The Atmosphere For Miracles

Come on, let's lift our bibles, wave them around, make Jesus glad in the devil mad.

Let's say this together say heavenly Father, I'm so glad for Sunday morning.

I'm hungry and thirsty for more, more of your presence, more of your word, more of your glory and, yes, more of your miracles.

I thirst to see and feel miracles, and so does this world.

In Jesus' name, amen, you can be seated.

Let's turn in our bibles to the Old Testament.

Today I've got a couple of verses.

First in Zechariah, which is real close to the end of the Old Testament, right before Malachi.

And while you're finding your place there, find Hosea, chapter six, zechariah, chapter 10.

Zechariah 10 · chapter mention

Those of you that come to prayer, you'll know these verses because we pray them on a regular basis.

Zechariah 10, one it says Ascii of the Lord reign in the time of the latter reign, so the Lord shall make bright clouds and give them showers of rain to every one grass in the field.

And then let's look at Hosea, the sixth chapter, just a few pages to the left, and verse one.

I know they're called minor prophets, but I don't call them minor prophets.

They have some major words to say.

So when you see them in heaven, don't call them minor prophets, okay, and he says come and let us return unto the Lord, for he hath torn and he will heal us.

He hath spittin' and he won't bind us up.

After two days will he revive us In the third day?

He will raise us up and we shall live in his sight.

Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord.

His going forth is prepared as the morning, and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and the former reign unto the earth, hallelujah.

And so that's exactly what I'm preaching on this morning the atmosphere for miracles, the atmosphere for miracles.

What a wonderful song to entree into this message.

This message ties in to what we've been preaching the last couple of weeks.

You know, god gave us a mighty word of prophecy about shifting.

Things have shifted on the earth, and we talked about Joel, chapter two.

Be glad then, you children of Zion, for he shall send the rain, not just the former rain, but he will send the former and the latter rain and the latter rain in the first month.

Well, see now that can't be talking about regular agricultural rain, because Israel was an agricultural country.

They couldn't have that much rain at harvest time If they had the two inches that they had at planting season, which is the former rain, and they had the 14 inches that needed to fall during the time before harvest, which is the harvest rain.

So you gotta have a lot of moisture in those plants.

Once they get up to certain size and height, they're sucking a lot of moisture out of the ground, and so God would always reward obedience to his covenant with rain at the proper time.

But when he talks about the former and the latter rain together, well, there's no way that that's talking about natural rain and natural crops.

Because why?

Because if you had that much rain at harvest time, you wouldn't be able to harvest your crops.

They'd rot in the field, you wouldn't be able to get out there, you'd be muddy, sloppy.

I grew up in South Texas and rain is not as plentiful there as it is here in Houston.

We get almost twice as much.

Did you know?

The average rainfall in Corpus Christi is 25 inches a year, even though they're right on the coast, and the average rainfall in Houston is more like 50 something inches.

It's double.

But down there they have these huge, huge crops of sorghum and grain and all of that, and they've got to have the rain at the right time too, and I've been down there when they had too much rain at the end, right at the end, and then they just bogged down and they can't get to it.

They can't the combine harvesters can't run them, or huge machines have you ever seen a big old double tires on each end trying to float above the surface of that wet soil?

But when it's just rained, and rained 10 inches all at once, no harvest, it rots, it gets overripe.

It's no good, it has to be harvested right on time.

So God is a God of strategic timing.

So when he talks about the former and the latter rain, as he said here, he will come as the former and the latter rain.

Jesus is coming as the former and the latter rain together.

Are you with me now?

You've heard that we've always said the former and the latter rain together, and I'm not talking about the weather.

The holy ghost rain is coming down on.

Maybe we used to sing that 20 years ago, if it could.

Little song just a little ahead of its time.

I believe we're right on the beam right now.

So I wanted to talk about these things the atmosphere for miracles and what it takes to have that atmosphere and there's I get to the three points that I have.

First, it takes prayer.

You've got to have a.

You only pray for what you greatly desire.

You know, if you don't greatly desire something, you don't really.

You don't really pray like you need to.

You just kind of, yeah, lord, it'd be nice to you, don't really.

What do you really want, what do you desire?

And that's what you really pray for.

That's what you contend for is what you greatly desire.

One of the intents of this message is turn up the knob on your desire for the return of the Lord.

The church needs to wake up.

That song said it.

Hey, wake up, awake, he is coming.

I like to use my wife and I as examples of just being looking forward to getting married.

But I was at A&M and we had our wedding set for June the 29th.

We had the date, but I was still at A&M, going to school, and I had her picture, her engagement picture, that we put in the Referio timely remarks that they announced her engagement to John Griner.

She finally caught me, hand, cuffed me, asked me no, she didn't do any of that.

I did all of the chasing and she did all the running for quite a while.

But I had a calendar.

I had a big old calendar on my wall in that old crummy Mitchell Hall.

I remember that they tore it down.

That's how bad it was at A&M Mitchell Hall.

No trace of it ever.

That's just too crummy for today's students.

They have to have the latest stuff.

Today we had the old timing man.

That thing was built like in 1905.

It had an old radiator, steam radiator for heat and, of course, no air conditioning.

Thank you very much.

You had the windows.

And so I had a big old calendar with big date.

Each month had big dates, the first through the 31st.

And I just started barking those days down, going to school and I'm thinking man, one more day.

And I'd flip through the calendar and say June the 20th.

See, I was ready.

I was desirous of being mayor.

How many of you desirous to see Jesus like that?

You're counting.

See, he gave us a countdown starting in 2001.

He said this is the premier year.

This is the first in a series of years.

I didn't understand that at the time when he gave that revelation to me, but it was the countdown.

Have you ever seen that movie where the teenagers go out and they tap into the national security computer and it's an old 80s movie, and they start playing this game called nuclear countdown.

And so they actually start the nuclear countdown and they go into the room where the general's there and Def Con.

We've had to move to Def Con five today.

Well, def Con five for Def Con three, two, one, and then the button is pushed for nuclear war.

Why do you think they have all these Def Con numbers, you see?

Well, because they have to prepare for the final nuclear war that they all, they all have to prepare for this.

Now it's not as I think we're kind of asleep when it comes to that right now.

Can you imagine Biden having the button?

Can you imagine somebody following him around every day with that button?

He's the only one that can push it.

I think if we thought more about how much power these people have, we'd be a little more careful about who we vote for.

In fact, we'd be more careful about who runs for office, much less who we vote for.

Anyway, getting off the subject, tell them that count.

Then you know there's kind of Def Con.

Def Con is getting down to Def Con one.

I'm telling Jesus coming soon, and the devil knows it, and he is coming unglued.

That's what we're seeing in society.

They don't identify it as Jesus coming soon.

They just identify it that all their precious things that they hold dear are getting attacked and getting removed, and that is the shifting that has occurred.

There's a shifting and that shifting has occurred because of prayer.

And the second necessity is faith.

You've got to have some faith, you've got to believe something.

Prayer without any faith behind it, that doesn't do any good.

But if you know what you're basing your prayer on verse John 5, 14, you ask anything according to his will, he heareth it and we know that if he hears it, this is the confidence that we have in him and we know that if he hears it, then we have that petition that we have requested.

So when we pray for rain this is, we're told if you want miracles, rain, we already determine what rain is.

What is rain?

Well, rain is a type of the Holy Ghost coming down and creating miracles, signs and wonders.

Someone said you know that healing is God's dinner bell.

You want sinners to come to the banquet.

You start getting sinners healed in your meetings.

I've seen it, I've been all over.

I've been to Canada, I've been to where you ring the dinner bell and people get healed.

We don't get them saved first, we get them healed first and then they're ready to get saved.

A lot of people have it totally back.

Even if they believe in healing which most of these evangelicals don't even believe in miracles.

They just think that they get a crowd of people and preach just a simple gospel, with no confirmation, no power, just to get saved, and they have people rush and they say the little sinner's prayer.

Are they really saved?

Most of them are really not.

They go right back to their own unbelief.

They go right back to their sin.

They go right back to living with their girlfriend or their boyfriend.

They go right back to fornicating.

They go right back to whatever they came out of.

Why?

Because there's no confirming miracles.

We've got to have them.

I said we've got to have them.

They're not option.

So what does it take?

Well, we have to have prayer, we have to have faith, we have to know what we're praying, we have to have an expectation that we're being heard.

And let me tell you something People have been praying and standing for the end of all these abortion and all these other things for a long time and, by the way.

It's not the end of abortion.

That's a lie.

They just said it's gonna go back to the States.

That's all they said.

They did not say that the Supreme Court now has forbidden abortion.

That's a lie.

That's what the other that's the Planned Parenthood and all the other nut jobs.

They're just ginning up the unsophisticated, unlearned, unwashed group of people that don't know any better.

And they're out there.

Get your hands off my body.

Well, nobody would dare touch your body.

I'm looking at it and it's pretty ugly.

Can't imagine anybody touching you for any reason.

Have you noticed?

I mean, I'm sorry, but I mean, god Lee, that was not now.

I know I take it back, sort of, but anyway, just an observation.

I know what she looked like and I wanted to live the rest of my life with Gladys and God helped me and I wouldn't even say here she is the little Baptist girl.

She didn't know what she was getting into.

She stuck with me 54 years last month.

Praise God, it worked.

I said it worked.

Well, we're gonna be married to Jesus.

Are you as excited about being His bride, the bride of Christ?

Oh, hallelujah, come on, let's lift her hands right now.

Even so, lord, come quickly.

Maranatha Couldn't be quick enough for me.

I'm telling you, boy, I was ready, ready.

My friends couldn't understand why I left the bachelor party so early.

I mean, I just went by.

We had, you know big thing out at Lines Club Park in Referio.

It was about 100 degrees out there at 730 at night.

It was so hot.

I went by there, kind of made a appearance and I disappeared.

Man, I didn't hang around.

I didn't wanna be hungover.

All the rest of them are hungover from my wedding.

I was not.

I did not.

You know, I didn't wanna do that.

I wanted to be alert, I wanted to be ready.

Are you alert?

Have you see that song?

Just say let's wake up.

He's coming.

There's a shifting that's occurred.

Rain is falling.

There's a power under the surface of the tsunami that we're tapping into that's gonna create the greatest miracles this world has ever seen.

The dead are gonna rise again.

I mean, the sicknesses and diseases are gonna be healed.

You know we're importing sicknesses into America that we've eradicated for 100 years.

Polio has shown up again in New York City.

Where did it come from?

It came from countries that don't have any healthcare.

We have the world's greatest healthcare, which, basically, has been decimated since Obama took it over and ruined it, and then it's just about finished off.

Well, thank God, we've got the best healthcare that there is.

Hallelujah, we live in a house of health.

We live in a house of miracles.

Praise God, amen.

They're still head and shoulders above any place else on the earth.

Praise God, and so faith.

You gotta have faith.

You gotta have prayer, and then you've gotta have obedience.

You gotta do what the Bible says to do.

The church needs to take its rightful place in the world and not be hemmed up and contained within the church walls.

This is the lie.

This is the thing that's lacking.

Is that, oh, we got separation of church in state?

No, we don't have that.

That's not true.

That's nowhere in the Constitution.

It's a lie and always has been a lie.

What was talked about was Jefferson wrote a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association.

They wrote a letter to him.

He was one of the founders, he was one of the guys that signed the Declaration and the Constitution, and they were concerned about the state of Georgia I believe it was that was gonna interfere with their Baptist beliefs and they were afraid that the government was going to intrude and establish a certain religion as a state religion.

Every state of the union, the 13 colonies, every one of them had something in their state constitutions about God and about Christianity, but they had no desire.

They came from England where they had a state religion.

Don't you understand history?

King Henry VIII took the Catholic Church because they told him he couldn't divorce his wife, and he took them out and replaced them with the Church of England, which is almost virtually identical to the Catholic Church and always accept the Pope.

There's no Pope.

The Pope is the king.

The head of the Church of England is the king or the queen.

That's the head, that's the official head.

And so they didn't want that.

The colonists didn't want that.

The people that came here came for freedom.

They came to be able to worship God anyway.

They chose and they didn't want government interfering.

So there's a wall in the church against the government coming in the door and saying you've got to close for COVID.

You got to mask up, you got to, you got to do any of it.

Well, we didn't do any of it and we're not going to ever do it, because that right comes from God.

It doesn't come from a king.

We don't have a king.

We have the king of kings, are y'all with me now?

So it takes more than just sitting in the pew.

We've got to get out and evangelize.

Every area of society, including the political realm, has to be done.

I said it has to be.

Well, pastor, I thought you were talking about revi that's exactly what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about revival in the church and reformation in the world.

I mean until the church awakens, until the church begins to pray on a wide scale, until the church begins to operate in faith on a wide scale and what faith has got to be taught, and then until the church begins to obey God and go into all the world and not say, well, the political world.

There's a separation At church and state.

We can't go in the pli that's a bunch of baloney.

We should be totally involved in the political realm.

We ought to be running for office.

That's what they believed and the founders believed.

That's what they all wrote in their writing.

So what you've heard about it is primarily a bunch of lies by Democrats who the Constitution has always been a problem.

I remember listening to Rush Limbaugh the first time I ever heard him in 1988.

He said some things that I mean I just almost turned my car over.

I'd never heard anybody say that the way he said it.

He was really a prophet.

I know he wasn't a very religious man.

He did have faith.

He didn't know how to get healed.

He died too soon.

But I'm gonna tell you something he had a huge influence over this nation and I believe he had a word that God put in him that he wouldn't stop saying it, and one of the things he said was that the Democrats can't stand the Constitution.

It's an impediment to their desires.

They have to get rid of the Constitution because with the Constitution in place, they can't do what they wanna do.

So that's a good piece of information to keep in mind.

And when we cooperate and reach across the aisle with them, that's what we're doing.

We're just cooperating with people who hate our founders, they hate our God, they hate the way this country was founded, they hate everything about this country.

They wanna completely change it and transform it into Venezuela.

Or take a pick Soviet Union, just take a pick of any communist country.

That's what they want.

They wanna be the head of that and they want you and I to be at the bottom of the heap, and they sure wanna shut down the church.

Everywhere there's communism, there's no church.

The church is forced to go underground, and I've been here in this too for 40 years.

Well, the church is always strongest when it's persecuted.

You mean when it's driven underground?

You're full of beans.

It's not effective underground, are you kidding?

No, it needs to be standing on a hill.

We don't need to hide our bushel under a basket.

We need to be standing up on the top of the Washington Monument.

Are y'all with me now?

See, that's revival for the church, reformation for the world.

The world doesn't have a chance of having a great harvest without the church awakening.

I love that song.

Oh, it's setting me up really good.

So everybody say prayer and faith and obedience.

So let's talk about prayer.

So all rain comes from prayer.

He said in Zachariah says pray you for rain in the time of the latter rain.

So when is the time of the latter rain, lord?

I don't know what time it is.

Well, jose, I told you what time it was.

He said after the second year and in the third year.

So one year Peter got this revelation and second Peter, one day with the Lord is a thousand years and a thousand years is one day.

So we're living in the third day.

The 21st century is the beginning of the third day.

That's exactly when he said the Lord was gonna come.

As the farmer in the latter rain, jose, I said the timing, we're in the timing.

I'm not giving you a date.

I'm telling you, though, we're in the timing.

There are things that people thought they understood about the coming of the Lord, and they prophesied the coming of the Lord.

They said this, they said that, but let me tell you, I'm not prophesying the coming of the Lord.

He is coming.

I'm just agreeing with the Bible.

Don't you believe that Jesus knew something about his own coming?

He gave them clues as to what was gonna happen in the earth before he came.

These are the signs of my perusia, my glorious appearing.

He said there's gonna be wars and rumors of wars.

There's gonna be earthquakes and famines and pestilences.

We're seeing it right now.

Here's a nation that was cleansed of most communicable diseases, and now we've got just an explosion of every kind of thing you can think of.

Why?

Because we're importing it.

There's no health checks.

What good is a mask if everybody coming across the border doesn't have one?

So there's no science involved.

There is.

This is nothing to do with science, amen.

And so if the church doesn't resist this, the church has gotta be on the front edge of resisting this intrusion into our rights.

Because why?

Because it all came from God.

If we tell God, you know God, we just don't respect your rights that you gave us.

We're just gonna give them away so we can be safe, amen, that's just.

God is displeased.

Well, you know, the church has gotta turn it around, and I believe that God's got a plan for the church to turn around.

See, I see these people, and some of them are coming out.

There's a fresh wave of lies being spoken about the word of faith, calling it a cult, and some of you have encountered some of your friends that you like and love, and from different denominations or non denominations, and now they're listen, you don't be worried about it, don't even.

You don't even feel the need to defend it.

Just look, I believe what I believe, no matter who it identifies me with or separates me from, and there's a separation.

I mean, the weed has got to be separated from the tears.

Let them both grow together till the end.

Jesus said don't you think he knows a little bit about the end time, harvest and what it's gonna take?

Some of these people are not gonna make the rapture Right.

I said some of these people.

I don't know all of them, I don't even know who they are, I just I hear them, I read Some of these people.

They're the same people that believe that the church is gonna depart and where, and God is just coming for a little remnant of people, and they're the remnant.

I think they've got it completely backwards.

I think they're gonna be left behind and the people that are doing what I'm talking about this morning are gonna be the ones that go up, cause he's coming back for people that are praying.

He's coming back for people with faith and people that are obedient to His Word.

Are you with me now?

So prayer it proceeds all reign.

He said pray in the time of the latter reign.

So the time of the latter reign is right now.

But when you go back to the book of Acts, what happened to the book of Acts?

Well, the apostles.

They waved bye, bye to Jesus.

You know, on the 40th day after His resurrection, he ascended into heaven.

Angels came, he went up in a cloud and then an angel appeared to Him.

So why stand you here gazing up into the cloud?

Get busy.

So they got busy and they went and rented up a room.

They got 120 people together and they started praying.

Now, what did Jesus have told them before he left?

He said you know, terry, you in Jerusalem, until you be endued with power from on high, for John, truly baptized with water.

But you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence and you shall receive power.

After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you and you shall be witness unto me, unto Jerusalem, both in Jerusalem and Judea and the other post parts.

So notice, he said both.

He didn't say in concentric circles, he said all at once, on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost did finally fall.

When did he fall?

He fell right on time.

We talked about it last week.

50 days, so 10 days.

They were up there in the upper room for 10 days, from the 40th day to the 50th day.

The 50th day was what it was the feast of engathering, the harvest festival.

That's where every Jew from everywhere gathered in Jerusalem bring the first fruits.

They brought the first fruits, and that's what the Jewish law said they had to do, and that's what they did.

So when the Holy Ghost fell on the 120 in the upper room.

They came down and then it says Peter standing up.

So they were drunk and all these people from every tribe and tongue and nation were gathered in Jerusalem.

Why?

Because of the Jewish feast day.

Why, because God is a God of strategy.

He doesn't do random, he does everything on appointed days and times.

That was in the New Testament, a Cairo's the Greek word Cairo's moment, appointed time In the Hebrew it's Moed, appointed time, about to say appointed time.

There's an appointed time for the Lord to come back.

It's gonna fulfill the Jewish feast day.

I just believe that.

And the one that is obvious to me is the Feast of Trumpets, which happens to be the Jewish New Year.

They have two new years, by the way.

They have a New Year in September, which is Rosh Hashanah, and then they have a civic New Year, so they have two new years.

It's kind of confusing, but the Jewish New Year, where they had the Feast of Trumpets, is the New Year, so he's coming in the first month.

It just kind of tells you it comes together.

We can expect I'm not looking at this September, but May, september 2023 and 2024, I mean, you know this could be happening.

I said it could be happening.

I said it could be happening.

I don't not prophesying that it is, but we ought to be ready.

And when he comes back, he's not coming back for a little old, pitiful remnant that's back sled.

That doesn't believe about 25% of the New Testament, like most churches.

They've ripped out all the miracles.

They've ripped out the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

Most of the people that you're having trouble with are not baptized in the Holy Ghost, so you can't depend on their veracity of scripture at all.

Don't even let yourself feel bad.

Just keep on.

Just shake the dust off your feet and keep moving.

If one of your best friends has started giving you, accusing you of coming to a cult, this is not a cult.

This is the Word of God.

They don't like the idea of the authority of the believer because they like to blame God for everything.

That's the way they roll and they're not willing to change.

So we just have to leave them behind.

Get on down the road.

Maybe down the road they'll hear something that will make them recover of themselves.

I mean, the Holy Ghost is not finished, he's just getting started.

We're not just we're not turning our backs on them exactly, but when people say that to you.

That is rude number one.

It's presumptuous and it's a lie.

So I just don't.

I don't stand in line for give people.

I love people, but I don't stand in line for a second dose of that kind of dishonor.

Quit messing with them, let them go.

Let them be happy with their unbelief, all right.

I don't know who that's for, but it's for somebody, all right.

So prayer preceded.

They prayed for 10 days.

How would you like to be in a prayer meeting where nobody speaks in tongues?

How do you pray for 10 days?

You know, I can.

Just you know they.

They cast lots for Matthias.

He took Judas's place.

That was the first order of business act, chapter one, and then it just kind of skips over the 10 days.

You don't really know what all happened, but it must have been a boring time.

I mean, come on, they don't.

What do they pray?

What are we doing here, lord?

What in the world?

Hey, I got kind of hungry.

Can you see somebody send up a load of falafels?

I need some falafel up here.

Give me a couple of swarmas.

You know they were hungry 10 days.

But on that 10th day, on the 50th day, the Holy Ghost came.

He came like a rushing mighty wind filled all the house where they were seated.

They weren't even kneeling down, they were sitting down.

We have all our religious ideas how we have to.

You know, I pray standing up most of the time.

Most of my praying is walking around praying.

I hardly ever get on my knees.

Brother Hagen always talks about going on his knees.

I spent so much time on my knees as a Catholic boy and a Catholic altar boy that I don't prefer my knees.

Okay, it's just.

I'm sorry.

We had those old kneelers that didn't even have pads on them.

They had like a one by four Kneel on that thing and the altar that I kneeled at was I was an altar boy, I mean it, man.

That was marble Kneel on marble man it.

You know your shins get bruised right here.

Your knees are all.

So I like walking around praying.

And they were sitting down and the Holy Ghost filled them and they all got drunk and they started speaking in other tongues that all these people understood.

Remember what it says, acts, chapter two.

And they heard them.

These unlearned men speak in their own native tongue of the wonderful works of God.

That's what they were speaking in tongues the wonderful works of God, that's what we need to be talking about right now.

We need to be giving people the good news.

Oh, honey, you know it's not about abortion.

You know God loves you and he loves your child.

And you know what.

He loves you just as much as he loves your child.

He doesn't love the child more than you, he loves you both.

See, I believe people will respond to love if we just get our anger out of it.

You know I'm angry too that all these millions of children have been slaughtered.

It's terrible.

I hate the surrounding industry that has made billions and billions and billions of dollars worldwide of the death of these children.

They're trafficking in their tissues.

They're in these so-called vaccinations.

Those body parts are in there.

That DNA is in those.

It's not a vaccine, is it?

Because I've never heard of a vaccine where after two months you need a booster?

I had a lot of vaccines in my life.

I don't remember dip theory.

Have I ever had a booster?

I don't remember.

I had a shot for a Salk vaccine when I was like five years old and I've never had another shot for polio in my entire life.

So that's my idea of a vaccine is something that comes in your body and that immunizes you.

And this thing that they're peddling doesn't immunize anybody against anything.

In fact, it increases the chances.

So it can't be a vaccine.

They lie.

Oh, I tell you, we're living in the end days.

We need to have the wonderful works of God.

So prayer, prayer gets you in charge.

What is prayer?

It's joining forces with God.

So then they started.

It says here in Acts, chapter two turn over there real quick.

I want you to see this this morning about prayer, because it's so.

It's the foundation.

Prayer alone is not enough.

I'll just say that right now.

Prayer by itself is not enough.

Some ministries just the prayer.

Prayer is just prayer.

Well, okay, that's fine, but there's got to be something else, there's got to be other things.

So Acts, chapter two, it says verse 42, and they continued steadfastly.

Who did?

Well, the people that God say.

3000 people got saved.

Now, a lot of those 3000 people were the ones that were in town for the first time in their lives.

They were in town for the event of the first fruits.

So they went back to where they were.

So the gospel spread immediately when they went back home, but I'm assuming that a good number of Jews were still in Jerusalem.

They're the same people that cried out, crucify him, and they get saved.

On the day of Pentecost, peter stood up, and 3000 of them.

Boy, that's a pretty good.

All that's a boatload of fish, isn't it?

And so it says they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine, that's, teaching and fellowship, and in breaking a bread and in prayers.

So they had regular fellowship, they had regular prayer, they had regular teaching.

Are you with me now?

That was the church in Jerusalem, the brand new baby church that the Holy Ghost had rushed in to take over and to make all of them a house of miracles.

Because that's what they became.

They became the first house of miracles, and so you keep reading there.

And fear came upon every soul.

Many wonders and signs Isn't that right?

That's an evidence that rain has fallen when you see wonders and signs.

And so the apostles were done by the apostles.

The believers didn't know yet.

They hadn't been taught long enough for them to be able to do the work of the ministry.

But so the apostles demonstrated how it ought to be, and all that believed were together and had all things common and sold their possessions and goods, and part of them, to all men, as every man had need, and they continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house.

Did eat their meat with sadness and a river of tears about their past sins.

No, they're so glad to be saved, they're so glad to be redeemed, to be in Christ.

And they break in bread from house to house, did their meat with gladness and singleness as part, praising God and having favor with all the people Favor.

See, I believe that's another thing.

It's about to shift.

The church is gonna have favor in the direction of the right harvest.

Right now we're being persecuted.

Right now we're being talked about.

Right now we have a lot of opposition.

But let me tell you something this thing, this tsunami, this shifting, this thing that is occurring right now in the spirit we hadn't seen it yet, but it's on its way.

It's gonna cause favor to come on the church and we're gonna be able to speak to people.

The wonderful works of God, woo hallelujah, you know you get somebody healed of cancer.

They're gonna be glad, they're gonna listen to you.

And the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be saved.

So then you know, you keep reading there and you find out that Peter and John went up to the temple at the hour of prayer.

See prayer.

And on the way they see the man at the gate beautiful, had never walked, 40 years old, never had lame all of his life, and he got healed.

He went walking and leaping and praising.

God been the temple and so everybody came running up.

What's going on?

What are y'all doing?

What are you looking at us?

Peter said he started preaching.

What are you looking at us about?

By our own power and our own name, we've done this, but let it be known unto you by the name of Jesus Christ, whom you grieve about.

Has this notable?

You know they called it a notable miracle in chapter four, because nobody could deny that this man had been healed, nobody could deny that something had happened.

We're gonna see notable miracles, but we've gotta pray.

Say miracles is part of the rain.

Are you with me now?

So what happened?

He preached and 5,000 men got saved.

I like to say 20,000 people, because they had wives and kids.

You talk about another boatload.

So you got the early church within just a few days and they've got in excess of 25,000 members Out of they're mostly Jews, the same people that said crucify him.

Are you with me now?

Oh, you talk about favor, god's rain coming down from heaven, and they prayed it in.

So then they got persecuted again.

They arrested him, said don't you dare teach and preaching that name, Don't you bring this man's blood on our head?

And they said well, you know, if it's illegal, you look to that, but we cannot help the teaching preaching that name.

We're gonna continue to do it.

Then they had their prayer meeting in Acts, chapter four, and the Lord, behold their threatenings, see what they're saying to us and grant with all bonus that we may preach thy word and that signs and wonders will be done in the name of your holy child, jesus.

And exactly that's exactly what happened.

They did the miracle after miracle.

They had great mega signs and wonders.

Great grace was upon them all.

What was it?

It was because of prayer.

In fact, that prayer meeting, the entire place shook with the power of God.

I wanna be in that kind of a prayer meeting.

I think we've got some coming up.

I think, if we'll stay in prayer over this move of God that we have right in front of us, we're in the season of it and I want you to be encouraged.

I mean, there's nothing in the natural that would encourage us.

We've got to get our encouragement from God's word and what his prophets said, and Jesus is the main one that said it.

Are you with me now?

Everybody say prayer.

So they had great grace, great prosperity, great power.

Not one of them among them lacked.

Everybody say prayer.

You know you always pray what you greatly desire.

So if you greatly desire it, pray, pray, help us pray.

Come Thursday night.

We don't have Wednesday night church anymore.

Officially we have a live stream.

But you don't have to come.

You don't have to come down here and drive.

You know, wednesday nights, for 27 years before COVID, we had Wednesday night service.

I questioned the Lord.

He never would have answered me, he never would give me peace to not have it.

He said, well, you know, and I just felt like, well, however many people are here, it's worth having.

But really, when you think about it, all the volunteers, we had to have children church, we have to have security, we have to have ushers.

We have to have a full compliment of volunteer ministries and most everybody works and they have to come from work.

Some of them come on their way home from work.

They don't have time to go all the way home and eat and come back and all that kind of thing, and so I just didn't feel like adding Wednesday night back after.

We just went ahead and stuck with the live stream on Wednesday night.

How many of you watch live stream on Wednesday night?

A few of you More, who used to come than what, just raised their hands.

So maybe we need to change our mind.

I don't know, I can always change my mind if the Holy Ghost changes his.

But Thursday night is important because it's prayer, and Thursday night we pray over the nation, we pray over politics.

You know, we've been praying over James.

James ran to be the chair of the seventh auditorial district of Harris County Republican Party.

He was reelected on Saturday and he has another two year term.

He's done a whole lot of good, but we support that in prayer.

And he's been talking about how smooth everybody, everybody that goes to these meetings that's never been this smooth.

I mean the state Republican he mentioned it last Sunday, but the state Republican convention just two weeks ago it was just.

There were so many things that had to be done and we've got people right here in this congregation that worked on the platform and we've got planks in the platform that are powerful.

And it's not perfect, but it's one of the best platforms the Republican Party has ever had in history.

It's biblical in most ways.

And where does it come from?

The grassroots, which basically spirit filled Christians.

That's what has to happen.

It has to happen nationally.

It has to happen.

Well, that's just too far, we're too far gone.

Well, you're taking the same people that are not fulfilled with the Holy Ghost.

It's wore out.

Most of the Bible only believe about 25% of it and you're believing them.

I don't believe them.

I believe Jesus.

Jesus said look on the fields, they're wide, all ready to harvest.

He is not coming for a little old, pitily amount of grass in the field.

There's a bunch of grass growing and the rain is falling on the grass.

That's what it said.

It's gonna be a lot, it's gonna be lots of harvest.

Are you with me?

So we pray for miracles, we pray.

We're to pray for laborers in the harvest.

We prayed over some of his position, james's positions.

He's got some committees.

So we prayed that prayer.

Pray for laborers in the harvest.

See, that's how we look at this.

We don't look at it as politics.

We look at it as a mission field.

Some of you are going like this, some of you are going uh-huh.

My job's to wake you up.

My job is to ring the bell, my job.

I can't make you do anything, I'm the pastor, not the master, but if I put it out there then you know the Holy Ghost can take it and make it real to you.

All right, the second thing we need is faith.

I think about when we have revival.

Jesus came, you know.

He went to his own hometown, stood up in the synagogue Mark, chapter four.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he's adored me, went what you know.

He stood up in front of his hometown synagogue, where he grew up.

He's the carpenter's son, mary's still there.

His brothers and sisters are still there in the town.

I've been there in Nazareth, been to that place.

Muslims took it over.

I don't think you can go there anymore safely.

But I stood on the brow of the hill that they took to try to throw Him off.

They took Him to the brow of a hill that overlooks the valley of Jezreel, where all these major battles in history have occurred, and on one end of it is a mount of transfiguration.

Oh, I mean just goosebumps all over me when I stood there at that place looked straight down about a hundred feet and that's where they wanted to throw Jesus off the brow of the hill because he was acting like he's the Messiah.

They didn't want to accept that.

And Mark chapter six.

They said who does he think he is?

Isn't this the carpenter's son?

Isn't his mother and brethren still with us today?

They knew that He'd done miracles.

We know he's done miracles, but Messiah, oh, you've gone too far.

You're not.

No, what?

They didn't say it in so many words, but they did not honor Jesus when you do a deep dive into there.

And he marveled at their unbelief.

What was their unbelief?

Their unbelief was doubt as to who he was.

They doubted the Word of God.

They had their own interpretation of who the Messiah should look like, what he should be, what he should do, and he fit the scriptural definition of the Messiah down to every detail.

And they were without excuse to judge Him other than what he was he's the Messiah.

They didn't accept Him and Jesus marveled at their unbelief.

And he could there do no mighty work because of it.

So if we're gonna have miracles, we've got to have some faith operated.

So what was Jesus' response?

Did he throw a temper tantrum?

Did he call down fire from heaven and vaporize Nazareth.

No, he called His 12 and he sent Him out two in two to go into all the cities and towns and villages, preaching the gospel of kingdom, teaching and healing.

He said freely, you have received.

Freely, give tread upon serpents and scorpions.

I give you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Don't take anything for your journey.

Just go to the house that they receive.

You, just stay there, eat what they give you.

Don't take any extra clothing and if you go to a place that doesn't receive you, just shake off the dust of your feet and go to the next place.

Don't sit around and try to win people over that are embalmed in unbelief.

See this religious idea.

We got to pray for everybody's salvation.

You know what?

They live in a land that was a Christian nation.

We're one nation under God.

They've had it all their life and they've decided to whatever that level.

They've decided not to believe it.

I'm not gonna waste my time with them.

I'm gonna concentrate on where the ripe harvest and there is a ripe harvest the Holy Ghost will lead us there.

So all unbelief has a remedy in its teaching teaching the Bible.

Preaching is for the unbelievers.

Takes preaching, boy, I tell you we need preaching, but the church needs more teaching and that's why my job is to teach you the Bible, to unfold it so that your faith can be built, and that's why I teach on faith and healing and authority of the believer and all these things so much.

God told me years ago.

He said teach what you take for granted.

Quit trying to come up with something brand new.

You've got a revelation, teach it.

Don't go back in here.

Just redo everything and try to have some fancy something they preach in some Bible school, somewhere, some doctorate divinity program.

You're not doing that.

You've got to get your people strengthened in their faith.

That's my job, so that you can receive everything God has for you.

Amen, and then give it all away to others.

So prayer, faith and obedience.

Somebody said the book of Acts was written because men acted.

They didn't just pray, they didn't just teach the little flock there, but they went out, they obeyed.

And I think about Stephen and Philip.

They were ushers, they weren't, you know well.

But Pastor Philip was an evangelist.

Well, not right then.

He was an evangelist later in the book of Acts.

But when he went to Samaria he was an usher and they were scattered abroad because of the persecution around Stephen.

Stephen stirred up a hornet's nest, kind of like we did when we opened during COVID.

We had the news media out there in our front porch trying to catch us and look at them.

They're not socially distant.

Look at their hugging in the parking lot.

Oh, eww, eat your heart out Now.

They were scattered abroad.

Believers were scattered abroad, except the apostles.

They stayed with the flock in Jerusalem.

And so Stephen goes and preaches, does great signs and wonders among the Jews and told them how to eat the cabbage.

They didn't go over to Wells because they stoned him to death.

And Philip, though, he went to Samaria, which Samaria was always looked down upon by Jesus.

That's why Jesus told the good Samaritan story.

It just rubbed all the Pharisees the wrong way.

He was always poking them.

You ever see the three Stooges, you know?

And they poke him in the eye like that, slap him in the face.

That's kind of like what Jesus do.

The Pharisees Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam.

And so they acted on what they knew.

They didn't wait, they went out there, and the Bible says that Philip preached Christ unto them and they gave heed to the things that Philip spoke, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

Everybody say miracles.

See, this is what the church must have.

We've got to have miracles, signs and wonders to confirm, to be our confirmation that we're speaking the truth.

Without that, if all we've got is apologetics which I like apologetics I was.

You know who's that?

Kirk.

What's his name?

Charlie Kirk.

I was listening to.

I like him at turning point and he's one of those guys.

He's a Christian and he can debate Christianity, he's good at it.

But that won't do it.

It's got its place, but what we have to have is the gospel with demonstration.

We've got to have reign, we've got to have the miracles amen, and it comes from great desire enough to pray for it.

And then the faith that we have to build, not only in ourselves but others.

And when we're ministering to others, to get rid of people that are unbelievers, separate.

When you're ministering to somebody and there's somebody there trying to interfere, take that person.

Well, that's what Jesus did on a number of occasions.

He got rid of the unbelievers and ministered one-on-one with a blind man, one-on-one with a man that was deaf and dumb, and with JIRI says daughter, he got rid of all the fake mourners.

He got rid of them.

He cleansed the atmosphere of unbelief so that he could minister to one person.

Everybody say faith.

And then the last one, of course, is obedience.

Let's just give our testimony.

You know Paul was I was just reading this in the book of Acts yesterday.

He stood before King Agrippa and he gave his testimony about the road to Damascus and I mean it was powerful, just his testimony.

He didn't teach him the word, he didn't.

He just gave his testimony.

About noon, okay, a light fell on me, brighter than the sun.

Who art thou Lord?

I am Jesus, whom thou persecutes.

He gave his testimony.

At the end of it he said, paul, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian, a king, I tell you, god will set you before people of great strategic importance.

They're not any more important than a child, they're not any more important than anybody else.

But God has a strategy and I look forward to the day when we see the full manifestation of the reign of heaven.

But it's only gonna come as we pray, as we teach ourselves and others faith and as we obey the word of God, to get out of our comfort zone and get out of our comfort zone.

Let's talk about Jesus.

Let's talk about what he's done for us.

We don't have to go into a bunch of theology and a bunch of doctrine, let's just give our testimony.

Learn how to give your testimony what Jesus has done for you in a very short, compact way and you'll be surprised at how powerful it is.

And you can just touch people on the palm of their hand or on the shoulder.

You don't have to go like this, like Brother Shambach, with two big old hands were like hams.

You know he had hams for hands.

I saw a 400 pound woman one night at Lakewood.

Brother Shambach walked down the aisle and he popped her on either side of her head and she rolled to the floor.

There was no catching this woman.

There's no catching.

I mean, if you can catch a bowling ball, you can catch it.

But I mean just roll.

No, you don't have to do that, you just touch them.

Take two fingers, just touch them.

You got them on the forehead.

Just touch, make contact, contact and transmission.

Are you getting anything out of this today?

And this is the atmosphere for miracles.

Come on, lift your hands and receive Hallelujah.

You know God has a part and we have a part.

That's what I'm talking about the Godward side and the manward side.

We can't do God's part and he can't do our part.

So what, we have a part to play.