i'm so happy that you're here and i want
to invite you to grab your bibles and
let's go today to the book of daniel
chapter 11 a very fascinating chapter
from the perspective that it
gives a lot of insight about the
coming antichrist and while we're not
really going to talk about
who the antichrist is we will look at
one verse
that gives us some future prophetic
insight
into what will take place there in
jerusalem
now let's open up in prayer heavenly
father
as we study your word today we ask that
the anointing
of your holy spirit would flow the
spirit of wisdom
and revelation would be given unto us so
that we can
understand your word and live it
apply it to our lives and enjoy it
father we thank you for this blessing
in jesus name we agree and say amen
verse 31 and forces shall be mustered by
him
that would be this antichrist type
figure
who in history his actual name was
antiochus
epiphanes and forces shall be mustered
by him
and they shall defile the sanctuary
fortress
then they shall take away the daily
sacrifices
that's what he did and placed there the
abomination of desolation
and he certainly did that as well now
in the year of 167
bc is when this took place
you had this man his name was antiquias
epiphanes and he was the king of syria
and he was not the rightful king now the
king that went before him
died and his son was supposed to
reign in his place but here came all
antiochus
uh from another area and he came in
there uh
with an overthrow to win the hearts of
the people over so that they would
make him the king instead of this young
boy and
they they listened to him because anti
uh antiochus epiphanes
was raised in rome and he was trained
and educated
in the finest teachings of rome and he
was actually a very good speaker
so you see a lot of um prophetic
overshadowing of the coming antichrist
somebody that will be a
phenomenal speaker well this guy had all
of that
and he deceived the people
and won over the people and thus he
became the king of syria
and what he did is he tried to force the
greek culture on the jewish people uh he
tried to hellenize them
the word hellenization would mean to uh
take the greek culture
and to indoctrinate the people with that
and so he wanted to stamp out all
vestiges
of monotheism or worship to the one god
that we know would be jehovah god and
there in jerusalem in 167 bc he came in
with his army and he desecrated
the temple and he stopped all of the
sacrifices
not only there in jerusalem but anywhere
throughout the land of israel where the
law was taught
uh taught or there were synagogues or
things like that he just began to burn
all biblical manuscripts he began to
tear down synagogues and killed a whole
lot of jews
he was a really really bad guy and you
see so
many examples about his life here in
daniel 11
that all uh are giving
insights in into who this one world
leader will be in the end times
who is the real antichrist and antiochus
epiphanes
uh he was a forerunner you could say a
prototype
but the real guy that's coming will be
much much worse and it's going to do
some awful things
now this guy antiochus epiphanes even
took
a pig and he went into the jewish temple
he went through the holy place and he
went into the holy of holies
and he sacrificed a pig there
on the altar and so his whole thing was
just you know destroy
judaism and destroy the jewish people
and those that were willing to still
live you have to conform to his
uh you know his idea of what should be
worshipped and his
idea of what should be studied and
taught and so on and on and on
that stuff went by the way he died a
very
uh very painful death he was really
tormented by demons
uh in the last two years of his life
even talking out loud they're tormenting
me again
things along that line so he really
got it good what was coming to him he
got some severe punishment
and i'm sure he's in hell today so he uh
went into the temple and he defiled the
temple
now remember back in the old testament
god
dwelt his presence dwelt there in the
temple
in the most holy place there upon the
ark of the covenant between the two
cherubim
now at this time it is also
thought that the ark had already been
taken
out sometimes people ask that question
the temple that herod built during the
day of jesus when jesus was alive
the temple that was there in jerusalem
uh was the ark
of the covenant back behind that curtain
most uh rabbis that have studied the
jewish
literature will teach you that no it
wasn't it was it was uh it disappeared
uh just before the babylonians invaded
and ransacked jerusalem
uh it disappeared there's a lot of
theories about where it's at
my personal belief uh is that it's
probably
uh underground somewhere there in
jerusalem
and uh you know there's a theory it's in
ethiopia
i don't believe that by any stretch of
the imagination i believe it's still
in jerusalem hidden really well but
certain people
know where it's at nevertheless in the
old testament system
there was the temple
and there in the temple you had
the holy place and then the most holy
place
but something fascinating happened with
the lord jesus
during his during his death
he cried out and said it is finished
and he died and when that happened as he
was on the cross when that happened
the veil that separated the holy place
from the
most holy place or sometimes called the
the holy of holies
that veil that which was a curtain it
was torn
from the top down not from the bottom up
so it's not like two really big strong
guys
grabbed it one on one side one on the
other and they ripped it and
you know it just pulled apart from the
bottom to the top it was torn
from the top all the way to the bottom
and the
jewish historian josephus he tells us
that that curtain
was four inches thick so the material
was extremely thick
strong and heavy very durable so it's
four inches thick
he also said it was 20 feet tall and
40 feet wide but it was torn from top to
bottom
after jesus said it is finished and he
died and you could see right into
the holy of holies and
when jesus said it is finished
and and then he died
and then you had the resurrection of
christ and the ascension where he went
up into heaven
and was seated at the right hand of god
what happened is that basically god
moved out of the temple and he was no
longer
his presence was no longer in the temple
and
many of the amazing well not many all
all of the unusual
miracles that were associated not only
with daily life there at the temple
but particularly the uh
very significant things that took place
on the day of atonement that always
happened every year they stopped taking
place
now eventually in a.d 70 the temple is
going to be completely destroyed and if
you go to jerusalem
today all you see is the mount upon
which
the temple used to sit and uh the
western wall is really
just a retaining wall that held it holds
in the dirt and the mountain material uh
upon which the temple itself set but
there's nothing left of the temple it's
completely gone because when the roman
soldiers
lit fire to the temple and were tearing
certain parts of it apart
they noticed that gold was everywhere
and that gold started
melting and running down between the
cracks of the rocks well they they
thought well
there's gold involved let's just take
the whole thing apart that's what they
did stoned by stone
and of course you know killed all the
jews that were in jerusalem at that time
but uh for for example uh let's look at
something that took place this is
interesting
we see it in the book of leviticus and
this deals with the subject of
the scarlet thread so every year
in jerusalem on the day of atonement
the high priest would
he would be working with these two goats
one of the goats is for the lord
it's a sacrifice the other goat is going
to be the scapegoat it's going to be
sent off into the wilderness
but what they would do is they would
take a red
or scarlet red cord and they would put
one of these cords
up on the temple door and so you had
these giant doors
on the entrance to the temple one of
those cords would be put up on the door
for all of the jewish people all of the
israelites could see that cord hanging
there
and there's another cord that would be
on the scapegoat
now after the high priest
concluded all of his duties
of the sacrifices and things like that
then on that door if god was pleased and
everything was done right
that cord in front of everybody would
turn from red
to white it was an amazing thing wow
and that was a supernatural indicator
that
well we we're good to go for another
year uh the
the blood of an animal has covered or
atoned for our sins now all the sins
were still underneath that blood
but it's like having a credit card uh
you're charging your credit card and
somebody's going to cover that
but you but eventually you have to pay
off the credit card well that's what
jesus did
with his one great finale sacrifice of
his own sinless life
but also along with that supernatural
sign of that
red cord turning white in front of
everybody
you had the cord that would be attached
to the
scapegoat and uh
when that goat would be sent off into
the wilderness
that the cord that was tied around him
that he would be dragging
would turn from red to white well all of
that stopped
after jesus was raised from the dead
remember the temple kept on going
uh even after jesus was raised from the
dead and
you know you've got the 12 apostles
preaching and then the day of pentecost
and the church's birth and all of that
see all that temple stuff though kept on
going the system of judaism kept on
going
for another 40 years until the temple
was destroyed
but during those 40 years uh you could
tell
hey things aren't the same the priests
could tell things aren't the same
anymore
why god had moved out of the temple
and even the red cord attached to the
scapegoat
it wouldn't turn white either so you
know the rabbis they're all they're all
puzzled by this but you know what what
can they do there's nothing they can do
about it it just
seems like god's not talking to them
anymore through
their normal means of following the
law and you know the temple activities
that took place
god's not speaking anymore through that
venue
well uh that's true because he's not
there in that
system anymore he's not there shut up in
that holy of holies anymore
you really you had you had a lot of
daily miracles there at the temple
but when jesus died and was raised from
the dead
you had four major miracles at the
temple
that stopped that many of the jews
noticed
of course one of them would be the cord
turning from red to white
in front of everybody and that would
bring a great relief to the nation when
it happened
and if it didn't happen they all knew
something was severely wrong
but you know it always uh went in
accordance with the way it should
but you had some other things as well um
concerning
those those two goats it does say
in leviticus 16 verse 8 then aaron shall
cast
lots for the two goats and
uh it says that one lot for the lord and
the other lot
for the scape goat well they ran into
another
another problem after jesus was raised
from the dead
where whenever the the high priest would
cast
lots uh for the goats
uh it the lot kept coming up in the
wrong hand
now there's some study involved in that
to understand what was really going on
it's a little bit complex but the odds
of this working out the way that it did
uh one one scientist said that the odds
of this happening would be one
in five billion five hundred million
where
the uh so it's things
aren't the same anymore in other words
the priest the high priest
he would put both hands into this urn
before he put his hands into the urn
they would shake the urn up
you know shake it around and stuff like
that he's gonna put his hands in there
there's two stones in there one and both
stones are the same size same weight
one stone has written on it for the lord
the the other stone has written on it
for asia or for
the for the scapegoat so the priest
would reach in there with both hands
eyes closed not looking not trying to
you know like get one hand on the right
stone
he would grab whatever hand this stone
was uh
uh you know his hand went to he'd pull
them both out and then he's going to
stand before both goats
and then he's going to open his hands
and there's going to be a man standing
there
who's an assistant who's going to uh
tell what's written on each
stone and this is supposed to line up
that's what i'm trying to say basically
there was a method in which this all
lines up
this this stone is supposed to go in
this hand and the lot
on that stone supposed to go in this
hand and it just it stopped working
after jesus was raised from the dead and
the odds of that
happening the way it did is just uh
it was incredible because it happened 40
years straight
see after jesus was resurrected for 40
years straight until that temple was
destroyed
that that cord never turned uh from red
the white ever again
when that high priest would uh have
those two goats
and he would draw the lot after jesus
was raised from the dead
and uh the spirit of god had moved out
of the temple those lots never came up
right
ever ever again and you know for those
that were
working at the temple they were just
like wow there's some crazy stuff going
on around here
is this is like god has abandoned us
well god had abandoned that system
because there's now a new system or you
could say it like this the old covenant
has been fulfilled
and the new covenant is now on the scene
and if you want your sins forgiven
you need to get over here to this new
covenant system because that's the one
that
and that's the only one that god is
honoring there was there were other
things as well one of them was
at night the priest would close the
temple doors
but in the morning when they would come
back they were always open
and they're like who opened the doors
nobody opened the doors we've been here
all night long watching them
well how do they get open again and so
this not only puzzled them this actually
scared them because they thought it was
a bad omen
uh and it they thought this this is a
sign of destruction
well actually uh on that they were
probably right because destruction did
happen
in a very awful way in 1870
when titus came in with the roman army
and laid siege to jerusalem
and just destroyed it and killed many
many jewish people
now you had this other issue there at
the temple
something very unusual going on with the
menorah which was supposed to always be
kept lit
it was called like you know in their
mindset the eternal flame
but after jesus was raised from the dead
now you've got the temple doors
you know that they'll they won't close
and and then you've got this thing with
the menorah
where although the priest would put all
the oil in and it's supposed to stay lit
on that manure the western light the
western part of it just kept going out
every night it would go out didn't make
any sense it would just go out
so you had a lot of things that just
stopped
why god moved out of
that temple
very very interesting now of course in
hebrews
chapter 10 you really get a just a
complete overview
of the fulfillment of the old testament
system through christ
that covenant and the new covenant which
is so much better
that jesus has made available we see
that hebrews chapter 10 verse 1
for the law having a shadow of the good
things to come and not the very image of
the things
can never with these same sacrifices
which they offer continually year by
year
make those who approach perfect
and you know not only did it not
did it not change the lives of the
people
but you know today for the jews
with no temple because that was central
for them with no temple
the rabbis really have had to reinvent
actually what judaism
is so uh it's uh now there's all kinds
of
hundreds of human traditions mixed into
it now verse 2
for then would they not have ceased to
be offered
talking about the sacrifices for the
worshipers once purified would have
would have had no more consciousness of
sins but in those sacrifices
there is a reminder of sins every year
for it is not possible that the blood of
bulls and goats could take away sins
that is correct now that the blood of
bulls and goats could cover
sin temporarily for a year but then the
high priest has got to go back into the
holy of holies and go through all this
you know elaborate routine all over
again
it could not take away sin the blood of
jesus
takes away your sin it completely
removes it
and jesus doesn't even remember your sin
wow and there's not only a purging and
taking away
of your sins there's a purging and
cleansing of your conscience
so you can feel clean and because you
are clean
wow it really is amazing it really is a
covenant
that is so much better verse 11 and
every priest
stands ministering daily and offering
repeatedly the same
sacrifices which can never take away
sins but this man that would be jesus
after he had offered one sacrifice for
sins forever
sat down at the right hand of god from
that time waiting till his enemies are
made his footstool
for by one offering that would that took
place at calvary there in jerusalem when
jesus died on the cross
for by one offering he is perfected
forever
those who are being sanctified
and of course then verse 17 their sins
and their lawless deeds i will remember
no more praise god so jesus
shed his blood for us so that we can
have
full redemption so the lord moved
out of the temple praise god hallelujah
thank you jesus he's not
that behind the curtain somewhere praise
god
well pastor stephen then where in the
world does god live
let's find out praise the lord first
corinthians chapter 6
verse 19. we're in the new covenant
let's see what changes took place from
the old to the new
verse 19 or do you not know well i
think most christians know this but i i
do
think in some ways because of a lot of
religious
traditions and maybe even sentimentalism
that you could slip on this if you're
not careful now watch this
verse 19 or do you not know that your
body is the temple of the holy spirit
who is in you
whom you have from god and you are not
your own
for you were bought at a price therefore
glorify god
in your body and in your spirit which
are
god's okay so now
in the new covenant god does not live
in a man-made temple
of stone or brick or gold or anything
like that or stained glass or whatever
it might be
god lives in you
as the individual believer and also
collectively we as a church
he lives in his body who praise god
now um i don't have my my phone with me
uh but i couldn't help but notice i
would have pulled up some of the stories
relating to this
of such concern uh you've probably heard
about this in the news
such concern about the former church
in turkey uh that has been converted
into a
mosque oh pastor stephen the president
there uh mr uh uh erdogan that's awful
what he has done
well the reality is in the 1930s it was
actually turned into a museum
okay so for oh about a 140 or 150
excuse me 1 500 years before that
it was a byzantine type church so it had
christian roots the the building was
used
for the gathering of god's people
and so when uh in the 1930s they turned
it into a nice museum
and uh very recently uh the president of
turkey
has decided you know i want to i want to
turn him into a mosque
and so he's done that and i guess
they'll start you know holding islamic
services there
in the quote mosque and christians all
over america oh
pastor stephen that's awful they have
turned the church
into a mosque pastor stephen the uh
we're in the end times yes we're in the
end times but can i say something
the facility that they that that he has
now designated
as a mosque can i tell you what it is oh
pastor stephen is the church
no it's not it's a stone building that's
all it is
it's stone building have you ever
stopped to think
that you can't go to church because you
are the church
pastor steve but i'm going to church
what do you mean by that
do you mean that you're going to a
building and that building is the church
well yes pastor stephen no no that
that's a building
made out of wood uh that's not the
temple of god
you are the temple of god god dwells in
you
see what i'm saying i saw a lot of
christian
uh magazines and newspapers covered this
article
and they were and
i i i it's good to cover it's good to
know what's going on and you know around
the world and stuff like that
but it's just basically the president of
turkey you know just opened up a mosque
somewhere
it just happened to be that christians
used to meet there a long time ago
that's a pretty cool building too there
is a lot of history and i i think that
yes
in many ways we need to preserve history
but truth be told would you like to know
the new testament truth
i can go out and buy a used car
dealership
that they used to sell cars in and i can
take that
and we as believers could meet there
and we could have in a sense church
there because we are the church
oh no pastor stephen that's not a holy
place they used to sell vehicles in
there
that's not the church that's just a
building we're the church
not that stone structure oh
what religious tradition can do you
can't go to the church because you are
the church
and some christians get so uh
sentimental they actually think that the
building
is the church they actually think god
dwells in the building they
this is like going under the old
covenant again back into the holy of
holies
god lives in you or do you not know that
your body is the temple
of the holy spirit who is in you
praise the lord now
let's dig deeper i love gothic
architecture after that you you got into
the renaissance the renaissance was
pretty cool too
but as far as what many
you know writers along the line of
building design and
uh architecture they really say that the
high water mark
was gothic architecture because of the
cathedrals
that were built and you have to admit
they are beautiful structures but you
know there are people
that that are christians they love god
they are so
attached to the structure to the
building because it's pretty
that they actually in a sense think god
lives there
can i get back to basics it's just a
beautiful stone building
praise the lord it's a stone building
and people think sometimes that because
it has a high
vaulted ceiling and it has stained glass
windows and it has as many of the great
cathedrals
do it has pointed arches and some of
them have the amazing flying buttresses
oh you saw my pictures from two years
ago
when me and pastor kelly were in france
i i spoke it
uh at a couple of catholic churches uh
that were phenomenal one of them built
in the 1300s another that i went to
that was much older that uh whoo
mind-boggling beauty oh yes pastor
stephen god
lives in there god lives in there
please don't go back under the old
covenant just because it's a beautiful
structure
praise god thank you lord jesus
lord we we give you praise for
revelation
and illumination praise god how about
this
colossians chapter 1
verse 28
and verse 29
actually verse 26 and 27 the mystery
which has been hidden from ages and from
generations
but now has been revealed to his saints
that's you and i
to them god will to make known what are
the riches of the glory of this mystery
among the gentiles which is
are you ready for it christ christ in
you the hope of glory christ in you now
a lot of christians might think that
should read
christ outside of you the hope of glory
but that was the great mystery veiled
from those
under the old covenant it was veiled
from them there were a few prophets that
were starting to pick up on it and it
just
that they couldn't wrap their mind
around it it was too wild god
living on the inside of the individual
child of god uh and so it was a mystery
but it's not any longer that mystery is
this
christ in you the hope of
glory praise the lord so christ lives on
the inside of you by
the holy spirit he lives in your body
thank you jesus now some
people over the years i say people i'm
talking about god's people
have gotten so caught up on the dwelling
of god
and they have drifted from the fact that
you are the dwelling place of god
god lives on the inside of you and
they've gotten over to the
place where they have put the focus on
the building or the facility
and they think god lives there or
that's the church and it's not you and i
are the church
and we meet in a building and if the
truth be told
you can meet in any kind of a building
that you want
praise god now pastor stephen can we
call it the house of god
or the lord's house you can but you have
to
i think have an understanding of what
you mean by that if you're calling it
the house of god because you say god
lives in there
then that's not biblically correct from
a new covenant perspective
but if you are calling it the house of
god because
that has been designated as a place
where we meet to worship
that i can understand what you mean by
that because where we go
god goes because he's on the inside of
us if we're not there
it's just an empty building and that's
all it is it's a building
that doesn't have anybody in it well
pastor stephen i thought that you have
said
that even in your meetings before god
was in the house
yes he was do you know why because we
were there
and when we disperse and leave it's not
like he stays there sitting in a chair
he leaves
he inhabits the praises of his people
psalm 22
and as we get together there are the
manifestations of the spirit
and when we worship as believers or hear
the word taught as
believers there there can be the moving
of the spirit the presence as we would
say
of the lord praise god
but you know when we disperse and we're
not there anymore
it's not like god says okay i'll see you
when you get back next time i'll still
be here waiting for you no he's in you
he's on the inside of you
well i think all streams of christianity
have drifted sometimes where they put
the focus on the wrong
area um i i think some of my catholic
friends
they think it's all about the building
and uh
and they have routines oh
i'm not picking on the catholics i'm
gonna i'm gonna i'm gonna move over to
the protestants in just a moment
but i know for those that would be
catholic because i've been in their
their services and i've been to
monasteries and and things like that
there's uh if you go back behind the
scenes there's even more traditions
so the monk or the abbot or you know the
bishop or whatever
as you're going towards the sanctuary
you have to touch
that and you have to uh bow here and
then when you get over by this area oh
you have to touch
this stone and then as you come over
here you have to bow before
this and but you know it takes you 15
minutes just to get where you're going
and if you just walk there you could be
there in one minute but you have to do
all of these things why
this is the holy house of god
and so you have all this stuff that you
have to do bowing bending kneeling
getting back up and uh whoo glory to god
it's it's like it takes half of your
study
just to learn behavior of what you're
supposed to do and look look it's all
tradition
it's all tradition of men there's no
power in it there's no anointing in it
and uh the house is treated as if god's
there
well if he's there where is he is he up
in the attic
is he back in the uh is he back in the
foyer or is he over in the kitchen
or is he down in the basement you know
putting the shoes on
no no the reason god would be there is
because we're there
and if you and i aren't there it's an
empty building because he lives where
he he lives on the inside of
you now let's move to a different stream
of christianity same faith those who
love the lord saved and loved jesus
now uh maybe what we would call
protestant or evangelical okay
back in the 1700s you had john wesley
and he started preaching you know having
been uh you know commissioned as an
anglican priest
through the church of england he's out
preaching but he's catching new
revelation from the holy spirit
and he realized that the church
that they that the church of england met
in you know the various buildings the
the church building
uh it's not about the building
but the all the elders and all of their
teaching thought it was
you cannot have any services ever
outside of the
quote house of god because god would
never move outside of these walls
because he's in this house and john
wesley
wanted to reach those outside of the
walls
of the church okay so he
told the leaders i believe
that we need to go outside and minister
and preach to those outside you know
what they did to him they threw him
out of the building they thought it was
so heretical
to even think about ministering outside
of the quote house of god
they rose up and threw him out of the
building
and he went to the cemetery
there out you know at the back of the of
the church
he went to the cemetery stood on top of
his father's tombstone because his daddy
formerly was a preacher stood on the
tombstone and preached to the people
outside
guess what found out that the presence
of the lord showed up
outside in the open air just like it
would show up
on the inside of a facility when he
preached
inside of a building and so you know
what armed with that revelation you know
what he did
he started holding what we now call
open-air
meetings outside
and the church of england said you
cannot do that they stripped him of his
ordination of his credentials
and don't ever forget true credentials
come from god
you get a piece of paper saying you're a
man of god but if god doesn't put his
backing
behind it uh originally then there's no
piece of paper that's going to float the
boat praise god
well john wesley certainly had that call
from the lord
and he started having massive crowds
and you know what god showed up in those
open-air meetings
but if you stood on a stump god was
there the presence of the lord was there
oh pastor stephen you can't do that you
got to get back inside the house
god's in the building because that's the
holy house of god
no you your body is the holy
house of god
also now george whitefield catches the
revelation
and he starts having even larger crowds
and that you know those men eventually
came to america and ministered in
america
but we're talking crowds of twenty
thousand sometimes thirty thousand and
god is saving people out in the open
underneath trees
[Laughter]
pastor stephen god can't do that you
have to do that in the house of god
well that's all all of that frustration
all of that jealousy all of that
confusion came because people
forgot forgot remember let me go back to
that just for a moment
or do you not know they didn't know that
you are the temple not that building
over there where we can meet at
so we can get in out of the rain when we
have a service together
as a church because we are the church
okay they forgot
they forgot that we are the temple of
the holy spirit praise the lord
well pastor stephen why do we need these
buildings so that we don't get rained on
when we meet together as the body of
christ
so that we can have some heating in the
winter so that we can have some cooling
in in the summer and so that as we meet
together as a
collective body that we can have a place
that what
instance we need to have a place to meet
let's have a nice place that honors and
glorifies the lord
and you can make it a cathedral if you
want you can use whatever type of
architecture that you want but just
don't ever forget
that building is not where god lives
god lives in you
pastor stephen we need gothic
architecture if we have that
then god will surely come
well you it's nice if you if you have
that then it's it is extremely beautiful
but you don't need that hallelujah
praise the lord
see the azusa street revival that
happened in the early 1900s
there in los angeles took place
not in a beautiful cathedral
it took place in what was formerly a
horse stable
and they tried to clean it up the best
they could and they put some uh
benches in there but from what i've read
because it used to be formerly a horse
stable they always had problems with
flies
but i could tolerate a few flies when
you're having a move of the spirit of
god
like they were having but but you must
also understand it's not about the place
it's not about the location it's about
the believer or the believers that are
there
and so you had seymour there and trust
me when you have a man that's praying
five hours a day
uh probably some good things are going
to happen matter of fact he confided in
dr john g
lake that he was actually praying seven
hours a day
when the revival was running uh at its
peak and the
the miracles that were at their greatest
which included
uh arms coming out where there were no
arms legs coming out where there were no
legs
and many many other miracles you don't
need gothic architecture for that
you you need the people of god to come
together in faith
and to pray and to believe hallelujah
and god will do beautiful things why he
dwells in you and he also dwells
among you as you as we gather together
praise the lord isn't the lord good
thank you jesus hallelujah
somebody's getting set free
[Laughter]
oh praise god all right so here's here's
one that's really beautiful
and this one is uh the timing
on this one is for you today first john
chapter 4 verse 4
you are of god little children
and have overcome them because he
who is in you not on the outside of you
he who is in you is greater than he
who is in the world so god
dwelling in you
jesus said my father and i will come and
make our abode in you
how by the holy spirit living in
your body living in your spirit
living on the inside of you powerful
powerful praise the lord you are of god
little children and have overcome them
because
he who is in you is greater
than anything else that's out there
greater than uh
all the challenges that our country
would face at this time
greater than all of the situations that
are on a global level
that are difficult but yet god is
greater god's greater and he's living
where
on the inside of you so he will
strengthen you
he will put resolve in you he will put
wisdom in you
he will put courage in you he will put
whatever is needed
to keep you going and he's on the inside
of you
and you need to be conscious of that you
need to be aware of that
of that power of the person who is
living
on the inside of you so so often
we can get focused on the outside and
god says it's
it's me on the inside of you sometimes
we can get caught up in a building
caught up in a location or something
like that well pastor stephen now i've
heard that moravian falls
is a very thin place and there's angels
everywhere
well if it's thin it's because there are
people here who are thin
in other words what i mean by that is
you have people here
that love the lord understand the
supernatural
have a hunger for the things of god and
because of god's people
then it can create an atmosphere like
that but take the people away
and all you have is a nice view with
lots of green
lots of trees and a lot of deer and some
raccoons and squirrels running around
well pastor stephen god's there yes he's
here
because we're here
and see people try to say well it's
spiritual because it's spiritual
no it's spiritual because of the people
because of the people
and you take the people away uh it's
it's
you know air sky uh trees
rocks and stuff like that praise the
lord
well pastor steve what about the angels
well that's because you have a whole
bunch of people
that have revelation of the angels and
the supernatural
and because we cooperate with that and
we understand that
you're going to have more of those
manifestations
praise god it's just like you know uh
go to tulsa and if you hang out in tulsa
and that area of oklahoma where so many
faith ministers have their base at their
headquarters at
uh they're you're going to run into a
lot more people that have the
knowledge of the mechanics of faith and
how it works and how they use
your faith to believe god and to receive
things from god
so that that's an atmosphere they
created there but you take
the christians out of that you just have
uh
you have the historic dust bowl area
praise god
you know the crazy weather and
hailstones the size of softballs and
everything like that
but it's the people it's god's people
pastor stephen if you go to nigeria
you'll really be able to move in the
spirit because god's there
well why is he there because of the
people
yes and i've heard that that uh and i
haven't been to nigeria i want to go
sometime
they say the easiest place to preach is
in nigeria i've heard more
more than one minister say that well
that's because of the people of god
who lived there and the prayers and the
community and the faith of the believers
now you take the people out
of that equation take the people of god
out of that
city or out of that region or that part
of the country
and uh you're just going to have a
vacuum in the sense of it's going to be
whatever is there
praise the lord well god's there
yes god's there because we're there and
he's in us
it's not about a building it's not even
about a location
i remember one prophet a good prophet
but learning
these things of god he asked the lord a
question
he said lord why did you decide to move
in that city and the lord answered him
and said i didn't choose that city i
chose that man
because the city is known for the man of
god that lives there
and the great work that's been raised up
there and because of that it actually
put that city on the map in other words
a lot of christians know about that city
so the prophet said lord why did you
choose that city the lord said i didn't
choose that city i chose that man
ah so god lives in that man oh
see you have to get back to the new
testament
hallelujah well years back what maybe
about to
24 years ago i uh i was hanging out with
a friend
me and kelly were together and we had
been invited
to uh help out with the move of the
headquarters
of the full gospel businessmen's
fellowship
international they had been located in
costa mesa
and they're going to move to a different
location so they said you know
stephen your chapter president please
grab some of the guys to help and you're
welcome to come i said y'all be there me
and kelly will come and
move a few things do what we can so a
whole bunch of people showed up to help
and uh so you know we're moving boxes
and stuff like that to the new
location
now one of the guys that worked there at
the headquarters
he said stephen come over here and i
want to show you something very very
special
so he took me to kind of like a back
room where things that were
valuable were stored at that you know
the average person didn't have any
access to
and he said come here i want to show you
something very very holy
god's in this i said he is he goes yes
he said what you're about to see god's
in it and i said well this is going to
be interesting
he took me back to a room about three
times
three times the size of the the studio
that i'm in right here
and there leaning against the wall
rolled up
he explained to me there stephen
is the rug that demus shakarian
preyed on when he had the great vision
that god
gave him the great global vision of this
ministry that's the very rug
right there that he prayed on and god's
in that rug
i said he is we need to get him out he
can't breathe because it's all rolled up
real tight
[Laughter]
oh stephen though you don't understand
god's in that rug
he said i unrolled it one night and i
laid on it
i rolled all over it i rolled all over
it so that i could receive
god i said i thought you received god
when you got saved when you gave your
heart to jesus
well you know what i mean i'm i'm
receiving god in a
new measure and a new dimension i said
well has it done anything for you
he goes well i don't know but i just
believe it will so he had rolled all
over the rug
and uh uh i think all he got out of it
was a good itch praise the lord i don't
think it had been vacuumed in 40 years
so nevertheless my friends this stuff is
kind of
some things people can get into
sometimes
when they they don't realize god lives
in you
god lives in you so they venerate a
building okay
or they venerate a place and they say
god's in that
god's in that rock um pastor stephen go
sit on that rock
you'll feel god
and this is really getting over into
kooky stuff
because it doesn't work like that and if
you told them no god's in you
they they throw the bible at you
why because they're they're getting
sidetracked
they're getting sidetracked and you need
to realize that the greater one
is not in the rock the greater one is
not rolled up over there in that rug
the greater one is where living
living in you he moved out of the
temple of uh of solomon he's not in the
tabernacle of moses he's not in the
the temple that herod built he's gone
even the temple's gone
he's moved where into the heart
of the person that receives christ as
our lord and savior
and he lives on the inside of every
believer
and if you'll become more conscious of
that you'll realize that victory
and despite in spite of the most
troubling situations that could arise
you will realize that you can overcome
because the greater one
is on the inside of you
you are of god little children and have
overcome them because he who is in you
is greater than he who is in
the world
praise the lord some local people wanted
to build
let me see if i can veil this a little
bit and cloak this i live in a small
town
praise the lord um some local people
wanted to build
a house and put it in a location
that would be visible why i asked him
why do you want to do that
oh brother stephen because god is going
to come
off his throne he's going to come down
and dwell
in that house and we're going to make
sure the house has lights
excuse me all glass windows so when
god's in there
and the light is lighting up with the
glory that all the glory and the light
will go out of the windows
and people can see it for miles and come
and encounter god
i said oh i said uh
do you have any scripture from that from
the new testament of god living in a
house and illuminating the house
now you understand that i'm i'm well
aware with how god moves i i
know that when we gather we gather
together
god can show up and uh the cloud of
glory can appear
and uh you know all kinds of amazing
things can happen
and uh even fire could be seen on the
building and
uh you know uh the fire been showing up
thinking that we saw fire
yeah you know god's here or you know
what whatever i understand that why is
all that going on
because god's people are there god's
people are there
okay but but to
want to build a facility with glass
windows
and think that god the father is going
to come down there and sit
in that building this is what they were
planning on doing and sit
in that in that room in a chair and i i
don't know what they thought well you
would go up to the window and look
through the window oh look at that
there's god sitting in a chair isn't
that amazing he's smoking a pipe
that's nice i always wanted to meet him
in person
see this is cuckoo this is crazy stuff
and the supposed place where it was
going to happen was a place that god
dwelled god's here
day and night god's standing here and uh
so i i had a minister friend
who had heard all about this he went to
that place
and uh wanted to find out so
he went there then he came over and he
said hey uh
he said hey steven what's up with all
this stuff of uh
god's standing there in that place i
said well what do you think of it
he said well i went there and he said
i've been in ministry for years i've
ministered all over the world
he said i went there and i didn't feel
nothing he said there's no presence of
god there there's not anything there
just a bunch of rocks and
uh you know trees or whatever the case
is i said you're exactly right
you're exactly right the only reason god
would move there or be there would
because if we went there or
the people of god went there had a
meeting and god came into the presence
of the people and blessed the people or
god moved by the spirit
but outside of that you know it does
things don't work like that praise god
so you know those people were wanting uh
the unbelievers to be able to see
something physical
like a building and god sitting in the
building and light streaming out
and they could come to that i said well
i thought god lived on the inside of you
oh they need to see though they need to
see god i said
it's not going to happen it's not going
to happen by the way the person that
wanted to happen
the man that had this idea eventually
you know lived his life out and died
and god never showed up and sat there in
the house
now i've had meetings where the lord has
come into my house
why did he come into my house because i
was there and he wanted to visit me and
talk with me and share some things with
me i saw him in a vision he shared
things with me
but this emphasis that uh people be
careful
be careful with relics yeah you know
pastor stephen this is the finger of
saint peter
well how do you know it looks a little
withered up uh it looks kind of dried up
is that even a finger
yes yes you know and there's power in it
well
you know are you sure that's not
petrified wood so on and on
these things can go and uh you know it
but but look this happens within the
christian faith
where people think it's about this or
that but we really need to get back to
the basics just walk with the lord
know the lord know that he lives on the
inside of you
and that you are the body of christ you
are the church
and when we come together as believers
collectively or sometimes we use the
word corporately
we are together the body but remember
that's also just an individual body
there's
there's other members all over america
all over
the world literally so we are the global
body of christ and god dwells in the
body globally
but he also dwells in you individually
as
an individual person and as a believer
in the lord jesus christ
and when you are settled on that you
will be very very happy
and you will see you will see yourself
going through difficulties because he's
on the inside of you
and i have faced uh over the years even
in ministry
you know various challenges where it
looks like there's no way to go forward
and i've had those times where the enemy
would say just throw in the towel and
quit
you know you know just you might as well
give up
but something would always happen what's
that pastor stephen
did you touch the finger of peter no
no that wasn't going to do it for me uh
what happened is that the greater one on
the inside of me
would always rise up and say keep on
going
this is gonna things are gonna work out
i'm for you if i'm for you who can be
against you
just keep doing the work i've called you
to do and you know what
i found out that god would just give me
strength sometimes day by day
but it was always enough and the victory
was always
there because of the greater one who
lives on the inside of me
he's the same god living on the inside
of you he's got a great plan for your
life
a beautiful plan for your life and he
has victory for you today
and he'll give you wisdom and he'll
he'll make your life beautiful
and he'll make your life happy praise
god so
let me close by saying this the world
when i say the world i'm talking about
the unbelievers
they'll say things like look on the
inside
listen to your heart well
that that's unbiblical because if you're
not
born again and saved you're looking on
the inside of
of yourself and you're spiritually dead
if you're not saved
so to look upon your heart well your
heart's deceived
jeremiah chapter 17 and
you you know we have to understand
that as a believer yes you have been
born again
you have a new spirit and god lives on
the inside of the believer
but not on the inside of the unsaved
person because they are spiritually dead
praise god so you can trust the lord to
lead you and to guide you
just be sensitive to the holy spirit who
leads you and who guides you
he's on the inside of you
[Applause]
he'll help you he'll help you in every
area
he's very very faithful praise god
hallelujah hallelujah greater is he
that's in you than he that's in the
world heavenly father i pray for your
people blessing blessing
strength and encouragement thank you
father god everything's going to be just
fine because you're indwelling us
hallelujah and you have the answers and
the solutions that we
need we give you all the praise in jesus
name
amen amen
you know because god lives on the inside
of you and if there's anything that
troubles you
if you'll just go before the lord and
talk about it he'll tell you
he'll share things with you from his
word that
will bring comfort and peace
that you need see sometimes when certain
things don't manifest it doesn't mean
god has denied you or said or say no
sometimes it's just a
a process of of
the harvest maturing or growing well
pastor stephen i haven't seen my miracle
well just talk with the lord he'll he'll
help you to
understand where you're at and he'll
encourage you
if there's anything that's troubling you
bring it to the lord he
he lives in you the holy spirit lives in
you and he'll give you insight and
guidance
and god the father will share
the comfort and the hope that you need
praise god
now before we take holy communion if
you're watching today and you don't know
jesus as your personal lord and savior
well uh he has a gift for you it's
called
salvation and to receive salvation
all you have to do is accept it by faith
and if you put your faith and trust in
the lord
he'll save you right now so if you would
like to turn from sin
and from from going the wrong direction
and turn to god turn to his son jesus
he'll save you right now
from all of your sins that's you
pray this out loud say lord jesus
i accept you now as my lord
and savior jesus
come into my heart save me from my sins
wash me with your precious blood
write my name in your book of life
i give my heart to you now jesus thank
you for saving me
thank you i belong to you now in your
name i pray
amen and amen if you you're a christian
and you've walked away from the lord and
you're not serving the lord
any anymore you're in a very dangerous
place
if you were to die you would perish in
your sins
and you would go to hell let's not let
that happen right now if you're
if you're uh someone that used to be a
christian you walked away from god
come back say jesus forgive me i
recommit my life to you
wash my sins away and re-establish me
and my walk with you right now in your
name i pray
amen hallelujah you're good to go now
serve the lord
walk with the lord walk with the lord
separate yourself from those
things that would be unscriptural that
would be displeasing to the lord you
know what they are
and honor the lord with your life and
your way of living praise god
now let's take communion today glory to
god
glory to god grab some unleavened
bread i use these little wafers you can
use a little cracker whatever you have
available
and uh some great juice let's pray
heavenly father we thank you for the
bread
and for the juice we consecrate this and
set this apart as holy
as the flesh and the blood of our dear
savior
father we thank you we give you praise
as we receive the body of jesus
we thank you that the holy spirit lives
on the inside of us
lord help us to be conscious of this
help us to be aware of this
in the words we speak the things we say
what we do
hallelujah we thank you o god
we thank you o god we now receive the
body of jesus in his name
amen let's partake
praise the lord hallelujah
what makes a place special you do
the church does hallelujah
remove the church it's just a pretty
building
it's just a pretty landscape it's just a
nice sunset
praise god it's a good view but
we are the people of god god lives in us
when we show up
guess who shows up with us god does
praise the lord we're going to let him
move and have his way
that jesus might be glorified father
thank you for
the blood of jesus and his mighty
cleansing power washing all sin away
all shame all guilt we thank you for a
clean conscience
and right standing with you through the
precious blood of jesus
thank you father in jesus name we pray
amen let's receive the blood of jesus
praise the lord praise the lord
one more time
knowing that god has moved out
of the out of the temple pastor stephen
they defiled that building
look what they did to the building uh
that's that's a building
it's not like they defiled the house of
god you and i are the house of god
praise the lord do you not know that
your body is the temple of the holy
spirit
who is in you please
don't ever forget that be mindful that
everywhere you go
god's living on the inside of you
hallelujah father bless your people
in jesus name amen
and amen thanks for watching i'll see
you back
next time and remember that the greater
one is living
within you bye-bye