How Jack Hayford Changed the Landscape of the Charismatic Movement

Prophetic Bible teacher Sterling Sawyer says all believers are kings, but they must have their heart in the right place as they humbly serve the King of kings.

“The king must be dedicated to the King of kings and to His kingdom above their own,” he says, and their focus must be on Jesus, not people.

“The king must be so impressed with his God that men are nothing,” he says.

Sawyer, who founded Liberty Tree Ministries in Clements, California, shares his “Prophet, Priest and King” paradigm of Christian growth on the Charisma Connection podcast.

Sawyer offers Pastor Jack Hayford as an example of a servant king who has thoroughly worked God’s Word into his life and is helping others do the same. The king gets to build part of the kingdom, which is what Hayford has done in the Foursquare Church and the charismatic movement.

“We know the Bible in a deeper way because of what he’s done,” Sawyer says. “The thing to notice here of the attributes that would make a good king [is that] he brings this forward very humbly, and he doesn’t call attention to his humility, which means it’s true humility. So the Father graced him every step of the way. And he had to die to some things for this truth to come forward. He’s a brilliant man. He could have made a lot of money out in the secular world. And yet he stayed faithful to the call and did what he felt God was calling him to do. I don’t think there’s any indication that he ever felt that he was exempt from any of the rules. And he didn’t [keep] the blessings of his position selfishly to himself, but was very generous in giving.”

Sawyer looks to Hayford as one who has had an impact on society’s view of the church.

“In this man, I think we can see somebody who’s changed the entire landscape of the Pentecostal Foursquare charismatic Holy Spirit movement, not only to these movements themselves, but it’s actually affected the way the world looks at this part of Christianity, so that’s pretty amazing. Obviously, most of us are not going to have that broad or dramatic effect. But I’ll tell you, that resurrection life, when it comes forward, when it manifests, it will have a dramatic effect on whoever’s around you.”

Download the “Prophet, Priest and King” paradigm chart here. Click here to listen to the final episode of the Prophet, Priest and King podcast series.