good morning church family and ministry
friends i'm pastor Steven Brooks
welcome today to our online internet
around the world church service and i'm
so happy that you're here today because
god's word is going to build you up and
his word will strengthen you to do what
he has called you to do and to become
the person
that he has destined for you to become
and we give god all the praise for that
now before we jump into today's main
message
first let's receive the tides and
offerings let's bring them into the
storehouse of god and honor god with our
finances
and let's see what god's word which is
his
instruction manual that's what it is the
bible is god's instruction manual for us
for our lives let's see what the lord
says about tithing
leviticus chapter 27
verse 30
and all the tithe of the land
whether of the seed of the land or of
the fruit of the tree
is the lord's it is holy to the lord my
friends the tithe belongs to the lord
the tithe means 10
of all of your increase of all that you
earn of all the money that comes into
your hands praise god now the book of
leviticus of course is named after the
priest who were descendants of levi
and they were to instruct us concerning
the commandments of the lord concerning
many of the laws of society the moral
laws the ethical laws the laws
surrounding uh purity the laws
surrounding worship and so forth and
here they are instructing us
that the holy tithe belongs to the lord
himself
and then of course we see over
in the book of malachi chapter
3 verse 10
where the prophet says bring all the
tithes of course the lord is speaking
through the prophet bring all the tithes
into the storehouse that there may be
food in my house
and try me now on this says the lord of
hosts if i will not open for you
the windows of heaven and pour out for
you such blessing that there will not be
room enough to receive it so again we
are instructed by the lord to bring all
the tithes into
the storehouse and the storehouse
technically is the place where you are
spiritually fed praise god now i would
like to share this
that
my wife and i
we always pay tithes on
our personal money on our personal
income or anytime there's personal gifts
or personal money that comes into our
hands we always tithe from our personal
money and let me say something extra as
well
we believe here
in this ministry we believe the whole
bible we believe the full gospel and we
believe that the tithe belongs to the
lord and we believe that also there are
those times when the holy spirit
leads us instructs us to even give
offerings and let me say that every
offering that we have ever announced or
have made available for
people to participate in my wife and i
always participate in those offerings
out of our personal money what i'm
trying to say is that as a minister i'm
not sitting back and not tithing and not
giving but i'm expecting god's people
somehow to do it even when i don't my
wife and i are
diehard tithers we tithe on all of the
increase that god brings into our lives
and we also
give into every ministry project that
this ministry tackles we give out of our
own personal account and we also sow
along with you so we practice what we
preach praise the lord
glory to god but i also want to share
something with you special today
that we need to consider concerning the
subject of biblical tithing and that can
be unveiled in hebrews chapter 7.
hebrews chapter 7
and let's go directly to verse 1.
hallelujah
for this melchizedek king of salem
priest of the most high god
who met abraham
returning from the slaughter of the
kings
and blessed him to whom also abraham
gave a tenth part
of all so my friends we see that abraham
gave the tithe to melchizedek he gave 10
to melchizedek but here's the catch
if you look at this carefully
and step back and study it
and look at it in a little more detail
of when it eventually happens there in
genesis chapter 14
you will see that this is actually a
corporate tithe that abraham is giving
he's giving a corporate tithe to
melchizedek melchizedek was a symbol he
was a type and shadow of jesus christ
the messiah
but again this is not just a personal
tithe that abraham is giving this is a
corporate tie that is a spoil of the war
a spoil of the plunder that he
and his 318 servants who also had the
ability to fight
that transist transitioned into a role
of soldiers under his command and they
went from the southern part of israel
pursuing
lot and all that had been stolen that
that lot had in many of the possessions
of the surrounding kings well all of
that was taken by raiders way up north
even north of damascus and abraham made
a very very long journey with his men
and they caught up with the raiders and
they plundered the camp and they rescued
lot and they brought lot back and they
brought back all of this
spoil the spoil of an army so it's not
just one man giving his tithe here this
my friends is actually the account of a
corporate tithe
thank you jesus now
if you have a business
and you want to experience
a breakthrough
from a biblical proven method
in other words you want your business to
prosper and you're looking for a
biblical method of increase
my friends may i suggest
that the owner of the business should
that be you
you should pay the corporate tithe on
the business woo
glory to god thank you lord jesus now
i need to let you know that not only are
my wife and i personal tithers
hallelujah in other words if somebody
gives me 10 million dollars tomorrow
they give it to me personally a million
instantly 1 million instantly one out of
10 instantly goes into
uh the tithe account and the tithe
account is distributed uh into the
appropriate places that the holy spirit
leads us to put that praise god but i
want you to know also
that not only are my wife and i tithers
but this entire ministry is a tithing
ministry and the tithe from last year
was a very very large tide that was sent
out to other good ministries that are
doing works of bringing the lost to
christ
that are helping
other ministries to throw the nets of
evangelism
and ministerial training and my friends
we believe that there is a personal
tithe and also a corporate tithe and i
also believe that if you follow the
teachings of jesus the word of god
then you will see your
business flourish praise god look at
something very interesting in luke
chapter 5.
let's go over to luke chapter 5 just for
a moment
and i would like for you to come with me
to
verse 4.
luke 5 verse
verse 4 praise god
when he had stopped speaking he that
would be jesus said to simon
launch out into the deep
let down your nets
for a catch
but simon answered and said to him
master we have toiled all night caught
nothing
nevertheless at your word i will let
down the net and when they had done this
they caught a great number of fish
and their net was breaking now envision
that taking place with your business
so they signaled watch this
they signal to their partners you may
want to underline that they signaled to
their partners in the other boat to come
and help them so you have peter and
andrew and you have james and john
and they're all working together and
peter is at the head of it and what
you're realizing as is that there on the
sea of galilee these guys have grouped
together they have come together and
they have a small fishing syndicate that
they are working what is a syndicate
it's when a group of individuals or even
a group of corporations combine
to control or manage a common interest
praise the lord and my friends we see
here that the lord blessed their
business
and so they they signaled to their
partners in the other boat to come and
help them and they came and filled both
the boats so that they begin to
sink praise the lord when you connect
with the word of god when you obey the
principles of tithing and i would even i
would even say that abraham was a
corporate tither giving ten percent of
the entire plunder
of all of them 318 soldiers plus him
that's 319 at least he took the entire
tithe and gave that to melchizedek
and it provoked melchizedek to release a
tremendous blessing
praise god praise god verse 9 for he and
all who were with him were astonished at
the catch of the fish which they had
taken and so also were james and john
the sons of zebedee who were partners
with simon
praise the lord the lord has the ability
to bless bless bless your distance and
i'm talking to some of you out there
businessmen business women and some of
you young people you've already started
a business maybe you're already in
college and you've already started a
business and you're thinking i want to
experience breakthrough and it's not
like you've got a board of directors of
30 people telling you what you can do
and can't do you have a business and
you're running that business and you
have the ability to even give the
corporate tithe my friends you can prove
the lord not only in the area of
personal tithe where he opens the
windows of blessing over your life and
the rain of blessing the rain of created
ideas the rain of how to implement
strategic sales and how to understand
your market and how to get to the top
that rain can fall upon the tither and
my friends it can fall upon the
corporation because god cannot only
bless the individual but he can bless
the church he can bless the ministry he
can bless the business that is a tithing
business praise god my friend you're
looking at a tithing church
and because of that we are doing things
that are touching the world praise god
and i'm very very excited about that and
thrilled in my spirit about that praise
god thank you lord jesus so
that
uh the tithing principles
that are found in the word of god
are not for god's benefit
they are for your benefit and my benefit
and i want to say this that while god
does work through people
it's not like god is needy in other
words if a person doesn't do something
it's not like god says oh well you know
the whole world is going to fall apart
because i've got these needs and they're
you know people aren't doing what i want
them to do you need to understand that
god does work through people but god is
not needy he's not needy
which of you as a parent
uh as a full-grown adult parent
has ever gone up to your three-year-old
child
standing their little child standing
there holding a little bottle of milk
and you go up to the child and you say
son
let's say you have a son you go up to
your side and say son
i just want you to know that your dad
really needs your help and by today at
five o'clock son i need you to help give
me uh ten thousand dollars because if
you don't get daddy ten thousand dollars
i'm going to be in a real bind
my friends that's ludicrous but yet
sometimes people think they're helping
god oh we have to tithe because god's
break god's broke and we got to help
tithe no these principles are not for
god's benefit this is for your lifting
not god's lifting god's already lifted
god's already uh owning all the cattle
on a thousand hills god owns all the
silver and the gold god owns the
universe god owns all the gold and
silver
all the precious metals all of that god
has all of that this is not for god's
lifting this is for our lifting
thank you lord jesus
praise the lord now
god
does not depend
on your purse or your wallet
your purse and your wallet are dependent
upon god these principles are for your
benefit they are for your lifting
praise god
and as you
fully commit to being a tither and those
of you that are in business you have
your own business you need to really
think about not only the personal tithe
about the potential of the corporate
tithe
because you are a tither and you step
into that with full certainty and full
commitment the biggest
and most successful victories in your
life will be stress free
mark my words praise god they'll be
stress-free
glory to god hallelujah because you are
touching supernatural supply praise the
lord glory to god now
knowing that god has this planned out
and that as we seek his kingdom first
and his kingdom has rules and principles
that govern his kingdom as we operate
these principles as we obey his
commandments we step into his divine
supply let us now honor the lord and
bring the tithe into
the storehouse and also if you would
like to sow a special seed you can do
that as we have a few special ministry
projects that we're focused on right now
and if you would like to mail in your
tithe
or a special offering as well you can
send them to stephen brooks
international p.o box 717
moravian falls north carolina the zip
code here is 28654
again 28654 now if you would prefer to
bring your tithes and offerings in
online you can do so from anywhere in
the world
anytime day or night
please go to the ministry website
stevenbrooks.org there's a link on the
homepage
this that says giving
actually i think it just says give has a
red heart on it
and you can click there and you'll see
the designated box for tithes
and the tithes belong to the lord bring
them on into the storehouse and you'll
see the various ministry projects that
we're working on praise god and thank
you for sowing into those projects as
the holy spirit leads you in the area of
an offering praise the lord now let me
pray for you heavenly father i thank you
that your people are covenant people
they're not people that work by look
chance
or you know pie in the sky or just you
know it'll all work out no lord we work
by principles
i thank you that your people govern
their lives by the principles of your
word which are eternal which are
enduring forever
and we thank you father god that we are
walking in the light of your kingdom now
father bless your people lift them to
the top let their lives be distinguished
and let their lives reflect the life of
abraham the man of faith who also was a
tither i thank you father for those that
have their own businesses i thank you
for them honoring you with the corporate
tithe and i thank you for opening the
windows of heaven over their business
thank you father as well as their
personal lives now father we give you
all the praise
we thank you for your mighty word in
jesus name let us agree shout and say
whoa praise the lord hallelujah
now my friends let's take our bibles
and
well look at this we're right here at
luke chapter five so
i would like for us to stay in luke
chapter 5
and i want to talk today about
stepping out
stepping out
in order to step into
a miracle praise the lord
now what i'm going to share with you
today
is
it's very very difficult to get around
this key
that i'm going to give you i know that
there's there's principles
and there's methods but what i'm sharing
with you today is a principle it's just
the way that god operates and so it's a
key and you can use this key
and in some ways because this key can
uh you know
you're going to have to grow in your
faith and grow in your walk with the
lord in order to use this key right and
accurately
nevertheless it is the key
that will help you to step in
literally into miracles and we're going
to talk about it today
and let's pray
heavenly father as we jump into your
word
we see today that we are faced with
a task that sometimes can be very very
challenging
but father we thank you for your grace
we thank you for the leading of your
holy spirit
we thank you for certainty within our
hearts
and we thank you for knowing when to
insert the key and turn it and to go
through the door now father we give you
all of the praise that your holy spirit
bring fresh revelation today in jesus
great name we pray
and we all agree and say amen
praise the lord
now luke chapter 5
and let's go to verse
18. we're talking about stepping out
to step into
a miracle
then behold
men brought on a bed
a man
who was
paralyzed how about that we have a
paralyzed man
and he's brought in on a bed
um
well
they're going to have to really work to
get this man to jesus
do some more unorthodox things to get
him there to get him in front of the
lord such as take him up on the roof etc
we know the story and eventually he ends
up
right in front of the lord and that
brings us to the dramatic verse
of verse 24.
but jesus says but that you may know
that the son of man has power on earth
to forgive sins
he said to the man
who was paralyzed
i say to you
arise take up your bed and go
to your house
immediately he rose up before them took
up what he had been lying on and
departed to his own house glorifying god
and they were all amazed and they
glorified god and were filled with fear
saying we have seen strange things today
my friends in order to step out
to step in to a miracle
will require
that you must perform
an act of obedience and the act of
obedience
that you must do
must be done
in faith
and all of these
amazing stories in the bible
if you look and you scan through it
somewhere in that miracle you'll find
that there was an act of obedience
carried out by that individual or by
that group
pastor stephen what was the act of
obedience here it is jesus said
i say to you
arise
take up your bed and go to your house on
the guy's paralyzed
when the lord says that
here's what
most modern-day evangelical christians
would say
well lord what do you mean get up and
rise up again lord can't you see i i
can't lord i'm paralyzed lord what are
you talking about i can't
and that's where they miss it
my friends
stepping out
and stepping into a miracle requires
that you must perform an act of
obedience i i wish i could tell you
that there's some other way
to your miracle i wish i could tell you
that you could just sit back
and boom it just comes right to you all
the time just like that
but my friends so often
god requires that you
and and you know it's not like somebody
else can do it for you your best friend
even the pastor or another minister it
requires that you
perform an act of obedience
in faith
i say to you arise take up your bed and
go to your house and you know what
he did it he got up
on that word
and it performed it produced immediately
he rose up before them took up what he
had been lying on in the party to his
own house and he's fully healed the
paralysis is completely gone but you
can't lay there saying well lord uh
don't you know i'm paralyzed that's why
i'm on this cot can't get up and that's
why they lowered me down because i can't
move nope you move you get up you get up
praise god when the lord says go
you have to go
and it's a commandment it's not a
suggestion if you want your miracle you
got to step out
oh pastor stephen that
that implies
risk
well i would say in faith it's not so
much like it's like you're taking some
kind of a blind risk
as it is
you are doing something where you're
trusting god and you're going into
something new now when you have gone a
certain path
and on that certain path you have grown
from faith to faith
glory to glory you can get comfortable
in increase in that path but when you
are working on the the various chapters
of your life and you're developed in
this area and then now it's time for you
to step into a new chapter over here on
this part of your life in this chamber
of your walk with god okay this could be
something that in this area you've never
done it before in this area so yes it
can be like
whoa
yeah i've stepped out over here but this
is a new this is a new thing for me and
um
this is like a new branch in my life and
uh wow okay so i'm just gonna really
endeavor to hear the word of the lord
and when the lord speaks
go whoo praise god
so you can have these struggles in your
mind while faith is still working in
your heart but don't let the doubt get
into your heart just keep walking it out
with god and there are those times when
he expects you to take the next step and
nobody else can take it for you and this
paralyzed man is now at a place
where the four friends back off
they've done their part they have done
all they can do and now is this man one
on one with the son of god nobody else
can respond now
except him not his mother not his pastor
not his friends and he's certainly not
going to get any help or support from
all the religious people sitting there
in the house
my friends he obeyed and he stood up
and power surged through his body and he
was healed from the top of his head to
the soles of his feet praise god thank
you jesus now let's go over now to luke
chapter 12.
praise the lord
luke chapter 12
and let's drop down to verse 9.
praise god today
thank you lord jesus
thank you lord jesus
hallelujah
luke 9
and i'm actually excuse me not luke
matthew
matthew chapter 12
verse 9. yes that that looks a lot
better the other story was good but
not the one i'm looking for
matthew chapter 9
excuse me again matthew chapter 12 verse
9.
now when he had departed from there he
went into a synagogue and behold
there was a man
who had a withered hand
hmm okay so we have another physical
problem
he has a withered hand let's go down to
verse 13.
then he that would be jesus said to the
man with the withered hand
stretch out
your hand
right there again
is a place
where many christians
would say well lord
what do you mean stretch out my hand
can't you see it's withered i can't
lord i i i can't ah
my friends
when the lord gives the word to go when
the lord gives the commandment
then you must respond right then
in that anointing in the moment of the
anointing
then he said to the man stretch out your
hand
and he stretched it out
and it was restored as whole as the
other
praise god
i need to let you know that
god's not a joker now god does have a
sense of humor
but god's not a joker where he's trying
to set you up
to humiliate you
to embarrass you because my friends
these things are very very real this is
life
in uh
in the real world
where
you are
endeavoring to honor the lord with your
faith
and to bring glory to him
and you don't want to do anything that's
foolish or stupid
you don't want to do anything that
would be presumptuous just stepping out
with you know just thinking you know in
a very foolish way that god's in it when
you're not even sure but no we are
endeavoring to honor god and his word
and i want you to know that god is very
very serious about leading you into your
miracle step by step by step and then as
you walk this out with him you do
eventually get up to the big step
you actually get up to the moment and
that moment
whoo it um
you can feel it praise god uh you can
feel it in the spirit realm like god
this is it and i'm i'm either gonna on
this step i'm gonna have to either be
all in
or all out and my friends when your time
has come though
and it is the lord's time for you and he
says
stretch out your hand
i want you to know god's not playing
games with you
that if you stretch out your hand in
that moment it will come out
just like it did for this man
and he stretched it out
and it was restored as whole
as
the other
now he's got the miracle testimony why
he acted on the word and shut that arm
out there praise god and it came out
but there are some
they want to hold the arm back and they
want to say well lord i i'm not going to
stretch it out you stretch it out for me
ah
and they forget
they forget this incredible principle
this key of faith which is that you
you
must perform an act of obedience and
that act of obedience
must
be done
in faith whoo yes you can feel it you
might even be sweating
pastor stephen i'm cool as a cucumber
well there can be some places where
uh
that that coolness kind of evaporates
because this is real and you you you
know that hey if this doesn't did this
doesn't go through
um i'm i'm going to have to really go
back and
reevaluate and i'm going to have to get
back to the drawing board praise god
because i'm all in on this and there is
there's potential um
consequences
if this doesn't happen praise god
now sometimes
it can be just as simple as
you know you missed it praise god but
other times there can be more invested
and we see this especially whew
in our next story
and these are those moments you're
either all in or you're not in it all
you have to be all in on this
praise god especially when you're
looking at destiny moments to step
through and if you don't step through
you know i can't promise you that that's
going to swing back around well pastor
stephen god will visit me tomorrow you
can't make god do anything
praise god so when it's your moment
you have to really get ready for that
and the holy spirit will help you to get
into the word to be edified in the word
so that you can know when it's your time
praise god but my friends i would say
there's some high stakes here we're not
talking about gambling at the kentucky
derby we're not talking about going to
vegas and you know working the slot
machine i don't mess with stuff like
that i have enough excitement in my own
walk with god
stepping into these faith adventures the
things that he has said this is my path
for you walk this out step by step
that's quite exciting
i certainly don't need to be doing
anything stupid or foolish and throwing
money away praise god
mark chapter 10
here we go verse 46 very famous story we
see in verse 46 this is dealing with
blind
bartimaeus our story now revolves around
a blind man verse 49
here's the moment so jesus stood still
and commanded him to be called now look
you've done all this work you've shouted
and you hollered and you you uh you did
your stuff to get get the attention
jesus jesus son of david jesus i believe
you're the son of david
he's done all of that they told him to
shut up he didn't shut up
you know the story jesus no no no jesus
so i'm over here i'm right over here
and he persevered and persevered and
persevered and finally
the lord stops
this massive multitude stops
and now it's the moment
and you're like well well you could be
like no oh wow now hold on a minute i
did didn't really know he was going to
actually stop i yeah i really want the
miracle and i certainly caused a ruckus
here but i didn't know it was going to
mean that you know 20 000 people are
suddenly looking at me i didn't know
that this is was going to put me in a
position like this
praise god
praise god
but stepping out
to step into a miracle requires
somewhere along the line
that you perform an act of obedience and
guess what
bartimaeus could not escape this either
and don't think that you'll be able to
either
now every eye
every eye in that massive crowd is on
him
because jesus has stopped
and then
jesus is going to say what do you want
me to do for you okay so the moment is
there
but just before jesus says that
they said be of good cheer rise he is
calling you okay
and it says verse 50
and throwing aside his garment he rose
and came to jesus
you may want to underline that that has
heavyweight significance
and throwing
aside
his garment
now in our culture in our day
we don't really see this
uh
same customary thing played out although
i've seen it i've seen it in india
and believe it or not i've seen it in
tampa bay tampa bay florida and i've
even seen it a little bit in
south charlotte
and this is
this is the element of wearing what was
known back in that day as a beggar's
garment
and a beggar's garment was something
that was institutionalized by the roman
government
and the roman empire ruled over israel
during that time and there was a rule
that if you are handicapped
you're blind or something similar to
that a severe handicap
you uh were given a beggar's garment
that gave you legal permission to beg so
that you would not starve so that you
could have money and feed yourself and
so forth and
you know that people could take care of
you and so that was an act of kindness
and the jewish authorities of course
embraced
that
rule that regulation and if you didn't
have that garment you couldn't beg the
garment was a license issued by the
government that allowed you to receive
these
uh funds these acts of generosity and
kindness by the people now
i've seen it in tampa bay like i said
i've seen it in south charlotte where
sometimes government officials
city officials would say well we've got
people begging and they're standing on
the islands right in the middle of busy
traffic intersections
and so there has been those on you know
county boards or city boards that said
well we don't want these people to get
run over uh so let's give them a garment
that lets people know motorists and so
forth that hey uh their beggars they
could use a little help and in the men
in in the meantime don't run over them
so they they give them these highly
reflective garments
and
you know
their situation is not as severe as
bartimaeus of course who's blind
but my friends again
he threw aside that garment
before he ever came to jesus
now here's what a lot of christians
today
would do
they would say jesus
first
heal me of my blindness
and then i'll throw away the beggar's
garment because then i won't need it
anymore
wow
and i could see even today some
well-meaning christians say now look
look bartimaeus don't throw that away
because what happens if you go up there
and it doesn't work
wow
but
real miracles stepping in the real
miracles
will take you along a path
where eventually
it's one-on-one with you and god
and god's looking at you and you know
he's expecting you to make that next
move and that next move requires
that you perform an act of obedience
that's done in faith
it'll always be there
praise god and for him
that's what he had to do it was an act
of obedience done out of faith and he
took that thing and he got rid of it he
threw it away
again
these are weighty
decisions
these are not games
this is your life on the line because
the truth is
is that if he would have thrown that
garment away
and you know
something didn't work out and he's now
still blind he's never going to find it
again in that crowd there's too many
people he threw it away and he's walked
over they've taken him over to a
different place and that's it's over
with now he's in a mess
oh but my friends
these things are very very important
yes we must we must execute them in the
fear of god
we must execute these obedient acts in
the spirit of faith
and at the same time
at the same time while we don't want to
make a mistake and we want to be careful
at the same time eventually you bump up
to the point or guess what
it's it's time now to step out
pastor stephen sounds a little scary
it can be in that sense of you're you're
walking
by
raw faith in the word of god and in that
anointing of the spirit
let me give you an example the ministry
in ministry as a as a
minister it can become
can i use the word comfortable
it can be comfortable
preaching
sermons
and you can you can preach them and you
do it for a few years and then you do it
maybe for a couple decades and you
actually can get you get comfortable
preaching and it's not like the crowd
really moves you in the sense because
you're so comfortable in that mode uh
you're going to preach the same way to
100 people or 10 people as 10 000 or 100
000. you're just in your element you've
got very developed in that you're strong
in that gifting
but
to receive a word of knowledge
after the preaching is done and you
stand there in front of all the people
and to receive a word of knowledge from
the holy spirit
to step out and minister that word
that can be
can i use the word terrifying whoo
that can be massively exhilarating and
you're like wow
and you're see here's the thing
you're either right
or you're wrong
and if you're wrong well it can be
embarrassing but you know there's grace
and there's some of these things we only
learn through growth and grace
moving accurately in the spirit and
endeavoring to hear from god it's not
like you wake up you know it's not like
you come into the ministry and the next
day you're like elijah
you know going around doing you know
calling fire down and doing all of this
stuff you grow into that you develop
into that over many years
but still you have to start somewhere
and
that's why a lot of good preachers
they'll they'll never
minister to people why it can be uh it
can be wildly
uh
i mean uncomfortable in the sense that
you're standing there maybe in front of
a thousand people maybe in front of ten
thousand people and
you're you're endeavoring to hear from
god and minister the people
and uh you know there's just a lot of
guys a lot of gal ministers they just
say you know that's nice i don't want to
do that that's that why
it takes a step of faith
it takes a step
step of faith you must perform an act of
obedience which is step out there okay
i'm getting something example i'm
getting something from the lord and you
step out there and you give that first
initial part then the holy spirit sees
your obedience and he'll start to give
you more and he'll start to give you
more and then boom the next thing starts
happening and then the next thing you
know you're moving in it and and then
you start getting comfortable in that
now i will say this
when it comes to moving in the spirit
like that
there there is always though an element
of uh
you know like
like god if you don't come through
you know i can't do this in other words
this god that's working through that
yielded vessel and
there is a tremendous dependence upon
the lord because if if the lord doesn't
move you can't do anything you can't do
anything so you're always waiting on him
for that divine hell but thank god at
the same time
with
a calling to a fivefold ministry office
there is also supernatural equipment
that is given and as you walk out in
faith and honor the lord in faith those
gifts will flow but even as those gifts
flow through the servant of the lord you
still have to operate them in faith
woo praise the lord
it's very exciting it's very exciting
praise god
now you can get comfortable in
ministering in the spirit like that
but it takes a lot of practice and it
takes a lot of exercising those gifts
praise the lord and by god's grace i've
been able to
minister in
i don't know how many meetings all over
america all over the world so i enjoy
ministry in the spirit just like i do
preaching the gospel praise the lord in
meetings and sometimes i'll even
minister over the internet in the gifts
of the spirit
woo praise the lord hallelujah but my
friends
again when you go into something new and
maybe there's a minister listening to me
and you're thanking pastor steven i'd
love to go into that but that's just too
risky for me
well you you'll certainly feel that the
first time you do it but if you'll just
step into what the lord is taking you
into
i'm telling you he's not a joker he's
not a trickster if you'll just stand in
front of the people and say god what do
you want to do now would you like to
minister to your holy spirit to your
people by the power of your spirit
through the gifts of your spirit what
would you like to do just wait up on the
lord for a moment my friends
as you honor the lord in that way god
will work through a minister who yields
in such fashion praise god
praise god but again i'll say this when
you're actually doing it and all those
lights are on you and cameras are on you
and everybody's looking at you
yeah it's uh was a very real moment when
you step out it's a very real moment
pastor steve i
i feel like i'm going to sweat well just
do it while you're sweating
i mean pastor stephen i feel nervous
well just do it while you're nervous
like one one good minister said i i
sense that fear but you do it as you
sense that stuff swirling around just go
ahead and do it in faith you go and do
it god's with you and suddenly as you
get into it then all that all that
external uh distracting stuff begins to
evaporate and then you're in the moment
and then you're like thank god i stepped
into it and actually did it instead of
always wondering about it instead of
always realizing that's what god had for
me thank god i stepped into it praise
the lord yes so it can be very
challenging
particularly in these initial steps
because you have never walked that way
before but my friends
that act of obedience it will be there
and god will be with you praise god
let's look at one more example
mark chapter 5
mark chapter 5 praise the lord today
i'm teaching this today because for some
of you it's in it's inescapable you're
bumping up to it now i i don't want to
try to say something that would make
somebody prematurely
uh
do something that the time is not ripe
yet but there are some that are
listening to me you're in
you're coming into that kairos moment
you're coming into that season of the
open door
and it will be your time
to walk out your act of obedient faith
praise the lord now mark chapter 5 verse
25
and let me get a drink of water just for
a moment
now a certain woman had a flow of blood
for 12 years
a flow of blood
this is a very difficult thing
12 years
that's a long time
and it suffered many things from many
doctors i can imagine so uh you know
it's not like back then they had
uh certain
uh understandings of hygiene and uh you
know real clean hospital rooms that you
could go into and and all these
antiseptic things and all of that
things were quite a bit cruder back then
and you know she's a woman she's having
to have doctors examine her
and so there's a lot of i'm sure you
know you know humiliation with that and
everything like that and so it gets
worse she had spent all that she had was
no better but rather grew worse so now
the sickness is getting worse
which would imply that the blood
hemorrhaging the blood flow is
increasing
she can't control it she can't stop it
and now she's going financially
destitute so
this is not good this is a serious
situation
when she heard about jesus whoo
how does faith come
comes by hearing hearing what
hearing what
hearing
the word of god what word the rhema word
the living word
and in her case it would be that this
man is the messiah he is mightily
anointed by the holy spirit and he has a
miracle working anointing people are
getting healed all over the place and
that's what she heard
that's what she heard when she heard
about jesus
and so it is hearing that word not the
whole bible
and i believe in the whole bible the
entire bible is the inspired word of god
but it's not hearing the whole bible
it's hearing that word that causes your
faith to explode
that is the catalyst for stepping out
with bold obedient faith praise god now
now
let's see here verse
verse 27 when she heard about jesus
she came behind him
in the crowd
and touched his garment for she said if
only i may touch his clothes
i shall be made well
or as the kjv king james version says i
shall be made whole now why does she
come
behind
him
because she doesn't want to come in
front of a rabbi
she don't she does not want to come in
front of a torah scholar
she doesn't want to come in front of
someone
who is the word
when she knows that what she's doing
is
out of bounds praise god what do you
mean pastor stephen well of course we
see in the torah itself
in
leviticus chapter
15
and we go to verse
19
it says if a woman has a discharge
that of course that would be a discharge
of blood and the discharge from her body
is blood she shall be set apart
seven days
and whoever touches her shall be unclean
until evening now remember
we know from matthew's gospel
same story that it says the crowds were
pressing against jesus
so there's no way
she got through that crowd without
touching people she's bumping into all
kinds of people just working her way
pushing against people people pushing
against her i mean technically she's
making everybody unclean that she's
touching
this is a wild story
she shall be unclean until evening verse
20
everything that she lies on during her
impurity shall be unclean
also everything that she sits on shall
be unclean verse 25 if a woman has a
discharge of blood for many days other
than at the time of her customary
impurity or
if it runs beyond her usual time of
impurity well that would certainly be
the case with this woman
then says that all the days of her
unclean discharge shall be asked the
days of her customary impurity she shall
be
unclean
i mean it goes on to say that the bed
that she lies on i mean just everything
everything that she touches is unclean
verse 27 whoever touches those things
shall be unclean he shall watch his
clothes and bathe in water and be
unclean until evening she's unclean
everything she's wearing is unclean
everything is that she's touching is
unclean so what does that mean
it means you're unclean
and now you're still sick and now you're
poor and broke
and so you get to be
quarantined wow what does that pile upon
her
loneliness
mental agony
separation from family members
and friends
and the
psychological
warfare upon her mind of being an
outcast
of being filthy and unclean
wow
wow
i'm telling you you cannot treat these
acts of faith lightly oh that's no big
deal it doesn't work oh you better
believe it's a big deal
it's a big deal for bartimaeus he's all
in or else he's in a mess it's a big
deal for her
because she is violating
she is violating mosaic law
and if this doesn't work
uh she better hope she can get out of
that crowd
but nobody knows what's going on without
nobody recognizing her but it's too late
it's too
late look what happens
back to mark chapter 5
thank you lord jesus
thank you lord
now immediately uh she said if if only i
may touch his clothes i shall be made
well immediately the fountain of her
blood was dried up and she felt in her
body that she was healed of the
affliction and jesus immediately know it
in himself that power had gone out of
him turned around in the crowd and said
who touched my clothes
and that's what she did not want to
happen
she wanted to get a miracle and get out
of there
but his disciples said to him you see
the multitude thronging you and you say
who touched me in other words
everybody's touching her uh she'll be
touching him but see she had the touch
of faith
for a miracle
and he looked around to see her who had
done this thing but the woman fearing
and trembling
fearing and trembling why she feared in
trembling because she know she knows
what she did she's not allowed to be in
this crowd she's filthy she's unclean
and if anybody knew it
they might just stoner
right there on the spot
now the lord jesus wouldn't do that
but uh he was always
being ridiculed by the pharisees and the
sadducees and trying to give him a hard
time she's taking her life
into her hands
well now pastor stephen if it works
that's nice if it doesn't we'll just try
again no this is your life
we're not experimenting with god
we're
walking by faith and we're not playing
silly games no this is serious stuff
praise the lord
thank god that he's not a joker
thank god that god's not you know
looking out from heaven and seeing us
make mistakes and fail and then face
awful consequences because we're
actually trying to serve him no
no when you grow in the lord and the
word develops you into the mature
believer
and you're walking in the fear of the
lord the spirit of the fear of the lord
which has great awe and respect for god
you're not out there flippantly trying
to do something trying to make a mistake
you are trying to live your life right
you are trying to live in maturity
and you're trying to move forward in the
wisdom of god
and these things are very serious to you
and my friends as serious as they are
and as much as we don't want to make a
mistake
still eventually you're going to have to
make that decision and you're going to
be presented with that moment that
either you can step into that miracle
or you could play it safe but either way
it's going to require an act of
obedience if you want to go forward
praise god she went for it
she was convinced
she was convinced
praise god
thank you lord
but the woman feared and trembling
knowing what had happened to her came
and fell down before him and told him
the whole truth
and he said to her daughter your faith
has made you well go in peace and be
healed of your
affliction she got it
time for a party
time for celebration
you know back into the back into the
home she goes back into society she goes
totally healed everything's good
everything's good
but if she had not
had demonstrated
that performance of an act of obedience
it
never would have happened for her
i wish i could tell you there's another
way in
wow
i wish that i could tell you that
you know that
uh you'll never have to face
something that is this you know like
real but it yes it's there but god's
with you amen this is why a lot of a lot
of christians don't fulfill their
destiny
they they they talk about it
and look many get bible degrees many get
theology degrees and many graduate from
seminary and they know all this stuff
but they won't
they won't step into it why it's uh
it takes a lot it takes a lot but the
lord's with you
the lord is with you
now pastor stephen
how can i know of when to make that step
with that assurance that if i'm going
into that crowd
with all of this defilement and this
flow of blood and if i'm going to that
crowd risking my life how can i know
what kind of assurance can i have
that god's going to step through for me
and i'm going to receive a miracle
look at isaiah chapter 48
we're going to look at this verse for
strength
for encouragement
isaiah 48 17 thus says the lord your
redeemer
the holy one of israel
i am the lord your god who teaches you
to profit
watch this who leads you
by the way you should go
he will not only lead you along the way
that you should go but would help you to
understand he will help you to
understand the sequencing of your steps
he will show you so see here's here's
the big thing
you first of all have to see the way
that you're supposed to go and it is the
holy spirit that is the only one that
can unveil that to you he is the destiny
revealer and when you see
that path he will also help you to know
because you got you have to walk it by
faith
you have to walk it by faith but he will
help you to know when
as you make the journey step by step by
step
when
that you're now to turn the page into a
new chapter and this chapter to go to
this door requires
that special act of obedient faith
that
reveals that you're ready to go to the
next level
who teaches you to profit who leads you
by the way you should go now say this
say the holy spirit
leads me by the way i should go
and he'll also help you with the timing
of that path
praise the lord praise the lord glory
glory glory to god glory to god let's
get some further insight
of getting the sequence lined up with
that path and we see this in romans
chapter 8
verse 14
for as many as are led by the spirit of
god
these are sons of god verse 16 the
spirit himself bears witness with our
spirit that we are children of god so
let me ask you a question today how do
you know you're saved
well pastor stephen i know i'm saying
yes but how do you know
see if an intellectual
or an atheist says well
explain to me or prove to me how you're
saved
well really you can't technically prove
it to them because it's a
inner experience the kingdom of god is
within
and you have been born again not
externally of course but internally in
your spirit
but you know it even if somebody else
may not understand it or may not
believe it you know you've been born
again how by the number one way that god
lets all of his children know that
they've been born again which is the
holy spirit bearing witness with your
spirit that you are a child of god
so the holy spirit just let you know you
were born again and i knew it when i got
saved i knew i was saved and when i
received the baptism and the holy spirit
i knew i received the baptism in the
holy spirit how in here
in here i'll tell you this
when i got saved when i was born again
it felt like 2 000 pounds came off my
shoulders that's literally what it felt
like the sin burden rolled off of me
and i knew in here i
have now been born again this is what
all the christians have taught about
this is what i've heard in church
growing up i knew it the moment it
happened to me woo glory to god
how'd you know it felt stephen holy
spirit living on the inside of me
bearing witness with not my toe
not my intellect in other words somebody
didn't talk me into this and now
somebody else can talk me out of it no
the holy spirit bearing witness with my
spirit
i knew it
and i also knew through the holy spirit
bearing witness with me when i received
the holy spirit the baptism in the
spirit and speaking in tongues
[Music]
and that same holy spirit will help you
on that path he will help you on that
path and he'll start to quicken you
he'll start to bear witness with your
spirit get ready
the door
of
destiny
is soon going to open for you
and here's the thing here's the thing
you may think god
that's the door i've been praying for
for 10 years
lord that's the door i've been praying
about for 10 years and here's the thing
when you suddenly get up to that moment
you can feel it your flesh can feel it
whoo and you're like god i i i i don't
know but you know what your spirit knows
how through the holy spirit bearing
witness this
is your moment of destiny praise
god amen oh what does that mean pastor
stephen it means to go through that door
there will be some type
of corresponding action
[Music]
of obedient faith
that you
will have to do
and for you i'm sure it's not throwing
away a garment
for you i'm sure it's not sneaking up
behind jesus in a crowd
for you it's something different praise
god
my friends throughout so many of the
great miracles of the bible if you look
carefully you'll see it's in there
somewhere and somewhere it's going to be
in the mix for you get ready
because i see the favor of god resting
on your life
and that as you walk into it
jesus walks into it with you why it's
your destiny and extremely important
it's your time lift your hands
father i pray for those with hands up
lifted and hearts wide open to go into
the new door
the door of destiny i thank you father i
ask you for strength
and i ask you that your faith be
imparted into them in that moment
i thank you father god and let there be
grace
and favor favor favor favor
in the name of jesus
now we thank you father god
that the miracle is on the other side
we give you the praise in
jesus
name
i can hear somebody you're almost like
pleading with god lord please no
no lord please do the miracle first and
then i'll go through the door
he'll be with you
it's not going to work that way that the
carnal mind wants the work you must
believe first you must have the act of
obedience first and then you go through
praise god you can't have the miracle
first
god is a faith god it is impossible to
please him without faith
but i see you you're a child of faith
and your
your faith
in god in his word in what he has told
you your faith is the victory that
overcomes the world and god has put in
you what it takes to do what he has
called you to do amen praise the lord
glory to god now if you're watching
today and you don't know christ as your
lord and savior
and you don't even understand his
principles of faith but
you're attracted to his holy kingdom of
eternal life and of a heaven to gain and
a hell to shun my friends
god has given every measure uh to every
man the measure of faith to believe in
christ and faith comes by hearing and
jesus christ
jesus christ came to earth to be born of
a man
to be born through mary
to become a man
and
he grew up
lived a sinless life
preached the gospel
healed the sick raised the dead cast out
demons
and then he died
on the cross at calvary
but on the third day he was raised from
the dead
and now he has been taken up into heaven
praise god
my friend's eternal life is found in him
because he has paid the full penalty of
sin he paid it if you put your faith and
trust in him right now you can receive
forgiveness of sins you're going to
receive eternal life into your spirit
are you ready to pray that prayer
say yes say jesus
i'm a sinner
i repent of all of my sins
jesus
come into my heart
save me
now
wash my sins away with your blood
write my name in your book of life in
your name i pray
amen
and amen and he has heard your prayer
and he has answered it you are now born
again praise the lord
let's all lift our hands rejoice and say
thank you jesus thank you jesus
mighty savior
praise god now
as a family of believers
let's take
holy communion together
grab some unleavened bread i use these
little crackers
if you don't have one of these you can
find a substitute like a little cracker
something like that and some grape juice
and let's pray
heavenly father
thank you for the juice and the bread
we bless it now
we
consecrate it we set it apart through
this prayer
as now being holy
and we thank you that this is now the
body
and the blood
of jesus
our savior
father as we receive the body of christ
as we receive his flesh
we thank you father god
that when it's time to go through the
door
you go with us
and faith will be there
thank you father even let the gift of
faith be active thank you your faith in
us
your faith in us because if it's your
faith all it takes is a mustard seed of
your faith we thank you father god
thank you in jesus name
amen
let's receive the flesh
of jesus
heavenly father thank you for the
precious blood
of jesus
we honor his blood
we ask father that if we've committed
any sins that you would forgive us
wash all of our sins away
we ask that you would cleanse us from
all
unrighteousness thank you
and father we forgive anybody who sinned
against us we release them we bless them
hallelujah we go on with you
thank you father god we pray that you
would lead us away from temptation
we pray that you would deliver us from
the evil one
thank you for yours is the kingdom
and the power and the glory forever we
thank you father god that we are in
covenant with you through the shed blood
of christ and that we belong to you
in jesus name
amen
let's receive
praise god
praise god
praise god praise god praise god praise
god praise god hallelujah
i do believe that as a new testament
believer that you can get so in the
spirit and you could get so prayed up
and you could just worship and praise
the lord that some things you just walk
right through the door
like i mean it's just like
god is so with you that the thing that
you're doing
which others would say is not even
possible but you're so caught up in the
lord that you just go
you just go and the next thing you know
you're on the other side
you're on the other side
and it's not like the throwing away of
the garment was any big deal you're so
caught up in god
yes yes may that be your experience amen
stay full of the holy spirit stay full
of the fresh oil amen and watch god's
favor rest upon you
causing you to have miracle favor
praise the lord father bless your people
in jesus name
amen thanks for watching i'll see you
back
next time