good morning church family and ministry
friends i'm pastor stephen brooks
welcome today to our online internet
around the world turk service and i'm so
happy that you're here today and i'm
convinced that god's word is able to
build you up to do all that he has
called you to do
and also very very importantly
god's word is able to
empower you to become
the person that god has called you to be
the mature image of christ jesus
formed within your life praise god amen
well today let's take our bibles we're
going to receive the tithes and
offerings and i'd like to share
something special today
in the offering uh isaiah chapter 60
and we have looked at verse one let's
take a look at it again today
arise shine
for your light has
come
and the glory of the lord is risen upon
you
for behold the darkness shall cover the
earth
and deep darkness the people but the
lord will arise over you and his glory
will be seen upon you
now this expression
of
darkness covering the earth and deep
darkness the people or as the king james
version says gross darkness
covering the people spiritually
where
evil can be celebrated where
good can be called wrong
and
bad can be called good my friends we are
there
and when you read isaiah chapter 60
you are looking at the end time church
the triumphant church
rising above all of the difficulties
that are floating around in the last
days and despite
there being gross darkness in the earth
the end time church is still an
overcoming church
it is the golden church
you could even call it the golden age of
the church
let us not forget that the church
birthed in the book of acts chapter 2
there on the day of pentecost was
actually a church in the stage of
infancy and the church has been growing
more and more and yes we have to admit
that the early church had tremendous uh
manifestations of the spirit and we've
seen glorious manifestations of the
spirit throughout the beautiful history
of the church but is the end time church
that is destined to experience not only
the former reign which is what peter
preached on the day of pentecost the
experience of the outpouring of the
spirit but we we my friends have the
former
rain and also the latter rain
rain
being
uh
a
indicator of the holy spirit's
outpouring upon our lives praise the
lord so
this is the hour of the church and when
you read through isaiah chapter 16 you
are looking at the church age in which
we are now living the church at the end
of the age this
is the church's finest hour this is also
destined to be your finest hour don't
miss out
plug into the living word of god and see
what god has for you
verse 3 the gentiles shall come to your
light
and kings to the brightness of your
rising so this my friends again is time
for the church to be salt and light to
the nations of the world to those that
are outside of christ
and kings to the brightness of your
rising so there is the rising of the
church praise the lord now i would like
for us to go over the verse 8
which is an unusual verse
but i want to share this with a
prophetic insight and i want to share
something special isaiah chapter 60
verse 8 who are these who fly
like a cloud and like doves to
their roost
now a bird needs a nest
a dove is not just flying randomly it is
flying where to its roost praise the
lord
the holy spirit has been doing some
amazing things
behind the scenes
and there has been a culmination
of what has been
literally years and years of prayer
and also
many opportunities where my wife and i
in this ministry were able to sow
into the
into other good ministries and the good
soil of their ministries so they could
take the gospel forth in
specialized ways
and now
the lord has spoken to my heart that
it's time for
the
next rising up of the next branch of the
ministry and it's time for its birthing
my friends we have just
received a very special
offer to purchase
a hangar for the future
mission jet that we will one day have
and that day is not far off but first
before we receive the aircraft we must
have the place to put it and dubs fly
where to their roost we have an
opportunity to purchase a very nice
roost
and my wife and i have toured
this hangar it is an excellent condition
it
has all of the specifications
that would allow us to get up and
started
as is it's ready to go already and
we could bring that aircraft right in
there and begin
establishing the flight operations but
my friends first we need the roost we
need the hanger praise god
and it has been presented to us to this
ministry for sale and my wife and i were
out there just a couple days ago walking
through it and it's an excellent
opportunity but
but
it's god's opportunity for this ministry
my friends the hangar price is 400k
400 000
and i'm believing that between now
and thanksgiving
that we can see god do something special
and that the dove will be able to fly to
the roost that the aircraft will have
the hanger but we've got to get the
hanger first that's the first step
everything in life is step by step
everything is progressive
but this is something that i have prayed
about for quite some time and i sense
with all of my heart that the lord is in
this you know with the messages that
i've been teaching lately
there has been an emphasis of the holy
spirit to never venture into something
that god has not called you into but
when god does call you into something
then you must step forward in faith and
especially take advantage of the door
that the lord would present that is a
door that is
originated and authored by him and
that's what we're endeavoring to do
praise god so i would like to
of course today receive the tithes that
we normally receive for the general
operating expenses of the ministry
and at the same time there at our
website we have a special link that you
can click on and that you can sew into
the hanger project
now that hanger project has been there
on the website for a little while and
the lord has been blessing that but it
is now time for us to really step on
that
and do something special because we're
about 400k out but i believe that god
can do it and i would like to hear from
you with your very best offering towards
the hanger project
between now and thanksgiving praise the
lord thank you lord jesus let the holy
spirit
speak to your heart right now
as to what he would have you
do
i believe that every offering counts and
as we pull together and believe the lord
we will see this ministry
be established in
the area of
international aviation in the sense that
we will have the ability to touch
nations around the world with the gospel
now we are on television and the
television broadcast on the various
networks is going all around the world
but we still at times must go in person
and there's going to be a lot of me
going in person two places where
how can we save the wood is dry in other
words you throw that log on the fire and
it's going to catch on fire and that's
what we're coming to do to bring the
fire to dry wood around the world and
many of these places are
in undeveloped nations where the people
are desperate for divine intervention
and they want to see the power of god
and when seeing the glory of god then of
course so many of them give their hearts
to the lord as well and we want to build
up the church but we also want to win
the lost this ministry is under divine
mandate to win 1 million souls to the
lord i don't take it lightly i don't put
that on the website because that looks
like a neat banner or something like
that no we're we are completely sold out
to this purpose and to this cause so
this is a divine commissioning to step
into this new branch of the ministry the
aviation ministry and it begins with a
hangar my friends
i'm going to be praying for you that the
seed that you sow
touch
touch the miracle power of god
hallelujah thank you jesus now today i'm
going to share some things about the
holy spirit i'm going to share some
things of course from scripture but as
well uh some personal experiences i've
had with the holy spirit and i want to
take it a certain direction i believe
that i believe the holy spirit is
emphasizing for today's message
but this is an opportunity or as a
church family
around the world and as with ministry
partners this is the time for us to rise
up and go praise the lord and step
through this door now if you're watching
and you're just saying well pastor
steven i'm just here to enjoy today's
message you still can have the
opportunity to sow into this
this soil
into this project and i believe
absolutely that god will bless your seed
i'm believing for the 100 fold return
which is god's very best return
multiplied upon the seed
that you sow
praise the lord so
my friends there is gross darkness yes
in the earth but the glory
is rising
this is your time to shine arise shine
for your light has come
listen the church is not going back into
a cave the church is not going back into
the stone age the church in every aspect
concerning ministry concerning the
various career fields of education of
medicine
and science and so forth the church is
going forward on all fronts including
technology and the leading things that
god is releasing in the earth today
you're not going back into some kind of
primitive state you're going forward
into the fullness of god's glory praise
the lord so thank you for standing with
us as together
this ministry moves forward
and takes advantage of this golden
opportunity presented and i believe with
all of my heart that we're going to see
it take place i would like to hear from
you on this special project between now
and
thanksgiving praise the lord that's
november the 25th
praise the lord now
let me pray over your tithes
let me pray for you also as you seek the
lord about sowing a very special seed
into the hangar project that hangers
waiting for us right now we can go
purchase it right now
it is
it is exactly what i would like praise
the lord and we have been praying now it
presents itself we must
honor the lord and step into this open
door
praise the lord heavenly father i thank
you
for those that are bringing their tithes
in
and also that want to be a part of this
project i thank you for their liberal
hearts
and i thank you father for showing them
by your holy spirit the amount that you
would have them to sow and i pray father
god that as they're sowing their seed
father god that you would do something
that would represent your glory
expressed in their life because this is
their time to shine we are a body
this is not the time for just an
individual or two within the church this
is the time for your people to shine
to bring the lost to christ so father
the seed that they're sowing let there
be a miracle return
upon it in jesus name i pray of the one
hundredfold your very best multiplied
back
in
jesus name
amen
and up until thanksgiving i'm going to
be praying for you especially concerning
this need and this harvest and god's
blessing upon your seed thank you for
giving
praise the lord thank you for standing
with us
when divine opportunities are
presented i thank god for my partners
and church members praise the lord
now for those of you that prefer to mail
in your tithes and offerings you can do
so please send them to stephen brooks
international
p.o box 717 moravian falls north
carolina the zip code 28654
now as you're bringing your tithe in
also if you have a special offering for
the hanger make sure that's noted that
that would be for the hanger so we can
designate it towards that
okay and if you would like to bring your
tithe and offerings in online you can do
so literally from anywhere in the world
and you can do so anytime day or night
please visit our website
stevenbrooks.org there's a link on the
home page that says give it has a red
heart on it and when you click that
you'll see the area for the tithes and
you'll also see that we have an area for
the hanger whoa praise the lord
hallelujah hallelujah
you know it's a little bit surreal i
mean it is real but it's a little bit
like kind of dreamy because for years
and years i've prayed for this
and we now have the opportunity the
right opportunity the right one to move
forward praise god it's very very
exciting again thank you for standing
with us
and i will keep you posted as we move
towards the goal of 400 k
glory to god 400 000 praise the lord the
lord's going to help us do it praise the
lord amen father bless your people i
thank you i thank you for your increase
and your glory resting upon their upon
their lives to
draw
attention for the sake of evangelism and
winning the lost to christ that is the
whole purpose of your glory
to exalt christ now father we thank you
in
jesus name we pray
amen and amen
praise the lord
now
today i would like i would like to talk
along the lines of the ministry of the
holy spirit
and the holy spirit working in your life
and so i would like for us to go to the
book of zechariah
zechariah chapter 4
and i really like the book of zechariah
because there's so much angelic
activity in this prophetic book
and of course i've said this before i
would like to repeat it again i believe
in the ministry of angels
and i believe that angels are vital for
the new testament church to be
successful and to do what god has called
us to do to get the job done as we would
say praise the lord and there's also
angelic communication
going on between the angels and the
prophet zechariah as he's seeing visions
in the spirit realm so i also believe in
angelic communication because that is
biblical throughout the old testament as
well as into the new praise god
all right we're going to be in zechariah
chapter 4.
let's pray
heavenly father as we are in your word
we ask that your holy spirit would come
with wisdom and revelation that your
word would be unveiled to us and so that
we can understand it clearly apply it to
our lives and walk in our inheritance in
christ
we thank you for the ministry of your
spirit
in jesus name we pray
we all agree and say amen
praise the lord first one
now the angel who talked with me
came back and awakened me see that's why
i believe in angelic communication
because it's in the bible
and awakened me as a man who was
awakened out of his sleep
and he said to me what do you see
so i said i am looking and there is a
lamp stand of solid gold that's very
important that it's made out of gold
because you're going to see here that
the lamp stand
is a prophetic picture
of the end time church
and it's made of pure gold the whole
thing's made out of gold and i'm telling
you that the end times
church
the the church that will function in the
last days which is where we're at right
now is appointed to be the church of the
golden era
praise god this is not time for your
failure this is not time for your demise
this is the time for your lifting praise
the lord
so i said i am looking and there was a
lamp stand of solid gold with the bowl
on top of it and on the stand seven
lamps
with seven pipes to the seven lamps
two olive trees are by it one at the
right of the bold
and the other at its left
so i answered
and spoke to the angel who talked with
me saying what are these my lord then
the angel who talked with me answered
and said to me
do you not know what these are and so
the prophet being very humble said no
and then
revelation
understanding began to flow to him
praise the lord now
what we see here in the old testament is
that the lamp stand here would symbolize
the nation of israel
and you had two primary offices that are
being represented here by the two olive
trees that would be the office of the
king and also the office of the priest
and they are flowing
the the olive trees are causing the oil
to flow into the receptacle and then the
receptacle is feeding uh the various
branches of the menorah representing
here the nation of israel by the way the
national symbol of israel is the menorah
okay and so
it would be represented by the two olive
trees providing the oil that again is
the the offices of the king and priest
and during this time you had zerubbabel
who wasn't really titled as a king
although he is the grandson of the king
but he's returning from captivity and
his official title is governor but he
really is
in a kingly position so he would be
functioned as the king and then you have
joshua who is operating in the priest
office as that of the high priest but as
we move into the church age in which we
are now in and we are at the end of this
age we see that the
church is represented by the golden lamp
stand therefore we know that the church
is called to a high calling and we also
know that things are different now with
these offices of king and priest as
revealed in the last book
in the bible the revelation of jesus
christ we see in revelation chapter 1
verse 5
and from jesus christ
the faithful witness the firstborn from
the dead and the ruler over the kings of
the earth to him who loved us and washed
us from our sins in his own blood
and has made us kings and priests to his
god and father to him be glory and
dominion forever and ever amen i'm
telling you there's kingly anointing in
you there's priestly anointing in you it
says that we have been made kings and
priests to god
our father blessed be the name of the
lord
i'm excited about that because
there's a big difference between the old
testament and
the new testament and we know that great
difference is basically that in the old
testament everything was pointing to
messiah and we know that jesus christ is
the messiah the savior of the world he
came and gave his life as a ransom for
the lost to be saved as again says in
verse 5 to him who loved us and washed
us from our sins in his own blood whoo
praise god so everything in the old
testament setting things up and looking
forward to the coming of the messiah and
he has come he has accomplished his work
through his death burial resurrection
and glorious ascension praise god so now
we are in the new covenant ratified
through the precious blood of christ
and we have also
this big difference where now the holy
spirit of god lives on the inside of the
believer
yes we are now in this role functioning
as kings and priests unto our god
hallelujah and the holy spirit is now
here he's in us and so we have the
presence of god potentially that we can
walk in all the time and we're called to
walk in the spirit
and
to walk in the spirit takes a real
balance
praise the lord we see that with the
pineapple if you ever try one of the
fruit of the spirit if you ever take a
pineapple and try to just stand it up
it'll fall to the left or right or
forward or backwards so it takes real
balance to walk in
the fruit of the spirit praise god with
self-control and so forth and
patience and everything but my friends
we are called the walk in the spirit and
we are called
to enjoy
god's presence 24
7 praise god
and when you look back at the old
testament
and you look at the law of moses and you
look at what we would now call judaism
you see that judaism in essence
focuses on
the
rules and regulations of the law
consisting of ethics
and society
rules and structure and so forth how to
conduct yourself how to live your life
how to live together with others we have
the ten commandments and so forth
but really
there is not a focus on the presence of
god now god's presence could be sensed
they called it the shekinah glory
but
that was only on unusual occasions but
now
you can have
the glory of god the presence of the
lord in your life any time you live you
don't have to live in jerusalem
you don't have to live at the temple
because that old testament temple
tabernacle structure is now
gone
so
you can have the holy spirit with you
all the time and when he's with you all
the time and you're yielding to the word
and the holy spirit as he instructs you
how to live in the light of the word
then you enjoy the beautiful presence of
the holy spirit and you realize that it
is the holy spirit that makes all the
difference because
if you were to go to uh israel today or
jerusalem today
and talk not only with the secular jew
who's just you know interested in making
money and living life and wants a
successful life but even
even those that would be
yeshiva students or even the rabbis and
you talk to them
this whole
thing about the holy spirit
they're not familiar with that now they
understand uh
the ruach of god the the breath of god
the spirit of god they understand
that there is the spirit of god
but they don't really
know about him because you have to be
born again you have to be born from
above
to know the the fellowship
and the sweet communion of the holy
spirit so they're very um
much interested in the holy spirit but
they can't put their finger on the
experience because
you can't get that with rules and
regulations and even by following the
precepts and commandments of the law you
get it through the new birth experience
praise god
so we have the distinct privilege
of enjoying
the presence of the lord hallelujah
thank you jesus now i would like for us
to look at a beautiful scripture found
in ii corinthians let's jump over there
second corinthians chapter 13
praise god
and verse 14.
the apostle paul tells us that the grace
of the lord jesus christ
and the love of god
and the communion or fellowship
of the holy spirit be with you all amen
now i'm not the only one who has noticed
that distinct signing off of the apostle
paul in his second letter to the church
in corinth is such an unusual statement
the communion of the holy spirit or the
fellowship of the holy spirit
is something that god wants us to enjoy
and it's a beautiful thing
where you don't have to carry around
the ten commandments and have them in
front of you all the time why because
the spirit of god writes them on your
heart and he's with you all the time to
help you
walk in the light of god's word i don't
have to have the
633 rules and regulations all laid out
i've got the holy i've got the word but
i've got the holy spirit with me all the
time and the holy spirit goes even
beyond the letter of the law the holy
spirit allows you to be sensitive to
[Music]
mood and sensitive to the way that you
present yourself and sensitive to way
that you listen to others
so that it's not just about rules or
regulations it's about the way that you
live your entire
life and he's there with you at three
o'clock in the morning
he's there with you
when you wake up to get your morning
breakfast or your morning coffee praise
god
and he's leading you and guiding you all
the time praise the lord and it is true
that when you begin to understand this
you begin to see what was endeavoring to
be unveiled through the prophet
zechariah that it's not by might it's
not by power it's by the holy
spirit praise the lord again let's jump
back over to
zechariah and uh we'll go back to
chapter four
and we have verse seven who are you o
great mountain before zerubbabel you
shall become a plain and he shall bring
forth the capstone with shouts of grace
grace to it
so we see that the holy spirit with his
power with the anointing with with with
the release of grace grace
can cause any mountainous situation in
your life to be laid flat
and also so that you get the job
accomplished they had started
rebuilding the temple it was destroyed
in the days of solomon so they laid the
foundation for a
new temple
and they begun the work but then
persecution arose and it lay dormant the
work stopped for 14 years
and the lord wasn't happy about that so
he sends prophets and the prophets begin
to stir up the people once again to
complete what god had assigned for them
to do within their generation and sure
enough
through the prophesying of the prophets
and through the anointing of the spirit
they completed the rebuilding of that
temple and you're going to get
everything done that god has called you
to do but it won't be by your might or
by your power although you will
fully apply yourself
to the best of your abilities but in the
same way it will be
by the holy spirit and we see that again
in zechariah chapter 4 verse 6.
so this is the hour this is the time of
the lifting of the church
as the golden
lamp stand praise the lord for the world
to see
see the church
is
as on a hill a bright light proclaiming
the gospel we are light we are salt we
illuminate we help people to see the
distinctive difference between spiritual
light and spiritual darkness good and
evil and we also because we're salt we
preserve and salt keeps things from
rotting it keeps society from rotting
and becoming complete filth praise the
lord so my friends
this is not something that we hide god
is lifting up the church
and the church is coming into the
fullness of the golden age whoa praise
the lord and we'll get our job done
we are going to preach the gospel to all
of the earth and then we will wrap
things up
and go to be with the lord
look at the gospel of luke chapter 24
praise the lord luke 24
and let's go to verse
49
jesus said
behold i send the promise of my father
upon you but terry
wait
in the city of jerusalem until
you are endued with power from on high
the church must have this power and this
this power
of the holy spirit
that enables us to be transformed
into the glorious bride that christ will
return to take with him glory to god
look at this very clearly
in the book of ephesians
chapter 5
ephesians chapter 5 and let's drop down
to verse
25.
husbands
love your wives just as christ
also loved the church
and
gave himself for her
that he might sanctify
and cleanse her
with the washing of water by the word
anytime you're in the word meditating on
the word studying of god's word the
bible you're washing your mind
you are cleansing your mind praise god
that's something that we need to do on a
regular basis
verse 27 that he might present her
that would be the church to himself a
glorious church
please
my brothers and sisters in the lord
understand that jesus is not coming back
for a defeated church
he's not coming back for a church that's
wiped out where at the very last moment
he bails them out because you're so
defeated no he's coming back for a
glorious church i'm telling you the end
time church is the glorious church the
golden church
the golden age
of
god's people upon the earth praise the
lord
that he might present her to himself a
glorious church not having
spot
or
wrinkle or any such thing but that she
should be holy and without blemish
well pastor stephen i i feel like i've
got a few wrinkles in my garment well
then that's what the holy spirit helps
you with he's the hot iron that's
applied to your wrinkle
clothing
and he's going to turn up the heat to
get the wrinkles out praise god so that
your robe of righteousness is ready to
go praise the lord and so that you're up
and functioning in the fullness of god's
will and plan for your life and it's the
holy spirit
also working to remove not only the
wrinkles but also the spots
because you could have a stain
on your garment and even if everything
else is clean if you have a stain right
here all eyes
everybody else they're going to look
right at that stain
and that represents also the stain would
represent sloppy sloppiness nobody goes
out into a a crowd just walks around
acting like everything's normal when
there's spaghetti sauce all over their
shirt because that tells you that
something's not right so that has to be
removed and that spot remover of the
holy spirit is like bleach
that will cleanse it completely white
so that it's pure and it's just the way
that it's supposed to be and that is the
work of the holy spirit as you read the
word and there's that washing of the
word the holy spirit illuminates that
scripture and literally makes it where
you're eating the hidden manna out of
the golden bowl and you're saying my god
this is this is life it is it is the
word of god this is not ink on paper
this is the living breathing word of god
sharper than any two-edged sword it is
so sharp it could actually separate
between spirit and soul whoa praise the
lord
thank you jesus so the holy spirit my
friends is working but notice the
importance of the spirit of god
or even jesus told the apostles even
after over three years of training of
being with them daily for over three
years it wasn't time to send them out
completely
just ready to go he said you must wait
in jerusalem until you have been endued
with power from on high
thank you lord jesus
look at this in a different facet in the
gospel of matthew chapter 3
and let's go to verse 16.
when he had been baptized
jesus came up immediately from the water
and behold the heavens were opened to
him and he saw the spirit of god
descending like a dove and a lighting
upon him i'm telling you the moment that
happened the moment the spirit of god
came upon his life his whole world
changed because up until that time
he's the carpenter oh yes he had he had
some special moments like when he was at
the temple and he's asking questions and
answering questions there at the temple
with the religious experts but still he
was pretty much in the shadows he was
only known as the son of joseph and as
being the carpenter but my friends
the moment the spirit of god came on his
life now we see divine movement in his
life
and so it's good to know the principles
it's good to know the word of god but my
friends you're going to need the holy
spirit because he's the one that causes
the movement to take place in your life
it is literally god with you he is god
with you and it makes
all
of the difference praise the lord it has
certainly made all of the difference for
jesus we see it again in luke chapter 4
verse 14
then jesus returned
in the power of the spirit in the power
of the spirit to galilee and
news of him went out through all the
surrounding region well how come it
didn't go out earlier how come news of
him did not go out five years earlier
how come news of him did not go out ten
years earlier because he had not yet
been anointed and empowered by the
spirit
but when the time came for his
commissioning the spirit of god came up
on him and the moment it happened
everything's different and after a time
of separation with prayer and fasting
for 40 days and 40 nights and the spirit
of god all over him he is powered up and
he became famous you could say it's like
it happened overnight why
because of the holy spirit so how in the
world do you ever expect to make it
without the empowerment of the holy
spirit in your life
whoo
you're going to have to get to know the
fellowship of the holy spirit
because he is directly responsible for
the lifting of god's people and for the
fulfillment of
impossible task not by might
nor by your own power ability but by the
holy spirit he's the one that brings the
grace grace so that the capstone is laid
and that the finished product can now be
seen to the glory of god watch him do it
in your life
watch him do it in your life
praise the lord
the holy spirit
is so
precise
in leading us
and we see of course that on
acts chapter 2 the day that the
disciples were all gathered together 120
of them in the upper room and the holy
spirit fell and great power upon them
and then they went out empowered by the
spirit suddenly preach peter is
preaching like another man and the other
apostles begin to operate in what the
lord had called him to do in fullness
they began eventually to go to different
assignments different places
hallelujah what a beautiful thing i've
been
various places even in india where the
apostle thomas went as far as india he
was actually martyred in india
and
was buried in the land of india but it
is true also that they say that he even
ventured into pakistan and he even
mentioned excuse me
traveled and ministered briefly in what
we know as modern-day china and then
came back and completed his ministry
there in india but even at his grave
site there's markers today they're in
chennai sometimes called madras the old
language for the city because that
city's thousands of years old
there's markers where
thomas is buried
and there's a list of all the blind
people that had their eyes opened it
gives numbers statistics of all the
cripples that were healed i mean he had
a powerful powerful ministry all of this
because of the holy spirit and they were
sent out so you don't have to stay in
jerusalem anymore it's not localized
it's not centralized he's with you any
where you go
praise the lord thank you jesus
and those men went out
and they turned the world upside down
and the holy spirit is still moving
today all over the world doing beautiful
things to exalt christ to draw men to
christ so that they might be saved so
that they might walk in the good things
that god has planned for them to enjoy
and experience praise the lord so the
holy spirit
was impressing upon my heart that in
this
in this season that we're now in
we need to pick it up a little bit in a
certain area it's kind of like if you're
running uh and you're gonna have to pick
the pace up a little bit i believe we
need to pick the pace up in this
particular area
and
let's take a look at it in psalm
67. we're now going to psalm 67
because the holy spirit
he is able to
discern the will of god
he can
search into the deep things of god and
take them and reveal them you praise the
lord so that you can walk in it and
enjoy it
psalm 67 verse 3
let the peoples praise you o god let all
the peoples praise you
oh let the nations be glad and
sing
for joy
and you shall judge the people
righteously and govern the nations on
earth
that the people's praise you o god that
all the peoples praise you then the
earth shall yield her increase
god our own god shall bless us
my friends
we're in a place right now where the
lord wants more praise why because the
lord has great plans for your life
and he wants praise to be a great
part of your lifestyle not just a uh
you know happy moment type thing but he
wants you to begin to merge into the
river of praise
praise the lord
hallelujah how can you really tell if
another person is born again
i'll tell you what you start praising
and worshiping you can find out real
quick if they're real or if they uh are
a spy agent that's a plant to uh uh you
know
arrest everybody in your secret church
meeting but i tell you what you start
praising the lord you can't there's a
place in the spirit where it when it
begins to pour out of you praise begins
to pour out of you you cannot fake that
praise the lord
oh there's
fake demonic tongues there's counterfeit
all kinds of stuff there's there's
people that that fake worship and fake
praise but when you're really in the
spirit it is powerful it's beautiful and
also there's a unity where you all link
together
and
heaven begins to open over your life
because the lord jesus christ in the
habits
he dwells
among the praises of his people and when
he's there there's power
glory to god and so the holy spirit was
showing me that we need to be increasing
our praise to jesus
and to god
that we might glorify the lord and
praise him more consistently and also
notice here in verse verse 5 let the
peoples praise you o god let all the
peoples praise you then the earth shall
yield her increase
i believe that when we are
in a heart of praise not grumbling
complaining but we have a heart of
praise
i believe from scripture and also from
personal experience
it plays a tremendous positive
impact upon our harvest
and when you sow seed
you think well how do i water the seed
well in
physical farming when you sow a seed you
have to put water on it so
that it will grow and then it will be
you know grow up and do what it's
supposed to do
we had a few
bare areas or low places around the
ministry property so we had dirt
placed in those low areas to bring them
up level and then it was covered over
with seed and straw but that's not
enough you have to put water on it
regularly well that was done and now
those places are green green green
everywhere it's green
praise god but my friends
your praise is the water upon
the seed that you sow and when you
praise the lord you are watering your
seeds so that you can receive miracle
harvest
then the earth shall yield her increase
that's after you've praised the lord
we need to be praising the lord glory to
god now of course
we have the classic text
of a great praise example
and we must also i'm going to go to that
just a moment but we must also be
mindful of the of the psalms
150 psalms
that are designed
as a songbook
of praise and worship to the lord
and you might think well pastor stephen
i don't i don't really even know what to
sing well come back to the song book and
find you a psalm that makes you happy
that you can sing to the lord whether
it's psalm 23 psalm 91 psalm 103. or if
you get real happy sing all of psalm 119
and just praise the lord amen hallelujah
there's your song book right there
thank you lord jesus now let us go over
to the book of acts
we're going to go to acts chapter 16.
i haven't forgotten about the holy
spirit i want to share some things in a
moment about the holy spirit but i'm
also
emphasizing what the holy spirit wants
me to emphasize in today's message
that he wants our praise to go up
glory to god you better see god moving
your life in a great way
acts chapter 16 verse 20
and they brought them to the magistrates
and said
these men being jews
exceedingly trouble our city
and they teach customs which are not
lawful for us being romans to receive or
observe
then the multitude rose up against
together against them and the
magistrates tore off their clothes
and commanded them to be beaten with
rods so we have paul and silas
they had done a good deed they had
delivered
a young woman that is
demonized that cast that spirit out or
paul actually did but now they are being
punished persecuted beaten for having
done a good deed
they're beaten with rods
when they had laid many stripes on them
they threw them in the prison commanding
the jailer to keep them securely so what
would take place back in the old roman
days is that after the beating took
place
and mind you that this was not under
jewish law this is under roman law
so roman law had a limit of 40 times
that you could be hit or whipped and so
they would they would always stop at 39
just in case they miscounted and that
way you don't go over 40. but this is
not uh
jewish law or anything like that this is
the romans so there's no limit so if you
know if the if the guy's doing the
beating or really worked up had a bad
day they might they might just hit you
70 times or 80 times or just pretty much
beat you til you're almost dead
and then after they've done that and
your back's all tore up you have big
gouges all over your back and you know
deep deep wounds and deep gouges then uh
they would take a bucket of salt water
and they would throw that on your back
that way you know that would keep uh
the maggots and stuff like that off of
you and that's about that's about all
you got then you are locked up and you
just wrote out your sentence but this is
amazing what god is going to do here
verse 24.
we see that the jailer having received
such a charge he put them into the inner
prison and fastened their feet in the
stalks so their feet are locked down
they're not going anywhere verse 25 but
at midnight paul and silas were praying
and singing hymns to god
you know the holy spirit can move upon
you at the most unusual times and you
would think well
holy spirit
you want me to sing a song right now to
the lord yep just go ahead and start
singing
i'll tell you what yes there's times you
stir yourself up there is the sacrifice
of praise and even when it's a challenge
and you do it it is yet still the grace
of god the holy spirit that gives you
the strength to do
that praise
and you may think it took everything you
had just to get your hands up but yet
there is that grace to do just that and
that is the holy spirit working in your
life
i've had remarkable uh uh
encounters with the holy spirit i
i would say some of the rarest
encounters i've had with him
were two times
when
i was at a very low moment when some
things happened that were very very
difficult in my life and the first time
it happened i'd i had uh
i had never experienced anything like it
for god the holy spirit and i knew it
wasn't the father because he's in heaven
i knew it wasn't jesus he's in heaven
but i knew absolutely that it was the
holy spirit
and the holy spirit came and grabbed me
and held me
now let me say this
before that i had had various encounters
with angels i had had angels and visions
talk to me
and i had had
sensations of even bumping in to angels
but i have
i had never had a situation like where i
was when i was held by the holy spirit
it was quite remarkable now i have also
had an encounter in the throne room of
heaven where the heavenly father god
abba father god has taken me and has
held me in his arms
and
it's the same thing in the sense god is
god but i tell you when the holy spirit
held me that one particular time
it was a different type of a comfort
that was being released because i was
upset about something so when i of
course now the other experience when i
was in heaven and the father held me i
wasn't really upset i was just
overwhelmed and happy to be there
and he picked me up uh and pulled me
into uh his uh you know up against his
chest
and i've told about that vision before
you know these gigantic hands uh each
hand three times bigger than the pulpit
and he pulled me in and he set me on his
lap almighty abba father held me and he
said three words
that shook my world to the very core he
said i
love
you
and my whole life played before me like
in movie segment scenes i could i mean
it took me back until i could see events
that took place when i was a little boy
at elementary school and other events in
life and when god spoke those three
words and ushered divine healing into my
into my heart into my soul area
and so that was a beautiful experience
but the experience with the holy spirit
when he held me was a different
experience because i was upset
and the holy spirit was pouring in
i would call like
some kind of supernatural comforting
ability now yes we know that he's the
comforter oh but when you really
encounter him as the uncomforter you
realize he is there to remove
discomfort
the
the agony that the enemy would try to
pierce you with
he
is there to bring
a supernatural consoling hell
and i've had him do it twice where he
actually came to me
and just grabbed me and held me
pastor stephen are you saying that the
holy spirit has arms yes
absolutely i'm not talking about the
holy spirit as some kind of ethereal
cloud or like star wars where you have
the force
you cannot have a force and there's
unless there's a person
behind
so-called force okay
so
um the holy spirit is not a force he's
not a fog
uh he is the third person of the godhead
deity father god
jesus the son the eternal word
and the holy spirit glory to god i've
had him hold me before
and you you sense deeply the love that
he has for you
have you ever had the holy spirit sing a
song to you before
i've had the holy spirit sing to me
before
with the most
beautiful voice
and he has sung songs to me before
see the scripture says you shall have a
song in the night pastor stephen what do
i do
when the holy spirit would sing a song
will you start singing along with him
praise god and you'll see that that song
will glorify jesus praise the lord
so
the holy spirit knows exactly what you
need
he knows which way to take you
and
i'm sharing some things today that i
believe will open some of you up many of
you up is my prayer but will open you up
to the realm of visions and these
glorious type encounters
so that you really get at the true
meaning of actually what the holy spirit
is after
let me let me explain
when i was younger in the lord and i
would have a supernatural experience say
like a vision
and i could see in the spirit realm and
an angel would share something with me
uh
it would be a great experience but after
the spirit experience was over
i was more excited about
the encounter than i was actually about
the message that the angel came to bring
um
isn't that fascinating
i'll give you an example
i've i've talked about the time where i
met
two angels they were in they were
actually in the back seat of the car i
was in the garage the car was parked in
the garage i sat in the garage
to be quiet so i could pray i could
still hear noise in the in the house so
i went and sat in the car parked in the
garage so i'd have total quietness and i
could worship the lord and while i was
worshiping the lord
i heard swoosh
and the car
in my sensation it's like i could tell
the car went down like like some weight
had been added to the car and i knew
that two angels had come and sat in the
back seat of the car
and um
so i i began to have a conversation in
prayer with the lord i said lord two
angels just came and sat in the back
seat of the car he said yes they did
and i said what are those angels here
for he said they're here to help you
with your times of prayer and fasting i
said lord that's wonderful i said what
are their names he said joash and josiah
hmm i said thank you lord hmm
well
i did probably what any of you would do
out of curiosity after the lord had told
me their names and yes they are sitting
back there uh
i turned around and looked i just turned
around and there sitting in the back
seat of the car were two angels
and i have to admit it was a little
unusual a little unusual for me because
i'd always heard that angels have golden
hair
they all have blonde hair and they all
wear white robes that's the standard
dress code for love for heaven well the
first thing i noticed is they did not
have white robes on and that they did
not have blonde golden hair
they had black hair
and their hair came down to their
shoulders it was black just as black as
a raven
and their eyes
were black also but not in an evil way
in a very sacred way they look like
tahitian pearls shiny and
uh beautiful beautiful uh the the to me
the whole thing surrounding it was the
spirit of the fear of the lord it was
very very sacred they had beautiful
brilliant eyes their eyes weren't dark
but their eyes were black in the sense
like they were dark color
but they were very illuminated very
beautiful and they had crimson red i
would the the robes were not red but
they were crimson crimson is a red color
deep thick crimson
uh a velvety type robes
hallelujah
well i was looking at those angels i
thought
who praised the lord and when i turned
around back to the front all the hair on
the back of my neck stood up
because when i turned around they were
sitting in the front
uh dr front passenger seat was the lord
jesus
and he'd been there the whole time
that's why the the conversation i was
having was so clear like
you ever been on like a cell phone when
you have a super clear reception it's
like the person's in the next room even
though they may be 2 thousand miles away
well that's why the the receptionist was
so clear he was sitting right there the
whole time but now i could see him
and uh whoo
wow that that's a different story of
kind of how that unfolded but let me say
this you could have a vision
you could have an experience and you
think that was glorious and it is
but don't forget what the whole thrust
of it is
the lord jesus was
sending into my life and into my
ministry to angels
for the purpose of prayer and fasting
and later i thought i thought about that
i said wait what wait a minute those
angels those angels were not here for
pizza parties
wow lord how come you didn't send the
pizza angels
the seafood angels how come you didn't
see the uh send the cake in the pie
angels
god's man
of pizza welcome to the pulpit the
apostle of pizza no
there were two angels of prayer in
fasting
and i'm not saying i'm a i'm an apostle
prayer or fasting but i i am saying that
that's what those angels were sent to my
life for and then you realize oh
that means i have a ministry in this
area
and as exciting as the vision was the
reality is is the message that was
delivered to me you're going to be doing
a lot of prayer and a lot of fasting
i must say that in the end times
the church will move into these areas
like daniel the prophet and daniel uh is
a key figure in the end times to look
towards he had under he had
understanding and insight into the day
and age in which we live now we're not
in the final days where the tinto
kingdom comes forth with the antichrist
that he's going to rule over but we will
see these things form
and
we will be at a very high level of
impact as the body of christ in the
earth
but before
things go into
a place where
the man of lawlessness begins to come on
the sin come on the scene
jesus will come for the church he will
come for his bride and take the bride to
be with him
praise god and then
and then the the antichrist who has been
withheld who has been restrained by
the overcoming church that is empowered
by the holy spirit then he will come
forth and things will go very very
quickly
into a very very
uh crazy world praise god my friends
we're going to get a lot done while
we're still here we're going to get all
that god has called us get done all that
god has called us to do but i want you
to be aware of the ministry of the holy
spirit
because he can unveil things to you he's
the one that opens up the spirit realm
and allows you to
experience whether it's seen in the
spirit realm see hear taste touch or
smell
these all take place by the holy spirit
and you cannot get into the spirit
without the holy spirit praise god now
there is a spirit realm
and there are those
who trespass into that realm
unlawfully or illegally but jesus said
i'm the true shepherd and anybody
that comes in any other way climbs up
any other way
is false
they are
they're illegal so we will not use any
form of illegal means because if you do
that you're on the devil's turf and
you'll get demonized
and
you will have the enemy come march into
your life full power he might offer you
that access with the trade-off but the
trade-off is always
awful consequences in one's life don't
ever dabble in the occult don't ever
dabble in new age don't ever play with
uh what would be considered low forms of
occultism such as uh you know wicca or
uh you know white uh witchcraft or stuff
like that it is all satanic it's all
evil and if you play with that you will
allow satan to send evil spirits into
your life and they may show you a few
things through illicit access into these
realms
uh but my friends
you uh the devil will extract a
tremendous price for that so we walk
with the lord we walk with the holy
spirit and the holy spirit opens it up
as he wills but he's very very willing
and as you draw near to the lord
you can be like
the prophets of old that were very very
discerning between good and evil and
also between
uh
what is going on between the natural and
the spiritual praise god even as elisha
said there's more with us than there are
with them and the the young assistant
prophet just couldn't see it why his
eyes were not open to see into the
spirit realm but god is raising up an
end time enoch generation of believers
for there will not be a singular enoch
there will be a whole company of those
who walked with god and were not because
the lord took him and that's an end-time
representation of the church that will
be lifted up the spotless bride that
will be taken up
in the last day praise the lord thank
you jesus glory to god all right now
let's go back to what the holy spirit
would be emphasizing to us
in this moment verse 25
but at midnight
now midnight was
the literal time but we also understand
that they did not have clocks they did
not have smartphones and it's not like
paul looked and said well it's midnight
they had an understanding of that sense
so it could also represent not only that
hour of night but difficult times that
you would pass through in life
verse 25 but at midnight paul
and silas were praying
and singing hymns to god and the
prisoners were listening to them
you know there will be times when the
holy spirit will awaken you
and he may even use external factors to
wake you up maybe a loud noise maybe a
fire truck or police siren going by and
you think well that woke me up and
you're up
and you sense
you sense the holy spirit well
i would suggest go ahead and get up
spend a little time with the lord and
see where that goes and see what the
holy spirit would unveil to you and it
could be also just to sing and worship
the lord
maybe jesus
maybe he just wants a little bit of
praise from your side of the world
because maybe everybody else is asleep
and jesus thinks over here on this side
of the world is dark and everybody's
sleeping but i would like a little
praise to come up from over there and
maybe you're the one to wake up in the
middle of the night and have a song in
the night and sing it to the lord
i'm telling you what the holy spirit
will lead you in to those types of
situations
or maybe you're in prison
maybe you're imprisoned falsely or maybe
you're you're imprisoned because
things were twisted and uh
perhaps you did something wrong but it
was
uh it was narrated to a judge in the
wrong way and now you're serving
something
that uh should have been minor but
perhaps it's major you find yourself
there
well wherever we're at
we want to honor the lord and we want to
praise the lord and not grumble or
complain but say lord come on into this
situation come on into my life because
i'm going to praise you right now
even in the midst of my midnight
experience of being in a dark dank cold
cell
and this is this is my result lord of
having preached for you and having
delivered a young girl from the power of
the devil but lord here i am but i'm not
going to complain hey silas i got a song
coming up in my spirit
paul that's just what we need
paul strike it up you start singing and
i'll join in and my friends that's what
they were doing
they were praying
and singing hymns to god
and the prisoners were listening
to them suddenly there was a great
earthquake so the foundations of the
prison were shaken and immediately all
the doors were open and everyone's
chains were loosed your prayers
and your praise can cause great
breakthroughs in your life but your
prayers and your praise can also cause a
shock impact effect
where you get hit with the blessing the
power of god chains fall off of you and
boom they fall off others that are under
that uh atmosphere or within that
that proximity of the release of god's
power and they fell off every single
prisoner there in the jail by the way
church history teaches us that
every single person that was in that
jail not only paul and silas but all the
others were let loose they were they
were set free and a church was started
and the church was made up initially of
100
former convicts because they were every
one of them was one of those members
that were in that jail when that
earthquake hit and the power of god came
on the scene
[Music]
praise the lord
matter of fact paul the apostle wrote a
letter an epistle to that very church in
the bible but i won't tell you which one
it was but that church was originally
launched and built with all of its
original former members all of them were
former convicts and they came out of
this experience right here
what would have happened
paul and silas would have said you know
what lord i don't think this is very
fair treatment the way we're uh being
treated in here and lord we just i tell
you what lord once we get out of this
we're gonna have to rethink this
ministry career we're gonna have to
rethink this ministry path because this
is this is uh this is very difficult but
no
no they're all in and i know that you're
all in also you've committed fully to
the lord jesus christ all the way all
the way and my friends we just need to
be those that praise the lord
and it is the power of the holy spirit
to unveil the spirit realm it is the
power of the holy spirit that releases
angels to come and to go
whoa praise god because he's on the
earth with us right now
i was in virginia
years back
and we were doing a revival meeting at a
certain church
and it was day number four the final day
of the revival meeting
and
i was in the hotel room all by myself my
wife and daughter had gone into town to
do a few things and also to kind of free
me up so i could have uh more uner
uninterrupted time to pray so i was all
by myself in the hotel room and i was
getting ready for the evening service
and after i'd prayed for quite some time
you know you get everything covered in
prayer i just was kind of finished
praying so now i just started praising
and i just was walking around with my
hands up
praising
praising the lord jesus i worship you
jesus i thank you lord i believe you're
going to do miracles tonight lord i just
give you glory and honor and i praise
you
and right there in that hotel room while
i was praising the lord
suddenly the whole atmosphere in the
room shifted
and the room began to get filled with
the glory of god as an angel
sent straight from heaven came in to the
room and stood two feet behind
my left shoulder
and that angel spoke something very
special to me
and by the way this story is recorded in
my book
working with angels we have this book
available on our website
if you want the ultra fast copy you can
go to many other
sources online and just download it as
an ebook boom
you can have it within a minute
this story comes from page
163
and the angel came in and he said this
to me
he said that's why you were allowed to
find lost keys because praise is the
lost key to victory
now previously just a few days
before
i had gone to the virginia to these do
these revival meetings i had helped a
friend spread some pine needles and uh
we're putting the pine needles out real
thick like that thick for
a little bit of landscape work to make
the place look pretty he was about to
have a meeting and some people were
coming for a christian meeting and he
was just trying to do a little touch-up
i said let let me help you and i helped
spread the pine needles all around we
did that for about 20 minutes and then
we were done
and i noticed an area where the pine
needles were just seemed to be a little
bit too high and i was going to go over
there and push them down so i walked
over to this one area
and pushed the pine needles down just a
little bit and when i did that i heard a
very slight like clink
like metallic type sound i thought well
i wonder what in the world could that
have been and i dug down through the
pine needles remember they were about a
foot uh deep and i dug down through the
pine needles
and i saw something that seemed to be a
piece of metal sticking up out of the
ground and i dug a little bit further
and they were my keys to my car while i
was working when i had started working
they must have just fallen out of my
pocket
they landed on the ground then they
somehow got stomped on and stepped on
while we were out there doing things
and you know what i never ever would
have found those keys even if we pulled
all the pine needles back i still don't
think i could have found them
but that angel came and that angel said
to me
he said
that's why you were allowed to find lost
keys because praise
is the lost key to victory you know the
whole time i was putting those pine
needles out i was just praising the lord
i said lord i thank you that i can help
out my brother i thank you for this
beautiful weather i thank you for the
carolina blue skies thank you for the
carolina blue oh hallelujah jesus thank
you for the meetings i'm going to in
just a few more days god i praise you
let me ask you a question do you think i
would have found
those keys if i had not been praising
the lord perhaps perhaps just because of
the goodness and mercy of the lord but i
have found that when you praise the lord
like that on purpose just continually
then god does unusual things for you and
you have strange uh i would even call
them strange encounters with the holy
spirit and uh
you try to talk to some other christians
and they're like
i don't understand how this stuff
happens my friends when you praise the
lord you invite god and his supernatural
power to come into your life and to do
what you could never do in your own and
that's why
we see in zechariah it's not by might
nor your power it's by the holy spirit
whoa praise god he knows everything
he's almighty
praise the lord and as he helps you to
worship the lord to praise god
praise the lord
jesus responds with great delight
and so often will not just
not only do what you desire
to do what the need is so often he goes
beyond it
praise god
you ready for a little bit more
as the holy spirit moves in your life
sometimes
you'll find yourself doing a little
you're doing things that um
excuse me just for a moment while i
drink some water
sometimes you find yourself doing some
things that might be a little bit on the
wild side
praise god
uh not too long ago just a few months
back
i had flown out to california southern
california my wife and i
to see uh
my spiritual father
uh he's getting on up there in age he
still has strength still has all of his
wit he's still smart as attack still
anointed as ever
uh but time is marching on so i went out
there to receive
a special laying all of hands and
impartation from him
we had a great time together the lord's
already blessed me i just i just knew
that the lord had something special so
we went out there
and um
before he even prayed for me we were at
the we had a certain restaurant real
real nice restaurant high-end
restaurant
and uh we're having a meal together
myself my precious wife
and our spiritual father
and uh
while we were there eating i had to go
to the bathroom i said y'all excuse me
i'll be right back and so i went to the
bathroom
now this is a real
like high-end restaurant you know um
people are i think it was like a friday
night and so everybody's really you know
you got a lot of party people this is
not a party restaurant i'm not at a bar
or something like that but you have a
lot of people that are kind of snooty
and you know how it can be
and so i'm in this i'm in the bathroom
even the bathroom's real nice you know
granite all over the walls and stuff
like that so i'm i'm in the bathroom
and i'm using the restroom i went into
one of the men's stalls and i closed the
door
and somebody came in a man came in and
he's on his he's on a cell phone
and he's talking to somebody on his cell
phone he's talking real loud you know
he's obnoxious he's rude he's loud i
don't know if he's drunk or not but he's
real loud
and uh so he's talking on the phone and
while he's on the phone he curses god's
name
uh gd he blasphemes god's name real loud
real loud but he's not even thinking
anything about it he's just on the phone
whoa
and while he's on the phone talking the
moment he did that and he blasphemed
god's name
and i'm not saying that you should do
this or something like that the spirit
of god came on me so strong i shouted
with everything in me i screamed and
said glory to god praise god for the
blood of jesus
man you talking about
that guy
i mean it was like
he's he didn't say anything he still got
the phone up to his ears
he didn't know what that was
and
there's like a pause for maybe like five
or seven seconds
and he starts talking again on the phone
whoever he's talking to he breaks up the
conversation and he picks up the
conversation and he curses god's name
again and he says it again and such such
power of the spirit came out of me i
said hallelujah
praise god for the blood of jesus
[Music]
and he put his phone down
and i could tell he he's real quiet and
i opened up the stall it came out of the
stall he looked at me like i was crazy i
looked at him
with a line of judah on the inside of me
looking out of my eyes at him
and he looked at me he didn't know what
to think i just went over to the sink
washed my hands
[Music]
washed my hands dried him off
looked at him and walked out if you have
the right to curse and if you have the
right to glorify the devil i have the
right to glorify the lord amen pastor
stephen that's unusual encounters with
the spirit yep and you never know when
they're going to happen praise god could
i have suppressed that
yeah maybe i probably would have
imploded if i had of but i just i you
know sometimes you just don't care just
go for it well pastor stephen you're in
a very influ affluent area what would
people think who cares
who cares praise god
just pour it out of me so i then went
out went right back to my seat uh and
picked up my meal right where i left off
had a wonderful night wonderful time
i told my wife about it later she left
[Laughter]
because i've done those things quite a
few times before
hallelujah one night
this was maybe of like 20 years ago i
had gone uh out to a remote place at a
park
to pray
and i uh this was a beautiful park but
it was maybe like 2 30 in the morning
and so i had gone over by some bushes
and i had knelt down and i was praying
and i was really having a glorious time
with the lord
when
when suddenly
about about seven
uh
hoodlums
showed up
and they came out to literally the
vandalize the park and they started
kicking things and they were cursing
they were laughing and they looked like
they were drunk
and they were just they were just wild
all guys like seven guys all wild
probably all in their early twenties and
they were just kicking stuff over and
mad and cursing and and
and the spirit of god came on me like
samson and i jumped out of the bushes
and i screamed hallelujah
and it struck every single one of them
with terror with terror one guy screamed
and said my god
[Laughter]
i said repent all of you in the name of
the lord
for god sees what you're doing and he's
greatly displeased with it
they were their butter total butter
they'll never forget it they'll never
forget it for the rest of their life
praise the lord
i had a situation
where the lord thrust me into the life
of two young men that almost killed
themselves
by being drunk
and
whoo it happened
strangest thing happened at one o'clock
in the morning
knock on the door i was in a way in a
remote cabin here in arabian falls on
the back side of a mountain all by
myself tucked away on purpose to write
to write and to seek the lord and at one
o'clock in the morning
there's a knock on the door
a drunk a drunk guy at the door and
tells me we've had an accident me and my
friend
well you know they had an accident all
right they had almost gone off the
mountain ledge
and the back axel
got caught on a stomp somebody cut a
tree down a long time ago and that back
axle of their vehicle caught the stomp
and without that they would have plunged
straight to the bottom they would have
died
and so i i went down there took my truck
down there put the one guy in it drove
him down there got down to where they
were at the side of the accident called
the sheriff it took the sheriff 45
minutes just to get there i'm telling
you this is out in the middle of nowhere
and i laid into him
with the gospel what are you doing out
one o'clock in the morning driving
around
you should be living for jesus you
should give your life to the lord and
you just you pour your heart into him
you know you're not mean but you you
also sometimes people need a sobering up
well i sobered them up praise god and
then the sheriff shows up told me yeah
he said they're both drunk
and uh he said he said they're fortunate
they're not dead
well i did my job then i left
years go by
years go by
and um
believe it or not i had a young man that
had lived on that mountain a friend of
mine he was young man he went off to
college and years later he ran into
somebody and he they just struck up a
conversation and they realized they were
both from the same county and that other
that other young man who's now grown up
said he said yeah he said i had a wild
experience he said you used to live on
that mountain he said the other young
guy the other guy said yeah i did he
said man i had a crazy experience on
that mountain where i almost killed
myself and this god named steven brooks
came around and preached the gospel and
he said i know stephen brooks
he said i've had a lot of fun with
stephen brooks and that young man has
now grown up too but that guy still
remembered years later that experience
i'm talking about unusual encounters
with the holy spirit
praise the lord there is the spirit of
might he'll come upon you
and empower you to do the most unusual
things say the most unusual things get
ready for this get ready for this he's
going to come upon some of you to dance
to dance
because god wants to do a miracle and he
wants you to dance if nothing else
because jesus wants to see you do it
oh now pastor steve now you got to hold
on just a moment you don't you don't
know the kind of a person i am i'm i'm
reserved and uh maybe you're watching me
and you're uh presbyterian maybe you're
watching me and you're anglican or
something like that
or who knows maybe you're watching me
and you're baptistal it doesn't matter
i'll guarantee you one thing i guarantee
you one thing when you get to heaven you
you think you're not going to dance
you think when you're on those streets
of gold and you realize i've made it i'm
there
you don't you think you're going to
stand there all reserved and dignified
you're going to be dancing all over the
place
so there will be times when the holy
spirit wants you he won't force you but
he wants you to worship the jesus
through dancing
dance in advance before you ever see the
miracle
just dance and praise the lord dance and
praise the lord
i had the funny thing about two years
ago when maybe it was three years ago
when i was ministering in california
and uh
i started doing my little funny dance at
the end of the message and i was up
there preaching and started doing my
little you know dance or whatever
and uh
you know later after that service was
over a guy came that was in that meeting
came up to my wife
he said where
where in the world did your pastor i
mean the excuse that your husband
learned uh swag dancing like that
and my my wife said uh stephen doesn't
swag dance he wasn't swag dancing just
dancing in the spirit acting silly like
he does in the spirit the guy goes oh no
no no he said i am a professional swag
dancer he goes like i go to dancing
competitions he goes your husband was
doing the carolina swag dance
my wife was like no no he's dancing the
spirit he's like no no no he that he's
doing the carolina swag dance and would
you believe when i got back when we got
back we drove back into town there was a
big billboard up right by the holiday
inn
that said swag dance coming next few
days
sometimes you gotta dance in the spirit
you don't have to do no dirty vulgar
dancing like
the young girl did in front of a herod
know something and you don't need to do
something and flame somebody with lust
no we're talking about dancing in the
spirit that will glorify jesus jumping
praise the lord spinning around
worshiping the lord you do that all by
yourself
praise the lord hallelujah
and there could be times also when the
holy spirit wants you to do it in church
or do it when you're with other
believers and sisters in the lord
well pastor steve i don't know if i can
do that been you've been having too much
prune jews hallelujah you need to get
liberated you've been drinking too much
vinegar hallelujah you get happy and
dance in the spirit and be free praise
the lord
[Laughter]
hallelujah
these are things of the spirit these are
unusual encounters with the holy spirit
praise god
praise the lord
thank you jesus
glory to the lord now the lord
lord wants to do miracles in your life
and he wants you to praise him but also
not just because of the miracles but
just because of who he is
praise the lord
just jump up sometime and say jesus i
praise you start dancing all over your
room
all over your room
praise god depression
will never touch the believer who will
do that for the believer that will do
that you'll never know dementia or
alzheimer's never
hallelujah not when you're up praising
jesus glorifying the lord shouting
hallelujah no no the devil cannot keep a
man or woman like that down praise the
lord
it is a
it's a remedy
against the attacks
of the enemy because when you praise the
lord
what happens is the angels actually
chain
the enemies
that would work against you he puts them
in fetters you go free and they get
bound
praise the lord
hallelujah so when you praise god
god's power comes on the scene the
angels come on the scene
your harvest is expedited
and also god does many special favors
for those that praise him
praise the lord glory to the lord david
was very unique
he was a man after god's own heart
that's because he knew how to praise god
he knew how to worship the lord
praise the lord
glory to god
and the tabernacle of david is being
fully restored
it's been fully restored
this is what i've noticed something very
interesting
in
perhaps what we would call the
charismatic movement or maybe the
prophetic movement
tell me if you've noticed this
that in today's prophetic churches
and so forth
they
they can they can worship really well
but they don't know how to praise
and it's the praise that brings god's
power on the scene
it's the praise that creates the
breakthrough
and it's like they don't they don't know
how to praise but they like the worship
and they worship all the time but
something about praise there's a missing
revelation
and this is why the angel
sent from heaven personally told me he
was he was he was like illuminated with
like a blue glow he had just come
straight from heaven that's why the
glory was on him so strong
that's why he said praise is the lost
key
it's the lost key to victory and you'd
be surprised
how many christians
don't know how to praise the lord or
just won't do it but i'm here today
saying that you have an instruction
manual 150 songs or psalms and you have
the holy spirit with you on the inside
of you who will help you tear up the
carpet
[Music]
glory to the lord
praise god
and some of you if you're maybe
frustrated or you're just you you feel
depressed you need to get up and just
praise the lord in the dance
literally until you just about fall out
amen
hallelujah it release all it will
release all kinds of good uh
healthy chemicals into your body that
you know your brain has happy moments
and it causes all that to be released
and flushed throughout your bloodstream
brings healing into your body
you'll be so happy but most importantly
of all
the cry of the lord upon the cross i
thirst
that's more than just give him something
to drink he thirsts for praise
why he doesn't get his cup filled up
very often
on that
lord i worship you worship is beautiful
and after you've praised there will come
a spirit of worship
but the power
the the power is in the praise god
praise has that bite it has that punch
praise the lord glory to god
that praise will get the headache off of
you
it will get the depression off of you
next time you feel like the enemy is
trying to depress you just jump up and
start dancing all over your room and
praising the lord saying thank you jesus
for this beautiful day
somebody you're watching me and it's
rainy outside and cold outside and the
weather forecast says the sun's not
going to come out for the next 10 days
just jump up anyhow
hallelujah because the holy spirit can
illuminate you and make you happy right
where you're at praise god
amen
and you can see very easily with the
spirit's power how you are a city the
church sat on a hill you can't hide that
you can't hide joy
praise the lord
glory to the lord amen lift your hands
father i pray for your people
i pray for angelic intervention
father i pray for
the fellowship of the holy spirit
to begin the flow and a new dimension
where your people yield
yield
to
the holy spirit yield to the holy spirit
thank you o god
oh god we give you praise
we give you praise and glory
we give you praise
and glory
hallelujah i see your people having
strange encounters
unusual encounters
and loving every minute of it
every moment of it oh god we give you
praise thank you
thank you o god let jesus be exalted we
give you all of the praise
in jesus name
amen
hallelujah
um
i see the garment of heaviness
coming off
and i see the spirit of praise
being upon you you wear it like a
garment praising the lord
hallelujah glory
glory to the lord
glory to the lord
praise god
father thank you for your holy spirit
ministering
to your people
in the area of specific need
and also what it is the lord wants
in that moment
what type of praise
oh god we thank you thank you father in
jesus name
amen
amen
i see praise has never been a lost key
for you ever again
praise the lord
glory to god
if you're watching today's program and
you don't know christ the savior of the
world as your personal savior you need
to know that he died on the cross for
you as a sinless man
he laid his life down
and paid the penalty for your sins so
that if you put your faith and trust in
him you could receive his eternal life
and forgiveness of sins if you would
like to get your life right with god
right now pray this prayer after me say
jesus
i'm a sinner
but you died to save sinners like me
jesus
i turn for my sin
and i commit my life 100
to you
right now
jesus
save me
wash my sins away
write my name
in your book of life thank you jesus
thank you for hearing my prayer
in your name i pray
amen
and amen
those of you that have prayed that
welcome to the family of
god praise the lord
glory to the lord
glory to the lord hmm
wow uh angelic encounters are very very
near
some of you angelic very very encounters
are very very near for some of you
praise the lord
glory to the lord
praise god let's take holy communion
together today grab some
unleavened bread
and some grape juice
and let's pray
heavenly father thank you for the bread
the juice
we consecrate it and set it apart as
holy through this prayer
and we thank you that this is now the
flesh
and the blood of jesus
father
thank you that we have a glorious
inheritance
and we step into that by the power of
your spirit
and father we we follow that anointing
of your spirit
to give you praise
we follow that anointing
thank you o god
we give you praise o lord hallelujah and
father as we receive the body of jesus
we thank you
that we receive the spirits touch
the spirit's power
to move forward
to always be in motion forward we give
you praise in jesus name
amen let's partake of the lord's body
praise the lord
father thank you for the blood of jesus
we thank you for
forgiveness of sins
cleansing from all unrighteousness
through the lord's blood
thank you father god we ask that you
would forgive us and we forgive anybody
that sinned against us
we give you praise
thank you father god for your spirit's
power flowing in our lives
and thank you for hearts of praise thank
you for all that you've done
thank you father in jesus name
amen let's receive the blood of the lord
when praising the lord
begin by just
thanking him for all that he's done
thank you for your job
thank you for your spouse
or if you're single and you want to stay
single thank you for thank him for your
singleness and him preserving you in
that
thank the lord for everything that the
holy spirit will help you to bring up
and give the lord praise for it praise
him for everything praising for your
health praise him for your children
praise him that he is working in your
life
and just give him all the praise that
you can
amen
thank you lord jesus this will keep you
fresh
this will keep a strong anointing
upon
your life
praise god
and in closing thank you for standing
with this ministry as we move forward
and establish
this new branch within the ministry the
aviation branch so thank you for sewing
towards the hanger project
and i'll keep you posted as we move
towards that completion of that project
i would really like to hear from you
between
anytime between now and thanksgiving i'm
going to be praying over all of your
special offerings into this project and
i believe that we're going to see the
glory of god manifested and we'll be
able to step through this open door
thank you for standing with us praise
god
okay go praise the lord go fellowship
with the holy spirit and i'll see you
back next time