Sid: I have on the telephone Gordon Robertson; he is host of 700 Club along with his dad, Pat Robertson who founded the 700 Club. Gordon on yesterday’s broadcast we left them hanging. You got a call from John Jimenez to go to India, you’re a comfortable attorney. You want nothing to do with ministry, you’re in a backslidden type lukewarm type of state. But you had a little fleece if you get a visa, and in a couple of days you got his visa. And before you knew it you were in India and the next day he says “You’re preaching.” You’d never preached before, you preached for the first message of your life to 15,000 Hindu’s and people started coming forward to receive the Lord. And there was one particular family, they were Brahmin’s. And what are Brahmin’s for those that don’t understand?
Gordon: Brahmin’s are the priest class of the Hindu society, they’re the top caste of their culture. They’re the land owners, sort of the most powerful class within Hindu culture and they’re the ones who are called the twice born. They’re the only ones that have any chance of achieving Nirvana. Moksha is what the Hindus call it.
Sid: What did they say to you when they came forward?
Gordon: They had tears in their eyes and they said “We cannot help but believe in this Jesus that you preach. Your words have pierced our hearts like arrows.”
Sid: And what does it mean to them coming up and publicly proclaiming Jesus as their Messiah?
Gordon: And not just proclaiming that but proclaiming that they wanted baptism, that… the Hindu’s believe that there are many gods and that they have no trouble praying to Jesus as sort of adding Jesus to their list of gods. But for baptism is the one, that’s the separation point where they’re turning their back on family, they’re turning their back on whatever job or career or money or economic position or social position. They’re literally leaving everything and they know from that point forward they will be considered outcasts and they will not have their families receive them any longer.
Sid: Hmm. And then John Jimenez had a second dream, your all set to go home and you’re glad it’s a victory it’s a success you’re happy but you’re even happier about going home. But John has another dream and he says “You’re supposed to stay, I mean I still don’t understand how you decided to stay.” I’ve never been in India but I have friends that have preached there and they said they loved the results but they hate that level standard of living way out. I mean how many hour train ride did you take to get to this city?
Gordon: Twelve hours, 12 hours.
Sid: So, how could you stay?
Gordon: It was that Hindu couple that… I knew something was going on that I needed to stay to find out what that was.
Sid: Now, did you have a whole series of meetings planned after you left or what was your itinerary like?
Gordon: All the meetings were over, there was no agenda, there was nothing really to do other than to sit there and wait. Keep in mind I’m still a partner in a law firm that I got this case load that is kind of gnawing at me.
Sid: I wonder what the telegram was like or the phone call when you informed your partners on what you were doing.
Gordon: Oh, that’s another interesting story.
Sid: Or your wife. (Laughing)
Gordon: My wife was tougher, but I think Kathryn was prepared at one of the few things I did in sort of my rebellious backsliding years. One of the best decisions I made was I needed to marry a Christian and needed to have that in my life. And so she was a Christian and so for her hearing me say the wild tales of preaching in front of large crowds was I mean it was unusual for her but at the same time was an answer to her prayer.
Sid: One night you’re in India and they were having this huge Hindu festival but actually God woke you up. Tell me what happened.
Gordon: Well the day that I waved goodbye to John Jimenez at the train station and then went back to the hotel and literally I did not know what I was supposed to do. I mean I’m there with a man I’ve known for all of a week who’s from Fiji and we’re sharing a room in a $15 a night Indian hotel. And I’m kind of wondering if I’d completely lost my mind. And that night the very night that John left there was this big Hindu festival to Shiva the god of destruction and I woke up at 3:00 in the morning. I did not know that it was 3:00 in the morning I thought it was getting close to dawn. And I didn’t want to disturb Sesil so I decided to walk outside and see what was around the city. Because there was no agenda for that day so let’s go explore. It’s the middle of the night and it’s the middle of this big Hindu festival and it’s down by what they call the River Ghat which is the river temple where they offer sacrifices to the God Shiva. And it’s like I’ve taken a step back in time. Growing up in Virginia I’ve never seen idolatry, I’ve never seen people bow down to stone and wood, we just don’t have that here. And here at this river temple it’s like a whole town had turned out and you know the crowd at this river temple made 15,000 that showed up at our little gospel meeting seem small by comparison. And there were professions and drums and pipes and big clouds of incense coming up, and people whirling like whirling dervishes. And it was just this chaotic scene as they went down to the river to offer sacrifice to Shiva who they think dwelt in the river. During this I prayed “Lord, do you want me to be here?” And got a very firm answer “Yes, I do.” Then I wanted to make sure, will you protect me in the middle of this?” And he said “Yes, I will.” And I walked in to the temple god area.
Sid: Gordon I have to ask you “Were you used to getting this type of communication from God?”
Gordon: Well it had been awhile but because my father was very careful when I was growing up to make sure I knew the voice of the Lord. I had some very dramatic encounters with the Lord when I was young, and sort of once you know that you never forget it.
Sid: Tell me the most dramatic, just briefly when you were young.
Gordon: I was 12 years old I was caught up in a cloud, I read the verse “The eyes of the Lord go to and fro over the whole earth to show Himself strong for those who hearts are loyal to Him.” Prayed a very simple prayer, sort of a challenging prayer for a 12 year old, I said “Lord, if you show me Your power I will serve You.” And I spent the next 3 hours flat on the ground completely motionless, unable to move, unable to walk, but in my senses I was just in this white cloud. I didn’t know that there was a scriptural significance to white clouds of glory but when I was 12 I know it now. But God answered that prayer very dramatically and very quickly. I was up in Ohio in a small church and my family literally had to carry me out of there. (Laughing). And yeah that was a dramatic one.
Sid: So when you see things that happened in the Brownsville Revival and the Toronto Airport Church that’s not so strange for you.
Gordon: No, I mean there are different manifestations, I haven’t had all of the manifestations that say Brownsville has, but I can’t say you ever get used to it. But I know it and once you know that, once you know the voice of the Lord, once you’ve experienced that you know there’s no counterfeit that substitute, there’s something unbelievable to it. But even these childhood experiences didn’t prepare me for what God was getting ready to show me at this temple god.
Sid: What did He show you?
Gordon: I mean a lot of what I had growing up and had been experiencing you know you read the Biblical encounters with angels and with God. You know I remember as a child being somewhat jealous of the Apostle Paul and how he was stricken on the road to Damascus and why did he get that direct revelation and I didn’t. And here I am in this river of Ghat and I’m praying and I felt led to go into it and then once I’m in it and I’m seeing adultery and I’m reacting to that with almost with a righteous anger rising up to me “Why are you a child of God made in the image of God why are you bowing down to that thing. Why are you doing that? Then I felt led of the Lord to walk off to a separate area a rocky point that looked down at the river scene. And there it’s hard to describe any of this…
Sid: Gorgon I’m sorry, just hold that thought. Mishpochah we’ll pick up on tomorrow’s broadcast.
Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth
Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth