This tape is recorded at Calvary Chapel of
the Finger Lakes, taught by Pastor Bill Gallatin,
studying in the Book of Acts, chapter 12,
beginning with verse 11.
What a delight and what a privilege to
know that you answer prayer.
And, Lord, You put desires in our hearts
concerning things You want to accomplish through us,
and then You bring it to pass if
we'll just ask You something You've already wanted
to do, just to bless us.
Lord, how wonderful the privilege of prayer.
And how we thank You, Father, for Your
glory.
The doors You've opened and the things that
are already in motion.
Father, You're just so wonderful.
And, Lord, as we share these things tonight,
You grant us the proper sequence of events.
Lord, we praise You.
We pray that You'd be glorified.
And, Lord, we ask You to honor Your
Word tonight as we look into Your Word
before this evening is over.
And, Lord, reveal to us even more Your
great love for us, Your faithfulness to us.
How good You are, Father.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Well, let's see.
We've got to start off with a plane
trip to San Juan.
Maybe I should explain.
We were praying, and the Lord just kind
of laid it on our hearts that there's
no Calvary chapels in the Caribbean.
And I've been, oh, for some months praying
personally, Lord, we need to get into Cuba.
We need to get into the Caribbean.
Calvary chapels are spreading all over the world,
but it seems like nobody's even considered Puerto
Rico or Cuba or some of St. Thomas
or the Bahamas.
And certainly no one has actually considered it.
Calvary chapels are spreading all over Europe.
In fact, in two weeks I'll be going
to Europe and doing a pastors conference for
all the Calvary chapel pastors in Europe and
the British Isles.
Things are just happening so rapidly.
There's some 1,800 or 2,000 Calvary
chapels in India now.
I mean, there's some of them, four or
five a day are starting.
And now it's happening in Mexico and South
America, and I'm not going to name the
denomination, but there's a very prominent Pentecostal denomination
where they're just lining up, wanting to become
a Calvary chapel as they've been listening to
the radio and the teachings and getting the
balance and everything.
And it's just amazing.
We can't figure it out.
But as we pray on it, well, you
know what, Lord, who do we begin with?
And so the Lord laid it on my
heart to ask Danny Crespo, who is Hispanic
and just a super brother.
He started the outreach up in the Flower
City and has done tremendous things up there.
The Lord's done some fantastic things.
Not only does Danny have, you know, he's
got some fantastic black people in his church.
He's got Cuban people in his church.
He's got Hispanic people in his church.
He's got this inner city church, and God's
doing great things with these people, awesome people.
So I thought, well, maybe Danny would be
interested.
And then I thought of Henry Tomaso, because
he loves to travel and experience foreign food
like I do.
And so I gave him a call, and
the next thing you know, man, they were
more excited than I was.
He says, well, do you want to get
together today?
And I said, well, you know, it's too
soon today, but maybe let's meet, you know,
in a couple of days.
Man, they canceled their schedules and everything.
We got together.
Danny showed up with maps already for Puerto
Rico, and of course, he's got some family
down there.
And you just got to know Danny.
He is as bold as, you know, the
righteous are as bold as the lion, the
Bible says.
He will go into the streets.
I mean, he's an amazing young guy.
So we prayed.
We said, okay, we've got to get down
there.
And we didn't know exactly what to do,
because we didn't know anybody.
So we're not going to go to anybody
we know.
Just as we came back here from California
like Abraham, I said, that's the way we
operate.
So we're just going to go somewhere in
Puerto Rico and seek God's face, the three
of us.
So we looked at the map, and naturally
San Juan is on the northern side of
the island.
That's about three million people.
We said, no, that's too congested.
And I looked at the southern part of
the island, and Danny said, there's not too
many cities.
There's some villages down there, but there's not
many big cities down there.
In fact, there's not many big cities after
San Juan in Puerto Rico.
And so I said, what's this thing here?
Ponce or Ponce or something.
Oh, that's the place down in the southern
side of the island, Ponce.
And he said, yeah, that's, you know, it's
the city, and you can get stranded out.
There's not too many places around there, and
you can be maybe alone.
So I said, well, let's just go there.
Just go by the beach with our Bible
and seek God.
And so Danny was going to work out
the arrangements with his wife, Linda, to get
flights into Puerto Rico.
He got busy, and there was confusion.
He didn't get to it.
I didn't know anything about it.
So the next thing I know, Henry tells
his secretary, Ann, Ann, call a travel agency
somehow.
Can you get us, find out if we
can get a package deal to get to
Puerto Rico for about three days.
Ann calls back, and sure enough, they got
a deal in this someplace called Copa Marina,
and we think it's in Ponce.
And so we get the tickets, and we're
on the plane.
We, you know, go down to Kennedy, and
next thing you know, we're in San Juan.
Eighty-five degrees.
I'm thinking, Lord, I've got to call.
I mean, I know a little bit of
Spanish from college, you know.
And Clark says, no, it's not you, Bill.
So we get a car, and Danny's really
excited because he's familiar with the area.
And so those of you that aren't familiar,
some of you probably are, but Puerto Rico's
only at the top of a mountain range,
and you've got the windward side, which is
the south side, which is much like Southern
California or Baja.
It's kind of barren and scrub growth.
It's not really lush and green.
But the leeward side, this side on the
northern side of Puerto Rico, it's got a
tropical rainforest.
It's lush and it's green.
As you drive around and you get out
of the city of San Juan, you see
coffee bean plants, coffees everywhere.
The hills are alive with the colors of
these coffee plants.
And banana, you know, wild bananas trees growing
everywhere.
In fact, as we came back, I don't
want to get to that too soon.
I've got something I need to share about
on the way back.
I found this out about coffee.
I don't know if you're aware of this,
but coffee was introduced to South America and
Brazil and Colombia through Puerto Rico from Africa.
Didn't know that, did you?
That coffee originated in the West from Africa,
and the French, the elite, drank coffee loaded
with chocolate in the morning.
That was the drink of the kings in
France.
And France, when they first came over to
Puerto Rico before the Spaniards drove them up,
brought little coffee plants to grow their own
coffee because they loved it in the morning.
Rich coffee from Africa doused with chocolate.
That's a great high, isn't it?
I mean, you get that much caffeine in
you, but that's a jolt that you add
that to the Holy Spirit and you're set.
And then I discovered that after it got
to Puerto Rico, it replaced sugar cane as
the cash crop of Puerto Rico when it
got into the islands and the climate was
just right and it began to grow.
And from Puerto Rico, it went to Central
America.
The traders took it down through the Caribbean,
to Cuba, into South America, and that's where
coffee comes from in the West.
I didn't know if you knew that.
I didn't know that.
And man, they've got a coffee there.
See, I've been off coffee for a long
time.
I'm back on it again.
I mean, this Puerto Rican coffee, they grind
the beta.
It's got a unique flavor.
It's really great stuff.
Anyhow, off we go.
The hills are beautiful, lush and green.
You get over the top of the mountain
ridge in Puerto Rico, and then you're going
south and down on the windward side towards
the southern coast, and we're heading towards Ponce.
And it's only about an hour and a
half drive from Puerto Rico on this road
going right from San Juan down to Ponce.
So we get down there and Danny says,
get the map.
And so we get the map, get the
brochure.
Where are we supposed to be going?
Oh, it's somewhere in Ponce.
And about every 35 miles or they've got
a toll road where you've got to throw
50 cents or 75 cents into a basket,
you know, in the toll booth.
And so we get to the area of
Ponce, and there's a girl there, and we
show her the brochure, the Copa Marina, where
we're supposed to stay.
Having the faintest idea of what it is
and where it is.
The girl says, well, that's not in Ponce.
That's 28 miles further southwest.
You've got to keep on going.
And Danny says, oh no, where in the
heck are we going?
None of us knew where we were, where
we're going.
And again, I like that kind of stuff,
because you've got to really pray, and that's
the way Abraham went, you know.
So off we go, and then we drive
another 35 minutes, and as we're going along
there, Danny happens to look up on top
of a big cliff overlooking the highway, and
there's like a holiday-in-resort thing that
people go down and gamble and then just
go around the island, you know, on like
a package deal.
He says, you know, isn't that interesting?
That's that place where Linda and I stayed
last year.
We came down, and not that we gambled,
but it was such a good deal.
We could get a room for three days,
and then we just got a car and
drove around different places on the island, found
some neat places on the beach to go
swimming that were inexpensive, and then at night
we'd come back to our room.
He says, wow, we were at that place.
Isn't that amazing?
We keep on driving and go right down
by it, and then we're getting out in
the boondocks, and we're getting away from everything,
and we're going along the coast, and it's
really jagged and rocky.
And next thing we know, we're down to
a two-lane road from the four-lane
highway to a two-lane road, and then
a one-lane road winding around, and next
thing we know, we're going along the coast,
and Danny says, you know, this looks familiar.
And he looks over at Henry, and Henry
says, I don't know where we're going.
And now I'm starting to think these guys
are putting me on.
They're setting me up.
They know where we're going.
And so we're winding around, and all of
a sudden we come around the southern portion
of the road, and it comes right down
to the end of the beach.
And the interesting thing is, Danny says, wow,
this is the place where Linda and I
found last year.
This is where they filmed Gilligan's Island, right
next to it.
And then we pull it, and you see
the sign, Copa Marina, and Danny says, I
don't believe it.
I said, you don't believe what?
Linda and I came here last year because
it has such beautiful beaches and pools, and
these palm trees overlooking the beaches, this white
sand, the water temperature's about 80 degrees.
We were here last year.
That's exactly where we were staying.
Now I said, you're putting me, now I
said, you and Henry are setting me up.
He thought Henry was setting us up.
None of us knew.
This is where the travel agent put it.
Now, here's the wonderful thing about it.
This thing is like out of an Ernest
Hemingway movie.
Nothing but these gigantic, beautiful palms along the
beaches, lush green grass and flowers, swimming pools
and jacuzzis by each pool, islands in the
pool with palm trees, and the pools were
the level of the ocean.
As you walked into the resort area, you
look out over the ocean, and you're looking
right across the pool, the same level.
And so you can go swimming in the
pool, go a hundred yards through grass and
swim in the ocean, come back in the
pool, get the jacuzzi.
Then there's the restaurant right there.
1700 rooms.
No, excuse me.
1500 rooms in this resort.
Nobody was there.
There were probably 30 people in the whole
place.
We had the whole place to ourselves.
God put us alone so we could seek
His face and not be in the hustle
and bustle of San Juan.
So the first night there, we said, this
is what we're going to do.
We prayed and said, OK, Lord, You've got
us here now.
You've got to speak to our hearts, confirm
something in the Word and show us what
You want us to do.
Because He's so faithful that way.
And we had planned the next morning, what
we were intending to do was that we
were all going to separate for the day
and just go up and down the beach
or somewhere.
In fact, it's so neat.
For four dollars, they'll take you out into
the Pacific or the Caribbean in the ocean
and drop you on an island.
There's all kinds of little islands sprinkled around
that are not inhabited.
And for four bucks, they'll take you over
and drop you on an island and then
you tell them what time you want them
to come back and pick you up later
in the day.
Amazing.
So we separate.
We're going to separate.
We start giving scriptures and they just start
pouring out the scriptures confirming about going to
the islands, leaving the north and going to
the islands.
And I'm in my heart.
I know that it's not me.
I'm just there kind of just to eat,
you know.
And as the scriptures keep coming up, we're
watching Danny and Danny's just starting to, you
know, you can see his countenance changing.
And before you know it, we're getting scriptures.
Henry's getting scripture.
I'm getting scripture and we're comparing them.
And next thing you know, tears are streaming
down Danny's cheeks.
These are the very same scriptures that he
was getting probably a year ago and keeping
in his heart, not understanding what they meant.
Then Henry got a scripture that someone had
prophesied to Danny last year at the fellowship
about him leaving and he didn't want to
accept that he got it.
And even Lindy, his wife, had received some
text about them going, you know, going out
for the Lord.
And so this thing is all rushing in
and rushing in.
And Danny got so spoken to by the
Lord, he couldn't sleep.
He was up all night.
He burned the batteries out of my flashlight,
reading the word, you know, in the room.
Again, it's in this little room, you know,
by the beach.
He's sitting up reading all night and God's
just pouring out His grace and His love.
The next morning, again, God giving more and
more scriptures, confirming that we should be there,
that He wanted us to do something on
that island.
And from that island, He was going to
spread it through the Caribbean.
And again, it all pointed to Danny.
And if we're sharing scriptures with each other,
it's confirming things that have already been in
Danny's heart that he's had just, you know,
filed away, not sharing with anybody, just praying
about it and afraid to do anything about
it.
You know, not wanting to leave the church
in the city because God will be beginning
to bless it.
It's just such a fantastic work of the
Lord there.
After the Lord gave so many scriptures all
day Tuesday, we were overwhelmed.
So we had to just kind of just
sit and just say, Lord, you know, you've
got to hold back because we're getting so
excited with this thing.
The last night, as we prayed together, we
decided, Danny, you've got to go alone.
Maybe go up and see someone of the
family near San Juan.
You've got to hear more because he's convinced
he's supposed to come back the very next
day.
Danny said, God has spoken to me and
he was ready to fly back and start
packing.
And so he said, no, I said, you
know, he hastens with his feet sinners.
You better slow down.
Give yourself two days.
So, you know, you've got to prepare Linda.
Call her first.
Well, he called Linda that night and she
started crying because the Lord had spoken to
her.
While he's speaking to Danny on the line
with us, he's speaking to Linda, preparing her
heart that she knew all along they were
supposed to.
And she said, wherever you go, I'm going
with you.
Right.
Give it.
Give the house everything, wherever you go for
Jesus.
So the next morning we said, Danny, you've
got to just be alone and have God
confirm these things.
So you won't think that you're being influenced
by me or by Henry or our association
with each other.
As much as you're convinced you go along.
I felt led to share with him that
the message he was to bring was grace,
grace.
It's not by might or by power, by
my spirit, sayeth the Lord.
Now, you see, you've got to remember, because
of the Hispanic background, the majority island is
Catholic or Pentecostal.
Now the Pentecostal movement down there hates the
Catholics and rather than teach the truth and
allow the spirit of God to open the
eyes of the Catholics, they spend all their
time with this one radio station.
They have attacking, attacking.
So there's no grace.
There's no real love and no real teaching
of the word down there.
It's always attack, attack, attack, trying to beat
the darkness, so to speak, rather than just
turn on the light with God's love.
So he said, you've got to bring the
message of grace, because that's what Zachariah said.
If you're going to build something new, like
Zachariah coming into an impossible situation from Babylon
to begin a new work, you remove the
mountain, remember, with crying and shouting of grace,
grace, not repent, repent.
That's Zachariah.
Grace, grace.
And so I shared that with him.
That's how you remove the mountain.
And then he said, you know, if it
is, if you're supposed to come down, Danny,
you know that we're with you.
And Henry and I felt that we were
the olive branches and we were going to
help provide all of his needs in some
way to be part of this.
He didn't have to worry.
So Henry said, remember that the birds of
the air don't store up or don't have
to be concerned that God provides their needs.
He said, God's going to provide your needs.
And he gave us the text out of
Matthew 6, about taking any anxious thought, because
remember, they're just giving everything away and leaving,
getting on a plane and going.
And then I said, well, let me share
something else with you.
And I just went to Genesis in the
account where the Lord told Abraham to leave
his kindred, his family and his friends in
the land that I will show thee.
And he didn't give Abraham any promise of
insurance or a salary or even an address
to go to.
He said, just go.
That's faith.
He said, just go.
And I shared with him, you don't have
to worry, because that's exactly how we got
here from California.
And look what God's done.
He rewards obedience.
And there's no mountain that can't be removed
with shoutings of grace, grace, no matter what
the obstacle.
And God will bless and reward your obedience
if you just step like Abraham.
I said, and when you get to your
relatives, your uncle, don't you say one thing
about that?
You feel you're here to fly out the
land about planning a church.
Let God confirm something in your heart by
something they say.
Don't you just be silent so often?
And so Henry and I, by the way,
we're praying all day long for God to
fill him with such overflowing love and grace
that it would cast out all fear.
Overwhelming with your love, Lord.
Fill him with so much love that it
would cast out all fear.
Confirm in his heart, you speak to him
in some way, Lord, that it won't be
Henry or myself.
And so we prayed that way all day
long.
And we kept getting scriptures to direct us
how to pray for Danny and for what
God wanted to do in Puerto Rico.
Well, about eleven o'clock at night, he
wasn't even back yet.
Well, what had happened, he got up there
to his aunt's house and you've got to
taste the food in Puerto Rico.
They fix beans and rice and pork and
the chicken in Puerto Rico tastes better than
steak.
They don't jack it up with all kinds
of steroids and hormones, you know, make the
chicken ten pounds and you don't have to.
The natural taste is so delicious because the
chickens just run around the yards.
In fact, in there, this is where his
aunt lived, just to give you an idea
how great it is.
Coffee beans grown in the backyard, banana trees,
they go out and pick the bananas off
their tree, grapefruit trees, lemon trees, oranges, and
they fresh squeeze orange juice and grapefruit juice
mixed together for breakfast.
Man, was that good.
And then they fix chicken in such a
way.
Well, Danny got up there and ate all
day and fell asleep.
He passed out.
He was, but when he finally got back
at about midnight, and by the way, he
didn't sleep that night either.
His face was swollen from rejoicing, praising God,
and crying at the same time.
On the way to his aunt's, he sure
was, he almost wrecked the car.
Now remember, Henry shared Matthew six.
I gave him the mountain shall be removed,
shouting, Grace, Grace, and then share with him
the Genesis 22 account of Abraham, you know,
moving out by faith and then God directing
him as he moved, blessing the obedience with
tremendous revelation.
He's driving, he gets about an hour away
from Henry and I at the beach and
he's going up the mountain.
He's driving up the ridge to go over
the top, down toward San Juan.
As he's going up the mountain, he says,
I'm going to see what's on the radio.
He turns the radio and this is a
car, you know, a rental car, hits the
button and the Pentecostal station comes on.
Just happens to come on, you know, and
the guy's preaching in Spanish, this Pentecostal preacher
in Spanish, and he's teaching Genesis 22.
Now there's someone that's going right now is
being challenged like Abraham and I'm in the
next thing.
You know, the guy gets so excited in
the radio, he breaks out in tongues over
the radio and then he prophesies.
The Lord is telling me that it's a
young pastor and you're in a car and
you're driving up the mountain.
Do not be afraid of the mountain.
It will be removed.
If you're a young pastor and you've got
a big decision to make by that time,
Danny's bawling, he's all over the road.
Oh Lord, Lord, you got to stop.
I can't take any more of you.
He just spills them up.
He had to pull over.
As he's driving up the mountain, this guy's
yelling, you're a young pastor and you're coming
to the mountain.
Don't be afraid of the mountain.
Man, confirmation, confirmation, confirmation.
So he pulls over to the side of
the road so he can see where he's
driving, calms down, gets heart pumping out of
his chest.
He gets to his aunt's house.
Next thing you know, he's sitting there and
finally they say, what are you doing here
anyhow?
Why are you here?
And Danny just said, well, I'm just here
with Pastor Bill and Henry.
You haven't met them, but you're going to
meet them.
And his uncle says, are you going to
start a church?
And then he says, then he had to
say, he felt that was the Lord initiating
it, because he didn't say anything.
He said, well, we're thinking about it.
His uncle says, well, why don't you do
something right in his house?
Do a study.
Because a year ago when him and Linda
were there, they started sharing their faith.
And you know, they're so filled with the
spirit and the joy of the Lord.
As Catholics, my uncle said, where do you
people come from?
We never saw so much joy and so
much excitement, you see, from their background.
And all Danny and Linda did was love
him.
And they said, his uncle said, well, why
don't you just use this house and share
the one you did last year?
I mean, why don't you do that here?
Danny says, hmm.
And then he says, well, I have to
get a place.
I got to find out in the Word.
God's going to let me live.
His uncle says, you know what?
I just built another house for ourselves.
It's got four bedrooms.
You can have it.
You can live.
Now Danny's got four children.
And one thing led to another.
And just confirmation after confirmation.
Well, he gets back and tells us.
And so Henry and I go out and
pray, Lord, we don't want this to be
an emotional thing.
But we know, Father, that in two days
you not only spoke to us, you confirmed
it was signs and wonders.
You spoke to Danny.
You've opened doors aren't exactly as you promised
if you would just go.
Well, before we left, Danny was up again
all night again.
He could not sleep again.
And God told him he's supposed to go.
So he calls in again, and she already
was in a prayer meeting at the women's
prayer meeting in their fellowship.
And God told her there at the prayer
meeting, they're going.
Now, another amazing thing, he announced it Sunday.
Over 20 people all confirmed and said, the
Lord has already told us all.
And boy, everybody's crying, you know, and hugging
and sharing his act of faith and obedience
to the Lord.
Not only is he going, but his brother
David is praying.
They want to leave and go back.
He's a worship leader, and the Sunday school
teacher is with his wife and kids.
They're packing it up.
They're leaving.
They're going with them.
Families are going back with them.
They're just going to go down there and
invade.
Isn't that exciting?
Now, remember, you all prayed for this.
And so Danny's leaving.
He said he's leaving the 17th.
And it's funny, they got to talking and
Linda said the Lord spoke to her in
a dream that they should go pronto.
The Lord spoke in Spanish, pronto.
So they're making arrangements right now to leave.
Danny's going to be leaving probably within three
weeks.
And other families are all getting prepared to
just, you know, go with them.
What an exciting thing.
Just go out there and break down Calvary
Chapel of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean.
And the Lord told us also, we're going
into Cuba, so keep praying.
God will honor it.
You only have to do stuff.
It's like I was looking at Isaiah, and
the Lord confirmed it to me to go,
to do this when I was reading Isaiah.
And if you look at Isaiah chapter six,
verse eight correctly, God didn't command Isaiah to
go.
Isaiah had an ear to hear the voice
of the Lord, and he overheard the Trinity
discussing the need and heard the Lord saying,
who shall we send?
Who will go for us?
And he left the decision up to Isaiah.
He does never command anybody.
He left the decision up to you.
So many people, you know, have such a
desire to go somewhere and serve God.
And you know something, year after year after
year goes by, and they still aren't doing
anything, waiting for God to tell them or
command them.
In this particular case, you see, God leaves
it up to you.
If you start getting the desire, you better
do something.
He leaves it up to you.
Isaiah said, send me!
And God said, all right, go.
But he didn't force Isaiah.
He just let Isaiah hear there's a desperate
need here.
People need to hear the truth.
And that's exactly what God honors.
So keep praying, continue to pray.
We know that Satan's not going to have
a brass band there waiting to, you know,
welcome them.
He's going to try and hinder in all
kinds of ways.
But they've set their heart as a flint.
They're going.
And God's stirred up the faith of other
families, and they're quitting their jobs, they're getting
rid of their belongings, and they're going.
Jesus said, the fields are white unto harvest.
The labors are so few.
It's interesting.
It's beyond me how anybody could have that
much of the world.
As you look at the world today, what
is there in this world that's worth forsaking
a call of God for?
What pleasure, what fulfilled ego or personal goal
or satisfaction that the world has to offer
is greater than laying your life down for
Jesus Christ and denying yourself daily and taking
up your cross and following him?
The eternal rewards.
You know, there are people down here that
they've gotten all the rewards they're ever going
to get.
They're saved, but they're getting all the rewards
from the world, from corporations, and praise from
the world.
I am so thankful I had the opportunity
to respond to the call of God and
just walk out of the world and away
from it.
So, pray for Danny and those that are
stirred up to go with him.
Keep praying for them, and keep praying that
we have that open door like God gave
us in Puerto Rico for Cuba.
Let's turn to Acts, chapter 12.
I think we ought to finish the angels.
When we left off, we were discussing angels
in the Bible.
Maybe I'd like to just bring a few
things up before we finish it.
We see much in Hollywood and Christmas cards
and things and Hallmark cards of, I don't
know why, angelic beings or angels that are
made to look like female angels when there
is no reference whatsoever in the Bible.
You should know this.
If you're going to know anything about angels,
there's nothing in the Bible ever about a
female angel.
They always have appeared in the masculine form.
There's no such thing as a baby angel,
a little cute chubby cheek thing with a
little bow and arrow, you know.
I mean, that just is not biblical.
Not any Renaissance or Europe, I don't know,
or Hollywood, but it's not biblical.
The only angelic beings are either the good
angels that appear manifested in the masculine form
that respond to the direction of God, or
you've got the fallen angels, which are evil
angels or evil spirits, which also are categorized
by demons, but never a female angel or
a baby angel in the Bible.
Now, if you want to look at Revelation
chapter 12, there's an indication that when Satan
rebelled, it speaks of the dragon, the great
red dragon, the metaphor or analogy of Satan
himself, with his tail drawing a third of
the stars after him.
And then in another verse, I think that's
Revelation 12, 4, and then I think in
verse 9, it speaks of him being cast
down to the earth with these evil angels
or his angels to corrupt the human race.
We do know that in Genesis chapter 6,
the fallen angels that went with him tried
to defile the human race and corrupt the
human race in Genesis 6 to destroy any
possibility of God using man to bring the
Messiah.
You have the where we get the Greek
stories and mythology and Roman mythology of Hercules,
the demigods, the half man, half God, and
we've touched on that time and time again
in many of our teachings.
But we also know, as Jesus said, as
in the days of Noah, so shall it
be in the coming of the Son of
Man, where Satan will use evil spirits or
angels again to corrupt the human race just
before the return of Jesus Christ.
We see the world being conditioned now through
the new age and channeling what's interesting to
me is the explosion of Hollywood, of demonic
beings that are coming on the scene, demonic
involvement in rock music.
So, the world definitely is being conditioned not
to fear these things, but to be almost
enamored by them.
So, we are in the days of Noah
again, and just as it happened before the
first worldwide cataclysmic judgment, the flood, the last
cataclysmic judgment will be by fire, and we
see, as Jesus said, a tremendous interest in
the occult, a tremendous explosion in Hollywood of
demonic creatures, UFOs, and the whole thing.
So, we're right back there, exactly as the
Bible says.
Now, the interesting thing is, I want to
show you something.
Turn to Daniel chapter 2.
Daniel prophesied at the end, and I think
this is very interesting.
I remember showing this to Chuck Missler, and
he'd never seen this before, and interesting thing,
somebody in the church who's been, you know,
studying Daniel, showed it to me.
But speaking of the last days and that
last great powerful world government, the revived Roman
Empire, and it's interesting, it describes the toes
of the feet, the ten kings of the
ten nations that will rule the world.
We do know, remember, that the world now
has been divided up into ten economic districts
worldwide for the New World Order.
But this is what's interesting in verse 43.
Daniel prophesied this, and this is Genesis 6
again.
Look at it.
He said, Whereas thou sawest iron mixed with
miry clay, these are the toes, all these
nations, you know, being brought together, they shall
mingle themselves with the seed of men.
But they shall not cleave one another, even
as iron is not mixed with clay.
Now, the normal scenario is the seed of
men mingled with the seed of men.
Human beings.
Who are they?
Angels.
The fallen angels.
Genesis 6 again.
The days of Noah.
The channeling.
And you're going to see many, many people,
maybe before the rapture of the church because
of what's happening, the amorality, the interest in
ego, the denial of Christ in our society.
You're going to see much more violence and
demon possession in America.
Don't be surprised.
Now, this is what's interesting.
I'll turn to Matthew 24 and we'll finish
the angel part.
It's interesting.
Jesus said before he returns, Satan will be
using his angels.
Now, notice verse 30 of Matthew 24.
The visible return of Jesus Christ.
And then shall appear the sign of the
Son of Man.
Now remember, this is seven years after the
rapture of the church.
So the evil angels have had their way
for seven years on the earth.
Remember, the Abusos will be opened and these
horrible creatures will be released that have been
incarcerated since Genesis 6.
And it says, there shall appear the sign
of the Son of Man in heaven.
Then all shall all the tribes of the
earth mourn and they shall see the Son
of Man coming in clouds of heaven with
power and great glory.
And he shall send, and the emphasis is
on his, not angels.
Now, Satan is going to be using his
angels.
But Jesus, at the end when he returns,
he will send his angels with a great
sound of a trumpet and they shall gather
together his elect from the four winds from
one end of heaven to the other.
So, there's the evil angels of the third
of the stars.
You can again look at Revelation chapter 12,
and they're symbolized by stars.
But later in the text, it reveals the
speaking of the angels that rebelled with him.
And they will be used by Satan, and
they're being used by Satan now.
People are dabbling in seances, hypnotism, opening themselves
up to demonic possession.
Very dangerous thing.
And Satan's clever enough, you see, to make
people think it's harmless.
Even a rational person is not going to
expose themselves to something they think might harm
them.
So, Satan has to describe it in such
a way, like every other sin there is,
to make it seem plausible and beneficial that
you always pay the price when you dabble
with the occult or seances or hypnotism of
the New Age or channeling any of those
things.
If you have as a Christian, you might
be fighting terrible depression, and it's very important
that you repent.
And ask the Lord to cleanse you in
the blood if you need to get your
joy back.
Renounce it and be cleansed and come back
into fellowship with the Lord.
I have had, I still have, because he's
alive, but he's in heaven now.
A very dear friend who was a chiropractor.
A fantastic chiropractor.
And he went to be with the Lord,
and I remember he lost all his joy
and he was in a terrible depression.
And his wife would find him in the
fetal position sometimes in his home.
Now, he was retired as a chiropractor, but
just because of his love for the Lord
and he fell into a chair, he'd fix
me up a lot.
He'd fix some of the other guys, the
pastors up.
He'd just see me walk in and say,
I want to see you in your office.
He knew something was out of whack.
And he'd fix me.
Just a fantastic way.
We'd pray and that.
But all of a sudden, he just went
into this terrible depression.
And I remember his wife told me, well,
it's something that he hasn't told you.
They had a conference of chiropractic chiropractors in
Buffalo, and he went to this thing and
they called in a shaman from the Philippines
who was introducing shamanism into chiropractic work, because
it seems to be getting great results.
And he went into this auditorium and this
shaman was introducing a new technique to chiropractors
in the United States, and some of them
were already using it.
And he opened up and he said, Pastor
Bill, I saw this with my own eyes.
I'm a rational man, an intelligent man.
I don't know what to mean, how to
handle this thing.
He had a pain in his side and
it wasn't going away.
And so the chiropractor who got and dabbled
into the shamanism said there's a whole new
technique that we're introducing into chiropractic work.
Now, these weren't Christian men.
There's nothing wrong with chiropractic work that's, you
know, above board.
This man said, let me see your side.
And so he walked in and he sat
down at the table and he took his
shirt off.
There was a table there with a pan
and this chiropractor just drove his hand right
in the side.
He saw and felt the man's hand go
in his side and pull flesh right out
of his body, bloody.
And he put it in the pan and
the pain was immediately gone.
And then he just took his hand and
he saw his side close up.
Now you're looking at me the way he
reacted and the way I look at him.
I am a rational, normal man.
I'm not making this up.
And he was a member of this church
and he'd gone into depression.
It was demonic.
He lost the pain from that side, but
there's always a transference that Satan does.
And there's you paid the piper for these
things.
He went into terrible depression and he didn't
know how to get out of it.
And so the Holy Spirit led him into
repentance.
You need to renounce this.
You've dabbled in something satanic.
You opened yourself up to something occultic and
demonic as a child of God.
You need to repent and renounce it and
plead the blood of Christ.
He did it and his joy returned instantly.
But so did the pain in his side
and he never complained about it again.
It was that quick.
It was right in my office.
This is what the things are going on
in the United States.
So nothing to fool around with.
These things are real.
But praise God there are two-thirds good
angels that didn't rebel.
And remember there are millions upon millions upon
millions and they are created as we touched
on earlier.
There are angels created to watch over you
if you're an heir of salvation.
If you've given your heart to Jesus Christ
and you come to a point in your
life and you said Lord I know I'm
a sinner.
Jesus I want salvation.
I want my name in the Lamb's Book
of Life.
Jesus come into my heart.
From that moment on there are created angels
that are good and powerful that are assigned
to your life because you're an heir of
salvation to watch over you.
Well in Acts chapter 12 Peter's friends think
they see his guardian angel.
It's interesting.
Remember chapter 11 I think where we left
off.
An angel comes and releases Peter from prison.
Satan is using Herod to stop the gospel
and he's seeking to put to death Peter
because at this point he and James, the
Lord's half-brother, the one of the children
that Mary had after the virgin birth, are
the prominent figures now in Jerusalem in the
church.
And so Satan is going to try and
stop Peter.
But an angel came and remember delivered him
out of jail.
And in verse 12 when he had considered
the thing he came to the house of
Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was
Mark.
Young Mark.
Eventually he became like a disciple of Peter
and he is the one who wrote the
gospel of Mark.
You remember in Mark chapter 14 the account
of the arrest in the garden.
I think it's verse 51, 52.
In that area the writer makes mention of
the fact when the soldiers went to grab
the apostles and they all fled there was
a young lad there who was naked with
the exception of a robe and when he
went to flee one of the soldiers grabbed
the robe and it pulled him off and
he didn't get the young boy.
He ran away naked and it's thought by
most people that Mark is making reference of
himself as he was there in the garden.
He's the one who had the robe ripped
off and ran away naked in the night
to escape.
Well, this is that young Mark who became
a very close friend of the apostle Peter.
And so Peter is going to their house
where many were gathered together praying.
They were actually remember they were praying for
the release of Peter.
I am so thankful that the Bible says
that if we believe not the Lord abideth
faithful he cannot deny himself.
Now the Bible tells us without faith it's
impossible to please God.
He that cometh to God must believe who
he is and what he says he can
do.
And many, many people, you see, they don't
believe that God is powerful enough.
They bring God down to their own level
and in their own intellect if they can't
figure out how the problem can be solved
when they do pray, if they've come to
the end of their own ability, they're praying
at such a low level that they're not
really praying believing, because they're already convinced in
their mind, I don't know how God's going
to do this.
And then they pray that they need a
miracle, but they really in their praying it
in their heart.
They don't believe God can do it because
they brought God down to their level because
they can't possibly do it.
They can't conceive how God can do it,
since they can't think of it and they
kind of nullify their own faith.
And so they didn't pray believing, but God
is so wonderful that even if we pray
that way, he loves us so much, many
times he will answer anyhow.
If we believe not, he abides faithful.
He cannot deny himself.
He loves you so much.
He's so concerned for your welfare, so concerned
that you enjoy being one of his children,
and so concerned that you realize how much
he loves you, that many, many times he
answers prayer when we don't even ask, when
we don't even ask the right way.
Sometimes he'll come to the rescue when we
are just filled with God.
He loves us so much, and I'm glad.
Now, we get the blessing when we pray
by faith, pray believing, we get to see
God operate and be part of it.
And there's a thrill, and that increases my
faith to pray for greater things, for greater
accomplishments.
If a person doesn't begin to experience that,
you see, they will never grow in their
prayer life.
They'll never take the challenge to pray and
step out in something even greater.
They will be paralyzed or neutralized at a
certain level the rest of their Christian experience.
God will provide their needs.
God will heal many times without even asking
or believing He will heal.
But their prayer life has just gotten to
a point where nothing ever changes.
There's nothing new in their life.
And that's the wonderful thing about when you
pray, and you begin to step, and you
see God work.
Then you pray for greater things, and it
releases God to do greater things.
And then you pray for greater than that,
and pretty soon God's doing even more than
you can ask or hope or think.
You remember Peter, when they were walking on
the water in the storm, and I find
this interesting.
In this particular case, as God was trying
to increase Peter's faith, remember in the beginning,
the first trial of a storm on the
sea, when Jesus stood up, He spoke instantly,
the storm stopped.
This particular trial and this test to increase
their faith, when He showed up this time,
the storm didn't stop right away.
You remember, and He challenged Peter to get
out and walk on the water.
And remember, Peter did.
He stepped by faith.
And now, he had the faith to step
and the courage to do it, but then
he didn't have the faith to continue.
What happened?
He got his eyes off the Lord, and
the circumstance overwhelmed him, and he began to
think, and all he could say was, Lord,
save me.
And that quickly Jesus grabbed him.
Jesus wasn't going to let him perish.
Jesus won't let you perish.
And many times, you see, He tries to
challenge our faith.
Step out in the storm.
Don't be afraid that you can't figure out
how God's going to do it.
That's not faith.
If you can figure it out, then there's
no faith involved.
It's easier to step when there's no fear.
When there's no, you know, when I can
have it all figured out, I've got money
in the bank, and I've got a forwarding
address, and I've got Blue Cross and Blue
Shield, and the money's there, and I'm going
to be, oh, I'll go, Lord.
That's not faith.
Faith is stepping in the storm, and then
all of a sudden, you realize the storm,
and the waves haven't ceased.
You see, and that's what gives more faith.
And even if you do begin to go
down, Lord, I'm never going to let you
perish.
And I'm thankful that God doesn't cover up
the doubt and the mistakes that the people
make, even in the book of Acts and
the Gospels, even the apostles, you see.
That gives me hope.
None of these people were perfect.
Here, they're praying for Peter's deliverance from jail.
And you've heard so often, boy, you have
better praying, believing.
Yes, praying, believing does excite, does bless.
But you know something?
I think there's too much emphasis on that,
that God can't do anything unless you're praying,
really believing in such a degree.
They're in there praying, Lord, deliver Peter from
jail.
And God does it.
And so, as Peter knocked at the door
of the gate, a damsel came to hearken,
named Rhoda.
They're in there at the prayer meeting, oh
Lord Jesus, please deliver Peter from jail.
We need him for the Thursday night Bible
study, Lord.
He's our leader, our fearless leader.
What are we going to do?
Lord, deliver him.
And they're probably agreeing with each other and
quoting Scripture and all the things you know.
Binding the devil, and he's knocking at the
gate.
Now, the neat thing is, Jerusalem's an amazing
city.
You can walk down the narrow streets of
Jerusalem, and it looks like solid walls with
these big iron double gates and doors.
Once you go inside, you see beautiful courtyards.
You don't step into a house in many
places.
There's courtyards where you walk in, and there's
fountains and there's trees and gardens, and then
the people live on the inside and have
these courtyards all over Jerusalem.
It's that way today.
There are places we visit in the city
of Jerusalem.
One of the places is St. Anne's Church,
and it's a crusader church, a beautiful place
where we worship when we go in there
and we sing acoustic.
It's made in such a way that as
you sing just in an acoustic way, it's
just fantastic the way it...the reverberation of the
music and the sound of the voices off
the columns and the stone.
And it's inside this courtyard, but you wouldn't
even know it's there because you're walking along
this narrow street of Jerusalem, and you have
to knock on the gate, and then the
denomination that controls that site lets you in,
and it's just beautiful in there.
Well, this is the way this house looks.
Peter knew the address because he's friends with
the family and he's knocking on the gate,
and so she gets up from the Bible
study and she goes and she opens up
the hearkens, and before she even opened the
gate, she could hear Peter's voice.
When she knew Peter's voice, she opened up
the gate.
She got all excited and left him standing
in the street.
Peter!
And she left him standing out there for
gladness.
She couldn't wait to go in and say,
everybody, the Lord's answered our prayers.
And she ran in and told how Peter
stood before the gate.
And they said, you're crazy.
I don't believe it.
Have you ever done that?
Do you ever just pray and then God
doesn't?
You go, you're not going to believe this.
Or you're praying, you know, you have a
financial need, and you're off, you know, and
my gosh, you've got only until this afternoon
and the electric's going to be turned off,
or the car's going to be repossessed.
And so before you leave the house, you
and your wife pray, and off you go.
You get home and your wife's standing at
the door, jumping up and down.
Honey, you're not going to believe this.
You're not going to believe this.
Guess what?
Look what's in the envelope.
We can pay the electric bill.
They're not going to turn the electric.
I don't believe it.
And then the first thing you say, who
did it?
We don't even realize what God did.
Who did it?
Who was it?
Who sent it?
And yet we pray, Lord, if you don't
provide the money today, and all God has
to do, just like he can influence you
to make a ham sandwich in the kitchen,
or get in your car and drive somewhere
to give of yourself to do someone a
favor, he can do the same thing to
someone to just write out a check.
You know, Lord, well, you're giving me a
burden for so-and-so.
We have some extra this week.
Lord, I'm just going to trust you that
this coming here, I'm going to write a
check and get it in the mail.
See, God is so great that way.
When it comes to faith, I don't believe
it.
And that's exactly what they did.
So it shows you they weren't praying believing.
They weren't praying believing.
But see, God's love for you is far
greater than your perfection in dealing with him.
You see, grace, the grace of God is
so wonderful.
And God is just thrilled to do things
for you and I when we fail miserably,
to prove his love for you.
Their very reaction proves that they were not
praying believing.
I wonder how often we do it.
I wonder how many of us are guilty
every single day, every morning we go through
our motions to pray for this, this, and
that, and we just know, well, I know
God's not going to heal me.
I know God's not going to provide.
I know God's not going to do it.
We may not say it, but it's in
our minds while we're mobbing the words of
it.
And yet he is so faithful.
You're mad.
But she constantly affirmed that it was so.
And then said they, it is his angel.
Well, maybe it's guardian angels out there.
So it showed you they had that belief.
They really believed exactly as the scripture said,
that we do have our guardian angels.
But Peter continued knocking, since he's still there
forgetting.
They're arguing about answer of prayer and Peter's
still on the street.
And when they had opened the door and
saw him, they were astonished.
Just like you are or will be.
There's somebody here tonight and you've prayed in
unbelief, and God's got his perfect timing for
whoever you are, and you're going to open
that envelope, or you're going to get that
phone call, or something's going to happen, and
you're going to be astonished.
Because you don't realize how much God loves
you.
And he's going to delight.
Remember, he delighteth in mercy.
He delights in expressing love for you and
I, and proving himself faithful.
And there's somebody here tonight, before this week
is out, you're going to be just as
astonished as they are.
Because you've prayed in unbelief, and God wants
to show you how important you are to
him.
It's going to happen.
He's beckoning unto them with a hand to
hold their feet, declaring to them how the
Lord had brought him out of the prison.
And he said, go show these things unto
James and to the brethren.
And he departed and went into another place.
You know, he knows Herod's out to kill
him, so he probably leaves Jerusalem.
Now, it's interesting, from this point on, Peter
kind of takes a secondary role after they
have their council in Jerusalem in chapter 15,
with James concerning the issue of being circumcised
and eating things strangled or with blood.
Remember, some of the Pharisees that believed were
concerned about the Gentiles not being circumcised, and
so they called together the apostles.
Paul and Barnabas came up from, you remember,
Antioch, because the Pharisees were coming down from
Judea, and they all had a gathering.
At this particular point, Peter and James, the
half-brother of Jesus who wrote the book
of James, were like the elders of the
leaders of the church at that time.
Well, from this point on, you don't hear
much of Peter anymore.
He has to leave because he's not supposed
to be out of jail, and you know
Herod's going to try and find him and
kill him.
And from this point on, God uses this,
and Peter moves out, and remember, and he
becomes the apostle to the Jews, and Paul
comes on the scene.
He's the apostle of the Gentiles.
Now, there's some church tradition that states that
Peter went to Rome.
There's absolutely no proof or anything on record
that that ever took place, that Peter ever
ended up in Rome or was in Rome.
Now, Paul, yes, but not Peter.
So, after he departs to another place, as
soon as it was day, there was no
small stir among the soldiers.
What would become of Peter?
Now, certainly there would be no small stir
because, you know, Roman law said, if your
prisoner escaped, you received their punishment.
That's Roman law.
So, no one really escaped from jail, or
no prisoner ever got away.
And remember, there were four quaternions assigned to
Peter all day long in shifts.
Four sets of soldiers, two chained to either
side, and one standing in the prison and
one at the gate at all times, and
they took their different shifts, 24 hours a
day, four sets of them.
Sixteen Roman soldiers.
And Roman law was, if you ever lost
a prisoner, you would pay the price.
You would give your life.
And so, you know, there would be no
small stir among the soldiers, knowing that when
Herod finds out that their prisoner escaped, what
was going to happen to them?
And when Herod had sought for him and
found him not, he examined the keepers, and
believe me, when they examined the keepers, that
means torture and beating.
And these poor guys, what can they say?
They can't lie.
They're telling the absolute truth.
And so, Herod, being an unbeliever, can you
imagine the guy saying, he just disappeared.
We just saw the bracelets and the shackles
lying on the stone floor of the cell,
and he was gone.
And so, he probably beat them all the
harder.
What do you think I'm some kind of
a fool, telling me stories like this, and
angels appear, and he just disappeared, and he
probably beat them all the more.
And he commended they should be put to
death.
The kind of a man he must have
been.
Put 16 men to death.
And he went down from Judea to Caesarea
and their boat, his summer palace in Caesarea,
this amazing city on the sea coast.
Herod was highly displeased with them, of Tyre
and Sidon, but they came with one accord
to him, having made Blastus, the king's chamberlain,
their friend, desired peace, because their country was
nourished by the king's country.
Now, Palestine, or the land of Israel during
Herod's time, was very fertile and the breadbasket
then of the Mediterranean there.
Now, Tyre and Sidon were in the area
today of Lebanon, the same area, and Jerusalem,
because of its power and Herod, controlled the
shipping.
And if they were displeased, if Herod had
something against them, he could stop all the
ships from bringing supplies and even food to
Tyre and Sidon and make it very difficult
for them.
More than likely, there was commerce between them,
and he received a pretty high tax from
them in that.
And to really put the squeeze on them,
he could put a blockade and they'd really
be in trouble.
So they sent Blastus to try and appease
King Herod, because they needed these things with
him.
So he met with them in Caesarea.
So they're sending Blastus from Tyre and Sidon.
Herod leaves Jerusalem.
He's killed the sixteen soldiers.
He can't find Peter.
And so he and his wife go down
for a weekend at the sea coast in
Caesarea.
And upon a set day, Herod, arrayed in
a royal apparel, sat upon his throne and
made an oration unto them.
Now, Josephus, the Jewish historian, has given the
account of this.
Now, it's interesting.
The Spirit of God tells us what happens
here.
Josephus gives us the secular historical account.
It's quite a bit different that takes place
here, because he doesn't see the supernatural any
more than you may pick up a newspaper
and you see such and such was killed
in a head-on collision.
And they can't figure out what happened.
Well, you see, they don't know that God
could have given that man and just taken
his life in an instant while he's driving
down the road.
And maybe God had something to do with
the other drivers, that God can control all
that in his province.
Or maybe they just find the guy, you
know, the car embedded in a bridge abutment.
And he's a young kid, yet God took
him out, because the Bible is very clear
that God can just take a person with
an instant stroke.
Now, they may do an autopsy and do
all these things.
And in the newspaper, you'll find out what
sect of a man has to say about
the accident, because they don't know the supernatural,
that God is the one who really did
it.
In this particular case, Josephus tells us that
in all of his pomp and his splendor,
he was wearing a silver robe.
Now, you have to know the position of
the amphitheater in Caesarea.
It faces the West.
And the Romans were geniuses of building amphitheaters
to do praise in and to have judicial
holdings.
Paul was tried there in an amphitheater.
And because of the westerly wind and a
soft breeze, if you stand, and even to
this day, you can stand in the base
of the amphitheater that seats some 23,000
people in Caesarea.
You stand in the base of that today,
some 60 feet below where the people sit
up above, you can speak in your normal
voice.
And because of the breeze from the Mediterranean,
you can hear all over the amphitheater.
We do it when we have our Bible
studies over there.
If the conditions are right and it's not
real windy because it's spring or rainy, you
can just speak in your normal voice and
hear it anywhere in the amphitheater.
The acoustics are amazing.
Also, where the throne would be set in
this marble, this beautiful marble, with a silver
garment, you see, the sun rises in the
east, which is behind the amphitheater.
It comes up from Jordan.
And so here you have, sitting down here
in this thing, in all this splendor, in
all this spot with a silver robe, and
the sun coming up behind the amphitheater, shining
down, and the people are all sitting looking
at him.
And as he's speaking, he begins to give
like a Shekinah, as the sun's hitting his
silver robes, as it goes up.
And he made an oration to them.
And the people gave a shout, saying, It
is the voice of a God, and not
of a mayhem.
And immediately the angel of the Lord smote
him, because he gave not God to glory.
And he was eaten of worms, and he
gave up the ghost.
Now, it's interesting, the historical account, what Josephus
tells us.
What happened, historically, because Josephus doesn't know the
Lord, or know the narration of the Holy
Spirit, but really took place from God's side.
He just is looking at it from man's
side.
What happened while he was speaking, and they
were beginning to applaud, and he was getting
filled up with pride, like, Aren't I something?
He looked up, and there was a rope,
a strand of rope, for a curtain or
something, behind the platform where he was sitting,
and there was an owl sitting on it.
Now, an owl is an evil omen in
the East.
And he looked up, Herod looked up, saw
the owl, and got a pain in his
side, just like indigestion.
But what it doesn't say here, it increased
for five days to the point where it
was unbearable, and the worms sped out through
his whole body, ate his insides out, and
he died in horrible agony.
It lasted five days.
You see, Satan was using this man to
stop the gospel.
Satan was using this man to hinder the
spreading of the word of God, and destroy
people that God was using.
You know, the Bible says, "...fret not yourself
for evildoers, for they shall soon be cut
down as the grass."
I, in my own life, have seen people
that have attacked Jesus Christ and the gospel,
and I've seen some tragic things happen to
people because they've attacked.
And you never have to defend yourself.
Remember, you're a child of God.
The Bible says we're never to render evil
for evil.
You never have to lash out and attack.
Always leave God to be your defender.
Turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1.
I might just show you a text.
Some people, and I've been there as I
was younger, thinking, you know, they're not going
to get away with that.
They're absolutely wrong what they're saying about me.
Lord, I'm going to prove them wrong.
If they want to fight, I'll fight.
And God says, well, if you want to
get down in the devil's turf and fight
like they are, have at it.
But if you want to leave it up
to me, I can do a better job.
Look at verse 3 of 2 Thessalonians chapter
1.
We are bound to thank God always for
you, brethren, as it is neat, because that
your faith groweth exceedingly, and the adoptee love
of every one of you all toward each
other aboundeth.
Doesn't one of you know that our love
can abound?
We can grow in the love of Christ?
It abounds.
I can see opportunities, or I can see
situations, or I can see the love of
Christ, an opportunity to have love grow in
my life.
You can have love grow in your life
by something you can do for somebody.
To increase, to have the love abound in
the church, so that we ourselves glory in
you, the churches of God, for your patience
and faith and all your persecutions and tribulations
that you endure, which is a manifest token
of the righteous judgment of God, that you
may be counted worthy of the kingdom of
God for which you also suffer, seeing it
is a righteous thing with God to recompense
tribulation to them that trouble you.
God sees it righteous to attack your attacker,
and I'll tell you, he's a lot tougher
than you, and he's got greater resources.
So don't seek vengeance.
Leave it in God's hands.
In due time, he'll take care of things.
He sees it righteous to take care of
the people that are troubling you.
Leave it in God's hands.
Herod found out the hard way he was
attacking one of God's children, trying to stop
the growth of the church.
Now, they probably took his body today if
they found Herod dead.
They'd take him to Thompson Hospital or up
here to Strong Memorial and you'd have a
big write-up in the paper, what type
of worm it was, what causes, how he
got it, maybe eating some bad food, drinking
some water, you know, maybe he was on
a business trip, and they would have it
all laid out and not see the hand
of God at all in it.
But, you see, when you know the Lord,
you see things a lot differently, and it
governs our actions, doesn't it?
You know, Jesus said something wonderful.
The gates of hell will not prevail against
my church.
It's impossible.
Because, see, he's the head of the church.
Now, when men are running the church in
committees and programs and self-appointed priests or
pastors, when they've not been called by God
and they aren't filled with the Holy Spirit,
disaster.
It's nothing but a religious business with no
power.
And Satan can have all kinds of corruption
in that church, uncleanness in the people, no
holiness, no life, maybe a lot of money,
maybe it's a religious business.
You see, that church hasn't stood.
That church has already been taken over by
the enemy.
But Jesus said, my church, the one that
I'm the head of, my person, my family,
my marriage, the gates of hell will not
prevail against my church.
So, when you have Christ ruling your life,
ruling in your life, and you're in submission
to Christ, Satan doesn't stand a chance.
The gates of hell cannot prevail.
And here is proof of it.
Notice, as soon as he gave up the
ghost, it says, but the word of God
drew and multiplied.
Now, remember, Satan's using the most powerful man
in the country to stop the spreading of
the gospel.
And God knows how to upset the most
powerful people in the country, doesn't he?
Kind of like watching David try to cover
up his sins.
See, better if you just repent, keep praying.
It could be that this is the answer
to the prayers of the salvation of this
man and his wife.
But as soon as God takes care of
Herod, proving that the gates of hell cannot
prevail against his church, no matter how powerful
the earthly person may be, here's the most
powerful man in the land.
And God, all God has to do is
just, all God has to do is just
make a decision, and the Berlin Wall comes
down.
All God has to do is make a
decision, and your problem is solved.
That's how great and powerful God is, if
you put your trust in him.
So, the word of God drew and multiplied,
and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when
they had fulfilled their ministry.
Isn't that wonderful to know?
They did not return until they fulfilled their
ministry.
There's so much about them finishing, or Jesus
finished his course, Paul finished his course.
They fulfilled their ministry, and then they returned.
And they took with them John, whose surname
was Mark, a young boy that became Peter's
sidekick, and probably did the writing of the
epistles for Peter.
Some people feel that.
Shall we all stand?
Is it warm in here?
Isn't it great, January 29th and it's warm?
Thank you, Lord, for El Nino.
And Lord, thank you that the gates of
hell will not prevail against your church.
And we thank you, Lord, that we need
not fret ourselves for evil doers, or render
evil unto evil, or attack, or strike back.
Just leave it in your hands.
You care so much about us, Lord, that
even times when we pray and we don't
believe you love us enough, you're going to
take care of things.
Oh, Lord, what love.
How we love you and adore you, Jesus.
And thank you that we can know you
in a greater way.
Lord, give us that ability to pray.
Cause us to grow in our prayer life,
to see the exciting things you desire to
do in our personal lives.
And Father, we thank you so much for
this open door that you have given us
in Puerto Rico.
And we pray to you, Lord, for your
glory, that you give us that door of
utterance now, and go before everyone that's going
there, Lord, and prepare that place for your
glory and your great namesake.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
14425 May Jesus bless you as you study
his word.