Prevailing Power

Lift our Bibles up, as is our custom around here, wave our Bibles around, make Jesus glad, the devil mad.

Let's say this together say Heavenly Father, I've tuned in on purpose on Wednesday night.

Sunday's not enough for me.

I'm hungry midweek for the Word and for the Spirit, and I know it's the Word and the Spirit that's putting me over.

Greater is he that's in me than he that is in the world, and he is activated.

That is the Holy Spirit, activated by the Word in my mouth, in Jesus' name, amen, amen, all right, I want you to turn in your Bibles, please, to Acts, chapter 19,.

Acts 19 · chapter mention

And we'll start reading with verse one Hallelujah.

And it came to pass, thank God.

Didn't come to stay, came to pass, Praise God.

And it came to pass that, while Apollos was at Corinth, paul, having passed through the upper coasts, came to Ephesus and, finding certain disciples, he said unto them have you received the Holy Ghost since you believe?

And they said unto him we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.

And he said unto them unto what, then?

Were you baptized?

And they said unto John's baptism.

And then said Paul, john verily baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him, which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.

And so when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came upon them and they spoke with tongues and prophesied, and all the men were about 12.

They went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.

But when diverse were hardened and believed not but spoke evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them and separated the disciples disputing daily in the school of one tyrannous.

And this continued by the space of two years, so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

And God brought special miracles by the hands of Paul, so that from his body were brought under the sick handkerchiefs or aprons and the diseases departed from them and the evil spirits went out of them.

Then certain of the vagabond Jews exorcists took upon them to call over them, which had evil spirits, the name of the Lord Jesus, saying we adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches.

And there were about seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew and chief of the priests which did so.

And the evil spirit answered and said Jesus, I know, and Paul, I know, but who are you and the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them and overcame them and prevailed against them so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus and fear fell on them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified and many that believed came and confessed and showed their deeds, and many of them also, which used curious arts, brought their books together and burned them before all.

And they counted the price of them and found it 50,000 pieces of silver.

So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed Verse 23, and the same time there arose no small stir about that way.

And so tonight I wanted to share a message entitled Prevailing Power, prevailing Power.

You know where the word of God is given forth.

It always grows, it always prevails and it always causes a great stir.

And you know, preaching the written word reveals the living word.

And you know notice, the baptism of the Holy Ghost came into play.

I like up here in my top margin, says Paul at Ephesus.

This is a count of one place where he was and one place where he was had ignorance.

They didn't know about Jesus, they knew about John the Baptist, they had a zeal, but they didn't have the whole picture.

Then you had a bunch of religious folks and you know, it took a while.

It took two years and three months this whole account, but in the end the Word of God prevailed.

It grew and mightily prevailed.

At one point it looked like the devil was prevailing.

He prevailed over those seven sons of Schema.

A lot of people think the devil is prevailing right now, but let me tell you something he's not prevailing.

If we'll get the Word in our mouth, the Word of God will prevail.

Amen, we can be a prevailing power, and that's what we're talking about tonight.

Prevailing power.

We have that prevailing power.

The Word prevailed means to exercise force, it means to overcome, and that's the church.

The church is designed to exercise force and to overcome.

And you know, then you had special miracles and I just longed to see more miracles.

Right now we need more miracles Wherever we're going to have to be people of the Word of God.

I thank God for the Holy Ghost, but the Holy Ghost is activated when the Word of God is broadcast.

I'm not going to say preach, because sometimes people get an idea in their mind.

They'll say, pastor, but I'm not a preacher.

Yeah, but you can sprinkle, you can broadcast.

You know, I used to have this little.

I don't know, I might still have it somewhere buried in the back of my garage, but I had this little machine where you turn the crank, you put fertilizer in it and I would put the grass fertilizer in it and I'd walk through the yard and turn the crank and it would broadcast the fertilizer.

You know, if you use your hand, it's going to have clumps and you're going to have green spots in your yard.

It's going to look ugly.

So you use a broadcaster.

Well, we can all broadcast the Word of God with our mouth.

We don't have to preach, we can sprinkle.

You know, maybe in the hair salon, you know, you hear somebody that's got a problem.

And you know, honey, the Bible says that don't let your heart be troubled.

You know, let's let me pray for you, okay.

Or maybe you know, just on your job, hey, man, the Bible says we can lay hands on the sick and they'll recumb her.

Come on, let's do it, just be really informal, and then we can do what we know to do.

We can pray in the name of Jesus, we can lay hands on people in the name of Jesus, and so preach simply means to state as fact.

That's all.

That's all it means state something as a fact.

To teach means to explain or illustrate, and I think sometimes we get intimidated, we think we have to be some sort of preacher or teacher, when really we're believers and we can share truth, we can broadcast truth, we can sprinkle people with the Word of God.

You're anointed to do that.

I want to encourage you right now.

Now is the time for the church to speak up.

When we have a chance, when somebody gives you just the littlest chance, then just go ahead and be bold and magnify the name of Jesus.

We ought to be a prevailing wind.

You know I grew up in south Texas.

I've told this story many times and you know when we wanted to go to the beach lived in refurio.

When we wanted to go to the beach, the only beach you know that we'd go to was Rockport.

We'd go to Rockport and you know you'd drive those back roads.

You know country roads down in south Texas and down there the wind blows most of the time.

It's close to the coast and it has blown for so long that these trees, these live oak trees, are growing down there and a lot of them are growing together in one place we call them moths and the wind has shaped those trees to where they look like a gardener has used some sort of a hedge trimmer on them and they they're all shaped in an aerodynamic fashion because the wind has has prevailed and shaped those trees where it looks like they've all grown together, but really they have individual trunks, individual, they're individual trees, but they have one canopy.

It's really an amazing sight.

And so it's like that prevailing south wind that blows all the time.

It's so windy down there that now they've ruined the landscape and built these big wind generators.

It's just yeah.

Every time I go down there now I don't like it because world, world, world kills the birds and it's, you know, makes noise and it's ugly.

It's, it's, you know it.

You know these liberals.

They want to eliminate pollution and they've got pollution of our environment with those stupid wind turbines.

But anyway, you know, like a beautiful landscape crafted by a gardener who spent a lot of time.

You know this wasn't instant, it took two years.

This is the Apostle Paul preaching every day, and it took a couple of years.

You know we're not going to necessarily change our landscape overnight, we're not going to change the atmosphere in our business or in our neighborhood overnight, but little by little we can begin to prevail.

Hey, ben, you can shape the landscape around you, and you know we can look out there and look at the news and get aggravated and get mad.

Well, hey, let's just start being a solution instead of a complainer.

Let's begin to exercise and walk in prevailing power.

Praise God, I just want to encourage you tonight, and so I've got just four things that we can keep in mind.

You've heard them before, but it's always good to refresh our thinking, because we all have opportunities if we'll ask God to give us opportunities.

The first thing to do to walk in prevailing power is to broadcast the seed, or the logos, the seed of the Word of God.

I mean, just when you speak the Word of God, you don't have to knock people down with a fire hose, you just kind of sprinkle the Word and then, after you do that, keep watering it.

You know the seed is the Word of God is both seed and water.

And so remember, the crop doesn't come in overnight, it, you know, it takes time.

It takes time in your heart and it takes time in others' hearts.

Sometimes, you know, you've got to let the Word.

Somebody commented last night on our live stream event that sometimes you've got to chill in the Word and for it to digest.

Sometimes you have to give people a chance to turn that Word that they heard you speak over and over.

Maybe they've never heard it before.

Now you, you're telling them something that they never heard.

You know, in 1 Corinthians, chapter three, verse six, it says you know, I have, I have planted a polished water, but God gave the increase.

Sometimes we plant the Word, somebody else comes along behind us and waters it.

I remember years ago I was talking to a man and we were at a retreat.

Actually it was called an advance full gospel businessmen, they don't believe in retreating, they believe in advancing, advancing.

So it was a weekend where we had a main speaker who, you know, shared his testimony, and we, we had some testimonies, we had some teaching and we had prayer, and so this, this gentleman I had just met, shook his hand and and he was from the same town that my brother had moved to Utopia, texas.

I said he said I just moved back there from Houston.

Oh really, I mean you, you, you went back to your hometown, what?

What moved you back?

He said oh, he said we had a thunderstorm.

I was in the carpet cleaning business and the Lord burnt my truck up.

He sent us thunderstorm and lightning struck my truck and burned it up and God burned my business up and so I had to move back here and I, you know I didn't take the time to sprinkle.

This time I hit him with a fire.

I'm sorry, but I hit him with a fire hose.

I was young in the Lord, I was, you know it was full of seal.

I said the devil didn't burn your truck up, that I mean the God didn't burn your truck up, the devil did.

And when I said the devil had destroyed his business, he had this look on his face like I'd hit him, you know, with a right cross right in the job, and he kind of looked at me and and I thought what is he going to do?

I mean he looks funny, you know.

I kind of got ready that he was going to maybe take a swing at me and then he started this low growl.

He started like that and then he said you're right.

I mean just that truth, that he was blaming God for what the devil did.

And he immediately.

He immediately received it and I was able to minister to him and later that morning he got saved and baptized in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.

So I've lived this and so I guess that was my version of preaching.

All I did was say one thing, but that's declaring something as fact, and number two broadcast the love of God.

You know, I had a compassion on that man.

I felt so sorry for him that he had spent all that time blaming God for what the devil did and destroyed his business and I would hurt him financially.

He had to move back to his hometown.

He had probably had some family to live with and he looked like he was a little older than I was.

I found out later that he had used to carry mail.

He was a mailman, gave up his mail job and in a little town like that, when you give that up you give away a lot of benefits.

You know that's a civil service position.

And so, broadcast the love of God.

I did it from a motivation, not of trying to win an argument.

I did it from a motivation of the love of God.

And when he said, you know you're right.

When I realized he received what I had to say, well, I was kind to him and I began to pray over it.

Learn to read body language, you know.

Sometimes you can tell when people are ripe and when people aren't.

When people are closed off, you know, I've seen people try to witness to folks.

I read the body language.

I saw that they were not open and while this person is moving their mouth and trying to impress with all the verses of scripture they can, I'm watching the person's body language and I can tell that they're not liking it.

Come on, folks, let's engage with wisdom.

Let's have love.

Let's have love.

Don't broadcast the law.

Don't broadcast condemnation.

Don't get into heavy doctrinal things.

I mean, you know, people just need a little dose.

Just a little sprinkle sometimes is all they need.

So always broadcast love when you're broadcasting the Word, because faith works by love they been and then broadcast with the Holy Ghost in mind.

I always lean on him on the inside.

I mean you don't say it out loud, but on the inside, holy Spirit, I'm leaning on you.

Help me reach this person, help me minister to this person and let the joy come out of you.

You know the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.

You can tell when somebody has got the Holy Ghost because they're full of joy and, you know, sometimes we just have to smile.

Maybe we can start with a chuckle, a little laugh, never heard anything.

Sometimes we can just say, oh, praise the Lord, I'm so glad I'm getting to talk to you today and smile real, big man, now the Holy Ghost is in charge.

Now the Holy Ghost is being loosed on the situation.

Next thing you know the gifts of the Spirit can flow.

You know God can give you inside information about that person.

And let's not be religious about it.

Don't just walk up to somebody and say thus saith the Lord.

You know God is showing me.

You know you can scare people when you say God is talking to you.

They don't understand that.

They don't go to a church like this.

Most of them don't, and so you know you can just say well, you know, I'm impressed that perhaps you know, can say it that way such and such.

You know, could it be that such and such is going on in your life Could it be.

You know, just say it like that and then you don't intimidate people.

I've had people say well, the Lord told me, and when I was a baby Christian it even creeped me out a little bit.

And so let's realize that not everybody's on the same level as we are.

But if we'll give God a way in through joy and through laughter and chuckles, you know, then special miracles that's how miracles start is when the Holy Ghost gets involved.

You know, brother Wigglesworth, smith Wigglesworth tells a testimony of a young man back in his days.

You know he died in 1947.

So his ministry was back, you know, at the turn of the century and before that I think he was 80 when he died, so the turn of the century, right in the early 1900s.

And so he tells the story of a young man that worked in a factory and he just had gotten saved and he would whistle.

And he would just whistle, and the owner of the factory was a dour, sour, old man, you know, and he would walk the floors of the factory making sure everybody was working really hard.

And he came by this young man who was whistling while he was working and he couldn't gripe at it because he was working hard enough, but he was whistling while he was working and it irritated him.

And then, you know, sitting in his office one day, and you know, and he kept thinking about that young man whistling, and every time he'd encounter him, whether he was working or whether he was walking to go into his lunch break, he was always whistling.

So one day he walked by this old man's office on his way to lunch, got a lunch, a short lunch break, and he stopped.

The young man says boy, come in here.

He said I noticed that you're always whistling, whistling, whistling.

Why are you whistling all the time?

You know, really irritated with him.

And he said oh sir, I'm sorry, I got on your nerves.

It's just that a few weeks ago I went down to the to the gospel mission, and I gave my heart to Jesus and he's been so good to me and I'm so overflowing with joy all the time that I'm now saved that I just can't contain myself.

And so sometimes I sing, sometimes I whistle.

I'm so sorry that I that I got on your nerves.

And the old man started to break and he began to weep and he said oh, I need something like that Really.

He said I'm so, you know, angry all the time, I'm sad all the time, I'm so alone all the time.

Would you just please pray for me right now?

And here's this you know young factory worker and this old, rich factory owner, and he put his hand on top of his head and prayed for him, and that man just knelt down in his office and accepted Jesus as his Lord and savior and got baptized in the Holy Ghost.

Oh, praise God.

When we broadcast joy, mighty things happen.

And the last thing I want to remind you about is let's all we'll be broadcasting the name of Jesus.

You know, don't talk about God, talk about Jesus Now.

We know.

Now, when you're going to pray, we always know that we pray to the Father in the name of Jesus, you know, you know, don't get start saying in his name or in your name, no, in the name of Jesus.

Always use the name of Jesus, magnify the name of Jesus.

And when you're talking to people about God, don't talk about God, talk about Jesus.

Talk about what Jesus did, talk about what Jesus did for you.

And when you magnify the name of Jesus, the Holy Ghost again he comes on the scene and the Father is not insulted, because Jesus is just as much God as the Father.

Now again, when we pray, we do pray to the Father.

We don't pray to Jesus.

We pray to the Father in the name of Jesus.

But when we're talking about God, let's talk about Jesus.

Let's not ever talk about God.

Let's not talk about the man upstairs.

I mean, a lot of people can talk about God.

I mean, even Muslims talk about Allah.

They call him God.

He's not God.

Allah's not God.

There's only one God.

He's the Creator God, he's the Father of our Lord, jesus Christ.

But let's talk about Jesus, let's magnify him.

You know, that's the thing about Brother Osteen, my pastor for many years.

He was never ashamed of the name of Jesus and he taught me to always talk about Jesus, to magnify him.

And when we do, I'm telling you, you begin to release prevailing power, you begin to shape the landscape around you.

Hallelujah, let's lift our hands and receive this encouragement tonight.

Father, we thank you for the Word of God and thank you for making us prevailing powers.

We're shaping our landscape around us, our neighborhoods, our workplaces, everywhere we go, our families Praise God, hallelujah.