Contagious

Summary

Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon's captions — published in summary form; watch the full sermon at the source.

The other pandemic

He does it backwards on purpose — no text up front. "I'm going to do things a little bit different today. And you can be seated in the fear of the Lord. Pastor, Bishop, I give you honor today. I just want to talk for a moment about where we are in our world. We know it was a year ago that our world — when we showed up, it was this week, if I'm not mistaken — the world just absolutely come apart. If you've been living under a rock, you know what I'm talking about here today. It don't look anything today like it did then, and our world was consumed by — way beyond that, approximately 6,000 miles from where we're standing right now, something changed our world simply because it was contagious. In America we see the largest pulse beginning in California, and from there it's completely overtaken our country, because again, it's contagious. Scientists have spent hours in the lab trying to understand it. However, they cannot understand it... Doctors have been baffled by its effects on people, and they don't know what to do. Because although they have tried, politicians cannot shut it down. Because I recently read things by men and women with much higher education than myself, and when they speak about it, they said, 'You just have to let it run its course.' And my own opinion is simply because it's so — it's in our schools. It's in Walmart. It's in the post office. It's on your job. Everywhere that you go, you can find it. Because there are those that say you've got to wait it out — but you can't wait it out... While seemingly everybody falls into one category or another — there are some that are in despair or depression; some are fighting with everything that they have; some turn a deaf ear; and some think it's a sham, and it's just a ploy — but you can't deny the fact that it's— those that are fighting it say, 'Don't gather in large places, because it will spread even faster.' But what they are learning is, you can get it in a small group, house to house. Because it's more contagious than the flu, they say, strep throat, chicken pox, and even COVID-19. I know that may be what some of y'all thought I was talking about, but that ain't exactly what I'm talking about right now. It's quite possible that this thing I'm talking about, that started [6,000] miles from here, is the most contagious thing we've ever experienced. I'm talking about something not that started in China, but something that started in Jerusalem, with 120, when they were in an upper room, with one mind and in one accord. There were a lot of people there that didn't realize that they were a part of the greatest pandemic that this world would ever see. I'm telling you today, on a Sunday morning: this Holy Ghost — it's contagious. It'll get you in the post office. It'll get you in Walmart. You better not go outside. Lock up your doors, go get online — because the Holy Ghost will get a hold of you. Hallelujah. The cool thing about this thing that's contagious is, it's not just for the young, and it's not for the old — it's for the young, it's for the old, it's for the aged, it's for whomsoever will. It's not a rich thing. It's not a poor thing. It's for whomsoever will. It's not a white thing. It's not a black thing. It's not a Latino thing. It's for whomsoever will. If you want it, you can have it. If you might not even know it — but honey, you need it. It'll drive through culture walls."

Internal, not topical

"I read something in preparation for this, just kind of looking at the simulations. And I found, Pastor Collins, they say COVID-19 is the most contagious when it's internal rather than topical. They say it can't live very long on the outside. But you get it on the inside, and it takes root. I thought, boy, if they only knew how the Holy Ghost worked. Because it's powerful while it's on the outside. But let me tell you about when you get it on the inside. I feel like preaching to somebody today that walked into an Apostolic church, and you felt it on the outside. Honey, let me tell you something: the goosebumps — it's not poor, and it's not passion, but this salvation sent from God... It's old, yet it's new. It's powerful, yet it's true. I'm here to tell you today that this Holy Ghost — it's real. It's real down in my soul. Hallelujah. I come to serve notice to the devil today that it's not topical anymore. It's internal. It's inside... You can talk bad about it, but it's still spreading. You can say it's fake and phony, but it's still real. It's still taking the drug addict and making them a Holy Ghost addict. It's still taking the drunk and giving them new wine. It's still picking broken marriages and putting them back together. This Holy Ghost is taking the mind that feels depressed and giving them joy. This Holy Ghost is taking brokenness and putting them back together again. Hallelujah. Make fun of me — that's fine. Make fun of New Life — go ahead. But Pentecostalism is still the fastest-growing religion in the world. Now put that in your pipe and smoke it. You can hate Pentecost if you want to, but there are people every day that are figuring out that it's real. Can I get a witness here today? There's people in this house that came to church — can I just tell you, they came to church just like you, and they said, 'These people are crazy,' just like you're thinking. 'These people have lost their mind,' just like what you probably said when somebody was jumping up and down around the front of the church. But can I tell you that what makes us jump is not an emotion. What makes us run isn't for exercise. What makes us dance is not because we got rhythm. But what makes us do what we do is because we caught the Holy Ghost. It started spreading in our family. It started spreading in our community. The Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost. It's still real. It's still powerful. It's still true." Qualification is simple: "I don't know if I qualify. Honey, if you don't have it, that's all you have to do to qualify. You don't have to be rich. Because I've been in services where millionaires and homeless people got it at the same altar, five feet apart. All you got to do is say, 'Lord, forgive me of my sins.' We'll baptize you in the name of Jesus. And the Bible says that it's a promise that you will receive. And if you back up a little bit to Acts chapter 1 and verse 8, the Bible tells us that Jesus looked down at His disciples and said, 'Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses.' He said, you're not just gonna get the power and keep it to yourself. You're not gonna get the power and not tell anybody about it. Because 'a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel.' But He said, when you get the Holy Ghost, you'll be a witness. You'll be a witness. You'll be a witness. Can I get a witness here today, that said there's something about the power of the Holy Ghost? If you got it just for a one-time thing, then yeah, you might keep it quiet. But except this power is contagious. So you're going to take it all over the world. This power is the answer. So I'm just going to preach how I feel today: this is the answer to corrupt politics. This is the answer to your poverty. This is the answer to your messed-up family... I can explain to you how we can take somebody that's so messed up and broken, and put them back together again — but I can tell you like this: try it for yourself."

Scriptures: Acts 1:8

The magazine, and the promise

"I recently read a mainstream Christian magazine. And there was a little quote in there. And when I read it — if I'm not mistaken, I was sitting in a barbershop, waiting to get a haircut, and I just happened to pick up the magazine and flipped it open. And there was a quote in there by a man of another denomination. And I started reading about him, Pastor Collins. Comes to find out, he hates Pentecostalism. And he wrote an article in frustration, because he said, 'During the pandemic, churches are closing on every street. But Pentecostals continue to buck the trend.' You want to know why? Because religion won't save you, honey. You can sign your name on a church card, but that don't mean you're saved. You can shake the preacher's hand, but that don't mean you're saved. You can attend church every Sunday, and you can be without power. But I'd like to send that man a message. You want to know why we keep bucking the trend? It's not in us. It's not by might. It's not by power. But it's by the Spirit. It's by the power of the Holy Ghost. I can't do it on my own, but the Holy Ghost can do it through me. I can't have revival on my own, but the Holy Ghost can have revival through me. I can't save my city, but the Holy Ghost can save my city. I can't stop the drug problem — but the Holy Ghost can stop the drug problem. I can't close down the bars, but the Holy Ghost—... I got news for the haters today: social distancing ain't gonna work. 'Don't go to big buildings.' But you see, the way that it happened, and the way that it spread in the Book of Acts, is it went from house to house. You don't have to show up at a conference with 2,000 people to get it. But you get a Bible study, and be driving down the road, and the Holy Ghost come in your car, and you'll begin to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance. You want to know why it's so contagious? Social distancing ain't gonna work, because it's so contagious, you can catch it over Facebook. I preach to somebody at home — put that camera around here — can I preach to somebody at home for a minute, and tell you why you're watching? You can lift your hands and repent of your sins, and God will fill you, sitting in your living room. God will fill you. You'll begin to speak with other tongues. Lift your hands and lift your voice, and let the heart— this is— you can catch it right now. I'm sorry today to hurt your feelings, but I'm going to tell you about this pandemic. This pandemic's not a problem. This pandemic is a promise. Say it again: this pandemic is not a problem, honey. This pandemic was the promise, the promise of the Father: 'I'll send down My Spirit.'"

Selton Colley

"I can't tell you all the story, but I can tell you about a young man by the name of Selton Colley. When I was in Louisiana — his wife had been in church for over ten years, and she continued to pray, 'God, save my husband.' You see, Brother Selton Colley was a drug dealer. Had been kicked out of school when he was twelve years old for dealing drugs. And they said nobody can do anything with him, because he's a big man. He's a strong man. He was the kind of guy you didn't want to meet in a dark alley on a Friday night. He was the kind of guy that put fear in everybody. But I remember one Sunday morning, standing in the pulpit, and he was up in the balcony. And I watched as he went from the back row of the balcony — I just started preaching about the power of the Holy Ghost — and I watched as he moved from the back row of the balcony, and he started leaning his hands up against the banister of the balcony. And I watched as he scooted from the very back corner all the way to where the steps were. He went from the steps down to about midway. And I looked about that time, and he had tears rolling down his face. He started looking at the altar. He got up off the stairs and moved to the back row of the church. He got off the back row and moved somewhere in the middle. Up from the middle row to the front row. And by the time he got to the altar, he lifted up his hands and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave the utterance. And I'm here to tell you right now: if I could call him on the floor, he'd tell you, 'I might have other struggles, but that day, God delivered me from being a drug user and a drug dealer. God changed my life.' 'Wasn't you, Brother Phillips?' No, it wasn't me, but the Holy Ghost in me. It started spreading. Hey, he said, 'What am I gonna do? All I've ever done is sold drugs.' But I'm here to tell you right now, he's a store manager in Lafayette, Louisiana, and he makes an honest living, and God's blessing the fruit of his hands. And he's teaching Bible studies, and he's outreaching. You want to know what did that? The Holy Ghost did that."

Doug and Susie Powell

"I can't tell all the stories, but I can tell you about Doug and Susie Powell in Columbia, Louisiana. I was preaching a revival, and I went to church. It was my first time there. I didn't know Miss Susie Powell. I didn't know that she was a business owner there in Caldwell Parish, Louisiana. I didn't know that she owned probably the most well-renowned restaurant in the area. It's just — they call it The Barn. You just got to go to Caldwell, Louisiana, to know what I'm talking about. Their specialty is a fried bologna sandwich. And just let me tell you something, honey: if you ain't never had you a fried bologna sandwich from The Barn, you need to make a ride to Caldwell Parish and get you a fried bologna sandwich. That'll make anybody want to jump up and start preaching. I didn't know all that. But I'll tell you something else I didn't know: that a couple weeks before that, she had just had surgery on her neck. And when the doctor went through the front of her neck to fix her spine, he clipped her vocal cord, and she couldn't speak. Didn't know that. Now I'm standing there, and she began to cry as the Holy Ghost began to move in that service. I wasn't even preaching — the Holy Ghost was just moving. It was one of those services where God was just in the house. And I walked over to her, and I asked her, 'Do you have the Holy Ghost?' And she just shook her head no. And I started telling her, 'Well, we're going to pray, and I believe God's gonna fill you with the Holy Ghost.' And all she could do was barely whisper. And so she began to pray, and I, as I normally do, I said, 'You need to pray out loud.' And she got in my ear, and she said, 'I'm praying as loud as I can.' I said, 'Well, pray with everything that's within your spirit.' By the Collins — I watched right there, as about fifteen seconds later, that woman that could barely speak above a whisper began to shout in tongues. 'Did you do that?' No. But the Holy Ghost did that. And she went back to the doctor, and the doctor said, 'We can't figure this out. We know that the vocal cord got clipped, but you're talking.' And you got a strong voice — and she's still got a strong voice to this day. And when you get to church, you can hear her, back up towards the back, in the middle section, saying, 'Amen, preach the Word.' You want to know why? Because it's contagious. And it'll heal you. It'll take you from places you thought you could never escape from, and bring you to a place that you thought you could never be." Her husband is the second half: "Miss Susie — Sister Susie — she had a husband, has a husband, not had — Brother Doug Powell. He said, 'I've been in Church of God my whole life, and we don't speak in tongues at the church I go to. And he said, 'I'm going to die Church of God.' I'm not here to throw stones at anybody today. But I'm here to tell you that if you're just buying into religion, you're buying into the wrong thing. Because this isn't religion. Religion's built upon a man. This isn't built— it's not about me. It's not about Bishop Sutton. It's not about Pastor Collins. This is about the Man that was God manifest in the flesh. He said, 'I've always been this way. My granddaddy was this way, and I'm gonna die this way.' And I didn't know that. I just went to The Barn to get me a sandwich — give me some fried bologna. I sit down, and he come over there and sit down beside me. And I never said anything about 'come to church.' Never said anything about 'you need to repent.' I never said anything about 'Holy Ghost.' We talked about mud, and four-wheel drive, and working offshore. That's all we talked about — country boy stuff. But I looked up — that was on a Saturday afternoon — I looked up on that Sunday morning, and Doug Powell was sitting right beside his wife. I began to preach, and the Holy Ghost — I'm telling you how easy it is to have revival. We try to make it a lot harder than what it is. You just need to let the Holy Ghost do what he does. Well, I'll come back to that. Put that in your pocket. I'm coming back to it. I preached, and the Holy Ghost poured out, and he got up and run to the altar, and God filled him with the Holy Ghost. And I asked him, I said, 'Doug, why did you come today?' He said, 'Because somewhere in the middle of us eating a bologna sandwich, I started feeling something run up and down my spine that I had never felt before. When I sat across from my preacher at the Church of God church, when we were sitting there over lunch, I started feeling something in my spirit that I never felt before. So I went to church, and God filled me up.' I didn't tell him about it. I didn't talk about it. You want to know what happened? The Holy Ghost that was in me was contagious, and it jumped off on him. And he got — it got off of him, and got in him. Say, 'Well, Brother Phillips, I eat lunch with people all the time, and that don't happen for me.' Well, when was the last time you prayed through? You see, in order for that — I feel my help right now, I feel like meddling a little bit — in order for it to work, you got to be operating in it. Maybe the reason you ain't had revival is because you ain't prayed in tongues this week, building up your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. I'm telling you, if you'll let it operate in your life, everybody on your street, when they drive by, they'll get a goosebump. Everybody in your community, when you walk by walking the dog, they'll look at you and say, 'It's more than the hair. It's more than the skirt. It's more than the holiness. There's something about it.' There's something— I'll tell you what it is: it's the power of the Holy Ghost."

FaceTime to China, and the text at last

"My dear friend, Brother Dwayne Ozel — y'all know Brother Dwayne? Has he ever been here before? The church doesn't know him, but Pastor, Bishop, y'all know. He's an incredible man. He's a Bible-study-teaching machine. He teaches like twenty Bible studies a week. Believes in revival. And I'll tell you what the Holy Ghost will do — this is how contagious it is. A man in his church — have been — stand with me, if you will, I'm closing, I think; you don't ever know, sometimes you just gotta go with it — but this bus driver in his church was driving down the road, and there was this man there. And if I'm not mistaken, later they found out he was from the mainland, China. And I don't remember exactly what city and all that stuff — you could call him and ask him. But he told me the story. And Brother Ozel, if you're listening to this, I'm sorry I stole your story. It's just too good to not tell. But his bus driver is driving down the road, and he sees this well-dressed man. And he pulls over — the Holy Ghost spoke to him and said, 'Turn around. Pull over, and ask that man if he wants to go to church.' And so he turns around, pulled over, and he asked him, he said, 'You want to go to church with me?' He said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'Do you want to go now?' He said, 'Yeah.' So he jumps in. Come to find out, this young man — they get to talking — he's a professor at a college here in the States. And he's, again, he's from China. And he was studying something to do with religion and other things. And so he goes to church, and they baptize him in Jesus' name, they give him an Apostolic Bible study, and God filled him with the power of the Holy Ghost. And he said, 'This needs to be taught in the mainland.' He said, 'The problem is, we can't go there, and we can't have church like this, because it's communist.' And so he said, 'Would you come to my house, and would you teach a Bible study via FaceTime?' It's so contagious, you can get it over FaceTime. Because they started teaching Bible studies, and while somebody was in the mainland of China, and Brother Dwayne Ozel was in Kentucky — somehow or another, the Spirit of the — I'll tell you how it was: He's an omnipresent God — the Spirit of the LORD started falling in China. And he said, 'I started noticing that they were crying, and nobody was there to lay hands on them. But I told them to lift their hands and to praise God. And so they lifted their hands, and they began to praise God. And as they did, they began to speak in another tongue. And it wasn't Mandarin, and it wasn't English, but it was a Holy Ghost language that began to flow out of them, as the Spirit gave the utterance.' Acts chapter 2. This is my text. I told you I was going to do it backwards today. I'm reading my text now. Acts chapter 2 and verse 38: 'Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.' The Bible then tells us that there was men there that day, devout men. It goes on to talk about all kinds of different languages that were there. But if you'll back up to verse 41, you will see that after he preached that message — after he talked to them, that they must repent and be baptized in Jesus' name — the Bible tells us that they that gladly received his word were baptized. And then there it is right there. And then the Bible says, the same day there were added unto them 3,000 souls. He said, 'Well, that was then.' I'm still — I don't know what part of church you're a part of, but I'm still a part of that church. And the Holy Ghost I've got is the Holy Ghost he preached about. And if it could spread out of a little bitty room up on top of a city house, then why can't it spread out of this big building? I'm telling you what I'm looking for, Pastor Collins, in this revival: I'm looking for somebody to be driving down this interstate, and then have to pull in and say — and walking in with tears in their eyes — 'I don't know what it is, but I drive by every day on my way to work, and then today, on a Sunday afternoon, God told me to go, that you had the answers to what I've been dealing with.' You want to know why that's going to happen? Because the Holy Ghost is contagious. I wish everybody right now that has the Holy Ghost would lift your hands, step out in the aisle, and begin to pray. And if you don't have the Holy Ghost, find somebody that's moving right now, and ask him to lay hands on you and to pray for you. And I'm gonna tell you that that's in them, it's gonna get on you. And then it can come in you, and you can feel the power of the Holy Ghost. Come on, pray for the Holy Ghost. Come on, you can receive it today. You can receive it right now."

Scriptures: Acts 2:38; Acts 2:41