Acts 7

No one can take away from, no one can remove. Can you engage with the Creator of heavens and the earth? All power, all glory, all honor, it belongs to him. Once has he spoken, twice have I heard that all power belongs to him. All power, all power belongs to him.

You're talking to him. Can you pray? Can you pray?

Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is going to rest upon you. You're going to feel the weight of his glory, and you don't need to wait for it. You don't need to see a song. You don't need to hear a drumbeat. You just need to hear his voice. And know that the weight of who you are, no words can carry. Who is like you, oh Lord? Who is like thee? The weight of who you are, no words can carry. Who is like you, oh Lord? Who is like thee?

Who is like unto thee, O Lord?

Who is like unto thee, O Lord, amongst the gods? Who is like thee? You're glorious in holiness, faithful in praises, doing wonders highly.

Yeah, somebody praise him.

He's worthy of our praises. He's worthy of our praise. I feel the presence. I feel his weight. What breaks his heart breaks mine. What makes him sad makes me. I feel the burden of the Lord and the yearning for the souls.

Can you carry it? Lift it.

Lift it.

Lift it.

I'm here for Jesus.

We're surrendered vessels. See, we won't start this study until we get to a place— I'll stay here as long as it takes. I put my father— Lift up your voices! Lift up your voices! Lift up your voices! Lift up your voices! The kings him? Who is this king to call him the Lord strong and mighty? Who is this king to call him the Lord mighty in battle? He is the King of Glory. He's my king. He's my help. He's my savior. Oh, you are everything and more. Can you offer him the fruit of your lips? Can you tell him how good he's been? How safe? Man, if you had to—

yeah, I'm happy. Thank you. I don't know how I'm still standing, but by his grace, by his mercy, by his power. Because it's not by my might, it's not by my strength, it's not by my ability, it's not by my intellect, it's not by my finances, it's not by my career, it's not by my degree or my job, but by the Spirit says the Lord. It's the Spirit of God that makes the difference.

So call on The answer to the great and mighty things you do not know.

Call on Jesus.

Call on Jesus. Make a melody to the Lord. Make a melody to the Lord. Register your voice in here. Let him know that your voice, your voice only belongs to him. I'm not here to please men. I'm not here for their approval.

We're not here—

well done, good enough to do, sir. All will be well. Bless you. Call in Jesus' name, we pray. You see, the Lord has been teaching me about authority and power and the differences between the two. You see, many a times you might have the ability to do something, but if God does not ask you to do it, you fall into disobedience. Moses had the power to strike the rock, but the authority that God gave him was to speak to it. Power got it done, but the authority that he didn't have is what kept him from the promised land. So sometimes things would be happening in your life. We can come to gatherings like this and miracles can happen and signs and people can break out in the Holy Ghost and people can fall, but the question we should ask, did the Lord tell us to do any of that? I made up my mind, I'm not here to make this gathering look like the last one. I'm here to make this gathering to look like what he's saying it should be like. And if we don't have that here, we'll keep doing the same thing over and over and over. We'll keep striking the rock when he tells us to speak to it, and we'll leave out with people shouting and people excited because water came. But then when we get back to our secret place, God says, So if the Lord is not going to tell us to do the same thing last week, this week, then why should we?

Why should we?

Does it always have to look the same? It should look like his prescriptions daily. Daily. Day by day is his instructions. I will meditate on these precepts day and night.

Now give me—

I feel like the Lord's going to call us deeper tonight. That might take a little bit more prayer.

Honestly, I need—

there's things I'm carrying and I can't even share with you. There's phone calls I've had, there's news that I've received that I can't even share, but I just got to carry it. If y'all knew what I was carrying, you'd be be wondering why I'm still standing. And that's mainly I'll tell you, the Lord is my strength. That's where I get my courage from. You trying to be like Joshua, look at the Lord tell Joshua, be strong and courageous. You don't tell somebody strong unless they feel like they're weak.

You don't tell somebody to be courageous unless they feel fear.

I'm not saying you won't feel weak, You won't feel afraid. But I'm telling you, there's a word for both of those. Be strong and courageous. So we're going to pray for strength and courage tonight. Can we do that? Lift up your voice and say, I will be strong, I will be courageous.

You hold it and you don't even believe yourself. You need to shout it so anyone that is telling you otherwise will know I'm not weak. Because scripture says that the weak say I am strong, so I'm strong. I'm courageous because this is what the Lord commands me to be. So lift up your voice and tell all of heaven, I will be strong, I will be courageous no matter what I go through. Lord, if you send me to the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil because you are with me, your rod and your staff. Lord, all of it corrects me and keeps me and protects me. I will be strong, I will be courageous. I will be strong, I will be courageous. I will be bold enough to tell the people what they want to hear. I will be strong enough to carry the burdens of my neighbor. Whatever you go through, I go through. We go through it together because the strength does not come from us individually. It comes from the Lord. So let the weak say I'm strong. Let the poor say I'm rich. Let the blind say I can see. Let the lame say I can walk. Say the opposite of whatever the enemy is telling you right now. Say the opposite of whatever the enemy is whispering to you right now. No, I'm not insignificant. I'm not insecure. I am more than enough because exceedingly above me, above all I ask or imagine, is what God is working in me. Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. So I'm not insignificant. I am not insignificant. I am somebody.

I'm the opposite of whatever the enemy is telling me. I am a believer. I do have faith.

I am more than conqueror.

I am the head and not the tail. Somebody make some confessions. Be strong and courageous. I don't know who this is for. The Lord is sending you into some places that will need both strength and courage. I guarantee you should be praying for it right now.

Where you are going, you don't think you need the strength now, but it's because the weight hasn't been put on you. When you begin to carry that weight, you'll wish you had the strength.

Pray for it now.

You think you don't need courage, it's because you haven't seen the battle yet.

Once you get into the battle, you will know you need courage.

So pray for it right now.

The Lord is telling you before it happens so that you can be strong and courageous, because you are leading a people into the promised land.

Because Joshua was one of the two that went to spy the land and came back with a good report because he had strength and courage.

I pray for you in the name of Jesus.

You are coming back with a good report. For in Jesus' name we pray.

You know why you need strength and courage?

Because you can go to a land and everybody sees giants. You know why they saw giants?

They had no strength, they had no courage. You see a giant and you know God gave you strength, you're going to be like, I don't care what's in there, it's not stronger than my power. You got courage, you look at those people and you walk into the room anyway. So I went to spy the land. 2 came back with a good report, and I know for sure one of them, Joshua, had strength, courage. See, I don't know what the Lord is sending you to do. Thank you, Jesus. He's sending you into some places where you're going to need this strength. Let me tell you why you're going to need this strength, because you're going to go some places and all your family's not going to talk to you no more. People going to call you names for following Jesus. People going to tell you your God ain't real. You going to stand in the face of Muslims for praying Jesus. You need courage. People going to tell you, Christ died and died. You said, don't be silly. Though my life don't look like how I want it to look, the living have hope. See, when you remember scripture, you know the Lord says the plans that I have for you is for good, and I have been able to give you a hope. in the future. So if your life does not look like how you want it to look, well, thank God he has control of the future. You see, if your current situation doesn't look okay, thank God, because times and seasons are in his hands. If your past and present doesn't look okay, well, Blessed be the Lord God of tomorrow, who does not exist in time, who can see tomorrow and tell you today. That's such a good God. That's such a good God, ain't it? And I can't tell you how many things God has told me that made me avoid calamity. I can't tell you how many accidents I avoid it because I've stayed in the place of prayer. So we're going to pray this one more time. See, hear me, you might not think you need it now, it's because you haven't stepped into it. And a part of the reason you haven't stepped into it is because you lack courage to. So we going to pick up courage, we going to pick up strength. Here we go, one more time. I am strong. I am strong. I am courageous. I am courageous. I am strong.

I am strong.

I am courageous. In the name of Jesus. Lift up your voice and bless Jesus right now. Lord God, we thank you.

Can somebody stand up and receive this?

After 18 days, saints, that's a really good voice. Can you lift your voice and just thank God of heaven?

Can you make a joyful sound unto the Lord? Let everything that has breath, let everything that has breath, let everything that has breath, let it praise, praise, praise, praise.

Oh Lord God, we say thank you. Lord, we are ready to begin. As we enter into the word, may the word enter into us. May it take root in the name of Jesus. May it bear fruit in the name of Jesus. May we not just be doers of this word, but may we not just be hearers of this word, but doers of it in the name of Jesus.

For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, now and forever, until Christ comes and then Church said amen.

Go ahead and say hi to somebody around you. If you don't know who they are, introduce yourself. Say what's up to somebody. Make them feel welcome. Okay, so In Acts chapter 7. And Acts chapter 7, first of all, some people, some people mad that they don't always get the merch drops. So, John, that's true, that's true, but the Lord is delivering me.

Amen.

Um, man, it's been an amazing time in Acts. We've been in Acts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. I wish I could give y'all synopsis of it all, but, um, we're in Acts 7 now, and to recap recap what happened in Acts chapter 6. Um, man, serving tables, that's what we talked about. Stephen was a man full of the Holy Spirit, one of the 7 people that was chosen to help serve tables, to serve the widows. Amen. And then we found out that after he served those tables, the Bible says that he was now full of faith and then power. And Stephen used that power to do miracles, signs, and wonders Now mind you, this was a guy that was previously serving tables to widows. So the path to power is always service. Jesus said, if any of you want to be great, let them become servants. Serving leadership. We serve God, we serve each other. So Stephen is serving these widows and he's doing a wonderful job at it. And at this point he gets into the marketplace and now God gives and the power. And we read a couple of things, um, verse 16, they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. So Stephen, being full of the Holy Spirit and power, had a wisdom about him. Amen. Now we're going to see what that wisdom did in Acts chapter 7, and there's a, there's many verses in Acts 7, and I want to take a vote. There's 60 verses. Should we read it all? You want to read all 60 verses?

Let me see your hand.

I love y'all.

All right, so we're going to read the entire 7th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. Together. I'm reading in the King James Version. If, um, any of you would be tripped up by the— I should get Old King James. I pray for you real quick, cuz this one of those translations you definitely need prayer. All right, I feel so much holier reading King James Version. KJV, I'm there. If you're there, say amen. Acts 7:1-60, 1-3. To go. Then said the high priest, are these things so? Then he said, men, brethren, and fathers, hearken, the God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham. He was in Ur of the Chaldeans, and said unto him, get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred, and come into the land which shalt Shobbi. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Charan. And from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land wherein he now dwelt. And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. Yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession and to his seed after Abraham, when as yet he had no child. And God spake unto his fathers that his seed should sojourn into a strange land, and that they should bring them into bondage, and afflict them evil 400 years. And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God. And after that shall they come forth and serve be in this place. Be free. And our fathers found no sustenance, but then Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt. He sent out our fathers first, and then the second time Joseph made known his brother, and Joseph's patriarchs made ornaments of Pharaoh. Then sent Joseph, calling his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and 15 souls. So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he and our fathers, and were buried in his pursuit. And they came to the sepulcher that they had bought for some money. Of the sons of Eber, the father of Sisera. But that day the time of the prophet Judah, which died soon to him, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, till another king arose, who should turn back Israel to the face of the sun. Our hatred, he would worship with our eyes, so that he cast out the young children, that they may not be my God. In which time Moses was born and was exceedingly fair and nourished up in his father's house 3 months. And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up and nourished him for her own son.

Moses learned all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.

And he was spoiled for years, and the king gave him his heart's desire. And before the years were expired, the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight, and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses trembled and durst not behold. Then said the Lord unto him, Draw off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place where thou standest is holy ground. I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them.

And now come, I will send thee into Egypt, this is all his commandment to Moses.

the Lord your God raise up unto you one of your brethren like unto me, and shall hear. This is he that was in the church in the wilderness with the angels, sanctifying the mountain, and with our fathers, who received the divine oracles given unto us. So our fathers would not awake, but thrust him from them, giving their hearts As he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion of his seed, which also our fathers that came after brought in Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, who died, praying also for the faith of our fathers, unto the day of David, who found favour before God, and desired to find the tabernacle of the God of Jacob, whose father he built house. Howbeit the Most High dwelleth by his temples made with hands. As saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What house will you build for me, saith the Lord? Or what is your place for my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things? Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost, as your fathers As the fathers did, so he did.

Which of the prophets have not the fathers persecuted, and they have slain them who showed forth the coming of the Just One?

Of whom then have we become now traitors and murderers, who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it? When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they lashed on him with their whips. But he the Holy Ghost, but thou stedfast in his commandments. And saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him to the ground before, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him And the witness lay at our graveside, a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. May the Lord bless the reading of his holy word. Bless you. Um, there's so much here. Like, there's so much here. And we can't stay here all night, so I wrote some verses down that I want to unpack, um, and I also want to hear what the Lord showed you all as you were reading. I wanna, I wanna share a few things really quick, um, because I was meditating sitting on this word, the world was speaking to me of some things that I think are very relevant, and I wrote them down so as to not forget them. All right, one of the first things was, I think it was John that brought this up two weeks ago. No, it wasn't. Who was it? Somebody brought it up that Steven could have been qualified for this ahead of time and was just waiting for the assignment, right? And one of the things that lead me to believe that Steven was already preparing for this is because, hey, he just quoted all of that from the notes. Like, he's in the middle of a war zone right now and he committed so much scripture to memory that he's recounting from Genesis to the gospel and proclaiming Jesus to the people that's about to kill him. Like, what he just gave an exposition of was the gospel in the Old Testament, and he did that in chains. I think we need to eat so much of this word that whenever we're in a bind, scriptures come to mind. I didn't even mean to rhyme. That was good, right? I'm a poet and I know it. He had all of these commitments in his heart, and that— and I don't want to I don't want to go past that because there's something powerful. David said, hide the word in my heart that I may not sin against you. And we just saw— and this is the same thing that Peter did in Acts 2. Remember Peter, after the day of Pentecost, on the day of Pentecost, they left out the room. He came and he began to preach from Joel and Psalms. And back in those days, if you wanted to read the Bible, you had to go into a gathering like this and there was one Bible for everybody. So they would have to open up the scroll. Each of these books was not in the bounded Bible. It's just like, you want to read Isaiah? All right, let's go open up the scroll of Isaiah today. Let's go. Like, they will literally have to carry a large roll of parchment so that they can read Isaiah. So that means the way that this was committed to memory was not necessarily by study but by proximity to people that were proclaiming the word of God. So he's in here in this mud and he's just like, oh, I think I'm about to die. Let me preach to these people. Let's find Genesis. Let me teach them about their fathers. They think they know Bible? All right, I'm going to teach y'all what really happened. With Moses. I'm gonna talk to you about what really happened with Jacob, the 12 patriarchs. I'm gonna tell you that he was literally breaking down the Bible to these people, all the way it got to the point that he was just like, all that I read was about Jesus and y'all killed him. And the same thing that happened in Acts 2 They were cut to the heart, but there's a different response now. The first time they were cut to the heart in Acts 2, they said, what shall we do? Men and brethren, repent and be baptized for the remission of sin. Acts 7, they were cut to the heart. Oh, we're gonna kill this guy. See, this is the thing about the Bible. It's a two-edged sword. Amen. Same scripture, different soils, different responses. So let's keep the word in our heart. The second thing I want to share here is they said some things that, um, he brought up 3 things here, and it was about to deliver right about how they wanted to go back. And he named Moab, he named Rampham Babylon. We are still struggling with those things to this day. And if I have the time, I will show you how Babylon how the Star of Anthem— like, all right, I'm gonna take my microphone off real quick as I say this. Do you guys know that the Star of Anthem is what was adopted as the Star of David? It's this 5-pointed star that was an emblem to an idol. David never had a star. But when you look at that star around them and you look at this now, see, this is Bible. He's telling them that even here they have given themselves up to this star. So you have to think about this. The same— y'all stay with me, all right? The same people that he were preaching to about this idolatry killed him, and they claimed to they are still unrepentant. We like to think that this kind of stuff just disappears. We're still trying to preach to these same people today. Molech is still being worshipped today. Babylon is alive and well today. Rampham is still being put onto people today, but it will not be named amongst us in the name of Jesus. So the deliverance ministry that Stephen was trying to do here was incredibly important, right? Because he's trying to do what Moses did. Moses was trying to get them out of Egypt after they broke down their idols. I think these people were offended because they were still doing the same idol worship. So at this point, Everybody's mad at Stephen. They really hate the guy. And the last thing I want to share here before we talk is, um, he also created more offense when he said that God does not dwell in houses made by man. At this time, temple worship— if you weren't in the temple, you were often saved him as a part of the family. And he had to remind the people that, like, this guy Stephen, it's not like he was an apostle, it's not like he was a priest, he was just some guy that they found to serve tables, some guy that they said that, like, hey, these widows are not getting fed, we need somebody. But then when you break down his life, The Bible says he was full of the Holy Ghost, had the capacity to recall scriptures that he heard audibly, proclaim a word to a people that was ready to kill him. And I tell you, I really encourage— gave that word. He said, all of y'all are idol worshippers. He wasn't trying to—

in that, you in that jam, you gonna be like, hey man, I think we're good, right? And then you go like, we all right, we don't need to do all of that.

He was just like, you stiff-necked people. Like, come on. And then the last thing he said— we're going to talk about Brother Saul in a couple weeks, because that same Saul that was right there was the same one reading the New Testament scriptures we enjoying today. Hey, green light on that. There's too much in the scripture though, but the last thing he said, he was like, man, I see Jesus. No matter what they do to me, Lord, don't put them sins on me. Kind of sounds like, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

I think also what it is about that is I think on like the—

sorry, y'all. Fire. All right, come here. Let's hear you.

This is pretty brief, but I just— I think that that last verse, those last two prayers— Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Lord, don't charge them with this sin. A, he ends with not— that request not for them not to be charged with that sin.

He puts—

he puts them in front of himself, even in death. That's hard. The second thing is that, that a lot of it, I feel like that in the first reading could be seen as the mercy, the prayer, but I think the mercy is the fact that he still preached the word. And I think that gives really interesting insight on those larger questions of how we live as servants of Jesus and how we live as like deliverers of the gospel. Those are things that you can do in life, and when it comes to death, all you gotta say, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Lord, don't charge him with his sin." And like, there's something about what you do while you're still on earth that at least I struggle with a lot, and I think this provides really interesting insight into that.

That's good. It's like, think about the revelation he just had. He says, to see the Father and the Son on his right hand. He know he going to heaven. He know. But he said, while I'm still here, let me fulfill my earthly duties of forgiveness. That's powerful.

Um, I had a question. So I'm thinking about what was it, Acts 2, or whenever it was where they had the miracle I'm thinking about them healing the lame man versus now, like, like they healed the lame man and they had other people kind of backing them. And so I feel like the leaders didn't have enough to condemn Peter and, you know, whoever. But with this one, it's like, oh, we just affirm and he just speaking a word, like, let's get it out the source.

You have a question?

I mean, it just was, I guess, off the note. I want you to unpack that.

Anybody want to speak to that real quick? The concept here is Peter and John essentially did the same thing in Acts 3, right? The lame man, they said, "Sell me what I have, man, what I have, and give me your images as far as it goes." And then the high priest at the time said, "We got to leave these people alone. If it's not a god, it's going to fail. If it's a god, then we can't fight God." But now, Acts 7, Stephen is essentially doing the same thing, and they actually killed the man. What changed?

I think what changed is that they needed to make an example. I feel like they always had that desire anyway. So on their end, it was like, we need to make an example out of him so that this would stop. Um, however, it was the will of God, and that is why he was filled with the Holy Spirit and he was able to rip that off, because we're still reading this today. And Galila, yes, did I pronounce it right? I think you perfectly articulated how important it is that even in the face of persecution, the Lord wanted us to see this model, just as Christ modeled when he was faced with persecution, that it is still necessary to follow through to the end. And what we see here is endurance on display. And so I think that is twofold. They wanted to make an example, but the Lord was like, yeah, me too. I think the persecution was greater because the impact that Stephen impact was greater than Peter and John at the gate, because healing one person is just that healing for that person. But declaring the word of God in front of the masses— think about how many demons have to flee and how much resistance is in the atmosphere to be spoken. So I believe that it was a greater manifestation of God, greater impact and cause more persecution.

Yeah, I think also we're going to go to Jonathan and then John. You got something? Oh yeah. Yeah, so when you think about the context of the scripture that they read, Peter and John's sermon was more like, hey, let me give a theological understanding of this answer. Right? And then your approach may be more like the affirmative, like scripture says, he will pour out his spirit upon all flesh. That's most of the time. Many people, when they read the Bible, they see themselves as a hero. So most of the time when the Jews are reading the Bible, they think they Moses. Stephen is just like, y'all Pharaoh. You think Moses the exact people that fell into idol worship. And that's triggering, that's offensive. I think this entire time I am on the winning side, I'm Moses, I'm winning, and this person comes up and says, actually, you're not serving the real God. Somebody whose identity is Grappler run religion? Talk your thing, dude. I think what you all are saying just describes it. I certainly don't have the discussion, so I can't really push on this here. But it's talking about how he was filled with power and preaching and winning people's hearts, even some of them, the priests He's starting to get with what he had said, which I think was 10 seconds of power. But what really caused more pause— and I'm glad we have the whole chapter because otherwise— and yet, of course, he's saying, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge, right? And I'm thinking, why is he saying that? Because the whole— our whole understanding of Jesus in the gospel is that through Jesus' sacrifice, our sins don't have to be charged to us ultimately, that we have access to forgiveness. But despite that, he's saying, lay not this sin to their charge. I'm thinking, why? Because all my sins can be washed away. I can still be charged for this sin. Why does it matter if this sin— if it's not an unforgivable sin, then the Lord can still forgive them. Why? And I'm just thinking about that. I'd love to hear other people's thoughts. My initial thought was, I wonder I wonder if he was doing what we ought to do as Christians, which is modeling forgiveness, knowing that even if, even if the sin can be forgiven by God, I want you to know that I don't even want it to be held against you. And what does that do to the people in the crowd? What does that do to Saul or Paul? What does that do to the people who are witnessing this death where this person who's which is to be sold out for Jesus, he is asking God, who can forgive any sins, not even charge them, to demonstrate like, this is, in this moment, this is still how I feel towards you. This affirms the genuineness of my message because I don't even want you to pay the cost for this. But out there, I was like, yeah, when y'all see me touching my hat, you should actually learn something. At this point in time, the only text that they have is the Old Testament. Because where are we getting this concept of forgiveness from? That means they spent so much time in discipleship They spent so much time with those that walked with Jesus that they got that thing firsthand. By the time we're gonna actually— the new— the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John was not written until maybe 60 years after Jesus died. So this revelation of the power of forgiveness forgiveness as a core tenet. It's teaching us that every time you went to discipleship, every time they gathered in those meetings—

wait, Acts 2 was just 6 chapters ago, 5 chapters ago.

So between that interaction of like, man, we'll be in the upper room till now, each of the gatherings they must have been hammering down forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness. So much so that like His last dying words. Your last words are very important. This man's last words, probably something he heard about his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That's the sacrificial— and that's in contrast to the Old Testament, because the Old Testament teaches us, yeah, sin, sacrifice, not forgiveness but payment. And so it's almost like it's It feels like a weird fusion of the— it's like a fusion of the Old and New Testament where it's like, yes, with your understanding, this sin you need to pay a sacrifice for. It's already been paid, but you don't quite recognize that. So for your sake, I'll pray that it's not even charged to you, but really forgiveness is available to you. Because if all you have is the Old Testament, you don't have forgiveness. I'm sorry, we keep doing this ping pong, but it makes sense when Jesus had that paraplegic and he asked him, what is more powerful, to forgive this man of his sins or to tell him to rise and walk? So now he is preaching the same thing that got Jesus condemned and said, hey, they like, you don't got the power.

Your last thing is telling them we forgiven. You don't have the power to forgive. What are you talking about?

But he's saying anyway, now he said, understand this gospel message is beautiful. There is power for forgiveness.

I was gonna say some of the similar things that y'all mentioned. It is a distinct difference between what happened earlier and what happened with him because there's several things that's going on. Back then they had actually publicly, while everyone when everyone was gathered, there was multitudes of people there. They had publicly healed somebody. So they know we cannot contend against what everybody just saw because everybody's belief is being stirred up. Their faith is being developed and grown because they just saw them physically heal somebody. And then they also preach the gospel. And so they know, because they're tactical, they know that we can't do anything to these men because everybody else is going to rise up against So that's why they brought him in secret, they beat him up, said don't do this anymore. Stephen, although it says that he had displayed wonders and signs and was, you know, doing the things that he was doing, that was over the course of time, and it wasn't necessarily so that it was publicly displayed to where the reaction was that people's faith was stirred up. So you see him going back from Genesis because Throughout this whole time, they've been accusing him of blasphemy and accusing him of taking away the Law of Moses. They're saying, like, you guys are trying to break away the Laws of Moses, you guys are saying this and that. So what he does is perfectly go back from Genesis, tells the story accurately, and I can even imagine, like, is that right? Like, so yeah, Abraham, did I say anything wrong yet? They can't say nothing because he's saying everything accurately. Then he's getting to the point where he's like, all right, so y'all claim that y'all love Moses so much and y'all follow his law, but this is how we treated Moses in the past. And now he's creating a distinct link between how we're acting right now, or how the Pharisees, Sadducees, the people generally are acting right now, and tying it to the times that we created idols, we were in the wilderness making, you know, all kinds of foolishness. This is how y'all treated him then. There's nothing— nothing has changed. God sent Prophets to tell y'all that there was going to be one like Moses who's going to come, he's going to do X, Y, and Z, but y'all still don't see it. Y'all are still the same as the time that we were in the wilderness, and we're still— we're doing the same thing. Our heart posture is still the same. And because there's no, uh, public display of a manifestation of power like that in the manner in which people would move like that, and because like y'all said He attacked their heart, he attacked their posture to make them realize that you're not who you say you are, you're not doing the things y'all say that y'all are, that they were then moved with so much anger and rage to then kill him and do the things that they did. And I think, Brittany, you said it, God is very all-knowing, like he's very mindful of knowing how people are going to react. I mean, he created the world, he created us. He knows that if I put Stephen in this stage and he's been spending time with me— because it wasn't just the 12 disciples, it was 12 and the additional 70. So this is 3 years of them seeing Jesus act the way he act, move the way he move, tell us, hey, we got to get this right, we're doing this wrong. He has spent that time, like, he has developed and cultivated in the presence of God. And even afterwards, like you said, they went and hid away, they were praying, they were worshiping, they were stirring each other up in a time that seemed confusing and unknown. So now Stephen, because he's walked so much with God, he spent so much time with God, everything he's saying, everything he's doing, the way he reacted, it's like one for one matching the image of God, which he said that we're supposed to do. We're supposed to be his image bearer, to the point to when he's attacked and accused, like I said, he looks to the Father and says, hey, forgive him, like charge this not to him. And at the end of that, we always hear the Bible say God is seated at the right side of the Father. But if you look at the words in there, it says we see him standing at the right side of the Father, which means that Jesus essentially gave him a standing ovation and said, like, that's it.

Like, he got it.

That's what he was supposed to do. So I think that when you look at the distinction, it's a setup of a moment, yes, but it's also a circumstance. Substantial, knowing that like, all right, there was no public display of a miracle that they couldn't refuse, but they can still accuse blasphemy and say, oh, he's twisting his words. And hitting somebody in the heart, they're gonna react that way. But at the end of the day, he got to show us the true posture of a Christ follower. And he shows like in that moment, if you do this, if you live like this, you're gonna get a standing ovation by Jesus himself.

I don't know, but do you think that like his request was honored? Like he asked them to like, for like to not hold this sin against them, but like, I mean, obviously they already know Jesus, they're like killing him for like Like, do we— like, I don't know.

I think that— I don't know.

But I think what it is is that it's the possibility of grace. And that's like literally one of my favorite things about being a Christian, just like on a larger scale, is that you always have somebody, something, somewhere to go back home to. Like even if you think I've done the worst thing, like nobody in my life, my friends, my family, my job, everyone has abandoned me. I've done this horrible, horrible thing, like it's over for me on earth, maybe, but you can always go back to your Father. And literally all it takes is just like calling out to his name. That grace is incomprehensible to me, but all I can do with it is just feel gratitude for it. I think that's all we really can do. I'm done trying to understand or to rationalize or, you know, do things like that. Like, I think all we can really do is just acknowledge his grace and just thank him so much for it. We all know, you know, we're all aware.

One of the things that, um, whether they're forgiven or not, I mean, I feel really— no, I could really really explain, but one thing that I can say is that forgiveness is more about you than them, right? It's, it's you acknowledging that though this person has wronged me, I'm not holding it against them. So when you're telling Father, forgive them, you It doesn't make sense for you to be saying that from a position of you not having forgiven them too, right? Because in Matthew 6, when we talk about prayers, like, Father, forgive me, as I have forgiven them, right? Like, this forgiveness is like a universal power. It's like a relative force that allows forgiveness to pass through our hearts and receive forgiveness from the heart of the Father. So I believe when you're telling, like, God— think about it. Like, let's bring it into the context of, like, our earthly father. If your little brother punched you and your father's right ready to just get them, and you say, Dad, forgive them. That's a much powerful force than saying, I forgive you, but I'm still gonna let you get this beating. You know what I'm saying? So like, yeah, I forgive you, but like, you don't have to get this punishment, versus like, I forgive you and I want to make sure you don't get this, you don't get this punishment. So I think that was the powerful inspiration behind that. I think Jasmine has something before we go to Deja.

Oh, I was going to say, uh, I think, um, were you asking if they were forgiven by God or by Stephen?

I guess by God.

Okay, so by God, I think the reason Stephen even said that was to benefit the people that were there. So I think most of the audience that he was speaking to knew this stuff already. It was just being pointed out to them. Um, so I think everybody that heard the word and was like, whoa, and believed off of that, I think they were forgiven. I think everybody that still rejected Jesus as the Messiah, I don't think they were forgiven.

That's the short.

I was really just thinking about how they emphasized, you know, Saul. And I wonder if this was like the first person he had ever murdered. And just thinking about how, like, you know, Stephen said what he said before he died. And so just looking at, you know, not jumping too far into Saul, but like looking at the start of his life, he persecuted the church, but he still ended up being converted and writing most of the New Testament and all of that stuff. And so it's like, think about how the grace was there before his calling was even where it needed to be. And so that's, that's one thing that I was really looking at, like, so before you came Paul, you know, I think he needed this moment for other people to see, like, I was way over here in my sin, but God brought me here and I was able to, you know, bring the word, all of that stuff.

That's good. Like, Paul heard that sermon.

Exactly.

I got so much to say.

It's really just to double down on the last two comments. What keeps coming up in my spirit is those who have ears to hear, let them hear. And so I think to the points that were just said, like the folks who were there that had ears to hear, like Saul, later that seed blossomed and He was very good at that. And then I have a New International Version, so they do these little character pieces, and it brings up that like Saul was young at this time, and so it said that likely his death likely had a lasting impact on young Saul, who would soon be transformed from a violent persecutor into one of the greatest champions of the gospel.

So And let's not forget where Stephen started— serving tables. Come on, let's get to these tables, man.

Be that some of them probably were forgiven and some weren't. But I just— God brought me to Job 42:8 where he tells Job's friends, my servant Job will pray for you and I will accept his prayer and I'll heal you according to your healing. You have not spoken the truth about me as my servant Job has. And I think that's equal in Acts 7, like he did the whole sacrifice almost like Jesus, and it was an act of intercession. And in order for his prayer to go through, that forgiveness had to be out of his heart. And so in that, it's like, yes, we see later down the long line that Saul is saved, that he's transformed. Stephen sacrificed his life for some of those people to not only convert, but also he was clean, he was pure, he was doing the will of God. And God heard his prayer. So I do believe that they were forgiven because that was the ultimate sacrifice in that moment for those people.

I just did that rap like that.

It's a truth.

It's a rap.

It's beautiful. So this is also talking about the soul— not the soul, like solving— being brought up at the end of it because When I first finished it, so the way that my sections are in the Bible, the first verses of chapter 8 is included in like the same section. So it ends with, "And Saul approved of their killing him." And for a brief second I was like, "Saul already?" Because like, just like where you are in the Bible. And I think it's really interesting because like Brittany said, my also says, "Meanwhile, the witnesses lay their possessions down." of a young man named Saul. And at first it's almost like, oh, like he was just like a kid that they charged to like hold everyone's coats or whatever. It was like someone that was like loud. And then with the end of the section being, and Saul approved of their killing him, and I thought if you're reading the Bible for the first time, you're going like, ah, or it's almost like a foreshadowing that like, okay, remember Saul, like this person might be important soon, like hint hint. And then saw like everything with his life. But I think it's really interesting, kind of like you've already said, that the— what Sethon did really stuck with him. But it's almost also showing the importance of— if we're reading this and we don't know who Saul becomes a different teacher. It's almost like once you get there, oh, a random person from the crowd, like, this touched them in a way that they didn't even know at that time. And it's going back to when we're preaching the gospel, it's not about people immediately, like, devoting everything to ministry and turning to God, forgiveness and baptism, like, all in one step, but just, like, planting the seed. So, like, that seed was planted. Saul didn't know about the seed. He didn't care about the seed, he wasn't worried about it, but clearly it had an effect in his life. And I think just the importance of you don't know who is around you or who is going to be hearing what you're saying. And kind of what I was saying about just the differences in like Saul versus— I'm not Saul— differences in like Peter versus even CJ, and just how important it was for him to exemplify like that spirit of forgiveness and kindness in his actions and his words. I think it was very important how all that came together. I hope that makes sense.

Yo, I'll get to you real quick. So one of the things that is important for us to understand even as we live our lives and we have our fun and do everything, is that the gospel spread through death. The gospel spread through death. And you can't make it up, you can't change it, you can't sugarcoat it. This thing spread through death. Is death. And scripture says, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, life—

anybody that wants their life must lose it.

And we benefit. Everybody can hate you, they can persecute you, they can fight you, but if one hears your message, it could be the one that helps save thousand generations. So many times, even for me as a preacher, I preach, I go to places, and I'm just like, is anyone hearing me?

Stephen died, and only one person needed to hear him. Like, come on, we're so worried about getting 100,000 likes and 600,000 followers, but you preach the last message and one person hears you, and generations benefit. Like, everybody can hate you for your message. They can.

It may offend them.

They may tell you to stop preaching it, stop saying it, stop doing it.

But man, that message might just be sent to one person.

And if you bury it, the one person that don't hear your voice could be the one that can save your children.

Can you imagine? The one person that hears you, you're not going— Stephen wasn't around to see what happened, but he's sitting in heaven saying, man, because nobody that dies for the gospel ever dies in vain. This is how this multiplies. And right now we're not calling— or God is not calling us to physical death. We thank God that the grace that was made available on the backs of the apostles and the What he's asking for right now is to crucify our flesh, because there is salvation on the other side of your discipline. There's life-changing message on the other side of your consecration. That fast may not be for you, it may be for the one next to you.

But we only want to do it for us. I'm going to go on this fast so that God can bless me.

Have you ever fasted for somebody else?

I'm processing that. That was great. Um, I know that we've been focusing a lot on like the Saul piece of this. I don't want to act like Saul heard it and he was converted because this was almost like the moment he graduated. Like, they laid down their clothes and garments in front of him and gave him the green light, and from there he actually like went crazy. It wasn't like he went home and he was thinking about it. It was like that, uh, sense of I'm doing what God has called me to do kicked in for him. And we'll talk about Saul in Acts 9, so I won't spend too much time on him. But what I will say is that I think there's something to be said about why Jesus modeled forgiveness in that last moment. And I think it's necessary because offense has the power to hijack, like, the mission. And I think that what we're learning in this moment is like, you have to forgive so that you do not harbor a spirit of offense, and then that hijacks God living out His goodness, His mercy, His image through you. So imagine if this wasn't him facing his death, but imagine this was another scenario and coming out of this— Stephen got stoned, but he lived. But then he was like, yeah, nah, as soon as I get out of jail, like, I don't like how they did me. They embarrassed me. They made me feel small. I know how to fight. Like, I'm swinging on the first one I see when I get out. He would totally contradict the one who he wants to imitate. So I think a big lesson here is like, we really also forgive so that offense doesn't become the enemy to God.

I'm good.

This—

that's a great point, right? Now, when you read the book of Revelation John the Beloved was on the island called Patmos. That was where he was sent for exile. Let me tell you what happened before then. The rulers at the time hated that man. They hated him and they tried to kill him by boiling him in water, but he didn't die. So from there is when they sent him to Patmos for exile. That's when you wrote the Book of Revelation.

Like, did you imagine if he came out and he was mad at all his brothers?

If John would have been like, these people trying to kill me, forget this gospel, we wouldn't have had the Book of Revelation. We wouldn't have had the book if he was offended. I, I, I'm going to say this: I think offense kills your fruit.

It makes you unproductive to God, man. We're going to bury some things tonight. Offense I'm containing myself. Okay, one more thing I want to talk about before we release ourselves to prayer, because I feel the spirit of prayer. A part of what was also brought to the attention of these stiff-necked people is their conduct in the wilderness. Man, how they behaved when God was trying to save them.

How you act when God is trying to help you. How you act in seasons God is trying to lift you. God is trying to separate you from your oppressors and you want them back.

God wants you to break up with that person and create every opportunity where you never go back and return to your abominations. God keep telling you it's safe for you, you keep saying, but what if?

What if?

This last time will be the last time, and you said that last time. Man, I'm going to keep saying it. Don't let nobody play in your face in the name of Jesus. I want to read, I want to read some of that context.

This is it.

Let's go to verse 38. This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness. I call this the church in the wilderness. I'm glad we studied Exodus last year because we have a lot of context about the wilderness. With the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give us, whom our fathers would not obey but rejected, and in their hearts they turned back to Egypt. Saying to Aaron, make us gods to go before us. As for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Let's stop right there. They rejoice in the work of their own hands. Oh, you built that career? You did that?

Your LinkedIn look good, but your heart is wicked. You did that, man.

They rejoice in the work of their own hands. Meanwhile, their hands is building an entire case against them by God. They rejoice in the work of their own hands. You know what God's like? He said, I can't even find myself in things you build. You find so much joy and satisfaction in things I can't answer.

You are so pleased with things I can't inhabit.

I can only inhabit things that I made with my own hands, and that's you. So more than we should be pleased with the work of our hands, we need to be pleased that we are the workmanship of his hands. But they wasn't— they wasn't satisfied that the hand of God came down to Egypt to help carry them out of it. The Bible says that they turned back and their hearts. Like a dog returns to his vomit, so a man returns back to his sins. I'm praying right now for someone in this room. That thing that you trusted God for deliverance of and from, you will not return back to it in the name of Jesus. Verse 42, then God turned and gave them up. He let them have it, man. I feel like we don't fear God enough. Like, he will literally give you up to your desires, and the biggest mistake people make is they call it a blessing. Then YAH turned and gave them up to worship The host of heaven, as it is written in the book of prophets, did you offer me slaughtered animals and sacrifice during 40 years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch.

I don't even want to talk about where Moloch is in America.

That's your homework.

Go look at what Moloch worship looked like.

See if you find it around you. Go look it up, see what they did. You see, ooh, go find out what they sacrificed to Moloch. Go find out what Babylon looked like, how powerful Babylon was. How much of a world power Babylon was, how great the Babylonian economy was, it doesn't matter how good Babylon is if you're a slave. See what Babylon had in common with Rome. See what Babylon had in common with America. The star of Rampham. Go figure out what that is. See if you've ever seen it anywhere. See, this is New Testament. We like to think all of this is Old Testament. We like to think that the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament. Newsflash: same God yesterday, today and tomorrow. But glory be to God for what he said. And the star of your god Remphan, images which you made to worship, and I will carry you away beyond Babylon. Verse 44. Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, and he appointed, instructing Moses to make according to the pattern pattern that he has seen, which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, the land of promise, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the day of David, who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built him a house.

However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands.

As the prophet says, verse 49, heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool.

What house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest?

Has my hands not made all these things? Verse 51, you stiff necks and uncircumcising hearts and ears. That means you got too much things stuck in your heart and your ears. You can't hear or feel. Let me tell you what, if you ever feel emotionally numb, or what a lot of us men like to say, emotionally unavailable, Let me tell you what that means. Your heart is like certain disciples. You always resist the Holy Spirit as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets Did your fathers not persecute and they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it? Verse 54, last verse. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart and gnashed at him with their teeth. You know where else they gnashed with teeth? That lets you know they were already there. But I love this last verse in 55. But he— somebody say, but me. Being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Let me tell you something, he was alive when he saw the glory. You don't have to die to see Jesus. You don't. He wasn't lying. You know what the law said? This is why they were mad. The law said nobody can see the glory of God. Peter was just like, I see the glory. Because when you see Jesus, you see the glory. Jesus is the glory of God, and we participate in that glory by being adopted into that family.

Him and I, and I and him, you are partaker of glory.

So today, shall you fear? Let's stand. Again, feel free if you have other obligations. We're going to pray for a good 30 minutes, so if you have something to do, please, I won't be offended. And I need that too. Pray. If you don't pray for yourself, pray for somebody in the room. Thank you, Jesus. Before we pray, I just want to say it's a privilege to be with God. Like, I feel so privileged right now. Like, I feel honored. That I can fellowship with people that are looking for Jesus. Like, I'm honored that I can sit here and preach this word, but people are not looking for my head outside. We don't have the same privilege everywhere in the world. There are people in Nigeria right now getting murdered for the gospel. And you know, they are looking for us that are in safety to pray for them. Y'all get what I'm saying? Like, there are people homeless that can't seek the way we seeking. They are looking for us to help them. There are people running for their lives. They don't have the luxury of staying in a comfortable room like this and studying for a couple hours. There are some places where the Bible is banned, if not rewritten by the government so they can say blasphemous things against the Holy Spirit. Here we are with our liberty. Comfortable inside of Babylon, not praying for an exit, not praying for someone else to deliver us, not fasting. We about to fast. We about to fast. We about to do a 40-day fast. I'll tell you when it starts.

We about to—

you see, the thing about the Israelites, I forgot what preacher said this, it said that God delivered them out of Egypt, but Egypt was still inside of them. That's why scripture says, 'They turned to Egypt in their hearts,' because you can physically leave a situation, but that situation can still live in your heart. Again, you can leave a bad relationship, but somewhere in your heart, that trauma is still there. You can leave an unhealthy home, but for some reason, in your heart, You want to go back. Somebody can abuse you, they can hurt you, they can despise you, and some aspect of you still wants to go back. I don't know why, but the Lord wants us to pray about deliverance from abusive relationships. You see, You can't be more loyal to people than you are to God. And, and I've never even prayed this prayer in my life because we don't like talking about abusive relationships. So when I say we're about to pray, we're about to pray people out of these situations in the name of The thing is, you might not know who it is, and we're not going to call them forward. We're not going to ask them to raise their hand. We're just going to show them how hard we're about to pray for them. Is anybody with me? We about to pray them out of this situation. Came to set the captives free. And whoever the Son of Man sets free— can somebody lift their voice and just begin to pray right now? Can somebody lift their voice and just begin to pray? Begin to pray.

Declare the day of liberty.

He came to set the captives free. You don't have to stay in that situation.

Peter was in prison and the church prayed and those prison doors flung open. The church right there was about about to open those doors, those doors of abuse. You're trapped, you don't know which way to go, you can't tell anybody. Thank God, God knows, and he reveals it to his servants, and the servants begin to pray. You can't stay there. I don't care if it's your father, I don't care if it's your wife, you are about to find yourself free.

In the name of Jesus.

Lord, help. We can't do it with our hands. We can't do it with our mind. All we can do is come to you and pray that you come, because you're the deliverer, you are the savior, you're the helper. So Lord God, we are asking that you free them, and not just from the situation, but the trauma that wants to follow them. That was to remind them the trauma that keeps them. Whatever spirit that makes you love your abusers, whatever spirit that makes you love your slave masters, whatever spirit that makes you love those that blew in the name of Jesus, Lord, I pray right now that your power makes manifest in this room Lord, break the chains. I don't know how we got here, but here we are. But here we are. Here we are. The Lord is kind. He's merciful. He's gracious. He hears and sees all. He's not blind to your pain. Scripture says that he saw what the Egyptians were going through, and he came himself to deliver them. I pray the Lord God meets you right now. We will not be selfish, but our prayer is, Lord God, help us. Lord, wherever they are, Lord, you come to set the captives free. Lord, help them. Give them the wisdom You can decide, Lord, to create an escape out of every temptation. Lord, you can create an escape from any situation. Lord, if the door is closed, open a window. If the window is closed, open the door. Lord, send mighty men and women to come and intercede until all are free. I can't enjoy my freedom until I know your freedom free too. I can't enjoy my freedom unless I know you're free too. It's all of us who are walking into that room together. Lord, help us. Lord, help us. God, I pray right now that you lay your hand upon them. Let them know that they are the one that you are setting free. We will not leave it up to chance, Lord God. Lord God, I sought the Lord and he heard me. He delivered me from all my afflictions. Lord, you are the deliverer. You are the deliverer. Lord, we can't lay hands on them, but you can. Lord, I pray that your heavy hand, your mighty hand, your righteous hand, Lord, falls upon them in the name of Jesus. Oh, in the name of Jesus, can somebody pray? I don't know how long you've been there, and I don't care, but I know by this time tomorrow, by this time tomorrow, by this time tomorrow, By this time tomorrow, you are free. We bind every accuser. We lay hold of every instance in the name of Jesus. Lord God, right now in this room, Oh Lord, oh Lord, oh God, what we can do, all we can do is pray. That's where our strength comes from. So I pray with my might. They will not return back to Egypt. They will not return back to captivity. They will not return back to Babylon.

No!

Hold captivity captive in the name of Jesus! Set my life on fire! For you. I want to burn for you. Can you pray for your auntie? Can you pray for your brother? Can you pray for your sister? Until all, until all have seen, until all have heard, in the name of Jesus. Oh Lord, somebody pray. That I died for the other side of the grave. We are free as a body. We are free as a community.

Welcome to peace.

I fight for you. Anyone holding finances over your head, anyone that is preventing you to eat because they own the resource, you are free. And all the resources you need to be free, you will have it yourself. Depend on the Lord. Trust in him and him alone, Lord God. I pray that you set them free.

Church cry out.

Declare your freedom.

It's who I choose to be.

Oh, Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus. Break it open!

You're praying for somebody's freedom, you pray for somebody's freedom, you're praying for somebody's freedom, you're praying for somebody— can you hear me? You're praying for somebody's freedom, you're praying You're praying for somebody's freedom. You're praying for somebody's freedom. For in Jesus' name we have prayed.

Luke chapter 18.

Jesus walked into the temple, he read this scripture, Luke chapter 4, verse 18. He said, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives. And recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Verse 21: And he began to say to them, today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.

Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. You see, if you need a road of comfort, Jesus came in a gathering like this. He opened the scroll of Isaiah. He said, I came to set the captives free. And then he looked around and people were looking at him like, so? And he said, today, today, that prayer is answered. That prayer is answered. That prayer is answered in the name of Jesus. When a woman is delivering a baby, there's some pain, there's some shouting, there's some crying, but she don't stop until that thing is fully delivered. And we begun a deliverance today. And I want to tell, as much as you need to cry, as much as you need to shout, as much as you need to roar, make sure that deliverance happens. Make sure you have some big wives around that can pray with And if you need one, find me, text or call me. I will fast, make sure there's a midwife, make sure your safety during the deliverance, make sure that thing is fully gone in the name of Jesus. You see, as much as the church can do —prison doors are open, Peter still had to walk out himself. So we're challenging you, as the doors open, please walk out. It's going to always be tempting to return back to Egypt for some times the wilderness feel worse than the slavery. But I want to let you know, the wilderness is never worse than the slavery. The wilderness is never worse than captivity. Moses is never worse than Pharaoh. This one's hard. This is why I need boldness and courage to say what I'm supposed to say. A couple of these, there's some things that I was going to say online.