welcome today to our midweek bible study
called
morning glory why don't you take your
bibles and meet me in
genesis chapter 28 and today let's talk
about climbing
jacob's ladder praise the lord let's
open up with prayer
heavenly father we ask that as we go
into your word
that your holy spirit would bring
illumination of the scriptures
and that we can take this understanding
of your word
and apply it to our lives today thank
you father for the mighty work of your
spirit
causing your word to be alive in jesus
name we pray
we all agree and say amen
genesis 28 verse 10 we have the story of
jacob and the latter reaching from earth
to heaven
verse 10 now jacob went out from
beersheba
and went toward haran so he came to a
certain place and stayed there
all night because the sun had set
and he took one of the stones of that
place
and put it at his head and he lay down
in that place to sleep then he dreamed
and behold the latter was set up on the
earth
and its top reached to heaven and there
the angels of god were ascending
and descending on it and behold the lord
stood above it
and said i am the lord god of abraham
your father
and the god of isaac the land on which
you
lie i will give to you and your
descendants also your descendants
shall be as the dust of the earth you
shall spread abroad to the west
and the east to the north and the south
and in you and in your seed all the
families of the earth
shall be blessed behold i am with you
and will keep you wherever you go
and will bring you back to this land for
i will not leave you until i have done
what i have spoken to you then jacob
awoke from his sleep and said surely the
lord is in this place
and i did not know it and he was afraid
and said
how awesome is this place this is none
other than the house of god
and this is the gate of heaven
then jacob rose early in the morning and
took the stone that he had put at his
head
set it up as a pillar and poured oil
on top of it and he called the name of
that place
bethel but the name of that city had
been luz
previously praise god well after a
dramatic event like that
let's just rename the whole city praise
the lord i think it was a good idea
and i of course god's in it and you know
when you own the land
you can call it whatever you want to
you can name the city if the city
belongs to you
and your descendants and so he certainly
had the
the right to do that now
here's the thing when we get into this
situation with this
ladder and the ladder going up right in
the area where that stone was
now let's just go ahead and knock over
uh to some what might be a sacred cow
just for a moment
there are those who incorrectly
teach that the stone that he used as a
pillow
must have been kind of a rough pillow
but nevertheless if you're out in the
desert
you do what you have to do
some teach that this is called the stone
of destiny or some call it the stone of
scone
and they uh certain teachers
who are incorrect say that this stone
has been passed down through the
centuries
and that this is the same stone
that's used in the coronation or the
crowning
of the successive kings and queens
of england well that's just a bunch of
total baloney that's not the same stone
uh jacob set it up over there in the
holy land as a
as a monument and somewhere out there
it's probably still there today
i don't uh you know don't know where it
is or
it's not really important what happened
to the stone
but i can guarantee you one thing the
the kings and the queens of
england have not been sitting on it
really when you get into that type of
teaching
what you're looking at is replacement
theology
and that became a very popular teaching
decades back
that basically it was a false teaching
saying
that one of the tribes immigrated to
what we now know as modern day britain
and that tribe uh you know settled there
and you know yet another tribe go over
to ireland and all these theories about
where the 10 lost tribes went
well they're they're not really lost
they've never been lost
even in the day of jesus when he was uh
you know being presented there at the
temple you had
the old lady anna who was of a great age
and it says of the tribe of asher oh
pastor stephen the ten tribes they're
all lost
well obviously not uh they knew but uh
you know she knew where she was
descended from so
it is true that the jews have been
dispersed into
all of the world but they're really good
record keepers
and they have the most unique cultural
identity
that makes it very hard to get lost in
the crowd
so we know that this was really just a
ploy
of replacement theology really the same
ones that teach
that israel has been replaced and
britain
is the israel and america is israel uh
no that's not correct that is a
replacement theology
that would try to say israel the natural
land and the natural jews
no longer have any covenant or any
inheritance
and that's incorrect they still are
entitled to that land
that land belongs to them god gave it to
abraham
god confirmed it also to his son isaac
and god confirmed it again here to uh
the grandson
to jacob whose name was changed to
israel
that the land is named after that this
land
forever belongs to you and your
your seed praise the lord hallelujah so
my friends
it's good to know to know that all right
so we have
there in this special area a ladder
going up and i believe that
this ladder of course with the lord
standing at the top of it
angels going up and down and so forth
this is the latter
of conformity into the image of jesus
who's standing at the very very top and
jacob really was taken through quite a
process
of being changed now he was never
changed in the sense as we know it
through the
born-again experience or
sometimes the word used by paul
regeneration because when you're saved
you're completely uh born again on the
inside
it's not like uh you had some kind of
like religious experience
no you you literally passed from
spiritual death
to spiritual life and now the life of
god
as a believer is living on the inside of
you so
the kingdom of god is within you and it
is a
uh a complete
recreation of your spirit on the
inside so jacob was never born again
but he did have a process where the lord
was really working with his character
you know the name jacob meaning
supplanter deceiver you could even go so
far as to say that
it would be over in the category
category of swindler
or con man so uh you know he
had a lot of dealings in order to get
that
exposed to him one of the main things
the lord used was
laban and jacob met his match
with laban uh it's interesting you know
why
i let me see if i can cloak this the
best that i can
i know a businessman christian
businessman
lived in the community here doesn't live
here anymore
uh spirit filled pastor stephen could he
speak in tongues oh yes he sure could
he could even prophesy to you also and
don't be surprised if the prophecy was
accurate
so he could uh operate in the gifts of
the spirit just like the church in
corinth could
and yet the christians in corinth were
extremely carnal so
he had he had some carnality issues one
of those as
it would be that as a businessman he
swindled many
people now as i as a christian man of
god
i could i could be around him at times
because he was in the community and
stuff like that i could get along with
him fine
because i could see that he was a lot
like jacob
he had this uh desire to want to swindle
people for financial gain
uh and for you know his financial
betterment
uh and if it hurts somebody else he
didn't really care
you know uh the old saying that some
people could rob or
you know commit theft against their own
mother and they wouldn't care well
i don't know if he was that bad but i i
know that he did not have a good track
record
in the community and uh i can't really
remember why but one day i
i went to a store with him and just
going to the store with him
several people came up to him and
expressed
their great displeasure towards him for
having ripped off
financially somebody that they knew like
a relative they knew
and talked about how bad it uh how bad
that hurt them financially they haven't
recovered or anything like that
and he would just like you know i it
just didn't phase him
one bit he he didn't care didn't matter
what happened
and um you know so it wasn't like i was
around him a lot i would just see him
every now and then
uh you know because moravian falls it's
not like this is a big area you know
it's not like there's millions of people
here
uh there's probably more deer than there
are people
nevertheless um i saw him one day
at the post office remember this is a
small post office
post office is actually just right out
here outside of the uh
uh the studio and uh it but it's a very
busy post office because it's kind of
like the hub
of the area along with you know our
facility here it's this is right
in the center of the identity of what
moravian falls is but
i saw him at the post office one day and
he looked
white out he looked he looked pale
he looked weak he looked uh
defeated and i i kind of low profile i
said brother i said what's wrong
he said oh he said oh stephen he said i
got involved with this business
venture with this man in a different
state
and he made all these promises to me
sounded like just like what he had done
to others
he made all these promises to me and i
put all of my money into this in
uh you know fail proof investment deal
with him
and he said stephen he took off with all
the money and he took
my entire savings
i'll go a little bit further he said we
had saved up my wife and i
this amount of money we were going to
build our dream home he told me how much
it was
yes you could build a dream home with it
keep in mind that
all this money that he has quote saved
up is money
that he has ripped off from innocent
people
and he's taking that money and he has
piled it up
and he took all of it and he and this
swindler
outswindled him and he said uh stephen
he said my wife doesn't know that i
invested
all of our savings into this you know
fail-proof deal so not only am i
penniless
but my wife doesn't know it and she's
like up there you know
looking at dream home plans for the
dream home we're going to build and
there's not going to be any dream home
so uh see what is the purpose of the
latter
go up the ladder go up and be conformed
into the
into the image of christ he's standing
at the top of the ladder
and we see really in the writings of
paul
that the preeminent book that he wrote
would be the first one presented by him
would be the book of romans
and romans can get kind of thick at
times when you're reading it when i mean
thick i mean it's almost
it's almost like you're reading a legal
document because
you not only see the genius of paul yes
it's the holy spirit inspired working
through a man
but he's the holy spirit is working
through a brilliant man
who has a brilliant mind and the book is
uh it's just phenomenal and it's it's
the
it's the deepest book that paul
wrote but we can see in romans chapter
eight let me just share this with you
just for a moment uh romans 8 verse 29
really what this great work is all about
now it was different for jacob of course
being under the old covenant before the
blood of christ was ever shed
but you still saw god working with
people to try to change their character
where they overcame fatal flaws that if
they were not overcome
it would have meant that destiny would
not have lined up the way that god
wanted it to
so that's why jacob had that all-night
wrestling match
with the angel so that he could be
changed and
the lord is working on changing those as
well it's very very important
it is so important that the lord will
even defer
other blessings
for the sake of getting the greater work
accomplished it doesn't mean he won't
bless you it just means that his highest
priority
is to mold you into the image of his son
and that will take precedent over any
desire any blessing
any wish any personal dream or ambition
or goal that we might have
because god has uh the great purpose for
us of conformity
verse 29 for whom he god
for knew and of course he for knew all
of us before we were even saved he knew
that we would be saved
okay so for whom he for knew
he also predestined pre-planned
to be conformed to the image of his
son so god wants that conformity to be
there
and the lord is standing at the top of
the ladder and
we're being changed every day more and
more
into the image of god's dear son
so the lighter that you are
in spirit i'm not talking about your
physical weight but the lighter that you
are in your spirit the easier it is to
climb
just like it is in the natural praise
god
uh you know in the natural if you
are carrying extra heavy loads it's more
difficult sometimes you have to
if you go in certain areas for extended
hikes you have to carry food
sleeping bags stuff like that but
you personally want to be light and fit
and in shape and it's easier that way
to go up praise god and there is a
streamlining
of your life and of your purpose to
serve the lord
so that you're not burdened with all
kinds of things
so that you're just struggling to get up
the ladder or you're standing on the
first rung of the ladder
and you know a whole decade goes by and
you haven't gone any higher
praise the lord and yes there can be
amazing things that can
move you along quickly visions and
visitations from the lord or a
visitation from an angel
these things can certainly inspire you
to say
i'm going to get moving praise the lord
but we also need to know
that just like jacob there is the inner
working
that god does to
bring us to a point where we react
and we behave like jesus would
if jesus were in our shoes praise the
lord so that's very very important
and it's something that god worked in
jacob
he works in us praise god a little side
note the businessman i believe he's
doing good today
i believe that after he had his laban
experience
and he met a laban who was a greater
cheat than he was
i believe it opened his eyes to what he
had been doing
to others and he had to make a change
sometimes to make a change you need a
fresh start
and it's good to move perhaps to a
different location
and that's totally fine the lord
understands that
and oftentimes it can be the lord who
initiates that move
praise god because you need to get
just get a a fresh beginning praise the
lord
amen thank you lord jesus now
your speed of going up this ladder it's
a spiritual ladder it's not physical of
course
um going up this spiritual ladder your
speed is increased
by whoo it's i'll be honest it's not
easy
but your speed is increased by
selflessness
let me read this to you from first
corinthians chapter 13
and that would be the great chapter on
love which
the apostle paul also wrote first
corinthians chapter 13
verse 5 it says love does not behave
rudely does not seek its own is not
provoked
thanks no evil now i want to dig in on
one thing
it says that love does not seek its
own a better way of saying that in many
other translations i'm reading from the
new king james version
many other translations say it a little
more clearly
by expressing it as love does not
insist on its own way
my friends that's big that's that's
gigantic
when it comes to moving up the ladder
consistently smoothly
constantly making gains uh walking with
the lord enjoying
your walk with the lord enjoying your
life so much of that
can revolve around uh the fact that love
does not insist on its own
way and i want to share something that
will help you with this from the gospel
of mark
as we are greatly interested in going up
this ladder praise the lord jacob's
ladder
walking with the lord having
supernatural dreams
and very importantly understanding what
they mean
thank you lord about about 95
of all dreams that you will ever have
are symbolic in nature there can be some
that are literal
but most of them are going to be
prophetic
they're going to be symbolic maybe we
can use the word
metaphorical they are word pictures
so that's why it's possible to have a
dream
that could seem to be quite disturbing
or unsettling
maybe you think oh that was a terrible
dream but
in reality it could be a really good
dream because god is conveying
a truth to you so you can't take the
dream literal
you have to be a person that can look at
it spiritually and say lord what were
you saying through that
and remember it's symbolic and when you
understand the meaning
expressed through uh the interpretation
of the symbols
you can see oh that's that's actually
something good
that god was saying to me all right now
mark chapter 10 verse 28 let's get ready
to go higher up
jacob's ladder today then peter began to
say to him
oh let me just say i'm so glad that
peter
was expressive and says
what everybody else was thinking but the
others were afraid to say it
i like that about peter then peter began
to say to him
see we have left all and followed you
so peter's wanting to know really in a
nutshell
hey lord we we left everything we left
our businesses
we left everything for you so what's
what's really in it for us
now it says in verse 29 so jesus
answered and said assuredly i say
to you there is no one
who has left house or brothers or
sisters
let's just stop for a moment how about
house there is no one
who has left house can i be honest with
you as a minister
there are some people that if the lord
appeared to them in a vision and told
them
i need you to go to another state
or to another country to run an errand
for me
or to deliver a message for me there are
some
who are so attached to their house
and their comfort and their
routine that they have to have every day
that should even jesus the head of the
church asked them to leave their house
there are some i met them that wouldn't
do it
they wouldn't do it some of you read
my books and in one of my books i talked
about
a man that was destined for
greatness that was very close friends
with
the at that time the greatest prophet in
the world
and uh even the prophet one day stopped
and looked at him and said you know what
you're
you're supposed to be doing exactly what
i'm doing he's like i know i know i know
and uh
um so this man called to be a prophet
even told me one time he told me face to
face
that jesus had appeared to him in a
vision and had
asked him to lay aside
his career that you know that he had
going on which was
had a lot of money in it and come over
here and
serve me and the lord said i'm calling
you as a prophet
i want you to be one of my prophets and
you know what he told the lord
he said no and i said
i said what did the lord how did he
respond when you when you told him no
he said well he didn't like it he he
said the lord said so you are refusing
my gift
he said yes and he had he of course hung
his head in shame when he did it
but see the lord won't force you you you
can miss it
now you're not going to you're going to
get it right but this thing of
attachment this thing of like
i've got my rights well
you do you do have certain rights but
just because you have certain rights
doesn't mean
that you should insist on
exercising them or you know i've got my
rights and soul
no matter what i you know you know you
know there's a place where
because of the love of god and your
desire to please the lord
you just lay it down you lay it down why
so you can go up the ladder
light and and free and speedily
and not tied down to all the things of
the world
praise the lord well pastor stephen did
that man ever step into the office of
the prophet nope never did
never did he's old now and it's you know
not enough time left now he'll be with
the lord soon
in heaven he's very old now but uh my
friends
to leave house to leave your house
there are some people they would never
leave their house but if the lord wants
you to leave your house
if you want to go up the ladder you
better start locking your house up get
ready to take your trip
you know some people they get real real
excited about going to a hotel
it is fun you know it's always fun to
take a little trip but i've been into so
many hotels and i've been
in so many places that while
it's not that i don't enjoy it it's just
that
you know it's not like hey the hotel's
gonna be any better than my house
i mean i've got a really nice bed that i
sleep on
i like my bed uh there's not like
there's many hotels out there they're
gonna outdo the bed that i have that's
comfortable and nice and soft
and you know i've got the pillow that i
like at home i can't travel with my
pillow
i mean what am i gonna do they take my
pillow on the plane they're gonna think
i'm a little five-year-old kid
so you got just leave all that just lock
it up and go
when my wife and i started out in
ministry full time
we traveled in a motor home and we took
all of our possessions
and we locked them up in a storage
facility
and you know put the bolt the the lock
on on the storage facility and drove
away
having no idea that we would never see
that stuff
for three years i remember three years
later
when we uh were not traveling we were
still traveling a lot but the motorhome
was just too slow we had to move to the
uh you know flying we did a lot more
flying but
uh when we opened that storage unit up
and started moving things out into our
house
we were just like wow i forgot we even
had this
and of course when you forget that you
even have it you certainly don't even
really need it
but to be able to walk away from your
home should the lord
ask you to do that after all that's what
the 12 apostles did
you know that that's how you go up the
ladder
well pastor stephen i thought you went
up through prayer the the story of
of jacob's ladder was about prayer well
yeah
it is about prayer but you can pray all
you want and if you're not
obeying um you know
sacrifice is good but the lord really is
looking for obedience
uh pastor stephen i'll uh uh
i'll send an offering well that's good
that's goodness in that offering
um but what if that's not what god asked
you to do what if he asked you to do
something else
so the sacrifice is nice
i'll never forget the time i was in a
meeting and
the holy spirit told a man in the
meeting
to bless me in a certain way and so he
got up and walked over to me while i was
preaching the holy spirit told him to do
it while i was preaching
he walked over to me and gave me a bunch
of money and i just took it and stuck it
in my uh actually i just finished
preaching so i was sitting down
so um so i just took the money and put
in my pocket he walks back and sits down
when he sat back down because i asked
him about all this later when he sat
back down the holy spirit spoke to him
and said
i did not tell you to give him money i
told you to do this for him
so now so now he's out of my money
and should have just done what god told
him to do in the first place and then he
could have kept his money
but he was just trying to like get god
off of his back
i mean literally because the the lord
wasn't letting up now eventually if he
had been real stubborn disobeyed
god could have either had bypassed him
and worked through somebody else who
would have been obedient
or the guy could have fallen dead there
in the media
and there have been people that that has
happened to who god really insisted that
they do something
and um a true story of
one prophet who was in a meeting with an
older prophet and he told
he told this story and this older
prophet
uh was ministering under the anointing
and looked at one man and said
you're supposed to give 500 in the
offering and that man said you're
never going to get any of my money and
the man and the prophet said well you
just keep it with you as you perish
and he died right there the man
instantly died in front of the whole
church and so um uh
you know don't relegate these things to
the old testament uh you know ananias
and sapphira
are very much in the new testament and
these things still happen throughout
church history
when there's a strong glory and so we
have to be ready for stuff like this you
can't goof off in the anointing when the
glory's there
uh it's a total different field uh it's
a field
it's a playing field the enemy cannot
compete on there's there's no
there's no form of entertainment in the
world that can touch
anything near of what the glory is and
the enemy knows that
which is why that's the greatest thing
he fears
is a it's a move of god where the glory
begins to break out
but it's too late it's already it's
already it's already
beginning the rays of light are
beginning to break out
and the miracles and all of that it's
just all going to break it's all going
to happen
so we really need to be people
that are moving in god's direction
towards his heart
and not grasping and trying to hold on
to our own ways
when those old ways are already passing
off the scene anyhow
time to get into the new wine skin let
the old go
become the new you that god wants you to
be assuredly i say to you there is no
one who has left
house or brothers or sisters
or father or mother let's pause for a
moment
here in north carolina we live in more
of a rural
area we do have cities such as raleigh
and charlotte we you know big cities
and um
it's the same throughout the south that
in the rural areas there's a sweetness
that you don't
you can sense it in some cities uh in
the cities up
up north you don't sense it at all but
even in the southern cities you can
sense it but if you get out in the rural
areas
it's much stronger it's a sweetness and
people are nice
they'll wave to you they would help you
if your car broke down and you're a
total stranger
they would help you they would do things
to help you um it's not surprising at
all if they gave you money
to help you and if they never saw you
again that's totally fine
because most of these people are good
people that fear god
and love god and they they
want to they want to honor the lord in
the lives that they live
but i will say this with some if
if you tried to get them away
from the family ties that they have
it's almost impossible now in in the new
testament
right around the lord's time uh the
theologians call this familiaism
it's actually a type of worship of the
family structure
and while we honor and love the
structure of family that god created
uh this thing of like hey you know i
can't break free from mom and dad you
know
and there are some people in in the in
the rural areas of the south where
you know daddy gave me this land and uh
this is where i'm living and i'm never
moving for anything
because i like living next to mom and
dad
and they do and they'll they'll not
leave that property that
they have no desire to travel they have
no desire to go to a christian
conference that would maybe be in
another state
they are so knitted to that land
and to that family that um have you ever
seen that in like a in like a small
church
you know this is where my grandmother
went to church and this is when my
parents went to church and
this is where i'm going this is where
i'm going to raise my kids at i don't
ever want to
go anywhere else or hear anything else
and uh
and what will happen is you just live in
a tunnel vision and you
never experience the the color
and the flavor and the spice that god
has
through living a life that's opened up
to him where you are a vessel that he
can use because there are some they'll
they won't leave family for anything
for anything true story
i had a lady she was divorced
uh wait wait a minute no that was
somebody else this lady was married but
her husband did
not come this lady came to visit our
church
when we were having you know like a what
you would call a physical
church service now we're all on the
internet so
we were having physical church services
here and so this lady
she comes with her two kids
and uh you know i could i could tell she
enjoyed the meeting and stuff like that
but she didn't say much
but uh afterwards my daughter went out
to lunch
with her and the two kids because they
were the same age
and uh my daughter told me later
what this lady actually thought about
our church service
when she was sitting this lady who's
probably about
50 years old when she was having lunch
with her two kids my daughter
my daughter said that the lady said my
god that was wild that was
crazy and my daughter said to her what
was crazy
she said god was in your building
and my daughter said well like what do
you mean the lady said
i've never been in a service or a
meeting like that ever god was there
the whole place was full of god
and my daughter said well that's that's
normal here
that's it's like that all the time here
she said my god that's the craziest
thing i've ever experienced in my life
before
and she had come here and sat in the
service
and just was hit by the glory of god
oh pastor stephen she must have been
back next sunday to join the church and
to bring all of her friends oh no we
never saw her again
why she belongs to another church where
all of her family goes to
and she's not leaving that for anything
even if all of the angels and michael
the archangel and gabriel the messenger
angel even if they all
showed up here and uh and uh
every angel showed up here she's not
leaving that church for anything
she only came over here once in a blue
moon to get out of her
circle to come because of her kids uh
you my
daughter and that they were friends and
she so that she came over here because
of them
but that was once and done even if god
shows up she's not coming back and he
did show up and she's not and he's
you know his presence is still here
people walk in and they're like wow
and uh so the lord is good but my
friends i'm just saying that
if you want to go up the ladder you've
got to be open to the lord
you can't climb this ladder all heavy
and not into the things of god
no no you have to be spiritual
praise god surely i say to you
there is no one who has left house or
brothers or sisters or father or mother
or wife um well
let's just keep digging deeper if you
want to go up the ladder praise the lord
how about that one
by the way this is not a corporate
ladder it doesn't work like it does
in the secular world where we understand
those principles and you want success
and you want promotion and all of that
stuff is good
but this is a different type of ladder
because
this is the only ladder that you climb
whereas you follow the kingdom
principles of going up
and in the natural you could think uh oh
i just told the truth
so because of that i'm not gonna get
promoted well
maybe because you did the right thing it
could have appeared that you stalled or
maybe even went backwards
but but it's going to pay off
the right way it's going to pay off the
right way because if you ever compromise
when you get to the top they'll own you
and the the enemy will come collecting
on that and you'll never have peace
uh so live live authentic christianity
live clean live pure it's not a setback
it's just it's just the conformity into
the image of the lord's son
and even if it did delay a blessing
trust me the conformity is a greater
priority
on god's heart than any type of blessing
because he can bless you
he can bless you when you're when you're
asleep
you could be sleeping and wake up he can
get it to you anyway
anyhow if god ever wants to touch you
with a blessing
he is not limited by anything
he can get it to you but this this area
of going up the ladder
this is different these are things that
we really have to
um push ourselves to be spiritual
and not get lethargic and just be
weighed down with all the cares of the
world
and there's no conforming going on or
anything like that
praise god well jesus also mentions wife
well peter's listening
the the uh the apostles are listening
i believe that all of them
were married now
[Music]
it was considered to be unmarried
after the age of 20 as a jewish man it
was considered to be not good unless
you had like a unique prophetic calling
or something like that
and then they would respect that so
peter obviously was married because
jesus
healed his wife's
mother so peter had a mother-in-law well
that means she had a wife
so jesus is now talking about having to
leave your wife
well when jesus called these men
he called them to follow him and that
meant he's on the move
he has an itinerant ministry and he is
going all over
jerusalem sometime for extended stays
now
there is provision and money flowing in
to the lord's ministry and the lord is
supporting
those who are traveling with him
full-time and those men i'm sure they
have ways to get that money back to
their wives so that their wives and
their children
are taken care of but nevertheless peter
and the others
for these times when they would have to
travel
on these excursions have to say wife i
love you
i'll see you when this when this trip is
over not i'm back i'll see you then
not quite sure when it'll be over with
because you know he really moves with
the spirit
but i'll be back soon and you just have
to say goodbye
well pastor stephen i've got my rights i
i i ain't going anywhere unless she's
going with me
well you you do have your rights did you
have certain things that you should be
able to look forward to it enjoy
but i'm just saying if you want to go up
the ladder there will be times when
love according to first corinthians
chapter 13 verse 5
love does not insist on
its own way and although you
might prefer to do something a certain
way
there may be things in there that that
are disrupting that
that are beyond your control and you
just have to walk with the lord and
trust god
that god will make it up and he'll make
it twice as sweet
when you get back together again praise
the lord
hallelujah i mean you you see over in
the book of acts
chapter 10 there's peter in joppa
and he's uh he's gonna do ministry over
there
well where's his wife uh i don't know
maybe maybe she's there maybe she's not
uh it didn't seem like to me that that
she was
so he's obviously on another journey
another apostolic adventure
praise the lord well pastor stephen i'd
never do that
well you wouldn't prefer to do it but
sometimes
this this kingdom work has its ways
of really
pressing us into a conformity into the
image of jesus and if you want to go up
the ladder
you need to go with that flow praise god
thank you lord jesus
i think about the the ministry of
prophet kenneth e hagin
who is now in heaven lived this life out
in his wife
lived her life out and she's in heaven
with him now too
but um you know kenneth hagin said
that there were times when he would have
to leave
his wife and children to go out on the
the traveling field you know just
because he was going from church to
church all over the country
he said sometimes after he would come
home and spend time with his family
he said it would be so hard to get in
that car and drive away because
sometimes when he drove away he'd be
gone for
uh not not just several weeks but
several months
so he might not be back for three months
or four months
and he said when he would get in that
car and start driving away he would
weep and cry because he would love his
children
and he loved his wife now he would
always send money back to them
so that they're taken care of but that's
hard
that's very difficult matter of fact
one day aretha hagen she told this story
that
she was at home and her husband kenneth
is out on the
field traveling you know as an
established prophet
and he's ministering and she said lord i
just
she said this is just too hard having
him gone i miss him i love him so much
this is just too hard this is not right
and the lord spoke to her in a voice
that she heard the voice
and said well you know if if this is too
hard and if you're insisting on your own
way
i can just take him home
i mean he had had so many close calls
with death
uh with you know uh unusual experiences
in his life
but the lord was saying hey you know
this is part of the ministry
and if you're gonna insist on all of
this and i and i can't use him and
you're just
you're gonna demand your rights then you
know
he could just he could just come on home
then because if he's not gonna preach
then why are we even doing all of this
so anyhow she heard the lord say that i
could i can take him home
i can take him home so she realized the
lord meant business and so
this was just something that they both
had to face and deal with that
when there's a traveling ministry like
that
now there were times later when the kids
grew up she could go with him
and things like that but that's not easy
that's not easy at all
just recently a pastor here in north
carolina
shared a very uh powerful testimony
he was just released from prison he was
in prison for two years in turkey
and he has a wife and children but can
you imagine
that you are in prison
and you can't see your wife you know
that they're they're here in the states
and you're separated by thousands and
thousands of miles
and they gave him three lifetime
sentences
they wanted him locked up forever
because of his faith in jesus christ
there's great
persecution agreements against the
christians
in turkey there's like a new wave of
persecution going on
and it looked like it was hopeless that
he would never
ever get out and so he talked about what
that was like to lay in a prison
thinking i'll never be able to see my
wife again lord
i've served you and i've given my heart
to travel and to preach and minister to
people that don't
that don't know you and now look where
it got me
but you know he had to work through all
of that
not just leaving his wife to do these
trips and his children to do these trips
now this ministry is supporting him and
provision is coming so the wife and kids
are okay
but there's still the separation and
then you throw in on top of that now
you're put in prison
with a sentence that says you'll never
see them again
you'll die in prison well thank god for
president trump
who has really gone to bat for many
of the imprisoned ministers around the
world who are only imprisoned
simply because they believe in jesus
christ
as their lord and savior and for many of
the americans who
have been locked up he's done a lot to
get many of them free
but you know you could think well i gave
that up you know what's in this for me
so he he worked through all of that
agony and stuff like that and
just got to a point where he got free
strengthened in the lord
and got his hope and trust back in the
lord and
the next thing you know god's got him
out praise god
but that's not easy separate it for over
for two years
from your family that's very very tough
most people would say hey
lord if there's any element of it like
that in it count me out i don't want
anything to do with it
and so the latter closes up
and you live a normal life and
god doesn't bother you
but you never got up the ladder how
about this fella
i read this book this is a book you need
to have in
your library uh god's double agent
bob foo okay so get rid of all your
national geographic magazines
and uh throw all of the uh all the junk
out
and get some good stuff okay uh here's a
good book for your library
this is a man that knows what it means
to leave
that which means the most to you and to
be on the run
and to be chased by the government
simply
for the fact that you believe that jesus
christ is lord
and savior along with this book you
might you may want to order a good
companion book to it
called the heavenly man okay
those two books give you a little taste
of what it's like
to love your country but to be in a
country
where they find out that you're a
christian and such hatred is released
against you
that they hunt you and they want to
capture you persecute you
torture you and uh and
of course separate you from your from
your wife oh pastor steven i don't want
anything to do with it if it has
anything to do with stuff like that
well while i believe as christians
we are not appointed to go through the
great tribulation
that doesn't mean that while we live
here on this earth
that you're going to escape all
persecution persecution
uh even if it includes things that would
be very
difficult to go through it's nothing
compared to the tribulation
where wrath is poured upon the wicked
that's not for us
but that's payback god's going to pay
them all back all of the
people that re rejected the lord and
have done these awful things
the tribulation period will will be when
the wrath of god is poured upon them and
then of course
even when that concludes all the wicked
are thrown into
the hell and then hell and all the evil
people in it
are eventually all thrown into the lake
of fire
and that will last for all eternity
so my friends i just say you know let
the lord
help you when you have a vision when you
have a great promise from the lord like
jacob did keep moving forward
in your faith just honor that moment
honor those sacred
mountaintop type experiences but allow
the lord to keep
molding you and conforming you so that
you get to where he wants
you to arrive at praise the lord
so we have these areas of surrender
whether it's house or brothers or
sisters father or mother or wife for
children
of lands for my sake and the gospels the
lord goes on to say
who shall not receive a hundredfold now
in this time
oh yes not just in heaven but now in
this time houses and brothers and
sisters and mothers
and children and lands with persecutions
and in the age to come eternal life but
many who are first
in other words many who appear to be
doing well and get the applause of the
world and
you know applause of the popular church
or the hollywood type
church they get all the applause and
things like that but really when it's
all going to be said and done and the
apostle paul said don't judge anything
before it's time
because history can be extremely
inaccurate
and history doesn't have all the
information there's a lot of stuff that
was going on behind the scenes that
nobody knew about but god
okay and so watch what it watch what
will happen because jesus said many who
are first will be last
and the last first
well pastor stephen i i'm doing really
good on the latter but
um doesn't seem like some other things
are moving don't worry
don't worry about that don't focus on
that you just keep getting up that
ladder
keep walking with the lord and you're
going to see also the hundredfold
in your life you're going to have that
you're going to have
the things that make you happy you're
going to have the things that are not
just needs but also even desires
manifest in your life but it all
sinks with going up that ladder and as
you go up that ladder
because angels are ascending and
descending on that ladder
you're going to be receiving a lot of
revelation
where you do things that
that fit your calling that make sense
and you you're not trying to do
things that god didn't call you to do
you're very much on task
you're very much on assignment because
it's like the dew
that would come down from the mount
herman and that dude settles it talks
about that in the psalms
that do is revelation knowledge it's
knowing
what to do it's that freshness that
moisture
that comes from having walked with the
lord and as you go up that ladder
and those angels are around you you have
supernatural encounters
and your life is not a carbon copy uh
you may be
influenced by others in a sense where
yes you see inspiration that something
that inspires you but you walk it out
and you apply it and you put your
color and your spin and your uniqueness
to it
and why you're you're on that ladder
and you're up there and you're you're
not just uh
how can i say plagiarizing what somebody
else has done
you don't need to you have your own
unique
encounter you have your own unique uh
moments with the lord and so you're busy
you're busy just with what you have
praise the lord and what you
have is certainly good but many who are
first will be last and
the last first praise god my friends
this journey is very very
important and as you go through this
journey
i want to give you just one more one
more nugget today
this is found in psalm 45. let me just
turn over there just for a moment
you will encounter this very importantly
on the wrongs of the latter as you
ascend
and this is something that was big for
the lord
and it also affects the anointing upon
your life
and it will also affect the amount of
revelation knowledge that you receive
and this is psalm 45
and this would be verse 6 and 7
your throne oh god is forever and ever a
scepter of righteousness is the scepter
of your kingdom
now verse 7 you love
righteousness now this is referring to
jesus a messianic prophecy
regarding the coming messiah now he has
already come we know that
that was the lord jesus christ of
nazareth now it says about him
it says you love righteousness
and hate wickedness and you have to
allow
the holy spirit to bring you into that
same
type of mindset and
heart attitude that was in the lord
see here's the thing there are many of
god's people
they hate the consequences
of wickedness oh i didn't know if i did
that
it was going to turn into a big mess but
i sure enjoyed doing it
well that see that's not right you have
to actually hate the wickedness
yes we all would hate the consequences
of wickedness and the bad results
of what that would bring but we actually
have to
allow god to bring us to a point where
even the wickedness
itself we hate it oh but pastor stephen
there's pleasure in it well yes of
course that's that's why there's a
temptation attached to it but we have to
allow
god to do a work in us where
it appears to us as wickedness and it's
it's a turn off it's a revolting thing
anything
having to do with wickedness
you love righteousness so we have to
love righteousness
and hate wickedness therefore
god your god has anointed you okay so
the anointing
is in relation it's in connection to
your loving righteousness and your
hating
wickedness
and that is a big key to going up
that ladder praise the lord
hallelujah thank you lord jesus
praise god god's doing a work
god's doing a work i really believe to
go up the ladder
it's more than just prayer yes you need
to pray
but along with going up that ladder
you're going to have to have these other
areas of your life
developed and the lord will help you uh
jacob he had a major major character
flaw
and you know you you see some things
that could run down
the family line
and you see that with abraham lying
about his wife
you see it with isaac the same very same
thing
and then you see jacob inheriting things
that can be
generational but god will help you of
course you inherit the good as well
but god will help you with anything that
maybe a previous generation
didn't conquer hallelujah you will be
that one
that breaks free and goes up that ladder
hallelujah and you become the person
that god
wants you to be and trust me trust me
when you get this right the other stuff
it just works out hallelujah the other
things that you would
desire god knows that he knows what your
deepest desires are
he will begin to merge those into your
life so be open be willing
be obedient and when you're obedient be
obedient quickly praise the lord
hallelujah i i don't work on a
yes sir basis with the lord it's more of
a friendship
but if the lord ever said something to
do in a sense you want to obey
like yes sir i'm on it praise god and of
course it wouldn't hurt at all to say
yes sir in the sense of respect and
honor
hallelujah praise god so god's working
god's working he's going to get you to
where he wants
you to be um but climbing a ladder
yeah it's uh it takes your effort
it certainly does it takes your focus it
takes your focus but it's worth it
it's not easy to move out of the flesh
and get into the spirit and maintain
that
it takes a lot of focus praise the lord
especially
with the busy lives that we all live so
you really have to um
put the lord first and just keep
climbing
praise the lord hallelujah glory
glory glory to god
thank you lord jesus praise the lord i'm
just waiting on the holy spirit for a
moment as god is moving
you're in a moment where revelation
knowledge of knowing what to do
and doing things uniquely your way it's
kind it's kind of like
moving right now it's moving you're
catching ideas and
things like that so lord we just give
you praise i pray for those that are
watching today
that as they go up that ladder they
become more and more like jesus
and they know it they know that they're
behaving differently the thing that used
to conquer them is not conquering them
anymore
they're conquering it lord we give you
praise we give you praise
lord we thank you that the pressure
situations
bring now a different reaction than
perhaps what would have
oozed out a decade ago lord we just
bless you
you're working you're working you're
working and we give you
all the glory father you really are
preparing us
for heaven yes yes yes but father you're
preparing us
for this great move of your spirit that
is coming
lord we just thank you we just thank you
hallelujah hallelujah many
many oh god when the move starts we'll
suddenly try to
get it all together but lord they'll be
playing ketchup
and ketchup is uh late showing up late
is better than never showing up at all
but lord the the really thick blessing
is for those that are on that initial
wave
so father i thank you you're working um
i would even use that word desperately
in the lives of your people to get them
ready
because it really is going to be that
good and we're going to see it
so father we thank you we trust you we
give you all the praise
in jesus name amen
and amen if you're watching today
and you don't know jesus as your lord
and savior
your destiny remains concealed
and locked you may know some things but
the
beautiful plan that god has for you that
he mapped out before you were ever born
it can only be unveiled and unlocked
through having christ
as your lord and savior if you would
like to get your life right with god
right now then pray this prayer after me
say lord jesus i am a sinner
separated from you because of my sins
but jesus you died for me on the cross
at calvary to redeem
me from spiritual death and all of my
sin
jesus i give my heart
to you right now save me jesus
wash my sin away give me your
new life write my name
in your book of life jesus thank you
thank you for hearing my prayer i belong
to you
now in your name i pray amen
and amen and he has heard your prayer
your sins are washed away
if you're backslidden christian it's a
dangerous place to be out there you
wouldn't want to die in your sins
having known the lord then turned away
from him and perish
no get right get right right now with
the lord if that's you
backslidden christian pray this after me
jesus i'm sorry i walked away from you
i repent of my sin and i leave it
and i return to you now jesus
give me a fresh start wash my sins away
thank you restore me now unto you
in your name i pray amen
and amen praise the lord you're going up
the ladder
hallelujah let's take holy communion
together today
praise the lord if you're too busy to
take communion you're too busy
something's not right
glory to god hallelujah father thank you
for the bread
and the juice we set it apart as holy
through this prayer
and as we receive it we are now
receiving the flesh and the blood
of our lord and savior jesus father
thank you for his body
lord put a love for us put a love in us
for righteousness
and a real hatred for wickedness
uh just a hatred for it thank you o god
and as we receive
father the flesh of jesus we thank you
that you are doing that very thing
thank you thank you father in jesus name
amen let's receive
back in the jesus revival of the 1960s
and also of the 1970s when the teaching
movement broke forth
um while we had what was called the
charismatic movement or the moving of
the spirit
and literally millions were swept into
the kingdom not only in america but
around the world
because there was resistance among many
about this move of the spirit
we didn't get the full thrust of that
which was supposed to have been not only
the baptism of the holy spirit
and salva you know after salvation but
also the
fire of the holy spirit to purge
and burn out
these deeper issues so while many
uh were saved and filled with the spirit
and spoke in tongues and moved and moved
in the gifts of the spirit
they never received the fire baptism of
the spirit
to deal with with bondages and
strongholds and
you know demonic influence that was
never overcome
but that fire is falling and it's
burning
now praise god and and this next move
uh will certainly have the fire mixed in
it with
as well but please please be prepared
because i do know beyond the shadow of a
doubt
in certain meetings if that meeting is
open to
this latter glory and that glory comes
in
there will be christians with yucky
stuff
that they're doing that when that glory
comes in they will scream
literally and get up and run out of the
building why because
of things that they are tolerating and
allowing in their lives please do not
let that be you
be a person that says thank god the
glory is here
i have prepared my heart i have been
climbing jacob's ladder
i'm ready to meet the lord not just in
death
in the coming of his glory
in his perugia the coming of his
presence
praise the lord oh absolutely i know
christians they would they would get up
and run instantly if that glory
came that they they could not handle it
but you'll be ready god's getting you
ready
praise god praise god praise god
hallelujah father thank you for the
blood of jesus
we ask if there be any sins that we have
committed that they be washed away and
forgiven
and we thank you that when you forgive
our sins you forget them
lord we sure praise you for that
hallelujah father as we receive the
blood of jesus
we thank you for its cleansing power and
we thank you that you are molding us
conforming us into the image oh god of
your dear son
father we give you all the praise we
thank you for visitations
and supernatural experiences and great
glory
great glory great glory we thank you
that we're working with the angels
and they are ministering to us on all
fronts
we thank you father god that the great
end time move of your spirit is
flowing and it's going to break wide
open we give you all the praise in jesus
name
amen let's receive the precious blood
of jesus
praise god praise the lord
my friends thank you for joining me
today keep climbing
that ladder enjoy
your spiritual inheritance of walking
with the lord
in the heavenly realms till next time
be blessed and i'll see you back again
real soon
bye bye