good morning my friends i'm pastor
stephen brooks
welcome today to our online internet
around the world church
service and i'm so happy that you're
here because i believe god's word
will strengthen you to do all that he
has called you to do
and to be the person that he has called
you to be now let us receive the holy
tides and offerings we're going to bring
them into the storehouse of god
and let's look at two verses in acts
chapter
10 that will boost our faith
to believe god for a special blessing
acts chapter 10 verse 1
there was a certain man in caesarea
called cornelius
now we know that cornelius is going to
become very soon
the first convert to the christian
faith it says that he was devout man
and one who feared god with all his
household who gave alms
generously to the people and prayed to
god
always so he was a giver and also he had
a very strong prayer life
verse 4 and when he observed him
he was afraid and said what is it lord
so he said to him
your prayers and your alms have come
up for a memorial before god
let me say that it is possible to
provoke god through your prayers and
giving
in a way where god releases something
extraordinary
into your life praise the lord this is
not often talked about
i think it's actually quite a few that
know about it but it's something that's
so special
that it's not often talked about but
when we think about the word provoke
sometimes we view it in a negative sense
such as maybe provoking someone to anger
or provoking a dog to bite or something
negative
but in a positive way in a very holy way
you can walk with the lord with a
prayerful life
and you can be so consistent
and so just tied to the heart of god
with your giving
that you can actually cause god to step
back and say
wow look at that person i'm going to do
something special for them they are so
honoring me with their giving and i see
their prayers
but their giving just is so consistent
and just that they just keep on giving
they just keep on giving
that god says you know what i'm going to
do something special
and those prayers and the giving were
established in heaven
as a memorial and god released
a blessing upon cornelius he and his
whole household were privileged
to hear the gospel preached cornelius
got saved he was the first one to come
into the kingdom as a gentile
praise god his whole family got saved
well pastor stephen god just randomly
chose him
no he provoked god through his prayers
and through his giving and you could do
the same thing
and i think with cornelius we see a
great example of consistency
in other words we're not reviewing a
three-month
track pattern but this is somebody
who believes in the lord god of israel
and although he's not as we would say
born again
he says i want to honor this god that i
serve and so he prays to god and he also
is just sowing seed
he's giving offerings now he would know
from the jewish teaching
that the tithe is holy and the tithe
already belongs to the lord
but on top of the tithe he's giving
offerings he's giving offerings and he
did it
so consistently so often that he
provoked
god to release a very beautiful blessing
into his life now you can't make god do
it you can't
twist god's arm we're not talking about
something like that but we all
we are talking about something that is
tying into a spiritual law where yes you
absolutely can touch god's heart
and it triggers a release and it could
even be
a legacy type release that causes
something so profound to take place
in your life that it goes down in
history and here we are today talking
about
cornelius and something that happened to
him
right around 2000 years ago and we're
still talking about it today
so this would be a legacy blessing we
see this principle first
established in the old testament
in the book of first samuel chapter 2
verse 29. now it is in
earlier portions of scripture but here
it's laid out
just point blank for anybody to take it
and run with it
who would believe it and practice it
verse 29
why do you kick it my sacrifice and my
offering which i have commanded in my
dwelling
place and you have some in church today
you have those christians that say oh
ties and offerings
that's not important god just wants your
heart well how can god have your heart
if if you if he doesn't have your if he
doesn't have lordship over your finances
all of these things that people say that
they think are spiritual
actually unveil their lack of
spirituality
because if god truly has your heart he
also is the lord
over your finances and you're going to
honor him with your finances as he
instructed
and we see corruption in the priesthood
where eli and particularly his sons
are doing things that are bringing
dishonor to the house
of god and a lot of that had to do with
the way that the offerings were treated
now we know there's a lot of other stuff
going on
that was completely out of order direct
direct sinful
but if you start to compromise in these
areas
of the way god wants the structure to be
done in this house
and it was very clear that the
priesthood understanding of this with
all the offerings if you
if you just honor that then it's not
going to go well for you
verse 30 therefore the lord god of
israel says
i said indeed that your house and the
house of your father would walk
before me forever but now the lord says
far be it from me for those who honor me
i will honor think about cornelius
for those who honor me i
will honor and those who despise me
shall be lightly esteemed have you ever
met
not talking about unbelievers have you
ever met christians
who lightly esteem god's requirements
financially god's instructions
financially
and they say oh we don't need to do that
today we're we're under grace
well if you're under grace where's the
grace of giving you know
and they throw all these things out and
really what they're doing
by not participating in god's kingdom
plan
is they are placing them themselves in a
place
where god cannot bless them the way that
he would want to
why because they're dishonoring the lord
it's very very important but here's
something i want you to take the heart
god said for those who honor me i will
honor i want to tell you a secret
and i might not ever say this again
because it's sacred in some ways i want
to stand on the pulpit and shout it
because i know how real it is
but in other ways it's very very special
and i don't always bring this forth in
such
detail but let me say this
you absolutely can provoke
god to release a blessing into your life
through your prayers and your giving you
absolutely can
well pastor stephen i i tried that for
two months nothing happened
it's hard to build a memorial in two
months i would
i would just say just stay with it stay
with it stay with it and there'll come a
point if it you're just
pouring it on pouring along that god
just says you know what i'm gonna have
to do something for my son
for my daughter they have shown such
honor
that they have moved my heart and
it might take a couple of years but
eventually
you can you can provoke god in a very
righteous way to move
yes you can we see it in the word of god
so that's something i would like for you
to take the heart today
as you're continuing to honor the lord
with the top with the tithe
as you're continuing to honor the lord
with offerings
consider this in your heart because i
believe you are moving towards something
where god can release special honor
upon your life and it could be something
that alters
your entire financial picture
not only not only for like something
that oh
maybe you know like for a year or two
you know it changes
i'm talking about change your whole life
or even years later
people are still talking about it maybe
you live your life out go to be with the
lord
yet people are still talking about it
and certainly certainly and it can
actually establish a memorial in heaven
there are many memorials in heaven
that are built on sacrifice that are
built on obedience
and they're all named they're all named
and when you get to heaven
may you find out that there was one
built for you
based upon your prayers and your giving
now of course there will be many
christians they'll get to heaven
and they'll see those memorials they'll
think well isn't that something i wish
i'd have known about that while i was on
the earth i might have tried to done
something about that to have one for
myself
praise the lord but now
listen but now you know
you can provoke the lord to release
honor upon your life a special blessing
of honor if you'll honor him
in this way praise god just something to
consider something as you
walk around and pray in the spirit pray
in tongues and ponder
god's kingdom and god's glory something
to chew on hallelujah
and i believe you'll see something
beautiful done praise god
now father bless your people as they
give today bless your people
and let that just really take root in
their heart
that you honor those who honor you
you will you will and i thank you father
god you you want
you want to bless your people in this
special portion this special way
i thank you that they're moving towards
it i thank you
i thank you i thank you your hand is
about to open for many in a very special
way
because they've been at it for quite
some time they're not rookies in this
and you've seen that and you've taken
that to heart
father we thank you you're the greatest
record keeper
in the universe
[Laughter]
you know every detail and you see every
prayer prayed every tear sown every seed
sown
and i thank you that something extremely
special
is about to be released in the lives of
those who will continue to
honor you father we bless you in jesus
name
amen now those of you that would like to
mail in
your tithe your offering please send it
to stephen brooks international
p.o box 717
moravian falls north carolina
28 654 if you want to bring your tithe
you're offering in online you can do so
anytime day or night
literally from any place in the world
please visit
our website stevenbrooks.org
there's a link on the home page that
says give it has a red heart on it you
can click on that
you'll see the direct area that you can
bring in the tithe and you can bring in
an offering we have
different projects if you would like to
sow a offering into one of those
projects
be mindful that as you do that god will
honor
those who honor him
praise god you are blessed
in jesus name praise the lord
let's take our bibles today and go over
to the exciting book of joshua
we're going to be in joshua chapter 3
and i want us to start today
in verse 9 and we're talking about what
happens when the jordan river overflows
its banks
praise god hallelujah father as we jump
into your word
we ask that your word would jump into us
as a living word and that it would lodge
within our hearts
and produce the 100 fold return of
righteousness and peace and joy we give
you praise
praise praise we thank you now in jesus
name
and we all agree and say amen
verse 9 so joshua said to the children
of israel
come here and hear the words of the lord
your god
and joshua said by this you shall know
that the living god
is among you and that he will without
fail
drive out from before you the canaanites
and the hittites and the highvites and
the perizzites
and the gergeshites and the amorites and
the jebusites
all of the ites all representing
different types
of spiritual opposition we have a lot of
symbolism here a lot of old testament
what we would or what theologians would
call types and shadows
that we can learn uh from a new covenant
perspective that as we are
marching towards the heavenly city
living for jesus possessing
our inheritance we are also driving the
ice
out of our lives and out of the
promised land that god has for us
as well praise god behold the ark of the
covenant of the lord of all the earth is
crossing over before you
into the jordan now therefore take for
yourselves twelve men from the tribes of
israel one man from every tribe
and it shall come to pass as soon as the
souls of the feet of the priests who
bear the ark of the lord
the lord of all the earth shall rest in
the waters of the jordan
that the waters of the jordan shall be
cut off
the waters that come down from upstream
and they shall
stand as a heap so it was when the
people set out from their
camp to cross over the jordan would the
priest bear in the ark of the covenant
before
the people and as those who bore the ark
came to the jordan
and the feet of the priest who bore the
ark dipped
in the edge of the water for the jordan
overflows
all this banks during the whole time of
harvest
that the waters which came down from
upstream stood
still and rose in a heap
very far away at adam we have more
symbolic word pictures here the city
that is inside that is beside
zaraton so the waters that went down
into the sea of the arab of the salt sea
failed and were cut off and the people
crossed over
opposite jericho then the priest who
bore the ark of the covenant
of the lord stood firm on dry ground in
the midst of the jordan and all israel
crossed over on dry ground
until all the people had crossed
completely over
the jordan praise god
now i'd like to put a picture up i want
you to take a look at this
beautiful picture of the jordan river
this is the
modern day jordan river if you were to
get on a plane
and fly to israel and land in tel aviv
and uh start hitting south and uh
get on down to the southern area uh just
just above the uh
the dead sea you would see the jordan
river flowing of course from north to
south with a uh
quite a quite a deep drop in elevation
as it goes down
but you'll see there the beautiful
jordan river that you're looking at
and i know uh many people when they
first come
to israel and see the jordan river same
thing happened to me when you see it
your first initial thought is um wow
i guess i had a greater expectation it
sure is small
and there was and actually the first
time i ever saw it
the tour guide happened to show it to us
at a place where it was probably the
smallest
actual crossing and when i saw it there
i was just like wow
and of course more information helps you
to understand what's actually taking
place
where i saw that which was a place you
could
almost if you're a really good athlete
you could almost
maybe even jump over it from one side to
the other which would be from the jordan
side
to the israeli side but the thing
is that the picture that you're looking
at right now
of the jordan river you have to realize
that's only three percent of what
used to be the jordan river 97 percent
of it
you're not looking at it's being
diverted it's going off in different
directions
you've had a lot of water treaties a lot
of fighting and bickering
i wouldn't say fights of war but a lot
of verbal fighting
a lot of heavy frustration between who
gets the rights to the water
so 97 of the jordan river
does no longer flow through the jordan
river
it's diverted for water sources from uh
drinking water that's filtered to
irrigation to
on and on it goes everybody is desperate
for fresh water
in that part and so you not not only
have israel and jordan you even have
lebanon
uh even syria you have these places that
are trying to tie into the jordan river
and get their fair share of the water so
the jordan river you're looking at
right there is only three percent
of what the mighty jordan used to be
now let's put another picture up
on the screen for you to take a look at
and to consider
this second picture is a picture of the
allenby
bridge and this bridge will take you
from the
israeli side and if you drive over the
bridge
then you will be over on the jordanian
side the bridge was built
there's actually two of them the old one
was built in 1920
and so you're looking at a picture
literally from
and while you're looking at that picture
i want you to understand
that there have been tremendous floods
before all of the modern day
pools of the water have taken place you
know back in the 1800s 1700s and things
like that now
you we start getting too far back
there's no cameras but
i want you to understand when you're
looking at that 1920 picture of the
allenby bridge
there was one time the water was all the
way
up to the very bottom of that bridge and
it was going
underneath with a tremendous rate of
flow
and also look and you'll see how
wide the river was at that time and it's
not overflowing it's banks right there
that's was just the normal width of the
river
back in 1920 and it's a lot wider than
the previous image you just saw
and also when that began to pick up boy
the water could rise and it rose
all the way to that uh point right there
by the allenby bridge
and you have various sources that are
feeding
the jordan river yes you have the snow
for mount hermon melting off and so
forth but the primary water sources of
the jordan are actually
springs there's two major springs that
just feed
tremendous amounts of water into it uh
four
primary springs but two major ones so my
friends this thing at one time used to
be a phenomenal
river now let's go to the third picture
and you're let's go back in time the
picture that you're looking at right now
was taken in the year
1935 this is what happens to the mighty
jordan
before you know it got constricted down
to the little three percent that we
initially saw
this is what used to happen to the
jordan river
when it would overflow its banks during
the harvest season of the barley harvest
and you would have these overflows in
the months of january and february
and it would just go completely beyond
its banks
and it would not be unusual i have read
uh
reports that sometime the water would
spread out to a half mile
and you can see in that picture that the
jordan has completely overflowed its
banks
and it's quite spread out what's
probably difficult to see in that image
is that if you were to look in the upper
right you could actually see the allenby
bridge
completely underwater i mean the only
part
you're seeing is the above above the
bridge part everything else is
underneath the water
uh and it's wide too and so
i want you to understand that the jordan
today is not like
the jordan of ancient time in other
words
the people with joshua the israelites
they're being told we're about the cross
now think about this
we're about to cross the jordan river
during what
flood plain at full 100
flow not only 100 flow overflow
so this i mean you're gonna you're going
to need a
miracle that you cannot cross this
without a miracle not only that
we're not just trying to get 100 people
over we're trying to get
over a million people over to the other
side glory to god
it's amazing it is very important that
you consider
that god's miracle power overrides
all opposing circumstances
um for example the circumstances in your
life
which so often are unfavorable would
shout and scream and say
you absolutely can't cross now you know
you know
circumstances always say basically you
can never cross right
but much less at the overflow
all the banks are overflown and i mean
i mean we're looking at like a half mile
of water and this is this is dangerous
not only that i mean it's
raging it's raging you can't swim across
that not even an olympic swimmer can
swim across that
so circumstances shout and say
not only can you not cross you certainly
can't cross
now but i stand here today
as a servant of the lord presenting
god's word to you
with the anointing of the holy spirit
upon the word and i want to tell you
today
that when god says go you can cross
despite
the flow praise god oh it's too much of
a flow it's dangerous
my friends when god says today you go
then get up
and go because something is going to
happen god has already instructed his
leader
joshua exactly what's going to happen
joshua takes that holy word and shares
it with the people
and the people are excited because they
know it's time for
a miracle i'm here today to say get
ready god's miracle power
is ready to roll in your life and you're
about to cross
into the promised land that god has for
you you're about to possess
something very very powerful in your
life and all of this stuff out there and
they say not today
but god says oh yes today's the day and
you shall rise and go in the power of
the spirit because god
is with you
glory to god now let's look at something
very very beautiful here
in verse 17 then the priest
who bore the ark of the covenant of the
lord
stood firm on dry ground
in the midst of the jordan and all
israel crossed over
on dry ground until all the people had
crossed completely
over the jordan now
let me comment on this by first of all
reading from the book of exodus
in the book of exodus chapter 14 verse
21
then moses stretched out his hand over
the sea
and the lord caused the seed to go back
by a strong east wind
all that night and made the sea into dry
land and the waters were divided
so the children of israel went into the
midst of the sea on the dry
ground and the waters were walled to
them on their
right hand and on their left
praise god i want to dig just for a
moment
into god's style
god has a style where he has order
he has structure he's not nervous he's
not sweating and panicking and
he knows what he's doing he he knows
what he's
doing praise god and i like his style
and i want to express that just for a
moment through this expression of
no mud no mud of course when they cross
the red sea and as we turn back to
judges
chapter 3 and that final verse of that
chapter we see
no mud as they walked
through the jordan river god not only
stopped the water
god did a miracle within a miracle whoa
praise god
and dried up all that mud and goop
praise god and they walked across
on dry ground praise the lord
now before i share just a little bit
about god's style let me understand
let me share that i understand that
god's not afraid to work with mud
or dirt or whatever it might be god
created all of these elements
obviously he likes them but
god doesn't roll around in the mud and
he doesn't want you to
either yes god made man from the dust
of the earth god's not afraid to get
some bird underneath his nails
and we also know that our beloved savior
the lord jesus christ according to the
gospel of john
chapter 9 verse 6 he worked with a
little bit of dust also
praise god when he had said these things
he that would be jesus he spat on the
ground
and made clay with the saliva and he
anointed
the eyes of the blind man
with the clay and he said to him go wash
in the pool of siloam which is
translated sent
so he went and washed and came back
seeing
so jesus is not afraid to reach down
get his hands dirty either praise god
but i would like
jump i would like to jump back to more
what would be a consistent
uh style element of god
first of all the priests carrying
the ark of the covenant are
representatives
of god and as a priest of god
you can't just wake up in the morning
and say you know what
today i know i'm going to be carrying
the ark where's my old cut off
uh blue jeans where's that old pair of
tennis shoes we're probably going to get
muddy today give me that old wore out
pair of shoes
and give me an old you know like a
casual wore out t-shirt
i've got to go care of the ark today you
and i both know that's a no-go
the priest had a prescribed manner
of clothing they had to wear exactly
what god instructed them to wear or
somebody's going to die
now thank god today we're in the new
covenant we're in grace
and you can have different uh
styles of personality in the way that
you present yourself
but i would say this as a minister
consistently
god looks at his ministers as rep
representatives of him and even you
yourself even if you're not in the
fivefold ministry
you are still an ambassador for the lord
jesus christ
to win the lost to him through the
ministry of reconciliation which is a
ministry that every christian has
and so you know what people do look
at you they do consider what it is that
you wear
and yes yes we're familiar with elijah
the prophet
pastor stephen but he wore leather he
was biker style
that's cool i could understand that and
he was chosen and anointed by god
and i'm also familiar with john the
baptist the forerunner
of the messiah another prophet out in
the wilderness
a little bit rough and tough praise the
lord
obviously he was but
along with those men's prophetic
ministry elijah
and john and even though john was the
son
of a priest you have to understand
that while they were used by god as
prophets
they never with that type of attire they
never
according to god's law could enter into
the temple
they were not allowed to go into the
holy of holies
for the annual excuse me the twice daily
offerings
required a very certain dress code and
it was excellence
everything about it was excellent and
it goes to the highest level when you
look at the attire
of the high priest everything had
meaning had representation had symbolism
but it was all excellence
from the way his hair was groomed to the
way the beard was groomed
to all of the clothing to the
instructions with fingernails
everything everything had certain
requirements and god's not going to have
his priest
standing out in the middle of that river
slopping through mud
with mud splashing all up all over the
ark and stuff like that
the god's not going to let that happen
and i would suggest
that as we look at his style why yes
i understand jesus made some clay okay i
understand that
but as we look at the consistent style
of god is that god stays out of the mud
and i would suggest that you do too
and i would also suggest that you not
clothe yourself in a way
that pulls you into mud hallelujah glory
to god
no legalism but the holy spirit
is your teacher and we have plenty of
instructions
in the word of god and there are many
different expressions of ministry
but i have found that when i look at the
priesthood
and i've done a lot of study over the
last year about the priesthood
there was a holy dress code and god
required that those men
dress a certain way i don't think i
should come to the pulpit
looking like a slob looking like i
haven't brushed my teeth
in 21 days looking like i haven't combed
my hair
or had a bath or shower in two months
what would you think of me as a
representation of the lord
if i presented myself in such a way if i
walked up here
with mud all over my shoes all over my
pants
you would think he does not take his
office seriously
that's that's exactly what that would
express
um no it doesn't mean we have to go
around in three-piece business suits or
you know that type of attire
but i do think that we should consider
these things
because god doesn't want us to be in the
mud and let me say this
psalm 40 david gave us some amazing
insight
concerning god's style psalm 40 verse 1.
i waited patiently for the lord and
inclined to me and heard my cry
so david's obviously crying out for some
help in a certain area
david says he also brought me up out of
a horrible pit
out of the mirey clay well pastor
stephen god loves clay
well if god loves clay so much how come
he didn't leave david in it
god loves mud well how come he didn't
just say david enjoy it
that's a good representation just roll
in the mud no
god doesn't want his children in the mud
god doesn't want you living a life that
dishonors
him praise god thank you jesus
he also brought me up out of a horrible
pit
out of the mirey clay set my feet up on
a rock
there's his style not living in the mud
standing on the rock
of his word whoa praise god
standing on the finished work of calvary
that jesus
has made available for us and
established my
steps praise the lord get out of the mud
get out of all that junk of the world
hallelujah all the garbage of the world
i'm not saying it out of the world
because we can't we're in the world but
we're in the world but we're not of it
praise the lord thank you lord jesus
praise god thank you lord
lord we give you praise today joshua
back to joshua
thank you jesus
blessed be the name of the lord
they're on dry ground it's a miracle
it's a miracle it's a miracle to live in
this world without mud on your face
it's a miracle the cleansing blood of
jesus
washing you clean from guilt or shame or
things that would stain
your garments of salvation
try crown high crown
god doesn't want any muddy priest
hallelujah hallelujah glory to god
thank you jesus some of you i exhort you
get out of the mud praise the lord
praise the lord
hallelujah glory to god holy spirit's
working
right now and he's getting the mud off
of you muddy mentalities muddy ways of
thinking yes muddy actions yes
but these muddied up ways of thinking
don't
don't muddy the waters get in the pure
clean water the flow of the spirit the
river of god
mm-hmm
now let's continue on joshua chapter 3.
we're back
now at verse 13 and it shall come to
pass
as soon as the souls of the feet
of the priest who bear the ark of the
lord the lord of all the earth shall
rest in the waters of the jordan
that the waters of the jordan shall be
cut off
praise god verse 15
and as those who bore the ark
came to the jordan and the feet of the
priest who bore the ark
dipped in the edge of the water for the
jordan overflows
all its banks during the whole time of
harvest now
the feet of the priest who bore the ark
dipped
in the edge of the water fascinating
fascinating i want to go now
into a spiritual law
we're talking about a law of faith that
is constant
and it is consistent and it will never
let you down
and here it is the law of faith is that
miracles
never happen until your feet
get wet i want to say it again the law
of faith
is that miracles never happen
until your feet get wet
glory glory to god so
many of you you need to step into the
water
and as you step into the water the
waters
will park but you step in by faith step
in by faith and the waters will
part now i do understand
that in the old testament for
god's people to step out they had to
have a
direct word from god and joshua heard
the direct word god literally told him
get everybody ready
because you're crossing over today the
priests are going to go first
they're going to stand in the center of
the jordan river i'm gonna i'm gonna
back the waters up
and the moment they come into the water
i'm gonna back it up so
he got that from the lord and in the new
testament
yes you can also receive a very clear
distinct word from the lord where the
lord
would say in a sense step out do this
put your feet in the water but so often
also
in the new testament it's not always
like a
voice from god that says now step out
although you could have that
but even should you have that that's i
would call that rare
something super special so often though
as we pray we get this inward
guidance through the holy spirit who
lives on the inside
of us this inward witness our spirit
witnessing with what the holy spirit is
directing us to do
and you get this strong inward knowing
i'm supposed to go
in this particular direction praise god
praise god and so you need to be very
sensitive to that because
either way whether it is a very strong
direct word from the lord or
a very strong inner leading that you're
just picking up
over and over of a certain thing that
you're supposed to do
if you will engage with it by stepping
into the water
the spiritual law will work for
you now
the law of faith requires corresponding
works or corresponding actions
in aviation there is
what is known as the law of lift now
please listen very attentively because
i'm going to share something
that is going to be essential for your
knowledge and is going to help you move
forward
greatly greatly in god's plan for your
life
in aviation there is what is known as
the law
of lift now yesterday
i just flew back from los angeles
nonstop flight lax
to charlotte and as we were coming into
charlotte we had to loop back around and
get lined up for the final approach
and when we were making that turn the
pilot did a very
steep bank and we just you know the
airplane
banked and i'm sitting on the side on
the window
and as we bank steeply and sharply like
that
i'm almost looking straight down no it's
not
we're not completely sideways i mean
we're not in the fighter jet
but he he did a pretty stink bank and i
could look over
and it's almost like i'm looking
straight down and for some reason
whenever i'm in a
place like that where you're turned you
know kind of far over like that i mean
when you're just flying normal and you
look out you don't really think anything
but you get it to a steep bank like that
you do kind of get that thought
hmm i wonder what's really holding us up
because i sure hope it works
but how many of you know that
that law of lift it'll keep on working
for that airplane
as long as you continue to follow the
principles that govern
that law how many of you know obviously
there was no crash because
here i am standing here today
but the same law of lift works the same
way as the
law of faith in the sense that
both of them are consistent with the law
of lift if you obey it that plane
no matter how big it is if it's designed
right and
everything's working the way it should
if you obey the law of lift
that aircraft is going up and it will
stay up praise the lord and the law
of faith if you obey it
and you step out in faith i'm just
telling you it's the law the waters are
going to part
when you've heard from the lord and
you're on assignment and you're moving
forward
and you know the holy spirit is leading
you forward and you step out
in faith your feet hit that water i'm
just telling you
i don't know how it works but the waters
start backing up
they start backing up but you'll never
see it happen until
your feet get wet praise the lord
now here's what a lot of people do they
say well pastor stephen this is not
really a
fair example because you know you're
talking about biblical things and i we
have a lot of
questions and uncertainties there but
over here in the area of science
with the law of lift we understand that
we know that's going to work we don't
really know about god's
stuff that you're talking about but with
the law of lift
we understand that so we put our faith
in that
let me let me share something amazing
there is not one
scientist on the face of the earth
there's not one mathematician walking on
this planet
who can explain to you how the law of
lift
actually works oh pastor stephen that
can't be with all of our science
all of our our technology that simply
can't be
i'm now posting up on the screen an
image
from a magazine called
scientific american and there it is
an article written in february 1
2020 here it is no one
can explain why planes stay
in the air let me re-emphasize that
title
no one there's not anybody on earth who
can
no one can explain why planes stay in
the air
and i want to tell you something else no
one can explain
why when you step out in faith the
waters start going back you can't they
can't explain it
but let me tell you this the law of
faith works and the law of lift
works you don't have to understand it
you just have to work it
but let me continue with this reality
that this fake reserve
that some people say well i don't know
if we can trust god's ways but we can
trust science
who do you think established those laws
that science has figured out
god did the scientists sure didn't do it
the laws were there the whole time they
just
they just began to get insight into it
but the truth is
they still cannot explain how it works
on a strictly mathematical level
engineers know how to design planes that
will stay aloft
but equations don't explain why
aerodynamic lift
occurs this is the takeaway from the
story
equations don't explain why
aerodynamic lift occurs
there are two competing theories that
illuminate the forces and factors of a
lift
both are incomplete
explanations aerodynamicists
have recently tried to close the gaps in
understanding
still scientific scientific american
says
still no consistent consensus
exists well you get you get somebody
that thinks they're smart they'll say
well what happens pastor steve and it's
simple the wind goes underneath the wing
and it creates a lift and the plane goes
up
no no that's that's
not what makes it go up there's others
that say oh
we know what it is it's the wind going
over the top of the wing
and that creates a lift no
that doesn't explain it either and there
are those that try to explain it very
eloquently
but the bottom line is is that the
world's most brilliant minds throw up
their hands and say
we still don't understand it but we just
know that if we obey it
we follow those principles it starts
going up
mm-hmm
they simply tapped into the law of lift
that god created
and there is the law of faith that god
created
and if you tap into it the waters
start rolling back they can't roll back
right now we're in a recession
the law of faith will push them back
no matter how bad the recession is
oh it can't happen now now it's not a
good time
it doesn't matter what time it is if you
apply the law it's going to push them
back
you can fly at daytime nighttime you can
fly when there's a recession
you can re you can fly when there's an
economic boom you can fly anytime you
want to if you obey the law of lift
you're going up
and you can get across that jordan river
anytime you want to when you step out in
faith on the word of the lord
it is a law and it will work for you
but you'll never know it until your feet
get
wet i'm preaching today
i'm preaching today and i know in my
heart i can sense you're getting it
aren't you you're getting it
i don't know if i can trust god well
then why are you getting on that
airplane he established that law too
why do you believe that law that god
established but you doubt this one over
here
step out any law any law
that god has formed and created when you
obey
the principles of stepping out on his
word
whoo there go the waters moving back
and here's what i like about it no muddy
messy miracles
clean miracles we didn't get mud all
over ourselves
we're not trying to do this in the
energy of our flesh rolling in the mud
no no no no no no let god take you
across with a miracle
where the ground the ground is dried up
and you go
right well you do it right hallelujah
glory to god glory to god
god loves doing miracles and when he
does miracles he does them in
style not getting mud all over your nice
clothes
praise the lord aren't you ready for a
wholesome good miracle
praise god in other words you enjoy the
miracle
you're not thinking well this is great
we're crossing over man i've got to go
to the laundromat when we get over there
whoa we take that city of jericho i hope
they got a laundromat because man i just
soiled my clothes just ruined my good
shoes
don't you like everything about god
don't you like
everything about the way that he does it
he always does
everything right get to the other side
you're like wow that was all right god i
like the way you do it
lord we should do this again sometime
do a new type of miracle but let's do
another one again sometime
wow one more one more one more exodus
no matthew matthew 14 matthew chapter 14
verse
28 and peter answered
him and said lord if it is you command
me to come to you on the water
see they saw jesus walking on the sea
peter said lord if it is you command me
to come to you on the water
so he that would be jesus jesus said
what
he said come and when peter had come
down out of the boat
the miracle doesn't happen until your
feet get
wet
[Music]
and when peter come down out of the boat
he walked on the water
to jesus well pastor steve i don't i
don't i don't understand that water
won't hold you up
no but the law of faith will it'll hold
anybody up
if they operate it um you fly the plane
right
law of lift holds you up there's no
mystery
none of this rocket science once you've
got it once you got the you know the
formulas figured out
it's not hard once you've heard from god
we're talking from the spiritual side
once you've heard from god and you've
got the timing right and you get out of
the boat when he says come yeah
okay i've got my green light i'm going
for it well
did you sign your will before you tried
that i don't need to sign no will i'll
be back in just a few minutes
get your cameras ready boys because
you're about to see something you've
never seen before
when people get on the airplane do
people go
did you sign the wheel you could die the
thing could crash well yeah if we
if we disobey the laws and do something
stupid sure
but as long as you operate that law you
you're going to stay up
well the plane's turning over a little
bit yeah it's okay we're still within
the boundaries of the plane
we're fine get a nice view get different
view
might as well relax and enjoy the ride
praise god lift your hands father i pray
for those that
love the boat the comfort of the boat
but there's
they're getting in the spirit they're
going to have to make a
step and
they're getting real close to that word
come
thank you lord that the law of faith
will be in operation
works 24 7 and when their invitation
comes it'll work for them
i thank you father for those that stand
on the bake of the jordan
they see the blessing on the other side
and they see also how wide the jordan is
in the in the overflow whoa
yeah it's a big overflow it's a it's an
impassable situation
but lord you're gonna roll the waters
back as soon
as we step into the river so we thank
you father god that as we go with your
word we go with your instructions
the water will part and we'll cross on
dry
ground i thank you father for the
journey
of the christian faith we're all at
different places different points
but i do sense for many however
that it's about time to put a foot into
the water
and i thank you father that as these
acts of faith are carried forth
i thank you that the law of faith will
be evidenced
now we give you praise we give you glory
bless
your people to know when it's the right
time to act
when it's time to go we thank you
when it's time to put the foot into the
water
father we thank you we thank you in
jesus name we pray
amen praise the lord glory glory
glory to god this is why it's so
important to pray also
so important to pray and walk in the
wisdom of the lord
so you step in right when you're
supposed to
praise god glory glory to god
perhaps you're watching today and you
have never take
you've never taken the step of faith to
make christ
your savior and lord it's the greatest
decision you'll ever make in your life
the most important thing
you'll ever do in your life and you can
do it right now
why don't you call upon the lord and let
him save you from
sin and he'll take you into his heart
and he'll become your savior pray this
prayer after me right now
say jesus i believe you died on the
cross
you paid the penalty for my sins and you
rose
on the third day jesus
wash all of my sins away with your
precious blood
write my name
in your book of life i give my heart
to you now thank you jesus for saving me
right now
i take you as my lord and savior in your
name i pray
amen and amen blessed be the name of the
lord
he has heard your prayer you now belong
to him praise god
all of his laws all of his principles
will work for you as a child of god
praise you lord jesus praise the lord
glory to god lift your hands god we give
you praise
we give you glory we give you
thanksgiving just praise him god we give
you praise
we give you glory we give you
thanksgiving
hallelujah blessed be the lord amen
let us now take holy communion together
why don't you grab some unleavened bread
grab some grape juice
and let's prepare our hearts to take the
holy communion
praise the lord glory to god
praise the lord thank you jesus thank
you jesus
you know there was something about the
high priest and there were
quite a few of them throughout
history and up until the second temple
was destroyed
all the priests were men and because
they had their own weaknesses their own
struggles
their own things to overcome they
ministered with mercy why because they
knew what they're
they're trying to overcome too
they're trying to drive out the
gergeshites the highlights out of their
heart
not out not only out of the land these
issues in their hearts they're trying to
they're trying to overcome and jesus
also
because he lived his life as a man he
understands every struggle that you have
he is a merciful high priest and he's
here today to give you
strength to continue forward
and to live a life that brings some
honor not only in public
but even more importantly in private
praise god father we thank you for the
bread
the juice we consecrate it
through this prayer now that this is now
the body in the blood
of jesus and father as we receive the
body of jesus
we thank you that we have a merciful
high priest
and that we can come before you in his
name
and we thank you that we have right
standing with you
by being in him now father as we receive
the flesh of jesus
we thank you for those designated
appointed times
when we must put our foot in the water
we thank you that as we do we trust that
you are with us
and that the waters will roll back
and that we will achieve the spiritual
lift
that you promise thank you thank you
thank you for being with us
as we move forward we give you praise in
jesus name
amen let's receive the flesh of christ
you don't need to understand all of the
spiritual laws how they work
you just need to obey them praise the
lord and up you go
back the waters roll father thank you
for the blood of jesus
we ask that if we have committed any
sins
knowingly or even unknowingly that you
would forgive us
and you would wash us with the blood of
christ we thank you that we are
bought with the blood of jesus we have
been ransomed
he has made the payment himself so that
we can go free
from sin and spiritual death we thank
you that we belong to you
we know whose we are we know where we're
going
we thank you for the blood of jesus we
celebrate his blood
we proclaim his death until he comes and
we thank you
that he is coming soon to take his own
to be with him father we receive the
blood
of jesus in his name
amen let's receive
praise god
my friends i speak blessing to you today
i see great things breaking forth in
your life i see the angels standing with
you
there ready to help you put your foot in
the water
and god you'll know you'll know you will
know
god is with you praise god enjoy the
journey
of the crossing thank you for watching
i'll see you back
next time bye-bye