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If you're not ashamed, would you stand to your feet? Make sure you look at the person next to you and see if they're ashamed. How many thank God for this gospel? How many thank God that we have been saved by this gospel? Reach us to the nations, Reach us to the world. What a blessing. We're so thankful for you being here today. What a blessing that this gospel is not limited to a zip code, but it goes all over the world. So we say praise the Lord to all those that are watching, not just those that are present at 51st and Broadway. We welcome all those that are watching live. We welcome South Africa and Botswana. We say hello to Uganda, Mauritius, India, the Philippines, Malaysia. We say a little Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, North Island, Romania, the Netherlands. We also say hello to Finland, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Portugal and Bulgaria. Welcome the from to those in Canada, the Canai Blackfoot reservation. We welcome Mexico, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Panama, U. S. Virgin Islands, St. Lucia, Venezuela. We're praying for you, believing for God to touch you. Bolivia, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Would you welcome all those that are watching? 29 countries, 33 states. And my favorite part is to get to announce those that are watching from different universities. From the last service, we had 20 universities join us. And so we welcome with those 20, we say hello to Mercy University, Stony Brook University, the University of Florida, and from Virginia, would you welcome Regent University and all those that are watching. I am a firm believer, even seeing all those universities that are joining us, that God is going to do something. On our university campuses, we're believing for God to use our general overseer, Carter Conlon, at the Ivy League schools as we talked about. And then also we're going to believe for that, that fire and water night, there will be water baptism, but a great baptism of the Holy Spirit on these campuses that God will do something special. Every time I stand up here and walk to this pulpit, one of the things I do, sometimes you couldn't see it, but sometimes you may see it from up here. I'll be down there and I'll put both my hands on top of my head and just pray that God would guard my thoughts. There's something about this building that when you walk through those doors, your mind gets under attack. Anybody understand what I'm talking about? Soon as you get in here, the enemy starts coming after you. And. And that is these mind battles are intense. And I think of the words of AW Tozer who said these words. He said 10,000 thoughts a day pass through our minds and they try to predict what will become, what we will become. And it's. And I. And I feel that you sense it. Second Corinthians call those 10,000 thoughts has a name for them. And he says the weapons we fight with are not weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and pretensions that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. And we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. There. There is a spiritual onslaught on our minds. Satan embeds arguments and thoughts and his goal is that if you don't, he doesn't want you to deal with it because he wants it to become a stronghold. A stronghold is that thing that won't let go and you keep going back to it. You keep going back to those things. Some of you are actually sitting here right now or watching and you're hearing, what are you doing here? Why are you watching this? You don't even believe in God. You are so dirty. Remember what you did last night. You're not worthy. You don't deserve the same joy as these people that are singing you. You're nothing. You're what your parents told you you were. Folks, they just come. They come like a barrage. Our mind battles are so intense. And I want to explain this to you, that our fight for our minds needs all three for peace. And I'm going to show you this. And the three I'm talking about is this. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. All three are going to go into action for you today. And that's why this has been my prayer. And I want you to hear this verse. And then we pray. The Bible says, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return void, but it shall accomplish what I please. And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. And this is what it says when I send that word. He says, you shall go out with joy and you will be led out with peace. My prayer has been that when you leave this place, you are leaving with joy. And you are going to leave with peace of mind in this place today. Father, in Jesus name, lead us out of this place, God, with joy and peace today. Father, I thank you that your word will accomplish what you've sent it to do. God, we will dig into this word today. We will let the word of God do what we can't do with our human words. This word is sharp, it's active, it's sharper than any two Edged sword. Cut down the arguments. Cut down those things that, that won't let go. People that have let strongholds build, I pray, knock strongholds down today. Knock them down today. And Father, I'm gonna believe before we leave this place there will be peace. And before we leave this place there will be joy. And we're gonna believe for it in Jesus name. And everybody said amen and amen. Now, this is the one o', clock, so before you sit down, you have to greet about four or five people. So I can dismiss the choir and the screen can come down. Come on, tell someone you're so happy to see them today and give them a big smile. It seems every thought that goes through my mind, especially when you walk into this building, is either war or worship. It's one of those two things that seem to come. I've learned this and the thought that God started to hit, that really started to embed inside of me over these last few days was this. I want to walk you through something. When a Christian sins, when a Christian fails, the accuser of the brethren accuses us. The accuser of the brethren accuses us. And when a Christian sins or fails, I want you to get this. We have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ, the righteous, that advocates for us. That means the moment we find ourselves on the side of failure, compromise or sin, we have a fight within us that commences that very moment. Keep these two words in mind. We'll follow through with these throughout the entire message. This. There is the advocate and there is the accuser. The advocate and the accuser. Listen to First John 2:1 2. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous one, his atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world. He is our advocate and that's why he is fighting for that. But Revelation 12:10 reminds us of the second voice. The Bible says, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, and he who accuses them before our God day and night, that immediately you are fighting two voices, the advocate and the accuser. Both are fighting for your peace, one to destroy it and the other to preserve it. I'm reminded of the words I was reading by David Wilkerson, the founder of this church, who wrote the cross on the switch plate. He said these words he said, after much prayer, careful study and reliance on the Holy Spirit. I've concluded this about Christ's intercession in heaven for us. Jesus died on the cross to purchase peace with God for me. And he is in heaven right now to maintain that peace for me and in me. That is such an important thing to remember. The first words of the resurrected Jesus to the disciples who failed are pretty revealing. They're revelatory. In fact, they are behind locked doors, these 12 men, or 11 at this time. And remember, these men have left him, they have denied him, they have deserted him. At his most important time at the cross, they would not be there. And now these men that have denied him and left him and deserted him are now about to encounter him. And I could imagine as they are left behind locked doors and they're left with one voice for that moment, which was the voice of the accuser. Can you imagine what the accuser of the brethren, that Revelation 12:10 voice, said to them? And you call yourself disciples. You can forget the ministry. You can forget ever being used again. You wasted three years of your life following this man who has just died and been crucified. I want you to see the first words to these men who have nothing but the accuser of the brethren in their head, that what the resurrected Christ says. In fact, keep this in mind. The doors are locked, there's a wall between them. And the advocate walks through that wall and right into that room. These people that have been under the accuser of the brethren for three days, three days of accusation. And probably what makes it hard is that the accusations many times are true. And what you have to deal with is, how do I deal with truth from the accuser of the brethren who's turning against me when I don't have the advocate to fight for me. Look what happens when John 2019, then the same day at evening. This is the same day of the resurrection being the first day of the week when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, peace be with you. Right in the midst of the turmoil of their mind battles, the 10,000 thoughts that came in the strongholds that were starting to take root and build up these high thoughts of pretension that were beginning to raise itself up higher than the knowledge of Christ, Jesus comes and takes like a sledgehammer and says, peace be with you, because their insides were under attack. In fact, those words were so strong, those four words, peace be with you. Jesus said him three times at this encounter. He says it in John 20:19 when he first. When he first walks in. Then in verse 21 when he is speaking about the Holy Spirit coming, he says it again, peace be with you. And then even says it personally to a man named Thomas, who doubted that he was the resurrected Christ and says, peace be with you. He says it because they probably didn't have peace because everything was sucked out of them. That their failures began to remove any vestige of confidence or courage inside of them. I learned something this week about a. About a living organism in the ocean that I never heard of before. I've never heard of a whelk. W H E L K this little ocean creature they say, that can ruin an oyster's day. Their nickname is called Oyster Drills. This. This small mollusk. What they do is they land on top of an oyster and they drill a small hole on the oyster shell. And through this small hole, over some time, they begin to devour the entire oyster that literally. And take its life. Think about it. Little by little, its insides begin to be ravaged and are gone. This is what it does. It comes, lands on top of it and drills down and removes its insides. Wow, that sounds like coming to Times Square church that all of a sudden you can sit here and like this thing comes drills into our. Into our minds and all of a sudden tries to remove joy, tries to remove confidence, tries to remove even a heart that has a mind that has the peace of Christ. And all of a sudden something drills down deep inside of us. Something happened to me about a month ago that tried. That drilled down into my mind and try to remove my peace. It was like a whelk that started to come. It wasn't from sin, but it was from the enemy that went after my peace. It was the enemy that was going after my peace and coming against me. It was the enemy that was trying to create a stronghold inside of me that if I didn't deal with it, I'm so grateful that by the grace of God I saw the Holy Spirit give victory over this thing. I want to share it with you. I want to be a little bit honest with you and show you what happened to me. I felt so strongly about it. It's been about a month now since it happened. It was a Sunday night after church. I went home and after. After dinner and some time with the family, I went to bed. There was a short season. I don't know how long it was that it was. I found myself finding myself on social media and on the phone and just mindlessly scrolling through videos and that if there was a waiting time, if there was a train wasn't coming or Something was taking place. It was just like, you find yourself and you're just doing this, and you're going through that Instagram or whatever you watch it on. And folks, there was nothing evil. I can tell you. Cindy sees my phone all the time. There was five categories that I watched. One was the news, the second were churches. The third one was Italian recipes. There was sports. And then the final one, and this is where I need to be honest, was about Bernice Mountain Dogs. Those were the five. The five things that I would watch. I like Bernice Mountain Dogs. And then something popped up on an algorithm that I don't even know how it got there. An algorithm that. It was an animation. It was an animation of these people that would go into caves. They would call them spelunkers. They would find caves. They would go in there and explore them. The animation was of these people and how they got stuck in caves and eventually died there. It was constrictive. It was something that all of a sudden, they got stuck going down because they were unexplored caves. They found themselves and they showed by animation how they got down and how they got stuck and their friends could not pry them loose. And they would die down there in suffocation. They would die down there with panic. They would die down there alone, in a sense. And I remember I saw this algorithm and this genre for just a couple days. And it was that Sunday night that something profound happened to me. It was a fight. So in the middle of the night, I dreamed. I don't know why I was there. I dreamed I was put in prison. And they put me in a prison, in a prison cell. That was much like what I was watching these caves. It was constrictive. I was losing my breath. They put me in there and I couldn't breathe. And at 3:30am I woke up that way. I woke up. I think only one other time in my life this has ever happened to me. I woke up and I couldn't catch my breath. I. I couldn't. It was like a hyperventilating. I would sit up in the bed and I. Nothing. Cindy was fast asleep and I. I couldn't catch my breath. Stood up and it still wouldn't come back to me. Started to walk through the left our bedroom and in our apartment and walked in our living room. And I just started to pray. I just started to pray. God, let me breathe. Let me breathe. Let me breathe. And I just started to call upon the Holy Spirit. And then I thought, okay, God, maybe you need me to Start praying for those that have illnesses that can't sleep at night, those that face just pain in their body. So for about the next hour, I turned it into a time of intercession. I started to pray for people that just name by name going, I know that they're facing this. I know they're dealing with this. And I just kept bringing up names and started to intercede with sickness. Now here's the part I want you to hear. And then all of a sudden, I felt a warning from the Holy Spirit that something was trying to lodge in my mind and soul and trying to remove my pe. And I felt strongly. Here's the part I want you to hear. I want you to hear what I felt. For me, the Holy Spirit was saying, he says, no more. No longer do I ever want you to watch videos, these kind of videos again. Folks, it wasn't. It had nothing to do. There wasn't anything provocative. There wasn't anything compromising. The Holy Spirit said, no more. Whether it was a couple months, whatever that time, that season was, the Holy Spirit says, done, finished. Because this is what I felt. If a cave exploration can bore a hole and remove your peace, what are some of us watching that is even going to go deeper inside of our souls? What is it that we are opening ourselves to that would dig down deep? I'm talking about. It was nothing. And all I remembered was the Holy Spirit saying, I'm detoxing your mind. I'm beginning to go ahead, because I don't want you to have this as primary thoughts. I want this word to be the primary thought that is inside of you. And for a month now, this has now been my conviction. My mind, I felt, has been detox of looking with a mindless habit of just sitting in a cab, waiting for a train at an airport, that you can sit there and all you do is go like this. And I did that for these weeks and a month or two. And I felt like this whelk was trying to suck out my peace and come against. And that's when I felt the Holy Spirit say in Proverbs 16:32, he who rules his spirit is better than he who takes a city. Let me say that again. Please put that on the screen for me. He who rules his spirit is. Is better than he who takes a city. He says, before you pray for revival, let's revive your mind, your heart and your soul. That's right here that God began to come. Because what this thing was doing was robbing peace. Folks, I'm telling you this May be for some, a warning shot that before anything else can become a stronghold. Let's keep an eye on this, because these things will begin to start to come and dig deep inside of us and remove the peace. That's why this is such an important verse that I want to give to you. Write this down. It's the last prayer that Paul gives to the Thessalonian Church when he says, now, may the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with you. Those words are so important. Peace at all times, at all and in every way. Folks. I want peace when I go to sleep. I want peace when I come into a sanctuary. I want peace when I'm on the train. I want peace in a cab and on a plane. I want peace in every place, at all times. Anybody with me on that? I want that peace on a university campus and a peace in our apartment. What the Lord gives us is not peace, is not the removal of problems. It is God moving in to the chaos. That's. Understand this. When you pray for peace, it's not you stop this. It's God going, I'm with you. I'm with you. In the middle of this. The peace you get. Here's the good news. The peace you get is Jesus's peace. Do you understand how significant this is? Here it is. John 14:27. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Let not your heart be troubled. Neither let it be afraid. The peace you get is Jesus peace. He said, it's my peace. What is that, Pastor Tim? The peace that can sleep in a storm when everybody else is beside themselves. The peace that knows that there's no man that can take my life from me. My life belongs to God. I don't get it taken. I lay it down. My life is not in the hands of cancer or a diagnosis. My life is in the hands of God. When God says it's done, then it's done. It's not. Nobody else can dictate that. It doesn't matter what witch put a spell on you. It doesn't matter what voodoo family you came from. It doesn't matter. All those things, anyone could have threatened you. Former gangs could have said, if you leave us, we're coming after you. I want you to hear something. Today, your life is in God's hands. He gives you his peace. It's a Jesus peace that comes. I'm not afraid. I'm telling you. I knew when God said, do chapter by chapter. I knew. I said, okay, God, I know I got four more years left. I said, if that's it, then it's it. And God said, but the next assignment. Let the next assignment be a little bit longer. If it's your will. If it's not, I'm good. All I know is my life is in your hands. This kind of peace, all times and in every place. Here's the, here's the part. I want you to understand that peace is so precious and it's, and that's why the enemy fights it, that you need every member of the Trinity giving you peace. Do you understand that? The Trinity fights for my peace of mind. Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Here, let me read it to you. Philippians 4:7. And the peace of who, which surpasses all understanding and comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. It says, the peace of who? Colossians 3:15. Let the peace of whom rule in your heart. I've got God on my side. I've got Christ on my side. I'm just missing one more person. Well, let me give it to you. Romans 8:6. So letting your sinful nature control your mind, that leads to death. But letting the spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. Hallelujah. I'm telling you, you know, I am fighting for my peace. I have God the Father, I've got God the Son, and I got God the Holy Ghost. That's fighting for me, folks. That's why this piece is so precious. I was thinking about this as not far from here on fifth Avenue, which is full of shopping and everybody from around the world wants to shop on fifth Avenue. There is this amazing picture in contrast at one of the stops right there in front of Rockefeller Center. I've seen, seen it is a statue of this Greek God, Atlas, straining to carry the world. This Bron statue, here's Atlas, this muscular bronze statue holding the world on his back. Mythology says it was a curse rather than an act of courage. And the the globe is starting to crush him. And what's amazing is if you go right across the street, almost exactly across the street is St. Patrick's Cathedral right across from Rockefeller Center. And there a little statue is placed behind the high altar in contrast with Atlas. And it is a little tiny, not a tiny, but it's a little life size statue of Jesus as a young 12 year old boy. And there he is holding the globe in his hands. You've got Atlas like this and Jesus like this. I just want to Tell you what I would do. I'd get on the right side of the street on this one. Forget Atlas. I would get to the boy Jesus right there. Who holds the whole world in his hands. How many? Remember that old song that says this? It goes, he has the whole world in his hands he's got the whole world in his hands he's got the whole world in his hands he's got the whole world in. Sing it one more time. He's got the whole world. He's got the whole world in his hands he's got the whole world in his hands he's got the whole world in his hands he's got the whole world in his hands Hallelujah. That's. That's who you follow? Not the one that's crushing under the weight, but the one that holds the globe in his hands. Knowing that real made me realize the peace in my soul. Peace at all times, Peace in every way is what is what we have read here. Let me just give you this three quick things here because I want you to understand something about this peace. Peace has been promised. You're gonna see it in the scriptures. Peace will be protected. God will protect the peace that he's given to you. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And finally, I want you to see that that peace was purchased for you. It has been promised. It is a present promise. It will be and forever will be protected in the believer's life. And finally, it has been purchased. Let me just give this to you. Number one is the promise of peace. He has blessed us with peace. Listen to these words in Psalm 29:11. The Lord gives strength to his people. The Lord blesses his people with peace. Notice that peace and strength go together. This is what I have found. When my heart and soul is at peace, I get stronger. There's something that happens when I go to God. I'm right with you. I'm walking in peace right now. A strength comes to us. Someone sent me this just recently. They said in Isaiah 59:15. Reminded me when the Bible says, he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Let's add another word to there. Not just a pray, but a target. The moment you say yes to Christ, you become a target. The enemy is going to come after you. But I'm telling you, God will bless you with peace. And. And God will give you strength. Hallelujah. I'm telling you that the Lord blesses his people. I think of the old hymn that says, what a fellowship, what a joy. Divine Leaning on the everlasting arms. And then it says this. What a blessedness and what a peace is mine. Leaning on the everlasting arms. Folks, this is so important to us, this. The Lord blesses his people with peace. But number two, there is a protection of peace. He will keep you in peace. Isaiah 26:3. Let me tell you something about the book of Isaiah. I learned something new, especially from this verse, that of all the books in The Bible, the 66 books, it is the book of Isaiah that deals with peace and has more mentions of peace than any other book in the entire Bible. Isaiah begins to dig down deep and remind a troubled Israel that God is the God of peace. And right in the center of it, he gives us these amazing words. You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. Folks, that word keep is a guard word. It's watching like a watching on the walls for enemies that are coming. It's that guard, the Holy Ghost. It's God himself that watches when those 10,000 thoughts are trying to bore its hole inside. Like a whelk that begins to take a thought and turn it into a stronghold to take this unchallenged thought that wants to come in and predict your future and dig down deep. Thank God that He watches over the peace that he's blessed us with. It's a precious peace that he gives to us. And it's amazing because when you read that verse, he will keep you in perfect peace. What's interesting is that in the Hebrew language, I just learned this this week. In my studies, there is no superlative. You can't put anything behind it. I'm sorry. In front of it, to make it larger, here in the English Bible, we'll put the word perfect peace. But what the Hebrew does is the Hebrew doubles the word to make a trouble. It actually says that he will keep you in peace. Peace, he says. Shalom. Shalom. Folks, let me tell you something. When you live in New York City, you don't just need peace, you need peace. Peace. Anybody with me on that? You just listen. I don't just need shalom. I need shalom. Shalom. I need wholeness. It is as if God wrote this verse for us when he says, not only will I watch over it, I'll give you double. I'll give you extra for whatever you're going through. I'll bring that to you. Here's the only key. Whose mind is stayed on thee? Isaiah 26. It says it in the living Bible. Whose thoughts turn often to the Lord. Now let me just say this. No better way to keep our minds stayed on him than in prayer and the Word. Those two things keep us. That's why this is so important to remember. I believe, and this is, this is so key that I think chapter by chapter and even the noon prayer meeting that we're getting ready to start this Wednesday are those two things that keeps our mind set upon him chapter by chapter. Join with us every single day as we go through it. Why do we do that? Why is. Why is studying the Word every single day? Let me ask this question. How many love the Word of God? Would you raise your hand? Then we have to read the Word of God. We have to read the Word of God. Listen to this. Psalm 119, 165. Get this verse down. There is such a great peace and well being that comes to the lovers of your Word and they will never be offended. Hallelujah. There is such a great peace. Another we can say, there is peace. Peace, Shalom, Shalom. To those that become. That comes to the Word that loves the Word of God. It comes to them. There's something that happens when you begin to dedicate that time to this and say, this is what I want to find myself. And then it says this, talk about a promise. It says, and they will never be offended. You know, this wasn't in the notes. And I'm just going to say it anyway because I think it's important to say they will never. Do you ever talk to someone that you have to preface it for 10, 10 minutes so they don't get offended at you. You have to go, you know I love you. You know I care about you. You know this. I'm not trying to hurt you, I'm trying to help. And you're going on and on. You're going like, oh my goodness. I mean, we have to do this every single time. Because if you say one wrong thing, ah, you hate me. And all of a sudden you're going, no, no, why are people. So I'm going to tell you, why are people so easily offended? Because you lost sight of the Word of God. It says that those that will begin to love this word, who will not be offended. Folks, I want to love this book. I want this book to be in me. And you've got to start somewhere. Then, then start with something as simple as chapter by chapter, let God take you through the Word. It's four years. So you have nothing to do for four years. So go do that. And what about, what about the noon Prayer meeting. Come join us. We are believing for revival in this city. In 1850, in 1967, in Lower Manhattan, a simple one hour prayer gathering began to spark the second great awakening in our nation. They said that literally a million people would stop at noon every day around the country and pray for revival in the country. Folks, I'm not just believing that. God bless you all from Los Angeles to Dallas to Miami. Listen, I'm believing for a million people right here in New York City that every noon will begin to cry out to folks, if there's ever a city that needs a revival, it's New York City right now. And folks, instead of sitting there talking about how bad things are, let's pray to God. Let's ask God to come and do something. So, so here's. Here's a thought. Before you let anybody say anything about New York, just say, are you praying for us? Are you praying for us? Because that's what we're gonna do. Noon, give it up for just an hour. Let it be a fasting. Instead of eating lunch, come join us here. This Wednesday, we will be here. It's gonna be nothing but prayer. I'll open up with probably a scripture and we may even sing a chorus of a song maybe. But here's what's gonna happen. We are going to pray here for one hour. And the screen behind me, you're gonna see. You can be able to text in prayer requests. They'll be seen on the screen. And we're gonna use the center of the screen for prayer answers to inspire faith. That prayer works. And we're gonna begin to believe that it was one hour in 1857, and God moved not only in New York City, but around the country. And that's why right here on 51st and Broadway, we're just moving locations. Instead of Fulton street, we're gonna be gonna move it down here. You'll be able to begin to come here just one hour, to believe together. Because we're living in these times. This will become a moment that we can stay focused on prayer, stay focused on God. He will keep us in perfect peace. Peace, Peace. Whose mind is stayed on thee? Why not in the Word? Why not in prayer? And finally, let me close with this. It's the purchase of our peace, that he has paid a high price for your peace. That's what Jesus has done. Let me finish with Ephesians 2, 13, 17 and show you that the Lord is committed by purchase for this peace that he has blessed you with and he is guarding. He has blessed us with peace that brings strength. And he has guarded that shalom. He has guarded it, but it came at a high price. Listen to Ephesians 2:13. But now in Christ Jesus, you who are formerly far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall by abolishing in his flesh and the enmity which is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in himself he might make the two into one new man, thus establishing here it is again peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by having it put to death the enmity. And he came and he preached peace to you who are far away and peace to those who are near. Peace was purchased by Christ's blood. He says peace came from a purchase. Three times he kept referring to the cross, the price. He called it the blood. He called it the cross. He called it his death. That's where it was all purchased from this your peace. My peace came at a high price. It came at a high price. That's why he guards it. That's why he goes into action. That's why the enemy attacks it, and that's why God guards it. The enemy attacks it because of the high price. He does not want God's people to walk in peace, because if they walk in peace, they will walk in strength. And so he's going to come with 10,000 thoughts. Thoughts that will come while you're sitting here today. Thoughts that will say, hurry up, get out of here. You don't need to listen to the rest of this. Thoughts that will say, it's better for you to get in that car and go watch a Super bowl that means nothing at the end of the night. Nothing. And so here we are. Thank God you're here. Thank God you had a thousand, ten thousand things that said, don't come to church today. Ten thousand things. And then when you get to church, ten thousand thoughts hit you again when you walk into this place. And it just keeps coming and coming. Why? Because if the enemy can begin to remove your peace, create a stronghold, then you lose not only peace, you lose strength and the end. And God himself, God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit begin to give us a peace and guard that peace and fight for that peace for us. Because it came at a high price. It came through the cross, the blood and his death. I want that peace inside of my heart. Here's what I want to tell you today. As the band comes, someone Said it simply and clearly like this. If there's no God, then you have no peace. But if you know God, you're gonna know peace. Let me say that again. With no God in your life, there is no peace. Because what you're just pursuing is to going. Your peace is when everybody's obeyed, when every child is obeying me. My wife and I are all good, and there's no problems at the job. Let me help you. That never happens because that can't be peace. There's always how many understand? There's always something out of, out of whack. Anybody understand that? It's good. If you're going, like, my marriage is good, my job is good. Then the car, something goes wrong with the car. And if the car is finally good, then gas prices go up. And if the gas prices stay stable, then insurance goes up. Or the tunnel, the, the, the tunnel to toll goes. I mean, it's always something. Or if you, if you work in the city and you're going, everything is fine in my life, then you have people walk slow in front of you. How many know something is always going to be out? So what that means is that peace doesn't mean the absence of problems. Peace means the presence of Christ. That's what peace is. So if there's no God, you can't have peace because peace is, is him present in the problem. That's a lot of peace. So how does that happen? One of the most powerful passages in the book of Job is when Job says this. Agree with God and be at peace, thereby good will come to you. One version says, submit to God and be at peace with him. Submit to Him. That's how it begins to come. Peace is not simply a lake and a tree and a bird. Peace is not upstate New York and it's not Vermont. You can have peace in New York City. You can have peace right here, folks. I'm telling you, when people go to me, I, I got to get out of this city. I need peace of mind. I'm going, you're missing it. Because peace is not a place. Peace is a person. It is Christ. It is Christ's presence. That's what it is. So no God, then there's no peace. But if you know God, you will know peace. I was reading about this wealthy man that wanted to put in his home in one of his rooms. He wanted there to be peace and he wanted a picture. So he. He sent out to local artists to paint art that would begin to show peace. And finally it came down as he was looking over the art and brought his family together to look. And the challenges stirred the imagination of so many artists that everywhere they were finally. And they've all, they all missed it. The final one that they. That hushed the crowd as they saw this mirror smooth lake reflected the green birches under the soft blush of the evening sky with a flock of sheep grazing undisturbed. And everybody thought, well, this is the winner. But the one that he kept was amazing. They said you would see the stormy gray clouds beginning to rise to come on the horizon, threatening to explode with lightning, wind and rain. And right in the midst of it, of the bitter chill, there was this spinely tree with its roots in the ground. And it said one of the branches, there was a nest right in the elbow of the branch with three eggs and a mama bird sitting on top of that, knowing it was secure to sit in this tree at this moment with its eyes closed. And he goes, that's peace. It's peace in the middle of a storm. That's what God gives. That's what God purchases. That's what God protects. But you can't have that without God. Always remember this. One of the old puritans said it like this. The world can create trouble in peace, but God can create peace in trouble. Always remember that. Let me finish with this. Stand with me. I want to talk to you about someone who is in the elbow of the branch. Somebody with a storm on the horizon. Really in the middle of the storm. I was coming to the twilight of his life and almost just forgot that peace is his presence, not a place. Daniel is probably in his mid-80s. He's living in a foreign land and he has been there for decades. He's outlived five different kings. He has been prime minister. He is now in the 65th year of a 70 year captivity. He is tired within the first year. He is threatened with death if he doesn't have God reveal a dream and then interprets a dream to Nebuchadnezzar. He has watched his three friends thrown into a fiery furnace, but yet saw a fourth man where God began to rescue the them. He himself would not compromise. Praying three times a day and even from internally the jealousy and the envy began to turn Daniel in. And they threw him into a lion's den. And he saw God shut the mouths of lions. But he is battle worn. He has fought his fight. Pause for a moment. I talked to an old saint yesterday, someone that God has used to change the world. And these are the words that he said to me. He Said Tim, I'm ready to go home. I'm tired. I've run my race. And to hear that, I could respect that. But my heart was heavy as I was listening. I felt like I was talking to a Daniel. This is a man that has faced the storms, and God has brought him through every single time. He is storm. He has been storm tossed. He is battle worn. When I would listen to him, he didn't say these words, but this is what it was like listening to. I have fought the fight. I've been a faithful soldier, and now I'm ready. Daniel is there. He's nearing the end. Daniel, one last time before the book closes, has a visitation from heaven. And it's not just the visitation church. It's an end times vision. Just like when God would give Ezekiel an end times vision, he gives Daniel an end times vision. He's going to see the future. He's going to see something that will literally shake him to the bone when this heavenly figure comes. It's really the first time you see Daniel overwhelmed. He was never overwhelmed with, like. There seems to be this calm and peace when they go, we're throwing you in a lion's den. God's with me. He's the one who goes to his Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego. He says, let's pray before they kill us. Let's just pray God will give me the vision. I'll know the dream of Nebuchadnezzar and all. There's always this calm. But not on this one. He sees this vision. A figure from heaven comes, and I want to read to you what happens. Daniel 10. This is what Daniel says. I'm overcome with anguish because of this vision, my Lord, and I feel very weak. He says, how can I, your servant, talk with you, my Lord? Here's what he says. My strength is gone. I know this next part, and I can hardly breathe. Maybe he's hyperventilating. Maybe he's just going like, I can't do this anymore. I can't do this. I can't do this. I can't do this. Maybe something was boring into his head, going like, it's over. It's all done. You got. This is. It's too much now. Verse 18 says, and again, the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength. And he says this. Do not be afraid. You are highly esteemed. Here it comes now. He says, peace, Be strong now. Be strong. And when he spoke to me, I was strengthened. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You Know what I started to realize? Listen to this, folks. Here's a man that just goes, I need peace and strength. And you know how it came? He needed a touch from heaven and a word from heaven. It was that simple. One touch from heaven, from the man Christ Jesus. One word from heaven. And all of a sudden, a man that was just simply going, I'm in anguish. I'm out of strength. I am done. I. I can't do this anymore. All of a sudden, he says, I can't even breathe. My body is being affected. One touch gave him strength and gave him peace. And folks, I'm telling you, I don't know about you. How many need some peace, Peace again. How many just need that peace, Peace to come, that shalom. Shalom. How many have felt the boring into the head that is trying to suck out the peace? Suck out the even. Even the thing that says God, I, God called me here. And the enemy has now launched an attack to drill a hole and to even bring doubts whether you even belong here. I'm just telling you. Pastor Tim, has that happened to you? Every day, the enemy. But every day I've got to go. No, no, no, no, no. I cast down those imaginations they brought into the captivity of Christ God. You said. You said you will guard him. Guard him with peace. Peace. Shalom. Shalom. Whose mind is stayed on the. My mind is on you. I'm not watching TikTok, Instagram or Facebook. I'm not looking up names and trying to find video. I. I'm here to say I want one thing my mind on. I want my mind stayed on him. Send me to prayer at noon. Send me to chapter, but just keep me focused on Christ. What does that. How. How does that happen? One touch from heaven. One word from heaven. Strength and peace. Hallelujah. How many need strength? Raise a hand. How many need peace? Raise a hand. Hallelujah. So here's how we end. How many have heard this song? We're not singing it. How many have heard that song? I've got peace like a river. I've got peace like a river. That's from Isaiah. That's from the. The peace book. I've got peace like a river. At one point, he even tells them it's Isaiah 48. He said, if you just would have listened to my word, you would have had peace like a river. He said, you wouldn't just listen to my word. Why? Because the word and peace go together. He said, if you didn't know, if you would have just obeyed. 48. I think 16, something like that. He says, if you just would have obeyed, peace would have come like a river. And then back in chapter 66 at the end, he says, now I'm sending you peace like a river. But that wasn't just for that song. I've got peace like a river. I could just imagine hell, that whelk of hell, drilling deep down to say, God doesn't love you. God took your family. And for some reason, some Chicago lawyer begins to feel a touch from heaven and a word from heaven. And like Isaiah uses those words, remember the words he says, when peace like a river attendeth my way. When sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever my lot thou hast taught me to say. What is it? What is it? It is well with my soul. When peace like a river. Maybe you're here and you need. You need strength, you need peace. You need peace, peace. Some of you going like I need peace, peace, peace. Okay. All I can promise you is peace, peace. But if it comes from God, it's enough. Amen. Shalom, Shalom. As we sing this, this verse, balcony, main floor. Those online. I want you just to hold put because we're going to pray for you. But if you're just going. I need a touch from heaven for strength, a word from heaven for peace. Just get out of your seat and walk down here. I want us to pray for you. Quickly just get out of your seat. Saying I need that shalom. The enemy has attacked my mind. Come on, Come on. You come. You come. Come on, let's sing that. When peace. When peace. Come on, sing it and you come. Come on, balcony. We're gonna make this a place. This is gonna be a place of shalom. Ended my way when sorrow. Come on, sing this tongue. Come on, church. Whatever my lines, whatever my lot, thou has to me to. Come on, sing that chorus. It is. Well, lift your hands and sing. Is hallelujah. With my soul. With my soul. With my soul. Come on, sing that second verse with me. Come on. Those Satan should buffet those Satan. Come on. This is about that spiritual warfare though. Satan should buffet those Satan should buffet thou. Try. Hallelujah. Okay, to sing about the advocate. Now this is the advocate. The accuser was the first part. Here comes the advocate. That Christ. That Christ. And then we go to Ephesians about the purchased peace and has shed his own blood. Let's sing that third verse. Come on, sing that third verse. Come on, sing it with me. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. O the bliss of this glory. Hallelujah. Come on, it's nailed to the cross. Fourth verse. Come on, put that on the screen. And Christ haste the day Come on, let's sing it. And Christ and Lord haste the day when the faith shall be sound Come on. Declare clouds be the clouds be broke as the strong. Come on, you sing it loud. Come on. Fill the voices. Sing it now. The shall resound and the Lord and the Lord shall reset. Come on, sing. It is well. Sing it. Church. It is well. With my soul with my soul it is well it is well with my soul Hallelujah. Those at this altar, just look at me for a second. Some of your minds have been under assault. Under assault. I mean, it just. It just comes. It just comes thought words from the past. And let me just say this, without knowing one story, even words from parents, words of death. That said, you'll never be anything. I told you you were this. I told you. And it just seems to come. It comes like a hammer. And what you need today is strength and peace. Just strength and peace. It's interesting that before God gives Daniel strength and peace. Look at me for a second. He says these words, you're highly esteemed. You know what those words mean? You are special. Those words mean, I haven't forgotten you. So let me just say this. He hasn't forgotten you. He hasn't forgotten you. The enemy is. I'm telling you, you can't do this. One time. The enemy is gonna bore that hole. The oyster drill, the whelk is gonna come in and just every. And that's that moment. These verses, you've got to go back to them. You said, peace at all times. At all times. In my sleep, in my walk. Some of you have this fear. The enemy bores in. If you leave this apartment, you're going to get assaulted, you're going to get robbed, you're going to lose your life. And this. This. This cloud of death follows you. And I'm saying, that is a lie from the enemy. I know this lie. Okay, let me tell you a lie that I know is anytime the doctor says, hey, I'd like to talk to you, everything goes out of you. Anybody know what I'm talking about? And all of a sudden, you're googling. You go, they sent you your numbers from your blood work, which they never explained. And there you're going, okay, what does this mean? What does this mean? Oh, man, I'm not even gonna make it to church this Sunday. And there you are, looking at numbers, looking at all this stuff. Okay, here it is. You are not meant to Be a doctor. Some of you are. But right now, those of us on Google are not meant to be doctors. We're just meant to trust him, and we're meant to just go, God, we're trusting you. Regardless of what has been said, regardless of what has come, right now, God, I need a touch from heaven, and I need a word from heaven. Just lift those hands right now. Just say, God, I need a touch and I need a word right now. When that happened, there came strength and there came peace. With your hands raised, I just speak the words that God spoke to Daniel. You are highly esteemed. God remembers you. God loves you. You are a daughter of the king. You are a son of God. His hand is upon you. He says, I've got to just break through the stronghold by saying that you are highly esteemed. He broke through the stronghold that you're highly esteemed. He had a breakthrough, that thing that the. The words that say, I must be done. I'm 85. I must. It must be over. And here God comes. You are highly esteemed. And so, Father, I'm going to ask right now, in the name of Jesus, those. Those. Those oyster drills that seem to be going into our mind, those 10,000 thoughts. I'm praying now, in Jesus name, God, let your word as we. As we pray, don't let your word return void, but let it accomplish what you please and let it prosper in the thing which you sent it for. And I'm asking this over every person at this altar. Send them out with joy and send them out with peace right now. That's what you said. My word shall not return void. It will accomplish what I want, and I'll send them out with joy and peace. So, God, right now, I'm going to believe for that. I'm going to pray for peace like a river right now. Peace like a river right now to come and to begin to grip hold of them. And so, Lord, I'm going to believe that I'm asking that for myself. Those 10,000 thoughts that seek to determine my future in Jesus name be cast down, be brought into the obedience of Christ. You shall not be a stronghold. You shall not be a stronghold in Jesus name. Those at this altar, look at me for a second. They'll keep coming, but don't let them be a stronghold. They're gonna fight. They're gonna fight against you. Don't let them be a strong. But don't help them. Don't. Okay, look at me. Don't help them with this. Fight them with this. This. I'm telling you, for 30 days now, it's like a detox. And folks, I'm detoxing from Bernice Mountain Dogs and Italian recipes, and I feel like a detox. But I watched. But here's what the Enemy does. I had church churches. I have churches that would. But you know what happened? This is what the Enemy twisted it with. Then he would send like, crazy churches in the algorithm. And I started to get angry, going like, what are they doing? Preach to God. I felt my spirit getting. You know what I'm talking about? I'm telling you, it's like the word algorithm actually means Satan. I just made that up. It does. It's like the Enemy finds. But I'm just telling you, he sees you going down. Some of you thought, how did you come up with that? I made it up. But it's like the Enemy sees this path that you're on and then takes it and twists it. And so instead of you just watching a church service, you're gonna watch crazy church services, and you're gonna get angry with the body of Christ. You're gonna get angry. And I just said, I can't do this, God. This is what's happening. And it's like my soul got clean. My soul got clean. And this word James talks about it. God. It's like God washed my soul. And this is just months, but some of us have been stuck. You've been stuck. And that's why this thing is good. So just always remember this. Here. Here it is. And then we. Then we sing. You could sing whatever you want. I made them sing. I've got. You do like it. Okay, then we'll do it. I made them sing. I didn't make them. I just. Just said, can we sing? I've got Peace like a river. So we'll sing that at the end like. Like old times. But here's. Here's. Always remember this. If you. If there's no God, there's no peace. Say it with me. If there's no God, there's no peace. But if you know God, you will. So if you're here today and you don't know God, you're looking for the absence of problems. You need the presence of Christ. And if you're here today and say, pastor Tim, I need God in my life. Balcony, main floor. Watching university or around the country. Around the world. You said I have the. No, I need God in my life. I've been trying to fix it with a place. I've been trying to even fix it with a person. If this person will date me or marry me, let me just help you. There is not anyone you can marry. It is going to be a problem. That's why you need Christ in that relationship. Let's be honest here. I want you listen, if you're single and you have a desire to. I want you to get married. But I want you to marry in Christ. Not marry out of loneliness, but in Christ. And if you're here today and say, pastor Tim, I've looked for a relationship to fix it. I've looked for a city, a job, if I can make this certain amount of money and it's not there. But I'm telling you, it's found in God. He is the God of peace. It is the peace of Christ and is the peace of the Holy Spirit. And it can happen today. If you're here today and say, pastor Tim, would you pray? I need God in my life today. I need him in my life. If that's you, just raise your hand. Say, just pray for me. Hold your hand up as high as you can. I want to see. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Got you guys over there. Thank you. That whole group over balcony, keep your hands up if that's you. Yes, yes, yes, yes. All over there. The couple over there. Back there. Yes, all the way back there. Got you. Come on. Just pray this with me out loud. Just say, God, I need you in my life. I've been searching for people peace, but I need the prince of peace, Jesus, you're the prince of peace. That's what Isaiah 9 says. So I welcome the prince of peace who died for my sins, rose from my victory and is coming back for me. I receive you into my life. Things may not change, but I know you will come in and change me and go with me into every situation. So on this day, I surrender to you. I want peace like a river. And I receive it today in Jesus name. And everybody said amen and amen. Okay, here's what we're going to do online. If you pray that you can hit decided or email decided to GrowthSC NYC here, you can even text decided to 51,000. But if you in the sanctuary and you want any of our workers to work with you, they'll get you a Bible. They'll give you next steps, five minutes with them. They're right over there at exit seven. To my left, to your right, exit seven. Thanks so much for listening. 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