How Do You Practice the Presence of God to Stay Alive and Free From the Devil.

Bless the Lord, O my soul. Hallelujah! Welcome, welcome to all of you wonderful people from all over the world. And I want to just say, tell your friends, get all of your friends now, call them, text them, do whatever, and let them know we are on and the Lord is going to do great things. You know why I know that? Because I've been spending time with, with him today, and I just know it. We are living in most exciting times for us believers. I don't think it's that exciting for the world, but it's exciting for us because the coming of the Lord is really, really close. Way closer than I think most of us realize. And you say, why you say that? Well, you know, I know we've said this before, but You look at the things happening all around us, and this I know has been going on for a while. I know, I, you know, I've watched it too. But there's something happening today. On one hand, on one hand, it's not the best news. On the other hand, it's prophetic. Because the Bible says that before the coming of the Lord, two things will be happening at the same time. One, a great falling away. We're seeing it. On the other hand, a move of the Spirit we have not seen since the days of the Book of Acts. The whole Bible The message of the Word is in that one book of 13 chapters because the writer to the Hebrews, and nobody seems to know who it is, could be Paul, could be Apollos, could be Barnabas, could be Clement, could be someone else, gives the history of salvation, the story of salvation in such a powerful way And when we read Hebrews, we have to understand something, and as long as you understand this, it's an easy book to understand. You have to understand who was he writing to and what they were going through. He was writing to Jews, Jewish believers. That's why it's called Hebrews and not some other nationality of a name. The Hebrews are Jewish. And what was happening in those days that many of the early believers wanted to go back to Judaism because they were under great persecution. And you have to understand that when in those days someone was under persecution, they lost everything, including shelter and clothing and food. Because when you get saved, Even today, when you get saved in some parts of the Arab world, you lose your family, you lose the ability to find work, you lose the ability to find a place to live. They won't even let you in because they will be punished then for helping you. So it's a serious thing to, to become saved, to become a believer. They pay a very heavy price in many countries. So those early believers, Jewish believers in the beginning were accepted by the Roman authorities as Jews. And Judaism was protected by the Roman authorities so they could have their synagogues and they can go to the temple and on and on. And the moment the Jewish authorities threw someone out, someone out of the synagogue, they would lose their home. So losing your place in the synagogue wasn't just being kicked out of church. It was nobody's going to give you a job. Nobody's going to give you food. Your family cannot help you, and if they do, they are punished. So being thrown— remember you read in the Word of God, they wouldn't say, they wouldn't say, and wouldn't speak and believe that Jesus is Messiah because they were afraid of what? Being thrown out of the synagogue. Because being a part of the synagogue gave you everything you needed in life. A job, food, shelter, all that. So the Jewish authorities went to the Romans and said, these are not Jews any longer, they are a sect. The moment they were thrown out of the temple, thrown out of the synagogue, the Roman authorities could no longer protect them. They were no longer Jews, they were a sect. Now they came under heavy persecution from the Romans and the authorities of Judaism. So now they lost so much that many of them wanted to go back into the law, and that's why Hebrews was written. So when you read that, keep that in mind. He was saying Jesus is better. What are you doing thinking about going back? So the whole message is you can't go back now. So when people read Hebrews 6, Hebrews 10, and it says sinning willfully. So in Hebrews 6, it says once you've tasted the word, once you've tasted the part of the world to come, if you turn away— now people get scared to death. Oh my God, you know, if I sin, I'm dead, I'm gone. No, no, it was talking to people who wanted to go back into apostasy. People who wanted to leave the faith. It was not about sinning like we all do. It was about someone who made a decision: I don't want to be a Christian no more. It's too heavy. It's too expensive. It's too costly. And he repeats it in Hebrews 10, where he says what? He says, if we sin willfully, we have despised the blood of Jesus, done despite to the Spirit of grace, And then he said what? He said there'll be no place, no more, not only no place for repentance, but no place for you in the kingdom. So when people read that, we read that with, oh my goodness, if I sin willfully, I'm dead. No, no, no, no, it's not talking about sinning because of weakness. It's talking about this deciding I'm leaving the faith, apostasy. So the entire book of Hebrews has one message. Don't go back. There's nothing in your past. Jesus is better than angels. He's better than Moses. He's better than the law. And he keeps going. We have a better covenant. And then he gives them what? He says, look at all the ones who made it. He gives them Hebrews 11. And then he says now, and remember in chapter 2, he says, if they disobeyed the angels, how much more, how much sort of punishment will, will we receive if we neglect so great a salvation? He's talking to people who wanted to go backwards. Neglecting salvation, leaving salvation. In chapter 12, he repeats the warning very powerfully, okay? And then he seals the message. Wow, what a book. And he says, hold on, you're almost there, basically. Don't give up the faith, you know, don't give up your confidence. Look unto Jesus. He's the author, he's the finisher. He didn't go back, he didn't fail. On and on and on. It is a powerful message that we need to Today more than ever, because today what we are seeing is, is a great falling away. Now the falling away isn't so much as they're not going to church. No, no, no. They are no longer obeying the laws of the kingdom. They are no longer living the Christian life. They are no longer walking in the footsteps of the Lord. Nobody now wants to die to self and give up the world. They all want to keep it and love it. But the Christian message is very clear. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself. Meaning no more connection with the world. Take up his cross, die to self and the world, and follow me. So the Lord, you know, I was just— you remember when I survey— play it for me. There's a beautiful verse. Even if all the realms of nature were mine, That would be a present far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. Meaning, if I own the globe, if I own the world, and I offered it to God, he would say, I don't want it. Because my soul is more expensive than the world. Isn't that powerful words? Yeah. So if the realms of nature were mine, that would be a price, a gift too small. He would say no to it. Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all. So when people become so attached to the world, that's not Christianity. Not the one the Bible talks about. We are a people with a heavenly citizenship, and we have got to see ourselves in reality as strangers on the earth. When Peter writes to the church in 1 Peter, he said to the strangers, and then amazing, he closes 1 Peter with this. It's amazing. He says, they in Babylon salute you. Didn't you read that in the Bible? Yeah. Now, you know, people say, well, was he in Babylon? No, he was in Rome. Rome was called Babylon 2,000 years ago. They in Babylon salute you. They send you their love. So to us, the world is Babylon. We're not a part of Babylon. I don't want to be a part of Babylon. That's why we set our affection on things above. We live the Christian life looking for a city whose maker and builder is God. You can play anything you want while I'm talking. Abraham— and we're going to get into praise and worship in just a moment, but I think this is so important to To get this, I'm hearing reports, troubling, troubling reports, uh, from pastors, from preachers. And I've been talking to a few of the young ones lately with upcoming ministries here in this country. You know what their biggest worry is? What I get asked now more than I think this one question I get asked over and over. A pastor came to see me last night in my home, all spiffed up, all dressed up with his assistant. Big ministry in California. He looks at me, says— and this is after we had eaten some soup together. He enjoyed the soup, by the way. And he, and he's sitting there with his young, uh, aide. And he looks, he says, uh, Pastor Benny, he said, I got to ask you this. And he was flying out back this morning early. He said, he said, I'm going back tomorrow, but he said, I got to get this. He said, how do I stay safe in the future? He's 30 years old. Very busy in ministry. Everybody wants him to minister to their people. And he was just so, so honest about it. He said, I just want to know, how do we stay safe? And I said, listen, I was just talking to my own son-in-law, Michael. A few days ago, who's— he keeps me informed, you know, on what's going on with the younger generation and what they're— how shall I say— what they believe in today, the younger people. There's a brand new generation out there that doesn't really know the Bible. Doesn't know the Bible. And I don't want to get into it on why that's the case, because sometimes when you begin, when you become really raw, people think you're being political. I'm not being political, but the results of what you hear, the results of what you hear the young people want and stand for and fight for is not biblical. So since what they say and what they stand for is against the scriptures, then you know they don't know the scriptures. You all understand that, huh? They don't have to tell you they don't know the scriptures. Just by what they say, what causes they fight for tell you they don't know the word. And you hear it more and more and more. And now these young pastors are trying to kind of figure out, how do I plan for it when it hits hard? We all worry about our children and grandchildren, but I will tell you, there is a secret. It's called the word of God. God's word is our protection. In Matthew chapter 12, and I told him that last night, I said in Matthew 12, I said we have a very great warning from the Lord that demons come back looking for vacancy. I said all of us at one time had a devil of some sort. Then we got saved and freed from that power of darkness. I said, but demons don't give up. They come back looking, is there any vacancy in that old house I used to have? And they're not looking for the gifts of the Spirit because many have the gifts and devils too at the same time. They're not looking for the anointing because many are anointed and also have demons in them. The anointing is not what protects us from devils. Think about Balaam. He was anointed with a devil. Think about Saul, anointed with a devil. Think about Judas, anointed to go pray for the sick, and he had a demon. He was evil, betrayed his Lord. So that's not proof or security enough. Uh-uh, it's the Word. It's the Word, only the Word. Great peace have they that love thy law. Only if you love the law of God, nothing Nothing can touch you. Read someone, we all know it by heart, uh-huh, because it's the Word. And now we are seeing two things happening at the same time. We're seeing a great falling away from the Word, not from church attendance, even though there is a great falling away from that too. It's the Word. Your preachers today are not preaching the gospel like it used to be preached. They are trying to fit the Word with the age rather than the age with the Word, you know. They say, well, let's kind of make the Word fit the age. No, no, you can't. The Word is unchangeable. So today I want to minister to you on how do you practice the presence of God to stay alive and free from the devil. Because in the presence of the Lord there is liberty. I want you to, to listen to this most important word that I think can keep you alive for a long time in the spirit, because it's the spirit's I'll say it like this. The will of God is for your spirit to remain strong. And the Holy Spirit's work in you, if you allow him to do it the way he wants to, he'll bring you to that place where you'll never weaken. You know, I am not afraid of the devil. Really, I'm not. I am afraid of me. I'm afraid of this flesh, we call it, you know, the old man. Because nowhere in the Bible do I find that he will flee from me. I'm stuck with him. I mean, I can resist the devil. And he'll flee. That's easy stuff for me now. It wasn't so when I was young. But to resist the flesh, I don't see it in the Bible. It doesn't say resist the flesh. It says crucify it. It doesn't tell us to crucify the devil. It says resist him, and he'll run away like a coward. But the flesh, what do you do with it? Crucify it. How? Practice the presence of the Lord. Every one of you, that's your biggest enemy. You are your biggest enemy. And when you recognize that, that's the beginning of your victory. Because you see, the flesh always wants to take over and come back to control. Controlling you. So when we talk about the old man, the flesh, the old life, the old nature, what are we talking about? The fallen nature. When Adam fell, he brought about the collapse of that relationship with God. So we call that the old life, the old man, the old nature, the flesh self. So David begins with verse 1: As the hart, or the deer, panteth after the waterbrooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul is thirsty for God. Note it, you know, please notice he doesn't say anything about the body. He says my soul is after you. My soul is thirsty for you. And then he asks, when shall I come and appear before God? I really want to get back into fellowship. My tears have been my meat day and night, verse 3 says, while they, meaning the enemies, continually say to me, come on, where is God? Let him show up. Let him prove himself that he's with you. And then he says, when I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me. And then he says something else. This is the life of many Christians today. He says, I have gone, for I had gone with the multitude. I went with them to the house of God. And I went with them with the voice of joy, and I went with them with a song of praise, and I went with a multitude that was keeping a holiday, but I was miserable. It says in the next verse, why art thou cast down, O my soul? Why are you disquieted inside of me? That's just like people who go to church on Sunday and they come out more miserable than when they came in. He was in that same place. He says, my soul is hungry, my soul is thirsty. They laugh at me and tell me, come on, where is your God? You're like, you, you're losing. And then he says, I go to church and I get nothing. That's the story of today, huh? But it says, why are you— verse 5— why are you cast down, O my soul? Why are you so quiet inside of me, even though I went to church and all the noise almost blew my eardrums off? That's what happens. They call that praise. I call that noise. I'm sorry, I'm just too old-fashioned. What they call praise today, I call torment. It just torments me. It almost— I almost I'm telling you, I almost get a headache. I got to get out of there. I've gone to conferences. I thought I'm going to lose my hearing. Those drums are so loud. Those speakers are so loud. I got a headache so bad one day I had to walk out before I ministered. I said, I'm going to end up losing my hearing if I stand here. Okay, they can jump, they can dance, they can turn around with their holy pants all over the place. You know, the holy pants holes everywhere. They don't even wear suits anymore. They wear these— I, I don't know what they wear. They come to church looking like they're going for a picnic. Maybe I'm too old-fashioned, I don't know. But when I come to church, I want to be dressed for it. I want to be— I remember when we had OCC, they all came in their Sunday best. Today they come like they're gonna go to the beach somewhere. I don't know. And I love, you know, I love them. I love these kids. I've— but I'm just old-fashioned and I'm not going to change me. I just like the way I am. I'm going to die the way I am. Glorious adios, right, lady? But, you know, and I'm not saying they're all like that. I'm not saying they're all like that, but I've seen them. I've looked at their faces. I'm thinking they're wearing themselves out, those poor souls. They're just wearing out, and they call it worship. Worship is to restore you, strengthen you. You stand there with tears flowing down your cheeks and don't know what to say. I remember a man, I was thinking about him today, who came to my crusades. And he was standing to the left there below. He was beaming with love, beaming with joy. He was— the tears flowing down his face. I used to watch those clips that would run on This Is Your Day, and I'd see people weeping everywhere, just standing with tears. Tears became their language in that beauty of the Lord's presence. And I know people today have experienced that. But you see some churches, it's like noise. People, please turn the volume down before we lose our hearing here. And David went to church with people like that. He said they were having a holiday and he was miserable. And then he says, oh my God, in verse 6, my soul is cast down within me. Therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan. Lord, I'm living by my old memories. I can't find anything new anymore, so I go back to what I remember. A lot of Christians are living on old anointings, old fuel, the fumes of the fuel. Some of them, did you hear what I said? The fumes of the fuel. They don't even have gas. They have the fumes left over. And that's— they have the memory of the past, just like David. And then he came to a beautiful verse. He said, now I'm reaching the place I want to be in. Verse 7 and 8: Deep calleth unto deep. I'm reaching the place now where the Spirit takes over. Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts. You know, waterspouts are tornadoes on the ocean that pull the water right up. So, Lord, you're pulling me right into your presence without any effort on my part. Deep calleth unto deep. The minute the spirit of man comes alive in worship, God pulls you right up without you screaming at him, without you shouting and dancing and wearing yourself to the ground. It says, all thy waves, all thy billows are gone over me. The presence of God now is just like wave after wave after wave, and you can't stand it, it's so glorious. And then he says, yet the Lord— this is what happens in that beautiful tornado that pulls you up— the Lord will command his lovingkindness. Earlier he was miserable, saying, "Why are you cast down my soul?" Now, "The Lord commands his lovingkindness in the daytime. In the night I'm singing now." At night. "In the night his song is with me." And now God has become what? He says, "And my prayer unto the God of my life." He's taken over my life. I don't have to no more hunger and thirst for him and look for him here and there and go with the church and get all so noisy where I'm gonna about to lose my mind. I find him in that quiet place. I find him in that quiet place, and in that quiet place he commands his loving kindness. Not only daytime but nighttime too. And now I'm singing, laying on my bed before I sleep. His song will be with me, and I'm praying to the God of my life. Wow, we want to be there, don't we? The practice of God's presence brings you back to life, while going to these noisy meetings wears you down. I'm just being very honest about it. If I'm wrong, the Lord will correct me when I get to heaven, but then it'll be too late for me to change. I just want to make sure, you know, I think I was spoiled by Kathryn Kuhlman. I was spoiled by Oral and Rex. I was spoiled by these amazing people that touched my life, like David Duplessis. Oh dear God, was he anointed, that man. Miss Kuhlman would come on the platform and not say a word, and people would start crying. She just stepped on the platform and healings took place without even saying hello. She walked in that glory, walked in it. So I think the time has come we start doing it right, you know. And so The Bible says, watch this, Isaiah 26:8, Yea, watch this, Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee. The desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of Thee. So, Lord, we've waited for you, and the desire of our soul is to know the power of your name. The desire of our soul is to remember you. With my soul have I desired you in the night. With my spirit within me, I will seek you early. My goodness. So God is found in that quiet moment, in solitude, in that beauty in the Lord's presence. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee. So, you know, there's two kinds of quietnesses that we read about in the Bible. People are quiet first because they have nothing to say. They're empty when they get into God's presence. They're so empty they have nothing to say to him, or they're so full they can't say it. So when you wait upon the Lord, he fills you up. And when he fills you up, you get so full you can't talk. Tears become your language in the presence of God. And so what did he say to us? Be still and know. Now, you know, a lot of us know this verse and we just ignored a few things in it. Be still and know I am God. Play that for me, Jim. Be still and know that I am God. Be still and know. Now why does it say know? Because in stillness he reveals his heart. And then it says, I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. Do you know what happens? When someone is still in the presence of God, God will use him to touch the nations. You know, in that year, you, you that have read Good Morning Holy Spirit, and if you haven't, you really need to, people think I was praying the whole time. No, I was worshiping. I worshiped and I worshiped and I worshiped and I 8 hours. I would start around— I get home from work. I used to work for the Catholic school board, and I'd get home, and my parents were not saved, and they were not interested in anything to do with the Lord. So I'd lock myself in my room, and all that started right after I went to see Miss Kuhlman. And I would lock myself in that room from 8 PM on, and by 2 AM I was still worshiping nonstop. You say, how did you do it? I didn't do it. The Lord began to do it through me, and I did not understand it. I would— I used to have that old big reel-to-reel recorder, and I would put those old big reels, and I would record worship on them because we didn't have in those days what we have now. And that thing would play, now it would, it would run out, and I'd have to rewind it and put it back on. And the glory of God would just come on me, walk in that room There were times, there were times it was so beautiful, so beautiful I can't even explain it to you. One night I'm in the presence of God and I feel this hand brushing my hair like real fingers, you know, 5 fingers. And it just— I don't know how to explain the moment to you. And after he brushed my forehead, the hand touched me right here. I said, Lord, no, I couldn't handle it. It was— I thought my body would blow up. Really, there's power in quietness. And I don't know if I can explain this because most people would not even know what I'm talking about. I, you know, I read Jeanne Guyon's book, Experiencing the Depth of Jesus Christ, and she talks about going within, going within. I had no clue what she said when I read it. It happened to me. Well, I became so quiet, I felt I was being pulled inside. I don't know how to say that. Something was pulling me, like, within. And we have to understand something. I don't know if you can grasp this. Lord, let them grasp this, please. When you read the Word and the Word quickens you in waiting, in waiting, don't, don't just— there's two ways to wait. You can wait by listening to worship while you wait. Not that worship or music you play in your house doesn't affect God, it affects you. God doesn't need it, you need it because it brings stillness to your spirit. Music has great power. Or the word. And I think the word is way more powerful than the worship you play on somebody's— on a tape because somebody else is singing, not you, you see. So she says in her book, she says how she would read the Word. This was years ago when I read that, and that's what I do now. I sit and I read the Word. Like yesterday, I read the whole book of Hebrews, and while I'm reading the book, there are moments when I'm quickened and I stop. I don't keep reading, I stop. And when I stop, it's really hard to explain this. Something pulls me into that verse. I'm pulled into that verse. It becomes so real to me. I'm in it. I'm in it. I'm not just reading it. I'm in it. And when I'm in it, I begin to sense the presence of the Lord. And the more I sense the presence, the longer I stay in it, because it's like you find a well and you want to Drink from it till it's all empty. Then you go on to the next well in the spirit, because God's word has many wells, many wells. And I don't know if you understand this, but I think you are spiritual, know exactly what I'm talking about. And at that moment, your tongue changes, your speaking in tongues changes. It becomes very precise, it becomes very spiritual. While before, like, any one of us can speak in tongues now, but it's not really spiritual. It's just something like the gift works, but the spirit is not really functioning like it should, but the gift is working. But then when, when you're in the spirit, the spirit takes over the gift. The gift is no longer by itself. The, the Spirit now controls the gift. And when the Spirit— when the Holy Spirit controls the gift, it just— it's a different world you're in. And you start to drink from that well. It's beautiful. And then you're weeping and you're, you're amazed by the peace. It's like your blood pressure goes way down and your heart rate is just perfect. And you're— everything about your body is like on pause. It's like your body can't even interfere in that. It's like completely pushed out of the way almost, you know. That's when the flesh begins to die. And you know, there's something so beautiful that happens in that quietness. And I'm not talking about mental quietness, I'm talking about word quietness. See, there's people who get quiet because they just get mentally quiet, and it's frankly, it's all the brain and flesh, it means nothing. But when the word brings quietness to your spirit, which it does when you read it like I'm talking about, because it quickens you, it quickens you, and when it quickens you, everything just goes Shh, like very quiet in the spirit. I mean, I don't mean mentally, but eventually within the next few moments, the mind that was interfering is completely shut out. Because you can be quiet and listen to worship on tape, and your brain can be very active, and the devil can still use it to interrupt, to interfere. But when you let the word do it, the time comes when the brain just doesn't know what to do with that, and it's all gone. And now you are in a place of peace that passeth all understanding. That's a fact. So when people get into that place, like I began back in the '70s, and I was amazed one day because I didn't pray a whole lot. For that year, I didn't pray. I was just in the presence. And the presence— I was practicing the presence. Yeah, of course I was praying, but you know, I didn't have a list. I didn't beg and pound the floor and like people do today when they call those prayer meetings. They're not prayer meetings. They're just wearing themselves out. It's all flesh, really. It's not, it's not spiritual. But when you let the Lord quicken you, God will bring about these results. He'll use you. God began to use me as a result of that year in his presence. I didn't even, I didn't even have a sermon prepared when I, when I was asked to go speak at, uh, at Shiloh there in Oshawa. I was sitting with a group, with a dear couple, Stan Phillips and Shirley Phillips. He was a scientist, and I'm telling him about what God has been doing in my life, and he says, you know, he says, you need to come in and share that in our fellowship tonight. I'm thinking, the man is not all there. I said, it took me 2 hours to say something I could say in 20 minutes. I used to stutter, and I'm starting trying to tell him through my stutter what God is doing, and he says, why don't you come speak at our place tonight? I'm thinking And I'm sitting on the front row and they introduced me and I did not know I would be speaking at all. And I'm thinking, dear God, I'm going to get up there and make a fool of myself because I can't talk. And I had no sermon. All I could talk about is the Holy Spirit. I got on the platform. That was the— I think was the longest walk I ever took in my life. The longest walk I think I ever took was from the front row to the when I preached the first time. And I'm thinking the whole time, how will I speak? They're gonna all sit there like, can't talk. I felt a numbness hit my tongue, and I began talking so fast I had to tell myself, slow down, slow down, slow down. That was the birth of the ministry that happened in quietness. In quietness. There was a lady named Marilyn Stroud sitting there who had been a member of the church I went to at the time. I went to two churches, morning, evening. In the morning, I would go to Jim McAllister's, evening, Maxwell White's. And she attended both churches. A lot of us would go to the same churches from the, from the group called the Catacombs. The Catacombs was a group of people. Thursday nights, we would all meet at St. Paul's Cathedral. They were all former hippies. It was the Jesus movement, you know, and Mervyn Moller Watson led the group of 3,000 kids. It was 3,000 of us sitting on the floor, most, you know, most of us. And we would hear people like, uh, Lorne Cunningham would come, and Corrie ten Boom came, and, and Richard Rombrandt. Some of the greatest saints would come and minister to us kids. And so Malon Stroud, who's who's in heaven now, was sitting there, and she was like— she came with me because she had to drive me. I said, would you drive me? I said, I don't have a car. I didn't have a car from Toronto to Oshawa. Yeah, she said, I'll take you. So she's sitting there, and her jaw was like, like this, you know, the whole time I was speaking. That poor woman was just staring at me. We leave, and she said to me, she said, you didn't stutter. I said, I know. So I get home, she drops me at the house, and I looked up. I said, dear Jesus, what did you do tonight? Jesus, what did you do? And all he said to me is, be faithful to me. That's all he said. He didn't tell me anything. He just, be faithful to me. Marilyn calls a man named Bernie Warren at Bizack Center. She says, you, something's happening to Benny. He had one of the largest meetings every Friday night outside the city of Toronto by the airport, and I used to go there too. He says, listen, I want you to speak tonight. And I was scared to death because everybody came to those meetings, like one of the biggest meetings at that time in Canada. And the power of God felt so strong, and I was shocked. People were falling everywhere before I could even come near them. And I was, you know, I didn't even have a suit in those days. I didn't even own one. And this lady comes up. I never shared this. This lady comes up, she says to Bernie, and I'm standing there, and this woman came, lady, wanted to kind of touch me for me to pray with her. So I just was holding her hand. I'm talking to Bernie, he's telling me about how moved he was, and he gave me a prophecy that is actually being fulfilled right now. All he said to me— he was a mighty man of God— he said, a life of success and prosperity. That's what he said. And I'm holding her hand, and he didn't mean prosperity money, he meant prosperity in the Lord. I'm holding her hand because she wants to pray, and next thing you know, she's on the floor. Never even got the chance to talk to the poor thing. She was completely on in the spirit. Another lady comes up and starts to prophesy to Bernie Warren. She says, the Lord says, I am so pleased you allowed my servant tonight to speak. And I'm thinking, I'm a servant. I'm already called a servant of the kingdom. I was amazed. I was just a kid. I was 21 years old. And, and I did not realize it till I read that verse later. He said, be still and know I'm God. And as a result, I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. When I had those crusades all those years throughout the world, I didn't pray. I waited. I just waited for the Lord and he'd show up in my hotel room. And one day I'm praying, oh Lord, heal your people tonight. He said, don't insult me, don't insult me. I'm not going to heal him just because you asked. He said, all I want of you is be available. I was stunned. He said, that's all I ask of you is just be available. Just what he meant is just surrender. Ken Copeland one day came up, she in Oklahoma. And he said, how do you do this? I said, I just surrender. He said, show me how. I don't know, man. How do you show someone how to surrender? Surrender is very easy for a child because they trust mommy, daddy, you know, family members, loved ones. My kids used to throw themselves from a chair on me, knowing I'm going to grab them when they come close. They knew it. They never wondered if Daddy would miss us, you know. Joshua, Josh, and Lily, all of them would jump off chairs and off couches. Daddy! Whoop! And I'd run and grab them. So simple. Let me show you a scripture. In Isaiah 57:10, and this is the condition today of so many people, it says, thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way. In other words, you're wearing yourself out by your own way. Yet you don't say, saidst thou not, there's no hope? You are wearied in the greatness of thy way, yet you don't say, I'm not accomplishing anything, there's no hope in this. And what are they relying on? It says, you have found the life of your hand. You're finding the flesh is doing all this. You have found that you can pray and fast in the flesh, in the flesh, yet you're not grieved. In other words, you're not getting it. It's not working. In Hosea 2:14, it says God speaks to us in solitude. He says, I will allure her to the wilderness and speak to her comfortably about Israel. Look at Psalm 59, Psalm 59. Now watch this. It says, because of his strength will I wait upon thee. And then it says, God is my defense. In waiting, not only does God give us strength, He protects us. There's protection in the presence of the Lord. So precious. Now I think we all know, they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. You know, they shall mount up with wings of eagles. And in waiting, we go higher in the spirit. And there's no effort because the wind carries us up there. Waiting upon the Lord enables you to know the current of the winds, like the eagle knows the current of the winds, and it surrenders to the wind, and the wind just picks up that bird higher. That's what waiting does to us as believers. And notice what the Bible says. It says they shall run and not be weary, and then they shall walk and not faint. So in the spirit, we run before we walk, not the other way around. Running means you catch up with God and then you walk in fellowship. There's a lot of us, we've done it so wrong for so long that we're way back there in the, in the crowd. We haven't caught up with God. But when we are still and quiet, we are running. How do we run? By being quiet, by being still. Are you getting this? Being still is running in the Spirit. Being still is running in the Spirit. And then you catch up with where God— because see, what is happening is what I showed you earlier from Isaiah. With my spirit, I'm seeking you. Everything in me is crying out for you, Lord. And I'm not shouting at you. I'm just— everything in me, my heart is pounding for you. Deep is calling you, Lord. And now God Almighty strengthens me. God Almighty protects me, takes me to high plateaus, enables me to catch up with him. And now I can walk with him properly, all by waiting. It's amazing sometimes when you read the Bible with calmness and quietness, God shows you way more than when you're rushing through it. And so you read this beautiful portion in Philippians, and we all know it, but I think it's good to look at Philippians 3:10. That I may know him. But stop right here. Don't you remember what Psalm 46:10 said? How do you know him? Be still and know I am God. How do you know him? By stillness. That I may know him. So Paul the Apostle discovered what David had discovered. In stillness you know the Lord, not in shouting at him and screaming in prayer. That I may know him in that fellowship, in that beauty, in that solitude, and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. How do we know him? Be still and know I'm God. And the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death. If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. I'm thinking, Paul, how can you say that? Aren't we all promised that? But I know exactly why he said it. If we do not partake with him in death, we will not partake with Him in His resurrection. Well, the flesh has got to die totally. What did Paul say? I will glory in the cross. And then he said, not as though I had already attained, or were already perfect, but I follow after, I follow after, if that I may apprehend, if I may capture, that for which also I am captured of Christ Jesus. He said, I want Jesus to capture me. Like this prison cell has captured me. I want to capture him like this prison has captured me. He was chained there in Rome. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended. I have not captured that yet. He was 50-something years old. He was in his late 50s when he wrote those words. But this one thing I have to do: I forget those things which are behind, and I reach forth unto those things which are before, and I press toward the mark. What, what, what is the mark? It's, it's, it's the Lord. He wants to capture the Lord. I press toward the mark for the prize. What's the prize? The Lord of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. And let us therefore, as many as be perfect— and what he's meaning there is not that we've reached perfection, but we're on the way— as many of us as seek perfection, be thus minded that if in anything you be otherwise minded— if you're thinking about something else, stop thinking about it and think about this— God shall reveal even this unto you. Is that what God is doing in my heart? I think so. I pray he'll do that in yours. Do you know why God asked Abraham for Isaac? He did not ask Abraham to kill Isaac. He wanted to kill Abraham. I'll say it again. God, when God said to Abraham, give me Isaac, offer him, why did he say that? Because he wanted to kill Abraham. What happened is this. See, God does not want to be challenged. He wants our hearts to be his. And somehow Isaac got into Abraham's heart, and God said, I will not allow you to challenge me. Give him up. So who died? Isaac didn't die. Abraham died. Yeah, you can say wow again. And when Abraham died, God then gave him the promise: surely with blessings I will bless thee, well, multiplying I will multiply thee, and your seed will possess the gate of the enemy. It's when Abraham died. God was waiting for him to die, and when he died, he got the promise. And why did God let him wait so long before Abraham— before Isaac came? He was waiting for him to die physically. His body could no longer produce a son, because when the flesh produced, he got Ishmael. Yeah, right. But when he could no longer give birth to a boy, God took over that body. And Isaac was— the spirit now took control. Isaac was the promise of the spirit, not the flesh. And later, when Isaac was in his 30s, by the way, if you can believe it, rabbis say that when he offered Isaac, he was— Isaac was 30 years old. And it shows you that Isaac himself died unto himself because he didn't fight. He could have very easily overcome his father. Imagine a papa old as Abraham tying up a 30-year-old man on an altar, and the 30-year-old man didn't fight him. That's a dead man already. That both Abraham and Isaac knew God would raise him from the dead to keep his promise. And when Abraham died the second time by giving up Isaac, God gave the blessings and the promise he had not spoken before. In blessing I will bless thee, in multiplying I will multiply thee. Wow. And your seed now will possess the gates of the devils. What a mighty promise he gave him. You see, there's always another death. There's always another death. For example, Abraham died physically to give birth, and Abraham dies again to get the promise. There's always another death because death leads to a deeper death. In the second death, here's what Jesus says to us. So we all die, we all die first. This is marvelous. Lift your hands, say, Holy Spirit, help me understand this. All right, we all die first when we receive Jesus as Savior, but it's the first death. It's only, if I can say, the beginning of the experience of death to the flesh, to the old world, to the old life. But now God asks of us a second death, which is very difficult for some people. In Luke 14:26, if any man come to me— real gentle, Jim, real heavenly— and hate not his father, his mother, his wife, his children, his brothers, his sisters, and his own life, he cannot be my disciple. So the first death is die to the world and follow me. That's the first death. Pick up your cross, follow me. So we all have— when we said no to the devil, no to the world, no to the flesh, yes to Jesus— that was a good beginning. But now he's asking a little more. He said, I'm not just asking you to die I'm asking you now to hate yourself. I'm asking you to hate your family, your children, and your life to be mine. Well, that's a deep death. That's a— that's, if I can call that, is maybe a second or a third death, because we— we— it says in this, in the Word of God in Romans 8, it says we die daily. We die daily. So we, we live a life of continual dying to the things of the world, the things of the flesh. We say no, no every day to sin and temptations and on and on. That's dying to the things that want to grab us, want to take hold of us. But now God comes to this very difficult death. Lord, are you asking me to hate my mom, my father? If any man come to me and hate not his father and mother— I adore my mama, I adore my father. And his wife, same. His children, same. 'His brothers?' 'Yeah, I can give those up.' I'm being honest. 'His sisters?' 'A little more difficult, I love my sisters.' So, 'Mommy, Daddy, wife, children?' 'Ooh.' 'Brothers and sisters?' 'You love them, but you know, they're not like your kids.' Somebody may not be happy with me for saying that. I'm just being as real as I could. Your children are your life. Your baby came out of your being. Come on. And your own life— you cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me cannot Be my disciple. And then he says, count the cost before you make that decision. What does he mean? Is he really asking us to hate our family? Of course not. How can the same God who says honor your father and mother say hate them now? How can the same God who says provoke not your children unto wrath say hate them? How can the same God who says bring them up in the knowledge of the Lord say hate them? Of course not. But they can never have my heart like he has my heart. This heart of mine belongs to the Lord, and so does yours. Because as much as we love them family. The day is going to come they won't be there for us. They won't be there. They cannot keep the promise that Jesus will keep and only he will keep. I'm sure my mom, and I'm sure my dad, and I'm sure my children would love to say to me, I will never leave you. But they can't keep the promise because one day they will. My mom is gone, my dad is gone. They would have loved to have said, I'm with you unto the end, but can they really? No. My children who adore me and I adore them, they'd love to say it, but they can't keep it. Only he can keep it. What a promise he gave us. I shall never leave thee. I shall never forsake. And while we're still in this beautiful atmosphere, I'm going to pray for you that God will bless you financially, to protect your future financially. In the scriptures, it says that when we give, God will open up the windows of heaven and God will pour on you a blessing that you cannot contain. In Malachi, we read not only that God will open up heaven and pour on you a blessing, but he will rebuke the devourer, the seed eater, and he will not touch the fruit for the ground. There are 7 amazing promises in Malachi that I want you to receive now. So just give me a few more minutes. Everyone take your seats here. The, the anointing of God is strong. Stay with me, Jim. You know, when we pray under the anointing, that's when things happen, and they happen quickly. So God says this: Bring all the tithe into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house. Prove me now herewith. And you all know that scripture. The only time God says, prove me. If I will not open the windows of heaven, pour you out a blessing, there'll not be room enough to receive it. And then I'll rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he'll not touch the— he'll not destroy the fruits of your ground, neither shall your vine cast your fruit before the time in the field. All nations will call you blessed. You will be a delightsome land. There's 7 promises I want to pray over you because this is the promise of God. Number 1, he says when we obey and give to the kingdom, and more than ever today we need to obey that command because that's the only way we can secure our future economically. God cares for that. Number 1, he'll open the windows of heaven, mean that God will bless you, revive you. Because if you read Psalm 112, it says that the righteous man who gives will be declared righteous. The enemy will be crippled as a result. Of his giving. You know, every time we give to the Lord, our seed becomes a weapon in God's hand. Then he says this: I will pour you out a blessing, not be room enough for it. That's incredible, unbelievable prosperity that Jesus promised when he said, it shall be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over. And that is gonna happen. The running over blessings will come our way as surely as the Lord says it. Then he says, I will rebuke the devourer. That amazing word rebuke is cripple the seed eater, the devil. So number 1, he revives you, declaring you righteous. Number 2, he prospers you. Number 3, he cripples the enemy on your behalf, that the enemy— number 4— will not be able to destroy the fruit of your ground, meaning he'll not be able to touch your finances. A lot of people make money and have holes in their pockets because God has not blessed them. So making money is not enough. It's when God blesses what God— what he gives you. That you keep it and it grows. Then he says this. So notice: revival, prosperity, Satan behind bars, and number 4, your money is safe. Number 5, it says, neither will he— listen— neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field. Whenever you see the word vine, it's the family. So the enemy cannot touch your family, that their financial future is also safe. We're talking here about finances. You can't claim these promises for healing physically or salvation for loved ones. This is all about financial blessings. And all nations will call you blessed. That's the 6th blessing. Meaning God will make you a testimony that you can talk and say, look what God has done with me. You can tell the world about God's blessings. And then you shall be a delightsome land. And that word delightsome means highly desired. God will use you. Every giver can claim those 7 blessings. What are they? Revive your spirit. 2, prosper you. 3, put the devil behind bars. 4, protect your pocket, your money. 5, protect your family. 6, make you a testimony. And 7, use you, because givers are blessed by God. Now lift your hands so I can pray for you. Father, I pray now, and what you said you will do for them that when they give you their tithe, when they give you their offerings, as they will now, that you'll open the windows of heaven, that you'll pour them out a blessing. There'll not be room enough for the blessing. That you'll rebuke the devil and put him behind bars. That you'll protect their finances, that you'll protect their children and family, that you'll make them a mighty testimony in these last days, that you'll use them, Lord, for your glory. I pray those 7 blessings on everyone that obeys you now, in the name of Jesus. And God's people said amen. Now you can give by go into the platform you're watching me on where it says donate. You can go to our website, BennyHinn.org, and then claim those promises because that is the promise of God. I gave you the word today and I'm— and I know it, it blessed you and God spoke through it to you. And you'll spend time in the Lord's presence so you'll be strong in the spirit in the future. Now and in the future.