Transcript of a published sermon by Cornelius Williams, transcribed from YouTube. An attributed primary source — not Acts 2:38 Life doctrine text.
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Summary
Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.
A meeting place of the Almighty God
- He opens in prayer: it was in the Old Testament that God desired to dwell amongst His people; He told Moses in Exodus 25:8, "Let them make Me a sanctuary" — not for pretty looks, not for the eyes of men, not for a church hangout — "that I may dwell among them." This is more than a conference and more than a gathering: this is a meeting place of the Almighty God. The Holy Ghost has been in every service from the outset; he thanks the music team, the praise team, and the choir, and Brother Cox for following the Holy Ghost this entire week — sometimes in conference settings God gives you a word and you don't want to deviate from it, and God somehow supernaturally links and conjoins the spirit of preachers until there is one spirit, one message, one vein. The 238 Conference would not be possible without this faithful church and the ministry of Bishop Frost and Pastor Bradford; he and his wife are humbled to be part of this conference for a second year, and they went through a lot to get here this week. God showed him this service as he got down on his knees to pray: there are people in this room tonight who will never in your life forget what happens to you tonight — not because of the preaching or because of him, but because something happens when a young person opens up the portals of their soul and says, "Lord, I want You to pour everything inside of me that You have." Tonight is not a night to casually participate in service or to bypass the hem of the garment of Jesus as it flows between these seats, because God knows exactly where you are and exactly who you are, and He came to touch you. And then he breaks protocol: "I'm breaking Pentecostal and pulpit protocol — I will not take a text tonight. I will not read. Proper protocol is to take a text, preach that text, state your subject, preach that subject. But I just feel like preaching tonight." His title, and it is intentional: "I'm a closet Christian — and I'm not coming out."
Scriptures: Exodus 25:8
The closet is a place of concealment
- Somebody turn to your neighbor and ask them, "Are you a closet Christian?" If not giving a text was weird enough, the title has incited some thoughts: if you understand society and the vernacular of social and urban language, your mind locked in on the phrase "coming out of the closet." And you think you understand the origin of that term — but the origin of the phrase began in a place you would least expect. By definition, the closet is a place of concealment, a place of secrecy — everybody say secrets — a place of darkness, where things go to hide and would love to remain hidden; and the implication of coming out of the closet is a declaration of boldness and defiance that the lifestyle that has been hidden has now decided to be revealed. At one point in this country, in the early 1900s, the consumption and use of alcoholic beverages was banned all across this country — you could not buy, sell, or consume them. Those who partook of that lifestyle, who had serious trouble moonshining and packing away as much beverage as they could, had to hide their lifestyle, because it was not morally accepted to be a drunk: you did not see men staggering out of barrooms or hanging on street corners drunk out of their minds, because they remained in the closet; fear gripped them. But now they're everywhere. And it was then that the idea of coming out of the closet was latched onto, and we find it more prominent and prevalent in our day — movements, societies, and groups of people who have decided they would come out of the closet. But he has not come to preach about any one of those groups tonight; he has come to preach about you and me being a Christian. And hear this first and clear, or you will miss the ending: he is not propagating the idea that we as Christians should remain in the closet. He believes with every bone in his body that if there was ever a time for the church to be bandwagon Christians, we ought to jump on the bandwagon of defiance and say there's no devil in hell that's going to stop me from being a child of God. I am a child of God first; I am an Apostolic first; there is no movement worth jumping on and no crowd worth attaching to but the crowd banded with the blood of Jesus Christ. Are there any Christians in the house, any Apostolics in the house? I'm Apostolic from the top of my head to the soles of my feet, and I'm not ashamed about it, not apologetic about it, not intimidated about it. If the world can rebel, this is the new rebellion: I'll be a Christian; I will not bow; I will stand strong. We live in a world where everybody has something to say — an opinion, an ideology, a voice. When conversation comes to the coffee table and people talk sports, they have no trouble remembering stat lines; when people talk politics, they have no trouble telling you who they voted for. But when people begin to press and interrogate you — what do you believe, what is your stance, who is the God you serve, why do you dress like that, why do you act like that — then all of a sudden we get spiritual intimidation, back up into the corner, and don't want to have that conversation. It is easy to be bold at conference, easy to be radical around a thousand young people who believe like you do. But what do you do when you go to school and there are two girls holding hands, and you look at them and you know the truth and you just walk on by? What do you do when somebody says all that holiness stuff is not necessary? I'll tell you what I'll do: I will not be a closet Christian; I will not be intimidated; I'll stand loud and proud. But can he preach some truth for a little while? It is easier said than done. You will not make him believe every young person is bold about their relationship with God, because when the going gets tough and the pressures of Babylon suppress your soul, it's easier to be quiet than to be loud. How do I know this? You find the very men who walked with Jesus: they walked with Him, ate with Him, slept by His side, saw Him heal — but the Bible tells us in Mark 14:50 that they all forsook Him and fled. When they began to press them with questions — "You walk like you've been with the Messiah; you walk like an Apostolic; there's something different about you; do you know that Jesus?" — all of a sudden they started backing up and found hiding places. Because John 19:38 says there was a man named Joseph of Arimathea, and he was not a bold disciple or a radical disciple: the Bible says he was a disciple secretly — sounds like a closet Christian to me — for fear of the Jews. But my question to you tonight: what are you afraid of? Are you afraid that if you're bold and radical you might sit at the lunch table by yourself? That you might lose some Instagram friends? Because God says if you're ashamed of Me, I'll be ashamed of you. And there's something we have to talk about: the closet has become a nemesis to our soul — a place where we find safety, concealment, and surety — and the closet can be a very dangerous place. I understand we preach holiness: holiness living, holiness dressing, with a lot of implications on the outward man. But here's what's dangerous: you can't see what's in the closet. We have to get to the point where the outward appearance is not the focal point, because holiness starts from the inside and works its way out. I'm so sick and tired of everybody coming to conferences looking good on the outside — suit just right, tie straight enough, hair curled neat — but on the inside they're dead men's bones, with spirits of carnality and corpses. Jesus said you're like sepulchres that are freshly painted, but on the inside there are dead men and skeletons in there. 2 Timothy 3:5: having a form of godliness — you look like a hundred-dollar bill, but you don't have no value on the inside. If we're going to be Christians on the outside, we need to be Christians on the inside. How dare you look your nose down on people you see down the street — who cares if your dress is to the floor but your attitude stinks? Who cares if you know doctrine if you can't love your neighbor? Can I tell you what a Christian is? A Christian is a man who said, "Bless them that curse you, and pray for them that persecute you." I'm a Christian from the inside out.
Scriptures: Mark 14:50; John 19:38; 2 Timothy 3:5
Shoving it all in the closet
- There's danger in the closet because we've gotten professional: we can easily skate around our youth pastor and our pastor and put on the facade on the outward man that everything's all right, while on the inside we're harboring stuff that's going to destroy our souls. But can I remind you: know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy, for the temple of God is holy. I want to be holy; I want to be like Jesus. It didn't take him long being a youth pastor, Brother Frost, to find out something very interesting: young people, as nice as he can say it, are some of the most disgusting human beings on planet Earth. They can go an entire week at youth camp and not even think about touching a shower; your idea of fresh breath is a handful of Listerine strips; gentlemen, spraying yourself with Axe does not mean that you're clean. But the idea of cleanliness transcended from the physical to the spiritual: if a mom asks a young person to clean their room, do you know what they do? They gather up all the stuff in the middle of the floor, open that closet door, and shove it all in there. When mom comes for the room inspection, she looks in the room and says, "Baby, you did a good job" — and then she opens the closet door and there's an avalanche of dirt. And we've gotten the spirit that we serve a God who turns His vision away: instead of washing out this vessel, we try to stuff stuff in the closet and say maybe mama won't see this, and maybe the pastor won't; we start picking up rugs and sweeping everything under them. But if you're going to be an anointed young person, you've got to open up the door of that closet and start ripping stuff out, and say, "I'm not hiding it in the closet." "Create in me a clean heart, O God. Lord, wash me." Anybody want to be holy? Anybody want to be clean? Does it ever make you wonder why they say "skeletons in the closet"? Because you don't put skeletons in the living room where everybody can see them. But God is a master at revealing the things that are in darkness; your sin will find you out. You can hide it all you want and think nobody knows what's going on inside, but when the going gets tough you will be revealed; when the wheat and the tares are together — He said don't touch them — you'll find out who's who in the end.
Spoken in the closet, proclaimed on the housetop
- Luke 12:3 says: "Whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops." So you can run, but you can't hide. That's why nights like tonight and conferences like this are important: you should say, "God, I'm no good, but I need mercy. Lord, I'm not worthy, but can You wash me? I want anointing — but I can't have it if there are skeletons." The closet is a dangerous place, and what he really wants to preach about is a lifestyle that's going to keep you when you leave this conference — not this pungent atmosphere of victory you feel right now, because you won't have that when you're in your room at 3:00 in the morning and your phone is saying, "Come to me, come to me, come to me"; you won't have it when the computer says, "If you just come to this website, we can have a whole lot of fun tonight." Can I tell you why we lose young people? It's the same reason we lose old people: they stop praying. I don't care how much you shout in these altars or what you feel right now — if you don't go home and develop a prayer life, you'll lose every ounce. You cannot have the audacity to say you're a child of God and you don't talk to your Father; you can't say you're a child of Jesus Christ if you don't talk to Christ. He prays that before this conference is over, this will be the last conference where you leave and go back home with a dry shell of existence, because God is not looking for a commitment here — He's looking for commitment at home, for consecration, for intimacy, for a place where you find Him when you're at home by yourself and at school by yourself. "If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves and pray..." There are too many young men and young ladies seeking a Samson anointing, because the Bible says the anointing came on Samson from time to time: he would go through spirituality and then waver back into carnality; he would step out of the closet and then go back into the closet. But there's a young man in the Bible by the name of Saul, and everybody wants to give Saul a hard time — can I tell you Saul was a smarter man than you think? When the prophet came around, everybody started scurrying, worried, because he's not coming for no reason. But Samuel was looking for a king — somebody who could be anointed, sold out, committed in the face of the enemy, consecrated. And Saul knew that real anointing comes at the price of obedience: they tell you in 1 Samuel 10:21 that when they came to look for Saul, they said, "Where is Saul? We can't find him" — but he was hiding among the stuff. Can I tell some young preacher in the room: you don't hide from true anointing. If you have to walk the road by yourself, if you don't have friends the rest of your life, you be the man God called you to be. Young lady, I don't care if you sit all alone by yourself and nobody asks for your phone number — you be the young lady God called you to be. Don't be afraid of anointing: "Lord, pour it out on me." We got away from something here: it's easy to pray in the altars and weep in the altars, but what about when you get home and you're in your room by yourself with a plethora of options of things to do with your time? There is no excuse for not talking to God. "Well, preacher, you don't understand: my schedule is so tight — mama wakes me up early, I go to school and take tests, I get back home and have homework, and after homework I only have three hours to play Fortnite and thirty minutes to scroll on Instagram, and before you know it mama's telling me to go to bed." No, sir; no, ma'am: what you've got to do is crawl out of that bed and say, "Lord, create in me a clean heart." Has it been so long that my breath is strange to you? Has it been so long that my voice is silent to you? It's so easy to consume our time with everything but God — and he's not just talking about bad stuff. Can he just be himself for a second? He works in an office during the day, and in any given week — he's not lifting himself up; he's telling you how you can consume yourself with good things and it still would not be good enough — he can put on his headphones at his desk and listen to at least twenty sermons a week on average, preaching in and preaching out, trying to keep his mind on God and keep things fresh. Mother Walker, he loves a good book; he loves reading, expanding his mind, filling himself with good stuff — podcasts, staying informed. One day he was in bed preparing for a sermon, reading and reading and reading, and he couldn't seem to get that break: every subject he tried to pick apart, he wasn't finding anything. He said, "God, I need You to speak to me." And he just so happened to marry a praying woman who prays before every conference and fasts with him before every conference — and over in the distance, he heard a wailing in the closet; he heard a voice of weeping in the closet: his wife was on her face, praying — and the Holy Ghost spoke to him and said, "You know, the best way to find Me is to talk to Me." He put that book down, got down on his face, and said, "Lord, whatever You want to say to me, God, speak to me." Can I tell you where you're going to find anointing? You're going to find it in the closet. Where you're going to find wisdom? In the closet. What happened to the days that men would pray and women would pray — that men would pray everywhere?
Scriptures: Luke 12:3; 1 Samuel 10:21-22
Enter into thy closet
- When God has something for you to do, the best way to navigate through the spirit God has called you to is to be tethered to the voice of God so close — and you can't hear God if you've got a whole bunch of noise in your ear. Matthew 6:6 says: "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet." Because God wants a place away from every distraction, from all the noise, away from your peers and your friends and every influence — a place where you and Him are by yourself. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" — but the last time I checked, shadows were dark, and so are closets. When you find a place with God, you'll walk in places that no man can detour you from. He's not preaching about just a closet — he's not that shallow, to think everybody has a prayer closet — but a closet is a place of deep consecration where the Lord knows your voice: when you say "Jesus," His ears are tickled over the edge of heaven and He knows exactly who you are. You know what scares him? There's going to be a day that people regret the moment they were in a conference like this and did not pray. "Every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord" — and if there's any day we should bow, we should bow our knee in prayer and humble ourselves and say, "Lord, I want to seek Your face; I want to know You more." Can I tell you what's the answer to your backsliding parents? Get in the prayer closet. What's the answer for your parents on the verge of divorce? Get in the prayer closet. How do you get anointing? Pray. Every demon in hell you're battling, you can handle it in the closet. And he's not talking about some charismatic prayer or vain repetition — he's talking about a deep welling, tears streaming down your face and your eyes swollen shut, praying so long you don't know how long you've been praying. That's the call of Jesus saying, "Talk to Me." There are young people right now whose parents abuse you — they don't live for God or serve the God you serve — and you're trying to figure out how you're going to keep handling this abuse: you find the closet and say, "Lord, help my mom; Lord, help my daddy; God, save their souls." God hears the broken. You feel lonely — get in the closet. You feel weak — get in the closet. He wishes there would be a day when armies of young people were so tethered to prayer that you'd walk into hospitals and start laying hands on the walls, and they'd tell you you've got to leave because we're losing money on you; a young person who gets the spirit of prayer and starts laying hands on lockers at school, and everybody that's suicidal decides they want to live. God will wake you up at all kinds of hours: you begin to petition God — "Lord, quicken me; wake me out of my sleep, that You would talk to me." He hates using personal references, but he told God, "God, if this thing is real, I want You to wake me up." He was on vacation — there's no time to vacate from God. He went to bed that night in a hotel room in Branson and slept like a baby — and all of a sudden his eyes went wide open; he rolled over and looked at the clock, and it was 4:00 on the dot. There is no alarm clock that will do what God will do when you say, "God, I want to talk to You." He climbed out of that bed — he didn't even know what to pray, but he said, "Lord, I'm going to be obedient." He reached for that doorknob, turned it, felt something shaking his soul, hit his knees, and started wailing and crying. Brother Wiggins — what was he praying? He doesn't know; there are times you don't know what to pray, but there are moanings and groanings and things you can't get out — but if you pray. Brother Bradford, correct him if he's wrong: he's had so many confirmations out of nowhere, at least twenty he can count; today at lunch a sister said, "I'm a closet eater" — meaning she likes her sweets. There's something about God: He loves His people, but even more than that, He loves your voice. Some of you in here, God forgot what you sound like, because you haven't prayed like you need to pray in a long time. We've preached on holiness this week, on standing strong and killing the dream killers and getting rid of stuff, and all that is good — but if you don't get a prayer life, when you get home the devil is going to attack you, and he will win. How do you respond to preaching like this? Too many times God prods us, pulls us, begs us, whispers to us to pray, and we shuck it off as just some feeling we don't understand: "God, is that really You?" But the devil will never tell you to pray — the devil will never tell you to talk to God, because that's where your power and your strength lie. When you feel that pull to pray, then you pray: I don't care if you're walking in Walmart and the Holy Ghost hits you — you pray. They institutionalized youth prayer at their church. One of his good friends was at youth prayer that night; his family — his wife and his three kids — had gone to the creek. The friend told him: "You won't believe what happened to me today. I was at Kinko's making copies for a Sunday school lesson. I went to step out of the store, and the Holy Ghost hit me and I started speaking in tongues in the parking lot. Something on the inside of me made me want to stop it — you can't be praying like that in public — but the Holy Ghost got a hold of me and I couldn't stop praying; I didn't know what was wrong." He got to his truck and had three missed calls; his wife called, crying and hysterical: "You won't believe what happened. One of my kids tried to go across the creek and the bottom got too deep, and I did all I could to keep us from drowning." Something connected in the spirit. He asked her, "What time was that? Because you don't know what happened to me — I started praying out of nowhere." And he looked at his phone, from when the first call came, and it was the exact time he started speaking in tongues in that parking lot. That's the spirit of prayer that will stop death; the spirit of prayer that will bring back your parents; the spirit of prayer that says, "If My people which are called by My name shall humble themselves and pray." This is not an invitation from the preacher or the evangelist — this is an invitation of God. He's saying, "Talk to Me. Talk to Me." When was the last time you buried yourself in the carpet and cried till your eyes were swollen shut? When was the last time you lost control of your members praying in the Holy Ghost? The upload ends inside that altar call.
Scriptures: Matthew 6:6
Scripture index: Exodus 25:8; Mark 14:50; John 19:38; 2 Timothy 3:5; Luke 12:3; 1 Samuel 10:21-22; Matthew 6:6.
Transcript
Come on. Loud voice. Your hearts pointed toward heaven. God, we need you right now. Jesus. It was in the Old Testament that God desired to dwell amongst his people. He told Moses Exodus 25:8, he said, "Let them make me a sanctuary, not for pretty looks, not for the eyes of men, not for a church hangout." He said, "But let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. This is more than a conference. This is more than a gathering. This is a meeting place of the Almighty God. I we're here, but he's here right now. And the Holy Ghost has been in every service from the outset, from the very striking of accord. We've had unbelievable worship. Has the music team, the praise team, the choir done an incredible job this week? ushering us into the spirit of worship, preparing our hearts for the word of the Lord. And every message I I want to say that sometimes in conference settings God gives you a word and you don't want to deviate from that word and God somehow supernaturally links conjoins the spirit of preachers that there's one spirit there's one message there's one vein and brother Cox I thank you for following the Holy Ghost this entire week. Amen. Anybody been blessed by brother Cox in his ministry? This is a first class, first tier, second to none youth conference. And the 238 conference would not be possible if it was not for this faithful church and the ministry of Bishop Frost, Pastor Bradford, this entire church. Anybody glad to be at 238 this year. Amen. I we are truly humbled to be a part of this conference for a second year. So, thank you so much for your invitation, for your hospitality, for inviting us back, my wife and I. We've went through a lot to get here this week. And I know for a purpose that is not known to many, but I feel something powerful for this service tonight. I'm fearful to tell you that God has showed me this service as many times I've got down on my knees to pray. I know that we can't esteem one day above another and esteem one service above another, but God showed me this service. And there are people in this room tonight that you will never in your life forget what happens to you tonight. It's not about the preaching. It's not about me. But something happens when a young person opens up the portals of their soul and say, "Lord, I want you to pour everything inside of me that you have." There's an anointing that's being poured out. Amen. Amen. And I I I want to be careful tonight. Know that I love every young person here. I want to preach with a good spirit.
I want to be pure, but I want to follow what God what God would have us to do. Tonight is not a night for you to casually participate in service. Tonight is not a night to bypass the hymn of the garment of Jesus that will flow between these seats because God knows exactly where you are. He knows exactly who you are and he came to touch you. I said he came to touch you. Amen. Anybody feel the Holy Ghost in the house? Lift up your hands. Lift up your voice. I I make one request tonight. I cannot preach this message without the help of God. cannot preach this message without the Holy Ghost. If there's any Holy Ghost filled believers, I want you to stretch your hand to this pull pit right now. Come on. There's souls weighing in the balance tonight. Come on. There's young people that they're hanging on the cliff. They're hanging on the ledge of conformity. God, pull us back. God, pull us back. God, pull us back. Oh, Jesus. Without further delay, I'm taking my time tonight because I'm breaking Pentecostal and pull pit protocol that I would not take a text tonight. Will not read. Prophet protocol is to take a text, preach that text, state your subject, preach that subject. But I just feel like preaching tonight. Anybody going to help me preach? I love you great men. Every last one of you ministers, thank you for your labor, the kingdom of God. It looks good to support these young people. Anybody thankful for your pastor, for your man of God in your life? If we can, I will give you my title for the sake of this message. And know that this title is intentional. This sermon is not crafted with a stumbling block or any cause for mass confusion. But I'm going to preach tonight from this title. If we can put it on the screen, I'm a closet Christian and I'm not coming out. I'm a closet Christian. Somebody say it with me. I'm a closet Christian and I'm not coming out. Amen. Amen. God bless you in the fear of the Lord. You may be seated tonight in Jesus name.
Somebody turn to your neighbor and ask them, "Are you a closet Christian?" I'm a closet Christian and I'm not coming out. No doubt. If not giving a text was weird enough, giving you my title has incited some thoughts in your mind right now. You're trying to figure out what in the world is this preacher about to preach. Anybody feel like that right now? No doubt that if you are astute enough to understand society and the vernacular of social and urban language, if you're old enough to understand cliches and terminology and phrases and thinking and pulling together words and the title, I'm a closet Christian and I'm not coming out. Your mind pretty much locked in on the phrase coming out of the closet. And when your mind went there, you probably thought that you were two steps ahead of me and you think that you you understand the origin of where that term came from. But you'll be surprised tonight to know that the origin of the phrase coming out of the closet began in a place that you probably would least expect and you probably are not familiar with because coming out of the closet by definition the closet is a place of concealment. It is a place of secrecy. Everybody say secrets. It is a place of secrecy. Is a place of darkness. It's a place where things go to hide and things would love to remain hidden. And the implications of coming out of the closet is a declaration of boldness, a declaration of defiance that the lifestyle that's been hidden has now decided to be revealed. You would be surprised to know that at one point in this country, the consumption, the use of alcoholic beverages in the early 1900s was banned all across this country. You could not buy, you could not sell, you could not consume alcoholic beverages because it was forbidden to do so. And so those that decided that they would partake in this lifestyle, those that had serious trouble moonshining and packing away as much beverage as they could, those that were alcoholics, they had to hide their lifestyle because it was not morally accepted to be a drunk. You did not see men staggering out of barrooms in the early 1900s. You did not see men hanging on street corners, drunk out of their mind because they were remained in the closet. Fear gripped them. But now they're everywhere. And it was then that the idea of coming out of the closet was latched on and we find it more prominent and prevalent in our day that there are movements that there are societies that there are groups of people even those that we know commonly through the daytoday thrusting of media that groups like the LGBTQ movement, those that have confused used orientations, those that don't walk according to the word of God when it comes to relationships. It is those that have now decided that they would come out of the closet. But I've not come to preach about any one of those groups tonight because I've come to preach about you and I being a Christian. Know that I'm not telling you. I am not propagating. I am not promagating the idea that we as Christians should remain in the closet. Know that clear. Know that first and foremost. If you miss this beginning, you will miss the ending. Because I believe with every bone that
is in my body that if there was ever a time for the church to be bandwagon Christians, that we ought to jump on the bandwagon of defiance and say there's no devil in hell. that's going to stop me from being a child of God. oh. I need about three people to help me preach. can I remind somebody in the house that I'm a child of God first. that I'm an apostolic first. there is no movement worth jumping on. there is no crowd worth attaching to. but the crowd that is banned with the blood of Jesus Christ. Are there any Christians in the house? are there any apostolics in the house?, can I tell you that I'm apostolic from the top of my head to the soles of my feet?, and I'm not ashamed about it., I'm not a apologetic about it., I am not intimidated about it., I'm a child of God., I'm a Christian., I'm an apostolic. Yes, sir. Oh, clap your hands if your mind's made up., oh, clap your hands if you're sold out for Jesus., oh, clap your hands if you're not intimidated., I'm telling you,, if the world can rebel,, this is the new rebellion., I'll be a Christian., I will not bow., I will stand strong., I'll be a child of God. Oh, you ought to take about 10 seconds,, and be radical for Jesus., you ought to take about 10 seconds,, and be bold for Jesus. Can I tell you that we live in a world that everybody has something to say? Everybody has an opinion. Everybody has an ideology. Everybody has a voice. but can I tell you that if there's anything that we're going to be I'm going to be a Christian. People can be bold about whatever they want to be bold about. When the conversation When the conversation comes to the coffee table and people start talking about sports, they have no trouble remembering stat lines. When it comes to the conversation and people want to talk about politics, they have no trouble telling you who they voted for. But when people begin to press you and people begin to interrogate you and ask you what do you believe what is your stance what do you serve who is the god that you serve why do you dress like that why do you act like that then all of a sudden we get spiritual intimidation and we back up in the corner and we don't want to have that conversation It is easy to be bold at conference. Oh, it's easy to be radical when you're around a thousand young people that believe like you do. But what do you do when you go to school and there's two girls holding hands and you look at them and you know the truth and you just walk on by. Thank you for all 13 13 of you that's preaching with me right now. what do you do when somebody says all that holiness stuff is not necessary? oh. I'll tell you what I'll do., I will not be a closet Christian., I will not be intimidated., I'll stand loud and proud and say I'm Can I Can I preach some truth for a little while? It is easier said than done. You will not you will not make me believe that every young person is bold about the relationship with God. Because the truth is that when the going gets tough and the pressures of Babylon just suppress your soul, it's easier to be quiet than it is to be loud. That's right. Am I preaching anybody just yet? How do I know this? Because you find the very men that walk with Jesus. None of y'all do that. The very men that walk with Jesus when the going got tough. The Bible tells us in Mark 14 and 50 that they all forsook him and fled. They walked with him, they ate with him,
they slept by his side. they saw him heal. But when they begin to press them with questions and they say, "You walk like you've been with the Messiah. You walk like an apostolic. There's something about you that's different. do you know that Jesus?", and all of a sudden,, they they start backing up,, and they find hiding places,, and they found, it's easier said than done because John 19 and 38 says that there was a man named Joseph of Arythea, and he was not a bold disciple. He was not a radical disciple. The Bible says that he was a disciple in secret. Yeah, sounds like a closet Christian to me. He was a disciple in secret out of fear of the Jews. But my question I want to implore to you tonight, what are you afraid of? Are you afraid that if you're bold and radical that you might sit by the lunch table by yourself? are you afraid that if you be bold about Jesus that you might lose some Instagram friends? what are you afraid of? Are you afraid that if they see you what are you afraid of? because I'm telling you that God says if you're ashamed of me I'll be ashamed of you. There's something that's something that we have to talk about. Can we talk for a little while? Is right if I take my time and just preach a little bit. There something we got to talk about because the the closet has become a ne a nemesis to our soul. It's been a place that we find safety in. It's been a place that we find we find concealment and we find assurityity. because the closet can be a very very dangerous place. You see, I understand that we preach holiness. I understand that we preach holiness living, holiness dressing, and we have a whole lot of implications on the outward man. But can I tell you what's dangerous about that? You can't see what's in the closet. I think I'm going to say it again. I'm not I I I Brother Cox, I'm telling you what you preach today is in the Holy Ghost. but we have to get to the point that the outward appearance is not the focal point. because holiness starts from the inside and it works its way out. Oh, I feel I feel my help coming on right there. holiness is not what you are on the outside. It's the man on the inside that they see on the And I'm so sick and tired of everybody coming to conferences and they look good on the outside. their suit is just right. their tie is straight enough. their hair is curled neat. but on the inside, they're dead men's bones. and there spirits of carnality. and there's corpse. Jesus said,, you're you're like you're like zeppelas,, that are fleshly painted,, but on the inside,, there's dead men there. There's skeletons in there. It's all right if I preach like this. This is okay. Second Timothy 3 and5 are having a form of godliness, but when it comes down to it, you look like a $100 bill, but you don't have no value on the inside. I'm preaching real nice. I love you with all my heart., but I won't be a a Christian. I won't be a preacher that won't tell you the truth., if we're going to be a Christian on the outside,, we need to be Christians on the inside., how dare you look your nose down on people you see down the street., if you don't speak to me when you pass, I know you won't speak to us. Who cares if you're dresses to the floor, but your attitude stinks? Who cares if you know doctrine? If you can't love your neighbor, can I tell you what a Christian is? A Christian is a man that said, "Bless them that curse you and pray for them that persecute you." I'm a Christian from the inside out. I'm a Christian from the top to Oh, you ought to you ought to get with me right there. there's something in my spirit. I'm going to be apostolic.
I'm going to be apostolic. I'm going to be a There's danger in the closet because we've we've gotten professional. We've gotten so professional that we can we can easily we can easily skate around our youth pastor and we can easily skate around our pastor and we can put on the facade on the outward man that everything's all right but on the inside with harboring stuff that's going to destroy our souls. But can I remind you, know ye not that ye are the temple, that ye are the temple of God., and the spirit of God dwelleth in you. If any man defile the temple of God,, him shall God destroy., for the temple of God is holy. I said the temple of God is holy. I said the temple of God is holy. I want to be holy. I want to be holy. I want to be like Jesus. I want to be like the king. I want to help me, Lord. Help me, Lord. Can I listen? Listen. Can I Can I give you an analogy that make might make a whole lot of sense to you? I I it didn't take me long being a youth pastor, brother Frost, that I found out something very interesting. Now, I'm a weird guy, so I have OCD, all kind of trouble. This is not me, but I found out that young people, as nice as I can say it, are some of the most disgusting human beings on planet Earth. They can go an entire week at youth camp and not even think about touching a shower. Oh, let the church say amen. Your idea of fresh breath is not brushing your teeth, but if you just get a handful of Listerine strips, you will be all right. Gentlemen, just to help you out, listen, I know you may not want to get in a bath because water and soap cleanses away all filthiness, but spraying yourself with axe does not mean that you're clean. Somebody say he preaching to me. But the idea of cleanliness has transcended from the physical to the spiritual. Because you find that if a mom asks a young person to clean their room, do you know what they do? They just gather up all the stuff in the middle of the floor and they open up that closet door and they shove it all in there. And so when mom comes to give a room inspection, they look in the they look in the room and they said, "Baby, you did a good job." And then when they open the closet door is an avalanche of dirt. But can I tell you that for some reason we've got the spirit that we think that we serve a God that has he has vision that he turns away when we we when he wants us to have clean vessels and pure hearts and instead of us washing out this vessel we try to stop we try to put stuff in the closet and say maybe mama won't see this and maybe the pastor won't and we start picking up rugs and we start sweeping every But can I tell you that if you're going to be an anointed young person, you got to open up the door of that closet and start ripping stuff out and start ripping stuff out and say, "I'm not hiding it in the C." Oh, I feel the Holy Ghost right there. you ought to say, "Create in me a clean heart, oh God. I'll bow my knee. I'll beg for mercy. Lord, wash me." I said, "Lord, wash me." Anybody want to be holy? Anybody want to be clean? Somebody lift up your voice and clap your hands unto the Lord. Does it ever wonder why they say skeletons in the closet? cuz you don't put skeletons in the living room. Everybody can see it. But can I tell you young people that God is a master at revealing the things that
are in darkness? That sin will find you out. That's right. Oh, I need some you pastors to help me right there. You can hide it all you want and you can think nobody knows what's going on the inside. but when the going gets tough you will be revealed. when the wheat and the tear are together, he said don't touch them. You'll find out who's who in the end. Luke 12:3 says, "Whatsoever you have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light." And that which you have spoken in the ear in the closet is going to be proclaimed on the rooftop. So you can run but you can't hide. And so that's why nights like tonight and conferences like this conference are important. because there should be no transparency. you should say God I'm no good but I need mercy. Lord I'm not worthy. but can you wash me? I want anointing., but I can't have it if they're skeleton. The closet is a dangerous place. The closet is a dangerous place because what I really want to preach to you about is a lifestyle that's going to keep you when you leave this conference. Oh God, I'm not talking about this pungent atmosphere of victory that you feel right now because you won't have that when you're in your room at 3:00 in the morning and your phone is saying, "Come to me. Come to me. Come to me." You won't have this pungent atmosphere of victory when the computer saying if you just come to this website we can have a whole lot of fun tonight. Can I tell you why we lose young people? It's the same reason we lose old people. They stop praying. I don't care how much you shout in these altars. I don't care what you feel right now. If you don't go home and develop a prayer life, you'll lose every ounce. I'm talking about people you cannot have the audacity to say that you a child of God and you don't talk to your father. you can't say I'm a child of Jesus Christ. if you don't talk to Christ you cannot I pray I pray that before this conference is over that this be the last conference that you leave home and you go back home with a dry shell of existence. because God is not looking for a commitment here. he's looking for commitment at home. He's looking for consecration. he's looking for a a intimacy. he's looking for a place that you find him when you're at home by yourself, when you're at school by yourself. he said, "If my people that are called by my name would humble themselves and pray." Oh, lift up your hands in the house. I feel the Holy Ghost. Listen, listen, listen. There's too many young men and there's too many young
ladies that you're seeking a Samson anointing because the Bible says that the anointing came on Samson from time to time. he would go through spirituality and then he will waver back in carnality. he would step out of the closet and then he would go back into the closet. but I can listen listen there are people you there's a young man in the Bible by the name of Saul and everybody wants to give Saul a hard time. Can I tell you that that Saul was a smarter man than you think? Because when the prophet came around, everybody start scurrying. They got worried cuz they say something's going on. He's not coming here for no reason. But Samuel was looking for a king. Somebody that can be anointed. Somebody that can be sold out. Somebody that can be committed in the face of the enemy. somebody that can be consecrated. And Saul knew. Saul knew that real anointing comes at the price of obedience because they tell you in 1st Samuel 10:21 that when they came to look for Saul, they said, "Where is Saul? We can't find him." But he was hiding. He was hiding among stuff. Can I tell some young preacher in the room that you don't hide from true anointing? If you have to walk the road by yourself,, if you don't have friends the rest of your life,, you be the man that God called you to be., young lady,, I don't care,, if you sit all alone by yourself,, and nobody asks for your phone number., you be the young lady that God called you. Don't be afraid of anointing., I'm telling you, I will not hide., Lord, pour it out on me., Lord, pour it out on me. There's something there that's something that we got away from because it's easy to pray in the altars and it's easy to weep in the altars. But what about when you get home and you're in your room by yourself and you have a plethora of options of things to do and you can do so much things with your time. Can I can I just preach like I feel it? Is this all right? There is no excuse for not talking to God. That's right. Well, preacher, you don't understand. My schedule is so tight. When mama wakes me up, it's early in the morning., and I got to go to school and I got to take tests., and when I get back home,, I got homework to do. And after I finish my homework,, I only got 3 hours to play Fortnite., and after that, I only got 30 minutes to scroll on Instagram., and before you know it,, mama's telling me I got to go to bed., no, sir., no, ma'am. What you got to do is you got to crawl out of that bed. You got to crawl out of that bed and say, "Lord, created me." Because there's a God that wants to commune with you. Has it been so long that my breath is strange to you? Has it been so long that my voice is silent to you? It's so easy to consume out time with everything but God. Listen, I'm not I'm not just talking about bad stuff. Can I just be me for a second? I work in office during the day and so any given week I have I'm fortunate enough that I got a whole lot of preaching in me. I can put on my headphones at my desk and in even any given week I'm not I'm not I'm not lifting up myself. I'm just telling you I'm just telling you how you can consume yourself with good things and it still would not be good enough. And I can listen I on average I listen at least 20 sermons a week preaching in preaching out going through my mind trying to keep my mind on God keep things fresh. Mother Walker I love a good book. I love reading. I love I love trying to trying to make my my cerebral expand and and and and get wisdom and knowledge and I want to fill myself with good stuff. And I like I like podcast and I want to I want to find out what's going on. I I want to be informed with a with a circuit of of my choosing. One day, one day I was I was in bed and I was preparing for a sermon
and I was reading and I was reading and I was reading and I was reading and I was reading and I I couldn't I couldn't seem to get that break. You preachers know what I'm talking about. It seemed like I had a wall block. It It seems like everything every subject I tried to pick apart, I wasn't finding anything. I wasn't getting anything. I said, "God, God, I need you to speak to me. I need you to speak to me. And I just so happened to marry a praying woman that prays before every conference, that fast with me before every conference. And over in the distance, I heard a willing in the closet. I heard I heard a voice of of weeping in the closet. My wife was on her face as she was praying and the Holy Ghost spoke to me and he said, "You know, the best way to find me is to talk to me." And I put that book down and I got down on my face and I said, "Lord, whatever you want to say to me, God, speak to me. Can I tell you where you're going to find anointing?, you're going to find it in the closet., can I tell you where you're going to find wisdom?, you're going to find it in the closet., what happened to the days that men would pray?, what happened to the days that women would pray? Oh, I feel something in the house right now. Oh, that men would pray everywhere. Listen, listen. Listen, listen. I know. Listen. I know what God's going to do. Listen. You got to give it time. Listen, listen. When God has something for you to do, the best way to navigate through the spirit that God has called for you is to be tethered to the voice of God so close. You can't hear God if you got a whole bunch of noise in your ear. But Matthew 6 and6 says, "But when thou prayest," he said, "Enter into thy closet." Because God wants a place away from every distraction. he wants a place from all the noise. he wants a place away from your peers. he wants a place away from your friends. he wants a place away from every influence. he wants a placeh where you and him are by yourself. He said, "He that dwelleth in the secret place," somebody shout, "The secret place, the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." But the last time I checked, shadows were dark. And so are closets. That when you find a place with God, you'll walk with places that no man can detour you from. But I'm not preaching about just a closet. I'm not that shallow to think that everybody has a prayer closet. But a closet is a place where there's a deep consecration, where the Lord knows your voice. That when you say Jesus that his ears are tickled over the edge of heaven and he's he knows exactly who you are. You know what scares me? There's going to be a day that people regret the moment that they were in a conference like this and they did not pray. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. He said, "Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." And there is no other time that is that is a time that we should bow. But if there's any day we should bow, we should bow our knee in prayer and humble yourself and say, "Lord,
I want to seek your face. I want to know you more." Can I tell you what's the answer to your backsliding parents if you get in the prayer closet? can I tell you what's the answer of your parents that's on the roof of divorce? if you get in the prayer closet. can I tell you how you get anointing is if you pray can I tell you every demon in hell that you're battling you can handle it in the closet. Every I'm not, listen, I'm not I'm not talking about some charismatic prayer. I'm not talking about some repetition that's vain that you say the same thing over and over. I'm talking about a deep welling I'm talking about tears streaming out of your face and your eyes are swollen shut and you're praying so long that you don't know how long it is that you've been praying. Oh, do you feel that right there? do you feel that right there? that's the call of Jesus saying talk to me. saying talk to me. saying talk to me. you right now. There are young people right now that your parents abuse you. they don't live for God. they don't serve the God you serve. and you trying to figure out how you going to keep handling this abuse. I'll tell you how you handle it. you find the closet and you say, "Lord, help my mom. Lord, help my daddy. God save her soul." Because God hears the broken. God hears. You feel lonely, you get in the closet. You feel weak, you get in the closet. He said pray. He said pray. He said pray. My God, I wish I wish that there would be a day that we had armies and armies of young people that they were so tethered to prayer that you walk in hospitals and start laying hands on walls and they tell you you got to leave because we're losing money on you you got to leave. I pray there be a young person that get the spirit of prayer on the inside of you and you start laying hands on lockers at your school and everybody's that suicidal. they decide they want to live. Wait. Listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen. Don't be mad at me. Listen, listen. I know why God I know why God let me go through what I was going through. Cuz God will wake you up at all kinds of nights, times of the hour. You want to try God. You want to you want to see if God wants to talk to you or not. You begin to petition God and say, "Lord, begin to quicken me that I wake up out of my sleep that you would talk to me. Listen, I'm Listen, I listen. I hate using personal references, but this is the only thing I know cuz I'm not preaching something. I'm just talking about cuz it's cute to listen." And I told God, I said, "God, if this thing is real, I want you to wake me up." And I was on vacation. You hear me? Vacation. There's no time to vacate from God. I said, "God, if this if this this consecration of prayer is real, I said, I want you to wake me up." And I went to bed that night in a hotel room in Branson.
And I slept good. I slept like a baby. And all of a sudden, my eyes went wide open. And I rolled over and I looked at the clock and it was 400 on the dot. There is no alarm clock that would do what God would do when you when you say, "God, I want to talk to you." And I climbed out of that bed., and I didn't even know what to pray., but I said, "Lord, I'm going to be obedient.", and I reached my hand for that door knob., and I turned that door knob., and I felt something shaking my soul. And I hit my knees., and I start whailing., and I start crying. Brother Wiggins, what were you praying? and I don't know, but I said, "God, I'm going to talk to There's times you don't know what to pray.", but there's moanings and there's groanings., and there's things you can't get out., but if you pray, listen, brother would tell you Brother Bradford, correct me if I'm wrong. I've had so many confirmations out of nowhere. Crazy stuff, at least 20 to count. Today at lunch, sister, what do you said? You said I'm a closet eater and I'm not I'm not putting her on the spot, but what she was saying was that she likes her sweets. I said, "Man, God's giving me." But can I tell you, listen, there's something about God that he loves his people. But even more than that, he loves your voice. There's some of you in here right now, God forgot what you sound like cuz you haven't prayed like you need to pray in a long time. Listen, listen. I'm done. Listen. I'm done. How do you respond? How do you respond to preaching like this? Let me tell you why I'm preaching like this. We've preached on holiness this week. we've preached on on standing strong and killing the dream killers. and getting rid of stuff. and all that is good. but if you don't get a prayer life, when you get home, the devil's going to attack you. and he will win. Can I tell you how you respond? And this is it. Listen. Can I tell you how you respond? Too many times God prods us, pulls us, begs us, whispers to us to pray and we shuck it off as just some feeling that we don't understand. God, is that really you? But can I tell you, the devil will never tell you to pray. The devil will never tell you to talk to God because that's where your power lies. that's where your strength lies. and when you feel that problem to pray, then you pray. I don't care if you're walking in Walmart, if the Holy Ghost hits you, you pray. I don't care. Let me tell you why. Let me tell you why. We we we institutionalized youth prayer at our church. And one of my one of my good friends, he was at youth prayer that night and his family, his wife and his three kids, he they took them to the creek. but he he came and told me, he said, "You won't believe what happened to me today." He said, "I was at I was at King Cole's, a place where you make copies, and I was making some copies for a Sunday school lesson.", and he said, "I I went to step out of the store." He said, "And the Holy Ghost hit me and I started speaking in tongues in the parking lot." He said, "Something something on the inside of me, it made me want to It was like, you need to stop this., you can't be praying like that in public." Come on now. But the Holy Ghost got a hold of him, and he couldn't stop praying. He didn't know what was wrong. Come on. But he got to his truck and he had three missed calls and his wife calls him on the other end of the on the end of the phone and she's crying and she's hysterical and she said, "You won't believe what happened." She said, "One of my kids tried to go across the creek and the bottom got too deep." And she said, "I did all I can to keep us from drowning. and something connected in the spirit. He asked her, he said, "What time was that?"
He said, he said, "Cuz you don't know what happened to me. I I start praying out of nowhere." And he looked at his phone from when the first call came to her to him., and it was the exact time that he start speaking in tongues in that parking lot. I'm talking about the spirit of prayer that will stop death. I'm talking about the spirit of prayer that will bring back your parents. I'm talking about the spirit of prayer that was if my people that are called by my name will say listen I'm done. You know what this is right now? this is not an invitation from the preacher. This is not an invitation from the from the evangelist. this is an invitation of God. he's saying talk to me. He's saying talk to me. he's saying talk to me. he's saying talk to me. when was the last time you buried yourself in the carpet and you cried till your eyes were so shut? When was the last time that you lost control of your members praying in the Holy Ghost? Heat. I don't mean to be rude, but this is not a moment for me to see your eyeballs. this is not a moment for you to look to your friends and care who's sitting next to you. they can't save you. they can't deliver you. they can't bring you anointing. they can't help you. but God saying, "I can help. I can restore. I can heal. if you need healing, he's a pray. If you need deliverance, you need to pray. if you need the Holy Ghost, lift up your voice. Bow your knee to God and say, "God, can you can you hear my voice?
Scripture references as spoken: Exodus 25:8; Mark 14:50; John 19:38; 2 Timothy 3:5; Luke 12:3; 1 Samuel 10:21-22; Matthew 6:6.