Stuck Between Two Opinions | Associate Pastor Chad Erickson

praise the lord everyone amen i also want to say as pastor hammond has already said it's so good to have all of our guests here today if you're a first-time guest here at first apostolic what in honor it is that you would be here and worship with us this morning a church family put your hands together come on let's welcome them every single every single one is here so glad to have and i i guess best known flannery's uncle is here this is the best way to say this but we're so glad we love the family we love the sanders family we love uh that they are are a part of our carpenter ericson hammond family but i'm always so thankful today are we are we in love with guests being in the house of the lord don't we love that that's what we're all about hey man love you so good to have you and and uh so great so glad to have the church family in the house man we just got a great crowd that's here worshiping the lord what about the choir they quite not sound amazing today are we thankful for the worship of the choir that leads us into worship amen pastor sister carpenter are in louisiana today uh you remember well brother and sister dean uh they they preached or taught our marriage retreat uh last year well they are there today they're there yesterday they did a special event they spoke at a special event and then today preaching in bossier city and uh let's just pray that god would just absolutely be with them bring them back safe tomorrow and give them safety in their travels uh turn with me in your bible to luke chapter 9 and verse 18. i always miss our senior pastor and first lady when they're not here and just like just like with every one of you every one of us when somebody's missing it's just it's evident a lot of people think that in a church this size yeah if i don't if i don't show up to church on sunday morning nobody's gonna know yes we do we realize that believe it or not we do realize that matter of fact we've had a lot of we've had a lot of family conversations and and we'll just start naming names and did you sort of seeing the so-and-so's and one of us make oh yeah they're sitting in another section oh well did you see these people yeah yep they were sitting in section number two today and and uh we just go through a list of names and and a lot of times people move around but if you're not here we want you to know we miss you and uh we we miss when the saints of god are not here we miss you miss a pastor when he is not here luke chapter 9 and verse 18. says this it says and it came to pass as he was alone praying his disciples were with him and he asked them jesus asked them saying whom say the people that i am the answering said john the baptist some say elias elijah others say that one of the old prophets is risen again he said unto them but whom say ye that i am and peter peter sees always be the one that stands up peter answered and said the christ of god christ of god and i know some of you are probably thinking wait a minute this doesn't sound like the right translation this is just a different book matter of fact this story is in three of the gospels and so this is just a different gospel that you're used to hearing but jesus said who do you say and peter said you are the christ of god that means you're the messiah the anointed one the prophet the priest the king jesus asked two questions yesterday disciple said who do people say that i am who do you say that i am i i just want to kind of just bring this bring this to light i these two questions i i just want to ask you today from wife right from where you are today in the sanctuary two questions what do others say what does the world say but more importantly what do you say what is your opinion my title simply is this stuck between two opinions stuck right in between two opinions why don't we put our bibles down let's just pray together father we love you we're so grateful oh god for your loving kindness is better than life your goodness and your mercy o god they're everlasting and we're so thankful for it god i pray today lord god i believe you've spoken to me lord you've spoken lord into my heart lord you've given me a message that i believe lord god the church family needs to hear and lord god people that are here for the first time or saints of god who have been attending this church for decades although we all come to a place where a decision must be made lord where we've got to choose the lord god between two opinions lord i don't want to be stuck in a place lord god where i cannot decide but god i want you lord god is speaking to my heart speaking to my mind speaking to every life today and let us make a decision to live for you with everything that we are come on if you agree with me put your hands together let's love him today father we love you oh we agree together that your word is alive it's real lord it's infallible and lord god we're going to learn from it today in jesus name and everyone said amen and you may be seated in the house today bye bye show of hands how many parents have children under the age of 12. i'll raise them real high let me look at let me look at you for a moment all right put your hands down now if we could all just bow our heads for a moment of silence that sound right there is so beautiful i was getting ready this morning in my room and and my my daughter's brother josh were coming in out and you have you have a daughter that's windsor's age and man they were just oh listen nine-year-olds and 11 year olds they have issues i'm talking real life issues that apparently on sunday morning when dad's getting ready to preach they've got to share with dad they need answers right now but listen i want to train them for the world you know they they they're the personalities the personalities come out but i want to read something off to you and for you that have children under the age of 12. i want to see if you can kind of pick up on this tell me what i'm reading off a cheeseburger and fries chicken strips and fries cheese pizza and fries mac and cheese and fries corn dog and fries what am i naming off kids menu right kids menu at any restaurant that you go to i'm talking if you go to a mexican restaurant those are the kids menu items right there and i i began to think this morning you know truly the reason why there's only five choices for kids it's not because the restaurant couldn't make smaller portions of every single thing they offer right and it's not because their menu ran out of space and so you know you always sit in the back that little square in the back of the menu it's not because they ran out of space and that's just all they had room for was five items it's because kids don't make decisions really quickly and so if you're a parent listen we have issues with those five options i mean we'll go through we're like listen just tell us you've got five options brother brady they've got five options just get just yell one out and we're gonna order that for you i mean can you imagine going to uh uh cheesecake factory and if you open the book what if there was a 125 options for your kids i mean that waiter that server will be standing there going as your as your child would go to i don't i don't like it with no i don't want onions on it i don't you know i don't like it with that sauce i want the white sauce i don't like the red sauce i i you know what i'm saying and it's because children they can't process options they they cannot you got to give them you've got to give them five choices these are your five choices less options makes decision making easier and so i i begin to to think to myself how is it that we as the church you know here's the deal we've got a lot of options and sometimes i wish god would just kind of eliminate some options because already people have an issue making decisions and with kids with kids it's not because they're fickle it's it's not because they're in intentionally indecisive they're just ignorant about options so we cut down their options and we just give them a few and and so as i was as i was preparing and i was beginning to get ready for this message i was i was studying the story of elijah and i was studying the story of mount carmel and and i began in first kings chapter 18 to read about the prophet who called this emergency meeting right with the children of israel mostly know the story but but but just in case just in case you don't he calls this this meeting together in first kings 18 21 it says and elijah came unto all the people and said how long halt ye between two opinions if the lord be god follow him but if baal well then follow him and here's the problem the the problem was not well the problem was that they had already kind of moved into following idols and worshiping idols and filing baal and and they would go to his uh his shrines and they would be worshiping uh the gods of baal that was a major problem but maybe what was even worse in the sight of the prophet was they answered him not a word they would not make a choice they looked towards the prophets of baal they looked towards that one prophet of god of jehovah and they would not choose but here's the problem our god is not the type of god who's going to allow you not to make a choice the bible says that our god is a jealous god i don't know if you've ever witnessed jealousy up close i remember in in high school i went to public school i went i went to public school in in new york and uh probably the the most fun we had in school outside of lunch in gym class was when we knew when we we heard it through the grapevine that there was going to be a fight don't judge me i wasn't fighting i was just a spectator but you know you'd hear about it you'd hear you know billy and jeff you know jeff says something about billy's mother you know or or or or billy spray painted something on the water tower about jeff's mother or sister you remember um and so you'd hear these stories and so you know man i remember those days you got out you go out there and pee man we would get to go outside and and we just knew that billy and jeff it's coming it's happening we kind of form a circle and and you know you've been there you remember those days well um i remember i remember one day we were in in school and we started hearing the chant fight fight fight because you had to do that was part of the rules of fighting you had to start chanting fight fight and so of course the circle gathered and i remember thinking to myself well i've not heard of any rumors of any fights and so this is interesting so you know i'm a good kid so i kind of get in the back of the back of the circle kind of looking in trying to see what's happening and wouldn't you know it it wasn't two guys it was two girls fight but girls don't play and don't fight by the same rules that guys fight by you know you know guys it's all about just like masculinity you know what did you say about my mom you know and you know poppy in the eye you know might get down might wrestle for a little while you might have a little bit of blood uh somebody gets a black eye it's not a big deal you know they get broken up it's over oh if you've ever seen a girl fight i'm talking there's like hair flying like chunks of hair we're talking fingernails turn into claws in fate i'm not talking claw marks and blood on the face and gouging at eyes there's no rules i mean they're they're trying they're trying to embarrass they're trying to rip each other's clothes off they're trying to embarrass them before the rest of the school it's like the worst and it's all over one thing jealousy because jealousy will cause someone to do something they wouldn't normally do but you looked at my boyfriend or you talked to my boyfriend or somebody's been telling rumors about you kissing my boyfriend whoa like i said there was no rules i mean matter of fact i remember physically physically feeling sick watching these girls thinking dear god i mean and nobody knows what to do there are people trying to pull them apart but you can't get them apart one's got hair this one this one's got hair this one you can't get them apart and it reminds me where the bible talks about god he says it's more than just him being jealous he says in exodus 34 14 my name is jealous don't you think about this we serve regarded before we knew his name was jesus before he was given the name jesus he said my name is jealous i'm not going to put up with you flirting with somebody else as the people of god and you know the story all through as we go through the judges and then we go through the kings and the prophets and the people of god they couldn't stay true they couldn't stay faithful to god would bring him out of stuff and would give him stuff rain down manna from heaven bring quail in water out of a rock damn it every time what'd they do they just kept on going after all these the ammonite the gods of the ammonites and the hittites they've got the gods even of the philistines they went after the gods that hated their god and god said ah oh what you don't understand is i'm a jealous god and i don't share and so here we have the story of elijah and as as elijah is coming up upon the people of israel the children of israel he's going to force them to make a choice because as of now they're indecisive they're they're like that child at the restaurant who only has five options but just cannot come to crips with one option cannot make a choice in elijah he comes in and he's like listen i'm the prophet of god we've had a drought now for three years the king hates me the queen hates me all the people hate me because they think that i brought the drought on the people people are dying livestock is dying crops have died everything's dead and so now i come back to town and they're looking at me like i'm some horrible person but that's not the case i'm simply the prophet of god saying my god is a jealous god he's not going to allow you to live any way you want to live and so elijah comes up and he says i'll tell you what we're going to have to have a meeting right now he said bring the 450 prophets of baal i'm the one true prophet i'll be there he said all the children of israel you got to show up we're going to go up on mount carmel and we're going to have a showdown to see whose god is the real god he said the god that answers by fire let him be god of course the uh the the people they all agreed okay yeah we can go with that you know uh you know if if one of the gods actually answers my fire we we surely can go along with that but as he begins to ask him whose side are you on and who will you serve he said there was silence no one said a thing so he said okay here we go i want prophets of baal you do your thing we're going to watch and see how you so from the very morning they build up their altar from the very morning they put a sacrifice on top of the altar on top of the wood and they began to call unveil they begin to say bail old bale come and and consume this sacrifice with fire prove baal that you are god and and you know you have elijah and elijah already knows the end of the story because he's a man of god and so he's kind of sitting by him he's kind of watching in and the bible talks about that they did that all the way to noon and then at noon time elijah you know it kind of starts to step up like it's my turn oh no we got to do some more so they began to to climb upon their altar and they began to do these dances and they began to cut themselves and allow their blood to run down on the altar and they began to cry out even the louder unto baal nothing happens of course because we understand that baal is not god and nothing takes place and so finally about three or four o'clock in the afternoon finally near the even time sacrifice here we have elijah and elijah steps up and you know what gets me about elijah is elijah just didn't walk up and do his thing fire fell and that's not how elijah works you see because elijah first has to talk a little trash before he does his part right he started he starts mocking them he starts say hey where is your god he says is your god on vacation maybe your god is sleeping maybe you're maybe your god is talking to someone else and he doesn't hear you speaking to your god and he begins to mock these prophets of baal and so i imagine that there was probably quite a commotion with that and most people don't like to be made fun of most people don't like to be mocked even especially when they're bleeding right and you gotta imagine that there had to be some people that were pretty upset about this situation but elijah then begins he says i'll tell you what we're going to do we're going to build back up the old altar that has fallen down i read that i thought well that's good right there already man there's a lot of people that need to build back up some altars that have fallen down there's some families in this place today that need to build back up some altars that have fallen down elijah said i need 12 stones i i need a stone to represent every tribe of israel we're gonna we're gonna gather these stones together because we want people to know we're in this thing together our families coming together for prayer our family is coming together for devotion i'm so thankful for our morning prayer i love to see this place filled with people all across this auditorium for two hours every morning we've been coming here and praying and i believe the spirit of god has been fallen because of that prayer because i believe people have built back up altars i i enjoy somewhere around 805 every morning i enjoy seeing our strong tower or actually our academy students come in and just feel these these pews and and begin to pray and they're all across the altar here and they're they're pacing back and forth and praying and it gives me joy to think these young people are learning how to build up their altars because sometimes life happens and our altars begin to fall apart oh yeah uh work schedules they change or school schedules change and and sometimes people that had a good altar at one point but they find themselves without an altar and how can we praise and worship a god that we don't pray to it makes no sense for you to come into church on a on a sunday morning and wait oh this is the day the lord has made and the choir led us in so many beautiful worship songs but how do you worship a god you do not know and how can you know a god that you do not pray to and so elijah he's trying to show him he's trying to say hey there's going to be some things that are about to happen the fire is going to fall from heaven but before it does we have got to have some symbolism take place where you see these 12 stones stacked back up to realize that we're all in this together if one's going to do it we've all got to make a decision to do it and so elijah brings these stones together piles them up he puts a pile of wood upon the stones and then he puts the animal he puts a sacrifice a burnt offering he puts that upon the wood but he wasn't done there he said no we're going to really show what our god and the power that he has is all about and so they began to dig a trench all the way around the altar and he said it's still not good enough i'm thankful for the trench i'm thankful for the time putting the work put in for this altar but it's not good enough we gotta feel it with water water wait i thought we're in a three-year drought where does water come from in a three-year drought i don't know i don't have an explanation for that but what i do know it had to be a sacrifice of praise because that water that they found i don't know if they had to bring it in from far off i got to believe that and in the mountain there probably wasn't a lot of water going on up there they probably had to bring it up from the valley and here they put water and he says i want you to do this i i need four of you all to grab a barrel and i want four barrels of water to be poured into this ditch that goes all the way around the sacrifice he said but i want you now to pour in four i want you to do it three times in my math i got pretty good math four times three i believe it's 12. and so he says we need 12 stones and we need 12 barrels of water that are going to go around this sacrifice because once again we're going to do this together we're either going to serve baal or we're going to make a decision right here and right now to serve jehovah yeah everybody's got to be in this together we can't have some people going one direction and other people go in the other direction either we're going to have a god called baal or we're going to have a god called jehovah so elijah he gets his men he gets the children of israel and he prays this simple prayer he says lord god of abraham isaac and israel i like that right there let it be known this day that thou art god in israel and that i am my servant and that i have done all these things in thy word he said hear me o lord hear me that this people may know that thou art the lord god and that thou has turned their heart to back again and nowhere in the word of god does it say that elijah shouted he didn't dance he didn't scream he didn't do like the like the prophets of baal he didn't cut himself he just said the simple prayer and the bible says that immediately fire fell from heaven and consumed the sacrifice and that would have been enough but that's not all what the fire did because the bible says it consumed the wood and then he consumed all the 12 stones that made up the altar but that's not all it did he even says it consumed the dust ah it consumed the water the bible says it lapped up the water that was in the trenches around the altar i'm talking about a god who answers by fire and he's still answering by fire today if you've never felt the power of the holy ghost you've never felt the true fire of god in your life there's nothing like the power when the fire falls it consumes everything in his presence of course then the people start saying the lord he is god the lord he is god the lord he is god and i know it would seem like that was a great end into a story but if you'll read for homework if you'll read the rest of that story that's not where it ended you got to keep on reading because anybody can make a decision while fire is being sent from heaven to burn up a sacrifice anybody can come into the house of the lord when they see everybody else making the same decision and say oh i can make that decision too but the problem was when they left the mountaintop experience when they left the altar when they left the very experience of fire falling from heaven oh that's not what happened they didn't all stay together they didn't all make the same decision somewhere along the way we've got to make a decision god i refuse to do what everybody else is doing i don't care what the world is doing i don't care what the christian world is doing i follow after you because you're my god because you're my lord and there's nobody that answers by fire but you making a decision in the moment when everyone else makes a decision it doesn't take persuasion oh no what about when everyone else hasn't experienced the fire and nobody else in the workplace has received the revelation that you've received what about that what about when you have to be the testimony to your workplace when you have to be the testimony to your college campus when you have to be the one that says i i've experienced it i've seen it happen but now i want you to listen to me because i'm going to tell you how it all goes down we read in our texts about jesus asking his disciples he said he said i need your opinions i need your perception on the subject of my identity see matthew mark and luke all record the same story the same account of uh the question of of jesus's disciples and and i like luke's account because i feel like it's most interesting i i want to read this again it says and it came to pass as he was alone praying his disciples were with him and he asked them he said whom say the people everyone say the people whom say the people that i am you know come on imagine this with me jesus finishes praying he he looks up and he sees his disciples begin to come into wherever he was praying at him and he begins to say come on guys come on gather around i need to talk to you you know the disciples were jesus is small group we've talked about that he he had his very own small group he was a small group leader he was he was discipling them right and he said come on gather around i i just want to take and it was i was more like a poll like an opinion poll if you will brother joel it was it was it was jesus saying i need to take a poll and kind of just see where we're at you know it's kind of like our teachers man we'll give pop quizzes just to kind of see where the students are we've been teaching them right we've been teaching them we've been teaching on a subject we're on a certain chapter in a book in a textbook and and there's a time when you just say okay guys all right all right books close uh take out a piece of paper it's time for a pop quiz man that was like the worst feeling i hated that i was like oh here comes another f you know uh just kidding more like a c but uh i said but but pop quiz you know and jesus said i just want to ask you i just want to kind of get this out there i just want to ask this question he said do people say that i am and of course you know you got you got the whole uh you know it's uh some people think that you're elijah and some people think you know you're a prophet and some people think uh you know you're you're john the baptist raised from the dead even even the king you know herod herod took john's john john's head off his shoulders and and he's he's starting to spread around rumors that somehow jones alive again john came back to life and they think that you're john the baptist and you're doing all these miracles because that's what they knew john the baptist would do you know he was a great man of god and they think that you're you're john the baptist and and then peter you know peter peter peter rises up this is it you know peter had a lot of quirks let's be honest you know he didn't always tell the truth right he wasn't very good with a sword um he fell asleep a lot during important prayer meetings you know he peter's head you know he was he was zealous right he was a little overzealous you know he's the one jesus i'll never forsake you jesus i'll never leave you jesus this jesus that he lops off the ear of a guard and jesus has to pick up the ear put it back on the ceterian and and you know that peter from that point on you know people say are aren't you a follower of jesus oh no i haven't never heard of him you know i believe he says he curses right denies him three times you know so so peter has some issues but when it came to understanding who jesus was and understanding the doctrines that jesus taught simon peter he was pretty quick to stand up you know we understand we love the book of acts and we love the day of pentecost we love peter standing up with the eleven you know he he was definitely he was definitely the guy he was the leader of the group he was definitely the one that just stood up but that wasn't the only time because even in these situations right here peter would stand up and and he would very quickly respond and and when all the other disciples would kind of be in wonder and kind of they kind of held back it was simon that answered lord to whom shall we go thou hast the words of eternal life and and we believe and are sure that thou art the christ the son of the living god does it happen multiple times this wasn't the first time this had happened simon was always the guy that just got it it wasn't his education he's a fisherman it wasn't it wasn't his education he wasn't he wasn't matthew he wasn't a tax cutter he he wasn't somebody that had been educated he wasn't a doctor he was just a good fisherman he was a good he made a living for his family it wasn't because he was awesome he just allowed himself to receive revelation all right and so as i as i begin to hear jesus ask these questions i i too want to ask the same two questions in this house today because if you're going to make a decision you've got to have two choices and and one choice is what does the world think and what do you think and so very important doctor as a matter of fact right here this this very first question that jesus is asking his disciples he's he's gathered them around and and when he brings them together he he says who do men say that i am and you know the very first one raised his hand and said jesus um i'm pretty sure that they're they're saying they're saying that you're john the baptist yeah they're saying that you're the forerunner of someone and i i know what the world says i i realize that the world considers jesus as as being as being the son of god or or god the son and he came and and he came for a purpose if uh if there's a person that believes in the trinity in the house he was nothing but but the second person who came to do the job to to take the sins away from the world and the father sent the second person and and maybe he was a forerunner for the third person who's going to come on the day of pentecost and i know what the world thinks i get it i've studied it i i've been to bible school and i've studied all different religions and i've studied the trinitarian doctrine and i know what the christian world says but but i guess my question is to you what do you say the son of man is who do you say jesus is if you're in this house today and maybe this is more your second or third time in the house and and you've heard this you've heard us preaching and you've heard us teaching about the oneness of god you've heard us teaching about god robbing himself in flesh and dwelling among his people and giving his life for his people i know what the world says but there comes a time when you can't stay in the middle any longer and you got to say i know how i was raised i know when i went to the denominal church growing up i know what they said but i also been reading the bible and i know what the bible says about who god is and who the son of man and the son of god is and and sooner or later you've got to make a decision in your life who is this one we call the christ someone said oh he's the prophet elijah he's come back to life again and i find this so funny because hollywood paints the picture of of the man christ jesus as as such just as a humble backward quiet yet here we have the people saying he must be elijah which tells me something because elijah was not a backward quiet humble type person he wasn't in your face type person that was that was a guy i was just the prophet i was just telling you about he was the one that would confront 450 false prophets and now he confront them god told him to kill him you know the story after after after the fire fell from heaven and the sacrifice was consumed then god said hey elijah round up them 450 prophets and kill every single false prophet yet the people in jesus day brother altar they related they thought hey this man must be elijah coming back which tells me that we had it we we had the son of god the son of man when he was walking earth must have been one powerful man i refuse to look at him as some just kind of just kind of quiet bashful you know you know how hollywood makes them look how much oh because that doesn't sound like elijah to me i just got to believe that he was powerful in everything he did now we know he was humble we know he didn't come to make a scene we know he didn't he didn't come to be known or become famous we understand all that but at the same time i love that the people said it must be elijah it's elijah coming back to life oh no it wasn't uh it was simply the son of god the son of man who loved people so much he wanted to see the sick raised up he wanted to see the lame healed he wanted to see those with leprosy he wanted to see the spots washed off their bodies he wanted to raise the dead he wanted to bring people back to life he called lazarus from the grave it was love it was passion or savior our god our lord our king the prince of peace he came to this earth not just to be mika but he said i want to be the one who saved people from their sin i know what the world says but what do we say here in this room today others say he was a prophet from the old testament a good teacher a good preacher oh you know he has some good things to say but oh he's so much more than that to me i know he's so much more than that to you whom say ye that i am jesus was saying who do you say that i am i know in this room today there's so many opinions oh my goodness there's philosophies oh there's there's men's philosophies and men's traditions that want to get into our minds i want her i want our students when they go to university you better be careful what classes you take i know you've been raised on a pure i know you think you understand the word of god i know you think you have all the answers because you went to a christian school your whole life i know but there's people out there that want to get into your mind and put ideas into your head philosophy is not of this word right here but philosophies of men people want to get in colossians 2 8-10 says beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men after the rudiments or the theories of the world and not after christ but the very next verse says for in him in jesus dwell of all the fullness of the godhead bodily all the fullness of the godhead dwell in the body of jesus verse 10 says and you are complete in him which is the head of all principality and power listen i don't know this whole co-equal co-eternal uh lingo i'm so sorry but when you start talking about the jesus that the godhead dwelt in the body of jesus and he is the head that means he's the top he's the head of all principality and all power i'm sorry but that sounds like there's only one and jesus was simply saying i know there's a lot of confusion i know that you're going into the synagogues and you're hearing things taught but i want you to know i came to earth for such a time as this i was born into this world i came here legally i came in here through the door of the sheepfold i came in here i was born into this world for such a time as this because their salvation needed in this world i'm here to save who do you think that i am and here we have people who are stuck between two opinions what does the world think and what do you think allow me to pose these same two questions on on a few more a few a few more very important doctrine important doctrines of the bible what about the holy ghost experience we celebrated every service i i hope if you've been here any length of time you felt something that you've never felt before uh hopefully this is your you've only been coming here for a month or maybe two months or or maybe even six months i i pray that you every time you come here something is different ah i was talking to a friend last night at a ball game uh he has his uh he is his children in our in our school and they've been they've been attending church here and he was telling me he said i'll tell you why i come to church here he said i was going to a great church but he said i'll tell you what really drew me to your church he said every time i walked into the doors whether i was dropping my daughter's lunch off at the front desk or i was coming into an assembly or coming to a spring program he said every time i walked into the doors he said the hair on the back of my neck would stand up oh listen i know josh i don't know if he's here this morning but man i was sitting next to him last night i was like oh this is doing something for me right here because this is what we preach about this is what we believe i feel it but sometimes sometimes i want to do other people feel it do other people feel the same thing that i feel and we begin to tell me that last night i thought oh my god this is beautiful this is wonderful because that's what it's all about the holy ghost experience is for all people and i i didn't say it was just for the apostolic church i said it was for all people it's it's not a religion the pentecostal experience is not a denomination it breaks the borders of every denomination of every religion we've been told stories and in south america i believe it's brazil where tens of thousands of catholics are receiving the gift of the holy ghost they haven't even stepped into an apostolic church say they haven't even stepped into a pentecostal church they've just been filled with the holy ghost because how in the world is there going to be revelation any further if they don't receive the gift of the holy ghost it's a lamp into our feet it's a lighter to our pathway it's a candlestick in the tabernacle no more darkness we have light the light has entered the world and when the light has entered the world through the holy ghost we can all now see has been revealed truth has been revealed we're hearing about and i and i don't say that lightly in south america tens of thousands the catholic church there was a there's an article not too long ago they said we're in trouble because we have so many that are getting filled with the spirit and i thought you're in trouble i thought you believed in the holy ghost i'm confused but they don't understand the evidence the tongue that they're hearing now listen i know what the world says i know the world it's just gibberish they're just they're just speaking syllables over and over again and i'll be honest with you i've seen some stuff i've pulled up some videos on youtube of some charismatic movements where i see and understand why they think there's some fraudulent activity going on if you've ever looked man there's some stuff and i don't want to name names of uh of searches i've searched but i i've looked where people are uh they're going on these laugh attacks and they're starting to make barn animal noises and and they're they're laying upon one another and i'm talking about some foolishness that's taking place where people from the outside can look at that and say well that must be what speaking tongues is all about and it's not but i see where the world might see it and say that that's just kind of weird well what about what was that what was that show in i believe it was in kentucky in the hills of kentucky was it i think it was like snake salvation it was on it was on probably four or five years ago matter of fact i wasn't but about an hour an hour hour and a half north of here right and they have these churches these these pentecostal churches which right there gets us in trouble because then they automatically think that we're going to bring snakes out and we don't believe in that i only kill snakes all right we don't we don't don't touch them i don't touch them but you see in those people the way the way that they're that they're worshiping and even the way that they're dressed and what they're doing their service people just assume some of y'all know what i'm talking about you go to you go to work with people and they're like so when do they bring the snakes out right and of course if you've been in church all your life you're just like what are you talking about until you get on youtube right and then you're like oh that's where they got that idea from but man when you when the people of god i know what the world says but what say ye what's the holy ghost done for you has the holy ghost brought you out of anything oh listen i've got i've got to testify in this place today because there is a revelation that takes place the moment you receive the gift of the holy ghost if you don't have the holy ghost and you're kind of on the line you're like i don't know if i need it i don't know if i really want it i don't know if it's for me i don't really know if i really want to seek after it i've heard that it's free but i don't know if i really want to come down to the altar if you are on the fence if that's you let me tell you something you will start to open this book right here and things that you've read all your life will begin to jump out at you you'll see you you'll read through passages you've read 50 times and you'll read that same passage after you receive the holy ghost and the spirit that is now inside of you will begin to enlighten your mind you'll read the bible you're like what what are these ah i was given a bible study not too long ago to something that i've read the bible seven times through and i said do you have a holy ghost he said no i said well you you read the bible i said but until you receive the holy ghost that bible there's no revelation taking place in your mind you're reading words you're reading black and white you're you're reading words but but there's no revelation the understanding does not come it's like the ethiopian eunuch until he received the word receive the holy ghost and all of a sudden everything began to jump out of the pages at him where he began to think whoa i'm about to get to him in a moment i want to talk about baptism but you begin to read in the enlightenment i remember after i received the holy ghost how even as a child how incredible it was the things that i never understood began to make sense i'm talking about a holy ghost experience we can't hold hostage the spirit of god into four walls we can't do it my wife and i we were we were leading worship in krakow poland we were we were invited to come over and do a a city-wide choir clinic there there were there were all the all the venues event centers in the city of krakow poland they were having choirs there was a women's choir going on in this hotel venue there was a men's choir going on this hotel venue there was a mass choir there was a children's squad there's a youth choir the whole city they're ate up they love gospel music they just discovered it i don't know they don't speak english but they love to sing gospel music in england in english they love it it's like the new fad they'll fill up arenas to hear gospel music i know why they feel something i've never felt that before so they they pile in and so so we're there and they said we're going to have a worship service and our missionary they're the atoms they said we're going to have a worship service even before this whole choir this whole choir festival has got a big festival before it even starts we're gonna have a worship service and so uh we had just i this was probably in 2012 13 somewhere around that area and so um we had just recorded the choir just recorded you were holy so so we said you know what let's sing you a holy so we began to sing and man when i say oh i didn't tell you this we were in the basement of a catholic church and i said basement that makes it sound morbid it was it was a beautiful beautiful hall about this size but it wasn't gothic right it was it was it was more more of a contempt maybe it's their contemporary sanctuary right and so we were there leading worship and i look back and in the back doors came what i would consider what i would call a monk okay they had the full brown robe that they had a big sash and um maybe a friar okay i'm thinking robin hood a little bit here okay follow me okay three of them walked in and sat on the back row i thought well this is gonna be good i'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing i don't know and so we're worshiping and of course you had a lot of the choir members are going to be in the choir claim they feel the whole i don't know how many people were there hundreds of people were there and uh but i couldn't keep my eyes off of these these three friars let's go on friars the three friars that were back near the back back row there because all of a sudden they lifted up their arms and you cut there's that big big brown robes on they lifted up their arms and let me tell you something they were not speaking in polish i don't know polish but they were not speaking in polish they were speaking in touch listen you know when somebody speaks it doesn't matter what language they speak i remember looking back they were singing you are holy oh so holy and i start pointing like hey hey i'm i got a missionary and his wife i got my wife on my point i'm like check that out there are friars on the back row and they're speaking in tongues because god said i want to pour out my spirit upon all flesh i know what the world feels and i know what the world thinks but i just believe the people of god we're going to let this holy ghost experience outside of these four walls the day of pentecost the upper room is not going to be confined to one room but it's gonna escape into people in every tongue in every language in europe and south america in africa in asia i just believe the holy ghost is going to be poured out upon all people in all flesh if if you can't make up your mind today you're on the fence and you're just like i don't know i wish to god that she would break out of that i wish you would make a decision today you don't have to be stuck between two opinions acts chapter 2. the jews received the holy ghost the apostles marry the mother of jesus received the holy ghost 3 000 were added to the church that day acts chapter 8 the samaritans those those half breed you know have to have gentile they were segregated against but in acts chapter 8 the samaritans received the gift of the holy ghost in acts chapter 10 the gentiles received the gift of the holy ghost they didn't even think it was for the gentiles oh but they even received the gift of the holy ghost and then in acts chapter 19 the men of ephesus they received the gift of the holy ghost jesus himself said in john chapter 3 he said unless you are born of the water and of the spirit come on say that with me unless you're born of the water and of the spirit you cannot see the kingdom of god you can't even see it forget understanding i i know why people don't understand us because if you're not born of the water in the spirit you can't even see it it's like you got scales over your eyes kind of like saul who became paul as as a lightning struck his eyes and he can't see anything he he had to have revelation he had to be filled with the gift of the holy ghost in order for him to see and to have revelation something has to happen i know what the world says but what say ye too many people are stuck between the decision to wait or the decision to receive my god i believe today is your day i really believe that i'm not just saying that i i believe the holy ghost i i felt such a strong presence of the lord this morning i was i was preparing and you know i said lord god i'm going to put myself out there because i just believe that somebody's going to come hungry and is going to want to receive the gift of the holy ghost and it's not going to be somebody who's never heard of it before it's gonna be something that's been listening that knows that understands they needed but they've never taken a step forward and i feel like god was telling me that person is going to get the holy ghost this morning that person is going to make a decision this morning and say i'm sick and tired of waiting i'm sick and tired of wondering i'm sick and tired of being stuck between two opinions i'm gonna make a decision to receive the gift of the holy ghost today i'll move forward quickly what about the essentiality of jesus name baptism we know what the world thinks about baptism don't we we understand the world they believe it's an outward sign of an inward experience we understand it's a it's a great way to to keep your attendance books you they baptize into the church the local church you you baptize or show your membership into the church it's a it's a really easy way to see how many people are on your membership roles but that's not biblical i know that's what the world does i i know but they just don't quite understand it they don't quite see the need that we see to be baptized there's something about going down in the name of jesus for the remission of our sins there's something about listen every every person in the new testament listen close every person in the new testament was baptized in the name of jesus for the remission of their sins you hear me every person now now somebody's here going now brother eric same what about john's baptism that was the new testament that was old testament jesus hadn't died yet the veil hadn't been rent yet him and buried hadn't been raised again there had been no day of pentecost the holy ghost had not filled the church john's baptism was all old testament every single person you read through your new testament not one person in your bible in the new testament was ever baptized in anything other than the name of jesus for their mission understands i'm excited for tyler i'm excited for you guys today because here's what happened here's what happened they've been hearing about baptism they've been attending the church very faithfully man they've been here they've been hearing about this jesus name baptism but but they've been kind of you know in between but they told pastor wednesday night they said we've made a decision we've read it for ourselves they said sunday morning we want to get baptized in jesus name oh i'm so thankful read it for yourself you don't have that anybody else tell you you've been given the word you've been given the book these are the words of our god he said it he wrote it the authors that he gave that he inspired they all wrote the very same thing i know what the world says but what do you say i know what the world thinks baptism is but what do you say i'll tell you how insignificant baptism has become in the christian world there's a lot of christian churches that don't even baptize anymore and i get it i do because if that's what you think baptism is for just sign a membership card if you don't understand the process and the purpose of baptism then i understand why it's going out i get it i understand why but i'm so thankful we understand why we are baptized i'm so thankful that we go down into a watery grave i'm so thankful we have stories of the ethiopian unica who said here is water what doth hinder ah what doth hinder why would we stuck between two opinions why in the world would we not want the name of the one who died on the cross and shed his blood for our sins why would we not want his name applied to our life think about it if he was buried if he died and was buried why would we not want to die and be buried and let the old man die and pass away and old things are gone behold all things become new when you come up out of that watery grave when you come up out of the water all things become no it's the best decision you will ever make repent of your sins and be baptized in his name it's the best decision it's the decision that you make now receiving the gift of the holy ghost is not your decision now you've got to want it and you've got to receive it but that's not your decision that's god's decision but it's our decision to repent and it's our decision to get into the water of baptism it's obedience to the word of god it will change your future forever if you're here today you ought to join tyler and his wife you ought to join them in the water of baptism today you ought to say you know what i'm sick and tired of reading it and not doing it i'm sick and tired of understanding it and not doing it my god get in the water get you it'll be the very best decision you've ever made you'll walk out of this place you'll feel like you're floating can i get a witness from any apostolic pentecostal that was baptized that jesus name you walked out you walked out clean you walked in dirty you walked in with baggage you walked in with a burden but you're gonna walk out free hey let's just worship him for a minute i feel a holy ghost in this place i feel god is tugging somebody to make a decision in this house hey who will you serve today the lord wants to know whose side are you on are you going to be on the side of truth or are you in the side of the world are you going to make a decision or are you going to sit back complacency and just say i don't want there's no decision except a yes and no you may be seated i'm almost to romans 12. i want to go on one more time romans 12 and 1 says i beseech ye therefore brethren by the mercies of god that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto god which is your reasonable service it's the least that you can do be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove that is what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of god oh be not conformed to this world but be transformed i'm thankful for a transformation i've gone through i said i'm thankful for a transformation i've gone through holiness i know in some places worship that's a bad word that's the most beautiful word there is outside of the name of jesus what's more beautiful than holiness oh the world doesn't have a clue and you know what they never will they'll the world is never going to understand holiness you can't understand holiness unless you have the holy ghost right you can go and then i i let me just give you some advice if you're a new conference if you're new to this thing and don't go to work and try to explain holiness or standards of separation if who you're talking to doesn't have the holy ghost they're not gonna they'll never understand they're gonna look at you like what they can't holiness is not for people who don't have the holy ghost holiness begins when you're filled with the spirit of god right you filled the holy ghost so we understand the world if i ask you a question what does the world think about holiness they don't have a thought about they think it's it's crazy they don't understand it and it's not that they think it's crazy they respect it i do you can't tell me they don't respect it they don't they might not agree with it they can't they definitely can't explain it but i believe that they respect it i i do i believe they respect it but i looked today at people that the majority have the holy ghost and so i want to ask you and i guess i'll ask myself the same question who do i how do i feel about the holy ghost or about holiness how do i feel about holiness and i've just got to say this listen holiness is not only the one of the most beautiful words but holiness is what protects me from myself i want you to think about this holiness is what protects you from yourself that when dr hughes came and and preached a couple months ago what he said was profound because so many times we blame things on the devil right the enemy came in like a flood and and caused me to do this or caused me to do that or i i failed or i fell off the wagon or i i got a back addicted to that the devil came and took control no he didn't what holiness does and the separation of the world's standards what they do for us is they protect us from ourselves they protect us from the flesh that we all are until we have new bodies right until we're in heaven until we've got new bodies we're going to have to fight flesh oh my god we have to fight fight flesh every single day paul said i die daily but listen i'm a young person you could have a no better friend than a standard of holiness we we had i'll tell you a story we we had a songwriters retreat we hosted collective hosted a a songwriters retreat where people from across the country come in and uh it was it was in gatlinburg and not just in gatlinburg man it overlooked like downtown gatlinburg and to overlook downtown gatlinburg we had to take this road that wound all these s turns that wound up all the way to this cabin beautiful view but probably the scariest tribe i've ever taken because there wasn't one guard rail not one matter of fact it was scary in the daytime it was really scary at night when it was raining man coming up there and my wife kept on saying chad there there's no guard rails i was like yeah i know i'm trying to keep this thing like in the middle of the road i pray if somebody comes the other way i mean i'm not getting over i began to think to myself so many people want to live a life with no guard rails and don't even realize that the very standards oh thank god for everything written in this book everything that we follow i i thank god because it's a protection everything the pastor we have pastoral standards around here you might not find them in this book but you'll find the concept in the book and the pastor understands the flock the shepherd understands a flock enough to say i feel like as a church as a this is the direction we're going to go and this is the direction we're not going to go thank god for an umbrella for protection of a pastor who can say i will guard you from the very things that are wanting to kill you the very things i want to take your life the very things that i wanted to destroy your marriage and destroy your family and destroy your home i'm thankful for personal guardrails personal standards that we can put up that we say you know what i don't read it directly out of the word of god i don't see it in black and white uh pastors never even said anything about it from the pulpit but but there's certain things that that i as a as a priest of my home i've set standards for my home personal standards stuff we won't watch and stuff we won't listen to subjects we won't talk about we don't talk about people we don't get around the we don't get around the dinner table and and eat people for dinner we don't do it it's a standard that i hold oh that is biblical by the way that's not the point there's certain things thank god listen holiness to me is the most beautiful thing you say brother but the excellence it doesn't mean holiness and standards i realize that standard protects the holiness the standard the standards puts us in an atmosphere in an environment that we could actually be holy right if we want to if we want our kids to if we want to have kids that that are obedient and that are unlawful that follow the the rules and the laws of the land you don't you don't send them out with a gang downtown on on gay street in knoxville right you you know you don't put them you know you don't you don't put them on on in some environment where they're not going to live whole and live healthy you protect them you put guard rails around them you have standards for them to live by because you want them to be good you want to be righteous and right the same thing with me i i think to myself lord i i know that i have a choice i know how the world feels about holiness but oh god you've given us you've given us protection oh listen me i'm so thankful for this right here i'm so thankful for the word of god what we can read through and we can see story and hear and read story after story of people who have gone through the same things that we're going through and we watch and see how they react into the situation how they were guarded from the situation whether it was guardrails in their life or whether they kicked over those guardrails and they fell to their death whatever it is we can see and read about god wants the very best for us he said talk about people my thoughts are towards you i want to see you haven't expected in every single person in this house today your father loves you your god he loves you so much he wants to see the very best for you he wants to protect you even job wasn't even job we just read the book of job it wasn't even job where satan came before god and said if you'll take down the hedge i'll be able to get to him and he'll curse you to your face and god allow it to happen but that just showed me something oh devil you gave away such an important topic that god has a hedge around each one of us but i come back i come back to where i began because i believe in this place i i believe there's people in this place that you're you're standing in the middle you're standing silent and i believe that god really wants to do something in your life but you can't stay where you are and get to where god wants you to be matter of fact i want you i want you to stand to your feet today i'm so thankful my my dad is in the house today and i'm i'm thankful my parents are here and i'll be honest i probably heard my dad's testimony i probably heard his testimony uh growing up i'm sure i did but but for whatever reason it it really impacted me probably about four or five years ago i i heard him tell his testimony again but but the story goes like this my father my parents lived in albuquerque new mexico and and um it was about the time i was born back i guess probably early mid 1976 dad was the dead was selling electrolux vacuum cleaners and i might not have all the story right but mom don't correct me um dad was dad was selling vacuum cleaners i don't want to be too factual cause my mom's gonna yell out the right thing but um dad was dad was going door to door and and selling vacuum cleaners at the time and we're making a living for my family young family and uh he had just gotten into a a non-denom church okay he just gotten into uh i guess back then they really referred him as a charismatic church and he had gotten the holy ghost at this church and right away just like i said right away he began to read the word and begin his he began to be enlightened right even though he was still going to this this denominal church man they they worshiped and they sang and they praised and they sang the latest of the day i don't know what that was in 1976 but the latest of that day but one day dad asked to meet with the pastor and he said pastor he said now that i've got the spirit of god living inside of me he said what i've never heard you tell me is if god cares about the inside does he not care about the outside too he wasn't going to pentecostal church he wasn't going to the apostolic church he got this prayer to read in his bible and because he received the gift of the holy ghost and his pastor made the mistake of saying chris don't you worry about the outside all god cares about is the inside and dad said i went home in him in my prayer time i i would pray now say god i just can't believe lord that you would care about my inside but wouldn't care about what i looked like and what i wear and where i go and the things that i say and the the thoughts that i think how could you not care about the outside if you care about the inside and so dad knocked on the door of a pentecostal pastor and the pentecostal pastor got to talk to him and and dad well he was so he was so he had such a zeal and you're so zealous for the lord of course he's selling vacuum claims but you know of course all the conversations start to talk about god so he began to talk and then this pastor right away picked up that he had the holy ghost and picked up right away that he was hungry and he actually referred him to a whole mission's church that was started in the area we've lived glenn howard was was just starting up and and if i'm not mistaken they were the first saints in that church in albuquerque new mexico but let me tell you something today i just believe somebody's in this place where you've been other churches maybe you've got the holy ghost at another church but you're finding yourself here in this house and you're hearing things baby you've never heard before but because of your prayer because because you've allowed the word to begin to speak into your mind all of a sudden you're saying i am just not i'm not happy where i am right now i i'm not satisfied with where i am right now i wonder if there's anybody else in this place like my father who just would simply say i i'm just not going to the place where i believe i need to be i wonder if there's anybody in this place who would say you know what i'm willing to come down to this altar and lord i'm gonna make a decision today just like elijah just like he commanded and said who's on the lord's side just like he said who will serve the lord who he who answers by fire he is god i wonder if the fire would fall today into somebody's life and you would receive the gift of the holy ghost of the very first time would there be a person in this room who would come to this altar and just say god i want you to do more in me than you've ever done before i want to start making decisions oh god it will absolutely change my future church family if you begin to pray with me right now and come on help me to pray i i listen i'm not uncomfortable at all i'm going to make an altar call right now and i'm not uncomfortable if nobody comes or if 50 people come i'm good i just believe i want to be an opportunist today and give every person the opportunity to make a decision to follow after god i will decide lord in this service today lord god if i've not been baptized in your name i'm gonna make a decision today to be baptized in your name lord if i've never received the holy ghost i want to make a decision today to receive the holy ghost lord i'm going to seek after it i'm going to repent of my sins i'm going to turn away from evil in my life and i'm going to do something great for you god i just believe lord god that you're going to fill me if i'm buried in your name i just believe you're gonna fill me with your spirit is there anybody in this place that says i want to love holiness more than i've ever loved holiness before god has anybody join me in this halter than just simply they say i want to live a life that brings joy to the king of kings and the lord of lords i want to live for him more than i've ever lived before come on church family i hope that would be everybody in this room i hope every person in this room would come down and say god i want to love holiness like i've never loved it i want guard rails oh god to keep me lord god to provide and protect for me in jesus name i'm just believing today let your holy ghost break out in this room come on you gotta want it you got to say god i can't live without your spirits god i can't live without us i can't live without you lord god unless you're in my life unless you're in the driver's seat i cannot make it another day i've stayed in this in between stuck position for too long ah i've got to make a decision today who will you serve would it be what the world thinks or do you have an opinion that says god you're my god god i follow after you lord god in the good times and the bad times we got people seeking for the holy ghost come on church family come on we gotta pray i believe somebody's gonna get filled with the holy ghost today but it's going to take an uproar a praise in an uproar prayer saying god fall in this house let your fire fall from heaven right now consume us in this house right now come on come on do it in jesus name do this you see the shoes i will stand for you let the world foreign foreign open my whole life oh god right here it's my reasonable service do it for you let the world thinks oh god and we'll sing the course again i will stand i will stand for you let the world peace oh my god make this declaration today i'll stay true stand for true yeah thank you lord yeah say this course one more time say i will stand for true let the world oh god bless your name as we get ready for baptisms this morning hallelujah i'd rather have jesus and silver or gold i'd rather be his men have reaches i'm told i'd rather i'll never have jesus things to be the king since foreign faithful to his cause world what a fame i'd rather be true out here in things once you find somebody right nearby and just pray for him right here come on we got to be in this together we've got to make decisions together as elijah said the people the tribes have got to come together on this decision i believe first up a solid church of maryville has to come together on a decision we're going to serve him like we ain't never served him before we're gonna live for him hey it's our reasonable service i'd rather have this life than any other life but there's no place that i would rather be than in this place foreign together together together together thank you jesus thank you jesus thank you jesus thank you jesus we're so excited for tyler thank you jesus let's pray for tyler right now father i'm so thankful that a decision lord i'm faithful the decision the tower has made to be baptized in your name lord the remission of sins lord god every sin that he's ever committed is going to get washed away into a sea of forgiveness your name is about to be applied to his life he's going to have your name added to his life oh god and i'm just believe creating money things are going to come out of his home in jesus name we pray whether tyler for the best of your faith obedience in the word of the lord i do now de-baptize you in the name of jesus christ for the mission of sins in jesus name hallelujah thank you lord hallelujah if you're looking for me love you guys this wonderful occasion to take on the powerful wonderful name of jesus bless you the bless our leader guider everything she does and pray in jesus name jesus name jesus amen sister jill professor your faith and obedience to the word of the lord i do now indeed baptize you in the name of jesus christ for their missing of sins in jesus name again you're interested my life is clap your hands if you're thankful oh if you're faithful thing in jesus amen and amen to all of our welcome home attendees we want you you'll start off in the connect center and then we'll quickly bring you into the event center for lunch today but god bless you you're dismissed in jesus name me back here tonight 5 30 prayer six o'clock we'll get started with our worship service tonight god bless you in jesus name