good morning church family and ministry
friends i'm pastor stephen brooks
welcome today to our online internet
around the world church
service and let me wish you today a very
very happy
resurrection sunday morning praise god
it is passover
and christ has truly risen from the dead
the tomb is empty and jesus has ascended
to heaven now we know that he did this
about two 000 years ago
but i tell you what we are still
enjoying
the victory today that christ has made
available for us praise god so happy
resurrection sunday to you today
i want to invite you to grab your bibles
and meet me in
matthew chapter 25. we're going to bring
the tithes and the offerings into
the storehouse of the lord let's look at
a scripture
that will give insight into god's plan
for
our finances and as we look at this
scripture
i would like to address a very good
question that sometimes
is presented to me by curious christians
who see various dynamics in the church
and they have asked this question before
i thought let's touch on it today here's
the question
pastor stephen what about christians
what's the situation with christians
who don't tithe but yet they have
a lot of money well as we answer that
question let's first
keep it within that context which is a
reference to christians those in the
body of christ
because outside of the church you see
many uh
people that have a lot of money
millionaires billionaires
multi-billionaires seem to be coming
more common today
even billionaires that don't just have
you know two or three billion we're
talking those now
50 60 70 80 90 billion dollars
of personal net wealth but we know that
jesus said
what does it profit or what advantage is
it for a man
if he gains the whole world but loses
his own
soul so we as believers we have no
jealousy no
envy of looking at those in the world
regardless of how much money they have
or
fame or fortune it doesn't mean anything
if you don't have christ
because because life
my friends is very very short even if
you live to be
120 years old and may you live a long
life
but even should you live to be over 100
it's still just
just so fast and even if you had all of
this world's wealth
uh you look at these people today that
have a lot of a lot of money many of
them of course
are in their eighties and so forth and
you know what it's
it's almost completely over and when you
when your life ends you step into
your eternity which is either one of two
places you're either going to heaven or
you're going to hell
and based upon whether or not you
received christ as your lord and savior
will be the deciding factor in
that so i i have no
uh envy of anybody that has a lot of
money that's not saved i have no
there's no attraction towards me for
that at all
neither is there that maybe we could
call it envy or like admiration for
those in the body of christ
who may maybe they have it but they're
not tithers
and they don't honor the lord with their
finances
and let me say this i in my
ministry travels over the years of going
to many different churches
and speaking in a lot of different
conferences
not only in america but around the world
and also having been raised in the
church
i would have to say this that christians
who have a lot of money but they don't
tithe
i've noticed they all have one thing in
common
they are all stuck on a baby entry level
of spirituality and you might think well
pastor stephen why is that
well it's simple the the
the core thrust of the christian
life is this the just and what i mean by
the just or the righteous ones those in
christ
the just shall live by faith
and when you're not walking by faith
you're not walking
in kingdom principles or kingdom
dynamics
and so you may have used your faith to
have received christ
but you're still unless you begin to get
into the faith walk
you're not going to understand very much
about god
or his kingdom thus that's why many are
stuck
in this very uh young level of spiritual
infancy
because they're they're not tithing
they're not engaging
kingdom ways of living tithing
is a proof of our trust in
god i'd like to say it like this tithing
is trusting let me say that one more
time
tithing is trusting
why do some christians not tithe
regardless of whether they have
a little money or perhaps millions and
millions of dollars
why do they not tithe answer simply as
this
they don't tithe because they don't
trust god
in the area of finances now maybe
they've trusted
christ for their salvation uh of the you
know they
they're born again but in this one area
of finances are not letting loose
they're not
how can i say it they're taking christ
as their savior
but in the area of finances they're not
taking him
as their lord praise the lord so the
reason they don't tithe is they don't
trust god
they trust themselves in the area of
finances and again this disobedience
blocks them from a fuller expression
of kingdom enjoyment and also kingdom
advancement i've never met
ever ever one time in the church i've
never met a non-tither who can move in
the spirit
never i've never met a non-tither having
visions
having supernatural encounters
prophesying over people
i've never seen it happen one single
time nor have i ever met a non-tither
full of the spirit in the sense where
they have that joy that perpetual
joy well that only the holy spirit can
supply so it is true
that tithing for the christian it
secures
your destiny pastor stephen what do you
mean by
it secures your destiny well
the fulfilling of your destiny or
actually
accomplishing and finishing
what god has assigned for you as an
individual believer
will be concluded when you pass through
to the other side and you hear
the words from jesus that we all
long to hear which are found in matthew
chapter 25
verse 21 and here they are his lord said
to him
well done good and faithful
servant now isn't that what we all want
to hear when it's all said and done
we want to have concluded complete it
wrapped up
our assignment on earth we want to have
secured and completed our destiny
and those words would denote that his
lord said to him
well done good and faithful servant
you are faithful over a few things i
will make you ruler over many things
enter into the joy of
your lord so tithing secures
your destiny can you imagine going
through your entire christian life you
never tithe
ever and you even tell people don't do
it and you're just against it and you
have no heart for the church you have no
heart for the ministry work
you have no heart for god's purposes and
so
you're you discourage others from from
tithing or even from giving
and can you imagine uh you know getting
to the other side because you're still
believer and
you get to the other side can you
imagine jesus saying
well it's just not going to come out of
his mouth now he would say
i'm glad you're here glad you made it
you know i shed my blood for you you put
your faith and trust
for me and you know welcome home
but as far as well done
good and faithful servant that is for
those who have
done well that is for those who are
faithful and have been uh good
in the areas that god has assigned
them to praise the lord let us never
forget
that when we step back and look at
tithing tithing
is not for god's benefit it's not like
god's thinking you know i sure hope that
everybody tithes
all my people are tithing because if
they don't i'm gonna have to lay a few
angels off and we're going to have to
call a recession
no you know that's never going to happen
because god
he's not in this this realm of lack
those things can't touch him
so tithing is not for god's benefit
tithing is for our benefit
it allows us to step into the elementary
principles of faith
it allows us to come into a covenant
with god where we have a financial
platform of stability and strength
and tithing secures for us an eternal
inheritance
so that when we cross over we don't just
make it
we make it with an inheritance we make
it with an a
reward because we lived for him down
here
and we're directly involved in the
support
of his kingdom works and
initiatives praise the lord so my
friends that's my prayer for you as a
pastor
and for those of you that you have other
chur another church home that you belong
to but you still like to come here
because of the teaching
that's my prayer for you that when you
finish your life
and it's all said and done and you reach
the other side
you hear those words well done
good and faithful servant and by the way
this is in context
of stewardship over finances
praise god and i believe i believe
you're going to hear those words and i
believe that you are
a covenant practitioner of
the word of god and that involves
tithing
now having said that let's bring the
holy tithe
into the storehouse of the lord
praise god if you would like to mail it
in please send your tithe
to stephen brooks international p.o box
717 moravian falls north carolina
the zip code 28654
and as it comes in through the mail
the mail office the post office is only
about
40 yards from here praise the lord so it
is coming into the storehouse praise god
those of you that prefer to
bring your tithes and offerings in
online it is very
safe and secure very highly encrypted
and you can do so anytime day or night
and from anywhere
in the world please visit our ministry
website
stevenbrooks.org there on the home page
is a it's the header that says
give has a red heart on it and you can
click that
right now and bring your tithe in
online praise the lord father bless your
people as they're honoring you with
their
tithe as they sow seed as they are
living for you walking by faith
i thank you that they're going from
faith to faith
i thank you that their finances are
going from glory to glory
i thank you that their financial
portfolio and their
financial world is going from strength
to strength thank you father god thank
you father god
bless your people in jesus name
amen i have a i have a feeling in my
heart there's a few of you that
you've been on the fence with tithing
you've heard some wrong information and
you've heard some good information
and you're kind of thinking what should
i do
you should do what the word says you
should do
praise the lord engage god
in tithing
watch what god will do for you praise
the lord
all right let's take our bibles today
and we're going to talk about today's
passover message
we're going to be in acts chapter 12.
[Music]
thank you jesus acts chapter 12 we're
going to start in verse 1.
i sense the anointing of the holy spirit
very strong today
praise god i would like for you to pay
careful attention
to god's word because it's the way out
for you
god's word anointed by the holy spirit
is the way out
for you and the way into something
really good whoo
praise god hallelujah father as we jump
into your word
we ask that your holy spirit would
quicken the word that it would
jump into us whoo father we praise you
for the strength and power
of the rhema word we thank you that
this world was formed through your
creative word
that you spoke the universe was formed
through the creative
word that you spoke and we thank you
that your word is coming forth today
with fresh anointing
by the power of your holy spirit let it
fall upon our ears
give us ears to hear give us eyes to see
now we receive your word with great
gladness
we give you praise in jesus name let's
agree and say
amen acts chapter 12
verse 1. now about that time
herod the king stretched out his hand to
harass
some from the church well here we have
herod mentioned he is the king but you
have to understand of course there's
different
herods that are mentioned in the bible
this herod
is actually the grandson of herod
the great and while herod the great now
herod the great built the temple
that jesus went into
and he built it there on the temple
mount and kind of
you know of course did the great
expansion project continued on with the
temple that zerubbabel had uh had
rebuilt after the
babylonian captivity and so forth so
herod the great was a phenomenal builder
a very wicked man but he was
a very good builder now this is not
herod the great that's mentioned here
this is actually herod agrippa the
grandson
of herod the great now herod agrippa who
is mentioned here
his father's name was aristobolis and he
also was a king
and he kind of had a falling out with
herod the great who was actually his
father
so herod the great killed king
aristobolus who's actually herod
agrippa's father
so it's it's not not a good situation
when your grandfather kills your father
so all of these roman leaders they're
all
living on a knife's edge there was
always so much mistrust
there was um conspiracy stuff constantly
floating around
and while the roman rule was very solid
at times
um it was a very dicey situation
so while these men were quote kings whoo
they were
always looking over their shoulder there
was a lot of paranoia there was a lot of
fear about overthrows and coups and
stuff like
that and that was certainly the
situation
there in judea where herod was reigning
now
herod agrippa mentioned here he actually
rules his father's former dominion
and this is the area of judea which
would include
jerusalem so it is a very volatile
area herod agrippa was actually a jew
and he was extremely knowledgeable of
all the mosaic law
and of all the jewish customs but while
he was
a jew and while he is king over judea
don't doubt for a moment his loyalty to
rome
he was 100 committed to rome
um he was raised for many years
in rome with caesar's own son and
they were friends and so he has all of
the paganism of rome
all all of the ideology of rome all of
the emperor worship of rome
sown into him as a jewish man so he has
that ability as a jew to relate to the
jews there in jerusalem particularly to
the leaders because
he can talk to the sadducees and he
understands all of their doctrine and
stuff like that
but he is a loyalist to rome
100 percent now about that time
herod the king stretched out his hand to
harass
some from the church the word harass
in the greek actually comes from the
root word
evil and it means to treat badly
to hurt it can even mean to kill and
that's certainly what is going to happen
here
he killed james the brother of john
with the sword now a jewish
execution would have been done with
stoning
so we see this execution is done with
the sword
so this is something that's carried out
an execution through
uh roman civil authorities and this is
execution by the sword and that was a
very
uh for many reasons that was a very
intimidating thing to the jewish people
execution by the sword
when they saw somebody get executed by
the sword they're like
that's that's not a that's not a good
way to die
and that was part of the intimidation
factor that the roman
authorities brought with them they
wanted to intimidate they
they ruled with um fear and intimidation
and that's also just the devil's old
playing card whenever the devil
would uh have these uh totalitarian type
regimes and
you know dominating the governmental
authorities throughout history wherever
it was
they would always you know be crude and
uh crass and not not
one ounce of sweetness ever uh it kind
of reminds me of the gestapo it's like
one lady said who was
you know this one lady would hide some
jews uh in her house
and you know the gestapo the secret
police they were always looking for
you know jews that were being hidden or
political figures that were being hidden
maybe in people's houses or whatever
but it's like the ladies said they were
never just come knock on your door
nope they have to walk up the stairs and
with the big you know
you know uh boots they stomp they don't
just come up the stairs they have to
stomp
up the stairs and they don't just knock
on the door they have to pound on the
door
so everything is intimidation everything
is over the top
and of course that's the way herod's men
acted as well
then he killed james the brother of john
with the sword
it's hard to get a real good feel for
this intimidation and this total
totalitarian lockdown type culture
unless you've been in it
we only get little taste of it here in
the west
and we could see very quickly how it
could go off the deep end with some of
the leaders that we have
that would like to take it into certain
areas where there is total domination
and you know you would start to see
these types of things all play out all
over again we do believe that
the lord's not done with america he's
still going to do some good things i
actually think the enemy has overplayed
its hand
and we're going to see the holy spirit
begin to move some good things happened
uh are going to happen but my friends
there in jerusalem the heat was
on then he killed james the brother of
john with the sword
so you have james and john you have the
12 apostles we know that judas committed
suicide he was replaced with matthias
but out of the 12 james is the first
to go and he goes as a martyr and isn't
it fascinating that his brother
is the last to go so these brothers are
pretty cool
and actually jesus prophesied to them
both
that this would be the way that their
lives would end we actually see that
let's take a look at that just for a
moment
in the gospel of matthew chapter 25
matthew chapter 20 excuse me matthew
chapter 20
and that would be verse 22 praise the
lord
but jesus answered and said speaking to
the brothers and also to
the mother she was there with them you
do not know what you ask
are you able to drink the cup that i am
about to drink and be
baptized or immersed with the immersion
that i
am baptized or immersed with they said
to him
we are able so he said to them
you will indeed drink my cup
and be baptized with the baptism that i
am baptized with but to sit on my right
hand that on my left is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it is prepared
by my father
so he did tell them yes you're going to
indeed
drink my cup you're going to be baptized
with the same baptism i'm going through
so
yes they did so there was
death for following the lord and
they went all the way with the lord
praise god now
let's move on to the next verse praise
god
verse 3 and because he saw herod saw
that it pleased the jews
this guy's a total politician he's
bought
paid for he's totally sold over
to the purposes of political
gain he wants to fit in wow
herod he has zero
interest in justice he's not out to
protect
the innocent those things are totally
irrelevant to him
the teachings of the apostles such as
james or peter
all of that's irrelevant to him it
doesn't even mean anything to him
all he's trying to do is he's trying to
stay
in good relations with the jewish
leaders
because he wants stability there in
jerusalem
he wants those back at headquarters
those back at rome to know
he is a good king now he's a tetrarch
he's ruling over a certain region
he wants everybody to know that his
kingdom is stable
and that he's doing a good job he
doesn't want anybody showing up from
rome saying hey
we're going to have to replace you you
know it's too unstable you the people
don't respect you
no he doesn't want that why because he's
in this is his position
and there's tremendous wealth there's
tremendous power
and he doesn't want to give that up so
part of that is
being able to play to the crowd play
to the people so that they'll be cool
and you can have this toleration and
remember there's hatred
uh the jews hated the romans why because
the romans are imposing their culture
and their culture
came directly from the greeks the romans
were fanatics
about greek culture they loved
everything about the greeks now they
destroyed wiped out the greeks
but at the same time they did that they
loved their culture
and so they're taking all of that
paganism
and all the all of that idolatry and
they're pushing it
heavily upon the jewish people and of
course that's total
a contradiction to monotheism or the
worship of their one true god
but uh so there's there's this love hate
relationship thing going
on here so uh herod is trying to play it
to
his advantage now
because he saw that it pleased the jews
he proceeded further
to seize peter also so he takes peter
he's going to go for it big time he's
like well i'm just going to go
get there the head guy and so he goes
and gets peter
now it was during the days of unleavened
bread this is very very important now we
see in exodus
chapter 12 verse 15
the commandment for the jewish people to
keep the feast to passover
the feast of unleavened bread
verse 15 seven days you shall eat
unleavened bread on the first day you
shall remove
leaven from your houses for whoever eats
leavened bread from the first day
until the seventh day that person shall
be cut off from israel
on the first day there shall be a holy
convocation and on the seventh day
there shall be a holy convocation for
you no manner of work shall be done on
them but that which everyone must eat
that only may be prepared by you so you
shall observe the feast of unleavened
bread
for on this day i will have brought your
armies out of the land of egypt
therefore you shall observe this day
throughout your generations
as an everlasting ordinance
in the first day on the 14th day of the
month
at evening you shall eat unleavened
bread until the 21st day
of the month at evening now
this is uh taking place during the days
of
unleavened bread these are seven days
immediately succeeding passover
i think it's helpful to visualize
passover as being
an event that takes place on one day and
to make it even simpler
or easier to comprehend passover
passover also is basically
one meal really it's it's a one day
event and it's a
one meal event but this the days of
unleavened bread
actually takes place over a seven day
period now they overlap
the passover and the days of unleavened
bread but this is these
seven days now this is very very
important for you to understand
right now we are in the days of the
unleavened bread and
we are in this feast day
moment praise god passover and
unleavened bread moment and so
we are in a spiritually significant time
these feasts are eternal now the feasts
are fulfilled in christ and at the same
time as we study the feast and keep the
spirit of the feast which is the
celebration of christ
then my friends we tie in with the
anointing
that is upon these special days
glory to god and the anointing of the
holy spirit
is upon these special seasons praise the
lord
so we are there right now now let's jump
back
to the book of acts chapter 12.
now it was during the days of unleavened
bread that's verse 3 verse 4
so when he had arrested him he put him
in prison
and delivered him to four squads of
soldiers
to keep him intending to bring him
before the people
after passover now
these four squads of soldiers
we have a total of 16 men
four men would be on each shift
and you are never allowed as a roman
soldier to go to sleep on your
shift if you were caught it meant death
penalty
no exceptions so they and they all knew
that so this is very very
strict now peter
would have been assigned to four
soldiers and you have 16 total but they
work as
shifts so that the four are always very
fresh and alert
but from these four soldiers peter
would have been chained in between two
of them
there would have been a soldier on his
left and that soldier's
right hand would have been chained to
peter's left hand
there would have been a soldier on his
right that soldier's
uh left hand would have been chained to
peter's right hand
and this those soldiers did it like that
on purpose because in their other hands
their empty hands
they could still hold the sword and this
is something that they were trained
to do the other two soldiers of the four
would be stationed as sentinels to watch
over
the prison dungeon in which the prisoner
was kept
so that he's not getting out of there
there's no way he's getting out
there's a lock and there are guards
and so and peter's just locked
completely so it looks
like he's in and he's never going to get
out
now herod wants to bring him out
after passover and again you see
the re the religious politician working
here
herod wants the jews to be happy and the
the the feast of the lord
were festivals and that denotes
joy and happiness so he wants them to be
happy
because when they're happy then
everybody is
everything's going smooth and there's no
fighting and
uh you don't have to bring the army in
you don't turn your soldiers loose on
the people
everybody can keep functioning along and
everybody back in rome
hears how good of a job that king herod
agrippa
is doing herod understood that with
these feasts particularly passover which
is a gigantic feast
that he doesn't want the minds of the
jewish people
to be on a criminal case such as
peter so he's going to bring him out
afterwards but trust me
when he's going to bring him out he
already knows what he's going to do to
it he's going to kill him
he's going to kill him immediately don't
doubt it for a moment
now let's find out what took place here
we are now in verse 5.
peter was there therefore kept in prison
but constant prayer
and in the greek it all it also implies
fervent
prayer so this is not real soft like
prayer meeting
this these are some intense prayer
meetings going on here
but constant prayer was offered to god
for him
by the church praise the lord hallelujah
and again
it's hard to replicate an atmosphere
like that
unless you've actually been in it or you
you're living a situation like that
let's say that you heard
pastor stephen is arrested i'm not here
and you're like what happened to pastor
stephen and you hear well
they hauled him away for preaching the
gospel and they're going to kill him
well praise god that there there would
be prayer
uh in any pastor or any apostle prophet
evangelist pastor or teacher that
the government would lock up yes we're
going to be praying for that person's
deliverance and well-being
so the uh this is peter this is peter
this is the
the leader of the twelve this is the one
that the lord invested so much into
and also prophesied that he would live
to be
an old man that he would live to old age
praise the lord so
it's it's not looking good but
they are fervently praying and
we need to be available
to pray praise god we need to be people
that are
able to move quickly and respond to
prayer
hallelujah don't don't clutter your life
up with so much stuff that you can't
you can't uh hit your knees you can't
break away and pray
should it arise hallelujah glory to god
verse 6 and when herod was about to
bring him out
i mean this is close this is close
did you ever notice that god likes drama
you can you can't have a good movie if
there's not drama you can't have a good
story that you read if there's not
you know this building building and then
so god really knows how to allow
this thing to work out you know
when you read throughout the history of
the church
there have been those brilliant writers
that knew the lord that came to a mutual
conclusion
that if you step back and look at it
really
satan who is a defeated foe but yet has
certain elements of authority in the
earth because he is the prince of the
power of the air and he's
he's the prince over the unbelievers not
the christians but the unbelievers and
because of that he's able to
uh pull strings and influence evil
people to do bad things and so forth
but so many theologians christian
writers
mystic saints have stood back and
realized
that in so many ways satan
is no more than god's mule it's like
he's an instrument
he's a tool that god can work through
to accomplish purposes that glorified
the lord
and when satan thinks he's trying to
destroy when satan thinks he's trying to
do something that he's going to get the
victory and going to get the real laugh
he doesn't know that god's going to turn
around
and god's going to do something amazing
so
the devil he uh he so
often overplays his hand and we're going
to see the lord
step in and do something extraordinary
here
now and when herod was about to bring
him out
and he's going to bring him out and he's
going to kill him quickly as soon as
this passover is over and
this is the last night this is it
it says here that that night peter was
sleeping and i think that's beautiful i
do believe
that peter in his heart
although he doesn't know how this is
going to play out i do believe that he
was asleep because he realizes his
ministry is not over with
yet so while the soldiers could be
snickering
and saying enjoy your you know maybe
maybe taunting saying enjoy your sleep
this is
your last night on the earth or whatever
the case might have been i'm sure peter
had a confident
resolution within his heart that said
well it may look like that but
you know the lord prophesied to me
personally how my life was going to end
and he said i would
live to be an old man and so i'm not
there yet so he's asleep
he's asleep but yes was it a serious
situation very very serious
now herod was about to bring him out
that night peter was
sleeping whoo praise the lord i like
that and he was bound with two chains
between two soldiers we've discussed
that and the guards before the door
were keeping the prison these guys are
well trained they're doing their job
[Music]
you know i think the devil thinks he's
got some of you trapped
in a way that you're never going to get
out he thinks
they'll never ever get out of this
dungeon i've put them
in they don't have a key they don't have
the power they don't have the
the ability they just can't do it and he
laughs and he snickers
and he taunts but you know what he's
overplayed his hand and
something is about to happen this is the
passover anointing that's where we're at
today
this is the feast of unleavened bread
anointing that's
right where we're at right now and there
is a similar anointing
that is going to be released into your
life i want you to get ready to receive
it
praise the lord amen
all right verse 7 here we go now behold
an angel of the lord stood by him
and the light shone in the prison and he
struck peter
on the side well in a sense
he didn't strike him hard it's just
basically gave him a good
thump to wake him up
you know how many of you like the
underdog
especially when you don't like the
champion let's say the champion's full
of pride and arrogant you know but yet
that's the champion but the underdog is
humble i just
feel that um i mean
who would have who would have thought
peter is going to get out of this
but there are those that that think your
situation is not going to change
but i'm telling you god has invested in
you as a winner
god has invested in you as a champion
and you have something to say you have
something to accomplish
you have something to do you have the
worth of christ in you
you have value in you you have the seed
of abraham in you because you're in
christ
and my friends you're about to rise up
to victory
praise the lord god's an expert
in turning situations around that look
completely you know hopeless
helpless and impossible
an angel of the lord stood by him and
the light shone in the prison
and he struck peter on the side and
raised him up so he gave him some help
pulled him up saying arise quickly
now this is a dangerous realm
this is still enemy territory this is a
very
very dangerous place
anywhere where the enemy has his
turf be on the alert
there is a realm in the spirit realm
in the second heaven now satan is called
the prince of the power of the air
and he has his strongholds they they are
literally up in the air they're castles
they're fortresses you can't see them
unless the holy spirit opened your eyes
and the gift of deserting the spirits
was in operation
but that realm to be that in that realm
in the spirit is a very very dangerous
realm i've been in that realm before
and if you're going to do something in
that realm and god takes you into that
realm
and you've got to move quick because
it is a very dangerous realm here we see
that here also in the natural
this is the devil's turf in the sense
and and peter's right in the middle of
it and so
the angel says hey we can't be taking
our time in here
get up quick arise quickly
and when your moment comes to move
praise the lord
it's not the time to take the camera out
and take a picture don't don't worry
about no pictures
move praise the lord get going and he
says arise
quickly and his chains fell
off his hands
whoo praise god this this is incredible
stuff
his chains fell off his hands
well the two soldiers
have been somehow supernaturally put to
sleep
temporarily they were in a deep sleep
and as peter stands up
those chains fall those chains are going
to make a lot of noise
thump and clank can be claimed and they
fall to the ground
but nobody comes to look they have all
fallen asleep
the miracle is taking place
glory to god then the angel said to him
gird yourself and tie on your sandals
and so he did now
my friends don't ask the angels
to tie your shoes for you and don't ask
the angel to help
help put your coat on you do
what you can do and the angels
are very good at doing what you can't do
praise god god expects you to give your
best
god expects you to push but when you
have done
all you can do and make sure that you do
all you can do
then then god steps in
but even when the angels come in you
still have to do your part
and work with the angels don't try to
get angels to do your
stuff let them do their stuff
praise god so we have to be able to work
with them praise god
then the angel said to him gird yourself
and tie on your sandals and so he did
not the angel he did
and he said to him put on your garment
and follow me
hallelujah stay close to that angel one
thing's for sure
do not lose sight of that angel
follow me yeah yes i'm right behind you
let's go i'm ready to get out of here
praise the lord
now you get ready for verse 9.
so he went out and followed him
and did not know that what was done
by the angel was real but thought
but thought he was seeing
a vision praise the lord i'm here today
to tell you
that god told me to tell you
that it's about to get real in your life
now pastor stephen now hold on just a
moment pastor stephen i had a vision
and in the vision i saw myself going
hold on hold on
you've had enough visions well wait just
a minute pastor stephen
i've had a dream and in the dream i saw
myself go free that's nice
that's nice but you haven't you've had
enough dreams
god told me that you've had your dreams
and you've had your visions
but god told me to tell you it's about
to get real in your life whoo praise the
lord i'm not talking about a vision
you've already had that i'm not talking
about a dream
that's nice dreams are good but i'm
talking about
real i want you to stand up right now
and say this it's an act of faith
say it's about to get real in my life
we're talking real deliverance we're
talking
real victory we're talking 180 degree
turn in some situations where it looks
like there's no way out
god is going to turn it praise god it's
about to get real in your life that
child
that's not serving god lost in sin
mocking god it's about to get real that
child is going to come back
to the lord that business that just
will not get off the ground watch god
touch it praise the lord as you honor
him and live for him
watch what god is going to do in
your life praise the lord i'm talking
about
god's intervention in your life
praise the lord notice again
that peter here in verse 9
it says so he went out and followed him
and did not know what was done by the
angel
was real peter didn't think it was real
but it was thought he was having another
vision
another glorious vision of victory no
and it wasn't a dream either it was real
a real angel pushed him pushed
him wake up a real angel
pulled him up oh it's a drink no it's
not a dream
it was a real angel pulled him up
and the chains fell off well that was
special effects no that's real
that's called a real miracle
some of you have never had a real
miracle
ever happen to in your life ever it's
about to get real
thank you jesus when they were past the
first and the second
guard post they came to the iron gate
that leads to the city
which opened to them of its own accord
and they went out
and went down one street and immediately
the angel departed from him
wow there it is it's real
you're out well is it a dream i better
pinch myself
it's it's real it's real now look at
this statement and when peter had come
to himself
i see you coming to yourself
realizing wait a minute did that phone
call just happen did they just tell me
that report
did that email that i'm looking at is
that email
real yep it's real the phone call's real
the person's real
the blessing's real the miracle's real
you're gonna have to come to your senses
you're gonna have to come to yourself
and realize
it actually happened god actually
did it hallelujah when did it happen
on passover what's going on right now
passover
when did it happen on the feast of
unleavened bread what are we in right
now
the days of the feast of unleavened
bread this is the anointing for this
season
it's time it's time for to get real
in your life just like it did in peter's
life and it's going to happen
praise the lord whoo when peter had come
to himself he said now i know for
certain
and you'll say the same thing i know for
sure this ain't no dream or vision i
know for sure
i know for certain that the lord has
sent his angel and has delivered me from
the hand of herod
and from all the expectation of the
jewish people
verse 12 so when he had considered this
he came to the house of mary the mother
of john whose surname was mark
where many were gathered together
praying and they were praying you know
one preacher said they were praying in
unbelief because
when peter knocks on the door they
didn't think it was him or anything like
that no
they were they were praying in total
faith it's just that god answered so far
above and beyond what they were asking
that it just it just blew them away
this is ephesians chapter 3 verse 20
type stuff where god just does beyond
how we could even thought he was going
to work it out they never they never
while they were praying thought
god's just going to walk him straight
out chains are going to fall off
so it just it just stunned him so they
were praying
and as peter knocked at the door of the
gate a girl named rhoda came to answer
when she recognized peter's voice
because of her gladness she did not open
the gate
but brandon announced that peter stood
before the gate but they said to her
you are beside yourself yet she kept
insisting that it was so
so they said it is his angel what i'd be
like
well if this angel's knocking that loud
don't you think we should let him in
[Laughter]
i think we should be like if it's his
angel what's his angels doing here
somebody let the angel in and say come
on in
the very fact that they would make a
statement like that it's his angel
tells us that they had insight into the
angelic ministry praise the lord now
verse 16 peter continued knocking and
when they opened the door and saw him
they were astonished
you're going to be astonished too and
how it's going to get real in your life
in your own astonishing way everybody's
miracle is different
but it is still a real miracle and all
miracles are astonishing praise the lord
but motioning to them with his hand to
keep silent
pretty good idea to do since you're the
you're the new
uh hot topic you're you're the new
number one guy that
the whole nation in a sense is going to
be after
but motioning to them with his hand to
keep silent he declared to them how the
lord had brought him out of the prison
and he said go tell these things to
james and to the brethren
and he departed and went to another
place what's what's the another place
a lot of a lot of debate on that some
say this is actually
when he went in to a secret trip
and he actually ended up on his journey
where he eventually ended up in rome
i don't know some theologians say he
went to rome
others say that he just uh he hid
in the area until things cooled off a
little bit later on
uh and he just went low profile but some
others say he actually never left
jerusalem i'll let i'll let the
theologians kind of debate that
because it seems that scripture is
silent
and there are some old church letters
that were written in the first and
second century
uh that address this but that's a
different
topic but a fun topic to study in your
free time
and he departed and went to another
place one thing he did know is i'm
getting out of here
because this is hot they're after me oh
yeah they're going to be after you all
right
then as soon as it was day there was no
small stir
among the soldiers i can imagine the
soldiers the night before mocking him
laughing at him ridiculing him saying
hey you know what's going to happen
tomorrow don't you
well now they're in hot water
as soon as it was day there was no small
stir
among the soldiers about what had become
of peter
i mean how did he get out of chains how
did he get his wrist his hands out of
the chains
none of it makes any sense except for
god's miracle power
but when herod had searched for him and
not found him
he examined the guards and commanded
that they should be put to death
and he went down from judea to caesarea
and stayed there
very quickly let's close things out with
the life of herod verse 21
so on a set day herod herod agrippa
a raid in royal apparel set on his
throne and gave an oration to them
now those that actually witnessed this
in church writing
say that or also ancient jewish texts
and
letters from antiquity so forth say that
when he gave that speech
he was wearing a certain type of
clothing that when the sun
hit it it caused a reflection he had a
lot of silver on
and it just hit him and with all of that
son reflecting off of him
they said it made him look like a deity
and uh plus he was giving a real smooth
talk he was a real good talker so on a
set day herod or raiden royal apparel
sat on his throne and gave an oration to
them and the people kept shouting the
voice of a god and not of a man
so you put those things together he's
talking really smooth to them he's a
good orator
and all the lights on him and he's got
these clothes and all this reflection
and they were saying the voice of a god
and not of a man
then immediately an angel of the lord
struck him because he did not give glory
to god
and he was eaten by worms and died but
the word of god
grew and multiplied now when it says
that
immediately an angel of god excuse me an
angel of the lord struck him because he
did not give glory to god and he was
eaten by worms and died
i used to think well he just fell down
dead
and worms ate him up and worms were
coming out of him but
it didn't actually happen that way now
he was struck immediately by the angel
and the moment he struck
the death process begins because worms
come in
but those writers who were alive during
that era
said that it was actually a two-year
death of
absolute agonizing torment
the worms just ate him up ate more and
more and more just kept eating parts of
him and uh
body parts just getting eaten up and
this went on for
horrible it was hell on earth for him
for two years
until he finally just died from it while
he was eaten by worms and
died what a filthy wretched mess we know
where he's at
today whoa praise the lord but my
friends
this is passover sunday this is the
feast
of unleavened bread the enemy always
overplays his hand
and the final result of the enemy will
be
the lake of fire but we my friends
are in christ and even though we go
through many
temptations trials challenges and
difficulties
we go through in the name of jesus in
the blood of jesus
praise god and even though there have
been many who have even tasted the sword
and the martyr's death and various forms
of torture
and persecution nevertheless we are more
than conquerors
in christ praise god and god
has told me today to tell you that your
situation
is going to change god told me to tell
you
that he's about to get real in your life
oh i know you already know the lord i
know you're saved born again
filled the holy spirit but i'm talking
about his power
coming into your life and you're going
to see him
do something that you can never do on
your own something glorious
something weighty something beautiful
something
where a miracle is involved
the lord instructed me today on passover
to receive a special offering
this is a passover offering and
everybody
listening under the sound of my voice
the holy spirit
wants you to sow a special passover
seed and this passover seed
i want you to name your seed every seed
has an identity
every seed has a name every seed has an
assignment a tomato seed is going to
produce tomatoes
watermelon seed is going to produce
watermelons this passover seed
is going to be called it's about to get
real for the first time in your life
you're going to sow a seed called it's
about to get
real and my friends are going to sow it
on passover you're going to saw it right
when peter came out and you're going to
have
a it's about to get real
miracle take place in your life
are you ready praise the lord now on
passover
god the father sowed his best
seed he sowed his son gave his best
and i want you to sow your best seed
today on
passover you know my wife and i were
also sowing our best seed
into the ministry i'm talking about with
our personal money
and there was something that i thought i
would like to do something i had some
personal money i thought i would like to
do something with that
uh something for myself that's you know
that's what personal money is for
but the holy spirit said you take that
money
and you sow it into the work of the lord
and you will be blessed so this is also
a seed i'm going to be sowing as well
along with you i want you to sow your
passover seed and we're going to call
this seed
it's about to get real seed
praise god you're gonna have a harvest
that's going to be very very
unusual praise the lord husbands and
wives
pray talk together come into agreement
about the seed of mount
that you should sow let me pray for all
of you that are watching right now
father in the name of jesus i ask that
you would speak to the heart of the
viewer of the listener
of what they should do to sow their seed
called it's about to get real
and i thank you father god that you will
give them instruct them that you will
give them the number
the amount that they are to sow and i
thank you father god
that they're going to have the same
amazement that peter had
that where he was astonished he actually
thought it was a vision he didn't even
think it was real
he had to come to himself they're going
to have
a miracle happen in their life
now father as they prepare right now to
sow this seed
i just thank you father god that the
anointing
of passover the miracle anointing that
rides
on the eternal feast established by you
that that anointing will touch their
seed with resurrection
power and i thank you father god they're
going to have a miracle
they're going to have a miracle i thank
you father that
as your servant i speak into their lives
over that seed that they're sowing right
now and i say
i pronounce a miracle harvest over your
seed
it's about to get real
in your life and you're going to see the
miraculous
praise god father i give you praise
i thank you father let the angels be
released right now
to bring the miracle to bring the
miracle into their lives
now we thank you that we will do our
part
we will pray we will pray and we will
certainly cooperate with any angel
should an angel show up in a sense where
we could see or receive instruction or
guidance
we thank you father but i thank you
father even if the angel is not seen
the angel is coming the angel is coming
to you
to your house for a miracle bringing a
miracle i thank you father god
and the angels are also going out to
work miracles
whoa praise god praise god
to bring something in to bring something
back
father we give you praise father bless
their seed
bless their seed with
miracle anointing resurrection power the
resurrection power of christ
we thank you father we thank you for the
empty tomb
we thank you that we have a savior we
thank you that we have
an eternity with you we give you all of
the praise
in jesus name amen praise the lord now
those of you of course that are sowing
your seed if you want to bring it in
online you can do so please go to the
ministry website stevenbrooks.org
click that link on the home page it says
giving and you can go right into the
general fund make a note
and just type in this is your passover
seed and you're calling your seed
it's about to get real
those of you that would like to mail in
your seed
please send it to stephen brooks
international po box 717 moravian falls
north carolina
our zip code 28654 make a notation
on your gift that this is for the the
seed
it's about to get real your giving
moves the ministry forward it moves
all of the outreaches all of the efforts
of the ministry
forward for the glory of god for the
reaching of souls
and for the building up of the body of
christ
thank you on behalf of my wife and i and
our entire ministry team
thank you for sowing your seed i believe
you're going to see
a miracle in your life and i want to
hear what god
does for you praise the lord now
if you're watching today's program and
you don't know christ
as your lord and savior this is very
very
serious you're not going to live forever
nobody does you're going to have to
face the end of your life eventually
life is very fleeting
and my friends once your life is over
you don't get another opportunity to
choose
you must choose now why don't you be
like joshua
the great leader of israel who said as
for me in my house
he's basically saying as for me and my
tribe we're going to serve the lord
why don't you make that decision today
to say no to the devil
you've served him long enough and sin
and the slavery of sin
and come out and come out just like on
passover
the the israelites came out of egypt
out from under the rule of pharaoh who
was a type and shadow of satan
and came in to freedom if you would like
to receive christ as your lord and
savior pray this prayer out loud say
jesus
i'm a sinner but you died to save
sinners
like me jesus
come into my heart save me from my sins
wash me with your precious blood
write my name in your book of life
i take you by faith as my lord
savior and king right now
thank you jesus for saving me i give my
life to you
in your name i pray amen
and amen let me be the first to welcome
you
to the family of god the lord
bless you praise god praise the lord
now let us rejoice in the lord today and
take
holy communion whenever we take
communion
we proclaim the lord's death until he
comes
hallelujah and by proclaiming his death
we are proclaiming the great
accomplishment that was
done for us through his death burial
resurrection and ascension at calvary
so let's grab some unleavened bread
during these days of unleavened bread
leaven was a type
a symbol of sin let's grab some
unleavened bread
let's grab some grape juice let's pray
over this
father we thank you for the bread
and the juice we bless it
we consecrate it through this prayer we
thank you this is now the body
the flesh and the blood of christ our
savior
oh god we give you praise as we receive
the flesh of jesus
his body we thank you that he endured
the agony of the cross
that he endured the receiving
and the bearing of our sins upon himself
so that we could receive redemption
through his sacrifice we thank you
father that for thousands
of years a passover lamb
was slaughtered to
cover sins and also to be
to be a reminder of the exodus out of
egypt
and so we thank you father that christ
the passover
lamb of slain for the forgiveness
of our sins and father as we see
as we receive his body we thank you for
what jesus did for us
at calvary on this day we thank you for
his death for us
in his name we pray amen
let's partake
hallelujah
god did such a miracle that when peter
was knocking on the door
they couldn't they in their wildest
dreams they never would have guessed it
was peter
some of you are going to have some
unusual knocks on your door
you're going to be shocked at who comes
to your door it's going to be a miracle
a good miracle praise the lord that word
is not for everybody that's for a few
praise the lord hallelujah glory to god
they're not even going to announce
they're coming they're just going to
show up
hallelujah it'll be the person that you
most
desire to see father we give you praise
father thank you for the blood of jesus
we thank you that our sins and our
iniquities
you remember no more we thank you father
that when we confess our sins
you are faithful and just to forgive us
of all of our sins
thank you father we believe it and we
receive it
so father we thank you for the blood of
jesus we ask that if we have committed
any sin that you would wash them all
away and we forgive anybody
anyone who has sinned against us
regardless of what it was we forgive
them
and thank you father we bless them and
we go on in our journey with you i walk
with you
thank you father god thank you father
god we receive the blood of jesus now in
his name
amen let's receive
praise the lord
as your special seed comes in
your it's about to get real seed comes
in
i will take it if it comes into an email
format
online it will be printed out i will
take it hold it i will pray over it
if it comes in through the mail i will
take it i will hold it i will pray over
it
i will bring it before the throne of god
in heaven and present it to him as a
sacred special passover offering
and ask god to do something in your life
that's
truly miraculous i believe your seed
will speak
in the most significant way praise the
lord
hallelujah lift up your hands
father bless your people on resurrection
sunday bless your people on the feast
of unleavened bread thank you father god
let them know your goodness put a smile
on their face
as even peter was swept off into hiding
smiling the entire time
and the enemy once again overplayed his
hand
and was defeated we thank you father god
you're taking your people
on to victory and they will be taken
into
sweetness and to knowing
your goodness thank you father we thank
you
we give you praise in jesus name
amen god bless you i'll see you back
next time
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