good morning my friends i'm pastor
stephen brooks
welcome today to morning glory our bid
week bible study
i'm so happy that you're here i want to
invite you grab your bibles today
we will be in psalm 105. we're going to
start in verse
16 and i want to talk today about a
subject
that is inescapable sometime
someplace within your christian journey
you're going to go through this and i
want to talk about the test
of the lord praise god psalm 105
will begin today in verse 16 and let's
pray heavenly father thank you for your
word
that the entrance of your word brings
light understanding
of what we should do how we should
behave and
what our response should be so father as
we study your word today
help us to know how to get through these
exams
these spiritual exam times we give you
praise
we thank you that all of heaven is
pulling for us
to get promoted to the next level with a
really good passing grade
so father we give you praise in jesus
name and around the world
everybody who's anticipating passing the
exam
say amen praise god amen
okay now verse 16
moreover he he would be god moreover he
called for a famine
in the land he destroyed all the
provision
of bread well i know sometimes we don't
like to
see god in that sense of being behind
some of these disasters but my friends
there are some ways in which
some people only learn things through
very difficult
experiences now that should not be our
portion
but god is going to use this famine for
a divine
purpose but these famines also of course
can be very humbling
and you see that whenever there's
drought conditions or
no rain suddenly
very ungodly men and women
their attention seems to be caught
because they realize they have
a a problem that's bigger sometimes than
what they can solve
and god can work through natural
disasters to certainly get people's
attention to wake them up
out of their wickedness and their
drunken spiritual
stupor and perhaps just perhaps
in moments like that they may turn to
god
if things went well for them all the
time they may never even think
about god once in their lifetime and if
they did it would just be in a religious
type sense a dead
intellectual religious sense but god can
work through all types of things to
bring people to him
moreover he called for a famine in the
land he destroyed all the provision of
bread
he sent a man before them god
always has a solution for every problem
for every dilemma that you could face
personally or that the human race would
ever
face he sent a man before them
joseph say that today say his name
joseph who was sold as a slave
they hurt his feet with fetters he was
laid in irons
well he's now been sold as a slave and
all of that
upbringing all of that
training that his father jacob had sown
into him through very selective teaching
and you have to understand that joseph
was a bookworm
he was prepped to learn things to
you know while the other brothers uh who
would also become
the patriarchs the 12 patriarchs while
they're out doing other types of things
joseph
in many ways did not have that luxury to
run around and
and uh have that much liberty and maybe
in some ways you could say he was
favored
by his father but i think sometimes we
have to look at that from the right
balance maybe you could say a child was
favored
over the other sons or daughters but
sometimes because of destiny
that has to be the case and joseph
was the one that was going to go through
some very very difficult things now he
and his father certainly didn't foresee
that
they didn't foresee you know being
falsely put in the prison or being sold
into slavery
but all of that seed sown
has the potential one day to break forth
in this harvest of understanding of
being the great person
that god has planned him to be and it
doesn't mean
that the other kids perhaps are being
neglected
it just means it means in this situation
that joseph is going to need some
special attention
because he's going to go through some
things that are going to place a demand
upon his life
that the others will not really have to
experience
so uh that's something sometimes we
might say well
uh that child didn't get the attention
they deserved
well in some ways maybe they didn't
really need it maybe there's something
inherent that god put in that child but
they don't need all of that uh
warmth and all of that uh jovial family
you know
whatever you know uh warm fuzzies and
all of that and some kids
uh turn out just fine they turn out
exceptional and
everybody's different everybody's
different you might have another
child that needs a little bit more of
that or needs a whole lot of that
so the mom or dad has to maybe pour a
little bit more
sugar on in that area but these are
things that
are things that only god can plan out
and only god can orchestrate and we have
to just go
to a certain degree we just go with that
flow now
joseph who was sold as a slave they hurt
his feet with fetters he was laid in
irons
so this is not like a romanticized
prison version where he's in prison but
he's discouraged or responded but you
know he's got plenty of food and he's
got
people around him telling jokes and
they're having fun no this is not fun
this is not good he's in prison
uh and he's got the fetters on he's got
the irons on
not good until the time that his word
came to pass
the word of the lord tested him
the king sent and released him the ruler
of the people let him go free
he made him lord of his house and ruler
of all his possessions to bind his
princes at his pleasure
and teach his elders wisdom
well we know from study
that it appears that joseph was in
prison
falsely charged falsely put there but
nevertheless he's there
can't get out and he sat there in that
prison for 13
years now when i say he sat there
that's maybe not the best way to say
that he was very busy
he's going to end up supervising the
prison in some ways
like running the prison uh the warden's
over it you know but he's going to do a
lot of that work and all that
administrative work and overseeing
things so that
everything goes really smooth for the
prison uh
and everybody in there but my friends
nevertheless
it was a very difficult trying time and
the bottom line is no matter how
nice we try to serve it up it's still
prison and you can imagine the prisons
back then
an egyptian prison going back several
thousand years
no air conditioning no refrigeration
and sweat and hard forced labor
wow very very difficult and it says
that these events were rolling on these
this imprisonment uh
that you know all the difficulties
associated with that all of the
humiliation
until the time that
his word came to pass
now his word his word
your word i'm sure you have a word too
and it it may not be that the sun and
moon are going to bow down to you
and all the stars also are going to bow
down to you you know
symbolizing god's uh
plan for regality in his life and so
forth
but my friends you still have a word and
the the devil he's not so much
going to attack you in areas where
he's going to challenge your faith in
what we would call maybe basic
biblical doctrine now there are some
people out there that maybe would be
theologians or maybe sometimes we could
call them
biblical scholars and it is true that in
many
leading seminaries and even many uh
christian universities some of these
so-called scholars are not even born
again
they don't believe in the virgin birth
they do not believe that jesus really
was
the son of god they don't they certainly
don't believe other things in the bible
like the red sea
being split in half and the children of
israel going through on dry ground they
don't believe anything like that so
basically anything miraculous they don't
believe
but what i'm trying to say here is that
for you
as a believer it's not like the devil's
going to really mess with you on that
it's not like he's going to spend all of
his time
challenging you testing you on something
like
was jonah really swallowed by a large
fish
i mean was it a well or did it ever
happen or he's not going to mess with
you on that he's not concerned about
that
now i know you believe that's true
because it's in the bible we believe
that
but he's not really going to try to get
you to start doubting that he's not
going to try to get you really to doubt
the fact that joshua prayed
and asked god to give him some more time
and
the sun just kept its place as it always
does but the earth
stopped moving and didn't rotate and it
just
stopped however god did that
and he gave gave joshua time to continue
the fight
and uh these supernatural events that
are in the bible once you're a believer
you believe it and uh it's up to the
skeptics and doubters and the powders
and the do-withouters
uh they can do without the blessings of
course too and
for many of them if they're doubting
that much of the problem they're
probably gonna do without salvation
but my friends i'm talking to the
faithful i'm talking to you
the believers and the test
for you is not going to come in the area
of some theological question that
you know doesn't really concern you that
test
is going to come in that area of the
word
that pertains to god's specific plan for
your life not your brothers okay not
this is not about joseph's brothers this
is all about joseph
and the word to him they've all the
others they've got some good stuff
coming judah's got some real good stuff
coming they've all got good stuff coming
right but this concerns the word to
joseph
and there is a word that god gave to you
and that word is where the test
will come absolutely on that praise god
and so you're going to have to really
uh hold on to that word because there
will come a test
and you're you're just gonna have to
understand this there's no way in the
world
satan and his legions of darkness
are gonna let any believer get
any true word from god and sit back and
just let it unfold
nice and beautifully and big and easy
not a chance
in the world any true word from god
into the life of one of his children is
going to be
tested you can just take that to the
bank and you're going to have to stand
on the original word that god spoke
you're going to have to stand on that
vision
upon that revelation that the lord gave
to you
and you're gonna have to hold on because
there can be some
challenges that will come that will make
it look like it's never going to happen
and you're gonna have to learn how to
persevere just like joseph did
in a long-term test exam
that really really tried i mean that
word was trying him like you wouldn't
believe
as he was there in prison thinking how
how am i ever going to get out of this
and reach my fulfillment of what god
told me i'm supposed to do in life i'm
sitting here
dying in a prison this is the last place
i thought i would be
and he's probably thinking hmm and the
devil you can only imagine what the
devil's doing
hurling thoughts hurling
suggestions into his mind oh oh yeah
you're going to die in here
yep it doesn't matter if you were put in
here falsely you're never going to get
out
you're going to die in here you're never
gonna see your dad or your mom ever
again
you're never gonna see anybody anybody
of your loved ones ever again
you're gonna die in this horrible
wretched prison
and so you can only imagine the mental
bombardment that was going against his
mind but my friends
he made it through it was it easy i'm
sure it wasn't
and i can't promise that it's going to
be easy
for you either but i will tell you this
that if you'll just hold on to that word
and never give up on it there will come
the time
when you'll see it come to pass even if
it's against
all odds all what we would call
probabilities
god can override all of those things and
he could still
do it for you but my friends as it says
the word of the lord
tested him and the word
that you have received is going to test
you also
it's going to find out god's going to
find out do you really believe
what he said oh yes i'm persuaded pastor
stephen yes i
am good we'll find out if you're
persuaded two weeks from now two years
from now
hopefully hopefully it won't go that
long this was a very extreme case
but you also understand he had an
extreme
very unusual destiny there's a lot
on the line here right god sent
a man that man
had to be so prepared that man had to be
so ready for that moment that man
had to be brilliant that man had to have
courage the nation
is falling apart people are dying all
over the place
he had to be hand-picked hand selected
hand prepped by god and prepared by god
so that when he stands in that position
a deliverer is now standing before
the people not a blubberer not a
blabberer hey let's try this
we don't know if it'll work but let's
just throw something against the wall
and see what sticks
no no we need somebody that can hold it
together because nations
are going under praise the lord
thank you jesus any word any true word
from god
it's not that it might be tested it will
be tested
praise the lord
some of you are probably familiar with
the
businessman turned preacher mr norvel
hayes
who passed away some years back a couple
of years ago he
graduated on the heaven one of the best
bible teachers when you're just talking
about
somebody that can teach and you know
help you understand god's word
uh you know so that you could walk into
it he was one of the best bible teachers
probably i'm not saying the best i would
put him up there
as one of the all-time greatest bible
teachers ever to walk on the planet
earth
when it comes to just taking the
simplicity
of the gospel and of the word of god and
putting it to use in your life and
getting
biblical results he was really really
good at that
but see he was also norvel was also a
businessman
and when the lord pulled him over into
ministry
the lord allowed him to continue with
the various businesses
that he had he had 11 businesses
different types restaurants and
other types of things going on and so
he's
doing very good ministry and he's also
overseeing the various
uh you know profit making businesses
that he has
but one day he got a word from prophet
kenneth hagin and prophet hagin said
brother norvel the lord has told me that
you're going to go into a season of
testing
and that the word that god has given you
is going to be tested
so get ready because the enemy is going
to endeavor to get you to doubt
the word of the lord and so um
norvel uh said hmm i wonder what that's
all about you know he thought to himself
i wonder what that means i wonder what's
going to happen
so he just keeps on doing his thing uh
preaching and working overseeing his
businesses
and it wasn't long before he realized
the enemy was really working against him
and he found out for example like like
one of his restaurants for instance the
general overseer the general manager of
his restaurant
was stealing money and uh he was able to
uncover this but
it's like suddenly all across his
business spectrum
trouble and tests began to erupt
everywhere and where before that
everything ran smooth and
sure maybe you have a little challenge
here or there but you work it out but
suddenly it seemed like supernatural
trouble
supernatural goofy uh stupid things
would
pop up and just cause all kinds of
problems and this went on
for five years but after five years
kenneth hagin had another word from the
lord
basically and the word was for norvel
hayes that
the test is over he has passed my test
and that was a great word that norvel
received from
prophet kenneth hagin and along with
that word you have passed my test
also came a prophecy in which
kenneth hagin prophesied norvel the lord
is really going to begin to lift you up
to a much greater level of financial
wealth
and it happened it just ended the test
was over with
and provision began to pour in
everything that began to smooth out
and he was a man of great wealth praise
the lord
but my friends these areas of testing
can come in certain
parts of your life let's say like
healing for a moment
you you find let's say you're sick
and you find a scripture that just jumps
off the page would appear to jump off
the page or something that just grabs
you and you know
that's god's word for you maybe even god
spoke it to you by the holy spirit
a certain verse about about healing and
about health
which is rightfully yours in the new
covenant and you take that to heart and
you say this scripture is going to get
me up off this bit of sickness and it
will
when you stand and believe it but
don't think the devil's not going to
challenge you on that and
he will endeavor to try to get you to
doubt the word
he'll he'll suggest thoughts to you
thoughts like this well there you are
trying to believe what god said but look
at your symptoms
they've gotten even worse can't you see
it's not working you're gonna die of
that sickness
and the enemy he will just suggest all
these lies
but that word that word will will shake
you it'll it'll
shake out and filter out doubt
and unbelief it'll filter out
wrong voices and when it's done you can
stand forth as pure goal with that
word having proven to be true
but you're going to have to stand on it
through thick and thin here's one also
that you'll have to get through
the enemy often can really work like
like in a crazy way sometimes through
relatives family members that maybe even
have good intentions
but nevertheless they have no clue
they're actually being used
as uh unwilling vessels on
unknowing vessels of satan of the enemy
to try to bring discouragement
to try to bring doubt maybe they're
trying to bring
sympathy but that's not what you need
like just
i don't need to be told well just just
go ahead and suffer with grace and go on
a home to heaven you know
no no i don't need to be told that i
need to be told that by his stripes i
was healed
and if you can't agree with me on that
and you're trying to talk me out of it
and just pat me on the back and you know
send me on to the grave
uh that then you you know go visit
somebody else
so uh sometimes those that have good
intentions
they can really uh do some uh
undermining so you have to really watch
that you have to guard your heart
and you and that word you know that word
will just refine and it will purify
and suddenly you're seeing how
so many others compromise in certain
areas and you're just like god i'm going
to hold on
because i believe that if i stick with
you and stick with your word
when it's all said and done we're going
to come out on the top
hallelujah and just keep holding on
while that word is testing even if
you're still like joseph
in the midst of a situation like prison
that you would rather not be in
just say god you have given me your word
i have had a dream from you that's what
happened to joseph that's how he got his
word
i have had multiple dreams from you that
i know came from you
and this is not going to be
the final say your word is the final say
and i don't know how you're going to do
this
but somehow another my time's coming but
i'm going to get out of here
but in the interim he's learning fluent
egyptian
in the interim he's learning the culture
of the egyptians because even when
you're down below as a slave
in prison you still pick up you know
cultural type things
and so forth very very interesting
plus he has all of that knowledge of
math and literature that his father has
uh
taken extra special time when working
with him to pour into him
to prepare him so my friends
you have to really hold on i think
in many areas where any area where you
get a promise there can be
these great tests in the area of
ministry
let's say that you get a calling
to ministry and you know god's called
you
well the enemy is going to try to
circumvent that and he'll try it quickly
especially especially if he sees that
the ministry maybe
you're already responding to it and
you're up
and moving in it and then god gives a
new word
which is i i'm now taking you from let's
say
for example from local ministry or maybe
a regional type ministry
to an international type level of
ministry oh the devil's going to jump
all over that
he's going to really try to get you to
doubt that word
and often he'll swoop in just like a
vulture
to try to steal the seed and eat the
seed
so that you're left there wondering what
happened
but you have to hold to the word and you
have to really fight
especially during times like that and
the enemy will do things i've had
i've had you know because i've spoken in
so many different churches and different
conferences and things like that over
the years
i've had many times particularly in the
early going
of itinerant or non-stop traveling type
ministry
where a lot of very discouraging things
happened
that the enemy was working through and
gave me ample opportunity to say
you know what i just don't see how i can
get ahead stuff like this
i've had i've had many good pastors
give me very gracious offerings
i have also had quite a few pastors
that have literally stolen and i
and i say that 100 accurately they have
completely stolen
the offering i've had pastors stand
before the audience
before their congregation and say we
have uh you know brother stephen with us
he uh he has ministered in a very
beautiful way to us
and now we're going to receive a special
offering for his ministry
and every watch this i've heard them say
every dime every penny every dollar of
this offering will go to his ministry
will go to him
and i didn't get to i didn't get any of
it i didn't get any of it they kept
all of it for themselves you think
pastor steven that's awful
yeah it's it's flat out line and uh you
think how does a pastor how does it
how does a ministry even function when
they're doing stuff like that
some of those pastors have died and i'm
not saying they died because they did it
to me
they were they would do it to anybody
they were that
crooked yet some of them some of them
had
you know pretty good-sized churches and
so forth but
you know it eventually caught up with
them if you keep sowing and sowing
you know you know which is theft you're
going to reap and if you don't get that
right
um yeah it could uh it could end your
life prematurely
i had one pastor that was really
nasty to me um and i i couldn't
understand that i think maybe he was
jealous or
i i'm not really sure why but he was
never
he was never nice to me he was rude and
and stuff like that but you know it
didn't treat me good
and i i was around some ministers a
little while back and i said
hey i never heard about brother so and
so pastor so-and-so whatever happened to
him
oh they said oh he died he's dead and of
course he died in his 50s
i thought wow i mean it just makes you
realize the reality
that um that these things are very
serious we need to honor the lord
live right and not lie not cheat look do
everything with your money straight
don't do ever don't ever do crooked
stuff with your money
don't say you're gonna do one thing and
then you do another thing be
straight with your finances and so um
don't play silly games well now pastor
stephen
you know the the irs they're all corrupt
the government's corrupt that
that's not that's not the point the
point is you better not be
we need to be straight praise god if
there are certain things we can't deal
with or
that are beyond our ability to fix let's
let god deal with that
but we need to make sure that we're
straight and all of our dealings
praise god and so you know whenever i
would uh
have you know i had an offering one time
the pastor i'll give you an example
pastor lark's church
real lord's church said this offering
this entire offering is going to brother
stephen what a wonderful ministry
preached the word
ministered in the power of the holy
spirit let's take up a good offering for
him
thousands thousands thousands and
thousands of dollars came in
you know what he gave me gave me a
couple hundred dollars just gave me a
couple hundred dollars i said
i said is that all is that all the money
that came in
well this is just what we decided to
give you
and um i made
i made one phone call uh one phone call
to a a friend who's one of the world's
most well-known prophets i said hey i
said you ever speak in that church he
said yeah
i said how'd they treat you on the offer
he said they did okay i said well they
did me
uh real shady here he made one phone
call next thing and i knew boom the
whole offering got released to me and it
was thousands and thousands of dollars
because that that one prophet who was
well known was going to say hey
uh this is not right what you did to
stephen and um
and he was going to talk about it so um
that pastor quickly straightened up
now there are pastors that are very
integral
they'd rather die than cheat you out of
a penny they would do anything they're
super integris
and that's a beautiful thing praise god
but all i'm saying is the devil gave me
plenty of opportunities
to just quit and never come into the
fullness of the word
that god had for me and that word it
tried me it
i tried my my patience it tried my
emotions you know
because that stuff can be upsetting well
i'll just sow it in faith as a love
offering maybe they need
it more than i do no they don't need it
more than you do they they're doing well
they've got
oil money they've got they're they're
rich you know and the person that needed
it was me
so i was like lord that's really tough
uh and there have been other times i've
just i did so it
but there's been other times when i was
like this is
absolute theft this is not right
something needs to be said about it
and uh and you know that's just a grace
that god can give you strength and he
can give you
but oh yeah absolute testing and
sometimes you think god when's this
going to end
when am i going to get out of this phase
where i even have to like um
you know kind of submit to certain uh
things that rather not even do so all of
that is growth
and growing and things like that you
know because i don't deal with shady
pastors anymore if i detect goofiness or
shadiness
i don't care how big their church is or
how much that they would say well come
here well
because i don't i don't go do meetings
on a you know
we have to have a set amount i don't do
stuff like that no i'll just come by
faith
and we'll receive an offering and it is
what it is
i don't do gimmicks or stuff like that i
don't sign 10-page contracts or
because there are ministers out there if
you're going to invite them to come
they have contracts one lady has a
22-page contract and if you don't meet
everything
every stipulation on that contract
they'll take you to court they'll sue
you
pastor stephen that doesn't go on the
church does it um
yeah in celebrity christianity that's
just the way they
they run that um but my friends we need
to live right
and we need to do things the right way
but sure the enemy gave me
lots of discouraging moments that just
said you know what
you know maybe you should do something
else in life i just said no
see here's the thing in scripture many
are called but few are chosen
and sometimes the lord on purpose
will allow it to be very difficult now
it's not always like that
but sometimes he will allow it to be
very difficult
to shake out and thin out those
that are not in it all the way for the
lord
so just like joseph he was laid in irons
and you think about the abrasion you
think about the bruising you think about
the discomfort his
his hands and his ankles and you can't
lay down and sleep the way you want to
your feet are in stocks and just misery
um it wasn't always like that eventually
they let him out of that
let him walk around and run the prison
basically but still
those were things where he could have
just said god i think we need to go
with a different plan but he didn't
[Laughter]
and you need to stick with the original
plan
uh in some ways it's not like god even
really has a plan b
plan b is something that um
would it's not god's best for you so i
would encourage you just to stick with
the original
plan the original directive and go for
it not quit
praise god and then you know if you get
something else now you're now you're not
quite happy you're not fully satisfied
there is a place in the lord where
as it says in psalm 91 that
god will satisfy you with long life will
i
satisfy you in other words it's not like
you just live a long time well i lived a
long time but
it wasn't a good time but i lived a long
time and then you drop dead and die
no you live the fullness of your life
all the years of your life but it's
you're also satisfied
you're checking off the things that god
wants you to accomplish
that god wants you to do you're walking
in the fullness of what he has called
you to do and it is
deeply satisfying praise the lord so you
need to stick with it
also in these areas like finances
you know uh it is possible where the
devil
can see uh you know
he doesn't know everything because he's
not a god he's just a fallen rebel
outlaw spirit yes he used to be the uh
the covering
angel that led the worship in heaven and
so forth but
no he's not divine or anything like that
he's still just a fallen angel
so he can detect and discern
sometimes because of the the heavenly or
on your life
he can see certain direction that god
has planned for your life and he could
try to thwart that
and he can see financial destiny for
instance he could see
oh god's going to use that person in a
special way god's going to bless
that person in a special way so i'm
going to try to discourage them just as
much as i can financially
in order to abort that destiny
and you really have to stand on the word
and you have to confess god's word
believe it and just you know pray until
you
get back into the faith build yourself
up with the word of god with the
promises of god and say
devil get out of my finances i decree
prosperity over my life in the name of
jesus i call every bill paid i call
every debt paid off to the glory of
god and it can be an all-out fight
praise the lord
there have been testimonies i remember
one that
an associate pastor of a large church
that i used to attend about 13
000 members he said when he first came
into pentecost and
understanding more of the the things of
the spirit and
scripture began to open up he began to
see that tithing
was for the people of the lord and it's
a it's a biblical principle
so he said that when he started tithing
because he had already heard
he'd heard lots of testimonies when
people start tithing you know
god starts doing miracles for them
financially he said well when i started
tithing
things got worse for me and my wife
we're like hey
this doesn't make any sense why do all
of the other people give these great
testimonies of
getting a you know good jobs or you know
financial breakthroughs and here we are
tithing we've we've committed to do it
and it looks like things are going
backwards things are you know we're
having some shortages we've never had
before
but he said we knew it was the right
thing to do and we
were settled on that word and we weren't
coming off of it so
this testing type thing was going on
but he said we refused to uh not tithe
so they kept on tithing
and eventually they popped out through
that exam
they passed the test and uh
and then just a blessing began to flow
the way it is supposed to flow praise
god
and uh you know then the next thing i
knew he's traveling all over the world
ministering the gospel all over the
world
i don't think that ever ever would have
happened for him
if he would have pulled back and said
you know what i tried tithing
it didn't work i don't think he ever
would have gone to the nations
the way that he ended up going you know
um i've read a lot about the ministry
and i've listened to
no telling how many sermons by prophet
walter butler
and he would he went to be with the lord
i think in 1974 he went home to be with
the lord
had a very unusual ministry traveled to
over 100 nations preaching
on a very unusual subject which was
about
primarily his assignment was to teach on
the manifest presence
of god not just to teach on it but to
bring
demonstrations of that into the meetings
when he ministered
so before he ever went international
he had a visitation from the lord
and the lord came to him and said i want
you to take
this message and the lord taught him for
four hours in a vision
taught him for four hours about the
manifest presence of god
and then the lord said at the conclusion
of that vision
i want you to take this message and
preach it wherever i send you to around
the world
and right after that vision lifted a few
minutes passed
and you know the lord had left and it
was just right after that only maybe
maybe like five or ten minutes after
that that another
being came into the room this one also
had a reality this being did but it was
not a holy reality it was a
it was a presence of evil unlike
anything he said he had ever felt before
and satan came into the room
and satan said you did not have a vision
you're losing your mind
and you did not receive a word from god
you made that up
and the battle was on and it went on
and on and on for like it went into
several hours of a battle
and right when it felt like butler felt
like he was about to give in
because the devil was pounding him with
such a severe
attack upon the word the visitation that
god had just given him
right when it felt like he was about to
just give in satan would leave
and there would be like a short reprieve
it was like a boxing match and you'd go
sit down in the corner
and rest for a few minutes but butler
said i knew he would be he's coming back
so he only had like a couple of minutes
and then satan would come back in
and each time he would come back after a
different round he would come back with
more force
more aggressive you did not have a
vision you made all of that up
now you're starting to see things and
buetler said the room started spinning
i started seeing all kinds of weird
bizarre things the devil was causing the
manifest i saw triangles and squares
and cities and buildings and all kinds
of intermixing of things and all kinds
of weird bizarre stuff
and the room started going around in the
circle and the devil screamed
you're losing your mind you've been
talking in tongues too much
you you are losing your mind they're
going to lock you up in an insane asylum
and so this battle rage back and forth
over what the word
the word the whole battle is over that
word that god gave to that man and
butler said right when it seemed like he
was about to go
down right when it seemed like the devil
was just too much and he
and butler said on the on on the inside
i knew i was getting weaker
he said i knew i was getting weak i was
physically exhausted and on the inside i
knew i was getting weaker and he was
unrelenting in the attack
and right when butler said right when i
thought i can't hold out any longer
he said i fell on the bed i collapsed
over on the bed because he had been away
in a hotel fasting and praying
and that's when he had this visitation
so he said i collapsed on the bed
and when i did he said i heard the holy
spirit
start singing a song
and so he heard the spirit singing this
song and he said
i joined in him with in the song with
him and i started singing along with him
and singing the song made me laugh and
the devil said what are you laughing at
and uh and butler said i didn't even pay
any attention to him anymore
i just started singing this song and
started worshiping the lord and
the spirit just rushed in with such
power the
the enemy just instantly left
satanly satan would just instantly was
driven out
and he was gone in defeat
and out of that experience a ministry
that before had been localized
then went what ended up becoming an
international
ministry where he ended up going in
person to over 100
nations of the world many of those
nations going multiple times
teaching over and over and over to over
100 different nations
praise god can you imagine if he would
if he would have backed off that word
see this test is on the word
until the time that his word came to
pass the word of the lord
tested him
here's a here's a test
tip when you're taking your exam
and you're in the middle of it and uh
you know you're working you're in it i
mean you're right in the middle of this
this test and you're like god
i really need some help right now there
are some times
when the lord will pull back to see what
you're going to do
and this happened with king hezekiah
where the lord pulled back
to see how hezekiah was going to deal
with these envoys from babylon
and the lord pulled back he pulled back
to watch what was going to take place
and there's times when you're taking the
test you may say lord i'm not quite
sensing your presence the way i would
like to lord why do i maybe
lord am i in a spiritual dry season
it's not so much that you're in a
spiritual dry season
it's just that in a classroom in a
normal classroom
when you're taking your exam there's no
talking aloud
and this is not the time where you raise
your hand and you ask the teacher
a question this is a time you focus on
getting this test passed
you're gonna have to get out you're
gonna have to pass this thing so you're
putting all of your energy
on that and this is why some of those
that would be
what church historians would call the
mystic saints those who had a very deep
walk with god
sometimes they would go through
a season where they would feel like
god's presence departed and then they're
initially thinking
hey lord did i did i offend you did i
sin is something wrong
what happened to your phenomenal
presence and they would label that the
dark knight of the soul
well i would like to label it as your
test
and it can be times like that when god
hasn't retreated
because of sin god hasn't retreated
because
he's busy over here doing something else
he doesn't have time no
he's god he can be everywhere all at the
same time
there can be that sense of an absence of
the presence
because you're right in the middle of
the test
and you're going to have to walk this
out not by
the sensation of the presence not by
feeling you have to walk it out by
raw faith faith in what
faith that what god spoke to you will
work even in darkness
when there's when you are walking by
faith not by sight
you are literally holding on to that
word when it looks like
feels like seems like there's absolutely
no way this can happen
but with god all things are possible and
not only
can it happen it can you could get the
release overnight
you could you could uh hear from the
exam master hey
i've been watching you you've passed
you're good to go you've done everything
the way that you should
and you know what the next thing you
know you're out of that classroom
you're out of that dungeon you're out of
that prison
you're out of that drought you're out of
that
you know quote dry season or whatever
you want however you want to label it
it's over with and there are some exams
that god only he only
he only needs you to take it one time
and if you pass
that certain exam you'll never pass it
ever again
you'll never take it ever again in your
life you'll never go around that
mountain again you're done forever with
that you've passed
you're on to some greater things and
you'll find out
that anytime an exam is completed and
you passed
there's a new door of opportunity that's
open
what should i do pastor stephen well
you've been promoted go through it
give god glory and everything that
you learned in the classroom and
everything that you made
application of that you learned and
everything that you made application of
during your time of testing that has
solidified you and qualified you to now
step into the new season
and you know what you belong there
praise god
must be really weird for cheaters for
those in the olympics that are drugged
up figuring out ways to designer drugs
to pass the drug test without getting
caught
must feel really weird to stand there
holding a medal
knowing that you don't really belong
there now i know that many justify and
say well they're they're cheating too
maybe they are that just means you none
of you belong there
because you didn't earn it you didn't do
it the right way so there's actually
something deficient in you
that disqualifies you from standing
there you don't belong there
and it'll never mean the same thing to
you even if they hand you the gold medal
it'll never mean the same thing to you
if you had done it the right way
and you'd pass the test the right way
clean praise god
one day it's all coming out in the open
if you don't get that under the blood or
repent or make things right
you know or return something that you
you know
say you want a gold medal but you were
cheating return it
tell them you you cheated tell them you
tell them what you did tell them yeah it
was wrong
get your heart right with god get your
conscience right with god
and with your fellow man praise the lord
glory to god always do things the right
way well now pastor stephen we are
living in society where there's a lot of
lawlessness
which means a lot of cheating a lot of
fraud and it looks like they're all
getting ahead
no going to hell is not getting ahead
praise the lord let that sink in going
to hell
is not getting ahead what does it profit
a man or a woman
the man referring to mankind if you gain
the whole world but you lose your own
soul in the process
wow praise the lord do things the right
way
and god will lift you up god will
promote you you don't have to compromise
you don't have to sell out you don't
have to degrade yourself you don't have
to
uh dishonor yourself to do
no do it the right way praise god do it
the right way
praise the lord pass to test walk by
faith and hold that word that word will
try you like fire
it'll burn stuff out of you that you
didn't even know you had in you
[Laughter]
but that word it came from god and when
it comes to past you'll be glad
you'll be glad that you prepared for
that test that you see that's
that's what i'm doing i'm putting inside
of you
principles and faith so that when you
have a test in life and you will
that you know how to respond and you
know how to get through it praise god
you know how to overcome
glory to god glory to god let me pray
for you heavenly father i pray for
everybody
that's watching right now there are some
that are in fiery trials
the try the trial is the trying of their
faith
but i thank you i see their faith being
developed
it is in your eyes oh god much more
value than
even pure gold father you've got plenty
of gold
you've got you've got plenty of gold but
you want your people to have refined
faith so father those that are holding
to that promise
just like joseph was holding to that
promise
that came to him through those dreams i
thank you that your people are holding
on to the word
and come hell or high water they're not
backing off that word they're not
quitting they're not compromising
they're not relenting and they're
certainly they're certainly
not going to give up on that promise we
thank you father that
the test is almost over the test is
almost over
i'm actually seeing test papers in front
of me right now in the spirit i'm seeing
somebody's got a 98
that's a plus i don't know who you are
but you did pretty good
praise the lord
praise the lord hallelujah glory to god
glory to god glory to god thank you
jesus
um praise the lord get ready
get ready praise the lord you're gonna
go many of you are going to go into new
seasons the new season that god has for
you
hallelujah praise god thank you father
god
strengthen them encourage them that
thank you father that words burning
bright that promised word is burning
bright
we thank you we thank you father in
jesus name amen
amen pastor stephen who are those that
don't make it
or you have people in the bible like
esau who sold
his birthright who sold the promise that
god had
in line for him he sold it for a stupid
bowl of beans
yeah he wasn't a very spiritual person
and even later when he wanted it back
and wept and cried and you know all you
know
all the theatrics he still never got it
still never got it
he was never right with god on the
inside esau
was never right with god on the inside
praise the lord hallelujah but when you
are
ready to run with the lord amen and you
have these tests
you'll come through it you'll come
through it and i see i see some
graduations
coming very very quickly and i see
that they're very honorable honorary
degrees praise god
father bless your people we thank you
in jesus name amen
hallelujah glory to god
glory to god thank you jesus
praise the lord i've just seen different
things in the spirit right now
i'm seeing somebody feet that are in the
shackles and their hands are in the
fetter so to speak and but for you
in your phase those that would be in
that position at least you know what's
going on
you're being tried by that word and the
end the enemy is terrified by the word
that you have received
because he sees you're taking it serious
and he's trying he's trying to
let life events cause you to
drop that word so that it never comes to
pass
but now you know what's going on praise
god
so if that's where you're at just praise
the lord you won't be there forever
that word will break any shackle praise
the lord
hallelujah god said his word is like a
hammer
it'll break anything that would try to
hold you praise god
now if you're watching this program
today and you don't know christ
as your lord and savior you need to
there's salvation only in him
there is forgiveness of sins only
in him there is the availability
of a clean conscience only
in him he is the only one that can take
your sins away
if you would like to receive his newness
of life
to come rushing into you right now pray
this prayer
say lord jesus i believe that you are
the savior of the world
i believe you died on the cross to
redeem me
from my sins and my sin nature
jesus i believe that you rose from the
dead on the third day
and that you are seated now in heaven at
the right hand of god
lord jesus come into my heart
wash my sin away write my name
in your book of life and jesus i give my
heart to you
i turn from all sin and i give my life
to you thank you for saving me jesus
i fully commit to follow you today
right now in your name i pray thank you
for saving me
amen and amen praise the lord
and the lord jesus has heard that prayer
and you now belong to him you're safe in
his arms
live for him and the lord is working
mightily
in your life praise the lord now my
friends let's celebrate the word of god
together
let us proclaim the lord's death until
he comes
and he's coming soon let's take some
unleavened bread i use these little
wafers
if you have one of these that's great if
not you grab a saltine cracker or
something
like that praise the lord
and some great juice and let's pray
father we thank you for the bread and
the juice we bless it
and we set it apart as holy we
consecrate it through this prayer
and we thank you that this is now the
flesh
and the blood of christ
we thank you for his body that as we
receive his flesh
we hold to
the promise we hold to
the promise and father we thank you that
jesus for the joy
set before him endured
the cross and so we see that promise we
see that joy
so father we keep on pushing we keep on
believing
keep on standing confessing
and praising your great name and father
we receive the flesh of jesus now
we thank you that the word shall come to
pass
let's receive in jesus name amen
there's no testing of your faith in
heaven
once you get in heaven there's no devil
there's no demons there's no sin
and there's there's of course you won't
have a flesh body
when you get there so there's no you
know um
there's there's no flesh nature trying
to bug you uh and even
later when we get our resurrected
glorified bodies
that's our that's a fully redeemed body
so in heaven there's no there's no
hindrance
but here on earth you have to use your
faith to plow
through what david called the valley of
the shadow of death
that's where we live in all of this
unbelief
and all of this negativity and all of
this junk
all of this doubt so the lord is looking
for faith
in you and remember
not just general faith specific faith in
what
he promised you that's where he's
looking for your faith to be strong
praise god don't ever quit don't ever
give
up you're about to see a miracle father
thank you for the blood of jesus
as we drink it as we receive it
we thank you for covenant we thank you
for forgiveness of sins
we thank you for a home in heaven with
you we thank you for eternal life with
you
and that we will live with you forever
in heaven father we ask that if we have
committed any sins you would
wash them away we ask that you would
cleanse us from all unrighteousness
thank you father god thank you we love
you
we love you somebody you're getting
saved right now you heard salvation call
earlier
but the holy spirit's melting your heart
and just ask jesus to come into your
heart
right now he'll save you right now
father we give you praise thank you
thank you amen welcome to the family of
god father we give you praise thank you
for the mighty blood of jesus
in his name amen let's receive
joseph didn't stay in prison forever
don't focus on the prison
focus on the word because you're coming
out
you're coming out into the fullness of
your destiny
father bless your people in jesus name
amen
i'll see you back next time