Loading summary
Transcript2 lines
- [00:03]
A
Amen. It's been amazing grace. Amen. What a blessing. Thank you for leading us choir worship team. What an absolute joy it's been. I want to go through this fast today because we have such an important day of water baptism. I. I think there's over 127 getting water baptized today. And so we're so thankful. So first of all, thank you for being here. We welcome all those watching around the country, around the world. Also our Jersey campus. I want to welcome all those watching live with us. Let me read to you. This is always our joy. You're a part of this church, even though we're only doing it through a screen. We say hello. Live with us is Nigeria, Madagascar. We say hello to Tanzania and Ghana. Eswatini, Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Namibia, Ivory Coast. We welcome our Asian nations. We say hello to Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan. We welcome India and the United Arab Emirates, Armenia, Australia and New Zealand. We say hello to the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, Scotland. Let me just stop for Scotland. We just got this. Someone who's watching from Scotland said Richard is watching from an oil platform in the North Sea in Scotland. And so we say hello to you, Richard, from the oil platform. Welcome Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Poland, France, Hungary, Romania, Belgium, Ireland, Denmark, Portugal. We say hello to Austria, Norway, Sweden, Greece and Italy. We welcome. One day we're going to beat Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, Slovenia, Bulgaria. We welcome Russia. We're praying in Jesus name for a stop to that war in Russia. Guyana, Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela. That was our video. Today we're praying for Venezuela, Colombia, Paraguay, Canada, Mexico, Haiti, Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Costa Rica, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Cuba, Barbados, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. What a blessing. Some 64 nations, 46 states. We say hello to all of you. What a blessing to have every single one of you. We do say hello to our first nation. Thank you. The Navajo Nation. Key first nation. I have learned this name. You. It's in. It's the. Okay, wait. Eu east nation. We welcome you that are watching now. Let me just say this. This is an answer to prayer. I've been. I pray every Sunday, every Saturday here for 100 countries to be with us live in 20 universities. So it's amazing. When God answers, then you have to keep it up. So we have 20 universities joining with us today. We want to say hello. We want to say hello to Wake Forest University, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of South Florida, Sam Houston State University, Liberty University, Berkeley College, Binghamton University, University of Florida, nyu, Fayetteville State University, Greek Bible College from Athens, University of Delaware State University, Summit International School of the Ministry, Florida State University, McGill University, St. Louis Community College. We welcome Georgetown University, University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley, Florida International University and SUNY Bighamton. Would you welcome all those universities that are watching with us? This Thursday is so important. It's part of our legacy. Please don't miss that. Join myself. Gary Wilkerson World Challenge is just like a teen challenge. And Times Square Church started from the obedience of David Wilkerson to reach widows and orphans all over the world. And we're gonna have a chance to join together this Thursday night right here in this sanctuary. Please join with me. And then Breakthrough series starts in May. You don't want to miss every single Friday night. Today's message is to prepare for that breakthrough in May. There's an old hymn I want us to sing just for a moment here. I'm gonna ask you to join with me. But it's the verse 33, 3 and 4. Sometimes I. I grew up in a church that used to sing the hymns. Anybody grew up in a church like that. They always used to do 1, 2, 2 and 4, and. And sometimes 3 was always the powerful verse. And you'd skip 3. And this is one of my favorite hymns. It was. It was. It's one of 6,000 hymns that Charles Wesley wrote. And it's the third and fourth verse that just blessed my heart. You'll see it on the screen. And it just simply says this. Jesus, the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrow cease. Tis music in the sinner's ears. Tis life and health. You can sing that again. Jesus, the name. Sing it. Jesus, the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrow cease. Tis music the sinner's ears. Could you go up a little bit? Go up a little bit. And then the fourth verse says this. He breaks the power of canceled sin. He sets the prisoner free. His blood can make the foulest clean his blood. Sing that part one more time. Sing it again. He breaks. He breaks the power of canceled sin. He sets the prisoner free. His blood can make the foules clean his blood. Avail for me. How many believe those words? To them, Jesus, those words are so important. He breaks the power of canceled sin. The sin that is forgiven. You break the power of it. And there are people that are listening all over the world, university campuses, and right here at 51st and Broadway, that known forgiveness of sin, but have not felt the breaking of the power of canceled sin. Would you break the power of canceled sin. Today I pray those things that would hold us bondage. Break it in Jesus name. And everybody said Amen. God bless you. You may be seated. Thank you so much. Great job, guys. Choir, thank you, musicians, thank you. He breaks the power of canceled sin. Praise God. Some years ago I was pointed out the difference between these two. There's a difference between Jesus resurrection and. And Lazarus resurrection. The Bible brings us to two cemetery scenes. We're brought right into the graveyard. We're brought right into the cemetery itself to see a sight that sometimes gets overlooked. Let me show it to you. This is Jesus's resurrection that we celebrated just two weeks ago. Listen to these words. Stooping to look in. That's to look into the grave where the stone has been rolled away. He saw the pieces of linen cloth lying there, but he didn't. Speaking of Peter. I'm sorry, John didn't go in. Then Simon Peter arrived after him, entered the tomb and he observed the linen cloths lying there and the kerchief used to cover his head. Not lying with the linen cloths, but separate neatly. This always just astounded me. Neatly folded by itself. Which just tells me that. That Jesus and death didn't have much of a battle, that it wasn't a fight. And everything is thrown all over the place. I mean, death was defeated and Jesus just folded it up and just walked out of a tomb is what he did. It's. That doesn't look like a fight scene. That looks like it. That Jesus literally slaughtered death on that day. That's what it looks like to me. But then something interesting happens. We're brought in the same gospel. We're brought to the tomb and we get a chance to kind of glance and see a second resurrection. It's the resurrection of Lazarus. In John 11, says the dead man came out. His hands and feet were wrapped. Not it wasn't put aside, but with the strips of linen and a cloth around his face. And Jesus said to them, take off the grave clothes and let him go. Now there's something special here because Jesus left his grave clothes behind, but Lazarus was still wrapped in them. And the most important thing to remember is when the Bible talks about our salvation, we are not raised with Lazarus, but the Bible says we are raised with Christ. Listen to this. Colossians says, therefore, if you have been raised up with who Christ, keep seeking the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. This is important because those grave clothes are the past bondages that hinder Your walk with Christ. I don't know what it looked like for Lazarus to walk out of that grave. I don't know if he hopped out. I don't know if he was taking little baby steps because he was wrapped up. But the issue was he was wrapped up in grave clothes. Keep this in mind. I want to say this, and I want you to hear this. When the bondage breaker Jesus is not involved in your daily life, then you will make grave clothes part of your normal wardrobe. I want to say that again. When the bondage breaker Jesus is not part of your daily life. I've watched people who Jesus wants to set free from those grave clothes. They make it part of their normal wardrobe. It's no longer take off the grave clothes, but we just accept people as they are. And I don't mean acceptance in the sense that we like you or love you. It's we accept the grave clothes as a normal part of someone's life. When Jesus wants to break the power of those of canceled sin and set us free today, listen to what the Bible says. So Christ has made us free. Now make sure that you stay free and don't get all tied up again in the chains of slavery. Jesus still says today, loose them and let them go. While others will look at grave clothes and just simply say you look great. I don't want to tell people that are tied up in grave clothes you look great. I want to tell them you can be set free, that God has not raised you up with him to stay in those grave clothes. I believe it's time to walk in victory. I believe it's time to leave the grave clothes behind. See, a society that will not honor Jesus will legislate and legalize grave clothes. A society that doesn't have a bondage breaker has no answer for the things that hold people bondage. But I believe there is an answer. I believe that Jesus does break the power of chains. So that's why when you remove Jesus from society, you don't have a deliverer. But I'm here to tell you on 51st and Broadway we have a deliverer, a chain breaker and a bondage breaker. Hallelujah. I want you to walk in flesh, a freedom today, free from those things that have held on bound you, those things which impede your walk with Christ. I want you to be risen with Christ, not Lazarus. I want you to have a breakthrough. Moses recounts the years of Israel and the journey which is much like ours. He takes them from bondage to this journey and then into an inheritance. There are three verses that I've read this week, all appearing in Deuteronomy 8. As Moses is summing up this journey that I thought, this is much like ours. Let me read it to you. He says in Deuteronomy 8:14. The Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt and out of the house of slavery. Look at the next one, verse 15. He led you through the great terrible wilderness with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground when there was no water. And then finally, verse 7. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land. Did you see the journey? Let me read the words to you. It's the word. Out of Egypt and bondage, through the wilderness and the fight and the fiery serpents, and into an inheritance with God. Out of bondage, through the battles and into your inheritance. Let me say that again. Out of bondage, through the fight and into your inheritance. Folks, maybe some of you don't get it yet. Out of bondage, through the fight and into your inheritance. I know this is the 10am service, but get it together, folks. Come on. Moses tells us about three important movements for both Israel and us. And I want to take you on that journey of out of bondage. I want to take you on that journey of through the fight and the battle and through that wilderness. And I want to bring you all the way into that moment of into your inheritance. Out and through and into. Out, through and into. Say it with me. Out, through and into. One more time. Out, through and into. That's the movement. That's the movement towards victory. That's what he does. That's what he brings us to. Out of bondage. That's the Deuteronomy 8. 14. The Lord your God brought you out from the land of Egypt. At our noon prayer meeting that Stan was talking about that I want to encourage every New Yorker to come and be part of that once again. We don't put that online because this is for New York City for an awakening. When people ask us to put it online, we tell them, start a prayer meeting in your own city and pray for an awakening. This is believing for God to bring an awakening. One of the great things is that as hundreds gather together to pray every Wednesday at noon for this city, we post on both sides of the screen prayer requests and then we post answers to prayer of the things that we're praying for. And it's been amazing to watch the prayer requests and the answers and it's. And so it gives people the request helps us to pray and focuses us to pray. But the answers gives us a reason to rejoice. I want to read to you a story of a journey out of bondage. Out that as I was praying in the sanctuary of Noon, I saw it. It was on the screen this week. My heart leapt within me and I just couldn't believe. I just said this is what God has come to do. This is the work of God. I'm going to read to you exactly what was on the screen that everyone at the Noon prayer meeting saw. Listen to these words. When I first started attending tsc, I was a stripper for the last five years. After attending for a few months, God delivered me during prayer and fasting. Now I just got hired to be a paraprofessional for special need kids. What a miracle. My goodness, folks, that's called out of bondage. That's being set free. The testimony is powerful. It gives people hope that God can take you from a stripper to a paraprofessional just through prayer and fasting. That God can break the power of canceled sin and set the prisoner free. God. God wouldn't allow that individual to be wrapped up in grave clothes. God didn't save them to keep them bound to a past life. God saves every one of us to move us from out through and into Hallelujah. The testimony is powerful that to take off those old gray clothes to be a believer is to be a believer is stripping a believer struggle stripping his Lazarus grave clothes. To be a believer that is paraprofessional with special needs. That's Christ resurrection. They've been set free. I was reading an interesting book that has blessed me. It was the preface. The preface that wasn't even in the book. The preface. It's called the Dance of Life by a man named Henry Nouwen. And he writes these words in his preface. He says, I wanted to write this book because it is my growing conviction that my life belongs to others. What is almost personal is most universal. Be careful of being selfish with your life story. God set you free to tell that story. It's the power of a testimony. That's why on Friday nights it's not just sermons, but you will hear on this stage not only Anne Graham Lotz, preacher, Darryl Black Preacher and Gary Wilkerson preach about how to be, how to experience the bondage breaker. But you're going to hear testimonies on those nights of how God broke people free from those bondages. Tell your story. Tell the story and how you've been set free, folks. You've been set free because you came in contact with the resurrected Jesus. That's why you're set free. I was talking to Pastor Carter, our general overseer, and he told me this amazing fact. He said, tim, did you know that the African Grey parrot can memorize 60 verses of scripture in its lifetime? More than most of you. 66. 0. 60 verses. A parrot. The Gray Parrot memorizes in its lifetime. And then he wrote this. And yet when it's all over, he's still a parrot with an untransformed life. Because it's not what you know, but who you know that sets people free. Just because you can quote something or attend something or read music, that's not what sets you free. It's Jesus that sets us free. And that's why there are people that want breakthrough but don't want Jesus. They want freedom, but they don't want God. In just a few weeks, you're going to be able to drive down 10th Avenue here. I'm speaking to those and describing it for those around the world. And there's. You're going to be able to drive down 10th Avenue here and right at 30th, you're going to be able to see a 27 floor foot high Buddha that they're putting up in New York City. 27ft high, foot high Buddha statue is coming on the Highline trail that as you are coming into New York City, you're going to get to see this at 10th Ave. And 30th. It's exactly what we need to break bondage. I say that sarcastically. It's called the light that shines through the universe. It's amazing as I read the article in the New York Times, it's amazing how many Jesus words they use. The light that shines. Listen to this. It says we're going to call to remembrance a powerful place to find strength and we're resurrecting the memory of Buddha. That's what they said. The light that shines, the resurrection, a powerful place for strength. Everybody wants freedom without Christ. They want freedom without Jesus. And I have to tell you, if it doesn't come unless you know the bondage breaker, it doesn't come unless you know Christ himself. They want out so they can live a better life, but they want out to live a better life without God. But here's the news. Fullness and abundant living is only found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Not church, not a religion, but with Jesus, not this church, not any denomination, not a mosque, not a synagogue and not a temple. And definitely not this building. You've got to find Jesus today. The Bible says this. The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus said, I came that they might have life, grave clothes gone and have it abundantly. I love the way the message says that a thief is only there to steal, kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life. Listen to this. More and better life than they've ever dreamed of. That's what Jesus has come to do. You must break free of the thief that wants to hold you in bondage. Welcome the life giver. And that even can happen right now, it can happen in this service that you have tried to look for ways. You've tried to look for religion. You try to look at meditation. You try to look within yourself. You tried discipline. You've tried everything. You've tried apps on the phone that tell you how wonderful you are. You, you're wonderful today. You're beautiful. You're going to make it through today. And you're going like the app told me, I'm going to make it. I'm here to tell you you only need one voice. And it won't. And it won't be 27ft tall that will tell you that this voice that I'm talking about is higher than 27ft. He sits on a throne in heaven that his word has created heaven and earth. His word can set. Set people free. His word has put a universe into. Into existence. It is the words of Jesus Christ himself. And he can speak to you today that you can be set free just for a moment. Would you bow your head and close your eyes for a moment? Some of you are in such bondage. Some of you have looked for everything else to find. To find freedom and to find life. And you've never been brought out. You. You. You're trying to find it with change. You hear the. The clanking of the chains that have held you. Bondage in your mind, in your soul, in your life. It could be an addiction, it could be depression, anything that holds us. And I'm here to tell you that only the bondage breaker, Jesus can break that. There's nothing you can do. Only God can come break bondages, forgive us and begin to set us free today. And if you're here today, watching online from One of those 20 universities, watching from one of those 64 countries or here, from around most of the United States that are watching right now, or in this room or at the Jersey campus, and you're here today and say, pastor Tim, I need to be Set free today. I need God to come in and change me from the inside out. I've tried everything else. I've tried counseling. I've tried meditation. I've tried other religions. But today I'm sensing something and feeling something that I've never felt before. And today can be your day of salvation. And if you're here today with every head bowed and every eye closed, and you would just say, pastor Tim, I need freedom today. I want Jesus in my life. That's the one. If he can break bondages, if he can call me out of a grave, if he can call me out of grave clothes, if he can break the power that's been over my life, that folks, some of you have come out of witchcraft. Some of you have been in homes of witchcraft. Folks, there are people here, I've talked to them that had spells and everything. Every crazy thing you can imagine. My grandfather was an alcoholic. My great grandfather was an alcoholic. My dad divorced. My grandfather divorced. Everything comes and you're going today. I need a bondage breaker. I need a deliverer. I'm here to tell you he has a name. It's Jesus. And he doesn't get you out of a grave with grave clothes. He gets you out of a grave like he got up. He puts those things aside and continues, set you free. If you're here today and say, pastor Tim, I need the bondage breaker in my life. I don't want to move any further in this service. I need him in my life. If that's you right now, would you just raise your hand, say, pray for me. I need to hold it up high. I want to see all those hands. Look at all those hands that are up. Yes. Yes. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. Balcony. I want to make sure I see all of you. Keep those hands up. 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50. Would you thank God for those that just raised their hand? Would you pray this with me right now online, Jersey campus, around the country and around the world. Say, jesus, I need you in my life. Forgive me of my sins and break the power of canceled sin. Come in and change me. You are the son of God. You died for my sins and you resurrected from the dead. Today I give you my Life come in and change me in Jesus name. And everybody said Amen and Amen and Amen. Hallelujah. The Bible not only says out, but it says through through the fight. Deuteronomy 8:15 he led you through the great and terrible wilderness with fiery serpents and scorpions. One of the most important Bible truths for victory for this fight and to win this fight is knowing. And I want to talk to you about this for just a moment. This is going to be so important. Lock into this is knowing what the New Covenant means. What the New Covenant means. Next Sunday I want you to get this on your calendar, watching and in person. Pastor Carter is going to do the same thing of taking this will be a prelude for the May Breakthrough Friday night series. But next Sunday, Pastor Carter, our general overseer, the former pastor, my predecessor of Times Square Church for 30 years, will be preaching next Sunday on the New Covenant. But here's the part I want you to get. He's going to do it in two parts. So if you come to the 10 o', clock, then you can go out, get coffee and come back to the one o' clock because there's going to be two messages on the New Covenant, Part one and part two. We want you to be here for all of those. We want you to be part of. And folks, I've been in those services where he has preached overseas on the New Covenant. I'm telling you, it is one of the most incredible experiences as joy and freedom hits this place. It is amazing. Do not miss, give up next Sunday to be here for the 10 and the 1 and just do whatever you can to be here for both of those services. It was Pastor Carter told me, he said David Wilkerson, our founder, said the New Covenant is God's answer to overcoming sin in the last days. And it's understanding what this New Covenant is. And that's why I want you to make sure not only that you're here, but that you have the opportunity to be part have the chance to hear both of them. We'll be online, but I want you to be in this room and hear a shout of victory in this place. I learned something interesting this week that I didn't know about. It's one of the, one of the most amazing things that it just in its simplicity. But it's true that when you look at a tree, one of the things that a tree does, it grows in two directions in its life. It grows deep and it grows high at the same time. It goes deep and it grows high. It's such an important part because I think those two principles have to happen in our own growth as a believer. I think we have to get roots in order to go up. I think we have to understand it. I think New Covenant is part of those roots. I think understanding that we don't live with grave clothes on, but we're resurrected with Christ, that's the roots in order to grow up. The enemy of growth is when you keep looking and are locked into your past. That's just the way I am. It's the way my parents are. You know, this is my ethnicity. This is the way we are. It would be easy for me to say I'm Italian. We yell at everybody. I just. That's just. That doesn't make sense. That's grave clothes talking. I don't have to yell at everybody. Hey, give me my food. That's just. And they go, People look at you and you're just going like, well, I'm Italian. That's why I do. Enough, enough. I speak with my hands. And that's why I just gotta. No, enough, enough. Put your hands in your pocket and say, I've been raised with Christ. That's what you say. Folks, understand something. When you look back and are locked into your past, you'll never grow deep. This was the problem with Israel. It's where Israel failed. They moved forward, but they moved forward, but they never grew deep. It was the same issue for 40 years. They always grumbled about the past. And I kept reading as I'm reading through and we're going through chapter by chapter and going through Exodus and Leviticus and getting ready, heading towards Deuteronomy. You're going to hear the same, the same thing over and over again. It's going to be. They're always talking about a past. They're always talking about a menu of what they had. Listen to it whenever they. Whenever they began to rebel. It always said in the desert, the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said, if we only had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt. There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted. But you brought us out here into this desert to starve the entire assembly. They didn't stop. Numbers 11. We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost. Free fish didn't remember the chains, but they remembered the fish. We also remember the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions and the garlic. But now we've lost our appetite. We never see anything but this manna. We want variety, numbers 21. They spoke against God and against Moses and said, why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There's no bread, there's no water, and we detest this miserable food. They were speaking about the manna. They keep talking about a menu of the past. They keep going backwards, never growing deep, never thanking God that he broke them free, that he got them out. Listen to this. They always look backwards. This verse always began to make me think about this. Listen to Hebrews 1115. It says, and indeed, if they had been thinking of that country from which they came out of, they would have had opportunity to return to them. Which means if you keep going backwards, you're going to go backwards. If you keep talking about, well, my old boyfriend, my old. My old. My old. You're gonna end up back with Bobo, whoever that is. I don't know why. That name of all names in the human language, that was the name that came to my mind. Trust me, I'm going to hear about this from my family and it's going to start like this. Seriously. Seriously. That's the one you came up with. When you remember what you left, you will always find your mind and your soul going back there. It's like you always start to measure, like they never could get through a battle because they talked about the past. Let me help you. When you come to Christ, you are set free, but you are going to go through a fight. There's no doubt about it. Don't let anyone tell you different. Don't let anyone tell you that now that you're a Christian, everything's gonna be great. You're at the wrong church. How many know what I'm talking about? When you get. When you become a Christian, the fight is on. People always go back to the way they used to live because it's hard. It's a. It's a tough fight. I was reading something because I faced this before. I was reading a letter that was written some 75 years ago. It was written by a woman from the United States to C.S. lewis. And I was reading this in his letters, and it was a woman that was dying, that never been set free from the fear of death. And this. I've known this. I've known this fear of death. I've known what it is at times that you get afraid, even as a believer, that you've had this fear is, you know, and I'm not. I'm not being. I'm not being sarcastic, I'm not mocking, but you look at something going, like, what Is the doctor gonna say? The doctor wants to talk to me. And I understand that. I understand the pit in your stomach. I understand when you look at your phone and they're sending the numbers from your blood work, and all of a sudden you're afraid to open up the. I understand that. And I read this letter from 75 years ago from a woman that C.S. lewis writes to a woman that has never been set free. She's living in the grave clothes, but yet she is struggling with a disease that will eventually take her life. And C.S. lewis writes to this woman that has only known the fear of death, but she was dying worse than death. She was dying inside. She was dying in her soul because fear was starting to grip her. I want to read to you the letter that is so powerful. It's from his book that's called Letters to an American lady, and it's his correspondence, and it's so powerful. Listen to these words, he says. Can you not see death as a friend and deliverer? What is there to be afraid of? Your sins are confessed. Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave with regret? There are better things ahead than anything we leave behind. Our Lord says to you, peace, child, peace. Relax. Let go. I will catch you. Hallelujah. Think of these words, he says. This is the part that hit me like a sledgehammer. There are far better things ahead than anything we leave behind. Oh, my goodness. That battle. That's the song you sang, the hymn you sang before we Started. Started. Written by Charles Wesley. It was one of the first hymns he wrote after his conversion. And he battled that very same thing. And he said back on May 21, 1738, he was. He himself had the fear of death. He was bedridden with an illness. And he said some friends came and prayed for him. And he says, I was composing myself to sleep when they all came in. He said, they all laid hands upon. And he said, as I was. As they came in, he said, they said, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, arise and believe it. Thou shalt be healed of all thine infirmities. And Wesley goes, the words struck me to the heart, and I was trembling because I was so afraid of dying. And he said, and right there, God visited my room and gave me the words in my fear. Jesus, the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrow cease. It's music in the sinner's ears. It's life, it's health, and it's peace. Glory to God. He's not just a God that gets you Out. He's a God that gets you through. He's not just a God that says, now you're a Christian. No, no, no, no, no. And leaves you. He says, I will walk with you, with you until you open your eyes in eternity. He will get you out. He will get you through. And he will bring you into. In Jesus name. Hallelujah. Finally, as our band starts to come into your inheritance, say it with me. Out, through and into. One more time. Out, through, into. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land. The enemy will make a last stand to stop you from deliverance and freedom. He'll interrupt, I'm telling you, just be ready. He is going to make every Friday night in May busy. Every Friday night is going to be busy. He's going to try to stop any way he can. Before Ulysses S. Grant became a Civil War general and a president, I was reading the story about him being a soldier and going from fort to fort just as a common soldier. He said, I was traveling from fort to fort. And he says, and there are moments you travel at night and you would hear the sounds of night, the sounds of the forest and the woods. And he said I would hear unearthly howling of wolves. And he said it would terrify me, fear would come over me. And he talked about the night of deliverance. But he said one of those trips, this unearthly howling of wolves. And I was convinced that the pack of wolves, wolves was following us and would kill me and my team. One of the soldiers said, how many wolves do you think there are? He said, in my mind, I thought the low, that there was at least 50 to 60 wolves. But I didn't. Wasn't ready to say that. So he just said, I said the least number I can think about with this noise, that just deafening noise of howling to stop us from advancing. He said, at least 20 are out there. He says as they journeyed, they came to the source. And he says, as I was expecting 50 wolves, I saw two, two making all these noise. And listen to this. He said, in that moment I was changed. I want you to get this. He says, I will always remember this, that on my journey in the battle, here it comes. He said, this is where his words, there are more of them before they are counted. There are more. Before I could see it in my mind, there are more of them. But in actuality, you know what he was saying? There's always more for us than there are against us. There's always more before you count them, folks. And I started to count them. I thought to myself, how many times have we have been fed face with the battle of hell? And what I just did, I did the counting myself because we're always thinking, there's more of them until you count them. So today I counted them. You know what I just wrote in my notes? We know that when Lucifer fell from heaven and went to hell, Lucifer, Satan himself, the Bible says he took one third of all the angels with him. That leaves us 2/3. Listen, I'm looking over here at our CFO. He's much smarter with numbers than I am, but I think if he took one third. Help me on this, Steve. I think we got 2/3 left that are. Does that work? Yes, I think we are more for us than there are against us. That's what God does. So when you hear the howling that says, you'll never do this. You'll never be set free. It'll never be broken. I'm here to tell you more for you than there are against you. More for you. Today as we close, I would just want you to answer a knock of cross. There's a knock. It's not a knock to the sinner, it's a knock to the believer. I want you to stand with me. I want to read to you the knocking that comes. It's a knocking on the door of a church. In Revelation, chapter three, it's a knocking that comes that. I've always thought it was a knock for the sinner's heart, but it wasn't. It was a knock to the church. And this is what it says. It says, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in. I will dine with him and he with me. He who overcomes, I will grant him to sit down with me on my throne, as I have overcome and sat with my father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear. Hear what the spirit says to the churches. Now this always surprised me to go from that knock. And he's tell and he's saying, he's saying, saying I'm knocking on a door. He said, let me come in and then let's dine together. That always surprised me. I thought he was to say, let's get swords and fight together. He just goes, he says, just come in. We're going to dine together. It was Dr. Mark Ruckland who, who has been president of a number of Bible colleges and really just done an amazing job. Great, great preacher. Amazing work that he has done. I was reading Of a. Of a survey that they were asking Americans which words they most long to hear. I want to read to you the three top answers. First answer, I love you. They said, people long to hear those words, I love you. The second one was, I forgive you. The third one blew me away. It was, supper's ready. That was the third one. They must have talked to the Italians. Think of it. Those are the three top phrases. I love you. I forgive you. Supper's ready. I thought to myself, who were they talking to? Until I read Ricardo goes me. They were talking to me. How many would say, yeah, that's about the three top words that I want to hear. Listen to this. That's exactly what Jesus is saying here. I love you, you. I forgive you, come and die. I love you. I forgive you, come and die. Your inheritance is ready. What's your inheritance? Victory. Walking in fellowship. When you said dine in that time, it was, we are in good relationship. We are walking together. We are in fellowship. That is the inheritance. But some of you have to understand how important this is. I couldn't believe it. And I kept thinking about those. Those phrases. My mind went back to one thing that I want you to remember. How good God is and why he's calling you even today. When. When Peter was at his lowest time, he says to Jesus, he says, depart from me. I'm a sinful man. He just. God just used him. Jesus just used him. Listen to it. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, put out into the deep. Let down your nets. Simon answered and said, master, we worked all night, but I'll do as you said. When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity. Nets broke. Signal to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. They came, filled both boats. They began to sink. And when Simon Peter saw that, saw how he tried to tell them that don't, don't go fishing, all these things, he fell down at his feet and listen to these words. Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. Go away from me. I am a sinful man. When you're at your lowest spiritually, I want you to see what Jesus does. Jesus doesn't answer Peter's request. Peter doubted Jesus, dismissive of Jesus, reluctant about Jesus words. And then he was surprised when he heard these words. And Jesus, verse 10, said to Simon, do not fear. From now on, you'll be catching men. You know what he was telling him? Folks, think about this. Peter is given his future calling at his lowest point. When he's at his worst, God goes, I see beyond your worst. Just when I'm knocking, answer the door. Some of you feel so unclean, sinful, dirty, not worthy. And Jesus is still speaking to you because Jesus never left you. He is there. He is there for you. Today I was amazed. I was reading updates because. Because our prayer meeting coming up in June is going to be praying for war and torn nations. We're going to be taking a night of praying for Israel, praying for the Middle east, praying for Iran, and a night to pray for Russia and Ukraine in June. We'll give you more details coming up. And you're going to be hearing from people all over the world praying for their nations from these countries. And I was reading about the 8 million refugees from Ukraine that left that have had to go all over the world, displaced in Poland and Belarus and all over Europe. And I was astounded by those that stayed, with sickly children, dying elderly. And while trains were leaving Kiev, they stayed back with moms, grandparents, sickly children that were still in the hospital before the bombing started. Why would you do that? As everybody was going to freedom, everybody was going out. You ready for this? Because love stays. Love stays. There's 8 million left. There were people that were huddled in basements, basement hospital. Because love says, you may be bruised, broken, you can't walk, you can't move. Love stays. That's exactly what Jesus did with Peter. I'm a sinful man. Get out. Love stays and says, you've got a calling on your life. So when you're going, jesus, I leave Jesus, I can't do. Love stays and says, even in your worst condition, you be a catcher of men. You be a fisher of men. You don't even know what I did this week. And love stays, why it's committed to getting you into that calling into your future. That's what he's committed to. He's committed to Peter getting the inheritance. I am committed to getting you into Acts chapter two so you can preach one day. I'm committed to that. I'm committed. Stay away from me. Jesus comes in and says, you're going to be a fisher of men. I see you're going to deny me. I see you're going to have, you're going to even have worse weekends than this boating trip. It's really going to get bad after this. But understand something. I see Acts 2. I see a man that's fearful. I see a man that's messed up speaking and 3,000 come to Christ and a church is born. I'm here to tell you, you could feel dirty, you can feel disheveled, you can be here today and just say, I'm disqualified. You don't understand what I've done. I've been in ministry. I've blown it. I've done all these things. And I'm here to tell you he gets closer to you. Get away from me, Jesus. I'm unclean. I'm a sinful man. Jesus goes, I see future of you. I'm gonna get you into what you're supposed to be, where you're supposed to be and who you're supposed to be. Would you bow your head with me, please? As we close in prayer, Jesus will get you out. Jesus will get you through. And Jesus will bring you into that future that can start today. Can I give you good news today? God loves you. You can be forgiven. And here's the other good news. Supper is ready. Fellowship is ready with him. 50 of you made that decision. Now for those that need a bondage breaker and him to come and set free today, just lift those hands right now. Just say, God set me free today. Come on, lift those hands. Say, I just need freedom today in my soul, in my life. I'm here to tell you God loves you. I'm here to tell you out, through and in today. Out, through and in. He has come to do that today. Out of bondage, through those battles and into that calling, that future, that inheritance. He has come to do that. He does. He not only forgives sin, he breaks the power of canceled sin. And God, would you break that today, right now, in Jesus name. Come on church. Would you just begin just to announce, say God bring me out. Say God bring me through and God bring me into, Father. And I'm believing for that. Out, through and into. Let this be the day of victory. Let this be the preface as we get ready for New Covenant next week. And as we get ready, go right from New Covenant into every Friday night of believing Father for breakthrough in people's lives. Thank you that you didn't. You didn't raise us up to be in grave clothes. You've raised us up with Christ and I thank you for that. In Jesus, Jesus name and everybody said amen and amen and amen.
- [50:36]
B
Thanks so much for listening. We hope you've enjoyed this message and be sure to subscribe so you can receive new messages each week. Visit TSC NYC for all the latest info on how you can stay connected. Also, don't forget that you can follow us on social media on all major platforms at Times Square Church. Thanks for tuning in today. Have a great week.