i'm pastor stephen brooks and welcome
today to our midweek bible study called
morning glory
i want to invite you grab your bibles
and meet me today in the gospel of john
chapter 13 and we will begin in verse
1. let's open up with prayer heavenly
father as we
jump into your word we ask that your
holy spirit would illuminate
the scriptures we ask that you would
give us light
in the eyes of our understanding thank
you father help us to take your word
and apply it to our lives today thank
you for the anointing and help of your
holy spirit
in jesus name we pray and we all agree
and say amen
verse 1 now before the feast of the
passover
when jesus knew that his hour had come
that he should depart from this world
to the father having loved his own who
were in the world
he loved them to the end
and supper being ended the devil having
already put it into the heart of judas
iscariot
simon's son to betray him jesus
knowing that the father had given all
things into his hands
and that he had come from god and was
going to god
rose from supper and laid aside his
garments took a towel
and girded himself and then begins the
beautiful foot washing ceremony
verse 10 jesus speaks to peter
jesus said to him he who is bathed needs
only to wash
his feet but is completely clean and you
are clean
but not all of you for he knew
who would betray him therefore he said
you
are not all clean verse 18.
i do not speak concerning all of you i
know whom i have chosen
but that the scripture may be fulfilled
he who eats bread with me has lifted up
his heel against me
now i tell you before it comes that when
it does
come to pass you may believe that i
am he verse 21
when jesus had said these things he was
troubled
in spirit and testified and said
most assuredly i say to you one of you
will betray me now this is very
interesting
that this betrayal of
one of his close 12 one of his own
apostles
this was very difficult for the lord to
deal with it troubled
his spirit and there's something about
that expression
that you need to understand your your
body can be troubled by something
maybe you got stung by a bee and now you
have discomfort
and that can be distracting but you can
get through it
maybe there's um certain thoughts in
your mind
things that maybe could trouble you
mentally uh you know you've got a big
event the next day and you're still
trying to get
organized and you you have some trouble
like how we're gonna get all this worked
out
so we understand those things but when
something
troubles your spirit you really need to
take heed to that
and don't try to overwrite it
and think well it's just going to be
okay
when it's troubling your spirit usually
it's not going to be okay don't pretend
things are going to work out well when
in your spirit
you know it's not going to
when your spirit is troubled i would
encourage you to
pray about it stay in prayer concerning
it but also at the same time
brace yourself and get ready for it
because
usually when your spirit is troubled it
doesn't mean
that god is going to intervene and stop
it
it's it's usually more of something it's
troubling because
you're just going to have to go through
it praise the lord
and there are people in the church
sometimes they unknowingly think well
pastor stephen i'm just going to have
faith and i'm going to stay in faith
that everything's going to work out well
you can't make those faith principles
work
in this context that's like trying to
take the rules of basketball
and you're going to jump over now to a
different sport of baseball but yet
you're going to try to apply the same
rules to a different sport
you're taking something out of context
and when your spirit
is troubled uh
there is there's trouble ahead and you
need to be ready for that
praise the lord here's a good example
acts 12 acts chapter 27
this is a great example now by the way
when something troubles your spirit this
is not an everyday event
this is not like this happens maybe even
once a week or
once every five months this may be rare
maybe
just a a couple times within maybe a
five year period
but when it does happen please don't try
to override it and ignore it
and hope it's going to go away because
usually it doesn't turn out very good
acts chapter 27
verse 9. now when much time had been
spent
and sailing was now dangerous because
the fast was already over
paul advised them saying
men i perceive that this voyage
will end with disaster and
much loss not only of the cargo and ship
but also our lives oh that's awful
wow what's a what's a disaster loss
loss of your your ship loss of you you
know the product
that would make you money your ability
to profit all that's going down to the
bottom of the mediterranean
and let's top it all off you're going to
lose your life also
well they overrode the apostle paul and
said oh no it's gonna be okay paul
and there's probably people in the
church that do the same thing they
override their spirit
uh or like paul had this perception
it's an inner perception i perceive
something's really wrong about this trip
oh we're gonna be okay that's what some
do even in the church we're going to be
okay
and you need somebody like paul saying
no it's not going to be okay
and if we're hidden out because he can't
help it he's uh he's like
a prisoner and he's not the captain of
the ship
and you know he doesn't have authority
to override anything that's going on
here
so probably all he can do is say well i
hope all of you
sailors have life insurance because
it's going to be cashed out by your
spouse and i hope you said goodbye to
your wife because
you're never going to see them again
we're all going to die
wow i perceive that this voyage will end
with disaster and much loss
not only of the cargo and ship but also
our
lives and off they went oh everything's
going to be all right
paul but see they're not spiritual they
cannot discern in their spirit
these types of things and sure enough it
turned out for the sailors into the
right of their lives and
they were all on the verge of death
but thank god paul prayed and in this
situation
there was divine intervention and paul
said in verse 22 and now
i urge you to take heart for there will
be no loss of life among you but only of
the ship
see even with those prayers because
they had overridden something a great
inner warning
there was a means of deliverance but
there wasn't
a full deliverance so the ship was lost
and i'm sure the owner of the ship
wasn't happy about that
and all of the cargo all of that money
so to speak because that's what you know
you could turn around and sell that
cargo all lost completely
uh going to the bottom of the ocean but
paul said for there stood by me
this night an angel of the god to whom i
belong
and whom i serve saying do not be afraid
paul
you must be brought before caesar and
indeed god has granted you
all those who sail with you praise the
lord so there was
the deliverance of their lives back to
our story
jesus was troubled in spirit so if you
ever
are troubled in spirit then just
prepare yourself and god will be with
you many of these things
you have to walk through them sometimes
there can be a deliverance
but uh just be strong be strong when
those things happen and
he was troubled because of what's going
on with the betrayer
he was troubled in spirit and testified
and said most assuredly i say to you
one of you will betray me
wow somebody is going to betray
the lord then verse 22 then the
disciples
looked at one another perplexed
about whom he spoke perplexed
now this word perplexed in the greek is
the word
aporial and it means to be
without a way to be
at a loss wow they're totally
completely perplexed when jesus dropped
this truth bomb on them
wow they're perplexed today
i want to talk about how to solve
perplexing situations in
your life not somebody else's life your
life
and how to get an answer for something
that could have left you completely
perplexed maybe it was something that
even came from the lord
and you're like what was that all about
you know i lord i don't understand that
what did you mean through that what was
that
experience about so the lord can give us
insight
into this so sometimes we have
situations where we can be perplexed
and left at a complete loss of which
direction to go in
and we're wondering what to do about
this
we have some insight from the other
gospel writers
who also recorded this
situation there at the passover and
let's go to the gospel of luke just for
a moment
and we're going to be in verse 22
and we're going to drop down to verse
23.
well let's start with verse 22 and truly
the son of man goes
as it has been determined but woe to
that man
by whom he is betrayed now the lord had
told them
that his betrayer was at the table but
they don't know who it is
verse 23 then they begin to question
among themselves
which of them it was who would do this
thing but realize that
the betrayer now you know who it is
because uh we know the story quite well
but notice the betrayer is not just
jumping up and saying
you know what i can't stand the stress
and the pressure
i can't stand what i've been doing
plotting behind the scenes
i'm just going to go ahead and i'm going
to unveil myself to you right now it's
me
he's not going to do that it's still a
secret to
the 11. one knows of course and jesus
knows
but the other eleven they really don't
know
who it is and this is a very tense
moment
that has left eleven men completely
perplexed without an answer without a
guess i mean even if they're trying to
guess
they don't know they're asking each
other is it you or you know
who's doing this and uh so a lot of
high drama they're at the table
it's going to get even uh more intense
because they're going to move to a place
where they're going to ask the lord lord
is it me
and we see that record it in the gospel
of matthew and let's go there now
matthew chapter 26
verse 20. when evening had come he sat
down
with the twelve now as they were eating
he said assuredly now the word assuredly
in the greek means without
doubt so this is something that is
absolutely
positively going to take place assuredly
i say to you
one of you will betray me
and they were exceedingly sorrowful and
each of them began to say to him
lord is it i wow
lord is it i but here's the problem when
all 12 are doing that
you know uh it's a pretty good cover
it's still a pretty good cover so 11
them
11 of them are still sitting there uh
clueless
as to who this betrayer is
okay back to our primary text here
in the gospel of john chapter 13 we're
going to begin now to dig
a little bit deeper what to do
when you're perplexed and you don't know
the answer
but it would be of extreme importance
for you
to have the answer praise the lord
i would say that we first should
paraphrase
this search for truth and for answers
by understanding that the lord
is very generous in giving wisdom
knowledge and answers to those things
that pertain
to your life i would even say secrets
supernatural insight into things that
pertain to your life
but as you move out further towards
you know relatives and friends he can
give insight
but there are some things just like
there are some things between you and
the lord
that are secret and when it gets into
the areas of secrets
god doesn't always reveal some things
that we would like to know
and we see that in the bible deuteronomy
let's go to chapter 29.
deuteronomy 29 and it would also
be verse 29
the secret things belong to the lord our
god
but those things which are revealed
belong to us
and to our children forever that we may
do all the words
of this law so there are secret things
though
that god keeps and it's between god
and maybe that person and just them and
it's not for public
consumption praise the lord
i think it's fascinating that prophet
kenneth hagin who's now in heaven
but many years back he had a close
relative
die and this was a relative that
was a christian that was pentecostal
and knew the healing power of god but
the person got sick and they died
young well kenneth hagin had a vision
and in this vision he saw jesus and
jesus shared some things with him about
ministry and so forth and brother hagin
brought up the subject about
this relative and basically said lord
why did she die
and you know what the lord told brother
hagin he said
that's none of your business that's
strictly between
her and i and it's not for you to know
and then the lord also mentioned to
brother hagin
deuteronomy chapter 29 verse 29 how
there are secrets that he keeps
and those secrets are not for everybody
to know and he actually told brother
hagin
don't even let that thought come into
your mind don't think upon anything like
that
pertaining to why did she die you just
go ahead and preach
divine healing go ahead and minister the
word because there's plenty
that are going to receive the word and
that are going to be
healed i have prayed for people before
that did not receive their healing i
remember one particular lady i prayed
for
several times and on paper she had
everything down just right
she was in the word day and night uh she
could
you know praise the lord and worship the
lord and say hallelujah and quote verses
and she was doing that she was quoting
verses even quoting
healing verses i'm standing on the word
you know and would give healing verses
that
she's believing and standing on but i
sensed in my spirit
something was not connecting she was
sick she had cancer uh brain cancer
and it was very serious and uh i was
sensing that the anointing is not
connecting
not only the anointing uh that flows a
healing anointing when you pray for a
person
but also the anointing that's on the
word i was just sensing that something
is not connecting
and i went before the lord and i said
lord
uh what's wrong here wh why is
the anointing not connecting with her
life so that she can see a manifestation
of healing
and the lord didn't answer me
immediately but i continued to minister
to her
her and her husband were both very
appreciative for my ministry because it
was one-on-one ministry
but she died but you know what before
she died
i really tried to dig a little bit when
i had my one-on-one times with her and i
said now
have you forgiven everyone that has
wronged you
oh yes pastor stephen i said well now
have you really searched your heart in
this area and if there's any offense or
anybody has done something that's
wounded you or hurt you
have you before the lord forgiven them
oh yes pastor stephen yes
and so i knew i couldn't really go any
farther because you can't say well
you're lying you know but i sense
something's
blocking the anointing and guess what
usually it is it's unforgiveness
that's that's the number one thing that
hinders
people from receiving a healing or
blessing from the lord it's
unforgiveness
and just before she died her husband
came to me in private
and he said he said pastor stephen he
said i'm concerned about my wife
i can tell that she's not being healed
because
uh it's something there's a disconnect
and he said i am so
concerned in my heart because i did
something that
broke my wife's heart a few years back
and she has never forgiven me for that
and he told me what it was
he told me what it was and i i could see
how that could be
for a spouse extremely
difficult to get over
but the marriage continued but in her
heart he said
she she hasn't forgiven me in this area
i said well
i hope she does quick because time's
running out
and she went to be with the lord she
died she wasn't that old
she should have had decades more to have
lived out her life
but sometimes the lord will give you
some insight sometimes he won't
it just depends there are secrets i've
had
other things in my life that were
actually taking place where i've had
supernatural things
happen in my life and i wanted to maybe
tell somebody about it or even
bring them to see it while it was
manifesting and the lord said
no it's just for you
i was like wow what's right i just
stopped i just stopped
these are things we need to understand
when you're looking for answers
to perplexing situations perplexing
statements
or maybe even life experiences now when
it comes to your life
the lord is much more open about sharing
secrets between you and him he'll go
real deep with you i mean he'll go to
the ocean floor of your heart
but um it could be it could be still
that there is something that he veils
for a purpose for a reason maybe for a
season
but uh there'll come a time when all
things will be known
that need to be known praise god all
right now let's go back
to our main story here in the gospel of
of john i'm also thinking right now
about
rebecca because rebecca was barren
and she could not conceive a child
but what took place with her
is that she went but she did get
pregnant
from her husband and she went before the
lord i think we should just turn to it
just for a moment after all we do have
time
let's take a look at it genesis chapter
25
genesis 25 and this would be in verse 21
now isaac pleaded with the lord for his
wife because she was barren
and the lord granted his plea and
rebecca
his wife conceived so everything's good
everything's going along just fine but
the children
struggled together within her and she
said if all is well
why am i like this she was perplexed
she's like lord everything is healthy my
body
yeah i'm eating uh and uh you know
everything's going along just fine with
this pregnancy i have
but lord there's uh there's something
going on on the inside that's
not normal i've talked to other ladies
about it uh who've been through the
process and uh
they said oh no we didn't have anything
like that so lord what in the world is
going on
on the inside of me and she said if all
is well why am i like this in other
words
she's perplexed and you'll see many
people in the bible
characters of the bible as they're on
their spiritual journey
there was something that completely
stumped them and left them perplexed
and they didn't have the answer but
somebody
does somebody's always got the answer
and he's able to solve even the most
perplexing
questions dreams experiences
whatever it might be the lord can unveil
it to you
so she went to inquire of the lord
and if you'll do that we're going to
talk about how to do that in just a
moment
your perplexities will
melt away and usually with something
like this there's not a lot maybe
there's just one
thing that has puzzled you just like the
apostles they were perplexed the
scripture says they were
perplexed didn't know how to respond to
a statement like that
well concerning rebecca the lord said to
her
two nations are in your womb
two peoples shall be separated from your
body
one people shall be stronger than the
other and the older
shall serve the younger well it's not
like
a lot of mothers ever have the
experience of
having the formation of two children
that are going to bring forth
nations wow so yeah
that's a different situation that was a
very perplexing
uh situation and you can't go to just
any other woman
any other mother to get an answer to
something like that because they don't
know what you're going through
they understand the pregnancy experience
but not
not what she's going through that was
quite different so
the lord was able to
give her the answer that she needed and
the lord's got an answer for you
praise god praise the lord thank you
jesus now
let's continue on in the gospel of john
chapter 13.
most assuredly i say to you one of you
will betray me verse 22
then the disciples looked at one another
perplexed
about whom he spoke now there was
leaning
on jesus's bosom one of his disciples
whom jesus loved
now that would be john
the very author later he would write the
book of john
and then when he was much older
referring to himself as the elder
we have the three epistles or letters
first second and third john and then
when he was very very old
he wrote the book of the revelation of
jesus
christ the last book in the bible
quite a whopper of a book incredible
so this is very very interesting
he will become known as of course
one of the twelve apostles of the lamb
but his distinctive anointing was that
of an
apostle of love that was his message
praise god thank you lord jesus
this is the disciple whom jesus loved
simon peter therefore
motioned to him now
anytime you see the listing
of the 12 names of the apostles
simon peter is always first he
is the preeminent apostle
after him you'll always see james
next peter james john
but john is going to outlive all of the
original 12.
he's going to outlive them all he's
going to have a very long life
should the lord tarry may you also have
that same grace
of longevity may the lord give you a
long life to serve him
and to labor for him so that you have a
beautiful reward
on the other side when you reach home
base when you reach heaven praise god
verse 24 simon peter therefore
motioned to him that he's motioning to
john
to ask who it was of whom he
spoke now notice he's motioning to john
peter you know doesn't push the food
back and he's not loud and boisterous
sometimes he would be but here he's not
he
he motions he doesn't even really say it
he's like
you know he's like pointing to john you
you're like ask him
i've got to know we all want to know but
peter's like i can't
i can't leave this table without knowing
so he's like
you know now he's conveying
also something to us that reveals that
john
yes had a special relationship
that even out of the 70
you know he sent the 70 out two by two
70 disciples but you only had 12
apostles
and even out of these people even out of
the 12
you had a very uh close inner circle
peter james john but there was something
about john
although he's ranked third behind peter
and james
the apostolic anointing may have not
been as strong as it was upon
peter and james oh yes he's still an
apostle
but that anointing for that
deeper life that that deep walk with god
was very very highly developed in john
and peter knew that he knew that that
john in that area
was unique now you want the miracles
the power the signs and wonders yeah
peter's your guy for that
you want a tremendous apostolic
administrative anointing oh yes john
excuse me james is your guy for that
but in the area of the love walk
and the deeper spiritual walk with god
that would certainly
uh be the experience with john and the
others knew that that's why
peter is like you know john you know
it's not saying he's motioning it
john you getting to tell you get him to
tell you
because you're you are very very close
to him in this
area and it's kind of uncomfortable for
us
especially here in this setting so you
know find out what's really going on
praise god may you come into this
closeness with the lord
we're going to talk about it in just a
moment simon peter therefore
motioned to him to ask who it was
of whom he spoke then leaning
back on jesus's breast he said to him
lord who is it
thank you jesus i really do believe
that if you will position yourself
to lean back on the lord's chest
i believe he'll answer to you
the most perplexing question
you may have at the dinner table it's
here's the question lord who's going to
betray you who is it
you could have different seasons in your
life with perhaps a different
perplexing question but this is the hot
potato
that won't go away and it's what
everybody wants to know
here in this particular hour then
leaning back on jesus breast he said to
him
lord who is it jesus
answered not loudly not loudly he's
remember the context you pick up the
fuller context when you read
the book of john which was written by
john himself and so jesus didn't like
publicly announce this well i'm going to
show you all right now who it is john
you know that's a good question that you
brought up
i think you're probably all wondering
who it is let me just tell you right now
he didn't do that he whispers to john
uh he's gonna of how he's going to
unveil
the traitor and then john is able to
of course later share that with peter
and share that with the others
jesus answered it is he to whom i shall
give a piece of bread
when i have dipped it and having dipped
the bread
he gave it to okay got 12 guys in the
room
he gave it to judas iscariot
the son of simon wow that's the
that's the guy that's the answer
to this perplexing thing that caused
such a soul search that they're all
looking within themselves saying is it
they're even asking the lord is it me
they're asking each other is it you is
it y'all it's not me it's not me
they're asking the lord is it is it me
here's the answer
given to john the one that's able to
lean on the lord's chest
it's this guy right here wow
praise the lord inside information
woo wow you're going to come into a walk
with god
where you're receiving inside
information yes
pastor stephen i want inside information
about brother
about brother charles what he's really
doing no no no god's not going to tell
you about his life unless
god chooses to do that you you have
enough questions in your own
file of your personal library that you
need to be responded you don't need to
be nosy
and be over there in somebody else's
business
the bible has a lot to say about that
particularly through the apostle paul
we see one example of that in first
thessalonians
chapter 4. first thessalonians chapter
four uh
obviously paul you know
must have thought that that the church
in thessalonica didn't get it because he
brings it back up again in the book or
the letter of second thessalonians
he also talks to timothy about this very
same subject
but just to cover it briefly first
thessalonians chapter 4
verse 9 but concerning brotherly love
you have no need that i should write to
you for you yourselves are taught by god
to love one another
and indeed you do so toward all the
brethren who are in all macedonia
but we urge you brethren that you
increase more and more
that you also aspire to lead a quiet
life
to mind your own business
and to work with your own hands as we
commanded
you boy this thing of mind in your own
business you ever met some of the
christians they always wanted to get in
everybody's business
and then spread it around with gossip
and rumors and all of this goofy stuff
it's wrong it's sinful it may not be
viewed as one of those ugly yucky sins
but i tell you what
in the eyes of god it is so don't be
involved in things like that
praise the lord now we're back again to
john chapter 13
verse 26 jesus answered it is he to whom
i shall give a piece of bread when
i have dipped it and having dipped the
bread he gave it to judas iscariot the
son of simon
now after the piece of bread satan
entered
him then jesus said to him what you do
do quickly but no one at the table knew
for what reason
he said this to him
very very interesting very interesting
verse 30
having received the piece of bread he
then went out immediately
and it was night you see the
prophetic symbolism being used there
it's a dark night
it's a dark night absolutely the lot
going on with darkness there
evil but my friends the lord had
answered
the question that had perplexed the
other
eleven and i believe he's got answers
for you also
that are very very important for you to
know
praise the lord now here are some things
that the lord shared with me concerning
this study
if you'll lean on the lord's chest
he will talk to you
understand that this leaning
denotes genuine nearness
this is very very up close and personal
so to be able to do that
it's unveiling to us a genuine
nearness not
not something that you know is done
through
uh how can we say like infrequent visits
you can't get it that way just showing
up every now and then
if you're inconsistent like that
you cannot go into a place like that
comfortably
you can't you wouldn't feel comfortable
there
it has to be real if it's not real you
can't get up that close
nearness is attained are you ready for
this
here's here's i'm going to give you a
key
that many mature believers if if you'll
take this key
this will take you to a new level in
your walk with god
nearness is attained through
consistency i want to say it again
nearness to the lord is attained
through consistency
what i mean by that is that
for some of you mature believers
you can string together a pretty good
walk with the lord maybe for a few weeks
maybe you'll throw some fasting in
you're you're to be commended for that
and you you can pull together those
moments where
yes you're very familiar with the
presence of the lord you can pull
together those
those times where yeah you and god
you've got it going on
but if you want to go to the higher
level
like john where you can lean on the lord
and he's giving you
detailed secrets he's giving you the
the rich stuff then you're going to have
to
maintain that walk consistently
you can't pull it together for 10 days
and then you disappear
for seven you can't pull it together for
a month
and then you're gone for three weeks you
just you fade out
think about it from the natural
perspective
if you go to the gym and you work out
really well
for two months and you you're seeing
results and others around you are like
hey wow man i'll tell you what it's
working for you and you're like yes it
is
this is this is it and you do it for two
months
and you you you can feel the momentum
but something happens
as life often does it throws things at
you that maybe disrupt your cycle or
would try to disrupt your cycle
and for whatever reason you're out now
for three weeks
then you come back in now you're back
for a month but then you know something
throws you
throws you for a loop now you're out 17
days and you're back
and then you're out and you're back and
you're out so you know
you you know more than most do because
you can get in there if you really need
to but if
if you will maintain it you'll move to a
level
where you finally see
the results you want if you're in a gym
and you're inconsistent
with your training no matter how hard
you work
out if you're not consistent you're not
going to get the results
you want and it's the same way in your
walk with the lord
it's more than just hey i did it i did a
10 day fast
that's great but eventually no matter
how long you fast you're going to have
to start eating again
and when you merge back into uh
you know that that walk with the lord
don't don't drop your prayer time
don't neglect your devotional time yes
but i did a fast
that's great and that will uh give you
a propellant that will take you into
some
wonderful experiences with the lord but
eventually
uh you you're gonna have to come down
off of the mountain you can have a
mountaintop experience
but no matter how glory glorious it was
eventually you're going to have to come
down
off that mountain you're going to have
to get back into what we would call
maybe like a daily flow
and your daily flow has to be close
to the lord you have to be consistent
with your prayer time
and if you will stay consistent day in
day out just
just like john did then you get
comfortable in that
nearness of leaning on the lord's chest
and that's when even others will say hey
you can get the answer for me
i i wish i could get into that realm of
glory but i can't but you can can you
can you help me
there have been times when i've been
privileged to help people because they
were like sometimes people just say
stephen
you can go up you you have that grace
that gift that walk
would you please find this out for me
i i i'm perplexed and i i need to know
and there are times when god will allow
me to
go on behalf of somebody else i learned
that
years back when i was in jerusalem
israel
and i was in a meeting with apostle
neville johnson and neville was a person
that uh
he knew how to push the buttons on the
spiritual elevator he could get into the
elevator
and go straight to the top and i'm not
talking about a natural building he
he had a walk with the lord where he
could go up
and there was a family uh a very godly
family from
india their father the children had come
also the
the the the wife her husband of course
was the man of god who just passed away
but
uh the wife and the sons the daughters
they all came
to jerusalem because the great man of
god over in india had just passed away
they came to jerusalem and guess who
they wanted to talk to
they wanted to talk to neville they had
a perplexing question
what was the question their father
a great man of god he was actually known
as the prophet of the east
uh we have prophets in america in this
part of the of the world but
on that side of the world he was known
as the prophet of the east and
he was a wonderful man of god but this
prophet during his life he would have
these visions
these experiences where he would be
caught up into the heavenly realms
and he would uh be seated at these
heavenly councils and it would have
people there like abraham
and king david and others that they were
be counselors and advisors
and that they would be involved in uh
working with god's plan god's agenda and
so this great
prophet would be uh caught up and taken
into those meetings would be allowed to
listen and sit on the meetings
and he had always wanted all of his life
to be worthy of one day one day when his
life would be concluded
of being included in that heavenly
council
well well his family
came after the funeral and they wanted
to meet with neville i know because they
came to the hotel we were staying in
seeking neville neville can you find out
if our father was added to
the heavenly council you have to
understand it's not like there's a lot
of people on this council there's
there's a number and uh it's those that
had a very very close walk with god
while they were on the earth
so they go to neville and they go to his
room
and they said nipple can you find out
and he said well let me see what the
lord would reveal
and he's able to go up in the spirit
and he's able to find out and yes yes
neville returned saying yes your father
is now officially
on that heavenly council whoo praise the
lord thank you jesus and they were so
thrilled
they were so blessed and of course he
saw some other stuff while he was there
that he was allowed to convey to them
concerning
their father what a blessing what a
blessing to be able to get
inside information i'm telling you that
if you will position yourself
like john did you could not only get
answers for yourself
but in some situations yes
you can attain you can obtain answers
for others
[Music]
glory to god hallelujah
i think about the old pentecostal
preacher named bevington
he was an old country preacher he wasn't
polished
uh and he wasn't wealthy but he was a
holy man of god
and whenever the holiness denomination
that he belonged to
whenever they had a perplexing situation
something they couldn't solve a dilemma
within their assembly guess who they
called on
brother bevington uh and what would they
ask him to do
they'd ask him to get the answer how
would he get the answer well one time
one time he had a situation that nobody
could figure out the pastor couldn't
figure it out the
elders no uh nobody in the church could
figure it out nobody could explain
a tragedy that happened within the
church there was no answer for it
the only person that knew was god and
bevington
went out into the country went out into
the woods
and he crawled into a tree
that had fallen down that had been
fallen for so long it had
hollowed out and rotted out in the
middle he crawled into the tree
and laid there for 10 days
to get quiet before the lord to get
the answer to that perplexing
situation but would you believe after 10
days
god spoke to him and showed him in a
vision exactly
what happened how it happened who the
guilty party was
where it happened who was involved and
what the solution could be and he gave
all of that information to that godly
prophet
while he laid in the hollowed-out
tree there in the deep forest whoo
praise the lord now let me say this
your consistency when i say consistent
i'm talking about
a daily walk it's going to come down to
that is it easy oh no
you'll have just like trying to go to
the gym is not easy
those that make good progress in those
areas know that
if you're not there if you're not
consistent you're it's just not going to
work for you not the way you want it to
you could
probably maintain your you know you know
stay in shape but you're not going to
really
make the gains that you want to see if
you're not consistent
but here's the thing consistency
produces pastor stephen
consistency produces intimacy with god
i don't want to use that word intimacy
yes it's a beautiful word
but it has become a cliche in the church
that people just throw it around it's a
sacred word but they throw it around
like it's just a
you know a box of french fries from
mcdonald's uh oh i've been having
intimacy with god you know and they just
throw it around like
you know it's hardly has any value to it
i don't want to use that word
because too many people use it when they
have no clue
of what it really is and trust me when
there are
genuine moves of the spirit and god is
really working
all of the stuff of what's genuine and
what's fake
uh it gets sorted out real quick quick
trust me i've been in move in meetings
where the glory
is extremely powerful and the fear of
the lord is so strong
it's dangerous to do something stupid
and
act like you're somebody that's all this
when you're not
yeah you can get humiliated real quick
in front of everybody if you if you pull
that bologna in the wrong atmosphere
i saw it happen one time in a church
service
where there's this woman that always had
a prophecy
and she had to go up and give her
prophetic word before the congregation
and the pastor let her do it and every
time she did it
it was no more anointed by the holy
spirit than if a monkey had run up there
and given a so-called prophecy
there was no anointing on it it did not
initiate from the holy spirit it came
out of her soulish mind but oh
she is the house prophet she has to give
the prophecy and up she goes
and she did that for some time and just
i you know me and my wife we would just
look at each other
and think well there she goes again
we'll just kind of grin and bear it let
her get it out of her system
and uh she did that for some time and
you know
those of us that did have a walk with
god we just kind of tolerated it well i
mean what can you do it's not my church
it's not our church
pastor's letting her do it you know
she's going to do it
and i'll tell you this there are some in
the church they want that mic
there are some ministers they they would
die if you took the microwave
microphone away from them they have to
be seen before the people
they have to prophesy about everything
under the sun
a lot of immaturity a lot of immaturity
and you can get away with that
in in atmospheres where there's not
heavy glory but the moment
god ever comes into the building you
better watch out
[Music]
because if you move on your own you're
going to get into this place where
you're offering strange fire before the
lord
in other words it's not what god called
for
so so god came into the building one day
and uh the first thing the holy spirit
did is
uh shut down the worship leader
and basically bypass the worship leader
because the worship leader was playing
songs that
uh were not in harmony with what
the holy spirit wanted to be sung and so
i won't go into detail how god shut him
down but he
got he got bypassed like uh uh
humiliated really uh got a godly
humiliation because of that man's
arrogance
and stubborn pride he was humiliated
through a prophecy before all of the
people
and then of course he repents now if he
would repent it
before it never would have happened but
that's the danger
of walking into a radioactive it's like
being around the nuclear
reactor walking into a place where the
glory is really manifested
very very dangerous to be in the flesh
and to be full of pride it's very very
dangerous
because uh the lord he'll he'll put
things straight
real quick when he comes into his house
well
he came into the house one morning and
anybody that had any spiritual sense
knew it and uh
oh here comes the prophetess again up
the steps she goes to the podium
up she goes to the top of the platform
to give another thus saith the lord
prophecy
and we watched her and we just thought
oh brother here she goes up
up up she got to the top step right
where the
platform was at she got to the top step
and the holy spirit
hit her over the head pastor stephen is
that
the correct terminology i don't know
what else to call it
i i wouldn't say that he fell on her
like a dove no it was it was
no it it wasn't like something sweet and
peaceful the holy spirit was like
oh and it's like touched her i don't
know if an angel did it or the holy
spirit did it but
she got struck by a god and you could
see
terror hit her and she fell
backwards and landed on her rear end and
slid backwards all the way down the
steps
all the way to the bottom of the steps
and
nobody 4 000 people present
nobody ran up to help her nobody ran up
and said
oh we feel so sorry for you she laid
there
humiliated in her arrogance and pride
and in her foolishness
for endeavoring to speak on behalf of
god
when god never said thus saith the lord
produce consistency produces
i would call it nearness a
genuine nearness not this fake stuff
somebody acting like they're the next
elijah when they're not
hallelujah consistency
produces nearness which results are you
ready for this
in a much more rewarding exchange
in your conversations with the lord
wow these conversations dissolve
any perplexing situation
that you may be facing or perplexing
question that you may have
i would encourage you to not just lean
on the lord
we have a lot of people well i wouldn't
say a lot of people
we do have some that are
good at that but the missing link is
they're not consistent
with it they'll have a mountaintop
experience oh i leaned on the chest of
the lord
and the lord said this to me and then
they then that
that anointing lifts of nearness and
then they go back into the business of
life
and their prayer life goes through they
lose their prayer life and they lose
they
they get so caught up in life they lose
a devotional life and then you know
and they have gotten out of that place
of nearness
so to be like john the apostle of love
you have to walk that you have to live
that
because that's a that that's a nearness
that's so close
that if you're not consistent you just
can't walk in there and lean your
your head on his chest no you have to be
really consistently
close with him and the only way that you
can get that
that element of nearness is to be close
on a continual
i would even say daily basis
let me close by saying this
to come into this you'll have to fight
for it with everything
you have and you're not fighting with
the sword or with the gun
you're not fighting with the shield or
bow and arrow you're not fight
you're just fighting inwardly by
endeavoring to structure
and you're or and order your life around
your time
with the lord whenever that is whenever
you meet with the lord
because you'll have everything under the
sun
try to disrupt it and so it's an
incredible fight
and so you have to really press with
everything
you have but i tell you what when you do
come in
and you get consistent i think a lot of
the times the rewards
are so phenomenal such as hearing the
voice of god
getting answers to uh you know
perplexing things not just for yourself
and others that you just think you know
what
i'm willing to accept this price tag
woo glory to god i believe
in the last days that we're living in
as much as we love the pauline epistles
the
the word of god written under
inspiration by the apostle paul
we'll always draw from it and we'll
we'll use it consistently
but i believe also we're going to start
to pull a lot
from the writings of john particularly
first second and third john the letters
back towards the back of the bible and
also of course
the grand finale the book of revelation
the revelation of jesus christ written
by john himself because
these are towards the end and as we are
at the end of time
these writings are going to begin to
mean more and more to us
they're going to speak so directly to us
and so in order to come into this
anointing
also would speak of a john type
anointing
of walking very close with the lord
praise god john's assignment was for
the end times that message for the end
times he outlived
all of the other 12 excuse me the other
11
even the replacement of course of judas
but my friends this is something
that the lord wants us to understand
that
we can step into and we can enjoy
whoo hallelujah i i do think there is
something
where when you have answers
and you're satisfied then you could also
get them
for others remember when jesus was
talking with peter
even talking with peter about the death
that he's going to eventually have and
how that death will glorify god
and here's peter having the privilege of
seeing
the resurrect resurrected christ talk to
him
and share intimate details about his
life and right in the middle of that
peter uh he sees john
over there and he says oh lord what
about him
and jesus basically said to peter that's
a son of your business in other words
jesus is like hey
you know peter i'm here talking to you
one on one about your life
about intimate things i want to share
with your life to remove any
perplexing questions you may have and
you don't need to be worried about john
praise the lord so when your questions
are answered
and there's deep peace and a strong walk
with the lord established in your life
then you can you can go to the lord on
behalf
of others and you can get some
interesting
ooh information wow
let me see if i can guys this a little
bit there is a prophet
and uh he lives in paris
he prays all day long usually most of
the night that's all he does is he prays
he prays for certain church leaders i
won't say who they are
but that is his assignment from the lord
and a catholic priest
knows him and he said stephen he said
next time we go he said
i'll take you and kelly uh to his uh
his residence so that we can all have
some
fellowship and prayer time together
but he said this man uh when you come
into his room
and into his home it's a very small home
in into his room
you know um he
he can get he's one of those guys that
can also pull the answers he can get the
answers of course i like people like
that
all right now if you're living in sin
you don't want to be around people like
that because uh you're you're going to
become a glass house
and it doesn't mean that god's going to
try to embarrass you or something like
that
but if you were to be arrogant and
prideful
don't challenge god don't challenge god
because
uh when the when the anointing comes and
god's
presence and power comes you would
regret it
but uh my priest friend said he said
last time i was at his place when i
walked in
he was in prayer he was on his knees
praying he was praying
so hard and interceding so hard that
when he got up
out of prayer he had the crown of thorns
stigmata going around his head you could
see the
like the crown of thorns had been
pressed in you could see the
the marks and he said he's such a man of
prayer and
well i can't say too much but my priest
friend brought somebody that
had a perplexing question this lady who
had the
perplexing question she couldn't get the
answer from god
and uh she just she did not have the
spiritual depth to be able to
as we would say lean on the lord's chest
and get the answer it's kind of like
peter you know john
get it from him
you need a you need a john in your life
uh well pastor stephen yes i
i'd like to have a john in my life how
about this how about you become a john
praise the lord that that's the gold
standard
now uh my
my priest friend brought this woman
because she wanted the answer and he
you hey this guy can get it she presents
the question to him
and she said yes it's this is true uh
sometimes now remember jesus was
troubled in spirit
this was something that was going to
happen he was going to be portrayed i
mean it's prophesied in scripture
so that this cannot be like overwritten
somehow like some things could
so this lady she had been troubled in
spirit is this thing
true that i hope it's not true but i
i unfortunately i think it is he said
yes
he said it is true this is what's going
on and begin to
uh unveil uh
what had perplexed her but you know i'd
rather know the truth just like she
would
uh she wanted the truth even if it was
even if it was painful
i would rather know the truth praise god
hallelujah glory to
god hallelujah let me say this straight
forward to you
don't play with sin don't live your life
in sin
don't get tangled in sin live a life
that's clean
and pleasing before the lord so that you
can have
open communication with god if there's
anything
that fouls up the ability to hear
the voice of god and fouls up nearness
to the lord
it's sin so live clean
before the before the lord hallelujah
let me say this also
anytime you have a walk with the lord
that's pure and holy
and it's you're dialed in and everything
between you the lord is going really
good
satan doesn't like that and he'll do
things
that will try to break that intimate
line
of communication so be wise of that
be on the alert praise god
hallelujah and stay close to the lord
it's the only
safe place stay in his word walk closely
with him
heavenly father i pray for your people
that not only will they lean their head
upon the chest of christ our savior
but they'll do it consistently
and i thank you father this is something
that can only be done
through consistent walk with you
or else it's odd it doesn't fit it's not
comfortable
uh it wouldn't even it's just you can't
you can't do that
unless it's consistent so father we
thank you let there be consistency
um father we give you praise
i think about what the prophet said in
the old testament he opens
my ear morning by morning
in other words he's implying consistency
an early
walk and early time with the lord and
he's opening his ears
morning by morning if you have an
appointment with the lord
show up show he show up he can't talk to
you if you're not there
if you made a commitment to meet with
the lord
show up praise god and keep your
commitment
and he'll honor that he will honor that
father bless your people
let it be established as being
consistent and we thank you for the
amazing results
that are going to come which will
benefit them and others
that they can help as well in jesus name
we pray let us agree and shout
amen hallelujah if you're watching
today's program
hearing from god begins with a
relationship with god's
son jesus christ if you don't know
christ
as your lord and savior invite him into
your heart
right now and the line of communication
will be opened just say this say and
pray this from your heart say lord jesus
i'm a sinner but you died to save
sinners jesus i give my life to you
i turn from my sin save me
now step into my life lead me
and guide me from this day
forward jesus write my name
in your book of life i accept you now
as my lord and savior thank you for
saving me
in your name i pray amen
and amen and let me be the first to say
welcome to the family of god those who
have prayed that
and have made that dedication of giving
your heart to christ
praise the lord let's conclude today's
time together
by enjoying the taking of communion
together please grab some unleavened
bread
if you don't have one of these little
wafers something like a saltine cracker
would do just fine
and grab some grape juice and let's pray
whoo let me say this before we pray did
you know that
within the christian faith and the
various
uh uh streams of uh of the christian
faith whether you're
uh eastern orthodox or you're catholic
or you're evangelical or protestant i'm
talking about those who have called upon
the name of the lord and given their
hearts to christ
let me just say that all over the world
god has
those john type individuals
who can get the answer they walk with
the lord
oh hallelujah this is a category
this is a place that god wants you to
move into you it's the safest place
on the planet to be near to the lord
let's pray
hallelujah i say that because i know
i'm speaking on a platform
from a pulpit where the message
goes around the world so there needs to
be somebody that rises up in your area
that can hear from the lord and may that
person
be you that's why you're listening so
that the holy spirit can merge you
into this place into this walk you're
gonna need his help
he's the one that helps you to be
consistent he will work with your will
he will work with your desire
father we pray over the bread and over
the juice
we bless it and consecrate it as holy
through this prayer and it is now the
body and the blood
of christ our savior father as we
receive the body of christ we thank you
that we belong to you we thank you that
we choose to walk close
with you from an old testament
perspective you could say father we want
to dwell
in the holy of holies and that we thank
you that through the shed blood of
christ
that is now possible to be in your
presence and to walk close with you
with nothing nothing hindering no no
veil of separation
thank you father god for this privilege
and
we we avail ourselves to it we come
right on
in consistently lord let there be that
importation for consistency
in jesus name we pray amen
let's partake of the lord's body
consistency produces
nearness to god which results
in a much more rewarding exchange
in conversation woo you and the lord are
going to have some very
very interesting dialogues
praise god father thank you for the
blood
of jesus hallelujah
we thank you for secret things
we thank you for that which belongs to
you that's veiled
that secret then that's okay
we don't we don't have any interest in
that but father those things that
do belong to us we want to know
so father we thank you for unveiling
beautiful things
we thank you father for the blood of
jesus if we have
committed any sin we ask that you would
forgive us and wash our sins away
and father we as individuals
and as a body of believers we forgive
anybody
and anyone who has sinned against us we
forgive them
completely and absolutely and we love
them and we bless them
father there are some of course that we
may not be able to be friends with maybe
they're
dangerous or maybe they are just
people that we can't work with or they
don't want us to work with them but
nevertheless we love them and we forgive
them and we bless them and we go on with
you
so father we pray also that you would
lead us away from temptation
and that you would deliver us from the
evil one and we ask that you would help
us to guard and protect
the walk that we have with you father we
give you praise
thank you for the blood of jesus in
jesus name
amen let's receive
praise the lord glory
glory glory to god hallelujah
praise the lord
[Music]
there are secret things
that we do not have permission
to look into there are other things that
maybe you want to talk about them but
the timing is not right there's no
anointing to talk about it
there have been times i've asked the
lord lord i'd like to talk about this
i've actually had the lord tell me
i don't want to talk about that now it
didn't mean that
he would never like to discuss it it
just meant that at that time
that's not that's not what uh uh
that's not what's on the on on the menu
i guess i guess we could say you know
menus change at restaurants
you change it out after a while but
there are certain times
could change in a week but i've had the
lord tell me i don't i don't want to
talk about that right now
there was something else that needed to
be prayed about or discussed
be sensitive to that also never tried to
force anything with the lord of course
we can't force god to do anything
but there there's a flow in the spirit
when you're having your time with the
lord
and you stay on that flow of what the
anointing is
and that's all involving the holy spirit
he'll lead you your prayer time will
never be the same
even if you pray the lord's prayer or
the epistles
in the the epistles the prayers that
paul laid out it comes out different
every time as you pray through them
because the holy spirit will lead you in
a different way every time because
each day is a new day praise god
father bless your people we thank you
for the anointing of your holy spirit
and we thank you that we are privileged
to live
in the last days and so father made that
same grace that john experienced may we
also know it
and we just thank you for the blessing
of longevity
and we thank you also father for the
blessing of being able to lean our head
upon the lord's chest and talk very
near with him and to him father we
praise you in jesus name amen my friend
you are blessed
i look forward to seeing you back next
time till then
stay near to the lord