Participants: Pr. Hal Steenson
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000908
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01:01 Hello, and welcome once again to another night
01:03 of our very special series, 'Where Are All His Miracles'. 01:08 And we welcome our in-house family. 01:10 We welcome our radio family and our television family 01:14 here in the States and worldwide 01:15 to another power packed evening of preaching, 01:18 of music of testimony of song 01:21 as we reaffirm once again 01:23 that we serve a God of might and miracles. 01:27 And that our God is still very much 01:29 in the miracle working business. 01:32 We have another very good presentation for this evening. 01:34 On last night we heard from our own Shelley Quinn 01:38 and who did very, very fine job. 01:41 And I must give salute 01:43 to each of the presenters this week. 01:45 God has blessed them one and all. 01:48 And we know again, 01:49 the Spirit of God will be here tonight 01:50 as Hal Steenson lifts up the word of the Lord. 01:53 But before we go into our meeting, 01:54 we want to reaffirm our theme song. 01:56 We want to sing it again. 01:57 It is 111 in the Adventist Church hymnal. 02:01 It took a miracle, 111, let's sing it together. 02:08 My Father is omnipotent 02:12 And that you can't deny 02:16 A God of might and miracles 02:20 'Tis written in the sky 02:25 It took a miracle 02:29 To put the stars in place 02:34 It took a miracle 02:38 To hang the world in space 02:43 But when He saved my soul 02:48 Cleansed and made me whole 02:54 It took a miracle 02:58 Of love and grace! 03:02 Very good. That second stanza. 03:05 Though here His glory has been shown 03:09 We still can't fully see 03:13 The wonders of His might, 03:16 His throne 'twill take eternity 03:22 It took a miracle 03:27 To put the stars in place 03:32 And it took a miracle 03:36 To hang the world in space 03:41 But when He saved my soul 03:46 Cleansed and made me whole 03:52 It took a miracle 03:56 Of love and grace! 04:01 Very good. Now, that last stanza. 04:02 The Bible tells us of His power 04:07 And wisdom all way through 04:11 And every little bird and flower 04:16 Are testimonies too 04:20 It took a miracle 04:25 To put the stars in place 04:30 It took a miracle 04:34 To hang the world in space 04:39 But when He saved my soul 04:44 Cleansed and made me whole 04:50 It took a miracle 04:54 Of love 04:56 And grace! 05:02 Again we take this opportunity to say good evening 05:04 and to welcome you to a very, very special series. 05:08 When Pastor Lomacang conceived this, 05:10 it was on the heels of a very special boys' 05:13 night out presentation that we had some months ago. 05:16 And we realized by the response that we got, 05:20 that we needed to talk about 05:23 this very important aspect of our faith, 05:27 to realize that we serve a God 05:29 who is very intimately concerned with our lives. 05:32 And that when we can't God can. 05:35 Our end is but God's beginning. 05:37 And we reaffirm that last night 05:38 in Shelley Quinn's presentation. 05:40 To know that we serve a God who is ready, 05:43 willing and very much able to save, 05:45 to change and to work a miracle, 05:47 if a miracle is what is needed in any given situation. 05:51 So we welcome you and we ask you to stay by 05:54 and to listen very attentively 05:56 as our speaker brings the word of God this night. 05:58 Before we go much further, let us bow our heads in prayer. 06:01 Heavenly Father, 06:02 we do thank You that You're not a distant God. 06:07 You're not a removed God. 06:09 You're not an absentee landlord as it is, 06:12 but You are a very present help, 06:14 not only in trouble, 06:16 but You're by our side in the good times, 06:19 in the bad times, in the times of rejoicing 06:22 and in the times of tears. 06:24 You're our God, our Savior, 06:27 and thank You for being our friend. 06:30 We ask you to draw divinely near us this night, 06:34 open our hearts, our minds, our ears. 06:38 May we hear that which You want us to hear. 06:41 May we know that which You want us to know. 06:44 May we do that which you ask us to do 06:48 because it isn't in the doing 06:50 that we are made like Christ Jesus. 06:52 Bless both speaker and those of us who hear 06:55 and we thank You in Jesus' name, amen. 06:59 Our scripture lesson comes 07:01 from our general manger at 3ABN, Mollie Steenson, 07:05 but she is also a very fine Sabbath school teacher 07:07 here at our church. 07:11 That will be followed by music from our pastor, 07:14 Pastor John Lomacang singing 'There is a Treasure'. 07:17 Then the next voice you will hear will be 07:19 that of Elder Hal Steenson 07:21 from the pastoral department of the Thompsonville Church. 07:24 Pastor in his own right, 07:25 preacher of the word, a student of the word, 07:28 and we know that God is going to use him 07:30 to bring a message to our hearts this night. 07:37 Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke Chapter 4. 07:42 Luke 4, we're going to begin reading with verse 16. 07:46 Are we so happy that God send us His word? 07:51 He gave us this word. 07:52 You know, Shelley said it last night, 07:55 there is power in the word. 07:57 The word is the seed and the seed is the word 07:59 and it's that word that would transform our lives. 08:02 So my prayer for every one of us tonight 08:05 and for everyone, those viewing and listening 08:08 all over this world. 08:10 He said the power of this word 08:11 will take route in our hearts and change us. 08:13 How many of you want to be changed tonight? 08:15 Change is the center, 08:17 the very image and likeness of our creator God. 08:20 That's what we want. Let's read this word together. 08:23 "And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: 08:27 and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue 08:31 on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. 08:35 And there was delivered unto him 08:37 the book of the prophet Esaias. 08:40 And when he had opened the book, 08:42 he found the place where it was written, 08:45 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, 08:47 because he has anointed me 08:49 to preach the gospel to the poor, 08:52 he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, 08:55 to preach deliverance to the captives, 08:58 and recovering of sight to the blind, 09:00 to set at liberty them that are bruised, 09:02 to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 09:06 And he closed the book, and he gave it again 09:10 to the minister, and he sat down. 09:13 And the eyes of all them 09:14 that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. 09:17 And he began to say unto them, 09:19 This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. 09:23 May God add a blessing to this word 09:26 as it penetrates our hearts. 09:31 When I was raised, I never forgot the phrase 09:34 whenever I saw rainbow, someone used to say 09:37 that there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow 09:39 and I never found it. 09:41 But this song right I think 09:42 puts it best when you find Jesus, 09:45 there is a treasure at the end of this narrow road 09:49 that we're traveling. 09:51 I pray that you will follow Christ 09:53 and follow Him to see that He is in fact that treasure. 10:08 They say that where your treasure is 10:13 There will your heart be also 10:18 Your heart stays 10:20 Where you hide 10:22 Your greatest love 10:28 Now you can leave that love on earth 10:33 Where thieves may steal tomorrow 10:37 Or you can take it to 10:40 That hiding place above 10:47 There's a treasure at the end 10:52 Of this narrow road I'm traveling 10:58 That gives me a purpose 11:02 For my life 11:08 Jesus is my treasure 11:12 He's the reason why I am living 11:18 And He will be my reason 11:22 When I die 11:37 So if you've been wondering where you are 11:43 And where it is you're going 11:48 He's left a map 11:50 For you and me 11:52 To use 11:57 Just read the map and follow close 12:02 Always walking where it's showing 12:08 You just can't miss it 12:10 It's way too much 12:12 To lose 12:17 There's a treasure at the end 12:22 Of this narrow road I'm traveling 12:27 And it gives me my purpose 12:32 For my life 12:38 Jesus is my treasure 12:42 He's the reason why I'm still living 12:47 And He will be my reason 12:52 When I die 12:58 You see, there's a treasure 13:01 At the end 13:06 Of this narrow road 13:10 That I've been trying to travel 13:15 And it gives me my purpose 13:22 For my life 13:28 Jesus is my treasure 13:33 He's the reason that I'm still living 13:39 And He will be my reason 13:43 When I die 13:49 You will be my reason 13:54 When I die 14:11 That's my pastor. 14:14 Isn't that awesome. 14:16 I like that one line where the word is the map. 14:20 I want you to turn in your maps tonight 14:23 to the 12 chapter of the Book of Acts. 14:24 And what we're gonna do is ask the Holy Spirit 14:27 to be our compass as we take at look at the Word of God. 14:30 I would like to reiterate one of the scriptures 14:32 that Mollie read just a short portion of it. 14:35 It says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me 14:37 because he has anointed me 14:38 to preach deliverance to the captives." 14:41 So many of us are in situations 14:44 where we have friends, family, 14:46 acquaintances that need to be delivered, 14:49 and we have been praying for them 14:51 for years and years and years, 14:52 it seems like nothing has happened. 14:54 I believe that God has a word for us here tonight 14:56 and also for those all across the world 14:58 that are watching tonight. 14:59 If you have someone that is a captive 15:01 and needs to be set free, 15:03 then you might call them or encourage them to watch this 15:06 or take notes and let them know what's happening here, okay. 15:12 To preach deliverance to the captives. 15:14 Let's pray before we start, all right. 15:16 Father, we thank You Lord that Your word is a truth 15:19 and anything contrary to Your word is a lie. 15:21 We thank You Lord God 15:23 that we can stand on Your word and believe Your word 15:26 that Jesus is not only our savior, 15:28 not only our healer, but He is also our deliverer. 15:31 And Lord, let Your word be real here tonight in Jesus' name. 15:37 Are you in agreement with that church? 15:39 Amen. 15:40 The theme for this meeting is Where Are All Of His... 15:44 Notice the His, Where Are All Of His Miracles. 15:47 What I like to propose to you 15:49 that all His miracles fall in two different categories. 15:53 Now the first category is the working of miracles 15:56 and you'll find this in the Chapter 12, 15:58 1 Corinthians in the gifts to do 16:00 that are in the holy of holies. 16:02 These miracles are accomplished. 16:04 Here's my personal definition. 16:06 These miracles are accomplished 16:07 through an individual or group of believers 16:09 calling on God to demonstrate His divine creative power 16:14 for the benefit of His kingdom and His eternal purpose, 16:17 thus manifesting a miracle. 16:20 Now, let me give you some examples of this, okay. 16:23 God parting the Red Sea 16:24 through Moses holding up his rod and it separated, 16:28 17 miles went back one way to a town called Adam, 16:31 it said in 1700 year from the time 16:34 that sea was split to the town that Adam gave it up, 16:36 so God took it all the way back. 16:38 Another illustration is 16:40 the crumbling of the walls of Jericho 16:42 accomplished through an obedient people 16:45 that just shut up and marched. 16:48 I believe more of us need to do that, pastor. 16:51 And then Paul, oh, Paul raised a man 16:54 named Eutychus from the dead 16:55 after he fell out of a window and died 16:57 because Paul had preached way past 12 o'clock. 17:04 And that was midnight. 17:06 Next is the sovereign miracles of God. 17:09 These miracles are God and God alone miracles. 17:12 These miracles are not manifest through humanity 17:14 but come by the sovereign Godhead alone. 17:19 These miracles are executed to demonstrate 17:21 God's omnipotence, God is powerful. 17:25 There's some examples of that 17:27 is God standing on the edge of nothing 17:30 and saying, let there be light 17:32 and the knowledge of Christ pierced the universe, 17:35 all through the universe. 17:36 Next is God joining forces in the fire 17:39 with the three Hebrew children, 17:40 and the biggest miracle of all was 17:42 they came out the fiery furnace and didn't smell like smoke. 17:44 They didn't keep notes of all the people 17:46 that have done them wrong, 17:47 they just came out totally delivered and free. 17:50 And the next one of a God and God alone miracles. 17:52 Sovereign miracle of God is Paul's conversion 17:56 on the road to Damascus. 17:59 You know, nobody was praying for Paul. 18:02 People were running from Paul. 18:04 This was a God and God alone miracle 18:05 that he knocked him off his horse. 18:08 Then the one I want to share with you today, 18:10 the deliverance of Peter from the prison house. 18:13 Now, you might think that others were helping 18:16 in Peter's deliverance, 18:17 however I'm going to show you that, 18:20 that's not the case. 18:22 It was God and God alone 18:25 that delivered Peter from the prison house. 18:28 So if you want a title for his tonight, 18:30 'It's Deliverance from the Prison House'. 18:32 And I want to share with you, those of you that are watching 18:34 and no matter what your prison house may be. 18:36 You may be an alcoholic. 18:38 You may be bound back pornography. 18:41 You may be addicted to cocaine. 18:43 You may be destroyed by depression 18:45 or you might be a meathead. 18:47 But whatever it is, God still wants to deliver you. 18:50 And I declare that tonight is your night. 18:53 Can I hear an amen? 18:56 The first thing we need to do is to see 18:58 is that deliverance from the prison house 19:00 will come only after you admit 19:03 that you're trapped with no escape. 19:07 As long as you got a plan B, deliverance will never come, 19:10 deliverance will never take place, 19:11 deliverance will never happen. 19:13 Have you found Acts yet, 19:14 the Chapter 12 and the first verse says, 19:17 "Now about that time Herod the king 19:19 stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. 19:22 And he killed James 19:23 the brother of John with the sword." 19:25 Now, remember this, 19:26 James was one of the sons of thunder 19:28 whom Christ told that he should drink of the cup 19:31 that he was to drink of 19:32 and be baptized with the baptism 19:34 that he was to be baptized with. 19:36 Now the words of Christ were made good in James, 19:39 thus James finished his course, 19:41 but Peter being designed 19:43 for further service was still safe, 19:46 though he seemed now marked out for a speedy sacrifice." 19:51 It is when we admit that we're in a prison house, 19:54 we have no way out, we have no way of escape. 19:56 It's not momma is gonna get us out, 19:58 it's not Uncle Joe that's gonna us out, 20:00 it's not our pastors, it's not our elders, 20:01 it's gonna take God 20:03 when we admit that we are trapped, 20:05 then and only then can we be released. 20:09 It's only after you're born again 20:11 and truly serving God 20:12 that Satan takes any interest in you. 20:15 And hear this 20:16 if you don't hear anything else. 20:17 Satan couldn't care whether or not you live, 20:20 he couldn't care whether not you live or die 20:22 or whether you go to heaven 20:23 or we don't want to go to heaven, 20:24 but if you go to hell if you're burning, 20:26 he doesn't care, what he wants to do 20:27 is negate the Word of God that is in you. 20:31 In verse 3 it says, 20:33 "Because he saw it pleased the Jews..." 20:36 Talking about Herod. 20:37 "He proceeded further to take Peter also. 20:39 Then were the days of unleavened bread." 20:40 This was the time of Passover. 20:41 I like what the message Bible, listen to this, this is good. 20:44 The message Bible says, "When Herod saw 20:47 how much it raised his popularity ratings 20:50 with the Jews, he arrested Peter." 20:52 All this during Passover week, mind you. 20:56 When I was a teenager 20:57 my dad and I had 66 herd of horses. 21:00 Out of all these I had one horse 21:02 that was just really specially mine. 21:05 This was my horse, his name was Bozo. 21:08 And he was Quarter horse, and he look like a mule 21:11 until you got a saddle on him, then he came alive. 21:14 And Bozo was a barn horse. 21:16 How many even know what the barn horse is. 21:18 You couldn't get him away from the barn, 21:20 but when you got him real far, 21:22 away from the barn and finally got him out there, 21:24 he forgot about everything 21:26 but just jibing on him, just going along 21:28 until you turn him back toward the barn. 21:32 And when you turned him back toward the barn, Pastor Joe, 21:35 you turn him back toward the barn, 21:36 all you have to do was drop your reins on him 21:39 click him in saddle and say, "Go Bozo" and he win. 21:43 We'll see that's the way the devil is with us 21:45 before we get born again 21:47 and make Jesus Christ Lord of our life. 21:49 He just drops the reins on us and says, go Bozo 21:52 because we're Bozo the clowns to do it. 21:55 And he doesn't need to ride us hard 21:57 and put up some weight, 21:58 he doesn't care anything about it. 22:00 But you get born again 22:01 then that's when things start to happen. 22:04 He doesn't need to hurt you, you're hurting yourself. 22:07 Verse 4 says, "And when he had apprehended him, 22:10 he put him in prison, and delivered him 22:13 to four quaternions of soldiers." 22:16 Somebody tell me how many that is? 22:18 Sixteen soldiers, I love it 22:21 to keep this little Pentecostal preacher, 22:23 to keep him. 22:25 Intending I like what the King James says here 22:27 if you got it, you will understand it. 22:28 It says intending that after Easter 22:31 which is actually translated Passover 22:33 to bring it forth to the people. 22:36 When I see they translated that, 22:38 pastor, they translated that as Easter. 22:40 And the reason why the word Passover 22:42 was changed to Easter was to help us understand 22:44 how rabbits can lay eggs 22:46 or we can color them, hide them, 22:48 eat a lot of candy to celebrate Jesus' resurrection. 22:52 No, it's not what... 22:53 It was the Goddess Ishtar, 22:55 the goddess of fertility is what it was. 22:57 We celebrate Passover, we celebrate first fruit, 23:00 we celebrate a risen savior. 23:02 Are you getting, I want an amen. 23:04 There were 16 soldiers guarding 23:07 one little old Pentecostal preacher, 23:09 and Herod was not afraid of Peter. 23:12 He was afraid of Peter's God. Never underestimate God. 23:18 There was a time when Satan thought 23:19 that he had Hal and Mollie Steenson bound 23:22 but he was wrong. 23:25 We had moved. 23:27 Five times, four times, excuse me in a year and half 23:32 and we were charismatic church 23:34 and Danny Shelton at the time was elder. 23:36 They didn't have the pastor and they let us use 23:39 the Seventh-day Adventist church in West Frankfort 23:41 'cause our service is on Thursday night 23:42 and Sunday night. 23:44 Danny and I loved each other. 23:45 We knew somehow someway, someway, 23:47 that we would finally be together. 23:48 We finally got some facilities, God provided him for us, 23:51 it was a miracle that we got them. 23:53 Some day maybe I can share that, 23:54 it take too long now. 23:57 But then it came the time to purchase some. 23:59 We were a two year old fledgling church 24:02 and they came out and they said, 24:03 yes, we got an MIR appraising all this 24:05 and they said, yes, 24:07 you can purchase this for $340,000. 24:10 Well, if it had been $3,400 we didn't have it. 24:14 But see it takes the same faith to heal a headache 24:17 that it does to raise somebody from the death. 24:19 Faith is faith. 24:21 And so what I did, I told Mollie, 24:22 I got to get away, I got to get quiet on this. 24:26 I got to get before God and find out 24:27 how we're gonna come up with $340,000. 24:30 Two year old church 350 people, about 350 people, maybe 250, 24:37 I don't remember, Mollie always, 24:38 she knows the exact, I just see the big pictures. 24:41 I see the picture on the front of the puzzle box, 24:43 she'll all see. 24:45 I can say some, she say, no it wasn't 247, it was 246 24:49 and you spoke ecclesiastically. 24:55 I got it in my car, Brother Donnie, 24:56 I got in my car, I rode to Alabama. 24:58 I had some friends down there, said, come down here hard way 25:00 and just get a chance to get quite, 25:02 get a chance to pray, you got to remind God on this. 25:06 So here I go to Alabama, stayed for three days, 25:08 I prayed, I saw the face of God. 25:09 God, I got to have $340,000, I need it desperately, 25:12 we're gonna lose these facilities. 25:14 They got a guy in Johnson City that wants to open them up 25:17 and use them for bars and nightclubs. 25:19 Dear Lord, help us with this. Nothing. 25:24 That ever happened to you? Heaven ever been brass for you? 25:29 Your prayer bounced off the ceiling. 25:34 I stopped in Nashville, Tennessee at a restaurant. 25:37 Those of that are watching nationally, internationally, 25:39 you might not know, 25:40 but Shoney's is a really nice southern restaurant. 25:44 They serve a smorgasbord breakfast in back that time 25:47 but I loaded it up, I mean, I get in. 25:51 I went in there and I sat down 25:52 and I was eating, trying to eat, 25:53 I couldn't get my mind fixed right on this thing. 25:56 All I could do is just sit there, 25:57 didn't open my mouth except to put food in it. 25:59 I sat there and I ate. 26:02 And finally I just said, 26:04 "God, I can't handle this anymore, 26:05 I got to get back, I got to get with Mollie. 26:06 We gonna have to get with the elders 26:08 and we're gonna have to pray and get a mind on this. 26:10 We got to have $340,000 in a week." 26:14 Not in two years, in a week, it's in a week. 26:17 And I think at that time, it was in three days 26:19 because I wasted three days. 26:22 I got up to pay my bill and I was looking at it, 26:25 and I was walking up toward the cash register 26:27 at Shoney's in Nashville, Tennessee. 26:29 And a lady stood up, 26:30 I've never seen before in my life, 26:32 her name was Jeanne Smith. 26:33 I stayed in contact with her for years. 26:35 She stood up and she stuck her finger 26:37 in my face and she said, 26:39 "Hey the Lord has told me to tell you, 26:41 the money is on its way." 26:44 What? 26:47 I don't know, he just said to tell you, 26:50 the money is on its way. 26:53 I got back home, pulling in the driveway, 26:55 I got out of car and walked in. 26:56 Mollie said, "What God said." 26:58 I said, "Well, God didn't said, 26:59 Jeanne Smith told me, the money is on its way." 27:03 What are we gonna do? 27:04 We gonna believe God, we gonna trust God, 27:05 the God that was cleaning out the facilities 27:09 that already told me that I was an idiot 27:10 that it would be a cold day in hell 27:12 before I ever got this properties to begin with. 27:15 I told him two things. 27:16 You don't know anything about hell. 27:17 You sure don't know anything about my God. 27:20 And when we got the properties, 27:22 guess, who had to bring me the keys. 27:24 He put him right there in my hand. 27:26 and he said, I don't know about your God, 27:28 but I know He must be a powerful God. 27:30 I got home, walked in, 27:32 Mollie said, "Well, what happened? 27:33 We gonna get the money, it's on its way. 27:36 I went to church next morning. We had prayer. 27:40 Please hear, there comes a time 27:42 when you need to quit praying and start praising. 27:45 We started praising God. 27:47 I got a phone call 27:48 by 11 o'clock that morning said, 27:50 "Hello, my name is such and such with college name 27:51 but we're with a Christian life insurance company 27:54 and I was about to go to Alaska. 27:57 And somebody told me said, 27:59 there's a guy, a little Alabama southern preacher down 28:01 there in Illinois that need some money. 28:04 And I know you all in the money lending business. 28:07 You might want to talk about it, 28:08 think about it. 28:10 I said where are you? He said I'm Marion, Illinois. 28:14 I said, well, I'll just meet you in the few minutes, 28:16 brother, I'll buy you some dinner, 28:17 I'll buy you some lunch, you know, 28:19 a Cadillac if you want me to. 28:23 I went down to Marion airport, picked him up, 28:26 brought him back to the place, 28:28 he looked it over and looked over the appraisal. 28:32 And I said, well, trying to make conversation. 28:35 Where were you headed? He said Alaska. 28:39 I said, "Where did you come from?" 28:41 He said, "New Jersey." 28:42 And I want to tell him 28:43 but you need to buy your roadmap. 28:45 You don't fly through Southern Illinois, 28:47 but how many of you know that God's in control 28:49 when it's a God and God alone miracle, 28:51 God's in control. 28:52 He had this man fly through Southern Illinois. 28:55 And when you fly from New Jersey to Alaska, 28:57 you fly out to Canada. 28:59 But God had other plans. 29:01 He has looked at me 29:02 and this is the words that he said. 29:04 He said, "Pastor Hal, the money is on its way." 29:10 Confirmation God will confirm it. 29:12 You know something that's prophetic, 29:14 it's never directional, 29:15 it's conformational is what it is. 29:17 And I knew God would do it somehow, someway, 29:20 so this old Pentecostal preacher that he had 29:22 and he thought he was going to get down and kick, 29:24 he didn't have the opportunity to do it. 29:27 See, that was a God and God alone miracle. 29:28 How many are you with me here tonight? 29:31 And I want to show you the following scriptures 29:32 of where we put aside the working of miracles 29:34 through man and understand that Peter's deliverance 29:37 from the prison house was a God alone miracle. 29:40 In first and fifth verses 29:42 and Peter therefore was kept in prison 29:44 but prayer was made without ceasing 29:46 of the church up unto God for him. 29:49 Now, this scripture seems to indicate 29:51 that this miracle came about by the petitions of man. 29:54 However, this is not the exact truth. 29:57 What kind of truth? Exact truth. 29:59 Although these prayers came to God's attention, 30:02 they had nothing to do 30:03 with Peter's ultimate deliverance. 30:06 Now I'm gonna show you, okay? 30:07 Now I'm not saying here that prayers are fruitless. 30:10 Don't take that to bank. 30:11 Pastor Gilley and I were talking about last night, 30:13 the reason Paul stayed in prison, 30:15 'cause he had nobody praying for him. 30:17 At least these people were praying. 30:19 When I first got born again, 30:21 I've been born again about three months. 30:22 Mollie, you remember this, new life, 30:23 Christian fellowship, we had about 25 people in it. 30:26 We've been born again about three months. 30:28 We were just kind of floating around, 30:29 trying to find a church, 30:31 and every time they had a service, 30:32 we went to every service in town. 30:34 I'm surprised, we didn't go to Seventh-day Adventist church. 30:36 If we've known they were there, would have probably gone to it. 30:39 We walked in that place, and it was few minutes late, 30:43 sat down, and the guy strung the guitar 30:45 and he said, "Thank you Jesus." 30:47 That's first time I ever heard that expression. 30:49 I thought what, "Thank you Jesus," 30:51 he just began to worship God, the spirit of God moved in. 30:54 And then after the service was over with, 30:56 they broke up and the pastor said, 30:58 "Oh, wait, I have some visitors here, 31:00 why don't you tell us your name." 31:02 And we stood up, and I said, 31:03 "Well, this is my wife Mollie, my name's Hal Steenson." 31:07 And it was like E. F. Hutton talking, 31:09 everybody went, "What." 31:12 Turned to me silence in the entire place. 31:15 And the pastor said, 31:18 "Hal, we've been praying for you for over a year." 31:25 Did not even know me, had never seen me, 31:28 somebody had turned my name into them and said, 31:31 would you pray for this man, because he is a rank sinner, 31:35 a heathen, and his wife 31:36 is tired putting up with him. 31:43 We don't know what the prayers would do, we don't. 31:46 So you got two, you got the workings of miracles, 31:48 and then you have the God, and God alone miracles. 31:51 Verse 6, it says, 31:53 "When Herod would have brought him forth, 31:54 the same night Peter was sleeping..." 31:56 What was he doing? He, what was he doing? 31:59 He's gonna have his head cut off the next day. 32:01 And he's asleep. 32:03 He's chained in, bound up between two guards, 32:08 and it says, "bound with two chains, 32:09 and the keepers before the door, 32:11 that kept the prison." 32:13 Hey, Shelley, Peter was under the fig tree, wasn't he? 32:19 Now I challenge, hey Danny, evangelist Danny Shelton, 32:21 I challenge you to find out what that means 32:23 that he was under the fig tree. 32:24 When Jesus told Nathaniel, 32:26 "Hey, I saw you under the fig tree," 32:27 and Nathaniel says, 32:29 "Wow, you're the king of all of Israel." 32:31 It wasn't because he saw him under the fig tree, 32:33 it's because there was something in Nathaniel 32:36 that had the assurety that Jesus was the Christ, 32:39 and that he rested in that assurety. 32:41 And this is where Peter was, he was resting in the assurety. 32:44 "Hey, win, lose, or draw, head on, head off, 32:49 I'm still gonna serve, and serve my Lord." 32:52 "Why did God allow this to happen?" 32:55 And then all of a sudden intervene. 32:57 I'm gonna share something with you 32:59 that we don't hear much about, 33:01 but before there can be a fulfillment of a vision, 33:03 there must be what appears to be the death of that vision. 33:08 I've never known anyone that really fulfilled a vision 33:12 that God had given them 33:13 that had not first at many times, 33:16 Pastor Gilley, how many times is Isaac been 33:18 on the altar in your lives? 33:19 We used to... 33:21 Mollie and I used to call our church Isaac, 33:23 because it had been on the altar so much. 33:25 And this is what happens 33:27 before there can be a fulfillment of a vision, 33:29 there has to be what appears to be the death of vision. 33:32 Those of you out there 33:33 that your sons or daughters who are in prison, 33:35 if they are captivated by drugs, 33:37 if they are into witchcraft, whatever it is, 33:39 then what's taking place is, 33:41 when they get to the point where you look like, 33:43 and they look like, there's no escape. 33:45 Then what you have to do is say praise God, 33:48 that we finally get to the end of ourselves, 33:50 and allow God to do something. 33:52 And it's not within our own strength. 33:54 And let me give you something to back it up, okay. 33:56 "Abraham was about to drive a dagger through Isaac's heart, 33:59 the seed that was supposed to father of people, 34:01 that's like the sands of the sea." 34:02 Did Isaac die? No. 34:05 Did the vision come to pass? 34:07 Yes, but only after the death of the vision. 34:10 Samson's in the dungeon blind, 34:12 threading out corn like an animal 34:14 until the Spirit of Lord came on him, 34:16 and he killed more enemies of God 34:17 in his death than he did in his life. 34:19 There had to be the death of a vision 34:21 before the vision was fulfilled. 34:23 Jesus Christ dropped his head in the locks of his shoulders 34:26 and he died, he died, 34:28 but is that the end of the story? 34:31 No, absolutely not, the treasure brother, 34:33 when He returns for us. 34:35 It's not the end of the story. 34:37 When the thief on the cross taunted Him... 34:40 I love this. 34:41 He taunted Him, and said, "If you be the Christ, 34:44 then why don't you come down from the cross, 34:46 and save yourself and save us." 34:49 And Jesus didn't speak one mumbling word, 34:53 but in His silence, it was as if to say, 34:56 "You just wait till Sunday morning, 34:58 I'm gonna show you 34:59 there's more powerful to come up out of the grave 35:01 than it is to come down from a cross." 35:04 This is our savior. 35:05 Death of a vision, yes, but he is alive, he is alive. 35:09 The next step to deliverance from the prison house 35:12 is to let God smack some sense into you. 35:17 How many of you like to smack some sense 35:19 into somebody in your household? 35:22 Amen. Shut up Mollie. 35:26 No, I'm sorry honey, just be quiet. 35:29 Verse 7, it says, "And, behold, 35:30 the angel of the Lord came upon him, 35:32 and a light shined in the prison: 35:33 and he smote Peter on the side, and he raised him up, saying, 35:36 Arise up quickly. 35:38 And his chains fell off from his hands." 35:40 What did it take for him to be set free? 35:43 God did what to him? 35:44 First thing he did to him was, he walked to him and said Paul, 35:49 and all the chains fell off, he was set free. 35:52 Let me tell you something, okay. 35:53 Before God smack some sense into Jacob, 35:57 it was give me that and give me this 35:59 on my never ending shopping list. 36:02 He made him a Bethel, 36:03 and here's the well, that Jacob's Well. 36:05 You know what heavy trouble live in this well. 36:06 Listen to this, "If God will be with me, 36:09 and will keep me in this way, I go, 36:12 and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on. 36:14 So that I come again to my father's house in peace, 36:17 then shall the Lord be my God." 36:19 What he do? 36:21 "And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, 36:23 shall be God's house: 36:24 and of all that thou shall give me, 36:26 I will surely give the tenth of." 36:27 You know what he's saying, 36:29 "Hey, give me everything I need, furnish my food, 36:31 and provide everything cattle, land, house and everything." 36:33 "You know what God, I just might tithe to you. 36:37 However, after God whooping, 36:43 say you know what a whooping is? 36:45 How many of you here know what a whooping is? 36:49 "After God whooping, Jacob was a changed man." 36:53 Many of us have heard of... This is a... 36:56 Many of us have heard of "drive by shooting." 36:58 Did you heard this? 37:00 What we need in America are some drive by whoopings. 37:04 Whenever we see kids doing something 37:06 that we know it's wrong, 37:07 we want to stop the car, go over the bush, 37:09 cut a switch off, and whoop them. 37:12 What was that for as I drive by whooping, 37:14 you shouldn't have been doing that. 37:16 I could get two miles from my home, 37:18 and I do something wrong, 37:19 I thought my momma had eyes on the back of her head. 37:22 Because some little lady come out of her house, 37:24 and she get a switching, "whoop me." 37:27 And before I got home, 37:28 there would be four other women in the neighborhood 37:30 that would whoop me before I got home. 37:32 Then my momma would whoop me, 37:33 and then when my daddy got home, 37:35 he would whoop me again. 37:38 But God's whoopings, God's whoopings are different. 37:42 Jacob's next encounter was, God was at Jabbok, 37:46 when Jacob walked away from Jabbok, 37:47 he walked away with a limp that proclaimed, 37:49 whatever you want God, not what I want. 37:53 And this is what had to happen to Peter. 37:55 You know, had you all noticed 37:57 that Peter was a little arrogant, 37:59 a little into himself. 38:02 When Jacob left Jabbok, he walked away with a limp. 38:08 And when Jesus through the angel, smote peter, 38:12 I believe that he walked away with the limp, that said, 38:17 "No more big I, no more king me, 38:20 no more my ministry, 38:21 it's just you God, just me and you God." 38:25 And this is what turned things around. 38:28 I can't find a scripture in the Bible 38:31 that says Peter are you with the angel? 38:33 If he had to say, "Hey, wait a minute, 38:34 who are you to be giving me orders? 38:36 We would me missing a couple of books 38:37 out of the New Testament. 38:38 Do you know that? 38:40 Because he would have got his head cut off. 38:42 Verse 8, it says, "An Angel said to him finally, 38:44 Peter, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." 38:46 Now listen to this okay. 38:48 If you're following along with me, 38:49 "Put on the whole armor of God, 38:51 that you may be able to stand against 38:52 the wiles of the devil, deny yourself, 38:53 and take up the cross, and follow me." 38:55 That's not what that says. 38:57 Yes, but that's what they're saying. 38:59 He says, you'll find the... 39:00 You'll find this to be biblically correct 39:02 and theologically sound according to Ephesians 16, 39:06 "Because the angel says unto to him Peter, 39:09 "Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals, 39:11 And so he did and saith unto him, 39:13 Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me." 39:19 And he went out, and he followed him, 39:23 and wish not that it was true, which was done by the angel, 39:28 but thought it was a vision. 39:32 You all have to stay with me in this next verse here, 39:35 when they were passed a first ward, 39:39 everyone of us have a chance to go through wards, 39:42 those that are out there 39:43 that you're praying for, your lost loved ones, 39:45 those of you that are here 39:47 that are praying for your family, 39:48 those of you that are here 39:49 that are praying for those that need deliverance, 39:51 that are addicted to so many things in the world. 39:54 You know, we did not, 39:55 and I used to say, no, it's not so, 39:57 but we didn't face the addictive problems 39:59 in everything that our young people face today. 40:01 It's just horrible. 40:03 But everyone of us have the opportunity 40:05 to go through different wards in our service to Christianity, 40:10 Pastor, our Brother J.D. Quinn, 40:12 Elder J.D. Quinn will be talking about 40:13 that more tomorrow night, 40:15 but I went past the first ward, when I was told 40:17 in my evangelical denomination that I was raised in, 40:21 that salvation is all that it is, 40:23 there's nothing else that goes with it. 40:26 But I got passed the first ward, 40:29 and I got into the second ward where the charismatics told me, 40:32 "Well, once you receive the baptism 40:34 with the Holy Spirit, then that's all it is. 40:36 And if that's all it was, I would have quit 40:38 a long time ago, that's not all that it is. 40:43 But the third thing that happened is, 40:44 Peter came to an iron gate, 40:48 "Man, this iron gate is the illumination 40:52 that the entire word of God is true, 40:55 not just a portion of it. 40:58 It leaded into the city which opens down the court, 41:01 it is only about the Holy Spirit 41:03 that the truths of the Sabbath, 41:04 and the truths of the state of the dead, 41:06 and that the truths of hell can be opened." 41:08 It cannot be bowed, it cannot be prowed, 41:10 it has to be brought by the Holy Spirit 41:13 for you to come into the full illumination of it. 41:17 Now I walk pass that, that gate, 41:20 you know what, I love this, 41:22 Wal-Mart thinks that 41:23 they invented the self opening doors. 41:27 Jesus had one 2000 years ago 41:30 in the prison that opened of its own accord. 41:33 And it says that, 41:34 "Here's which opened up 41:35 here's not its, but his own accord, 41:38 and they went out and passed on through one street, 41:40 and forthwith the angel departed from him." 41:45 In verse 11, it says, 41:47 "When Peter came to himself, 41:51 truly came to himself, 41:54 he said, "Now I know of a surety, 41:58 that the Lord had sent his angel, 42:01 and had delivered me." 42:07 I was 27 years old, and I was an alcoholic, 42:12 I had been since I was 14. 42:17 God was gracious enough to give me Mollie Sue. 42:22 When I was 21, she tells people, 42:24 she led a 19-year-old girl, 42:26 make life long decisions for her, 42:29 but she was so crazy about me, she couldn't help herself. 42:34 And at the age of 27, my life was wrecked, 42:37 my life was ruined, there was nothing left 42:40 that I was a shell of a man, 42:42 and she had held me together for many years. 42:44 And outside of Jesus Christ, 42:45 she's the best thing that has ever happened to me. 42:51 But I got to the point, 42:52 where I couldn't take it anymore. 42:54 And so I decided there's got to be a way out. 42:57 Say, I now realized that Jesus is the only way out. 43:01 He didn't say that... 43:02 Well, I'll show you the way, 43:03 I'll tell you the truth, and I'll teach you about life." 43:06 He said, "I am the way, I am the truth, 43:10 and I am the life." 43:11 He didn't tell Martha, I'm here to resurrect Lazarus. 43:14 He told Martha and Mary, "I am the resurrection." 43:18 This is who He is, this is what He is, 43:20 but I didn't know that, 43:21 and I didn't know there's a way out. 43:24 And those that are watching tonight, 43:26 those that you are praying for, 43:27 do not have a clue that there is a way out 43:30 until you release them, turn them over to God, 43:33 give them to God, and say, "Here, I dedicate." 43:36 You know we dedicate babies, we dedicate little babies, 43:39 somebody say, 43:40 "How could I possibly give my child to the Lord." 43:42 There's no safer place for your child to be 43:45 than dedicated and given to God. 43:47 But if your child, 43:48 I prayed with the lady today her son, 43:50 she sound like she's 35. 43:52 She said, I need to pray for my son. 43:54 He's going through a crisis, and he's wanting to do 43:56 all these young things and everything. 43:59 He's just going off the deep end, 44:00 he's out drinking and drug, 44:02 and then doing everything else. 44:03 And I said, "Sweetheart, how old is he?" 44:05 She said, "He is 58." 44:09 And I said, "Well, we are about to have a baby dedication." 44:13 She said, "Well, he doesn't have any children." 44:15 I said, "No honey, we're going to dedicate him, 44:17 he's your baby." 44:19 And on the phone, over the phone, 44:21 we dedicated that 50 year old man to the Lord, 44:24 lifted him up and gave him to the Lord, and said, 44:27 "Here he is Lord, now you take him, 44:29 you mould him, you make him 44:31 into what you want him to be, not what I want him to be." 44:35 Did you hear that? 44:36 My mama used to pray, 44:38 "Oh, God, save Hal, get him off the streets, 44:40 he's out hard driven, 44:41 driving race cars on the drag street, 44:44 running and drinking, get him off." 44:45 You know what, I didn't just get saved, 44:47 I got save saved. 44:49 Before I got born again, Mollie and I, 44:52 we went everywhere and did not everything, 44:54 but we were in the world, and nobody cared. 44:57 And once we got born again, 44:58 and gave our lives totally to Jesus Christ, 45:00 you know, our family thought, we'd gone crazy. 45:03 They said, "Well, Hal Steenson's butter 45:07 don't slipped off his brain." 45:11 Boy's porch lights on, but nobody's home. 45:15 And they said, I remember one person in my family saying, 45:18 "Let him alone, it will Passover." 45:21 And I said, "All right, not only did it pass over, 45:24 it also Pentecosted." 45:26 And not only did it Pentecosted, 45:27 but it also Seventh-day Adventist did, 45:30 and it went into the deep things of God. 45:32 Yeah, it passed over. 45:33 That's what we need to do is, we need to give those children, 45:36 give our children to God, totally and completely 45:38 and let God do what He wants to in him. 45:42 Whether we think this... 45:45 it's mixed up, it's a termite nor yo-yo. 45:49 There gonna be people in India watching this, 45:51 they don't have a clue what I'm talking about. 45:56 I had taken all that I could stand, 45:58 I came in one night. 46:01 Mollie had left for her own sanity, not safety, 46:05 I didn't do anything to harm of it. 46:06 Her own sanity, she's taken in, and left and taken my daughter, 46:09 and gone to, I think her sister's. 46:12 Now she had left me once before about six months early, 46:15 but I didn't know she left me, she went down to her mom, 46:17 I just went down and had dinner with her. 46:20 Spent a day, and brought her home. 46:23 But this time, I knew she had gone, 46:25 and I sat down in the middle of the living room floor, 46:29 and I opened up a bottle of alcohol. 46:32 At the time I couldn't sleep, 46:35 when I couldn't sleep during the day, 46:36 I couldn't stay going. 46:37 Some of you know what I'm talking about, 46:39 some of you out there, 46:40 you might be sitting there right now 46:42 with a fifth of alcohol, sitting in your... 46:43 holding in your hand, you might be there right now 46:46 snorting coke, got that $100 bill, 46:48 no that $1 bill, 46:49 if you have been on it very long. 46:51 One dollar bill rolled up, 46:52 sucking up that thing up your nose. 46:54 You might be to the point where you're thinking, 46:56 I shouldn't be watching these, 46:57 'cause there is pornography on the other channel. 46:59 Let me tell you something, okay. 47:01 God is there waiting for you, waiting to set you free 47:07 and deliver you from the prison house, 47:08 and tonight is your night, 47:09 if you will, hear what is being said. 47:14 I couldn't sleep, I couldn't stay awake, 47:16 I had pills to go to sleep, I had pills to keep me awake. 47:20 And I've just owned... 47:21 I think on one of the news channels this morning, 47:23 they're talking about this young man 47:24 that had just died of an overdose this actor. 47:26 And how many people are actually dying daily 47:29 from prescription drugs? 47:32 I sat down in the middle of the living floor, 47:34 I just had the prescription filled, 47:36 it was 6300-milligram methaqualone sleeping pills. 47:42 So those of you that are not familiar with it, 47:45 10 of them should've killed me. 47:48 Ten of them, and I took sixty of them. 47:53 I took 30, 30 milligram Dalmane, 47:55 which is also a sleeping pill. 48:00 And I said okay, come and get me. 48:04 My brother drove up about an hour 48:05 after I had done this. 48:07 I was not even at myself. 48:10 And he came in, and he walked up to me, 48:14 I was laying on the floor, and he said, "What'd you do?" 48:17 And he picked up the bottle of pills, 48:19 "You take all this?" And I said, "Yeah." 48:20 This is where you think, 48:21 "Thank God, he got you up 48:23 and he took you to the hospital, 48:24 he had your stomach pull." 48:26 No, he got me up, and put me in his car, 48:28 and took me to his house, 48:29 and put me in his bedroom for me to die. 48:34 Why? 48:35 Because everybody was so tired of putting up with me. 48:40 We get so tired of putting up 48:44 with our children, our spouses, our friends, 48:47 because every time they get around us, 48:49 they throw up on us, and we pray for him, 48:51 pray for him, and pray for him, and they turn right around, 48:54 and stab us in the back. 48:55 But let me tell you, don't stop praying, 48:57 don't give up, don't put them in a room, 49:00 so that they can die. 49:03 In case you didn't know, I didn't die. 49:07 I woke up the next morning, 49:09 and I went into my brother's room, 49:11 and said, "What did you do? 49:12 Did you take me to the hospital?" 49:13 He said, "No, I didn't do anything, 49:15 I put you in there to die." 49:16 He wasn't ashamed of it. 49:18 I love him very much too in case you didn't know. 49:22 He's a good man. 49:26 I walked out in my car, November 8, 1976, 49:29 6 o'clock in the morning. 49:33 It was dew on the ground, 49:34 it wasn't frozen, dew on the ground, 49:36 I reached out to open the car door, 49:38 and I slipped and fell in the dew, 49:42 in between the car door and the car. 49:45 Now this is where it might get confusing for some people, 49:49 because it was a little confusing for me. 49:52 But it's like Paul when he said, 49:53 "I was caught up to the third heaven." 49:55 I knew a man that was caught up in third heaven. 49:57 Whether he was in the body or in the spirit, I don't know. 50:00 So whether I was in the body or in the spirit, I don't know, 50:03 but I'm just gonna tell you what happened. 50:06 And what happened was, I said, 50:08 "Why did you not let me leave, and I was cursing God." 50:11 One lady said one time, 50:12 and I've not shared this but a few times. 50:14 How could you be cursing God, and God saved you, and I said, 50:17 "Because God did not hear 50:19 what was coming out of my mouth." 50:21 God heard what was coming out of my heart. 50:24 "I can't live like this any longer God, 50:26 I can't go on like this any longer." 50:29 And so that when I got born again, 50:30 God touched me, well, God didn't, God smacked me. 50:34 He said, "This is not where it ends, 50:37 this is not where it ends, when you die, 50:39 it's not where it ends. 50:41 You got an eternity to live with me forever." 50:43 And I say, now I'm gonna tell you, 50:45 I'm gonna live until God dies." 50:46 God's never gonna die, can I hear an amen? 50:48 Amen. 50:49 That means, I'm gonna live forever. 50:51 And I slipped in the grass there, 50:53 and I was on my knees, and I heard a voice say, 50:56 when I said, "My life is worthless." 50:58 This voice said, "I'll take it. 51:06 I'll take it, Hal." 51:09 And I looked up, 51:11 in the body of spirit, I don't know, 51:13 I'm just telling you what I know happened to me. 51:16 I looked up, and the Lord was standing 51:17 on the other side of the car. 51:19 Now some people, we get 150 phone calls on it, 51:23 hope not, I hope I'm speaking to you heart. 51:26 The Lord standing on the other side of the car, 51:28 and I looked up, 51:29 and I could see him very detailed. 51:31 I've never seen a picture that looks like Jesus, 51:34 and he handed me a blank sheet of paper, 51:39 just, "Here Hal, hand it over the car door 51:44 and said, "Sign this." 51:46 And I looked at it, and down 51:48 in the right hand of the corner, 51:49 it had signed in red, I don't know if it was blood, 51:52 but it was signed in red, it had, 51:54 "Jesus Christ, Lord of the lords, 51:55 and King of kings," right hand corner. 51:59 Over on the left hand corner, 52:01 it was another line, he said, "Sign this." 52:02 And I signed willingly, not under pressure. 52:06 I signed my name to it Thomas Hal Steenson. 52:11 And I thought, there's nothing on this paper, 52:16 what am I signing? 52:18 And he said, "This is my covenant with you. 52:22 This is your covenant with me." 52:27 And I said, "There is nothing on it." 52:28 He said, "We will fill it in as we go." 52:33 So he filled me and baptized a similar God, charismatic, 52:37 and now he's filled me in as a Seventh-day Adventist. 52:40 And I know that this word is the word of God, 52:44 but only God contains all of the word of God." 52:47 So if He's got further things for all of us to go 52:50 as the end times comes, 52:52 and revelation is unfolded before us, 52:54 and the laity comes out, in the pew, 52:57 if it begins to get competition from the pew, 52:59 I want to be right in there pastor, 53:01 hearing what God's got to say. 53:04 I'm not gonna say salvation is all that there is, 53:06 that baptism of Holy Spirit is all that there is. 53:08 He's the one that's got all of these, 53:10 and I want all that there is to receive from Him. 53:13 And that's not the selfish one. 53:18 After that I did everything that he said to do. 53:21 Tried to do everything that He wanted me to do. 53:25 And did I mess up? Yeah. 53:28 How many of you know that 53:30 babies really get nauseous 53:32 around clean suits. 53:38 Burp. 53:40 Well, baby Christians will throw up on you, 53:43 and they will dirty their diaper. 53:46 And we have to clean them up, and I did a lot of that. 53:49 And you know what he did? 53:50 He was always there, pat me on the back, 53:53 picking me up, encouraging me, 53:55 but every now and then, when I knew something 53:57 that I did something that should not have been done, 53:59 and I knew better, you know what you do. 54:01 He give me whooping. 54:04 He didn't give me an F and put it on my refrigerator 54:06 for the whole world to see. 54:07 What he did was, he got me in the Word of God, 54:10 and the Word of God began to pierce my heart 54:12 to chastise me, and chastise my heart 54:15 that I should not have done that, 54:17 because it goes against the Word of God. 54:21 That was 1976, 32 years ago, 54:26 and I still got long way to go. 54:29 But you know what? 54:30 If you don't hear anything else, 54:31 I say, hear this. 54:33 I would rather be one foot out of hell facing heaven, 54:35 than it would be one foot out of heaven facing hell. 54:39 So we're headed the right direction, 54:40 how many of you are headed with me? 54:42 Let me read this to you right quick, Okay. 54:45 verse 11, it says, "When Peter come to himself, 54:47 and he said, Now I know of a surety, 54:49 that the Lord had sent his angel, 54:51 and have delivered me, 54:52 the Lord did this out of the hand of Herod, 54:54 and from all the expectations of the Jews." 54:57 And then what happened was, when he considered this thing, 55:01 he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, 55:03 whose surname was Mark, 55:04 where many were gathered together praying. 55:05 And as Peter knocked on the door of the gate at... 55:08 a damsel came to hearken, named Rosy." 55:11 It's Rhoda, 55:12 but it actually translates Rosy. 55:14 "And when she knew Peter's voice, 55:16 she opened not the gate for gladness, 55:18 but ran in and told, 55:20 how Peter stood before the gate. 55:21 And they said unto her what, thou art mad, 55:24 but she constantly affirmed that, 55:26 it was, even so, then they say it, 55:28 "it is his angel." 55:30 Now catch verse 17, 55:33 "But he, beckoning unto them with his hand told them, 55:35 hold their peace, I'm not his angel." 55:38 And then I can just imagine Peter saying this, 55:42 "What have you guys been doing?" 55:43 They say, "We've been having a prayer meeting for you Pete. 55:45 We've been praying and seeking 55:47 the face of God for you." 55:48 He said, "Well, then why did you believe it was me? 55:52 Why didn't you believe that it was me, 55:54 it was my angel that was standing here, 55:56 what were you praying?" 55:58 "I prayed that you would die graciously." 56:01 "I would pray that it would be a quick execution, 56:05 and I was praying that you had taken out 56:07 life insurance for your mother-in-law, 56:09 and you know, let me tell you something, 56:11 whenever you begin to pray for somebody, 56:14 here's what you do. 56:15 You hold them up and you say, here they are God, 56:18 I've been praying for my son, my daughter, my aunt, my uncle, 56:21 my brother, and my sister for years and years. 56:25 Nothing has happened. 56:28 See, it's not the workings of miracles all the time. 56:32 Sometimes it is a sovereign move of God. 56:36 And this is what we need to ask God for. 56:38 If you're out there, and you have somebody 56:40 that you need to stand in for, I want us to pray. 56:44 Father sovereign move, 56:47 move on their lives, whatever it takes, 56:50 move in their lives and show yourself great 56:52 to each and everyone of them father. 56:54 And let each and every person that's in this program tonight, 56:58 that needs to be delivered or family delivered 57:00 from the prison house, let it be so. 57:02 Let us turn loose of them, and give them to God, 57:05 and yet hold onto him through diligent prayer. 57:09 If that's been your prayer, stand on that, give that child, 57:13 give that person to God, and He will honor that gift. |
Revised 2016-05-23