Transcription
Give God. So let us give God all of the praise. Amen. Thank you musicians and platform workers. Very good to see all of you tonight.
If you have your Bibles, let's go straight into the word of God. You can turn to Exodus chapter 8. And that's where we're going to look uh this evening.
In 1973, uh, a bank robber in Stockholm, Sweden, took four employees hostage, who wound up holding them for six days in the bank vault while he made demands to the police. But something very interesting happened. Under the stress of captivity, being in very close proximity to their their captor, the captives started thinking crazy thoughts, sympathizing and agreeing with the one who's holding them hostage. They called this, you may have heard of it, called the Stockholm syndrome. I want them to put up a photo here. This is uh the actual bank robber. That's the vault they were held uh being held in.
At one point, the capture told one of the men, he said, "Look, I need to shoot you in the leg so the police take my demand serious." And the man said, "No, I don't want you to shoot me in the leg." And they're like, "But I'm not going to hit any bone. I'm only going to go through the flesh." And the guy was like, "No, that lady that you see at the at the front, captive Christristen, uh, Enmark, she's hearing this negotiation, can I shoot you in the leg?" And when her fellow hostage is saying no, she started thinking, man, he's being selfish. I mean, come on. It's It's not like he's going to hit the bone. I think he's a bit of a coward. Just let him shoot you in the leg. That's crazy thoughts. So, this weird negotiation is going on between captor and captives. That is a very good picture of what we're going to read in the word of God.
In the the book of uh Exodus, we read about the captor which is Pharaoh. God's people, the Hebrews, have been held hostage for over 400 years. And if you read, it takes quite a bit of reading to to uh see all the chapters, basically chapter 5 through uh 12 or so. But normally, Pharaoh is simply saying, "No, let my people go." No, I think I preached on that last Wednesday. But there are three instances. Normally I preach from just one text but I want to preach and use three different texts because what we see is Pharaoh starts negotiating and Pharaoh as a type of the devil is actually shows what happens. Sometimes hell wants to negotiate with you and you must not think crazy thoughts and agree with him. I want to preach about negotiating with hell.
Exodus 8, we'll read three different passages of scripture, just a few from each one. The first negotiation, Exodus 8:25-27, Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Go sacrifice to your God here in the land." But Moses said, "That would not be right. The sacrifices we offer the Lord our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us? We must take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God as he commands us." There's the first negotiation.
Chapter 10, starting at verse 10. Then Pharaoh said, here's the second negotiation. "The Lord be with you if I let you go along with your women and children. Clearly, you are bent on evil. No, have only the men go and worship the Lord since that's what you've been asking for." Then Moses and Aaron were driven out of Pharaoh's presence.
Skipping to verse 24 of chapter 10, here's the third negotiation. Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, "Go worship the Lord. Even your women and children may go with you. Only leave your flocks and herds behind." But Moses said, "You must allow us to have sacrifices and burnt offerings to present to the Lord our God. Our livestock too must go with us. Not a hoof is to be left behind. We have to use some of them in worshiping the Lord our God. Until we get there, we will not know what we're to use to worship the Lord."
Negotiating with hell. Let's begin. I want to talk about the resistance of hell. The Bible is very clear that God has promised good things to his people. There are benefits to being a child of God. If you're born again in relationship with God, there are benefits and they are universal. I don't care young, old, I don't care where you live, what nation, they're meant for every believer. In this story we're reading, every single uh uh Jew, every Hebrew child, they were uh they were by God's plan, you are supposed to go free out of Egypt. And every one of them was supposed to be financially blessed across the board. Psalm 103:2 talking about us. "Bless the Lord, oh my soul. Forget not all of his benefits." And then it says God forgives, he heals, he satisfies, he strengthens. Universal promises to every believer.
But then there are individual promises that God makes to people. Now he may do this in many ways. It might be in prayer. You feel an impression, God telling you what he wants. It it may be reading a scripture, something that and it just comes alive. It's it's God speaking to you personally. That is what I want to do for you. You you can get a a prophecy or a word of knowledge, but God is letting you know. He's making a promise something. This is what I want to do for you. So, universal blessings and promises or individual, it's true for all of us.
But the book of Exodus is written to show us the reality of re resistance. Anything God plans for our lives, anything God promises to his people, the devil resists. Pharaoh was the ruler of Egypt in that time. But Bible scholars tell us he is a type of the devil. So you when you read Pharaoh, that's the devil. What he said to Moses is what the devil says to us. Exodus 5:2, Pharaoh said, "I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go." The plagues come. And Exodus 8:32, "But Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people go." So God promised, but Pharaoh says absolutely not. He fights because the Christian life involves battles. The Bible is filled with language of warfare, conflict. We read words like wrestle, battle, war, conflict, soldier. The Old Testament is filled with many physical battles and physical enemies. And I have often made this statement when you read something physical in the Old Testament, often the application is spiritual. For you and I, Ephesians 6:12 brings this out. Our fight isn't against people on earth, but against rulers and authorities and powers of the world's darkness, against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly world. Jesus brought this out in Luke 11:21-22. "When a strong man fully armed guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger one than he comes and over uh comes in, he takes from him all the armor in which he trusted and then he's able to divide his spoils." Okay? You want to live for God, you got to face the facts and that is whatever God has promised for us, some of it is hard. It's difficult. Some people are they're shocked. It's like they're so surprised. They're like, "I can't believe I have pro." But the people in the book of Exodus had problems. The people in the Old Testament had problem. People in the New Testament have problem. Why should we be shocked when there is so much record of resistance?
Numbers 13, the children of Israel send spies. They kept hearing about this land that God had told, you're going to get this land. What's it like? It's flowing with milk and honey. That is a description of just good things, abundance in that land. But they send spies and the spies come back discouraged. They say, "You're not going to believe it. There's walls, like really tall walls and there's giants. There's really big people. They don't like us. Enemies and opposition." They said, "You know what? If we are going to have what God promised, we have to fight." Yes, that is exactly right. And that's true. Anything good that God has, the devil fights. That's the way it is.
When I travel, I'm asked various questions about ministry. And one of the things that, you know, sometimes I'm asked is about pioneering. What do I think about pioneering? Do I have any tips in pioneering? And often what I say about pioneering, I say it's the hardest thing yet you'll ever do in your life. It can be the most frustrating thing you can ever do in your whole life. But it's also the most rewarding and the most fun thing you'll ever do in your life. Both are true at the same time. It's really, really hard. But most good things in life are. They are a battle. And we have to clearly understand the the reason why the devil resists so badly. Obviously, the devil resists because he hates us. He doesn't want us to have good things. But it's a far bigger picture than that. The devil wants to mess with our heads. His assault is always in our minds. He wants to change our hearts. Numbers 13:31, "The men who had gone up with him said, 'We are not able to go up against the people, for they're stronger than we.'" That is exactly what the devil wants. We hear a promise, a scripture, we get a prophecy, we we find something, hear a sermon that inspire, yes, God is going to help me. And then Pharaoh fights. He resists. Why? Because he wants you to come to wrong conclusions. He wants you to see your situation wrong. See yourself incorrectly, your church, your pastor, God himself. The resistance is meant to mess with your head and change your mind.
Now, the ultimate goal, what the devil would love is if you quit and turn away from God altogether. John 6 verse 66. "From that time, many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him." And I've seen this. I've seen people their their heads are spinning after uh the death of a loved one or sickness or a financial reversal or a problem that is ongoing. And so in that they turn away from God. The devil would love to do that. But many people that's not what happens. They don't quit serving God. But what happens is they are deeply affected and changed by the fact that Pharaoh hell is resisting. There are people uh various Christians in different kind of churches they call themselves cessationist to cease something that stops. And what this is, these are people who believe that God no longer does miracles or any anything supernatural. The interesting thing about cessationists is many of them used to be Pentecostal. They used to be charismatic. They used to believe in miracles. What happened often? They had someone they loved that they were they got sick and they were praying for them and they didn't get healed or even someone they loved died. And so their conclusion is praying for miracles doesn't work. That is exactly what the devil wanted. They're they're still going to go on and be a Christian, but they have changed in some way.
So, having laid that foundation, let's talk then about negotiating with hell. Because our text shows a very common strategy of hell, if the devil can't get you to give up altogether, he wants to negotiate with you. Moses comes. God says, "Let my people go." Pharaoh says, "No." And the plagues start happening. God is judging the gods of Egypt. So, what we read are three passages. Pharaoh calls Moses in and says, "Let's make a deal. Let's negotiate." You know, when people negotiate, whether you go into a car dealership or whether you see something online or at a garage sale, how much do you want? No. And you start negotiating. When you're negotiating, you're wanting to get it for less, aren't you? I don't Unless you're like a really, really bad negotiator. I don't know if anybody's like, "No, you're not charging enough." Right? It's always down. Pharaoh, remember who's Pharaoh? The devil says, "Moses, let's negotiate." And what he is wanting is he's wanting Moses as the representative of God's people. I want you to compromise. That means to negotiate by making concessions by agreeing downward to accept standards lower than are desirable.
So now let's look at our text that we read briefly. Here are the three compromises of hell that the enemy wants to make with you.
First compromise is the compromise of distance. Exodus 8:25, Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Go sacrifice to your God here in the land." Okay. They are held hostage in Egypt. He says, "You you want to worship God?" "Yes." He say, "Okay, you go worship God however you like in Egypt." Egypt is a if Pharaoh is the devil, Egypt is a type of sin. So here is the first compromise. The devil comes and he says, "Look, you can go to church, you can be a Christian, but stay in sin." So Pharaoh is negotiating. He's willing to allow some freedom. He says, "Go sacrifice to your God, but do it. Stay in Egypt. Stay in sin." You know what this means? There are Christians who have had struggles getting free from Egypt, or in other words, getting free from sin. They have been born again. They prayed at an altar in church or at a concert or some outreach somewhere. They have had an experience with Jesus Christ. but they're still struggling with some habits or addictions. And so in the struggle, remember the book of Exodus chapters 5-2 is this struggle. Let my people go. No, they're they're fighting. And in the struggle, Pharaoh, the devil says, "Let's compromise. Why don't you settle for some level of slavery?" And that's what the devil tells Christians. Okay, no. You want to go to church? Go ahead. Worship God. That's fine. But you're still going to be addicted to drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, pornography. And the devil is because you've been battling. The devil says, "Hey, this is as good as it gets. How long you've been struggling like this? Exactly. So, this is as good as it gets. You're as free as you're ever going to be 50 years from now. You're still going to be struggling with the same habits. You're just weak. What can you do? So, just accept that." And you know what? It's the struggle for freedom. It's the fight of resistance that the enemy makes. It causes people to lose faith and then lower their faith. They don't say, "That's it. I'm leaving. I'm going to be a drug dealer." That's not what they say. But in their mind, they think, "Well, maybe that's just, you know what Christians say? Here's here's what they come to. God hasn't taken those desires. I prayed, "God, take away those desires." As though this is God. It's not God. It's Pharaoh. It's hell. That voice that says, "Settle for this level of addiction. Settle for your pornography. Settle for your drug or alcohol addiction. Settle for cigarettes until you die." No, that is the voice of hell. So there's the first compromise. That's compromise on distance. Don't go very far away from slavery.
Second compromise is the compromise of family. Exodus 10:11. "No, have only the men go and worship the Lord since that's what you've been asking for." Now Pharaoh, he wanted them to stay in the land. And Moses said, "Absolutely not." He said, "Okay, okay." Some more plagues come. He calls him back in and he says, "Listen, you want to serve God, Moses? Okay. All the men, you want to serve God, great. But don't take your family. Your family cannot be included in your salvation." Why is Pharaoh saying that? Pharaoh says, "Don't involve your kids in serving God." You know what? And as parents, parents sometimes have fear in serving God as it as it has to do with their children. Exodus 10:10, Pharaoh said, "Let the Lord be with you. I as I let you go and your little ones look to it, for evil is before you." He says, "Moses, let me tell you something. If you take the kids, oh, bad things will happen. If you involve your kids, if you make your kids go to church, that will be a bad thing. And this is the fear that parent, they're Christian, they've been born again, but now they start hitting the teen years, and there's this fear if I make them come to church, they're going to resent God, and they're going to become drug dealers. And why someday they'll be in San Quentin prison? Why are they behind bars? Because you made me come to church." That's from hell. So the compromise that Pharaoh says is leave the kids in Egypt. Leave the kids because you don't want to hurt them. If you don't let them have what they want. If you don't let them be like all their friends, all of their friends are doing that, then they will resent God. They will never serve God and it'll be your fault. But we don't do that anywhere else in life. Imagine if your house is on fire. If your house is on fire, are you going to come out in the middle of the night and go, I don't want to wake the kids because they might be upset with me. Absolutely not. It's you. It's mom, dad, kids. Some of you got pets. You're probably bringing your pets, too. We're all getting out. But somehow with children, they believe this crazy negoti. It's like the Stockholm said, "I'm I'm going to shoot you in the leg. Don't be selfish." That's crazy. Pharaoh is telling Moses, "Your family will not be able to participate in serving God with you." There are people here, the devil is telling you, your family will never be saved. And as proof, see, the devil fights. He's the one who brings the battle. What is the proof that the devil uses to tell your kids will not be saved? The battles. at the battles that he helped create. There's the battles of their sin. You You Pastor Greg, you don't understand what my kids are involved in right now. You don't know my family is doing their entanglements and now they're their addictions, the battles of their words and attitudes. I will never get saved. I will never change. I will never go to that church. And what the devil wants is for you because of the battle to come to the conclusion, you know what? Pharaoh's right. It's just going to be me. The family will never come. They can't be a part of this clearly because look at the battles that are going on. My wife and I had friends years ago having lunch. I'll never forget how matter of fact this lady said, "I know my father is going to burn in hell." Is he dead? No. No, he's not dead. But you don't understand. He's a Catholic. He's an incredibly committed Catholic. He'll never get saved. He's going to burn in hell. She had listened to Pharaoh, saw the resistance, the entanglements of false religion, and she agreed with Pharaoh, family cannot be included in my salvation.
Final compromise is the compromise of finances. Chapter 10:24. "Go worship the Lord. Even your women and children may go with you. Only leave your flocks and your herds behind." Flocks and herds. Most of you are not farmers or ranchers. In those days, that was your money. They didn't have a lot of cash. Flocks and herds were money. So, Pharaoh says, first of all, he wanted them to stay here. Absolutely not. We're not staying here. Okay. All right. Go, but not the kids, not the family. No, we're all going. Okay. And the final compromise is, okay, you can all go, but not your money. The devil does not want you to worship God with your money. And the temptation, the the negotiation here is leave your money home while you go worship God. And Pharaoh says it's the same. If you worship God with money, if you worship God without money, who cares? All that matters is the heart. It's the devil who will tell you, "You don't need a tithe. God understands. It doesn't matter. You have bills. God knows." But who is it who's saying that? It's Pharaoh. The one who had been robbing them in the first place. The one who is a thief. Jesus said the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. The thief is telling you, you don't have to worship God and involve your money. You know why Pharaoh is telling you that? Because he does not want you to enter into the blessings of financial obedience. When you obey God in finances, that is how God blesses your money. The devil doesn't want you to experience the blessing of God and God's help financially. Here are many Christians. They have been negotiating with hell. They're serving God, but they've been experiencing battles and financial struggles. What happens in their life? They are always barely getting by. They are always struggling with less. They never have their needs met. They always have to take jobs that are not enough or jobs that will keep them out of church. That's the only way to pay the bills. I guess they don't. They have never experienced abundance. And the problem is after you live in slavery long enough, your finances being stolen from you can become normal. That That's crazy. Go back to that story in the bank vault. Can I shoot you in the leg? And the guy says, "No." And this lady's like, "That's really self." No, you're crazy. That's not normal. But there are people, it has become totally normal for your finances to be stolen from you. The Midianites, the Bible says, here were enemies that came six years in a row, right when it was harvest time. They're about to get ahead and their crops, which was money, the enemy would come in and steal it. No doubt there are people here that every time you get ahead, something breaks, someone has a crash, there's a problem in your job, in your business, someone gets sick, and it manages to eat up your money. And the negotiation of hell is just accept that that's the way it is. Hey, in this economy right now with tariffs, who knows what will happen with your education and lack thereof, how can you ever expect to get a good job? You you don't have any experience. Come on, man. Look at your background. When they hear where you come from, they'll never give you a good job. But what Pharaoh says is, "Hey, but you're going to heaven. Be happy." But it's Pharaoh. It's the voice of hell that says, "Settle for this. Don't believe God for more."
Let's look at one final thought. I want to talk about complete victory. Moses understood what was at stake in these negotiations with hell. He understood the destructive power of compromise. Listen, once you give into the negotiation, once you compromise, which means you make concessions for less, you go downhill. You get worse. You start compromising with hell, you're not going to stay the same. You always get worse. First Kings 11:4, "When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart after other gods. and his heart wasn't loyal to the Lord his God." He compromised. Don't marry Don't marry a child of hell thinking it's going to work out and somehow you'll get them saved in the end. His heart was turned. Moses understood if I give in, I'm not going to start doing better. I'm going to start doing worse. And he said absolutely not.
Moses also understood we have to fight not just for ourselves. We all have to fight for other people. It's your family in the house. They their future depends on you resisting the negotiations of hell. Their future depends on you doing right. Hebrews 11:23. "By faith, Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born. They saw what a beautiful baby he was. They were not afraid to disobey the king's order." Here are Moses' parents. They understood we are not giving in to Pharaoh. Why? Because our son's life depends on it. You know, every one of us has unsaved family. Do you know their salvation, where they spend eternity, heaven or hell, in some way depends on whether or not you will believe God for them. So, because Moses knew what was at stake, he would not settle for anything less than total victory. Moses would not settle for partial slavery. Stay in the land of slavery. Stay with a few addictions. It's okay. He said, "Absolutely not."
Verse 27, 8:27, "We must take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God as he commands us." What is the significance of the three-day journey? It's three days from the cross to the resurrection. That is why this is looking ahead. It was resurrection that gives supernatural power to overcome sin. Romans 6:4, "Therefore, we were buried with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory or the power of the father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." Because Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day. The Bible says you don't have to live as a slave until you die, still bound and addicted. God can set you free. But it's been so long. I don't care. God's resurrection power is available tonight to set you free.
The second thing Moses insisted on, he said, "All of the family will experience and participate in salvation." Exodus 10:9, he said, "We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, for we must hold a feast to the Lord." Those who were in the house already, he said, "You are, we don't want to leave. Eat. I don't care. Get in the car. They didn't have cars back then. Get on the donkey. I don't know what they're doing. Walk. But we are going. You will come and you're going to follow the same rules as everybody else in this house." Very, very wise of Moses. They may be rebellious and hate every minute of it. I don't care. But that is their greatest chance at ultimately being saved. Don't compromise with those in the house and those outside of the house. I tell you, it is God's will that our families be saved. It's not just you. God wants your family saved. Acts 16 verse 31 and 33. "You and your household will be saved." And he and all of his family were baptized. Listen to me. I don't care what condition your family is in right now. But they're bound in false religion. Don't care. God wants to save them. Oh, but they are involved in sin and and un don't care. God wants to save them. I don't care what their addiction is. I don't care if they're homosexual, transgender. God wants to save your family. That is the will of God. And Moses said, "We will settle for nothing less. I am not going to give up on our family because this is the will of God. Nothing less than total victory with our family."
And thirdly, Moses insisted that our finances must be included and in a blessed relationship with God. Exodus 10:25 and 6, "You must allow us to have sacrifices and burnt offerings to present to the Lord our God. Our livestock must go with us. Not a hoof is to be left behind." Moses said, "When we worship God, we worship God with financial obedience." Listen, I am saved and because I am saved, I tithe. I give the first 10% of my income and I give offerings besides and when God speaks to me, I'll give what he wants me to give. We will worship with financial obedience and we will have the blessing of God on our finances as we obey God. Listen, we cannot change our faith based on battles. Never base your theology on an experience or a situation or a circumstance. It's only God's word. I'm not going to change. Simply has the devil been robbing you financially? That may be true so far, but don't settle for that. Numbers 14:8 and9. "If the Lord is pleased with us, he'll bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It's a rich land flowing with milk and honey. Do not rebel against the Lord. Don't be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless. Pray to us. They have no protection, but the Lord is with us. Don't be afraid of them."
Let me tell you this as I close. If you will believe God for total freedom, not partial freedom, total freedom. He supplies miracle power to help us. Pharaoh said, "No, absolutely not." But God began to judge the 10 plagues, judging the 10 main gods of Egypt, totally destroyed Egypt. Why? So that God's people could have complete victory. Exodus 12:33, here's the end result. The Egyptians asked the Israelites to hurry and leave, saying, "If you don't leave, we're all going to die." Exodus 12:36. "And the Lord gave them favor in the sight of the Egyptians. So, they granted them what they requested. Thus, they plundered the Egyptians." That is an unbelievable miracle. You try this with your neighbor, you probably get shot. Hey. Hi. You got any cash in the house? You got nice earring. Can I have all of your jewels, all of your money? And the Egyptians said, "Yes, yes, have it all." Why? Because God did a miracle when Moses said, "No compromise. We're not negotiating with hell."
I close to this story. 1865, the emperor of Ethiopia took 53 English citizens captive. Queen Victoria pleaded with him to release the captives. He was like Pharaoh. He said, "Absolutely not. I'm not letting them go." So, she ordered a fullscale military expedition. Sent them from India to march to Ethiopia. This is what she sent to set 53 men free. 32,000 men, heavy artillery, 44 elephants that carried the guns from India, 50,000 tons of beef, 30,000 gallons of rum. Those Englishmen, they apparently like to drink. Listen, just to set them free, engineers built landing peers, water treatment plants, a railroad, a telegraph line. Plus, they built many bridges. All that was done so they could fight one battle and release the captives and then everyone packed up and went home. The British expended millions upon millions of pounds to rescue a handful of captives. I want to tell you, God is better than Queen Victoria.
[Music] Listen, when God's people say no compromise, no, Pharaoh, I'm not settling for less. I'm going to believe God. I'm going to believe God for total victory. God, Will it be easy? Absolutely not. I'm not I'm not whitewashing this. There there will be battles. There'll be fights. Yes. Absolutely. But God says, "I'm going to help you to win as long as you do not negotiate with hell."
Let's bow our heads. Close our eyes all across this place. Thank God. With our heads bowed, I'm asking them, there are people that are here. You are not right with God right now. You are a captive to Pharaoh. The devil has power over you because you are not living in obedience to God. You're living in sin. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. It ruins. It destroys when you choose to disobey God and live your own way. That's what I don't care what kind of sin, what type, what flavor of sin. Sin is rebellion against God. And it wrecks everything good and it keeps you from God's blessing. But listen, there is an answer. That answer, Moses said, "We're going to go three days." The three days is from the cross to the resurrection. That's the answer. That's the hope for you. Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sin, rose from the dead to show you can go free. There are people here tonight, you are not right with God. And God is telling you tonight, you can begin your freedom. If you believe on Jesus Christ and you say, "I don't want to live in sin anymore." God can do a miracle inside of you. How many people here you are not right with God as God would deal with you? If you want to pray, that's how you get right with God. you pray with an honest heart. And if you want to pray and turn from your sin tonight, have God forgive you and give you the power to live a new life. Do this while no one else is looking around. If you want to pray, lift up your hand so I can see it. By lifting your hand, you're saying, "Pastor Greg, I want to get right with God." Thank you. I see a hand there. God bless you. How many others join this one? I want to get right with God. I know that I'm not right. Here's my hand. I want to pray. I want to turn from my sin. How many backsliders? You were saved in the past, but you went back to sin, but God has not given up on you. Backslider, lift up your hand. Hold it up. Say, "That's me. I need Jesus." Here's my hand. I want to get right with God. All across this place, lift up your hand. God loves you. He can do a miracle in you. Thank God. Thank God. Anybody else? If you haven't lifted your hand yet, do it now. God bless you. Thank you. I appreciate that. Anybody else? Now's your chance. And then we're going to pray for some other needs. Thank God this young man, you lifted your hand. Look at me. Did you mean that? Yes. Come here. Come here. Brian's going to bring you. God bless you. If you lifted your hand, I didn't see it. You can come. We're going to have someone pray with you. God bless you. I want you all to stand up to your feet. There's somebody near you doesn't know Jesus. Why don't you gently invite them? Give them courage to pray and to help them. But I'm going to open the altars. I told you the truth. I can't make up your mind. You have to make up your mind. You have to tell God, I am not going to negotiate. I am going to settle for nothing less than total victory because that's your word. Altars are open. You come talk to God. They're going to sing while people are coming right now. Rain in me. Sovereign Lord, rain in me.
[Music] Reverign Lord in me. [Music] >> Oh God, help us. I pray Lord God. Father God, I need you to set the captive free. >> Oh God, do miracles. God, encourage people. >> You are a savior. You're able to save. >> You are a provider. You're able to provide, God. You are a deliverer. You can deliver and set captives free, Lord God. >> Oh God, open our eyes. Give revelation. Let them see how much you love them. >> Do not allow the lies of hell to take root in their hearts and minds. >> Oh God, reach down and help. Lord God, deliver. I'm asking for a miracle in these hearts, Lord God. [Music] >> God, we're crying out for salvation. >> Our families shall be saved. >> Oh God, let your will be. >> Oh God, I believe you, Lord God. You're going to help us. You're going to deliver, Lord God. [Music] >> Oh God, let faith rise in these hearts, Lord God. >> Thank God. Now, I want to pray and I mentioned numbers of areas. I talked about addictions. I talked about finances. I talked about the salvation, but in any of those areas, who I want to pray for especially is is the discouraged because in no doubt in each of these areas, there are people that you you are just worn out with the struggle. Hell has been pounding on you in your mind, and you're at times you want to believe that God can set you free. You would like to believe that God could save your family. It would be nice to believe, but you are beat up and weary and you're and tonight God has spoken to you because he wants to help you to believe. I like that the man who said to Jesus, "I do believe, but help my unbelief." He was honest. He says, "I I do believe you, but I'm struggling." And that was enough for Jesus. He was able to help them. How many of you that's you? That wouldn't apply to everybody, but you say, "You know what? I'm I am discouraged in my battles that I've been fighting." Amen. Stand up to your feet. If that's you, stand up and lift your hands towards heaven. I'm going to ask God to touch you. And I'm going to ask God to to put courage, confidence in your soul. Right now, I'm going to pray for you. Father God, there are people here that are hurting. They are discouraged and weary. Oh God, I need you to touch them. God, open their eyes. I rebuke the lies from hell that the devil has said that it will not work, that things will not change. Devil, you're a liar. You loose your hold off their minds and their hearts. Oh God, bring strength to the weary right now. Lord God, I pray that you would encourage their faith. My God, you are a deliverer. You're going to set captives free. Addictions will be broken. Lord God, you're going to bring deliverance. My God, you are going to save our families. Devil, you will not have our families. We will not give up on them. I don't care what they're doing right now. God is a savior and he can save. My God, I'm asking help these people to believe you, God, financially. Let them believe you, Lord God, for miracle jobs, miracle housing, miracle provision and favor, Lord God. Help them to make up their mind to obey you. And as they obey, open the windows of heaven. There is nothing that you can't do, Lord God. And I believe you are going to give us the victory in Jesus name. Amen.
Now let's praise the Lord together right now. Oh God, [Applause] thank you. Thank you. Thank you Jesus. Praise God. Praise God for his goodness. God is going to help us. I'm going to tell you that God is going to do miracles for us. I want you to believe some of you some of the things that before you have tried, try again and believe God. God is going to reach down his hand. He's going to do miracles. Some of you that'll be financial. Some of that will be deliverance. If you're struggling with a habit or an addiction, there no doubt will be an action that God wants you to take. That means if you have anything you shouldn't have that's hurting and contributing to your addiction, get rid of it. That'd be a step of faith and believe God that he is going to set you free. I want you to believe God. You witness, invite, tell your family again and believe God to do a miracle for you. And then financially, whatever it is, look for a job. Look for a better job. Look for the housing, the car, whatever it is you need. I want you to believe God. God is going to help us. Amen. How many of you feel the victory here tonight? Thank God. And we're going to go in victory. We have the pioneer rally. I want to encourage you. That starts tomorrow night. Pastor Campbell be preaching tomorrow night. I'm going to be preaching Friday night. And then uh on Saturday, James Martinez, Garrett King, Tory Williams, and we're going to have a tremendous time in God on the weekend. And then don't forget outreach to go to Fort McDow getting ready for that. We're going to have a fantastic time in God this weekend, Sunday. Uh Abigail and Joshua are going to get married. We're going to have a wonderful day in in the Lord on Sunday. Thank God. Let's bow our heads and we're going to be dismissed in prayer. Kenny Rosas dismissed in prayer. I thank you for miracles.