carnal.”

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

We are not to be carnal at all.

When someone in the world tells us what to do, we should comply when that person holds a legitimate position of authority under the laws of the state. For example, a police officer may pull you over and issue a ticket. Even if you believe you were driving thirty-five miles per hour in a thirty-five-mile-per-hour zone and the officer says you were driving fifty, do not argue.

You may say, “Sir, I am not going to argue. The Bible tells me to agree with my adversary quickly. I will take the ticket and leave, if you will allow me.” Then you can contest the matter in court.

That response at least shows that you are a mild person and not dangerous. Being part of the Kingdom of God does not give someone permission to become violent.

There was a woman whose name is not clear in this transcript who went into nightclubs and bars with a pickaxe and broke bottles. That is not permitted according to the Lord. You are not to destroy the place. You are supposed to preach the gospel and put the pickaxe down.

Likewise, if it is a homosexual establishment, you are not supposed to go inside, blow it up, or burn it down. If it is an abortion clinic, you are not supposed to destroy it. You are to preach the gospel to the people.

I teach that, if people willingly, knowingly, and deliberately commit abortion, the law of the land may allow them to escape earthly punishment, but they will stand before the great white throne on Judgment Day.

Nevertheless, if the Lord reveals Himself to them through a minister, prophet, preacher, or teacher and they repent, the Lord will forgive them. I apply that teaching both to people involved in abortions and to homosexual people.

The Lord died for everyone, but, according to this sermon, a person must repent, come to the Lord for healing, be cleansed, and stop the conduct described as sin. The person must allow the Lord to rule in his or her body.

I teach that the Lord will not continue homosexual conduct, adultery, fornication, theft, or lying in a person who has truly surrendered to Him. The person receives a new life. If a person returns to lying or other sin, I teach that the person is returning to the world.

I compare it to earthly citizenship. If you are a citizen and commit a crime, the government may take away certain freedoms, confiscate a passport in some circumstances, and imprison you. If a noncitizen from Italy, Mexico, or another country commits a crime in the United States, the government may revoke a green card and send that person back to the country of origin.

That person loses privileges associated with remaining in the United States. I also contend that the United States has increasingly become part of a world-government system. Supporters of one-world government say it will bring peace and safety, but I believe conditions continue to worsen and that their theory is wrong.

I use citizenship as a spiritual comparison. When you are saved, you receive citizenship papers and a passport, figuratively speaking, to the Kingdom of Heaven. If you begin committing sins again, you forfeit that heavenly citizenship and its privileges.

When you accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you become a citizen of the Kingdom because your former sins are removed. I teach that no one who continues in sin can remain in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Even if a person lives faithfully for five, ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty, forty, or forty-two years—as I had at the time of this recording—if that person begins sinning again, I teach that the citizenship papers and passport to Heaven can be taken away.

All privileges of the Kingdom and commonwealth of Heaven would be forfeited. The person would again become a citizen of what I call this dark, cold world and would be headed toward hell and the lake of fire.

Some people say there is something in the world that they cherish so much that they are willing to surrender their citizenship and passport to Heaven. They hold on to something in this temporary world, even though they know it will burn, and they forfeit eternal life.

When I was imprisoned for preaching the gospel, my passport was taken away. Governments sometimes convict innocent people. I stated that, over a relatively short period, more than one hundred people had been put to death and later found to have been innocent.

This concern is one reason many people oppose the death penalty. I know prosecutors whom I regard as fair, but I also believe that some seek advancement, want to become judges, or are willing to destroy people’s lives. They may falsely criminalize people, causing them to lose passports or voting rights.

One of my attorneys sometimes came to visit us socially. We were visiting one of our singers when he told me that, after a person leaves prison and pays the debt to society, that person may again be allowed to vote.

In the Kingdom of Heaven, however, I teach that privileges are taken away when a person sins because sin is a crime against the blood of Jesus. Returning to sin tramples His blood underfoot and puts Him to open shame. A person may claim to be Christian while living as a sinner, but I teach that the claim is false.

Some preachers say that God loves you and that, once you accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you are permanently sealed and cannot fall away. I reject that teaching.

Scripture describes a person who falls away as a dog returning to its vomit and a washed sow returning to wallow in the mire.

The Bible states that “the virgin shall conceive and bear a son.” I emphasize that the passage refers not merely to any virgin but to the virgin—a particular one. I ask how it is worded in Spanish and emphasize one specific virgin.

The passage says that she will conceive and bear a Son. It does not say that she is deity; it says that she is the virgin who would conceive and bear a Son. His name would be called Emmanuel, meaning “God with us.”

Speaker 3 – Congregation / Supporting Voice or Voices:

Amen.

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

Through the work Christ completed on the cross, the Holy Spirit of Christ can come to us. Christ can be born in your spirit.

You must leave the citizenship of this world and receive citizenship papers and a passport to Heaven. You must not forfeit them. You keep them by disciplining yourself so that you can be disciplined by the Holy Spirit.

The way to begin is to say this prayer to the Lord. Say it now with all your heart:

“My Lord and my God, have mercy upon my soul, a sinner. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God. I believe that He died on the cross and shed His precious blood.

“I believe His blood was shed so that my former sins could be washed away. He offered His blood to the living Father in Heaven, gave me freedom from the prison house of sin, took me out of the citizenship of this dark world, and brought me into His marvelous light.

“I open the door of my heart, Lord Jesus, and invite You into my heart. Wash all my filthy sins away in the precious blood that You shed for me.

“You will not turn me away, Lord Jesus. You will save my soul. I know this because Your Word says so. Your Word says that You will turn no one away, and that includes me.

“Therefore, I know You have heard me. I know You have answered me. I know I am saved, and I thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving my soul.”

Raise your hands and praise and thank the Lord for saving your soul. Let me know about your decision, because it encourages everyone in the churches throughout the world that are associated with us.

Another soul has entered the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of Light, and the service of the King of Light. I believe all the angels in Heaven are rejoicing now that you have given your heart to the Lord.

Praise the Lord. Sharon, tell everyone how they can receive a copy of this program, Program 221.

Speaker 2 – Reader / Program Assistant:

Go to AlamoMinistries.com, write to Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, P.O. Box 6467, Texarkana, Texas 75505, call 479-782-7370, or fax 479-782-7406.

Speaker 1 – Host / Preacher:

Praise the Lord. I am very happy that you were able to be with us today. I pray that you will tune in tomorrow for Part 120 of “How to Have God’s Life Living in You.” That will also be Program 222, and it will be a good one.

You can be sure that you will hear what I believe to be the truth on this program. If you accepted the Lord, I am happy that you are now a citizen of the Kingdom of God and a citizen of the commonwealth of Heaven.

God bless you greatly. This is World Pastor Tony Alamo saying, until tomorrow, God bless you, and praise the Lord.

Speaker 3 – Congregation / Supporting Voice or Voices:

Amen.