God Pleasers | Associate Pastor Chad Erickson

Well, praise the Lord, everybody. Turn with me in your Bibles to Hebrews chap 11 and verse number six. Amen. I want to read just one scripture in your hearing and then we'll uh we'll get to preaching. We'll get to preaching in the house here. Hallelujah. Hebrews 11:6 simply says this, "But without faith it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Very simple title, God pleasers. God pleasers. I I simply want to be a God pleaser. Come on. Is that you tonight? You just want to wave your hand a little bit and say, I I want to please God. That's that's that's my goal in life. That's my identity is to be a God pleaser. Come on, put your Bibles down and just let's pray. Father, I thank you for the worship that's gone forth. I thank you, Lord God, I felt so good singing along with the choir. I felt so good singing along with our worship team. I felt your presence. I felt power in this place as the praise went up. The Holy Ghost just filled this house. God, I'm so thankful to be in America's revival. God, I'm so thankful, Lord God, to be in a place, Lord, where people want to see revival take place in their city, in their county, in their state, in their city, in in their country, and in their world. And God, I pray in Jesus name. God, let that revival start right here in this room. God, let it start with me. Oh, I want to please you in everything that I do. God, revive everything in my life. Everything that's spiritual, revive it in my life. In Jesus' name I pray. and let the church say amen. >> Amen. And amen. You may be seated in this place. I want to open with with a story I heard a kind of a funny story. I heard about a pastor who was trying to be a people pleaser. If you know anything about trying to please people, you get in trouble really quick. But he was a he was a young pastor and man, he just wanted his whole church to love him. He was a new pastor. Mike's still not coming up very much. Just keep on bringing it up. Let it ring maybe a little bit. He was just want to please please a church cuz he wanted Oh, he wanted them to love him. And uh a traditional crowd he he thought he was preaching to and pastoring. They only they told him they said, "We just want we just want hymns." It's almost there. You're almost going to get there. He said he said we just want hymns. And so he thought, well, I'll add 30 minutes to song service. The youth began to say, you know, we want the music to be louder. We want to have loud worship. And so he bought a drum set. Oh, it's getting better. That's sounding good. He bought he bought a drum set. He bought lights. But then the senior saint said, "It's too loud." kind of sounds like me wanting more monitor. Senior sense said that's good. That's perfect right there. You got me. Said it's too loud. And and so he brought some some he bought some noiseancelling headphones and began to give them out to the to the senior saints. And then somebody complained that the services were too long. And so he said, "I'll tell you what. I'm going to start a 7 a.m. early bird service and we're just going to it'll be shortened a little bit and we'll keep our loud service at 11:00 a.m. But but after 6 months, let me tell you how this went. After 6 months, he was preaching four services every Sunday, running on four hours of sleep. He had three different worship teams who wouldn't speak to one another. And he finally broke down and just simply said, "I'm killing myself trying to make everyone happy and nobody's happy, including me." And listen, I I love people and I want to find favor with people, as many people as I can. But the bottom line is there's no way that I can please everyone. There's no way that a preacher, that a pastor can please everyone. However, here's the bottom line. I can please at least one. >> Come on. I said I can please at least one. It It really doesn't matter what everybody else thinks, but if I can be a God pleaser, I just want to be a God pleaser here tonight. I got to figure out what's it going to take to please my God. >> So, I just want to jump right into our text. Step one, we must believe. We must have enough faith to believe. And we got to believe just about anything. Everyone can agree with me that the Bible is a book filled with unbelievable acts and events. And without faith, it's simply just a good fairy tale. >> Without faith, it's just an interesting book of sci-fi. Come on. We we we've grown up reading this book. We we've grown up reading about creation. But let me tell you something. Without faith, you cannot believe that a God spoke everything into existence from nothing. >> Without faith, you cannot believe that God formed man out of dirt. Without faith, you cannot believe that woman was made from the rib of a man. I'm just going to slow down just a little bit because sometimes we read the stories in this in this sacred book so many times that that we don't realize how unbelievable these stories really are. >> Without without faith, you cannot believe that Enoch walked with God and then God just took them straight to heaven. >> Without faith, you can't believe that the entire world was drowned except for eight souls that were saved by a a boat floating upon water. Without faith, you cannot believe that just one glance back and Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt. >> Without faith, we cannot believe that Sarah bore a son when she was 90 years old. >> Without faith, we cannot believe that a burning bush blazed with fire yet was not consumed. >> Without faith, we cannot believe that the Nile River flowed as blood. We cannot believe that the Red Sea parted and the children of Israel crossed on dry ground without faith. We cannot believe that water poured out of a rock and somehow millions of people drank from a rock. >> Without faith, we can't believe that bread fell from heaven and fed millions of people for 40 years every single day. >> That's right. I want us to think about this because sometimes we we we talk about atheists and and we talk about I just don't know how they can't believe that there's a God. Well, the problem is they don't have enough faith because they've read stories and don't have enough faith in the God of the stories. There's not enough belief there. There's not enough within them to believe that that creation took place and that creator became a savior. They don't have enough faith to believe that a donkey could open his mouth and speak Hebrew. to its master. Without faith, you can't you cannot believe that the Jordan River stood in a heap and allow the Israelites to pass through. Without faith, you cannot believe that Jericho's walls fell and collapsed to the ground just because people began to shout and blow trumpets. >> Without faith, you cannot believe that the sun and moons moon stood motionless for a whole day. Without faith, we cannot believe that Elijah was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire. Without faith, we cannot believe that three men walked unpound and unharmed in a blazing furnace. Without faith, we cannot believe that Jonah lived three days in the belly of a fish. I hope I'm not boring you. I'm just telling you things that are unbelievable in the Bible. >> You tell these stories to anybody. You walk up to a stranger, you go overseas to to somebody who knows nothing about the Bible, you begin to tell them these stories and they'll look at you like you're crazy. Without faith, you cannot believe that a dead man revived as his corpse touched Elisha's bones. Without faith, you cannot believe that a virgin conceived and bore the son of God. Come on, somebody. Without faith, we cannot believe that Jesus turned dirty water into wine. Without faith, you cannot believe that five loaves and two fish fed 5,000 people. Without faith, you cannot believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the third day. >> For all these are impossible. These stories are impossible to believe without faith. >> But without faith, it's impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is. is this is not a suggestion. This is an absolute divine requirement. Faith is our foundation of the relationship we have with God. He's a spirit. He's invisible. We can't see him. We can't touch him. We can't put him under a microscope. Uh to even approach him. The very first step is we've got to trust uh that he really exists. >> No matter if we can feel him or not. No matter if we can see him or not. No matter if the stories seem unbelievable or not, we first got to believe that he is. >> Pleasing God is not about perfect behavior. It's about perfect trust. Abel's offering was accepted by God because of faith. >> Abraham was counted as righteous simply because he believed faith. The Pharisees were morally perfect on the outside, but they rejected God because they did not trust him and they trusted in their own works. Why must there be faith in order to please God? Here it is right here. Because all sin began with distrust in Genesis chapter 3. Matter of fact, turn with me to Genesis chapter 3 and verse4. Because Satan caused Eve to doubt. God's word and his goodness. Look at this with me. And the serpent said unto the woman, "You shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be open, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Look at this right here. Satan, the very first conversation he had with humanity, he's breaking down faith in God. Very first words out of his mouth. He didn't ask her if she was enjoying the garden. He didn't ask her if he if she was enjoying the fruit of the trees of the garden. He simply asked her a question. Hath not God? Look at verse six. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, here we go. She saw that the tree was good for food. This is lust of the flesh. This is sensual appetite. This is bodily pleasure. It it starts right here in the garden. She saw it was it was pleasant to the eye. The lust of the eye, greed, covetousness, materialism, and a tree to be desired. Watch this right here. to make one wise. Here it is. The pride of life, intellectual pride, rebellion against God's authority. Here it is. She took of the fruit thereof, did eat, and also gave unto her husband with her, and he did eat without faith in God. The seed of indulgence, consumerism, and prideful self worship was introduced in the Garden of Eden. >> Therefore, returning back to God always must begin with trusting him again. >> Sin began with distrust. Sin began with him saying, "Didn't God tell you this?" "And didn't God tell you that?" And surely you can't believe what he told you. And she took the bait. She ate of the fruit. She did the very thing. Oh, they were all They only had one commandment, y'all. They didn't have ten commandments. They had one commandment. Don't eat of the fruit. Don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Stay. Just stay away from it. Tend to it, >> but don't eat of it. But here we have the very first sin was dishonoring God and not trusting in God and lacking faith in God. But faith honors God's true character. He is faithful and he is trustworthy. Great is thy faithfulness, oh Lord, unto me. Come on. Has he been faithful to anybody? I know this is Thanksgiving week and I know we look back over our lives, we begin to count our many blessings. Has he been faithful to the church tonight? Has he been faithful here in Marville, Tennessee tonight? Does First Apostolic Church have anything to give God glory for? Has he been trustworthy in your life? When we trust him and give him the glory he deserves, that's when we begin to please him. That's why the very next verse after our opening text is it lists heroes of the faith talks about Enoch and and Noah and Abraham and Sarah and Moses. They all pleased God not because they were perfect. And somebody say thank God for that. It wasn't because they were perfect but because they believed God and they acted upon their belief. So step one is believe that he is. Believe that he has all power. Believe that he is miraculous. Believe that God became flesh and dwelt among us. Believe that the creator became savior. Believe that the savior sent a comforter to take his place on earth. I met a very a very nice gentleman this morning. He was visiting for the very first time and I thanked him. I met him in the lobby. I got his name. We exchanged names and I I said, "Thank you." I said, "Thank you for worshiping with us today." And uh the comment that I make to pretty much every guest that we have in the house, I just simply say whether they're apostolic and they're in town visiting from out of town or whether they're from the community and they come to worship with us, they've never been to an apostolic church before, I I simply make the statement. I say, "Thank you for worshiping with us today." And he caught me off guard because he said this. He said, 'Ay, I wasn't here to worship. As a matter of fact, I He said, 'I'm not even a believer yet. He He said, "I was just here for the experience." He told me, he said, "I've been traveling to different churches. I I'm just trying to get a feel of different worship experiences and see how churches worship." And I I told him I I told him I said listen I said I said I hope you come back and maybe he's here I hope he's here tonight. I said but I I hope you come back because there's an experience that I I want you to be a part of. But he gave me hope because he said he wasn't a believer yet. So you're telling me there's a chance? >> Because once you experience the power of God, I don't know how other Christian churches prove they serve a living God. But here at First Apostolic, if you can be in one of our worship services and not feel something that you've never felt before, if you've never felt the power of the Holy Ghost, uh, and you walk into this place, uh, I hope that you know that you're feeling something that's extraordinary. I hope you know you're feeling something that you're not going to feel in every house of worship in Blunt County. You may not be able to explain it, but brother Mayo, you can't deny it. You cannot deny the fact he is God. He is Lord. He is Christ. He is the Holy Ghost in the church today. And he's making himself known through his power. Step one, in order to please God, you got to have enough faith to believe that he is. Which brings us to step number two. He is a rewarder. He is a giver. For God so loved the world that he gave. He gives promises and he fulfills his promises. He promised a gift and he's still rewarding the gift to those that diligently seek him. Exactly one month ago today, probably about this time in another time zone, I stood in the upper room in Jerusalem, the very room that they tell us. 120 received the gift of the Holy Ghost. 120 disciples of Jesus were diligently seeking after him, >> having a prayer meeting. They weren't about to leave until something went down. They didn't know what the promise was, but they were going to stay there until it took place. But then I then got to stand in the exact location where Peter standing up with the 11 preached the very first sermon to the New Testament church. You know the story of Acts chapter 2. We were raised on the story of Acts chapter 2. I've been preaching Acts chapter 2 for going on 30 years now. I I love the day of Pentecost. And so as I'm standing there, and this is just it's an interesting moment. And the reason why they feel like the exact location that Peter stood with the 11 would have made the most sense. And and I told you this before, if not here, they would say near. But I feel really good about exactly what they were saying because there were all kinds of these of these bathing pools where where the people would come and they would wash themselves and cleanse themselves before they would come to the temple to worship. I mean, pretty much as far as you could see, there were these uh rock formations where you could tell it looked it they looked like baptistries. you you had steps going down and there was a a cutout and there of course made of stone and and and one after the other and I promise you there there there were at least 12 I just kind of brother Nolan I just kind of pictured a disciple an apostle kind of standing in each one and if 3,000 people were going to be baptized in one day at one time there had to be a lot of water and I guess I didn't know until I went to Jerusalem, old city, that they're not really around any water there. It's not like there's a a body of water they could have just walked down to and started baptizing. And so they began to say, the only thing that really makes sense if 3,000 were to get baptized, it would make sense that they were going to get baptized right here in these cleansing pools. And so I couldn't listen, I couldn't help myself. And I I don't know if this is legal or not, but I looked down and I thought to myself, I've got to bring something home. And what did you know? I looked down and there right where Peter would have been preaching the stone that he would have been standing on there was a broken piece and I reached down and thought could Peter's foot have been standing right here on Listen, this stone right here is over 2,000 years old. I picked up that piece, looked around, made sure no one's watching. Stuck it in my pocket. I said, "I'm bringing the day of Pentecost home with me." I mean, come on. We're We're living in a country nothing's nothing's older than really 252 years old. I mean, you go to your you you go to Washington DC and they pull out the oldest manuscript. They pull out the Declaration of Independence. They They pull out the old The oldest thing we got. It's only 250 years old. I thought, I have in my hand a piece of stone that's 2,000 years old that was laid there. And old Peter stepped up with the 11 on top of this stone and said, when they asked the men and brethren, "What shall we do to be saved right here upon this stone?" Peter began to say, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of the Lord Jesus, for the remission of your sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. I hold in my hand a stone that Peter and the disciples were probably walking on. And 3,000 people had to probably walk over to get to the pools where they were baptized. And I thought to myself, I'm so glad to be standing where the Holy Ghost was poured out. But in this stone, there's no power. But let me tell you something. The very same spirit uh that filled Peter and filled Mary, the mother of Jesus. Uh it filled James and John and all the disciples in 120 and then 3,000 believers. That same spirit that filled them on the day of Pentecost lives inside of me. I said the very same spirit. I don't know if Peter really walked on this or not, but I do know that the very same spirit that raised Christ from the dead. Say, where in the world are you going with this? I'm about to preach about a promise. I'm about to preach about a promise because you've showed up tonight at America's revival in the experience you're showing up for. Listen, oh my friend that I met this morning, I don't know. He can come for a worship experience, but I'll tell you something that's so much more important than that is a new birth experience. >> Oh, we love our worship experiences. We love to feel the goosebumps. We love the hair that stands up on the back of our necksh. But nothing compares to a new birth experience. >> Oh, and here we go. This new birth is not optional. It is commanded. And I'm going to read through some scripture and you can just jot it down because you're not going to have time to turn there. But Jesus declared in John 3 and5, "Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." I'm talking about faith right here. It's something that has to be diligently sought after. I'm talking about a God who has a promise, >> who's going to reward his people with a promise. Oh, Peter preached the only plan of salvation. I already quoted in Acts chapter 2 and 38. But then he goes a little further and he says, "For this promise is for you. It's unto you. It's to your children. It's all to all them that are a far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." And every single time the Bible records people receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, the initial evidence is always speaking in tongues as the spirit gives utterance. We know the Jews on Pentecost, they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance. The Samaritans in Acts chapter 8, Simon saw that through the laying on of handsh and something visual, something audible had to happen because he offered them money in order to have the power to help people receive the Holy Ghost. The Ephesians in Acts 19, when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them and they spake with tongues and prophesied. the Apostle Paul himself in 1 Corinthians 14:18. Just in case you think this is only for the day of Pentecost or you think it's only for the Jew or only even the Samaritan. Oh, Paul said himself, I thank God that I speak with tongues more than ye all. There was no silent infilling, no later evidence or alternative sign. The Bible pattern is consistent. When the spirit fills, tongues will follow. >> There were Old Testament saints, let's talk about the Holy Ghost. There were Old Testament saints that had the spirit of the Lord come upon them when they needed power or when acts of power were needed in their life as they led the people of God. In Judges 3, the spirit of the Lord came upon him and he judged Israel. Speaking of Anneil, the spirit of the Lord in Judges 14 came mightily upon him and Samson tore a lion apart. Speaking of Saul in the Old Testament, the spirit of God rushed upon him and he prophesied. That's 1 Samuel chapter 10. The spirit of the Lord would come and go as needed among the leaders of God's people. >> But Jesus promised something infinitely greater. For in John 14:16 it says, "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, and dwelleth with you, and he shall be in you." The spirit no longer merely visits. It merely doesn't just set upon or temporarily give power, but it becomes permanent residency in our hearts and in our life to every person who's been filled with the Holy Ghost. And if you've been filled with the Holy Ghost, you ought to clap your hands and give God thanksgiving because he's made your heart his home. You see, blind eyes are still being open. We we witness Kenneth Kirby. We witness his eyes being open. We witness a man in this church who's been in this church for decades. Uh walking around with a with a cane, walking around. He couldn't see. And he would tap his way trying to find his way. He would show up to church. His wife, Sister Karen Kirby, would lead him in every Sunday. We witnessed the healing. The blind are still being healed today. Cancer is still disappearing. We witness brother Shawn Ems, Elder Sha Ems. We witness cancer being taken out of his body. We witness Sister Dita Jeter as she was healed from cancer. But the greatest the greatest continuing miracle on planet Earth today is that God is still pouring out his spirit upon all flesh exactly how he did on the day of Pentecost. thousands of times a week all over this world. The sun it stood still once. Lazarus he rose once. The Red Sea it parted once. Uh but the Holy Ghost is poured out daily. There's people added to the church such as should be said every day of the week. Woo! Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost. If you can believe dead men walk out of tombs, then you can believe that you can be filled with the Holy Ghost tonight. >> If you can believe that the son stood still, then you can believe that tongues are for you today. If you believe that a virgin bore the son of God, you can believe that the promise is meant for you today. Hebrews 11:6 again, "But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Another translation says, "And that he rewards those who sincerely seek after him." Another translation says he rewards faith of those who passionately seek him. >> Step one, we got to believe he exists. We got to believe that he's miraculous. Step two, if we passionately seek him, there is a reward. There is a gift given to the believer. And I don't want to belabor this point, but just in case there's somebody in this room that's still doubting, oh, I don't know about all this. It just sounds like gibberish to me. It sounds foolish. This this other tongues thing. I just don't know. I don't know. I got people telling me that it's not real. I got people telling me that it's not of God. But here it is. If you truly want to be a God pleaser, and I hope there's 100% uh God pleasers in the house tonight, the reward, the gift was promised in prophecy from the Old Testament. Joel 2:28, it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams. Your young men shall see visions. And also upon servants and upon the handmmaids. In those days will I pour out of my spirit. Isaiah 28:11. For with stammery lips, this is Old Testament. This is not New Testament, y'all. For with stammery lips and another tongue will he speak to his people to whom he said, this is the rest wherewith he may have caused the weary to rest, and this is the refreshing Isaiah 44 and3 he goes on another prophecy. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground. I will pour my spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thy offspring. Ezekiel 36. I I hope this is not boring anybody. >> Ezekiel 36:26. And a new heart also I will give you and a new spirit will I put within you. They didn't know what this was about. I promise you. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. That was all Old Testament. We just read about how the reward was promised. But look with me cuz this old this fires me up right here. Hebrews 11:39. We know that this is the this is the the this is the hall of faith. This is the hero's hall of faith. It's a hall of fame for the faithful. And it says, "And these all," and it just listed them all all through chapter 11. Watch this right here. "Having obtained a good report through faith, received, >> not the promise. God having provided >> some better thing >> for who? This is the writer of the New Testament. This is the new dispensation. This is after the Holy Ghost has been poured out. God having provided some better thing for us that they without us should not be made perfect. Let me tell you something. There's coming a day when the dead in Christ are going to rise first. I don't want to mess with theology right here, >> but that's not talking about people that are saved that are already dead. That's talking about the Old Testament saints of old. This is written of the New Testament church. And then it's talking about those that have received the promise in you that are alive and remain. Now, uh don't don't don't pull away from me right here. But when the dead in Christ, when the Old Testament under the old law before the promise was given, what we just heard about in Hebrews chapter 11, they need us >> because when we meet them in the air, when those that have received the pro, they're going to need those that received the promise to meet them in the air, it says, God having provided some better thing for us that they without us should not be made perfect. It's simply saying those of old, those that are dead, those that are under the old law who died in Christ, uh, they will not be made perfect, they need us. They've got to have ush. And so that's why we see the promise rewarded in Luke 24:49. Jesus told his believers, "And behold, I send the promise of my father unto you, but carry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high." >> And so Jesus, before he ascended, he said in Acts 1:4, "Wait for the promise of the Father, which saith he, ye have heard of me." I've been talking about it. You've been hearing from me all about it. For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the fire, with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence. And then it goes down to verse eight, and we love to quote this. But ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me. >> So we move into the day of Pentecost, Acts 2 and 4. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. Here it is. the first outpouring and began to speak with other tongues as a spirit gave them utterance in the verse 16. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. We already read about it. He's talking about a promise that's unto us. Uh it's unto our children. He's talking about a spirit that's going to be poured out unto all flesh. Verse 33. And having received of the father the promise of the Holy Ghost he has shed forth this. Woo. This is that he he said for this which he now see and hear speaking in tongues. >> Over 3,000 follow the plan of salvation. But the promise wasn't only for the Jews on the day of Pentecost. I already read about it. I'm not going to reread it. But it was to the Samaritan. It was to the Gentile. It was to the unbeliever. It was to those who you would never believe that Jesus would give his life for, but it was for them too. And Paul begins to preach the same plan of salvation that Peter preached in verse number five of Acts 19. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them and they spake with tongues and prophesied. Now, I've heard that there's only three steps to the plan of salvation. I I probably preached that. But let me tell you something. Something has to happen before repentance, and that is belief. >> How can you repent to a God you don't even believe in. >> You first got to believe that he is. >> Now, now, sadly, there's people that that base their whole salvation message on that one word, belief. But that's not enough. It's only step one in the plan of salvation. But you first got to believe that man who I met this morning, who visited with us this morning, he's not going to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost until he believes that God is >> and that God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. And I believe if he's here tonight or when he returns again for another experience, I just believe he's going to feel something and let him know there is a God. And not only is there a God, but his name is Jesus. Not only is there a God, but he died for my sins. Not only is there a God, but he loves me and he cares for me and he thinks things of me and his thoughts are toward me. He's a powerful God. We repent. Our sins are washed away in a pool of baptism. We diligently seek after and we receive a a reward called the gift of the Holy Ghost. And I don't know about you, but that's what happened to me. I can still remember back. Oh, I hope you got a testimony in this place tonight. I still remember the day I received the gift of the Holy Ghost. I still remember the day I repented of my sins. Uh I still remember the day that I was washed in baptism and my sins were washed away. Anybody remember the day you believe for the first time? You believe for the first time. You you finally said, "I I believe there there is a God." There's only seven of y'all. Okay, seven people believe in the house. >> Come on. I hope there's more than just >> 300. All right. Some of y'all arms tired. How many remember the day you repented the first time? >> Come on. Don't get that. Oh, we're musling up. We're musling up. How many remember the day you got baptized in Jesus name? >> Now, come on now. We kind of got excited about baptism. What about repentance? >> It's easy to get excited about things that God does for you. What about the things you do for God when you say, "God, I'm not going to live this way anymore. I don't I choose not to be like that. I I choose not to be a whino. I choose not to be a drug addict. I choose not to be a womanizer. I I choose not to allow temptation to rule my life. What about that? Because that's what God takes notice in. And that's what the angels in heaven take notice in. >> Because the true the very first thing that begins to change us after we believe in God is we say, "God, I want to be a new creature. I want those old things to pass away. I want to die out to the very things that try to control me. I know I'm flesh. I know I live in flesh, but I choose to allow the spirit to take over. But oh, how many, you said you remember being baptized. How many remember receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost the very first time? >> Put your hands down. How many remember speaking in tongues when you received the gift of the Holy Ghost? Now, I hope if you're here today and you think this is just a crazy preacher up here sweating and yelling, screaming, I I hope you saw all the hands that were lifted all around you because this thing is real. I'm not I'm not trying to single anybody out. I just want us to be God pleasers. And not only God pleasers, I want us to live a fulfilled life. And the only way we're going to live a fulfilled life is in order to please our God. >> Come on. Tonight can be your night. Tonight can be the night that you receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Tonight can be the night that you follow the plan of salvation. But you've got to have something inside of you that longs after the Holy Ghost. That longs after the presence of God. Matter of fact, stand to your feet right now. I'm not going to preach much longer. I I believe I preach as much as I can. I might have worn out the topic. I don't know. Some of you look like you like you're a little little tired about hearing about this, but you you better not be tired of hearing about the day of Pentecost because that's all we're built upon. Without the day of Pentecost, uh we're not going to make it to heaven. Without the day of Pentecost, without the Holy Ghost and filling us, there's nothing that's going to catch us up. >> But God, in order for us to please you, I want to please you like those Old Testament Bible heroes pleased you. They pleased you because they had faith. Woo! They didn't get to receive the promise. But they had faith believing there was going to be a promise. But here we are today. Do we understand how blessed we truly are? We don't only hear about the promise. Uh we get to experience the promise of the father. I wish somebody in this place would begin to lift up your handshake, holy ghost. Uh I want you to feel me. Come on, somebody. If you've already got the Holy Ghost, uh thank God for it. But I want you to just begin to say, "God, I want it to be active in my life. I want it to fill me to overflowing." I want to experience it every day of my life. Uh I don't want to try to live one moment without your spirit leading and guiding me. If you don't have the Holy Ghost, tonight is your night. I believe you can get filled. I believe if you're hungry enough for it, if you desire it, if you truly want to please God, tonight could be your night. If you're here tonight and you don't have the Holy Ghost, come on. I want you to come down with the people that are already coming. Uh if you don't have the Holy Ghost, if if you've never repented of your sins, come on. I want to see some God pleasers show up in the altar tonight and say, "God, uh if what you want is faith, I'll believe anything you want me to believe. If what you're looking for is belief, I'll have faith in anything, Lord God, that you say any promise that you've given, I'll have faith in it. I'll believe it's for me. I believe it's for my children. I wish Listen, we're not going to have a long altar service unless there's just people here that are truly wanting to seek after God. But if you could just for a few minutes, if you could lift up your voice like the day of Pentecost, I believe the 120 were making some ruckus in that room. I believe it wasn't just the rushing mighty wind that made a noise. I believe they were up there and they were they were saying, "God, you got to do something. We got to have your power. Jesus has left the earth. Our best friend, our miracle worker has left the earth and we're powerless." And they were praying, "Oh, father, give us your promise. Send the promise. Send the promise." And it was at that time uh that the Holy Ghost fell in that place. Clothing tongues like as fire began to sit upon every one of them. There was movement in the house. Uh something began to happen. Tongues broke forth. Uh people began to speak in languages they've never heard. They began to rejoice. Uh they began to prophesy. They began to talk about the great things of God in the mighty works of Jesus. Uh woo. I wish somebody here today lift up your voice. and be proud to be redeemed. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Come on, God pleasers. I know you're here in this place tonight. Come on. This is America's revival. If you can't get the Holy Ghost here, I don't know where you can get the Holy Ghost. If you can't feel God here, I don't know where you're going to feel God. Uh if you don't get baptized in this pool in the name of the Lord Jesus, for the remission of your sins, I don't know where else you can get baptized and have your sins washed away. Oh, I feel in this place. I feel I feel like you can reach your hand over to a brother or a sister or maybe you got a guest standing next to you that you can see tears begin to well up in their eyesh can just begin to pray over one another. I need I need the church family begin to minister right here. Uh I need somebody filled with the Holy Ghost to be able to minister to somebody that's never felt God who's never had the Holy Ghost fill them. Come on. We need ministers in this house. Uh I'm talking about every saint of God filled with the Holy Ghost. Every believer allows signs and miracles to follow you right here. The greatest miracle could be that you lay your hands on somebody and they receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. What greater miracle could take place tonight. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. We got to press through right here. We got to linger long enough to press through right here. We got to allow praise to erupt inside of us. We got to allow faith to erupt inside of us. Come on. Come on. Come on. Hey. I'll pour out my spirit upon all flesh. I'll pour out my spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams. Your young men shall see visions. Oh, I'm going to pour it out upon servants. Uh, upon the handmmaids in those days, I'm going to pour out my spirit. This is that that was prophesied by Joel the prophet. Uh what we feel tonight what you can receive tonight is the very thing Joel prophesied. Oh let it take place. Holy Ghost right here. Holy Ghost right now. Come on. Come on. Come on. Press through right here. We got to press through. Come on, saints of God. We can't get tired. Press through right here. I pray to God. I said, "God, I just want somebody to be filled with your Holy Ghost. I want somebody to be hungry enough to receive it. I want somebody to be hungry enough to receive it. Come on. I'm looking for you. I'm looking for you. Are you hungry enough? Receive you the Holy Ghost. Receive you the Holy Ghost. Hey, receive you the Holy Ghost. Come on. Without faith, it's impossible to please him. God, build up our faith tonight. God, I know words coming out of my mouth. I say, I believe. Do my actions prove what I say? Do my actions prove the words that come out of my mouth? I say I believe. I say I'm a believer. But do my actions prove it? Do I trust in you in the bad times? Do I trust in you in the impossible times? Do I trust in you when things seem impossible? Come on. If you've got the Holy Ghost, I wish you begin to speak in another tongue. I wish you would allow to start flowing out of your lips. I wish you'd allow that spirit, that evidence to start moving through your body. Uh oh, like fire sh up in your bones. It's trying to get out like rivers of living water. I wish you'd just allow it to come out your mouth. Let your tongue loose. Let the Holy Ghost let tongues let another tongue ster lips let him speak to you tonight. Let him speak like God speak to his people through sting lips in another tongue. >> My God, this sounds beautiful. Come on. That's the most beautiful sound I've heard all night. That's more beautiful than any song to hear 4 to 500 people just begin to lift up their voice in a tongue. It didn't come from them. It was uttered from the spirit of God. I draw from boundary. The enemy has no right here in my family. No scheme could ever. >> My God, he's here tonight. Whatever your need is, he's here tonight. >> In the mighty name of Jesus, I pray on the power of heaven. Everywhere, >> I believe the Holy Ghost is about to be poured out right here. Come on. I mean, the Holy Ghost is about to be poured out right here. Woo! This is that. Come on. That's This is that. Come on. Come on. Come on. I believe. I believe. I believe. I believe. I believe. I believe. I believe. Help my unbelief. Help my unbelief. Come on, leader of the Holy Ghost right here, church. >> It's going to happen. It's going to happen. It's going to happen. >> Be filled with the Holy Ghost. >> To our children, >> to our children, be filled with the Holy Ghost. >> Come on. Come on. Get them. Come on. You got to press through. You got to press through it. >> Be filled. Be filled. Be filled. Be filled. I believe in you. I believe in you. >> I will not feel I will not angels. Brother, I want you to I want you to pray in Spanish right here. >> In another tongue, come on. In the Spanish language, order. Receive it. Receive it. Let's give it to yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Receive it. Receive it. Receive it. Receive it. Receive it. Receive it. Yeah. Yeah. >> Jesus name. >> Every nation, every tongue, the promise is for you