welcome today to our online internet around the world church service i'm so happy that you're here today and i believe that god's word will build you up and empower you to do what he has called you to do and to be the person that he has called you to be praise god now today we're going to start in the gospel of luke chapter 21 and we're going to receive the holy tithes and offerings we're going to bring them into the storehouse of god praise the lord verse 1 and he looked up that would be jesus looking up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury and he saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites it's like putting two pennies not two dollars it's like putting two pennies into the offering there at the temple so he said truly i say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for god but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had i think this lady was really leaning on god as her source i don't think she had other family members for whatever reason helping her out i think she was was in a place where she had to trust the lord to take care of her and she just knew that god would always get her through and because of that strong faith she was a very gracious giver and here doing something extraordinary now we have to understand that if something like this were seen today and were published or or videotaped today you'd have a lot of people upset at jesus not that he's going to change because truth is eternal but look how this would be framed in today's era in which we live preacher takes poor widow woman's last two pennies he would make the headlines of major newspapers and it would show the lady putting the two pennies in and then all these other people standing around uh well to do and uh and and it would be made to look like you know all the pastors want all they want is your money notice very carefully that jesus did not run over to that lady and say now hold on just a minute sister obviously giving all that you have but you know what the temple's doing oh it's doing okay uh other people are tithing the priests are able to function and the levites are able to carry out their duties here at the temple and you know what although you want to give you really need this more than we do he didn't say that did he some people unknowingly now they're trying to be sweet but un unknowingly they go in there and by trying to help they actually can undo a person's miracle now i was in jerusalem one time some years back and a minister friend of mine was hosting a tour a conference in jerusalem he asked me to come speak with him we had a great time but among his team that he that he brought over to do a lot of the video filming and so forth he was able there in his ministry to bring a certain amount of people you know that cost a lot of money to bring the the crew in so he brought the crew in that they could afford to bring that was a full crew a lot of camera guys and stuff like that but he uh he pointed to me and showed me one of his workers who all of his life had wanted to come to israel and although he was very very poor he took his entire life savings because he was not in that that a team of video team members that were coming along with the ministry he was allowed to come but he was only allowed to come at his own expense in other words the ministry did not have any more money to bring anybody else from the ministry staff back at the headquarters because it's just you know you can't bring everybody especially when you have a huge staff he just wasn't able to do that so he brought the most important people the camera workers and people like that but there was one man that wanted to come so greatly that he said i'll come at no charge he was one of the employees i'll come at no charge and i'll still do all of my work and i'll i'll do it for free and i'll pay my own way and he emptied his life savings he literally when he left go on that trip he had nothing in the bank at all he just loved god so much and when he got to israel he was weeping he was crying now he was still doing his work but he he was so touched and he was so happy he didn't care that he was penniless he didn't care that he gave it all as unto the lord to come to the holy land and to uh even for him greater than that to be involved in christian ministry there in the holy land well you know if he would have just dropped dead he'd been the happiest person in the world go straight to heaven nothing nothing could out out do that from his perspective he was so happy now some ladies on the bus you know there's a whole bunch of we had a huge tour you know a lot a whole bunch of people hundreds and hundreds people but some ladies on the bus uh somehow heard about this brother that he had done this and they were talking they were collaborating together we need to take up an offering for him so that we can replenish the money that he spent uh to buy the tickets to come over here so that we can give that back to him and the minister jumped in there and said no don't do that because they were actually going to do it he said no don't do that you'll destroy his blessing he has done this as unto the lord now don't turn right her back around and try to undo the holy seeds that he has planted wow lord have mercy praise god and jesus did not jump in there and say oh don't give those last two pennies you're going to need those here you look like you need some money let me give you some money and don't don't give the god you're too poor to do that now let me tell you something that jesus understood and of course he still knows today and that he that the jewish leaders knew back then is this you cannot get out of poverty when all that is ever done is that people just keep giving to you you only get out of poverty when you start giving if you're impoverished and you're in lack you have got to move from a place of somebody take care of me i wonder where my next handout's coming from not that you may not still need some help but you've got to move to a place where you start giving wow and that's what the apostle paul talked about in second corinthians chapters eight and nine both chapters are in the context of the giving of offerings and how the macedonian church even in a time of great financial difficulty they gave in the midst of their extreme poverty oh well they they don't need to be doing that if they're in a bad situation no that's exactly what they need to be doing that's how you come out of it you give your way out of lack you give your way until you give your way out of poverty well pastor stephen if you're giving you're being reduced you're subtracting from your net worth if we could say that you even have any worth you're you're having money taken away you you don't you have to see that you're tying in though into biblical principles you could even call them laws and if you work those laws that god established in the earth genesis chapter 8 verse 22 seedtime and harvest shall not cease and you can sow money like you sow seed and if you sow seed nobody is going to argue with you because the farmers have proven it for thousands of years if you sow seed you're going to get a harvest you don't have to be a farmer you can go to the local supply store or grocery store and buy a packet of tomato seeds and if you sow tomato seeds in good soil take care of it and stuff like that you're gonna have a harvest of what tomatoes and so the lord sees this woman giving and acknowledges that the the amount is not as much as what the rich are giving of course but the quantity uh the quality because she's giving all so she's really out giving everybody and that really moves the heart of god it is true that if your offering doesn't move you uh it's not going to move god people are playing games when they uh you know give a hundred dollars and they think they should you know god should jump up and do a flip on on the heavenly throne a hundred dollars in today's world is not that much money unless unless uh you're in a very dire strait maybe it's your last one hundred dollars and uh that's all you've got to your name then yes that would mean a lot that that would be a lot and i've been in a situation like that before where all i had to my name was four dollars that was it and i gave it and i gave it and i gave my way out of lack i gave my way out of a situation that didn't seem like i could get out of and i just gave and the lord brought harvest and so you just work these principles praise god this is helping somebody thank you lord jesus praise the lord let's jump back just for a moment to the lady that gave the two pennies now one minister today he's very popular and he has a lot of joy his name is jesse duplantis he told about the vision he had some years back and that's on youtube or you know it's out there on all the uh media platforms you can just google it pull it up of the time he went to heaven for five hours and 15 minutes he had a vision and he he saw heaven and while he was in heaven he was allowed to meet certain biblical saints he met david met the apostle paul and of course met the lord jesus but if you if you dig through some of his recordings of when he rehearses his heavenly visit uh on some of the major recordings like the one that was done at john olsteen's church that's a that's a great synopsis in that message of what he saw but i've heard other parts of when he talked about some other things that he saw that uh maybe a lot of people weren't aware of he said that when he was walking with king david through a certain area of heaven that he came upon a mansion as they were walking down you know these streets streets of gold and you know there's mansions all over the place but he said he saw one that was just um stunning breathtaking even with all of the other mansions in heaven this one um it was a doozy and he asked king david he said who lives there he said the the widow woman that gave the two pennies [Laughter] and let me add that this harvesting this sowing and reaping it's not just something that brings eternal inheritance eternal reward because you you have a heart for god she was giving to god but also in this lifetime jesus said said you will reap the 100 fold something tells me that she just was able to keep on going she gave her last two pennies away but you know what when you're giving it just it just comes back it comes back why it's a law it's a spiritual law and you just work it and you just keep on going let me say this to those of you that are new into this system of god's principles be consistent with it my wife and i were not one-time givers well we tried it i don't i really don't see the results i i don't know about this no you a giver is somebody who makes it systematic a giver is somebody who practices it it's just part of your life you just give i would never ever go into a house of god i would never ever go to a christian meeting and the offering basket is passed and not give anything i don't care if they pass it three or four times in one service i'm going to give something every time that basket comes around praise the lord and i was in a meeting one time when the holy spirit moved in the supernatural way and five offerings were taken and it was it was quite an extraordinary thing to see and even after the fourth or the fifth offering nobody was in pain nobody was going oh i gave it all in the last one holy spirit was orchestrating every single one it was it was a sight to behold praise god and all of the provision all of the money was used for the work of the lord blessed be the name of the lord keep giving keep giving keep giving you'll never run dry it'll just keep coming back keep giving god keeps bringing it back he keeps bringing it back he gives seed to the sower you'll never run dry you'll always have something to give always praise god now scripture says that the tithe which is 10 of your income whether it's your earned income or whether you receive an unexpected inheritance 10 belongs to the lord so you pay your tithe and then you need to be a giver sow some seed sow some seed praise the lord i just see you increasing i see you increasing see the the lord loves a joyful giver uh if you get into that scripture in the greek it actually means a joyful happy hilarious cheerful and quick to do it giver just have a heart for god there's no pain in it wow that has nothing to do with losing something it has to do with love and joy the lord is good i see you having always extra to be the blessing to be that person that is just able to show kindness hallelujah hallelujah glory to god let me pray for you heavenly father i thank you that while we are journeying through this world we're in it but we're not of it one day we will reach the the heavenly shores so to speak as the old church songs sing about we're going to cross the jordan so to speak and one day we'll be in heaven praise god father it's going to be wonderful we thank you that we want to be living for you down here so that we do have the beautiful mansion we don't want a bungalow we want to mention and so father we thank you that those those things will be there but we also thank you that while we're here on the earth let us have that cheerful giving heart thank you father god and we thank you that you just keep bringing it back you keep bringing it back and when you bring it back it's it's increased it's increased and now we have more thank you father glory to god i pray father god that in the coming year that your people be able to sow the largest seeds that they have ever sown in their existence on this planet that father if they've been on the planet for 30 50 60 years or longer that they had a time when they sowed this amount and it was the greatest seed that they've ever sown i pray that they be able to surpass that in this coming year double that they can sow double of whatever previously has been their largest seed if you believe it say yes father i pray that that anointing that grace be given to them we thank you father we thank you and we give you the praise bless your people with great increase in jesus name amen and amen now those of you that prefer to mail in your tithes and offerings please send them to stephen brooks international p.o box 717 moravian falls north carolina the zip code here is 28654. if you prefer to bring your tithes and offerings in online you can do so at our ministry website stevenbrooks.org there is a link on the home page called it just says give and has a a red heart on it and you can click that rectangular looking tab you can't miss it's on the home page and you can bring your tithes and offerings safe and secure through online transaction praise god they'll come right into the storehouse and the tithes and offerings allow us to continue to function in the ministry and do the work that god has called us to do just as the tithes and the offerings allowed the priests and the levites to devote themselves to the work of the temple which involved primarily teaching the law teaching god's people what we would call the word of god that's their number one assignment and then of course overseeing all the sacrifices and things like that and all of the other activities there at the temple but the tithe it's god's idea and just as it worked so beautifully in the old testament the tithe moves up to the cross to the new covenant new covenant time and it goes through the cross into the new testament and it's still it's still god's idea and it allows the ministry the church to function so beautifully and it also allows the blessing of the lord's financial blessing package to be unfolded into your life let me say this just for a moment there are some things you can pray about and you can pray it into your life there are some things that you can pray and fast and you can move it into your life and there are some things in the word of god that it's a promise and therefore because you're a child of god it belongs to you this though is something that you need to understand god's financial plan for your life is not based on a promise it's based on a covenant and a covenant is different from a promise and it doesn't matter if you fast day and night night and you're praying all the time the covenant does not engage based on your prayer and fasting the covenant does not kick in based upon you know trying to claim a promise because it's different it's a financial covenant and until you do your part god's not obligated to do his part what is a covenant it's a deal it's an agreement it's an arrangement between two people you and god and it's based on well-defined terms and it's sealed with an oath and when you are fully committed you give your tithes and you give your offerings you have a heart for god then the covenant is engaged and trust me god always upholds his end of the deal in any covenant praise the lord so get on the covenant platform trust me you need it with all of the shaking that's going on there out there in the financial world with all the shaking and the economic system uncertainty and you know all that stuff be on the covenant platform whoo glory to god and you'll always be fine a matter of fact you'll be going uphill even if other stuff is being washed downstream you are going up praise god because the covenant overrides all negative circumstances praise the lord and you can lean on the lord father bless your people thank you in jesus name amen i'm telling you the lord is the only safe place the lord and obedience to his commandments is the only safe place today we're going to be in the gospel of matthew let's turn over there today matthew chapter 14 praise the lord blessed be the name of the lord and it's actually matthew 13. and today let's talk about the pearl of great price heavenly father as we jump into your word we ask that your holy spirit would come and help us to consume your word to digest it to assimilate it into our spirit and to our minds so we can renew our minds and and that it just affect us in its full effect thank you thank you father in jesus name we pray amen matthew 13 and we're going to drop all the way down to verse 44. again the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which a man found and hid and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field you see a lot of focus here you also see the ability to realize when there's something special and you have to rise up and respond to what you have discovered maybe you stumbled upon it maybe you didn't have any idea that you're going to run across something like this but there it is the opportunity of a lifetime and you respond with whatever it takes to get it praise the lord let's continue verse 45. similar parable this is one that we want to camp on a little bit longer again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls today i would like for you to consider yourself or look at yourself as that merchant who's well trained in the pearl industry see yourself as someone who knows pearl's really good that's your thing pearls praise the lord now back in the lord's day pearls were the big thing emeralds were nice rubies and you know all of these other beautiful gemstones that's all good but they were not placed on the same level as pearls cleopatra she was crazy about pearls she opened up a whole shopping center uh that was lined with nothing but pearl dealers and in that era of the world i i'm telling you pearls were big much more than anything that we see today because now you have pearl farming and you know you can cultivate the oysters and you can do all of this stuff to you know create synthetic pearls and everything but they didn't have any any of that back then so if you found these beautiful natural raw pearls and then especially of course a really a unique one that had tremendous value in that time and in that culture again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls who when he had found one pearl of great price went and sold all that he had and bought it wow the golden opportunity the kingdom of heaven i believe that what we're looking at here is more than just salvation through christ i take it that many of you watching you already have that and if you don't have that yet please keep watching but i believe what we're looking at here is that once you come into the kingdom you see of course the value of christ because you came in through the door of jesus you have received eternal life you have been ransomed from your sins the old sin nature of the adamic nature that has been replaced with the nature of christ you have new life living within you yes you're still in the body just like i am the body is not what we would call born again your spirit is born again so we have to keep the body under but as you're in this kingdom of heaven while here on the earth you're happy you're rejoicing you know you're on your way to heaven but what begins to happen is that you realize this is more than you had ever imagined and it's like a mountain and you see yourself loving life and enjoying life in the lord but you realize this is great but this is just only the beginning i'd like to experience more of god i would like to get to the top of this mountain i i want to get going i i believe there's more and you're right there is and so in order to get into maybe what we could call the good stuff you're going to have to really be focused you have to pull together all of your resources now what you're going to purchase today the kingdom in a sense is not like a pearl that can be bought with a various type of currency the currency that we're looking at today is not a monetary value it's the currency of maybe we could call it selling out completely oh you're gonna have all kinds of things that would try to get you to buy a good pearl nice pearls you know like here look at this strand of pearls isn't this nice aren't they shiny yeah that's nice that's nice that's all good stuff good quality but why is it that you're not still satisfied because you're pearl merchant and you've heard legends you've heard stories you've heard about you know the big one and that's what you're after you're not satisfied with nominal christianity you're glad that you're going to go to heaven but you realize god's got a lot more for you here and now than just that and you could you could have been privileged to be in some special moments where you have seen beyond the veil you have seen beyond the natural you have encountered god in a way where he has touched you with this power with his glory and maybe we could say in a good way you were ruined in a good way because now you're like well now that i know now that i've had exposure to this how am i supposed to go back and live on this on this previous level that i had been sub existing on i don't want to do that anymore and so the search is on you're looking for the pearl of great price you're looking for the fullness of the kingdom expression and it's a beautiful path to be on and as you're on this journey of trying to find this phenomenal pearl there's a filtering that takes place in your life where the holy spirit through the ministry of the word begins to shake out of you the things that need to go and the word like james the apostle said it's like a mirror and when you read it it reflects back the changes that needed to be made so that the image of christ is reflecting back praise god hallelujah and so you strip things off you let go of things that would be an impediment you're really getting streamlined because you want that pearl praise god but you may have thought pastor stephen i'm i've completely sold out i have reached rock bottom in other words i'm i've gotten to a place where i have given my all to god and sometimes we think that's where we're at lord i have surrendered all and then you stand in church and sing the song i surrender all and you know we sing through the beautiful verses and we say we have surrendered all and then you get in your prayer time and you find out you have it glory to god you find out oh we we can surrender a little bit more hmm pastor stephen i have my rights yes you do you do but if you want the pearl of great price you realize that although you may have certain rights and certain entitlements if you want that pearl not just any pearl but if you want the special one you're going to just have to let it all go praise god you're going to have to say this thing is more important than anything else and that's what i'm living for is to see the glory of god and so these other things lord just let them melt away praise god thank you lord jesus and you let it go praise the lord you may think well i have a right yes you may even think well well now hold on a minute pastor stephen i've even sown seed and god's gonna give me a harvest in that well he can if you insist on going that route yeah you can but what if that is going to interfere with the greater thing that god would desire to do and you know you're going to have to make a decision you're going to have to make a decision on that these are things that come up in your times with the lord this is fascinating this is fascinating i think for quite a few christians that as you're spending time with the lord surrendering laying aside every sin and every weight that would hinder of course we're going to lay aside sin we're going to get rid of that absolutely but then the holy spirit begins to get into these other areas but you know what when you're really serious about the pearl of great price oftentimes there's only one thing standing in the way now for you that's something between you and the lord that one thing can be really like hey lord you know but but i i have my rights but but lord you know when you give god 20 scriptures or why you think god should do it but there's there's the higher call there's the higher call praise the lord and for many christians it's not like there's 50 things you need to fix sometimes there's just one thing that if you can talk with the lord and get that one blockage and that's what it is it's like a blockage if you can get that one blockage out of the way you who knows you can shake a city praise the lord who knows who knows what god could do if you fully surrendered all glory to god some of you are destined to touch and impact nations praise the lord amen you certainly don't want that one thing to be something that would be an impediment that would hold you back and i'm not talking about sin i'm just talking about [Music] maybe something that you feel you have a right to you know [Laughter] but yet but yet you try to be with the lord and have the deeper walk but just can't quite seem to get into that zone why because you're dodging the issue and you're you're not even you're not even talking about it with the lord you refuse to bring it up as if he's just gonna let it override and oh that's okay we'll just work anyhow i i'm god but i'm gonna yield to you well the lord can work with you on what your final determination is he'll honor that we're we're not robots he'll work with us but there is the work of the spirit to try to get us into a harmony with the higher purposes of god and if we will yield to that whoo i'm telling you you'll be one of the happiest people on the face of the earth others may not agree with that because they may not understand the path you're walking with the lord but when you're walking on that path and you know the reality of holding that pearl of great price walking with the lord experiencing the glory you wouldn't give it up and trade it for anything anything that this world has to offer from the perspective of what the world would try to get you to trade for the world has nothing nothing zero on the glory of god that's nothing nothing that can even come close to replicating god's beautiful glory praise the lord these issues that take place in the prayer closet in the time with the lord hallelujah whoa praise god let's jump into this a little bit further james chapter 4 verse 1 where do wars and fights come from among you do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members you lust and do not have you murder and covet cannot obtain you you can murder somebody with your tongue not not physically but you can just inflict such venom uh and so there's there's all of this stuff that's being acted out james gets into the um the situation of adultery it's a form of spiritual adultery of being betrothed to christ but yet you're in love with the world and this is something that the holy spirit really contends with with the individual believer really in intends to get in there and work with that child of god to get them back into a place of faithfulness to christ hmm praise the lord you lust and you do not have you murder and covet and cannot obtain you fight in war yet you do not have because you do not ask you ask and do not receive because you ask amiss that you may spend it on your pleasures adulterers and adulteresses do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with god whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of god verse 5 or do you think that the scripture says in vain the spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously now one translation says the spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously for us to be faithful so you're going to have to work with the holy spirit whoo praise the lord you know i was reading an article at a conservative news site on the internet and for whatever reason they had they had posted this wasn't like the daily news but they had posted a review that one of their editors who was a christian had written about a new movie and uh so i just thought well i wonder what he's saying here and i looked at his article and he was talking about how how wonderful this new movie was that just came out and it was released on disney streaming and he said disney decided to release it at 2 30 in the morning and he said i'll tell you what i wasn't going to miss that for anything so he was up at 2 30 in the morning watching the movie so excited he's so excited he said i watched the whole thing it was wonderful he said i shouted and made so much noise in the house i woke my dog up and yes whoo he said it was wonderful and he praised the movie praised the movie and i just couldn't help but think i wonder if he has ever gotten up at least once in his entire life at 2 30 in the morning to pray oh they don't even think about that though but to get up at 2 30 in the morning to watch the movie oh absolutely brother i'm there i'm on the front row popcorn soda everything this is big stuff [Laughter] it's just interesting how people think sometimes and so people go just total tongue hoe for the stuff of the world we'll write about it praise about it it's great it's the best you really need to get into this wow and the holy spirit tries to work with people that are god's people to be very faithful to the lord because there's stuff pulling all the time trying to steal your devotion trying to distill uh just take away your really your love your love for the lord and so that it grows cold and the next thing you know you're just in love with the world you're eating everything the world throws at you all the music the world throws at you just listen to it you may have your favorite genre but that's you doesn't matter what they're singing or saying you just like it you consume it and uh doesn't matter what's on tv you're just consuming it eating it watching it and the next thing you know you know um you just can't hear from god you cannot hear the voice of the lord you cannot sense the presence of the lord and you can't get in that flow you can't get into that kingdom flow that's the pearl it's the glory it's that flow and when you get into it your entire life turns poetic it turns prophetic poetic and it's just like a stream you flow in it you flow in it my wife and i we brought our grandkids uh our two uh the two board on our daughter's side we got the two boys young boys uh a set of bow and arrows this is not like the big manly bow and error you know you know you shoot it and do you know you shoot the arrow through a door or something like that this just little bitty kid stuff you know we're talking like five years old you know um can't hurt anything or anything like that so we got got them the bow and arrows and boy did that ever go over good you know they were all excited about the bow and arrows and stuff like that and shoot them all over the house and uh uh you know it couldn't knock anybody's eye out or anything like that it's got a big soft thing at the end of the arrow but boy do they love that they're bananas about the bow and arrows and so well after that let's go out and eat so we go out and eat we're at the restaurant getting seated and kellyanne kelly says i don't think we're supposed to sit at this table i said i don't think so either and we both looked at a table over on the far side and we just said that's the table we're supposed to be at so we asked the waitress can't before you know all the drinks are served or stuff like that can we move to that table over there she says well sure you can so we move to the other table the moment we sit there you just sense peace we all sit down at the table we order our food we start eating and then suddenly i looked over on the wall and noticed what was on the wall right next to us was a big sign that said that said um what was it it said archery a big yellow sign that said archery and there's a bow and arrows hung right in front of us and stuff like that happens all the time you're in a prophetic flow everything in your life turns poetic it turns into a poetic flow where you do this and you turn around that's there and you can't fake that you you can't you can't try to like you know well i'm gonna try to like oh that you know god's in that god's an app uh if if you're not in that flow you can't even can't even navigate those waters but your whole life becomes like that the pearl of great price is that walking with the lord getting over into the glory realm praise the lord and you have to do whatever it takes to possess it see yourself as the pearl merchant you know the difference between nice pearls but you also know what it would be like to have a really special one the pearl of great price you know the difference between the glory even if you've never seen it even if you've never been in the medium where the glory has come down you still you know enough from scripture and you know enough from testimonies to know when it is in the medium and when it's not and just as king solomon made the beautiful shields out of pure gold and they were hung on the wall there in the forest palace that he had solid gold but then later but later the shields were sold by his son and uh they were they were given away to a a king that was going to invade and conquer them and so he wanted those shields so they gave him the shields well the sun thought well you know the walls are all empty now we used to have these shields up here so they made new shields and put them back up on the wall but then now they're brass they're not gold anymore they're brass here's the thing brass if you get it real shiny looks a little bit like gold but you and you and i both know that the value is still vastly different and it's still although it looks similar it's still not gold but in the church a lot of times what is passed off as being the glory no it's not the glory that's brass that's brass the church is very good at presenting brass and acting like it's gold we can do audio so good now we can do worship so good we could when i say good i'm not necessarily talking about the glory coming in but i'm just talking about with excellence lighting systems fog machines presentation presentation we the church of the 21st century knows how to do presentation we can put the bells and whistles on and you can do all of that and it's still brass still brass it's nice it's nice but it's not gold it's not gold and the pearl merchant knows the difference between the good pearls even the nicer ones and the one that would be considered the pearl of great price and when you have had a taste if you only had it once in your life of the glory you're just like you know we have to have that we have to have the glory praise god you have to get into that walk into that flow that takes you into that dimension of the glory of god thank you jesus praise the lord hallelujah pastor stephen how do i get into it you have to be willing to sell all give everything up to get that and you can't have it any other way you can have you can't have both at the same time it will cost you everything and if somebody has told you differently they were not being honest with you it will cost you everything if you want the pearl of great price now if you're willing to compromise or just willing to you know cruise along then you know you can you can have pearls but you can't have the pearl great price praise god these times with the lord i'm telling you the holy spirit he'll go through your stuff like like 10 tsaj tsa agents checking your your luggage at the airport you open it all up well we're just checking to make sure everything's uh there's there's no bombs in here and you know going through everything and it's kind of like customs in israel they you know the highest level of security in the world they open everything they go through everything got any olive wood in here nope nope we better check go through everything everything everything praise the lord and the holy spirit's a thousand times more precise than that he'll scan every part of your life not to condemn but to help he he's very jealous in this area of your walk with god because he's going to exalt christ he's going to lift up jesus he's going to reveal jesus to you so he'll work with you he'll work with you boy but pastor stephen that's nice i'm just not really hearing nothing from god though when i have my i have a lot of time i spend with god just not he don't ever talk to me okay there's there's a blockage somewhere there's an obstacle that's not being addressed um praise the lord james chapter 4 since we're already there drop down to verse 8 draw near to god and he will draw near to you well i talked with the pastor one time i ministered his at his church conference we had good meetings and he said he said uh now pastor stephen i've enjoyed your teaching i'm gonna i'm gonna start getting up early in the morning i'm gonna seek the lord and i've never had any kind of an encounter with god ever i haven't had a vision i haven't had nothing but i believe he was saved of course but had never had anything beyond just basic you know elementary salvation experience he said i'm going to seek the lord and the lord will draw near to me i said yeah he will if you do he will two years went by two years and i talked with him on the phone and he said now he said now pastor stephen for two years i've sought the lord i've gotten up early in the morning i'd sit in a chair and just wait on the lord he tried to sound real spiritual i was seeking the lord but he said after two years he said i have to admit nothing's happened i haven't had anything happen i said so you're telling me you get up early in the morning oh yes yes you spend time with god and you've done that for two years oh yes yes yes and you haven't had it you haven't had anything nothing just flat dead as a doorknob nothing for two years he said that's right how many of you know that god god's not a liar well here's the thing like that pastor there's many people that go before the lord and they're happy to talk with the lord about all kinds of stuff that doesn't really matter but if the lord wants to bring this up and trust me he will that one thing that one area right there oh now lord we don't need to talk about that i'm saved by grace i'm justified by grace yeah yeah you are he'd still like to talk about that one area right there well we're just going to leave that there you can leave it there and he won't talk he won't talk for two years and if you're not willing to go in that area he won't talk for 10 20 years wow he likes to talk about what he wants to talk about he sets the agenda now you get that dealt with it's wide open it's wide open you're now you're on that lane now you're on the prophetic fast track and you'll you'll get you'll get to where he wants to take you but if you're not if you're not serious about it he'll just say okay that's fine you can camp there for the rest of your life but you're not going to reach the top of the mountain and that's normal for a lot of christians they settle they settle for whatever level their denomination reached and maybe at one point in church history they reached the high water mark and it was all about what they were proclaiming and the crowds were there and the glory was there 400 years ago 270 years ago but how many of you know the cloud kept moving you follow the cloud by day the fire by night the fire kept moving but yet they camped and now it's it's just like a shell uh the glory's not there well all these truths were stand yet yes that's good and and walk in the revelation of that truth but revelation is ongoing praise the lord you need a new word you do a fresh encounter you need a fresh experience praise god mm-hmm thank you lord jesus hallelujah the seeking the seeking let's go back just for a moment to matthew praise the lord matthew chapter 13 verse 45 again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls you have to seek with everything that you have you're seeking after the pearl of great price the presence of the lord it's all rolled into this pearl the presence of the lord the glory of the lord the voice of the lord the flow of the spirit it all comes as package it's like a package and you you can get it it'll cost you everything praise the lord praise the lord and then once you have it you have to guard it and protect it here's why you always will the reason that some people lose valuable things maybe an inheritance maybe they were given a lot of money two years later they squandered it now they don't have any the reason people lose value valuable things is because they never knew how to appreciate it which usually is equated to they didn't earn it maybe it was just given to them and it was given prematurely but nevertheless for whatever reason they got it but they had never earned it they never knew the great value of it and usually things like that end up getting lost but when you have given all to have acquired it and you knew how much it took to get it i mean it took everything well then once you get it you're never going to give it up because you know what the price tag is and uh now that you've got that you're just like i'm not trading it for anything i'm not trading it for anything and there's nothing out there that's a worthy exchange there's nothing that's an equal exchange the world doesn't have anything where they can legitimately say lay it down for this and we'll swap there's no fair trade for the glory there's no fair trade for the presence nothing compares to these things of the lord or of course the lord himself praise god but we're pressing on to higher ground you're going up you're going up into the presence of the lord praise god some of you you're like a balloon but it's time to cut the weights the sandbags it's time to let it go you know you have the ballast it's time to let it go praise god i think you felt safe with those things well we have to we have to appear pastor steve we have to be balanced yes we understand that but uh you're going to have to push there's no balanced gold medalist it takes everything there's no balanced mr olympia not that i'm endorsing that or supporting that a lot of that's a lot of cardinality and all of that but i'm just saying you can't win the gold or you can't win first place in those types of arenas it takes everything 24 7. you got to watch everything you eat you got to you got to make sure you get your sleep you have to you have to build your whole world around that even if you're multi-talented talent's not enough not on those levels you have to give your your all your total commitment you really yeah you know some other gold medalists they've realized this you really have to be extremely selfish in those areas of natural uh how can we say worldly success if you want to win the olympics you want to win the tour de france just got to be on a bicycle all the time you'll live your life on a bicycle you'll ride 100 miles every day you will be almost like married to the bicycle seat into the bike frame if you want to win that's that's going to be your life if you want to win gold and swimming you're going to you're going to be in the water all the time probably eight hours a day swimming swimming swimming and eating because you're burning calories swimming and eating that will be your life praise the lord and none of those things have any eternal value praise god but the things of god it has great reward in this life and eternal glory awaiting for us in the next realm praise the lord again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls who when he had found one pearl of great price went and sold all that he had and bought it some of you need to sell out because you can't have it unless you sell out and maybe there's only one thing left in your heart that you have to sell out on before you can make that purchase praise god pastor stephen i've given it all up well that's between you and the holy spirit i you know none of us have x-ray vision unless god moves with discerning of spirits which is a supernatural manifestation of the spirit and then we can help people sometimes but these are things in your devotional time with the lord that if you're going to be there with the lord do business with the lord in a sense talk about it pastor steven i just feel like i'm under a brass heaven all the time all the time well that's not normal something's not right well i just don't know what it is we'll find out trust me the holy spirit he will certainly bring it up praise god and then move with the spirit come into these things get the pearl a great price get into the things of god's kingdom and never ever relinquish it now let me say this as a pastor it's not easy is it the world can it can it i mean satan he needs some kind of a some kind of an award the smoke and magic show smoke and mirrors magic show of the world system i have to admit it's very enticing there's all kinds of distractions that can allure and pull you out of the deeper beautiful intent of god's design for your life and he set it up really well i mean we not only have 4k tv they're ready now to start bringing out the 8k tvs it just everything gets hyped more and more you have to have this you have to have that and then you once you get it you got to manage it then you got to program it and set it now you have to use it and this is rushing at you from all angles and there's nothing wrong with technology i like technology and i like cool things but you know that stuff will just never end it's just going to increase more and more and you have to get to a place with the lord where you stop allowing the world to just pull you into a thousand different directions praise god hallelujah and you say enough is enough and you surrender but you have to surrender all you have to surrender all some of you have you've really you've done a lot and the lord sees it and for some of you you're almost there one more push and the doors will open and you'll go through hallelujah so i would just encourage you to get it all ironed out with the lord pastor stephen i have my rights yep paul did too and in some of these situations he said i have these rights biblical rights i'm laying them down for a higher purpose so that i can be more effective in ministry and so that i can be a better effective ambassador for christ so that my apostolic ministry also would never have anything that would be considered questionable so he was he was extremely transparent praise god and he saw others use those rights but in certain areas he just said well i'm going to take a higher road praise the lord it's different for everybody it's different for everybody but i'm talking about whatever it takes for you to go into that place of the greater glory you can get there praise the lord hallelujah so right now there is a work of the spirit i wouldn't call it a pruning because a pruning just cuts back and trims it down this is more this is different from a pruning there are some things he's just asking you to just flat out lay down and for the rest of your life you may never touch it i have a pastor friend that uh pastored a good church but he really liked golf and you know i can understand that it's a fun sport it's a beautiful sport you're playing in a very nice environment that just makes your soul feel good you know manicured lawns and all of that but he said oh he said i i liked it i was out playing all the time and just playing all the time and wasn't really praying like i should but i sure played a lot of golf he said and he said in his prayer time the holy spirit really dealt with him about golf not not that there's anything wrong with golf because i i believe golf is a god idea i believe it originated from an idea from heaven and i believe there's golf courses in heaven i haven't seen any but i believe they're probably up there but i would say that i agree with him where he the holy spirit really dealt with him he told me he said pastor stephen he said um the holy spirit said this is something for you that's too difficult for you to handle by by being involved in it so you know he left the choice with him so he said he laid it all down he said i won't play golf any anymore he said um i just want i'm not going to go out on a golf course i'm not going to play anymore and so when i went to his church to speak at his church his new facility he showed me a miracle that god had done there behind the facility was a nine-hole golf course that was given to them and it had a full pro shop it had all the all the gear all the clothing and golf clubs and shoes commercial kitchen and it was amazing but he said he said pastor stephen he said god gave this to me but i never go out on the golf course i never hit a ball i don't go to the driving range i don't do any i don't touch it he said i gave it all to christ i laid it all down so that my ministry could be effective and when i laid it all down he said look what the lord did he gave me a nine-hole golf course all paid for people are coming playing all the time then they're paying and so all of that was supporting the ministry because the ministry owned it but he said i have completely given up golf it's not a temptation that's why the lord gave it to me so um it's very interesting how the holy spirit works but there must be full surrender praise god hallelujah let me pray for you heavenly father i pray for those today that have danced around the the issue have danced around this this thing that would it would stop their growth it's going to it's going to do more than that it's going to distract them to a point where they're never going to move on so i just pray father that there be a grace i pray that there be a grace to continue on and to lay aside any weight to lay it aside thank you father god that the glory that will be manifested will far outweigh any what would be classified as a loss it's going to outweigh it by far so we thank you we thank you it'll be one of the greatest decisions they've ever made in their life and they're going to make the right choice to go on with you and they'll it'll be the choice that they'll look back upon and they'll say that was a landmark decision in my life and i'm so glad that i laid that down because now it looks like such a tiny thing well at the present time it may seem like a big thing because it's something that it uh it has it has something that connects with you but you must lay it down praise the lord praise the lord hallelujah glory to god father i just thank you let there be a release of grace we thank you father god this is a time where you are doing a quick work in a deep work so that you can get your people quickly into their place of assignment because the glory is going to be appearing now we give you praise we thank you we thank you thank you father god thank you in jesus name amen i see that the lord is going to give those of you that are very serious about this and very hungry for him he's going to give you a stretch of a few days of i would call it alone time down time where you and him could have a good talk get everything lined up and get ready because you're about to go into a spectacular year and everything has to be straight it's got to be lined up just right so you're uh you're going to get all that ironed out with the holy spirit you're going to have a wonderful talk with the lord and you're going to be under that open heaven praise god you can't live any other way you're living far below what christ has determined for you and made available for you you must go for the gold standard you must go after the pearl of great price hallelujah thank you father god in jesus name shout amen praise god praise the lord glory to god if you have been watching today's message you have to understand that jesus in a sense is the pearl of great price you can't get to heaven unless you go through him he is the only mediator between god and man there's no other mediator because the only one who could do it would have to be somebody that would be sinless and christ was the sinless sacrifice and because he went to the cross and accomplished his assignment of laying his life down for us he has now become that mediator between god and man and we can come through him to the father but the only way to heaven is through jesus there is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved except the name of jesus stephen brooks are you telling me that jesus is the only way to heaven yes that's absolutely what i'm proclaiming and if anybody preach any other gospel or any other message or say there's any other way let that person be accursed i'll say it again if anybody anywhere with any degree or with any uh expertise says there's any other way to heaven besides jesus let that person be accursed they are a deceiver they are an antichrist spirit jesus is the only way praise god if you would like to receive christ now as your personal lord and savior and you want to go to heaven pray this right now say lord jesus i'm a sinner but you died for sinners you died on the cross but you rose again on the third day jesus i give my heart to you come into my life right now wash my sins away give me your newness of life jesus write my name in your book of life i receive you now as my lord and savior in your name i pray amen and amen praise god now serve him and live for him he will lead you and guide you every day of your life praise god praise the lord let's take holy communion together today grab some unleavened bread and some grape juice and let's pray father we thank you for the bread and the juice we pray over it and bless it and consecrate it as being holy this is now the body and the blood of jesus our savior father as we receive the body of christ we thank you o god that you love us so much that your holy spirit works with us you have a jealousy that we would be faithful and not be in love with the world the world system with all of his corruption and greed and sin and hypocrisy and wickedness and evil but that we would love you um thank you father thank you for the body of jesus as we receive it let our hearts be fully knitted to you father in jesus name amen let's receive the body of christ praise the lord the door is about to open for you whoo the first thing you're going to notice is you're going to be able to pick up on that leading of the holy spirit it's a beautiful stream that you flow in it's like the gulf stream up in the air jet stream well actually the gulf stream's in the water right and the jet stream's in the air [Laughter] praise god but it's a stream you get into it and you just ride you ride with it praise the lord father thank you for the blood of jesus for the forgiveness of our sins if we have committed any sin we ask that you would forgive us right now that you would wash our sins away take our sins and throw them to the very bottom of the deepest parts of the ocean that they never be known we thank you that our sins you forgive us and you forget about them thank you father god that in christ we are justified through what he accomplished for us at calvary we're in right standing with you we give you praise thank you father god for your protection and the day in which we live that as we walk with you that there is a supernatural shield of protection all around our lives and the wicked one cannot touch us we give you praise for that protection we thank you for the blood of jesus shielding our minds our bodies protecting our spirits we thank you father in jesus name we pray amen and amen let's receive the blood of jesus they're going to be those of you that have had i would just call them dreams of horror dreams of evil dreams of awful things being done to you and you wake up in the middle of the night and you're just like oh that was horrible that was disgusting what was that i want to encourage you should that happen to you that you get up out of bed maybe maybe all you need is 15 minutes maybe a little bit longer and ask the holy spirit why the enemy was able to bring that dream and if you'll ask the holy spirit he'll show you why the enemy was able to do that why he had legal authority to come and trouble you like that don't be surprised if it was something that door was open because of something that you listened to that was polluted don't be surprised if that happened because the holy spirit shows you you were watching that and when you watched that there was defilement in that and that's why the enemy is able to do that and if that happens repent specifically for why the holy spirit shows you that that the enemy was able to do that repent and you'll close that out he can't do it anymore the enemy can't do it anymore praise god your knights are being troubled by that junk it's going to be over real quick praise the lord hallelujah i see a canopy of protection all around your life praise the lord the glory looks like a like a like a white uh substance that's very shiny but the enemy can't get through it praise the lord in the spirit realm it's actually when people think the blood of jesus a lot of times they think red but in the spirit realm oftentimes it looks like glistening white for some reason i don't understand that but it's around people as protection that's the blood of christ and it looks like a shiny brilliant glistening white shield on both sides so like a canopy going around all all parts praise the lord praise god amen you're protected you're protected that's one of the benefits of this rich walk with the lord hallelujah father bless your people i thank you i see the pearl merchants as i look through the eye of the camera lens i see on the other side pearl merchants who are seeking the pearl of great price and they're going to come into that place with you where they sell all to acquire that great pearl totally sold out for you and never relinquishing what you place in their hands the deeper walk father we praise you we thank you in jesus name amen