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 [Music] [Applause] uh [Music] [Music] is [Music]