good morning church family and ministry
friends i'm Pastor Steven Brooks
welcome today to our online internet
around the world
church service i am so happy that you're
here today
and i would like to invite you to grab
your bibles and meet me today in isaiah
chapter 54 verses 1 through 3.
these are some verses that we have
become very familiar with
and i want us to look at them briefly
just for a moment
verse 1 says sing o barren you who have
not born
break forth in the singing and cry aloud
you who have had not labored with child
for more are the children of the
desolate
than the children of the married woman
says the lord verse 2
enlarge the place of your tent and let
them stretch out the curtains of your
dwellings do not spare
lengthen your cords and strengthen your
stakes of course this is a prophetic
word
to you concerning god's plan for your
expansion
and your increase in your life for you
shall expand to the right and to the
left
and your descendants will inherit the
nations and make the desolate cities
inhabited praise god so i see a rich
reward a rich inheritance for
you now in keeping with these scriptures
and our efforts to move forward and act
upon them
i must say that the lord is blessing the
ministry
and new doors are opening and there are
some very
exciting things that are placed before
us and
by god's grace with your help we are
going to move into them
and i'll share some of those things with
you in the coming days but my friends
what we must first do is complete
the project that we have been tackling
and that is the pavement project
so that we can get the entire parking
lot resurfaced with brand new surface
and that the parking lot is set up for
the next
however many decades it will last i know
the surface out there has done a good
job
it's probably been there for a long time
but as
all things eventually need maintenance
and repair
that's what we need to do with the
parking lot and we're at a place right
now where we need to keep
on the parking lot project until it is
completed
and let me say a big thank you to
everybody who sowed
special passover resurrection seed
into the ministry this past sunday that
is a great blessing in moving the
ministry forward
generally moving the entire ministry
forward but the parking lot project is a
special
project and that is something my friends
we need to
complete and i've got a pavement
scripture
for you that i would like to share with
you as we are trusting god for expansion
and increase
i know that's touching your life as well
and here is something beautiful from the
book of ezekiel maybe
you've never been so excited about a
pavement project before
but here's a pavement project in ezekiel
chapter 40
verse 17. and here the prophet
ezekiel who is also a priest is being
shown
the future millennial temple praise the
lord
and because ezekiel through prophetic
gifting and the visionary experiences is
seeing this
he could really wrap his mind around it
and get good grasp on it because
as a functioning priest himself
everything that he has seen
makes sense to him regarding the coming
of
the future temple now verse 17
then he brought me into the outer court
and there were chambers
and a pavement made all around the court
30 chambers
faced the pavement the pavement was by
the side of the gateways
corresponding to the length of the
gateways this
was the lower pavement well of course
the millennial temple is going to be
very nice
we know that the sanctuary is going to
be spectacular
but even as beautiful as the sanctuary
will be and this will be the temple one
day that christ will rule and reign over
the whole world from
it will be located in jerusalem israel
but even with the beauty of the
sanctuary there is going to be a very
very beautiful pavement for
the outer court and just like
there would be a beautiful building
structure but yet you would have to have
nice pavement here also at the ministry
property
yes we have several facilities but we
also
have a parking lot and the pavement
needs to be
nice as well because when people
see the ministry headquarters it is a
representation
of the lord's work within the earth and
it needs to be nice
i'm sure that you would agree my friends
it may seem
a little bit surreal and it may seem
something that could even be mystical
and far off but
one day one day you
will visit the millennial temple you
will visit the temple
in jerusalem that the lord will rule
over the whole world from
and you will be able to walk on that
pavement you'll be able to walk on those
stones and you'll think
you know what i remember that message
pastor stephen brooks taught years back
when he taught about how how the church
needed a good pavement
how they needed a good parking lot and
here you will be one day in the future
walking
on the pavement of the outer court of
the temple
that christ will govern the world from
my friends i want to ask you
to help us finish the pavement project
here at the ministry offices and the
headquarters here
we have a remaining budget of 18k
18 000 that we need to meet and i know
that's very small
in the eyes of the lord but i believe
that as we
continue to sow into that that we will
meet it and we will have a beautiful
parking lot
out there matter of fact i've gotten
multiple quotes
and the company the paving company that
we have decided to go with
you know i was talking to uh the
gentleman
that does the quoting for their company
and we met
actually at a different location he
didn't know what he was going to be
quoting
i just told him i had some pavement work
that needed to be done
uh and this of course would be asphalt
type pavement
and we were talking at a different
location
and uh what he was going to quote now of
course he's going to come over and take
a look at it
but before he even saw it when i told
him
where the location was he said wait a
minute he said is that the church
building
that's located over by the post office
next to the school i said yes that's it
that's what i need you to quote he said
my goodness
he said i was standing over on the
school's property just a couple of days
ago
because we submitted a quote to the
county
to do some paving for them and he said i
stood there looking
at your property at the church property
and i was thinking wow
they need to have their parking lot
redone i sure would like to be able to
do the parking lot for them
i need to get a hold of that person and
so when he found out
that that was the job that
he's going to be bidding on he could
hardly believe it because he realized
this seems like the lord's in on this
because the lord was stirring his heart
to inquire about doing that parking lot
so
that just happened to be our parking lot
that he was so curious about
and my friends that's what's remaining
we've already had some funds come in
that have been allocated towards this
project but we still need 18k
now i would like to ask you to go before
the lord and say lord what would you
have
me to do so that that project can be
completed oh yes there's other things
that maybe
we could say are more exciting than
asphalt
i would agree with that but nevertheless
even the millennial jerusalem temple now
this is not the temple that the
antichrist is going to come into
that's a different one that's the one
that's coming up next and uh
but this is the millennial temple even
it even it had to have pavement praise
the lord now i'm sure that the
millennial temple will not be asphalt
pavement it's probably going to be some
very
beautiful polished hume stone but
nevertheless
you don't want to be walking around in
the dirt i'm asking you to help us to
finish
the parking lot project now as you also
bring in your tithe ask the lord about
sowing a special seed into the pavement
project
and if you want to give online please
visit
the ministry website stevenbrooks.org
there's a link on the home page it has a
red heart on it that says giving
and you can click that and you'll see
the category
where you can send your tithes and you
will see also the opportunity
to click on the tab that will allow you
to give directly into
the pavement project whoa praise the
lord
i've never been so excited about
pavement before
but one day one day we'll look back and
laugh
we'll look back and laugh one day we'll
stand on that pavement
of the millennial temple and we'll think
wow
i remember when i sowed into that
pavement project
glory to god god's up to good things
thank you
so much for your giving and your support
now if you prefer to mail
in your tithes and your special pavement
offering praise the lord just send it to
stephen brooks
international p.o box 717
the city is moravian falls north
carolina the zip code
is 28654 praise god
hallelujah please lift your hands father
i pray that you bless
bless bless your people
that is a sow into the paving project
father god that we can complete this
project that we are
finishers that we can complete this
project for your glory
and father god that you give your people
insight and revelation into
into their future hallelujah thank you
father god
that you give them revelatory insight
because one day
in the future we will stand on some very
unique pavement
there in the millennial temple now
father we thank you thank you
thank you for your anointing flowing
thank you father bless the seed that
your people are sowing
blessed 100 fold return your very
best harvest flowing back
into their lives in jesus name
we pray and agree and we say amen
amen thank you again for your giving
praise the lord and i know there will be
quite a few of you
eventually you'll you'll want to come
visit here to the ministry headquarters
and you'll walk on the pavement here
praise god thank you jesus now
let's take our holy bibles and let's go
over to
the book of jeremiah chapter 12.
today we want to talk about lions in
the thicket we're going to be in
jeremiah chapter 12.
and let's pray now father as we go
into your word on an exploratory journey
into your word we ask that
illumination of your word would come
so that your word is not a history
lesson it's not ink on paper
it's not intellectual information but
father let it be a rhema word
that it literally be spiritual food that
feeds our spirit
that inspires our soul and quickens
our mortal flesh we thank you father for
it
in jesus name we pray we all agree and
say amen praise the lord
now jeremiah chapter 12
let's begin today in verse 1. praise the
lord
righteous are you o lord when i plead
with you
so here we see jeremiah pleading
with the lord because he doesn't like
the situation
he doesn't like who's an authority he
doesn't like
the political situation we could say
he's not happy with the way things are
he's not happy with the
uh the collapse of morality and ethics
within his country
and he's pleading with the lord to do
something about it
the response that the lord is going to
make
is going to be very very interesting
matter of fact the response probably
if he were to take the lord's response
and
uh get on popular talk shows christian
talk shows of
what's going to happen in the future
they probably don't want to hear
this angle but it's a true
angle and it is very very
encouraging when you see it in the
illumination of the holy spirit
righteous are you o lord when i plead
with you that's a good way to start
talking to the lord
lord you're the best lord you're
righteous now he's
he's going to begin to pour out what is
really in his spirit that's troubling
him
but he comes into this prayer the right
way
righteous are you o lord when i plead
with you
yet let me talk with you about your
judgments
now this prayer maybe we could even say
if we're honest that it merges into a
complaint
that's okay we thank god that
god has big shoulders that we can lean
on him
maybe even cry on him maybe maybe even
in a righteous way uh complain not that
we're complainers but in the sense we're
like hey lord
uh we're aware of what's going on and
it's really not the way that we would
like it to be
okay let me talk with you about your
judgments
why does the way of the wicked prosper
anybody out there ever thought about
that when you take a glance
across the the structure
of america not only america but
the the way things from a global
perspective you could see
how so strongly uh there are those that
would walk
that would want to take the world into a
one world global system
that is ruled by one religion
that is governed by one person
that is even funneled through a one
system of economic exchange you see how
those
uh individuals that are out there there
are those that would just give anything
for that to happen
and some people actually think it would
be a good thing
because they're not aware of the
scriptures that tell us
how dangerous this actually is well
jeremiah of course was a very observant
prophet
and he is aware that the wicked are
prospering
and he doesn't doesn't think that's the
way it should be and
there will come a day when that's all
going to change
but he's right in the thick of the
reality what's going on
why does the way of the wicked prosper
why are those happy who deal
so treacherously well i saw on the news
recently that there was a
certain public servant a certain
government official that makes
two hundred thousand dollars a year
according to their
government position so they make two
hundred thousand dollars a year
and they just file their taxes and it's
you know it's a public tax report
and it was reported how much money
this government official has made in the
last four years now keep in mind they
they get paid two hundred thousand
dollars well that's easy pastor stephen
that's two hundred thousand times four
times four years
that means they would have made eight
hundred thousand dollars
being a good public servant working for
the u s government
well the tax report showed that they had
they made over
the person made over 140 million
dollars uh where did that all come from
well why does the way of the wicked
prosper
why are those happy who deal so
treacherously
there are politicians who literally sell
themselves to
corporate interest groups or to big
uh you know these lobbyist groups
and these politicians pass legislation
not because they're passing legislation
for the well-being of the people
not because they're trying to represent
those voters who voted them into power
no
they're passing legislation that favors
certain corporations or certain big
interest groups
or certain large unions
and they pass legislation that favors
them
so that later later they can receive
large bonuses and kickbacks
for example a politician will work with
other politicians
to pass a bill that bill could
favor for example a large corporate
entity
these various corporations say it's a
banking entity
and so they pass these laws that favor
these banks to do certain things
and then and then maybe a few years
later
the politician is invited to come
give a speech or give a talk towards
maybe you know some employees at the
bank
and so the politician goes and gives a
30-minute talk maybe they really work
hard and speak for 45 minutes
and when they're done the corporation
gives them an appreciation gift or a
check
of 6 600 000 or 1 million dollars or
wherever it might be and you think now
what did they do
for 30 minutes to get a million dollar
check oh they didn't do anything then
they did something previously when they
passed legislation
that favored them and now here's the
kickback and it's done in a legal form
but just because it's legal doesn't mean
it's ethical and it doesn't mean
it's moral but these people don't care
about
ethics morality that's not what's moving
them
why does the way of the wicked prosper
jeremiah is really letting it loose he's
pouring his heart out to god
why are those happy who deal so
treacherously who deal in these ways of
uh
it's just fraud it may be legal but it's
still
it's unethical why do they do that verse
2
jeremiah says you have planted them
yes they have taken root they grow
yes they bear fruit
so he says you have planted them and you
know what
it's true in a sense god has planted
them
well pastor stephen why would god do
that because that's
what the people actually want that's
what many
of the masses want they they just want
to be left alone to be able to engage
in their lifestyle regardless of how
displeasing it would be to the lord
regardless of how opposite it would be
to god's instruction manual the bible
they just want to sin and so they're
just like
whoever's running the office up there
let them do whatever they want to do
as long as we can do what we want to do
and that's why
god allows many times wicked corrupt
leaders why that's what the people want
that's what the majority want now
now the remnant doesn't want that the
jeremiahs
don't want that the people that are
living for god that
that believe in uh justice and honesty
honesty and doing things the right way
they don't want that
but oftentimes they're not the majority
they're the minority
but being courage god always
always has his eye on the remnant and
always has blessing
prepared for the remnant praise god
and sometimes the remnants not quite as
small as people would think it is there
it could be
it could be a million people praise the
lord it could be
even more thank you jesus but jeremiah
is certainly
being very upfront with the lord you
have planted them
yes they have taken root they grow yes
they bear fruit
he's really saying god you need to get
rid of these people
they're so corrupt lord get rid of the
king he's corrupt
uh yeah he is he's completely
compromised and so is his whole court
yes lord now what would fix it is just
get rid of all of them
how many of you know it's not going to
happen it didn't happen for jeremiah
it hasn't happened in other governments
of the world it didn't even happen
amongst the jewish nation
and so there are these times where god
plants them
and they're there but that doesn't mean
that you
have to be under oppression god
has a lifting up for you praise the lord
you are near in their mouth but far from
their mind
how many of those politicians that we
know they're bought
sold and paid for how many of them do we
know
that still will go to church or will go
to mass
or on the exterior act religious they
act like they actually love god
but it's only in an external act you are
near in their mouth
but far from their mind you'll you'll
hear some of them act like they
uh belong to the church and then they
turn right around
and they just push push push the murder
of the innocent of the unborn
it's all fake you are near in their
mouth but far
far from their mind but you o lord
know me jeremiah says you have seen me
and you have tested my heart towards you
pull them out like sheep for the
slaughter
and prepare them for the day of
slaughter
well jeremiah it's not going to work out
like that
god kill them all
well it's um it's not going to happen
like that
now pastor stephen if we just had an
evangelical president
and we just had the right people on the
supreme court and if we just had this
and that
then everything would be right no it
doesn't always work like
that it doesn't always work like that
especially
when you have a nation that in many ways
has forsaken
the lord so you have to bring this in
the right approach
now i know jeremiah is a little bit
different because
of his background and so forth he's a
prophet he's in church all the time and
uh he's he's singing praises to the lord
and he's i mean he lives in a priestly
town
but but uh
that doesn't mean that others out there
are living the same way
the truth is that there's a lot of decay
in the nation
and you have to look at this through the
right lens with the right
filter praise god now
verse 4 how long will the land mourn
and the herbs of every field wither oh
so it's starting to affect all the
wickedness in the nation
is starting to affect the land things
aren't producing the way they should
sounds to me like there could be a
drought some type of famine going on
the beast and birds are consumed
so now we have innocent animals that are
being stricken by the repercussions
of a disobedient nation for the
wickedness of those who dwell there
that's why it's happening
for the wickedness of those who dwell
there because they said he will not see
our final end so
you have animals going into some
into extinction you have others that are
dying prematurely
and the very people that live in the
land that are hearing
the prophecies of jeremiah they say
he will not see our final end in other
words
jeremiah you're going to die before we
do we're going to outlive you
you'll you won't even see our end you're
going to die long before we do we're
going to live and be fine
but you're going to be finished very
very soon so he tells
these things to the lord now
you would have to agree he poured it out
there didn't he
he had his talk he had his prayer
but it's it's it's a very interesting
prayer it's a synopsis
condensed of all of the
corruption that is taking place within
the nation
verse 5 god
responds are you ready praise the lord
hallelujah glory to god we're going to
go on to verse 5.
god's going to begin to share some very
fascinating things
you would have to think that jeremiah
has done a good job
of basically explaining to god
why he cannot complete his assignment
god we cannot be successful during times
like this because of the persecution
god we cannot move forward the way that
we're supposed to
because of the right leaders are not in
place
god we can't do this we can't do that
god is just a big mess
and so he has presented some very valid
excuses for why he cannot fulfill
his destiny as a prophet now now
if we had the right leaders then it
would all work out if we got rid of all
this craziness and just god
get rid of them all then then we could
really do what we're supposed to do
what does god say about all of this
verse 5 this is god's response
if you have run with the footmen
and they have wearied you then how
can you contend with horses praise the
lord
if you've run with the footmen they've
got you all wore out jeremiah
then how can you contend with
the horses praise the lord
jeremiah is saying i can't succeed in
this current
oppressive environment
but the footmen here representing
basically the disobedient jews
in the small town of jeremiah's
hometown of anathoth well
those are the footmen god's saying
jeremiah what are you going to do
when i start introducing you to the
leaders
of the nation what are you going to do
when you
have to prophesy to the king of
of judah look if you've had a hard time
with the local folk
now i understand prophets never really
accepted in his own
hometown you go outside of your hometown
and you're celebrated
but in your own hometown they don't they
did they they uh
they don't treat you right because they
you know they know who you are you you
grew up there and stuff like that
but even still hey jeremiah if you're
really struggling
in anathoth that's a priestly town
what are you going to do against these
people
the religious leaders and the royalty
there
in jerusalem you're going to have to
have a different type
of mindset you need to understand
that the environment is not the problem
it's having a wrong mindset um
i can't succeed in the current
environment pastor stephen
god needs to change that first no you
need to let god change you
praise the lord because it's technically
not the externals
that are holding you down
thank you jesus whoo
hallelujah now let's continue the
footman
representing the disobedient jews there
in jeremiah's hometown of anathoth
the horses those who can move at a
different level
because of their wealth because of their
uh position oh pastor stephen you don't
understand we can't we can't run with
them they wear suits
well maybe it's time for you to go out
buy a suit praise the lord
oh pastor stephen we we can't we can't
move in those circles
they they have different level well god
god can take you into those levels too
praise god
now let's continue on
we're in verse 5. if you have run with
the footmen
the locals and they have wearied you
then how can you contend
with horses those that do have more
speed
more strength more resources
i'm telling you god's taking you into
some high places get ready
get ready praise god
and if in the land of peace that would
be his hometown and a thought the
peaceful area
and if in the land of peace in which you
trust it
they wearied you well that those were
your many of your relatives live that's
the priestly
town and that yet their
verbal assaults are getting you fatigued
and wearied and tired
then how will you do in the floodplain
of the jordan now
the word floodplain there in
the hebrew is denoting
the embankments along the jordan
river on both sides east and west side
but if i could put you in a time machine
and take you back to this time to this
era you would realize that if you were
actually to walk up to the jordan river
you would not even be able to see the
jordan river
why because in the area of the flood
plains
where that river kind of levels out as
it gets further south
what would happen is that because there
could be times when the river would
overflow
this these areas that within that flood
plain they all get a lot of moisture
and you would have trees small trees and
reeds growing everywhere and small
bushes going they're just growing
everywhere
so thick that this word floodplains
also can be translated as the thickets
and it was so thick that it was actually
said
in ancient rabbinical writings that you
could not even see the jordan if you
were to walk up to it
this whole floodplain area had such
dense
thick growth and it was all along the
river
for quite some distance and it was
growing outward for quite some distance
you would not you were not even able to
see the river now you could hear it you
could hear it rushing by but you
couldn't see it
ah ah
there's something hiding in the thickets
if in the land of peace and you which
you trusted okay the peaceful land
they wearied you they got you all
fatigued they criticized you on your
instagram or they
criticized you on facebook okay then how
will you do in the floodplain
of the jordan the floodplain the
thickets
of the jordan now when he made that
statement
everybody in his era and in his time
would have understood exactly
what he is talking about jeremy jeremiah
makes several references to it
here's one in jeremiah chapter 49
verse 19. behold
he shall come up like a lion from the
floodplain
from the thickets of the jordan
everybody knew back in that time
that when there were heavy rains in that
whole
southern area that negev area was
getting a lot of moisture
a lot of overflow of the jordan river
watch out
be careful if you're going down to that
river you better have some weapons
because there's lions in the thickets
praise the lord now the thickets the
vegetation was so thick
uh you know if you want to get to that
river you're gonna have to work your way
through that remember
these these bulrushes and all these
reeds they were head high
so you can't see over you can't see
through it and if you're going to go in
there
there are lions in there now
for many of us today when we think about
the land of israel we don't think about
predatory type animals but they were
there we know that
david killed the lion and a bear we know
that samson killed a lion
and according to israeli history the
last
lions that were seen in the land were
killed off
by the crusaders in the 13th
century and the bears were also killed
off
also but we know that david killed the
bear so
they were there and they were on the
hunt
and they were hungry they were ferocious
so
if you're going there you've got to be
ready praise the lord
you've got to get prepared praise god
and you must
embrace a different type of mindset
that we can go into those places and
many of you are called
to go into the thickets of the jordan
you're called to go into the flood plain
and god is going to lift you up to do
some amazing things
this is not the time for you to retreat
this is not the time for you to start
buying tribulation food
this is not the time to buy thousands of
dollars of storage food
because it's all going to fall apart the
world is going to get more
technologically advanced
the world is going to move forward yes
it's a very fragile
system out there the whole financial
system
is extremely fragile it will look like
at times it can completely collapse
but it's not going to happen yet there
will come a time
when there will be a plan collapse so
that the world can be put on a one
world economic system where you can't
buy or sell
unless you take a certain mark but we're
not there yet
it may look like we're ready to step
into it and there are those that want it
but it's not going to happen yet well
pastor stephen
some of the things out there look very
scary yes they do
and there are real difficulties and real
challenges out there
there are real lions hiding in the
thicket there
is real corruption there in jerusalem
but
that's not the issue that's not the
issue god can still
empower you to do what he has called you
to do
and you can get it accomplished
regardless of the corruption or
regardless of the lions
that's not the problem the problem is
your focus
you must get your focus on the lord
because god wants to empower you to run
with the horses and walk through the
thicket
praise the lord
it's fascinating it's fascinating so
god's basically saying
jeremiah i'm aware of all of this
but i'm not necessarily changing all of
this yet
now he deals with it later i mean we
know the babylonians are going to come
in we know what they're going to do it's
not going to be good
but god later judges babylon and they
get destroyed
god judges anybody that touches israel
and god
judges anybody that touches the church
but it may not happen overnight and it
may not happen
for a couple of years or a couple of
decades
so what do we do in the interim you must
move forward
with the empowerment of the holy spirit
oh
yes there's challenges and actually the
challenges
are beyond what jeremiah has even
understood them to be
god gives a little more insight while he
also builds up
his prophet his servant he does
let a few more things out of the bag so
to speak i mean after all
jeremiah asked and the lord gives him a
more accurate appraisal
of what he's really facing of what he's
really up against
verse 7. i have forsaken
my house now when he says my house that
is a direct reference
to the temple i have forsaken
my temple because he dwelt between the
cherubim they're
above the mercy seat in the ark of the
covenant and of holy of holies that's
where the presence of god was kept
but that presence has left there has
been a forsaken
i have forsaken my house i have left my
heritage
i have given the dearly beloved of my
soul into the hand
of her enemies wow so there's
difficulties
there's difficulties but we are walking
in the glory
you know the lord also shared something
interesting with jeremiah concerning his
own
family members that he did not know
they're talking
and plotting behind his own back
verse six for even your brothers and
most
scholars view this verse as being
literal this is not talking about his
tribe
this is not talking about you know uh
the the other priest that he knew in
town and so forth
excuse me this is talking about his
literal flesh and blood
brothers for even your brothers
the house of your father even they have
dealt treacherously with you
yes they have called the multitude after
you
do not believe them even though they
speak smooth words to you
now when it says they have called the
multitude after you
in the hebrew that is the same
type of an expression that you would use
to cry out loud and identify a person
as a wrongdoer who would be the type of
a person such as a thief or even
as bad as a murderer and that's
what his brothers are saying behind his
own back
so the lord says yeah there's a lot
going on jeremiah
you you're gonna have to pick up the
pace and
i've got great plans for you but you're
gonna have to get ready to lift and go
into a higher level oh
by the way your own brothers that you
think love you so much they're talking
behind your back
saying the most awful things about you
but my friends you have to go on with
the lord you have to walk in love
you have you have to forgive people but
you've got to keep moving
you've got to keep moving because not
everybody's going to
move into the eagle saint category
there's going to be people
even within the church that look at the
situation
and say it's impossible to succeed the
whole
system is rigged why even try my friends
jeremiah was very well acquainted with
this
but let me tell you he completed what
god
told him to do and he
was a true voice and he was a true
success
in his generation and you're going to be
the same thing
praise god now god was basically
letting jeremiah know jeremiah you have
function at this level
and you've been a blessing and you've
done good but you've had some struggles
of that level
but jeremiah i'm about to open some
doors for you
that are going to take you to a whole
new realm so you're going to have to
start to move faster because i'm going
to
i'm going to start allowing you and
empowering you
to run with the horses and i'm even
going to send you into the very
thicket around the jordan where the
lions are at
you're going to be shocked jeremiah and
who you're going to be prophesying to
and who you're going to meet
and that doesn't mean they're going to
love his message
but god's going to bring him to a
national level he was even known
he was even known beyond the borders of
israel
he became an internationally established
prophet
thank you jesus now because of that
god's basically saying get ready new
opportunities are coming to you stop
looking at all the trouble
i know it's there too thank you for uh
reminding me of all of that
but i already i'm already aware of all
of that and god's not saying he's going
to change it overnight either
but he's basically saying get moving get
up
get in faith because i'm taking you to a
higher level
praise the lord now last sunday on
passover
easter resurrection celebration
we talked about the fact that what took
place with peter
was so amazing how god got him out of
the prison that while it was happening
peter didn't he did not even realize
that it was real
until later when he's completely out and
he's delivered
and things start to get very real for
you
and i want to say thank you for the
powerful passover seeds that you sowed
into that
the it's about to get real see you you
have no clue about how real is about to
actually get
what i need you to understand that
opportunity this is what the holy spirit
told me i want to read it word for word
opportunity is about to be presented to
you
that will be gifted to you it's
almost like literally it's going to fall
in your lap
don't be surprised if they contact you
don't be surprised if they ask you
to be involved pastor stephen i'm ready
for things to get real yeah it's going
to get real alright
and when it does you have to take
advantage of that
open door peter when the angel came
although he doesn't doesn't understand
really what's going on thinks maybe it's
a vision doesn't really know fully
what's taking place
but he's still cooperating with it and
it is real and he is walking it out in
real time
so when the door opens and it does get
real
you need to take advantage of that
moment right then
right there
because it's coming and it's coming
quick
praise god i talked with the minister
friend one time years back
i'm going back about oh maybe
maybe 18 years or something like that
and
there was this one evangelist that had a
real gift from the lord
he was true calling had had the
supernatural equipment but he couldn't
he couldn't find his place in the body
of christ and he was frustrated
and his name is tim and he talked to me
one day and said you know stephen i
don't know where i belong really
i said i know where you belong you need
to go join
this particular ministerial association
i said you would fit it would be like
your hand fitting into a perfect
love it's like you're made for that
organization
and he joined the organization and you
know what he and his wife loved it
i mean they clicked the organization
which was very large as an international
organization
they loved tim and tim loved them and it
was fantastic and he's just like i found
my place
and he really did and i was really happy
for him
and he's still there today by the way
but after tim
had been in that organization for
about nine months uh
it's not like any doors really opened
for him that they said oh you're an
evangelist good we're going to start
plugging you in
it didn't happen like that what did
happen though
is that he told me he said stephen
this was after he had been in it for
about nine months and he's loving it but
he and he loves them they love him but
there's still nothing's really
shifted with his ministry he's just
happy that he found where he belonged
but after about nine months he told me
he said stephen
he said the leaders have contacted me
and they have asked me to start a
uh a meeting uh in my area they want me
to be an
uh an area director i said
i said that's wonderful i said i believe
god's in that you should do it
he said oh he said but stephen he said
they've told me what all the
responsibilities are and i i already
knew that because i used to be an area
of director for them
this this was years back and he said but
oh he said
steven this means i'm gonna have to
start hosting meetings and host meetings
that means i've gotta
i've got to use my own money to cover
you know like uh renting a
a ballroom at the hotel so that we can
have meetings and conferences he said i
i don't know if i'm ready for this
and you know what he did you know what
he did he told him no
he told them no i mean it's not like
they're going to man thousands of
dollars i mean they'll
you you reserve the room for 400 you
know and buy some flowers and put some
iced tea out have your meeting
but he just started looking at it and
got overwhelmed with it and uh
he told them no i said you told them no
he said yeah and i didn't say anything i
mean it's his life his ministry but i
knew i knew he missed a golden
opportunity
and you know what a whole year went by
and nothing
nothing moved with this ministry his
ministry did not move
one inch forward and you know what
happened
a year went by and they approached him
again
and said tim we really would love for
you to be an area director you have our
heart you have our spirit we're all on
the same page doctrinally and
not not just doctrinally but we have a
good good rapport
tim would you please start up start a
meeting
in this area we'll make you an area
director and you know what
at that time he said i'll do it he said
he finally said i'll do it
and when he did everything about it
worked and people came to the meeting
and people gave and the in the meetings
and now the budget was always met
and his ministry began to grow and then
he began to get plugged in with meetings
why because
now they know that he's a real part and
so doris began to open to him
matter of fact when the last times i
ever talked to tim
he told me that one of the ministers
that was also a member of that
ministerial association
saw him minister at one of the smaller
meetings asked him to come minister at
his church
which was and they were having a very
large convention i said tim how did that
uh how did that convention go where you
spoke at he said stephen
he said the one offering they gave me
met my budget now he spoke one time
he said the one offering they gave me
met the entire
budget for my ministry all of our
personal needs for my family life for
four months
but see this stuff doesn't start moving
until
you step in you step in
pastor stephen i have prayed
i have fasted i'm ready for it to get
real it gets real
when you go through the door it gets
real when the invitation
that god extends in front of you may be
almost like with big neon glowing lights
all around it
it happens when you go through boom
praise the lord
no amount please listen very carefully
to this
no amount of preparation
no amount of prayer no amount of fasting
will substitute you getting up
and just doing just doing it
when it happens and there it is
presented to you
you're that's what all the prayer and
fasting is for it's the preparation to
get you ready to be strong in the spirit
that go through
go through but if you don't go through
then then it's just like um
it's like you're doing all this exercise
for no purpose praise the lord that's
why you're doing all of that so you can
be strong in faith to actually do
something with it
whoa praise god let me tell you you're
going to go through
and god goes through with you
now i i talked to a local friend
sometime back and i said i said to him a
fellow minister i said brother
i said your church is really growing he
wasn't the pastor he was one of the
elders
i said your church is really growing i
said um why don't you guys get a bigger
facility
he goes oh he said he said brother
stephen he said i told the pastor that
and i told the other elders that i i
told them hey
god's blessing us we're outgrowing this
place we can't even fit into this place
anymore
and we have he said i knew of another
building that we could get into
that was larger that was almost the
exact price just a little bit more
sure there would be some other
expenditures that would have to be uh
paid for as we stepped into this larger
place but
he said that's god's door for us that's
god's blessing for us
and the pastor and the other leader said
no
no we we don't think we should make that
step and you know what
they're now still stuck in that little
place and all of the growing
stopped all of the growth stopped and
they're just stuck there and he said
stephen he said
we missed it we missed it and now we're
stuck in this place
and well see god will come back around
again
god will come back around again but you
cannot make a door open on your own
get ready the holy spirit is going to
present
a heavenly opportunity to you oh
oh pastor stephen there's lions there
though yeah there are
there always will be in the thicket but
god's with you go
go oh pastor steve about what will some
people say
well look they're already saying things
where you're in anathoth who cares what
they say they're certainly going to say
things in jerusalem
go that's your door go over pastor see
my family don't understand my
brother-in-law said it's not a good idea
but but you must follow the holy spirit
hallelujah glory to god
you've got the armchair critics that
that never
go or do anything they don't even know
this walk and this is the faith walk
they're completely clueless of it
yes say born again they love the lord
but the actual walking out
um going into the next level
praise god that's the living faith walk
thank you jesus i remember that uh
uh prophet walter butler when he was
just like
just starting in ministry he said the
holy spirit told him to get a passport
and he thought now why would i get a
passport i have no international
meetings planned
and you know i'm just doing little bitty
local meetings why would i get a
passport
so the holy spirit impressed him again
very strong get a passport
and he didn't do it and so about a month
after that
while he was speaking in a small church
and he finished up
um speaking there a lady came up to him
and said brother butler i've got a
round-trip
ticket to germany and back and you know
there it would be like
10 days over there and his mother lived
in germany and he had a ministry contact
in germany but he had nowhere to get
there but he had at least had a contact
and she said i i want to give you this
ticket but do you have a passport now
this is back in the days when tickets
could be exchanged a lot of that was
done just by
you know a personal agent making
adjustments there's no computers or
anything like that
so she said i'll give you this uh
ticket if if you've got your passport
and he said oh i don't have it he said
i'll go apply now and i'll she said oh
no no no no
she said that won't work she said um
you'll never have your passport in time
before this trip takes place this trip
is coming up pretty soon
uh so no you'll never have your passport
in time and he
missed it and he knew he missed it he
didn't go through the open door
until about nine months later and he
said another door came around
and that time of course he had he went
out immediately got his passport after
the first blunder
but the door didn't reopen until nine
months later you must be willing to go
praise god
opportunity opportunity is coming to you
and it could be it could be right in the
center of the jordan where the
floodplain is at
it doesn't matter move move move praise
the lord because the lord is moving
with you
praise the lord now i remember a time
that
kelly and i had just gotten married and
we were going through
ministry training and things like that
but you know you know the phone's not
ringing off the hook for me to come
preach because we're just brand new just
getting started still learning things
and i don't know how i end even ended up
at this place but
i ended up attending for some reason
i'll have to ask my wife how we even got
there because i don't remember
how we were invited or i don't know how
we even got there but yet we were there
we ended up
at a chapter meeting for a full gospel
businessmen's association
so there we are at the meeting and it
was fun you know it was uh
it was strong at that time and it was
still strong today but today there's new
leadership and everything but back then
richard shakaryan he had taken over from
his father demas
and he's he's running the uh the
headquarters of the global outreach
and so the the meetings were really
popping it was very powerful and uh
but they told me uh that
this chapter is soon closing we need
somebody to start a new chapter we need
somebody to start a local chapter
and they asked a local uh there was
another businessman he was in the
tourney he was coming to the meetings
they asked him if he would do it because
he had you know he had all the money he
had the fancy three-piece suit he had
he had all that they asked him if he
would do it he said no
and so they looked around and they're
like we need somebody to start
a new chapter to take over and start a
new chapter
and while they were even saying that we
need somebody
they looked and their eyes fell on me
and i could tell there was a pause i i
wasn't the attorney
i didn't have the high-powered status
and all the money and all of that but
they looked at me
and the demon excuse me richard
shakarian's right-hand assistant
he looked at me and he decided
something in him must have been the holy
spirit decided to go for it he said
stephen
will you do it and kelly and i looked at
each other and we said
yes we'll do it we didn't even know we
were getting ourselves into we
we said yes we'll do it and now that
meant of course you know
a commitment of my time meeting every
week and
renting a facility and making sure that
you know there's catering and there's
food and all of this stuff and all the
logistics planned into it you've got to
do it quick
because these are businessmen coming on
their lunch break so you got to feed
them and get a get a
speaker now you got to get a speaker in
every week you can give a testimony
and you know and then you got to work an
altar call into all of that
and uh wow so we jumped into it
did it require a lot at that point in my
life i thought it did because it
yeah you especially when you're doing it
every week it can be very demanding
trying to get an anointed speaker every
week
but once we got into it we soon realized
the great door that it was why we were
holding meetings in the same
city where the world headquarters was at
so
whenever these multi-million dollar
high-powered
christian spirit-filled businessmen
would come in to visit the headquarters
we'd pull from that we'd say well hey
since you're here
come over and speak at my chapter so we
ended up
with some of the greatest speakers in
the world
giving incredible testimonies we had
people getting saved at every meeting
we had people getting uh physically
healed
at every meeting we had the most we had
the most fun
it was one of the most funnest times we
ran it for a little over a year
non-stop now there would be times that
were beyond my control
when at the last minute speaker would
say stephen i can't make it something's
happened
um you have to find somebody else well
the other
the somebody else was usually me because
at the last minute you just can't pull
somebody in
so either i would uh share some things
or i would
call one of the men that were coming
regularly and we had women coming too we
had people coming from all over the
place
and it was a glorious time but you know
what if i had not gone through that door
then i would have been sitting around
just waiting for something else to
happen
but see that started generating things
literally that i know i'm going to end
up getting to know
the leadership little did i know that i
would be privileged to
sit in the office with richard shakira
and while he kicks back and puts his
feet up on his desk or
go to his uh you know the he had this
phenomenal office with uh
that was like a beautiful living room
part of it a little nice couch and he
would sit back and talk and
lean back and uh we would talk and ask
him questions and stuff it was just
an absolutely tremendous time and that
began opening doors
i ended up giving my testimony at the
usa
uh world conference uh wow it was i mean
just all kinds of stuff started
happening then other doors would open
and things like that
and then while all that's going on
ministry starts getting traction
into ministering in churches ministering
in other types of places so traction is
happening over here
but a lot of it was bouncing off of that
one big door that i had gone through
it was a life-changing door praise god
now
when the opportunity has it go for it
go for it god is with you yes we know
that there's other stuff out there we
know what's going on
but that's not the focus god's trying to
get jeremiah's
focus on the right thing jeremiah get
ready i know it's all out there but
but you're the man for it there's god's
got the woman for the position god's got
the man for the position
but get ready to go whoa praise god
because the externals that's not the
issue
it's the internals hallelujah your faith
your focus on the lord and your
willingness to go
through the door
thank you jesus one more scripture
matthew
chapter 14
thank you lord jesus matthew 14.
and let's drop all the way down to verse
26.
once in a lifetime type open doors
verse 26 and when the disciples saw him
walking on the sea
they were troubled saying it is a ghost
and they cried out for fear but
immediately jesus spoke to them saying
be of good cheer it is i
do not be afraid so that we know that we
know that jesus
is walking on the water there the sea of
galilee he says you know
be a good cheers i do not be afraid and
peter answered him
and said lord if it is you command me to
come to you on the water
so he said come
you're about to have that moment where
what you have always wanted
what you have prayed about what you have
desired
god i'm ready for it to get real yeah
it's about to get real all right
and it gets real it gets real when you
put your leg over the side of the boat
and you come down out of that boat and
you do what you've always
wanted to do i think god puts these
things on the inside of us
i think for some reason peter as a
fisherman out on the water
for so many years of his life probably
thought hm
sure would be fun to walk on top of this
sometime through god's power
wonder what that would be like here it
is here it is
and it's now look watch this it's now or
never
it's now or never you go for it now
well well i i'm not i'm not in the mood
pastors even my
lion might jump out and get me a wave
might get my hair wet mess up my hair do
no no go go
because this is your one shot
well pastor stephen maybe jesus will set
up the same type of scenario and
maybe nine months we'll do this we'll
have another shot
no no this is it you've got to go
now and he does and you're going to also
praise the lord and peter answered and
said lord if it is you command me to
come to you on the water so he said come
by the way when the lord gives you the
thumbs up when he gives you the green
light
what else do you need you don't need an
angel to push you just go he knows the
risk
he knows the waves he knows all of that
just go though
go
this is not the time to pray this is not
the time to fast
this is what you've been fasting and
praying for this is what you've been
preparing
for and no other thing
will substitute for you actually now
getting out of that boat
so he said come and when peter to come
down out of the boat
he walked on the water to go to jesus
and if you will go through that open
door
even if it were to walk on the water
that's probably not going to be for you
because maybe that's not your
fisherman's desire
but whatever it is you'll find
that that word will support you yes
peter walked on the water technically if
we look at it from the mechanics of
what a miracle is he's actually walking
on the word
come that word come is actually what's
holding him up
and it's the lord's invitation
it's the open door and you're sensing
with out of all of your preparation
this is it that when you go through that
same
empowerment of the spirit will hold you
up as well
so that you could walk right through the
thickets with lions all around
and you could still go to the jordan and
do whatever you would like to do with
the jordan
and you could still go to jerusalem
despite all of the opposition
even the fact that times are going to
try to kill jeremiah and take his life
when you're on assignment and you're
walking right with god listen to me very
carefully i'm not i'm just talking to
ministers or preachers i'm talking to
you
when you're on assignment and you're
calling doing what god
has called you to do there is a
supernatural
invincibility about your life and you're
not going anywhere
unless god says that your assignment's
up
and that your mission is completed but
until then
no you're not going anywhere you're on
task and you're going to do absolutely
everything
god has called you to do is not
withstanding you're still going forward
and that is what god's trying to do with
jeremiah jeremiah come on i've heard
your complaint i've heard your prayer
i'm aware of all of that but come on
jeremiah i need you to step
up hallelujah and go through the amazing
doors that i'm going to open for you
and that's what god's going to do for
you right now lift your hands
father i pray for those that are
watching that love you with all of their
heart
that are willing to do anything for you
i thank you father god that you're going
to open an amazing door
between now listen to me between now
and passover excuse me between
passover and pentecost 50 days
between now and pentecost something is
going to open of the supernatural
blessing
it is the door that the lord has
prepared
specifically for you to go through
father i pray for wisdom for strength
for anointing and for faith and courage
to be
strong for your people thank you let
them look for it
let them look for it as they're coming
up the pentecost it's going to be there
we thank you father we thank you father
god
in the name of jesus amen
and amen praise the lord look when you
go through it you may even hear the
lions rustling in the bushes
yeah they're there keep on going the
lord is
with you whoa praise god
hallelujah now if you're watching
today's program
and you don't know christ as
your lord and savior let me tell you
right now he's the lion tamer
we found that out with daniel who even
was locked
in a cell a prison a dungeon with
hungry ravenous lions it didn't touch
the man of god
and there is safety and protection in
christ and in
christ alone if you don't know him but
you want to know him
make him your lord and savior right now
pray this prayer after me
say lord jesus i'm a sinner
but you died to save sinners like me
jesus wash me of all of my
sins with your precious blood wash them
all away
and jesus i give my heart to you write
my name in your book of
life thank you jesus save me now
and i take you now as my lord and savior
thank you jesus for saving me amen
and amen and some of you have had
ravenous lions pursuing you
watch how the lord will shield and
protect you
whoa praise god you're in the safe place
praise the lord
now let us take holy communion
i want to ask you to grab some
unleavened bread
grab some grape juice we are now going
to proclaim the lord's
death because until he comes whenever we
take communion
we are realizing that through his death
was the purchase
of our ransom he ransomed us
from sin through dying upon the cross
as a sacrificial lamb for us praise god
we're going to walk in all of his
blessings that he
purchased for us through his sacrificial
death
praise god father we thank you for the
bread
and the juice and we ask that you would
bless it
we consecrate it and set it apart right
now through this prayer as being holy
thank you father god that this is now
the body and the blood of christ
our eternal savior father as we receive
the body of christ
let our spiritual antennas
our spiritual receivers be alert
to pick up the open door the blessing
that you have for us thank you father
god that we will catch it
and enjoy moving to the next level of
blessing
the next level of influence for you to
represent you in the earth
father we receive the body of jesus now
in his name amen let's receive
praise the lord when the opportunity
presents itself
you will say within your heart this is
what i've been preparing for
many of you you need to pray in the
spirit more build up
your most holy faith by praying in the
spirit
so the word is like dynamite on the
inside of you your faith is strong
and you're going to grab that open door
and go through it father we thank you
for the blood of jesus
we ask that if we have committed any
sins you would wash them all away
through the precious blood of christ and
we thank you that you're so good that
our sins and our iniquities you don't
even remember them
we give you praise thank you father god
for our full salvation through the shed
blood of christ
and father we proclaim his death until
he comes there will be a day we thank
you father when he will come
and he will establish a righteous rule
and he will govern the way this world is
supposed to be governed
and he will represent what true
kingship is and his kingdom will be
glorious
so father we thank you until then his
kingdom is within us
so thank you father for expression of
that in our lives
we receive the blood of jesus now in his
name we pray
amen let's drink
praise the lord praise the lord
lift your hands lord we praise you let's
praise the lord lord we praise you
we give you glory we thank you in
advance for the open door
we thank you in advance for the open
door we thank you in advance for the
open door
father we thank you for those who went
through jesus today
the door of salvation and eternal life
we thank you for the soul
saved thank you father god now father
thank you for the door of promotion
the door of expansion the door of
increase
thank you thank you thank you father for
courage and strength
thank you father let it be infused into
our hearts thank you father
this is the church's finest hour thank
you father we're not retreating
we're moving forward we give you all of
the praise we thank you that we're
walking in the spirit
of faith thank you father god
we bless you father thank you for the
great victories thank you for taking us
through these doors
thank you for your pre-planned blessings
released
strategically into our lives just at the
right moment
and we thank you father god that between
now and
pentecost there will be the special door
and we will go through it
we give you all of the praise for it in
jesus name
we all say amen
praise the lord my friends thank you for
joining me today
thank you for watching this program i'll
see you back
again real soon god bless you bye-bye