Change | Johnny Godair | BOTT 1994

I would ask you to greet today the District Superintendent of the North Carolina District, Brother Johnny Godair. Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Brother Kelly. It's so good to be here in this meeting, and it's been such a tremendous meeting. The preaching has been tremendous, the singing, the music, the fellowship, and just the good, good feeling that we have being in this meeting.

Thank the Lord for Brother and Sister Mangan, Sr. They've been our friends for many, many years. We love them very much. And this church has been a real, has has established a tremendous beachhead for evangelism and soul-winning and revival. And I appreciate these folks so much. And Brother Anthony and Sister Mickey Mangan, our dear friends, pastor of this church, an outstanding man, an outstanding preacher, and an outstanding leader. So I'm very happy to be here. All of the sponsors and all of the men and women that are heading up this meeting, I'm I'm enriched by being here. Praise God! Praise God!

The presence of the Lord is beautiful, isn't it? Thank the Lord. The preaching last night and today has been just absolutely awesome. Let's lift our hands and praise the Lord. Father, our God, we love you today. Bless your name, Jesus. Bless your name. Amen.

If you would open your Bibles to the Book of Ruth, chapter one. The Book of Ruth, chapter number one, and verse number one. I'll try to be mindful of the time. I know, I know that, um, everybody's getting a little hungry. Better not talk about food too much. Had we, but I'll be mindful of the time. I will be here less than an hour to speak to you. And, uh, I just pray that you'll pray with me that God's Spirit will move. I have a message that I feel in my heart, and I ask you to just, um, open your heart to receive it.

The Book of Ruth, chapter number one, and verse one: "Now it came to pass in the days when the judges rule, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem-judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife, and his two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife was Naomi, and the name of his two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem-judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. And Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons. And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband."

That's reading verses 1-5, this first chapter of Ruth. I'd like to speak to you for just a little while today, and I'm going to use one word for my subject, and that is: Change.

Brother Anthony Mangan, would you pray and ask God to... Lord, we're thankful for your blessings and what you've done for us. Thankful for the anointing that's been in this house. I love you, Jesus. Your word is already anointed, but I pray now that you would anoint Brother Godair to minister your word. I love you, Jesus. I pray right now, God, that you anoint his mind, his body, his voice. Let his tongue be loosed. Speak what you would have him say. But God, what good is anointed preaching if we don't have anointed living? Hallelujah! I pray there be no distraction, Jesus. Pray the devil that tries to come against this service. We bind him now and take the authority over him. Touch us and use us in Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

Let's clap our hands to the Lord, shall we? Praise God! Praise God! Praise God! Praise God! Praise God! Amen. Thank you. And you may be seated.

Change. Change is something that is constantly taking place in our society, right? There has never been a generation that has changed so much and so quickly as the generation that we're living in. You're right. Someone has so aptly stated that the only thing that is constant is change. We're living in a changing world. Change has become a way of life. Change has become our position. In the '90s, the '80s and '90s, in society, we see great changes that are taking place. The homosexual lifestyle is now being wooed and accepted. Abortion is something that is not only condoned but sponsored by the tax dollars of the American people. The value system of this country has, uh, gone through dramatic and drastic changes over the last few years and is still in the constant process of change.

Homes are changing. From the time when some of us were children, homes are changing. Most wives are working nowadays. Husbands have two jobs and are trying to make ends meet, and everybody's busy. It's a helter-skelter lifestyle. We're living in a different world. We're living in a different world.

The schools of our society are changing. In Chapel Hill, North Carolina, which is only 5 miles from Durham, we have just sort of a twin city of Durham and Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill High School, two weeks ago, um, began on a daily basis passing out condoms to young people in high school. That's the kind of society that we're living in. Not only is it condoned, but it's being given by the, um, teachers and by the school. One of our men teaches at Chapel Hill High, and he has gone under a tremendous amount of adversity because he will not teach out of books that openly, uh, openly state an approval of homosexual lifestyle and abortion and so on. And he has come under tremendous scrutiny by the people and by the teachers there. But he's standing out as a voice for the Lord in that school. Amen.

On the University of North Carolina campus in Chapel Hill, just last week, just this past Friday, they passed a rule that all boys can now go and stay overnight in all the girls' dorms at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. We're living in a changing world. 100,000 plus students take guns to school every day. We're living in a dangerous society. Our schools are changing. Our churches are also changing. We're living in a time of changing churches, cold churches, lifeless churches, dead churches, boring churches. And the baby boomer generation are tired of boring churches, and that's why they're quitting church by the thousands. That's why they're dropping out and are no longer interested because they feel like there's nothing there for them personally. Right? If we ever needed a church that's alive with Holy Ghost power, we need a church that's alive. I don't believe we stand a chance of affecting our generation with a, with a cold, lifeless, dead, dull, boring church. I don't think we'll ever make an impact upon our generation with a church unless the life of the Holy Spirit is flowing through it. Praise God! Praise God!

My prayer is today that more than ever before, in all of my life, and 38 years ago this month, I received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. But my prayer is that today, more than ever before, I can have more of a touch of God upon my life than I've ever had before. You can't pastor a church without a touch of God upon your life, right? You can't evangelize without a touch of God upon your life. You can't teach a Sunday school class effectively without a touch of God on your life. You can't do anything in the work of God and do it right and the way it ought to be done without a dynamic move of the Spirit. Praise God! Our churches need a move of God. We need God's power. Amen.

Preachers are changing. Many preachers are getting cold and apathetic, lukewarm about the work of God. Saints are changing. Many people that have once been faithful to the house of God are no longer faithful. Many people that once supported the church have, have drastically changed, and they're supporting the work of God. Amen.

I want to say to all the preachers that are here today, and especially to the young preachers, that God did not call you in the ministry just to give you a job to do, right? God did not call you in the ministry just to give you an income. God did not call you in the ministry just to give you a parsonage to live in and a good lifestyle. God did not call us in the ministry for that, right? Hallelujah! Hallelujah! If there ever was a time we need men of God in our pulpits, it's today. If there ever was a time we need preachers that can hear from the Lord and come to the congregation after they've been in the closet of prayer and say, "Thus saith the Lord," it's surely the day that we're living in right now. We need preachers that are alive with Holy Ghost power. Amen.

And as the pulpit goes, so goes the pews. Thus, if the pulpit is ignited with a flaming passion for souls, that kind of spirit is going to be distributed throughout the congregation. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

I've watched a lot of people change through the years, and so have you. This is a changing world. I read an article the other day that was rather interesting to me, and it said it talked about change, and it said, "We are survivors." It talked about all the folks that was born before 1945, and that includes me and some of you. Praise God! Don't you laugh, Brother Cole. That includes you too. All of us that were born before 1945, consider the changes that we've witnessed. That we've witnessed. We were born before penicillin, before polio shots, frozen food, Z-Ro, plastics, contact lenses, Frisbees, and the pill. Those of us that were born before 1945 were born before radar, credit cards, split atoms, laser beams, and ballpoint pens. Before pantyhose and dishwashers, clothes dryers, and electric blankets, air conditioners, drip-dry clothes, and before man ever walked on the moon. We got married first and then lived together. How quaint can you be?

Those of us that were born before 1945 were born before we had househusbands, gay rights, computer dating, dual careers, and computer marriages. Yeah. We, we were before daycare centers, group therapy, nursing homes. We never heard of FM stereo, tape decks, electric typewriters, artificial hearts, word processors, yogurt, and men wearing earrings. Amen. For us, time-sharing meant togetherness, not computers or condominiums. A chip meant a piece of wood. Hardware meant hardware, and software wasn't even a word back then. In 1940, "Made in Japan" meant junk, and the term "making out" referred to how you did on your exam. Pizzas, McDonald's, and instant coffee were unheard of. We hit the scene back then when there really was a 5 and 10 cents store, when you bought things for 5 and 10 cents. Anderson sold ice cream cones for a nickel or a dime, and for one nickel back then, you could ride a streetcar, make a phone call, buy a Pepsi, or buy enough stamps to mail one letter plus two postcards. You could buy a new Chevy coupe for $600, but who could afford it because gas was the astronomical price of 11 cents a gallon?

In our day, cigarette smoking was fashionable. Grass was mowed. Coke was a soft drink, and pot was something you cooked in. Amen. Rock music back then was Grandma's lullaby, and AIDS were helpers in the principal's office. But we were certainly not before the difference between the sexes were discovered. We surely were before the sex changed. But we may do with what we had. And we were the last generation. We were the last generation that was so dumb as to think that you needed a husband to have a baby. Some of us are really antique, aren't we? Yeah. I'm in that, you're in that class too, Brother Kilgore. That was a long time ago, and a lot of changes have taken place since 1940 or 1945. This is truly a changing world.

But there's one thing that hasn't changed. Aren't you glad for the constancy of the Gospel? Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hallelujah! Praise God! Praise God! Praise God! Praise God! Amen.

Men are changing. Women are changing. Young people are changing. Yeah. I read something the other day about women. It says that in infancy, they want love and care. In childhood, they want fun. In their 20s, they want romance. In their 30s, they want admiration. In the 40s, they want sympathy. In the 50s, they want cash. That's where you and I are, Sister Godair. But I want to say this afternoon that we don't just change from one position to another position. You don't just change from one position to another position. Now, here's what I want to say today: that when we change, we change from a position of not changing to a position of change. And then, once you've changed and moved into a position of change, then it's hard to stop, right? Amen. You don't change just from one place to another. You change from not changing to changing. Yeah. And then, once you change, then change is the constant thing. It's an inevitable. It's something that keeps going. Amen. Amen.

All of us here are changing, even in our physical appearance. We're changing. If you don't think you're changing, you ask somebody that you love. Amen. The gray hair, the weight. Yeah, we can look in the mirror, can't we? The gray hair, the weight. We're getting a little older. We're weighing more, unless you're like Mike Williams and losing 50 lbs. And, uh, we, um, are looking older, unless you're like Brother Gary Mangan. He's like the Lord. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. You haven't changed a bit since the first time I saw you. That is the truth. I mean, in vitality and power, in everything. This man never changes. When he's 95, he's still going to be the same. Praise God! Praise God! Praise God!

And so, when we change, basically, we change from not changing to changing. And then we enter into the arena of change. And, uh, changing is not always a swift thing. It is a gradual process. It is not an overnight situation. It is a gradual thing. Amen.

Even in the matters of the church, business, and the work of God, changes are taking place. Some of them I like, some of them I don't like. Amen. I like progress. I love revival. Praise God! I don't believe that any church ought to be stuck in the mud. I don't believe that any church ought to say, "Well, this is the way we've been doing it for the last 40 years, and so this is the way we're going to keep on doing it." I don't believe there's any church member or any church board or any church leader, whatever they may call themselves, that would try to tie the hands of the apostolic ministry that is truly seeking after the power and the fullness of the Holy Spirit and is wanting revival more than anything else in the world. If you're here today and you're on a church board or you're a member of a church, what you ought to do is release your pastor to be the man of God and to be the man that God has anointed and placed in that pulpit. Don't put your thumb on him. Don't touch God's anointed. Don't put restrictions on his ministry. Let him be the man that God called him to be in that place. Amen. Amen. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

I talked to a man not too long ago, and, and this was what he said. He said, "I can't stay with the United Pentecostal Church." And I said, "Why not?" He said, "Well, the crowds and the money is not there. He said, "Man, it's just chicken feed what you're getting preaching in in United Pentecostal churches." And that's probably true. In the Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ, they don't look much richer. But, uh, I tell you what, what you get preaching in our churches, you're not going to get rich on. But I want to say again, if a preacher is out, and if that is his motivation, if that's his motive, as his intention, he's got the wrong motive altogether. Brother, I'd rather get out of the ministry today. I'd rather get out of the ministry today than to live only for crowds and money, prestige and honor, and, and the accolades of men. We need the favor of Jesus Christ upon this church more than ever before. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

I don't believe the true preacher of God can be bought anyhow. Amen. I think there's a deep love for the truth and a deep commitment for souls and a love for the work of God in the heart of every man of God. And I don't think you're going to buy off a real true preacher of the Gospel. They're going to preach the truth. Hallelujah! I said, they're going to preach the truth. But every preacher in this building today, faces in your city, in your community, you face daily or weekly or monthly the pull on you to change. There are subtle pressures that are placed upon us all the time. All the time. There are subtle pressures that are placed there. But thank God, there's still an apostolic ministry in our day. Thank God, there's still a God-called ministry that's going to preach the word of God. Paul said to Timothy, "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season: reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. Thank God for the truth today. "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." We shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Praise God! Praise God! Praise God!

And I do not subscribe to the theory nor the idea of people that say that if you preach the word of God, nobody wants it in this hour. I don't believe that. I do not subscribe to the theory that if you stand for the word of God, nobody wants to receive what you've got to say. I believe with all of my heart, there are some hungry hearts out there. There's a, there's an untapped resource out there. There are thousands of people that are wondering and staggering in in darkness of the midnight of their life, and they're looking for something, and they're searching for something, and they're longing for something. And this apostolic church in this hour has that special something that they are looking for. Hallelujah!

There's never been a day that I've been more happy to be apostolic. There has never been a day that I've been more thankful to be Pentecostal. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I don't feel negative about who we are. I don't feel negative about what about what we believe. I believe the whole world needs what we've got. I said, I believe the whole world needs what we've got. Amen.

And those that sit by with just a handful of people and never praying and fasting and seeking the face of God for revival, and sitting in their own little corner saying, "It's not going to happen, and nobody wants God anymore, and nobody wants the church anymore, and all the young people are going to the dogs, and nobody cares about church, the church anymore." That is absolutely not the truth. That is absolutely not the truth. Somehow, the Holy Spirit's got to change our thinking. Somehow, the Holy Spirit has got to change our mentality. Somehow, the Holy Spirit has got to come to us and visit us today and let us know that the fields are white and they are ready to be harvested. The problem is not the field. The problem is in the laborers. The, the laborers are few, and Christ's prayer request was that we would pray that the Lord of the harvest would send forth laborers into his harvest. Ladies and gentlemen, I tell you today, the fields are white. They are ready to be harvested. There's a revival in your church. There is a revival in your community. We just need to reach up and get it and get a hold of it in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Now, the Apostle Peter didn't say, and just sort of decide in his mind, "I think I'll just quit the ministry." He didn't say that. But I tell you what he did do: he slept while Jesus prayed. I'll tell you something else he did: he lost his temper and he cut off the ear of the high priest's servant. Yes, I tell you something else he did. I'm talking about change today. He warmed at the devil's fire. Tell you something else he did: he followed afar off. Something else he did: he denied the Savior. Something else he did: he finally just denied the faith. And finally, he said, "I'm going fishing." Amen. That didn't happen just by preconceived idea or plan. But I tell you what he did: he entered into the arena of change. And when he started changing, there was no place convenient to stop changing. Amen.

Abraham didn't say one day, "I think I'll become the father of an illegitimate child." He didn't say that. But I tell you what Abraham did do: he left Ur of the Chaldees to seek a city whose builder and maker is God. He went to the land of Canaan, and then he went down to Egypt, and then he said to Sarah, "I don't want them to know that you're my wife." He, he was not totally honest about the matter. I tell you what else he did: he hired a girl that he shouldn't have hired, Hagar. And then he, he brought Hagar to Canaan, and then Hagar got pregnant, and then Abraham became the father of a child. He became the father of the Arab nation and the Arab people. But Abraham didn't say, "I'm going to do all of this, and I'm going to start a race of Arabs that's going to give Israel all kind of fits and troubles down through the centuries." He didn't say that. It was a gradual process. It did not happen overnight. It was a spirit of change that got a hold of him. Praise God! Praise God!

I pray that that kind of a spirit of change will never get a hold of God's preachers and God's saints who have gathered in this hall this afternoon to praise and magnify God. Hallelujah! I don't think there's anything wrong with the old-time gospel. I don't think there's anything wrong with the power of God. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! We're in the greatest church that the world's ever known. I said, the Jesus Name Apostolic One God Church is the greatest church that the world's ever known. It's more than a denomination. It's more than an organization. It's more than a fellowship. It's the mystical Body of Christ on the face of the Earth, and you and I are privileged to be a part of it today. Let's all clap our hands for the Lord. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I feel the Holy Ghost here today. Glory! Somebody shout, Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Samson didn't change overnight. I'll tell you what he did. He said to Delilah, "You bind me with seven green withes that were never dried." That didn't work. And secondly, he said, "If you'll bind me fast with new ropes that were never occupied." And when that didn't work, he said, "If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with a web." "I'll lose my power." But that didn't work. And finally, after she was, uh, talking to him, persuading him day after day, finally the Bible said he told her all of his heart. He told her all of his heart. He said, "No razor come on my head, for I have been a Nazarite from my mother's womb." I want to tell you today that Samson didn't lose his power just in a few seconds or a few minutes, but it was a process of time. Hallelujah!

I don't know how you feel today, but after 38 years of living for God, I don't want to become a spiritual casualty. I don't want to become a dropout. I'm not here to preach a negative sermon, but I am here to tell you this today. There are, we might as well face the truth, and most of you are preachers and their wives and families. There are people failing God in this hour. There are people turning their back on the truth in this hour. There are people that are backsliding today. There are people that once shouted the aisles and spoke tongues and prayed in your prayer rooms that are drinking whiskey today and living in sin. And so, we might as well face the fact that we are living in a changing world. Hallelujah!

But I believe the purpose that has drawn us together in this meeting today is what we need to seek after. We are here to draw close to God. We are here to draw close to God. He said, "Draw nigh unto God, and he will draw nigh unto you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; purify your hearts, ye double minded." Praise God! We are here to draw close to God. We're living in a time when I've seen in my limited, uh, uh, time and vision, I've seen people changing. I've seen preachers changing. I've seen preachers' wives changing. Preacher's wife that used to be a pastor's wife in our district and a very active person. I was told just this week is out running around drinking whiskey and living a sinful life. Those are heartbreaking situations. But change doesn't happen overnight. Change doesn't happen overnight. It is a gradual process that can happen in any preacher's life, in any preacher's wife, in the preacher's children. It can happen in the saints. It can happen in the best of the best of saints. It can happen in any church. Hallelujah!

But I pray that somehow today, the Holy Spirit will so endue us with spiritual power and anointing that the powers of the enemy will not be able to put his hand on our life. Amen. Hallelujah!

The prodigal son didn't just totally go out, uh, perhaps, and overnight. First of all, he wanted some money, and he said, "Give me what's coming to me." And then he left home, and then he went with the wrong crowd, and that seems to always kind of go along with it, getting with the wrong crowd. And, and then he spent all that he had, and then he wound up in the hog pen. Hallelujah! It was there that he came to himself and said, "My father's got some servants that are eating meat and bread, and I perish with hunger. Tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to rise and go back to my father and say, 'Father, I've sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants.'" Hallelujah!

When he left there, he was saying, "Give me." When he come back, he was saying, "Make me." He had a total attitude change while he was out there in the hog pen. Oh, Hallelujah! And I believe today that when every prodigal son or daughter gets ready to come back into our churches, there needs to be a strong church there, praise God, that's still preaching the word of God. When they get ready to come back, I do believe there's going to be a great revival of backsliders in this end time. I believe that with all of my heart. People that know the truth in their heart, they know what it means to be saved, but the devil is so enticed and allures them to take them out into the pit of sin. I believe that God is going to bring us an end-time revival and bring backsliders by the scores back to our altar to pray and repent and seek God. I tell you what, when they come back to my church, I want to still be there praying and preaching and loving God. They still need a strong church to come back to. They still need a prayer room. They still need an altar. They still need a loving church. They still need concerned saints. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

But when the process of change takes place, in some cases, my friend, when change starts happening, you won't even know yourself in a little while. Once you enter into the arena of change, in five or 10 years, as the case with Naomi, 10 years, you won't hardly know yourself, and the others won't recognize you either. Amen.

I want you to look back here for just a moment in this story of Elimelech and how that they left Bethlehem-judah because there was a famine in the land, how that they went down to Moab, and the Bible says that they continued there. But in verse one, it simply says that they went to sojourn in the land. The word "sojourn" means to pass through. That's all it means, just to pass through. They went to the land of Moab just to pass through it because there was a famine in the land of Bethlehem-judah. But when they got there, verse one said they started to sojourn, which is pass through, but verse two said that after they got there, they continued there. Sin has a way of holding people. Sin has a way of keeping people. Sin has a way of binding people. We see it in our local churches every week. The powers of sin are mighty strong in the lives of men and women and young people as they're bound by alcohol and drug addiction and, and sexual abuse, and every kind of sin in the book today. God help us. Sin is a powerful force. But there's one thing today that can break the powers and the shackles and the chains and the bondage of sin, and that's the power of the blood of Jesus Christ. Oh, Hallelujah! Whom the Son hath made free is free indeed. Aren't you glad you've been freed today?

So they went down into Moab. It was a heathen country. They went to sojourn there, but the Bible says that after they got there, that they stayed 10 years. The scripture teaches us that in Moab, the first son married a heathen girl. The second son married a heathen girl. By and by, that first son died, and then the second boy died, and then finally the husband died, and Naomi was left to herself. And here's what she said: "I think I'll go back to Bethlehem. I think I'll go back to where I came from. I think I'll go back to my raising." And I want you to read with me, please, in Ruth chapter 1 and verse 19. Chapter 1 and verse 19. You know the story how that Orpah kissed her mother-in-law and, and turned around and went back to her gods (plural). Hallelujah! But Ruth clave to her mother-in-law and said, "Uh, whithersoever thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: and thy people shall be my people, and thy God (singular), thy God shall be my God." Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

And the Bible said in verse 19 that the two of them, Naomi and Ruth, came to Bethlehem. "And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?" Is this Naomi? They didn't know her. Brother Beckon, they didn't recognize her. She went to sojourn in a land and just passed through it, but she stayed 10 long years, and it left its mark and it left its toll upon her life. And they said, "Is this Naomi?" And she said to them, "Call me not Naomi, call me Mara; for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full," notice this, "I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty. I went out full, and I came back empty." The word Naomi means Pleasant. The word Mara means Bitter. She said, "I went out pleasant, but I came back bitter. I went out there in good shape, but look how I came back." Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

I want to tell you something today, friend. All the makeup in the world can't cover the marks of sin. They don't make enough makeup in this world to cover the marks of sin. Hallelujah! And there are people sitting right here on these pews today. Oh, you say, "Everybody here loves God." That's probably true. Everybody here is living for God, I trust that's the case. But there are possible sinners and potential sinners in this building today. We who have once had the blessed touch of the Holy Spirit, we who have knelt at an altar of prayer, we who have repented of our sins, we who have been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, we have received the baptism of the Holy Ghost and spoke with other tongues as the Spirit of God gave the utterance. We who know who Jesus is, we who have an illumination of His name and His deity. Thank God for that today. I still believe there's one Lord, and His name is one. Somebody say, "Praise the Lord!" I said, there's still one God here. "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord." And there's still one name that saves from sin. Just one. Just one. Just one. And it's not Muhammad, and it's not Buddha, and it's not Krishna, and it's not the revival of Eastern religions. I tell you, there is one name that delivers. There is one name that saves. There is one name that heals. There is one name that sets the captive free, and His name is Jesus. Hallelujah! Somebody shout, Amen! Hallelujah!

Recently, my wife and me had preached a meeting in a western state, and we were staying over the weekend and taking two or three days off. And we were driving out in the country, going to a particular city. And we stopped on an in an afternoon in a little Dairy Queen out in a small town farming area. Walked in the Dairy Queen to get some ice cream and to get a, a blizzard. Praise God! Doesn't sound bad right now, does it? Hold on here just a little while. Walked up there, my wife and me got out of the car, and we're stretching and ordered some ice cream. Young girl, about 19 or 20, waited on us. And, uh, so we got our ice cream and started to walk away. She turned to us and said, "Uh, you're Pentecostal, aren't you?" And I said, "Yes." She said, "You're United Pentecostal, aren't you?" And I said, "Yes, we are." I said, "I turned around to her and I said, "Uh, how did you know that? How did you know that?" She said, "Don't you know that I could tell? She said, "I was baptized in Jesus' name. I received the Holy Ghost at the California Youth Camp. I received the Holy Ghost. I spoke in tongues. I know what it is to live for God." She said, "I said, well, what happened? Tell me." She said, "Well, as you can tell, I'm far away from God today. But she said, "I want to tell you what happened, sir." And she'd never met me. She said, "I want to tell you what happened. My pastor got up in the pulpit just about four or five months ago, and he told us that from now on, he wasn't going to preach anything. We could do what we want to do. He wasn't going to preach any standards. We could do anything we wanted to do." And she said, "It so destroyed my confidence. She said, "I had such great confidence in my pastor and in my church, and I was taught that, and it destroyed my confidence, and today I'm out of church." Right? She had lost out with God. That was something that had taken place in her life. And, and, and the, the reason was is because of what had happened in the pulpit. Hallelujah!

If there was ever an hour we need truth in the pulpits, it's today. I'm not talking about cynicism. I'm not talking about bitterness. I'm not talking about pet peeves. I'm not talking about hobby horses. I'm talking about the word of God. That's right. We need God's word in the pulpit because as the pulpit goes, so goes the pew. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I said, Hallelujah! Let's preach the truth. Let's teach the truth. Let's preach repentance. Let's preach baptism in Jesus' name. Let's preach the Holy Ghost speaking in tongues. Let's preach the new birth of water and Spirit. Let's preach that Jesus is God. Let's preach separation from the world and separated unto God. Hallelujah! Amen! Amen!

This is not a hobby horse with me. It's not a pet peeve with me. I'm not mad at anybody. I love the lost. We're trying to have revival in my church, and obviously, I don't get up every sermon and try to clean everybody and skin everybody's hide. Amen. We wouldn't have a church if we did that. Praise God! Praise God! But last Sunday, on a snowy, icy day, we had over 1100. I'm not saying that to brag, but I'm telling you, we had over 1100 in Sunday school, and they're not there just to hear a preacher skin them and show a bad spirit, which I don't do. I, I believe we got to speak the truth in love. We got to love God. We got to love souls. We got to love the lost. But I'm telling you, in the midst of all of that, there's still got to be the unadulterated word of God. It's got to be taught. It's got to be preached. It's got to be preached. Hallelujah!

You don't have to say it's okay to do certain things. You just stop preaching that you shouldn't. Is it all right? Say what I say. I'm not coming to you negative today. I have no axe to grind. You don't have to tell women they can cut their hair. You just quit preaching that it's wrong. Hallelujah! I said, we're still Apostolic. We're still Jesus name. You don't have to get up and say, "All you ladies can cut the hair, brother." When you quit preaching it, they'll start doing it. All right? You don't have to say it's okay for a woman to wear a man's clothes. When you stop preaching it, they'll start doing it. Hallelujah! Somebody shout, Amen! Somebody shout, Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Let's clap our hands to the Lord. Hallelujah! You may be seated.

I'm going to tell you, we got folks in all stages of of development, spiritual growth and development, in our churches. You've got them here. We've got them in Durham, North Carolina. We got folks that are, that are one week old in God. We baptized five last week, and, and four or five got the Holy Ghost. We got brand new people. We got folks that are 30 days old in the Lord. We got quite a few that's, uh, two months old in the Lord because of a young evangelist over here. I use that word generously, young Brother Brian Kenny, just preached us a revival a few weeks ago, and 75 people received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. We got, we got a lot of new babies, and you better believe I'm going to handle them tenderly and with care. And if you come there with a bad spirit, I'm going to scoot you out of the pulpit. Huh? Is that all right, Bishop? If you come there trying to have a bad spirit, I'm going to ask you to get out of the pulpit. Let me take care of them. I love them. They're my babies. They're my spiritual kids. Come on. I'm not talking about vindictive. I'm not talking about an ugly spirit. I'm talking about loving truth and not changing.

We better decide. Somebody here today maybe needs to decide what you believe about Acts 2:38. You need to decide what you believe about one God. You need to decide what you believe about rock music. You need to decide what you believe about mixed swimming. Oh, it's not a problem in February, but it will be in July. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I still believe in old-fashioned decency. I believe in modesty. I believe in holiness. I believe in the truth of this book. Hallelujah! Can it come? Go. Let's know change when the prodigal son comes home. Hallelujah! Let's let him find the father's house the same way they left it. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Somebody shout, Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory!

I was reading an article the other day today. It's in USA Today. Some of you probably read it. Here's what it's titled: "Strict Religious Faith Lifts the Mind as Well as the Spirit." Now, this wasn't in the Pentecostal Herald. This was in USA Today. Here's what it says, and I quote: "Followers of that old-time religion, a favorite target of comics, may have the last laugh." Their faith gives them a strong mental health edge. I like that. Let me read this. This is in USA Today. Fundamentalists. And it says, "Those who interpret religious texts literally and impose more daily regulations on members are far more optimistic than followers of moderate or liberal religions." Well, I knew there was some reason we were so positive. We get them all filled with the Holy Ghost. Mr. Clinton can scratch the mental health part off of the tax, off of the health bill. Aren't you glad you got a sound mind?

Here's what it says: "Optimistic people are less vulnerable to depression, and optimism correlates with high achievement," says psychologist Sheena Sethi of Stanford University. She lists three groups and categories: Number one is fundamentalists, number two is moderates, number three is liberals. And here's what she says: "Most optimistic of all three groups were the fundamentalists, and the least optimistic were the liberal religions." The most pessimistic of all was the one-third of Unitarians who don't even believe in God. Here's what she said: "Optimism also is linked to your allowing religion to influence your daily life, what you eat, what you wear, and whom you marry." I even believe you ought to marry in the faith. Boy, I am old-fashioned. Hallelujah! I still believe a saint of God ought to marry a saint of God. I don't care how many promises they make. Wait till they get baptized and get the Holy Ghost and start living for God and prove their life and then only then should you date them or marry them. And finally, here's what she said: "What we found was exactly the opposite of what we expected. The old-time religion is going to have the last laugh." You've been saying it for a long time, Bishop. Glory to God! Glory to God! Glory to God!

Aren't you glad you're a part of a church that's not changing? Aren't you glad you're part of a church that is not going to enter into the arena of change? Because when you start changing, you don't change from one position to another position. You change from not changing to a position of change. And when you start changing, there's no place to stop. Hallelujah! It's a merry-go-round that you can't get off of. But thank God for the church that's still the church. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Jacob, look at what he did. He deceived his brother. He cheated his brother. He left and stayed 20 years. You know, I thought of the Apostle Peter when he denied the Lord, warmed at the wrong fire, and did all of that. There's one thing I think, you know, I noticed this: that after Peter denied the Lord, cursed and swore and said, "I don't even know him," Brother Baker, 50 days later, he was in the pulpit preaching. And Jacob, when he got away from God, he stayed 20 years. And I think the big difference is that Peter stayed around where it was when he did have it. Hallelujah! He stayed around. Jacob went 500 miles from home. But Peter just stayed around. Brother Kilgore, when he said, "I'm going fishing," you know what he did? He went out there, and while he's trying to fish, no doubt memories come flooding his mind. Brother Cole, right over there is where Jesus walked on the water. Right up there on that hill is where I heard him give the Beatitudes. Everywhere he went, something reminded him of some past blessings. Brother, if you can just stay around where where it was when it was better, it's going to get better again. Hallelujah! I don't care how far you are away from God today. Hallelujah! I'd rather have folks to hang around the church. I'm not trying to run anybody off. I don't want anybody to leave. I don't care. I want the backsliders there. I want the sinners there. I even want the hypocrites there. Hallelujah! I said, if they're there, we got a chance to work on them. I don't want them in the bars. I don't want them in the taverns. I want them on my pews. I don't care who they are. I don't care what they look like. I don't care how they live. I want them on my pews. God's got a chance to get through to them if they're sitting there. You may be seated. We're not trying to run folks off. We're trying to get them to God. We're not trying to kill, we're trying to save. Somebody shout, Amen!

Jacob left, stayed gone 20 years. He got money, he got riches, he got Leah, then he got Rachel. He got, got deceived himself, didn't he? What goes around comes around. You, what your soul? Hallelujah! I said, Jacob didn't go away to stay, but he stayed 20 years. Once he was gone 20 years because he went 500 miles away. Peter's preaching in 50 days because he stayed right around where it happened. Glory to God! Hallelujah!

You know what? I'm going to say something right here. We don't need something new. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not talking about programs and innovative ideas, you understand what I'm saying? I'm talking about the word, the gospel, the truth, the message. We don't need...

Something new. We just need the old to be repeated. Hallelujah. We don't need to shock our church with something new. We need to bless them with something old.

"Stand thou in the ways, and see, and ask for the old path, where it is a good way, and walk therein, and thou shalt find rest for your soul."

I'm not trying to shock my church every Sunday with a new doctrine, a new dogma, a new philosophy, or a new message. Hallelujah. I want to come back to that pulpit after 21 years. I want to say exactly what I said 21 years ago. The gospel hasn't changed. Jesus hasn't changed. The Word hasn't changed. Come on, Apostolics. We don't need to enter into the arena of change. When you do, you'll keep changing. There's no stopping. You'll always go further than you intended to go, and you'll stay longer than you intended to stay, and you'll do things you never intended to do.

In the Old Testament, a landmark was a piece of stone or metal, and no one came to steal the property all at once. They came, and a neighbor or somebody would just see that landmark, and and and on Monday, they'd just scoot it over here a little ways. And then they'd come back about Wednesday and move it over a little further. They'd come back about Friday and they'd move it over a little further. And you take this for weeks and weeks, and you know what? They didn't steal your property all at once. They just moved the landmarks, and finally your property is taken, and you've lost it.

Folks, we got the greatest thing this side of heaven. We got the greatest thing in all the world. I'm not negative about this message. I'm not downcast or downtrodden. Hallelujah. We got the greatest message in the whole wide world, and folks wanted. Hallelujah, Sister Mang, and my wife and me were together last week up in Wisconsin, and on a rainy, snowy, frozen Tuesday night, Hallelujah, they filled that building up. And the pastor said it seats 17 or 1800, and every seat was full, and the altar was lined with people, and 11 brand new people received the baptism of the Holy Ghost on a cold, snowy, rainy night. Don't tell me folks are not hungry for God. We've got to get up and stop being lazy and trifling and go where they are. We can't hide behind our laziness by saying no one wants what we've got anymore.

In the Southeastern part of the United States, I read a story some time back, and it said that two men broke into a department store. It was somewhere in the Atlanta area, if I remember correctly. And they broke into a department store. If I remember the story correctly, it says that they didn't steal anything. They just went in, stayed four or five hours, and changed the price tag on hundreds of items, and then left. So the manager comes to open the department store at 10:00 a.m., and folks are buying bicycles for $1.98. They're buying a little bit of tape for $7.95. And finally somebody said, "What in the world is going on here?" They didn't steal one thing. They just changed the price of hundreds of items.

And I fear sometimes that that's what the devil is doing to us today. He's not stealing everything that we've had through the years. He's just trying to change the price. And some people say, "It's too straight, and it's too narrow, and it's too hard." Bless your life. I'm having the time of my life. I'm having more fun after 38 years than I ever thought you could have living for God. I wouldn't take nothing for my journey now. If you want a hard luck story, don't come to me. I'm having the time of my life. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

I close for this. Brother Jer, would you come to the music? In Jeremiah 35, I won't take the time to read it, verses 1-19. God said to Jeremiah, in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, he said, "I want you to go to the Recabites." And I want you to come to the house of the Lord. I want you to come into one of the chambers, and I want you to give them wine to drink. Hear me. Hear me closely. I want you to bring them into the house of the Lord and give them wine to drink. And, uh, the Bible says down about five or six verses later that that's what he did. He brought him into the house of God, and he said, "We're going to give you wine to drink." And they said, "We won't drink it." And they said, "Why? Why not?" And they said, "Well, Jonadab told us not to drink it. Drink? Jonadab said, 'Don't drink any wine.'" Well, when did Jonadab live? Yesterday? No, he died almost 400 years ago, between 3 and 400 years ago. Well, why don't you just come ahead and drink wine now? "We can't do that." Well, he's already dead and gone. Why don't you go ahead and drink some wine? "No, sir, we couldn't do that."

Here's Jeremiah, the prophet, trying to get people to drink wine, and they're saying, "We're not going to do it." Not because they're stubborn and rebellious, but they are saying, "Jonadab told us almost 400 years ago not to do that, and we're not going to do that." Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Brother, if you don't have any convictions of your own, just start living by some of your forefathers. Praise God. Praise God. If you don't have any convictions, start living by one of these men's convictions. Start living by somebody else's convictions. Start living by your blessed old Daddy's convictions. Hallelujah to God. Hallelujah to God. I thank God there's somebody that's going to stand up in 1994 and say no to sin, no to the devil, no to the world. We've been taught, we've been trained, we've been instructed. Let's stand to our feet. Let's lift our hands. Let's worship God.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Bear with me another moment or two before you leave, please. I'm closing. Amen. Hallelujah. She went to sojourn in the land, just to pass through. It lasted 10 years, and she came back home bitter and wounded. Jacob went to sojourn in the land, and he came back after 20 years, all the way to the bottom. God help us today, Pentecostals. We've got the name, we've got the Word, we've got the power, we've got everything we need in this hour. Let us not recant, back down, back away, or compromise. Let's stand on the Word of God.

Oh, you say, "But Brother Go, I can't understand the Bible." I don't think that's our problem. I don't think our problem is that we can't understand it. It's pretty plain. Amen. I read the other day a little statement in the Bible said, "Where he went into the house." Now, that's a that's a really hard statement to understand, but I'm going to give you an example and break that down for you so that you can understand that. "He went into the house." That's hard to understand. That's a toughy. The word "he" is the opposite of "she." "Went" means you ain't here no more. "Into" means you ain't outside. "The" means just one. "House" is where folks live. Now, that wasn't hard to understand, praise God. Hallelujah.

You know what our problem is? Our problem is not we can't understand it. Mark Twain was quoted saying on his dying bed, he said, "I'm going to die and be lost, not for what I didn't know, but for what I knew and didn't do." I believe Alexandria is going to know this message. I said, I believe Alexandria is going to know this message. But it's not enough just for Alexandria to know this message. What about your church and mine? What about your city and mine? Hey, we don't just need a revival in Alexandria. Thank God for what they've had here 40 some years, but I'm going to tell you what God wants. There to be a bunch more places like this scattered all over America. Come on, Pentecostals. We've got what it takes. Let's don't change. Let's don't hesitate. Let's not compromise. Let's stand for the Name.

You said, "Can't reach the lost?" Yes, you can. Why don't you go home and start a bus route? Right. Why don't you go home and get a Bible chart, start teaching a Bible study? Somebody say amen. I said, why don't you start teaching a Bible study? You say, "I can't do that." Yes, you can. I got a brand new convert, had the Holy Ghost less than three weeks, brother. They're already teaching a Bible study. Don't tell me you can't do it. If we want to do it, we can make an impact on our generation. Hallelujah.

What don't we start going to our campuses? How many's got a college campus within driving distance of your area in your city? Sure you do. A college, junior college. Why don't we go make an impact on them? Duke campus is 2 miles from my church. North Carolina University campus is 6 miles from my church. You can see the Duke campus from the Carolina campus. And we, we just started a prison ministry, our rather campus ministry. I'll talk to prison men. We started a campus ministry there, and Brother Jeff is leading that. And in one Sunday, and Sunday night, and Tuesday night recently, there were 21 college students off of the Duke and Carolina campus that came and said, "We want to know about Pentecost." He introduced me to a young man Sunday, shook my hand, and he said, "Here's a young man that wants to find God off of the campus."

What about the prison ministry? We got a fella in our church named Brother Barry. He he wasn't really well-schooled and trained, but in in prison ministry, but he started applying himself and and and loving people. You know what? You can't do anything if you don't love people. And he started going to jails and prisons. Last week, he preached to 148 people, our rather had 148 in the altar last week. That's coming Friday, day after tomorrow, we're going to baptize four men. Now, then, Brother Anthony has been made the chaplain of all of the Durham city and county prison system, a man from a Pentecostal church. You got other denominations want to do it, and here's a young man, and they made him the chaplain of all the prison system. And instead of us going there to baptize, they said, "We'll bring them to your church." And Friday afternoon at 4:00, we got four more men out of the A.E. program that's coming to our church to get that baptism in Jesus' name. Hey friend, they're out there. They're out there. Amen. Amen.

What about the rest homes? What about door knocking? What about the hospitals? What about loving people? Pastor, are you going to have revival? Or are you just going to come to because of the times and get stirred and then go back home and forget what you've heard? Do you know what it's possible to do? Is come to this great meeting with great preaching and worship and singing and be moved even to the altar, but go home and not do one thing about it?

A preacher in my city, I say this and I turn it back to Brother Anthony, a preacher in our city called me on the phone a few days ago. I won't call the name of his church, highly visible church, Trinitarian church, and, uh, he pastors the first church in that city. He called me and he said, "Brother Go," and I said, "Yes." He told me who he was. I was shocked to hear him call me. He said, "My wife has got cancer. Would you pray?" I didn't even know he cared about us. He said, "I have confidence in you people." That's right. He said, "I have confidence in your people. I have confidence in your church." We started praying. Brother Anthony and I went out to the hospital to see his wife. When she went there, she had a knot in her breast bigger than than her thumb. And when they went in to get it, they could hardly locate it. He told me himself that they went ahead and took it, but it was hardly even recognizable, and it's gone, and the doctor says she's totally well. I can't help but believe. Let me tell you, not only in the, not only as you talked about last night in the gutters, but there's some people out there in the religious world that's so hungry for what we've got. Apostolics, don't change. Stay like you are. Keep living right. Keep loving God. Keep believing the truth. Keep living in the Spirit. Keep praying. Keep fasting. Keep the prayer room open.

One preacher came to me as I was leaving the other day. I had only 45 minutes to get on the plane. He walked up my steps, nice suit, tie, dressed very nice. Introduced himself. "I'm the pastor of the church one mile from us, one of the largest churches in our city." Doesn't believe in the Holy Ghost speaking in tongues. And he said to me, he said, "Pastor, I need to talk to you." And I told him I was going to get on the plane, and I, I apologized, and he handed me his card and he said, "When you get back home, call me. I need to talk to you. There's some hungry people out there." By, I want to reach them. I said, I want to reach them. I want to reach them.