MorningStar Fellowship Church | Sunday Service 9:00am

[Music] [Music] upon [Music] [Music] wait upon [Music] you wait upon you [Music] [Music] Lord yes we wait upon you oh God we wait upon you [Music] upon [Music] [Applause] [Music] you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Jesus said occupy till I come I think we should preach the gospel and Advance the kingdom through missionary efforts in all different Avenues to proclaim the good news as if we are going to take the world for Christ whatever we don't finish he will when he comes but that's the reason why even though we can bring the kingdom of God we can do all the work Greater Works that Jesus said that we can do there is another Harvest yet to come there's barley harvest in this room they're the Overcomers coming into maturity early can survive drought heat and cold there's wheat harvest in this room but listen to me the grape Harvest is out in the world waiting to hear your testimony waiting to hear your story waiting to hear you give them a word of knowled or pray for them and demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit waiting for you to cast the demons off of them the Morning Star raffle is underway you could win Rick jiner 2014 Harley-Davidson's soft tale Heritage Classic the founder of morning star Ministries Rick Joiner donated his personal bike to support Morning Star missions receive one chance to win by purchasing a raffle ticket for just $10 increase your chances by buying more tickets there's no limit and every donation goes to support the important work that morning star missions is doing to strengthen churches and spread the love of Jesus Christ throughout the world the winner will be chosen through random selection on September 28th 2024 the final day of morning Stars harvestfest conference for more information or to buy your tickets Please visit store. Morningstar ministries.org you have a created purpose you are a company of eagles listen this school is so you walk in this not just that you gain knowledge you apply these things this will be a year that will change your life forever your prophetic Journey starts here here register for the school of the prophets 2024 2025 now welcome home welcome to morning [Music] Stone the house that God is building [Music] good morning morning star how are you all doing today like to welcome those of you who are here in Fort Mill with us those of you who are watching online all over the world we're glad that you're here when the body of Christ gathers together he says if two or more are gathered in my name he's there with us and and here and all over the world we have a lot more than that so he is surely here so this morning Jesus we thank you for your presence we thank you Lord that your presence is not limited Lord by space or time that whether someone is right here in the present right here in Fort Mill watching or they're watching in some other country at some other time Lord you are present there so we lift your name up high Jesus and say come do what you do be who you are and change us to become more like you in Jesus name and everyone said amen let's worship [Music] together you are my sh you are my offender I will never Shen I will remember that you're good you're love forever oh I will sing cuz praise is a breakthrough [Music] all of my days I W to be AI dancing in the B singing on the front line you have the victory in this SP so I will sing his praise is the great through you are my life you are my strength you are my S of Deliverance You Are My Hope you are my joy in every season you're there when I fall and then when iise I am yours and you are mine you are the of my soul [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh o all of my days all of my days I want to be a Levi dancing in the b s on the throne you have the victory in this fight so I will sing his praise His all of my days I want to be a lei and the Bible singing on the front line you have the victory in this fight so I will sing cuz praise is the [Music] Breakthrough you are my light You Are My Strength you are my song of deliver you are my home joy in every Seas you're there when I fall and there when I Rise I am yours and you are mine you are the love of my soul you are you are my life you are my strength you are my soul not you are my home you are my joy and every season you're there when I fall and there when I Rise I am yours say you are mine you are the L of my [Music] soul Oh Praise You God We Praise You Lord we we praise you God we praise you praise you praise the Lord oh my soul all that is within me bless his name praise the Lord oh my soul all that is within me bless his name praise the Lord sing it out oh my soul all that is within me bless his name praise the Lord oh my soul all that is within bless his name praise the Lord oh my soul all that is within bless his name praise the Lord oh my soul all that is within me bless his name oh bless his name you [Music] worthy you are my light You Are My Strength you are my soul of Deliverance You Are My Hope you are my joy in every season you're there when I fall and there when I Rise I am yours and you are mine you are better of my soul you [Music] are you are my light You Are My Strength you are my soul of Deliverance You Are My Hope you are my joy in every season you're there when I fall and there when I Rise I am yours and you are mine you are the love of my [Music] soul we praise you God oh in your [Music] house oh oh we praise you Lord we praise you [Music] God praise the Lord oh my soul all that is within me bless his name praise the Lord oh my soul all that is within me bless sing it out praise the Lord oh my soul all that is within me bless his name praise the Lord oh my soul all that is within me bless his name praise the Lord oh my soul all that is within me bless his name praise the Lord of my soul all that is within me bless his name praise the Lord oh my soul all that is within me bless his name praise the Lord oh my soul all that is within me bless his name we bless you God [Music] oh [Music] I've tried so hard to see it took me so long to believe that you chose someone like me to carry your [Music] Victory Perfection can never earn you give what we don't deserve it you take the broken things and rais [Music] Glory you are my CH giant for when you stand on the feet every V you are I am with you say I am you Crown me with confence I am seated in the Heavenly place I'm defeated with the one who has coner it [Music] all now I can finally see it you're teaching me how to receive it so let all theing cease this is my [Music] victory you are my CH Giants for when you stand undefeated every ble you want I am you say I am you CR me with confidence I am seated in the Heavenly place I'm defeated with the one has ConEd [Music] [Music] [Music] when I [Music] live when I LIF my voice and Shout heavy walls come crashing out I have the authority Jesus I GI me when I open up my mouth mirales are breaking out I have [Music] authority Jesus me when I open my sh every come cring down I am theth Jesus [Music] hasing where and I open up my mouth Mir St breaking I have the [Music] authority [Applause] [Music] Jesus you are my [Music] Champion Giants when you up the every battle you want I am who you say I am you CR me with confidence I am seated in the head leg I'm defeated by the power of your I am seated in the Heavenly place of the with the one who has conquered [Music] all seated in Heavenly plac oh seated in Heavenly plac Heavenly plac Heavenly places [Music] [Applause] [Music] heav sing it out when I LIF my [Music] voice when I LIF my voice and Shout everyone comes crashing down I have the authority Jes Jes has G me when I open up my mouth Mires stop breaking out I have [Applause] theor Jesus has given me when I my voice Shout everyone I'm cring down I have the authority Jesus when I open up my mouth near stop breaking out I have the authority Jes Jesus has me you are my Champion Giants for when you undefeated every you are sing it I am who you say I am you Crown me with confidence I am seated in the Heavenly Place undefeated with the one who has conquered [Music] [Music] thank you for right [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Hallelujah [Music] hallelu hallelu I know it was the blood could have only been the blood [Music] [Music] and I cannot explain but nothing's more real than this in the presence of God oh what my heart experienced when my shame hit the Wayside and my sin met the most high I was washed from the inside oh I've been washed From the Inside Out say hallelujah Hal hu I know it was the blood could have only been the blood hallelu [Music] hallelu I know it was the blood could have only sing H Hallelujah hallelu I know it was the blood could have only been the blood hallelu hallelu I know it was the blood could have only the the precious blood of [Applause] Jesus the precious blood of Jesus [Music] J it's about perance weing for accept let me it's only blood it's about deserving or earning it's a gift that's freely G [Music] let [Music] only rightous purif let me tell you it's only by the BL anybody want to be worthy forg just living let me tell you it's only by the blood [Music] [Applause] hallelu [Applause] hallelu I know it was the blood it could have only been the blood hallelu hallelu oh I know it was the blood it could have only the blood [Music] [Applause] [Music] performance of perfection or striving for acceptance let me tell you it's only by the blood and it's about or earning it's a gift that's freely G let me tell you it's only by the blood yeah it's never been about performance or perfe or striving for acceptance let me tell you it's only by the blood it's never about or it's a let me you it's only by the blood does want to Bey and rightous purified isless let me tell you it's all by the blood does anybody want to be more G justifying let me tell you it's by the blood hallelu [Applause] hallelu I know it was the blood could it only been the hallelujah hallelujah [Applause] I know blood [Music] only you [Music] hallelu [Music] H only [Music] hallelu [Music] hallelu I know only [Music] [Music] nothing but the blood of Jesus what can make me again nothing but the BL of Jesus the blood of Jesus [Music] father we have come to bow down in in worship lifting up our hearts we Bow Down In Praise hallelujah [Music] hallelujah of my soul and Hallelujah all of heaven we are [Music] singing and bright and Morning Star and Morning Star your eyes blaz like Fire shining like you're are [Music] one hallelujah hallelujah [Applause] of my soul and [Applause] [Music] Hallelujah heaven we are singing Hallelujah We Sing [Applause] [Music] Hallelujah of my [Music] soul of my [Applause] [Music] [Applause] soulelujah with all of heaven we are singing all heaven with all Heaven are sing with all Heaven All Of Heaven we are [Music] [Applause] [Music] singing all Angels holy is the Lord God all Earth holy are you and Holy Angels Cry Out holy is the Lord God holy and holy are you all the Angels holy is the and holy is Holy are you and all the Angels out holy is the god Earth holy are you hallelu [Music] hallelu hallelu holy h hallah [Applause] [Music] hallelu [Music] [Applause] hallelu [Music] hallelu in the name of Jesus we cut and break the day of small thinking we cut and break any limitation we have put on you Lord anywhere where there are blinders where we have made you too small in our eyes be magnified be magnified be magnified for who you really are Lord we ask forgiveness for making you too small you are the god of the impossible you are the God who speaks and things come into being you are the alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end Lord forgive us for thinking we're too big and you're too small we declare you are The Great I Am you are the one who has been from the beginning at the Ancient of Days you are the Ancient of Days Lord rearrange our perceptions anywhere where we've been looking from a pit bring us up to that high place with you so that we can soar on the wings of eagles we ask Jesus that you would you would fix and heal our perception first and foremost of who you are and then who you are in us we ask this in jesus' name and if that's kind of the prayer of your heart you just say amen amen thank you Lord let's thank the Lord for all he's done this this morning and thank you worship team he's really really good we kind of started Trucking on that last uh that last part of that last song Allelujah and just felt like the the unction of the Lord in the house amen well welcome to Morning Star Fellowship Church my name is Gary Webb I have the awesome uh honor and uh of serving as the local the lead pastor of our local church here in Fort Mill we'd like to extend our welcome to those of you who are here uh in Fort Mill with us and those of you who are watching online are all of our online family especially our online connect groups our regional connect groups uh if you are part of our morning star family if you if you worship with us on a regular basis we ask you please get connected on a greater level through our connect groups for those of you who are here uh you can go out to the the table right there in the lobby our connect group table and they can they can get you connected you can contact the church office for those of you who are online you can take a look at the Fort Mill Church website uh to find out more about connect groups hey anybody a firsttime visitor with us this morning you just raise your hand welcome we're glad that you're here if you all haven't received a first-time visitor packet just keep those hands up and our ushers will come by with one uh for you in just a moment so a few down here if you guys could get them a a visitor packet that would be great uh we also get to take up an offering this morning how do you feel about that yeah we we have mostly cheerful givers in the room that's good um but our offering is a way not only that we get to support the ministry we get to partner and be a part of what the Lord is doing through this church morning Stars International Outreach and the advancement of the Kingdom that's coming from this house but we get to we get to worship with our offering and we get to tell the Lord hey God we trust you we trust you with what we get in we believe is from you so we're willing to give just a portion of that back there are a number of ways in which you can give here at Morning Star if you're on campus with us in the the back of most of the seats uh in front of you there should be an envelope and you can give it through the envelope through credit card debit card or cash you can even slip a check in there if you want we ask especially if you're doing a credit card gift that you just print legibly and that you sign those uh but probably the easier way is to give with your smartphone up on the screen you're going to see a QR code you can either scan that with your your uh smartphone camera or you can text the word give g i that's g i to 3525 800800 so a few ways for you to sew in to give to participate with the resources the Lord has given us uh through to this morning's worship we're actually just going to take a moment and ask the Lord uh if there's something beyond our normal tithes and offerings that he'd like for us to give uh we're going to wait on him for just a moment so Lord we wait on you and just ask that you'd share with us how we are to give this morning in Jesus name we thank you Lord for those of you watching online your uh best way of giving is through that QR code or the text give option at 3525 800800 just text that word give we're going to ask the ushers to go ahead and pass the buckets and while they do I just want to share with you a few brief announcements uh Morning Star School of the prophets is is coming up in just a few weeks if you are interested we have reduced prices especially for those who are coming in person uh just uh be sure to check out our website uh mop.com in addition to that we have Kingdom arts training uh for those of you who are interested in being an artist especially those who are serving in our Bob Jones Vision Center you see many of our awesome artists are up here uh doing doing art in the midst of our worship our onboarding artist training begins September 7th for those interested you can register by uh emailing kingdomarts mm.org also our young adults Ministry is kicking up uh they have a meeting tonight from 6:00 to 8 at Eric and Sarah Aller house you can reach out to them for more information at young adults mm.org and after this service for those of you who are here on our Fort Mill campus our dream interpretation team is ready to go they're going to be in The Mission Cafe after our second service actually they'll be back there and if you're sticking around for both services and you'd like to have you got a dream that you want interpreted they're going to be back there to interpret your dream isn't that awesome that's great so uh for all your other um information we encourage you to take a look at your bulletins or check out the Fort Mill Church website uh and with that I have the high honor of introducing this morning's speaker who's going to bring the word it is morning Stars leader and the senior pastor of our Fort Mill church will you help me welcome uh our friend Chris Reed thank you so much well it's good to be uh here with you this morning thank you for coming for being at the 9:00 a.m. service you know you always got to give extra points to those um who get up earlier come to the early service so anyway just want to um update you uh a few things we had a tremendous kba conference were any of you here for that yeah I felt like it was a a blessing um even though I wasn't able to attend yesterday just to give you a few updates uh person Al um so not this past Wednesday but the Wednesday before um this has all been since I last spoke on a Sunday my mom who you all know or seen had stomach pain unusual stomach pain and so they dad took her to the hospital and they found a softball siiz uh cancerous tumor in her colon and um anyways they surgically uh removed that tumor um but yesterday or the day before I can't remember which it was uh but I think it was Friday uh they did get the report back that uh it's stage three colon cancer and that there is additional cancer in the blood vessels and such that they did not get or not able to get so she's therefore going to have to go into some further uh treatments so I'm asking you to keep uh Donna Reed in prayer uh and for Dad this is a lot for anyone many I know there's cancer survivors out here um she's 74 so the older you get the harder it is you know to to deal with these things but her her spirits seemed High I visited with them yesterday and so just keep them in prayer if you would uh it's also just kind of for obvious reasons more of a I pray for our family because it's more of a a demand on our family just to make sure we get people to doctor's appointments and do all the things we need to do and so I'm trusting God for her healing um I was intending that weekend to go back to Indiana and speak at my home Church where I pastored 12 years before I came here that didn't work out but last weekend I spoke uh in Daphne Alabama for Pastor John Kilpatrick who was the leader of the Brownsville Revival in the90s I think it went from 1995 to 2000 so that's where I was last Sunday what a tremendous church and great group of people and a great U friend that um I have found in him just a tremendous man and um it was a real honor to be there then here just Wednesday night was in Newton uh um North Carolina at a church there that was was really interesting there was probably I don't know four or 500 there and probably 75% of those people were under 30 and I thought it was great to just see such a youth movement um you know a church full of young people and uh that was a true blessing to be able to do that so but I'm I'm thankful to be able to speak and to share with you all this morning well I'm going to go ahead and pull up my PowerPoint here if you haven't just quick plug if you haven't bought my um first book yet seven spirits of God I think it's you can get it on Amazon you can pick it up in our bookstore you can scan that QR code has anybody read the seven spirits of God I'm just curious okay so some of you have if you haven't it's a pretty quick easy read it's I don't know somewhere around the 150 page Mark but it's just really a book about understanding the fullness of the Holy Spirit the seven spirits of God Seven meaning complete and and how to commune and fellowship with the Holy Spirit and then of course this most recent book if you haven't got it I encourage you to pick it up this is Meet In Due season I really believe it that's why we put our time into doing these things this book is about helping you to develop your prophetic filter how God speaks to you and identifying that and it's it's an adventure and as I've said many times you know if all you have is the voice of God that's all you need and it'll be critical in the days ahead so if you haven't bought it you can buy it on Amazon as well I encourage you to pick it up I I hear people tell me all the time they're really learning to identify the difference between the voice of their own mind or their own confirmation bias versus wow this was actually a god dream wasn't just a regular dream this was a god impression some you know there was an epiphany something resonated something stood out to them and so developing your prophetic filter I encourage you to pick up a copy of that as well it'll be a blessing to you today the title of my message is is this the four gates to freedom and fullness the four gates to freedom and fullness there's something about the number four lately three weeks ago when I last preached here I entitled four of a kind beats a full house was anybody here that day yeah well now it's 4 Gates the four gates to freedom and fullness you'll understand in a minute what those four gates are as we relate it to you from the scriptures acts chap 12 is my text I'll start reading at verse one now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church anybody ever dealt with harassing Spirits harassing your mind your peace right and you harassing you and when you're sleeping trying to sleep that that's a principality Herod was a king he was a ruler and there was a spirit behind Herod there were several herods by the way Herod at the time of the birth of Jesus Herod at the time of John the Baptist Herod at the time we get to Acts chapter 12 it was a generational principality that was put in place to really persecute the people of God those who were called by God verse two then he killed James the brother of John with the sword and because he saw that it pleased the Jews he proceeded further to seize Peter also now it was during the days of unleavened bread so when he had arrested him he put him in prison and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him intending to bring him before the people after Passover Peter was therefore kept in prison but I like somebody say but but that word is important but prayer constant prayer constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church and when Herod was about to bring him out that night Peter was sleeping bound with two chain chains between two soldiers and the guards before the door were keeping the prison now behold an angel of the Lord stood by him and a light Shone in the prison and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up saying arise quickly and his chains fell off his hands then the angel said to him gge yourself tie on your sandals and so he did and he said to him put on your gar and follow me so he went out and followed him and did not know what was done by the angel was real he thought he was seeing a vis a vision when they were past the first and second guard posts so there's the first two you see that right they were past the first and second guard poost they came to the Iron Gate that's number three they came to the Iron Gate that leads to the city you need to remember the that the third gate the Iron Gate leads to the city and I like this which opened to them of its own [Music] accord which opened to them the gate to the city to influencing the people to influencing the culture opened of its own accord they didn't have to pry he didn't have to try to push it open do you understand the the point that I'm making there it's significant that was the third gate the gate which leads to the city which opened them of its own accord and they went out and went down one street and immediately the angel departed from him and when he had come to himself he said now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his Angel and has notice carefully has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the people all the expectation of the Jewish people that's the second thing verse 12 so when he had considered this he came to the house of Mary the mother of John whose surname was Mark where many were gathered together praying by the way praying for him praying for him to get set out of prison and as Peter knocked at the door of the gate pause there's the fourth gate remember first and second ward then the third gate which led to the city which opened of its own accord and now he's at the Gate of the door of the church so Peter knocked at the door of the gate a girl named Roa came to answer when she recognized Peter's voice because of her gladness she did not open the gate you know I can Envision this in my mind she's so excited that God's answering her prayers that she doesn't even actually open the door for him leaves him standing out in the cold but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate but they said to her you are beside yourself yet she kept insisting that it was so so they said it is his Angel how ironic that they couldn't believe that the thing they were praying for was knocking at their door but they could believe it was his Angel how bizarre you mean to tell me it's easier to believe an angel from heaven is knocking on your door than the very thing you're praying for it is his angel now Peter continued knocking and when they open the door that's the fourth door and saw him they were astonished wow what a text acts chap 12 you know the Bible speaks of the ultimate fear it's the fear of death all other fears are rooted in the fear of death Hebrews 2:14 and 15 says since therefore the children share in Flesh and Blood he himself likewise partook of the same things that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death that is the devil and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery wow what a powerful set of two verses this lets us know that notice it specifically is careful to point out through Jesus's death he overcame the power of death because the wages of sin is death so if he took all of our sin and paid the penalty for sin then obviously he ultimately defeated death as well but notice it says who has the power of death that is the devil and deliver all those who fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery a couple points I'd like to make about that number one this is important the degree to which you fear death is the degree to which you remain in slavery number two two the degree to which you fear death is the degree of resurrection power that you are lacking let that soak in for just a minute resurrection power of course is provided by Jesus's victory over Death At The Cross and over the one who has the power of death the devil because right the power oh death where is your sting oh grave where is your Victory the thing that empowers death is sin well Jesus overcame he never sinned and he took our sin and in the mind of God by by us putting our faith in Christ Jesus we were crucified with Christ and all of our sins and our pasts are buried with him God in in the mind of God our faith puts us in that um mediatorial role with Christ where uh crucified with Christ yet I live buried with him raised with him to walk in newness of Life resurrection power gives you victory over the sin nature over sickness and disease you know the Bible says that the apostles in that first century they changed the world because they were Fearless of dying they were Fearless of death I mean if you can't if you don't fear death what can you fear so so the lack of resurrection power in a Believer will be seen and heard in their theology their actions and in their behavior if fear if you're gripped by fear or under the control of fear it will show up in your actions and in your words and in your behavior but you see the reason why Jesus ultimately address the ultimate fears because all of the fears are rooted in the fear of death I'll explain that in a minute but the gospel message is this faith in belief in the death the burial the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and God appropriating that atoning work for you placing you in Christ being baptized by one Spirit into one body the body of Christ and I would say the reason why faith is so powerful and necessary faith is is what positions us there in Christ in his death in his burial in his resurrection faith is the thing that places us there you often hear me refer to our object of faith has to be maintained on the power of the blood of Jesus and what Jesus did at the cross because remember that verse I read to you look at it there one more time in Hebrews 2:4 it said that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death so notice it was through his death that's how he defeated Satan and of course the resurrection was the cherry on top if you please but the more fear you have the more fear of death will have you and fear will make you a slave I think of that song I'm no longer a Slave To Fear I am a child of God anybody know what I'm talking about that's why faith is connected to resurrection power the more real Faith you have in Christ the more evidence of resurrection power will be released to you and will be found in your words and in your actions and in your demeanor and and it will remove uh and break the power that fear has over you in any way and I just want to speak that over anybody here today that's dealing with fear fear the ultimate fear is the fear of death Jesus died to break the power of sin fear and death that's why the apostles were Fearless all of them but one we have record 11 of the 12 were martyred to all those who don't believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ that's a that's a real hard thing to come up against that 11 out of 12 men died many of them a barbarous death why would you die for a lie they knew Jesus was alive they saw him for 40 days so the more real Faith you have in Christ who he is what he accomplished at the cross for you the more evidence of that resurrection power will be but there are many people that are a slave to fear now now as I said the root of all of the fears and phobias is the fear of death if you can overcome the fear of death then you can overcome any other fear because the fear of death is the root of all the other fears I mean think about it just anybody here let's be honest anybody here have a fear of spiders I mean if you really think about it the fear is not really so much in the spider now some of you are tough today and you're never going to but if you saw one the ultimate fear is that thing Might Sting me and kill me or might be six foot tall and come out of my closet at 3:00 a.m. anybody have a fear of snakes I'll be honest I yeah I'm not into them I just one man said you know talking about in the Appalachian area cuz they associate a lot of people associate Pentecostalism with snake handling even though it's like a small fraction of 1% of the broader Pentecostal movement one guy said one day he's like I'm gonna I'm GNA prove my faith in God by handling a rattlesnake and the guy responded to him he said I think I'll stick to walking on water and I agree the root of all other fears that fear of that snake is ultim that snake's going to bite you and you're going to die the fear of sickness the fear of Cancer all of these things we saw fear at its highest level in 2020 when the world was struck with a once in a 100y year pandemic but if you can overcome the fear of death by the power the resurrection power that is released to you by faith if you can overcome the fear of death you can overcome all other fears call because all other fears are connected to that ultimate fear the fear of death is the root of every other fear fear of failure has anybody ever wrestled with that fear of defeat fear of losing fear of the worst possible outcome hello fear of the worst possible outcome no matter what you're going through at any given moment fear regarding your children and their well-being is anybody body ever been concerned about your children and the direction in their life is go and that kind of thing absolutely fear of the economy fear of a job loss A downsizing how about this one this is a real one fear of missing God's will for your life you're going to miss that moment fear of missing the relationships that God has for you the truth is we all Wrestle with various different kinds of fear and all of them are rooted in the fear of death that's why Jesus died to break the power of fear and to break the power of sin they're connected sin fear and death are integrated together so what made the apostles so powerful and allowed them to turn the world upside down is that they conquered all fears by Conquering the fear of death they were Fearless that's why they Chang an entire generation and turned the world upside down that's the reason why before the end of the first century the whole Known World had heard the gospel preached they did a lot in a little bit of time that's why faith in Christ atoning death at Calvary releases power to you when you put your faith in the blood of Jesus and in his person I can't explain it how it works I I wish I could it's beyond the scientific mind how does God release power to someone so that they can live free from the power of fear and the power of the sin nature over them it's called Grace I call it the Great Divine exchange you choose to put your faith in Christ not in yourself your abilities your willpower no you're putting your faith in Christ and he's like I receive that and in return I give you Grace or power to overcome whatever you're facing Grace is divine enablement that's one definition so let's go now back to acts 12 Herod in this story as I said represents a generational principality or spiritual wickedness in high places a spiritual wickedness in high places people who are empowered influenced controlled by demons who work in a government mental level and this spirit and by the way as I said there was more than one Herod Herod the Great died but the spirit empowering didn't Herod Antipas died but the spirit empowered him didn't it just changed faces and names it moved on to the next power in high places spiritual wickedness in high high places places of authority and what is this this this spirit that was empowering Herod do it's the Antichrist Spirit how many of you know the spirit of the Antichrist is Alive and Well in the world today we saw it unfortunately in the opening of the Olympics we see it so often in media and music the spirit of antichrist but Herod just happened to be the vessel at that time in that place in that geographical region he was get this carefully Herod was a first century embodiment of the Antichrist spirit that is still alive and well today that Spirit lives on in even modern political leaders the spirit this spirit that empowered Herod is a force in the spiritual world and he wants to destroy let me give you an example what this herod's Spirit the Antichrist Spirit does working through powerful political leaders first time we read about Herod as he found out that the Christ child was born because the wise men Came To Worship Him what did he do he sent out an order that all the Hebrew boys to and under should be put to death this Antichrist spirit and I hope you hear this let this really sink into your spirit the Antichrist spirit that possessed the this first Herod wanted to destroy the Christ child before Christ could reach his full potential before he could reach full maturity in other words he wanted to kill Christ what God had birthed in the world in its infancy stage Herod represents the Antichrist spirit in those Generations destroying something snuffing something out before it can open blind eyes heal deaf ears raise the dead perform Miracles cast out demons the Herod Spirit wants to eliminate God birthed initiatives in the earth and Destroy them before they can really get to their full purpose or or mature enough to accomplish the per the purpose they were put here it's the Antichrist spirit thankfully Herod was unsuccessful but if Herod can stop the Christ child in its infancy stage then he can prevent him from coming to his full maturity and purpose he wants to stop what God is birthing in the earth in its infancy stage before it reaches that full potential of what It ultimately will do Christ God In the Flesh saving the world can I just say this quickly we must be on guard we must be Watchmen on the wall we must ever be on guard and take tender care of the new little innocent New Beginnings that God G gifts us with the new beginnings that God does in the earth and in Among Us that have been birthed down deep in our spirit because God has birst some things in you that haven't fully matured or come to its full potential yet a gift an anointing a calling a purpose whatever you're called to be and you're sitting there and you feel I'm wasting my life away nothing's happening for me yet don't get discouraged do not get discouraged in God's timing at the right place at the right time God will set before you a door which no man can shut and no man can open it'll be a God door but we must take care of the new beginnings that have been birthed in and among us because the Antichrist Spirit wants to Snuff out and take out what God is birthing in the earth what God is birthing in you and in your family before it can ever really fully mature and come out of infancy stage do not despise the day of Small Beginnings amen can I say that again do not despise the day of Small Beginnings I think that this same Antichrist Spirit Joseph remember Joseph the dreamer in Genesis he dreamed and told his brothers his dream they sold him into slavery through him in a pit but ultimately they the enemy would have loved to have snuffed out Joseph's life if you please because guess what in about 20 or so years down the road he's going to have a dream about seven skinny cows and seven fatted cows that uh that the king of the known world of Egypt at that time is going to take serious and that dream is going to cause him to become the most second powerful man in the known world only second to pharo and he's going to save the known world because of that seven years of famine but the seven years of plenty was given to him in a dream with po the point I'm trying to make is Joseph's brothers tried to stop him before the purpose or his gift could be used 20 or so years later you know why the enemy wanted to take out Joseph working through his brothers because that gift that calling that anointing that was upon him in 20 years was going to save the whole Known World and ultimately store up seven years of food to feed the world and restore his brothers receive his brothers in his Dad into Goan and the children of Israel to thrive in Goan until ultimately a few hundred years later when the Egyptians would take the Israelites slaves but Goan started out as a good place but then a baby come floating down the Nile just a few hundred years after that and God raised that baby up to become Moses so don't despise the day of Small Beginnings we must not give over that which God is birthing in US among us over to the keeping of Herod the enemy comes to steal kill and destroy we must nurture it we must care for it be transformed by the renewing of your mind some of you right now A fogginess is over you in Jesus Christ's name we break that power off of you right now there's a fogginess there's a disorientation a spirit of heaviness I want somebody here today before you leave this place to trade in that Garment of heaviness for a Garment of Praise hallelujah how are you how do you get out of that lull that that just that place of discouragement frustration feeling stuck how do you get out of that be ye transformed how many of you want transformation in your life be transformed by having your mind renewed renew the mind and the body will follow its lead if allowed full rain not only will Herod kill out something in its infancy stage that God has birth but he also will kill out the voice of one crying in the wilderness the prophetic voice that is represented by John the Baptist because you know a different Herod come along not the one that tried to kill baby Jesus and all the Hebrew boys two and under it was a different her still called Herod different man different face Same Spirit driving and the voice of one crying in the wilderness the one that would prepare the ways of the Lord and make his path straight the one who would announce Jesus Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world John the Baptist ministry represents the Forerunner anointing the ministry of repentance change purity sanctification the ministry of John the Baptist represents those who make preparation for the ways of the kingdom of God to make the Low Places pull them up and the high places bring them down to make it a flat field he killed John the Baptist which represents the ministry of repentance and the Forerunner anointing so he tried to kill Christ in its infancy in his infancy stage before he could uh heal the leper and heal the Blind and raised the dead and he stopped out the voice of John the Baptist that one who had the Forerunner anointing who came in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare the way of the Lord to kill out the message of repent to silence that voice of one crying in the wilderness the spirit of Herod please hear me the spirit of Herod is alive and well it is coming after the Forerunner anointing those who are forerunners ERS for the the gospel message of the second coming of Jesus Christ preparing the way for the kingdom of God to come in its fullness in Acts chapter 12 Peter had been arrested they had just watched the Antichrist Spirit through Herod kill the Apostle James imagine being the church at that State in its infancy State just a few years after the day of Pentecost the church is in aate State of Shock listen carefully somebody is down the road going to come back and listen to this message and it's going to mean something then that may not make sense to you today the Antichrist Spirit through Herod killed the Apostle James knocked out the leadership of the church and it left the church in a State of Shock and hopelessness and in despair because they lost important leadership wasn't something James had done it was something that was done by the spirit driving Herod they knocked off James and now they're about to do the same thing to Simon Peter imagine the State of Mind the church confusion disorientation what do we do where do we go who do we follow it's clear that it was at the time of Passover it clearly said that now that goes to show you that it was more than just some political mumbo jumbo just some some you know left-wing right-wing whatever politician no they killed James before Passover you know what was so significant to the Christians about Passover it was the annual celebration of the death of Jesus Christ and then they said in the King James it says intending after Easter they would bring Peter out and have him killed so before Passover they killed James and now they're going to make even more of a mockery of Christianity because they're going to wait till after Resurrection Day is during the days of unleaving bread it said and they're going to knock off Peter just like they knocked off James Stick it to them so to speak really hurt them mock them at the time of the year when they memorialized Jesus's death burial and Resurrection right at that very time they killed James and wanted to wait till after Resurrection Day to kill Simon Peter and if case you don't know who that was that was the one who was given the Keys of the Kingdom by Jesus Peter was the one who preached on the day of Pentecost when the 120 were filled with the baptism of the Holy Spirit and 3,000 were added to the church so there's nothing worse than the Antichrist Spirit working through high level political powers to take out the leadership of the church and they they they timed it just right we're goingon to take James out before Passover and take Peter out after Passover now here's what I want I want you to start paying attention not as though you're not now but this is really important Simon Peter is locked up in the inner sanctum the inner prison the inner Ward let me say it this way the very innermost jail trapped in there in the innermost jail chained to Four soldiers keeping him locked up realizing ing certain death I mean that he knew they did it to James and it's just a matter of time Welly that is a bad State of Mind to be in isn't it to realize I just lost one of my best friends especially if no matter who you are but I can imagine Simon Peter's thinking I just lost one of my best friends in Ministry I walked with him for three and a half years with Jesus when Jesus was here and then the first few years of the church we work together James the pastor of the Jerusalem Church the pastor Pastor James of the first church first Pentecostal Church of Jerusalem because that's where Pentecost took place Jerusalem and he I mean just sitting here thinking it's just a matter of time they're going to do the same to me every minute probably seem like hours and every hour seem like days I don't know what his State of Mind was talking about Simon Peter but I can only imagine what he was feeling and maybe you felt similar ways after a bad set of circumstances he just lost brother James and now he feels a sense of impending doom has anybody ever felt a sense of dread or impending doom come over your life it's a real thing we really don't know at this point he's sitting there chained to Four soldiers and then Four soldiers would come in and then chain him up can you imagine Four soldiers one chain for each arm and each leg Four soldiers then they'd take shifts four new soldiers would come in so you had four squads with four soldiers each that number four I don't know at this point if he had succumbed or surrendered in his mind I don't know if he just realized well it was good while it lasted he succumbed to the situation or maybe he was just at rest I got a feeling it was that I'll have to tell you the reason why remember in John chapter 21 right before Jesus's Ascension this is so powerful Peter is talking to Jesus right before his Ascension and he and he says what of this man speaking pointing to John and of course that's when he said to to Peter what is it to you if if John should live till I come but in regards to himself Jesus said something very important he said when you are old someone will gge you take you where you will would not go and of course history tells us Simon Peter was crucified upside down I don't know it doesn't say what state of mind Simon Peter was in sitting in that dark dungeon cell chain to Four soldiers but I just have to wonder if he in that dark moment alone in the Inner Cell if the thought crossed his mind huh I'm not old yet and Jesus said when I'm old they're going to take me and crucify me upside down he didn't say that word for word but that's exactly the it said he spoke of the manner of death in which Simon Peter would he's like I'm not really that old yet maybe that's why he was able to sleep if God has promised you things and you know it was God and he's told you good things are going to happen and he's spoken things over your life whatever your present circumstance is never mind it let it be let it be let it be let it be what God Said hold on to it even despite what the surrounding circumstances may look like let God be true and let every man be a [Applause] liar what we know is is he was trapped in an inner dungeon chained up with no support around him all alone and suddenly I like the suddenly of God and suddenly a light shin in that inner sanctum and smot him on the side just like that talk about divine intervention how many of you need divine intervention how would you like to have Angelic visitation today an Angelic visitation God has a way now I'm going to say this carefully God has a way of intervening when law fair is used against God called God Anointed God appointed people whose time is not up yet that Antichrist spirit that works in certain people who are in high powerful places that tries to take a does you don't have to be a preacher for that to be true you know just people that have a purpose or a calling on this Earth hear me right now God has a way of using when lawfare or that Antichrist Spirit or that vexation Spirit Herod Vex the church that vexing Spirit of Herod against God Anointed God called people God has a way when it's not your time yet to spare you in fact we could say it this way you might just turn your head just right at the right angle at the right time because God's not done with you yet he's got a purpose for [Applause] you oh glory to God yeah you might just turn your head and look at an immigration chart saw a t-shirt the other day I L that it said my pronouns are you [Applause] missed no matter who it is is no matter what your purpose is in this world if it is appointed unto man want to die I want to tell you it's not over until God says it's over it's not over for you until God says it's over no matter what the doctor says no matter what the report says no matter what's said it's not over until God says it's over I believe those chains fell off off you know why because he stood up when the angel told him to don't make sense oh if I stand up I might wake him up no he obeyed the angel who smoted him on the side I wonder if he smoted him on the side if he wouldn't have aroused himself and got up I wonder if he hadn't smot him on his side if that wouldn't have took he might have smacked him upside the head that's just speculation pure he responded to a Divine provocation did you hear that he he responded to a Divine provocation and instead of just laying there in that gate or in that Inner Cell of hopelessness Darkness despair feeling like it's over it's hopeless you're next feeling that inner hopelessness and darkness chained up Peter stood up in the gate the the first gate opened for him and he was released from that inner prison remember it said he came past the first gate and the second gate and by the time he gets to the third gate the Bible said that third gate the Iron Gate uh which led to the city opened of its own accord meaning if you look at in the original Greek language there in strunks and cordance it means the door opened up for him naturally to have influence in the city in the culture and not be trapped in dungeon of of Despair chained up in darkness and loneliness imprisoned in his thoughts of fear and hopelessness and my time is up what is that first gate of Deliverance to freedom and fullness you got to get out of the inner prison anybody ever been a prisoner of your own mind come on let's be honest you ever been a prisoner trapped within your own thoughts when he got to that iron gate to the city it opened up to him naturally but listen before God gives you the keys to your city before God gives you the keys to the city before God gives you the keys to influence culture before you can God gives you the ability to have access to the culture to bring change to be a kingdom ambassador to be used by God you have to first get past the first and second gate the first gate represents inner bondage locked up and as a prisoner of the thoughts of your own mind Chained and loneliness and darkness vexed by Herod locked up inside the cell of the inner sanctum of our own being bondage in your innermost being I think it's fair to say that we all have fallen into situations and circumstances that are beyond our control and that we can't get out of ourselves anybody relate situation you get yourself in you can't get out of it yourself we tell ourselves it's okay but we live with deep Darkness on the inside chained up on the Inner Cell of our being filled with anxiety fear desperation frustration angst worry we get locked away in our own little cubby holes our own prisons our inter prisons and it doesn't matter so much how you got there what matters is is that you cannot get out of it yourself you got stuck in a mess you can't get out of yourself you know what I like about his this response if you can't get out get God in it takes divine intervention sometimes to get out of some things it takes Angelic visitation for some things in some situations we get trapped in our in inner cells of hopelessness Despair and it's that constant feeling of Torment within our inner sanctum surrounded by the Four soldiers in four chains remember I said the number four repeats itself several times in these verses Four soldiers four squads of Four soldiers and four Gates or doors that we got to get through get to pass through to get to total freedom and fullness so that we can used by God to fulfill our purpose to be a living testimony of the power and freedom that the Holy Ghost can bring to an individual or a body of people that inner sanctum is a place of Torment frustration where you feel chained Alon rejected in a place of darkness and despair but if you're still breathing then there's hope for divine intervention for God to intervene on your behalf to deliver you of all those weights and besetting sins which does so easily beset you there's nothing nothing worse than for a SP Spirit-filled believer to be locked and chained up on the inside can anybody relate to that it seems like you can't get free it's your own inner prison and those Four soldiers and four chains and those four squads represent four types of demonic powers that I believe all believers individually and corporately we must contend against you want to know what the four represent the four chains Ephesians 6 And1 12 for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against number one principalities and number two Powers Number Three rulers of the darkness of this world number four spiritual wickedness and high places there's the four chains and you lie there for so long in a state of discontentment in a state of disillusionment where you actually can get used to it and you st and you remain comfortable to stay the same you accept it as a way of life when there's so much more freedom that can be experienced that you can experience as a Believer but the first gate of freedom is freedom from The Liberation of your own personal cell of the vexation of Herod yeah you may have experienced time s of glory and you've maybe felt the chill of the Holy Spirit but even Chief Apostles can get stuck in Chains of Darkness on the inside in the inner sanctum of your being you can be filled with frustration you can just learn to live with it learn to put up with it but I want you to set your sights higher today to go beyond your present Church experience and expect an Angelic visitation a divine intervention to break you free maybe it's frustration with an internal addiction finances having having trouble in your domestic life a reoccurring problem with a child that you love a marriage problem and you desperately need God to send an angel where you feel the touch of God at your side to get you out of that inner prison that you're in you know they say warri is like rocking in a rocking chair it'll keep you busy but it won't take you anywhere it doesn't take away from the fact that Simon Peter you've had great experiences with God already you've been anointed by God you've experienced the glory of God you've went from Faith to Faith from glory to glory from level to level but you need something Beyond Holy Ghost chills at this moment you need divine intervention a Next Level God encounter you know for years I've heard the analogy used the church is supposed to be like a hospital that for the sick and I get that that's true to some degree but I believe also there's a place where we can reach in spiritual maturity where we can get in God and grow from glory to glory from Faith to Faith from level to level where we're not just coming to church each week because we're sick no we've got to be something more than kingdom consumers yes we all need encouragement we all need to touch we all need that that power of God but listen anytime you import more than you export you're always going to have an upside down economy and that's true for the economy of the Kingdom as well we don't come to church church just to get something or to get our blessing or get our spiritual fix but there's a place in God you can reach or you can come to church and you can give more than you take you become a kingdom exporter you export the goods and services of the Kingdom it's kind of like what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:26 he said when you come together everyone has a Psalm everyone has a prophecy everyone has a tongue my question is what do you has remember we're told to enter his gates with Thanksgiving in our heart we're told to enter his courts with praise meaning you don't wait till the right song is sung or the right or the choir hits the right notes or the right beat to be played and then you come up with praise no you brought it with you you entered his gates with Thanksgiving with praise it came with you you didn't wait for something to be said or sung to drum it up in you if you're under the vexation of Herod inside that internal prison listen to me you don't have to unload 10 tons of problems to generate 10 ounces of Praise that can cause that River inside of you that may feel damned up to feel it begin to churn again and out of your innermost being will flow rivers of Living Water and wherever the river goes in wherever it touches it heals and brings life some of of you have tried to step start to get free and then a prison guard jerks you down on the right side or on the left side and I've come to set the tone to fill you with an expectation you don't have to stay there you don't have to lay in it you don't have to live in it anymore you don't have to crawl back up in the cell again and wrap the feathers around your wrist you don't have to crawl back in that cell and have more of the same more of the same no that cell is never intended to be your home no it's just a place you're passing through and God is going to send an Angel Today to touch your side and shock you out of complacency and get you up on your own two feet so the chains will fall off God wants to turn your captivity he wants to give you Beauty for Ashes the oil of joy for mourning the Garment of Praise instead of the Garment of heaviness it's about time you experience a miraculous makeover the Bible said that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil and through the power of his death on the cross he defeated all principalities all powers and made an open shame of them God wants you to get up out of that cell today and walk through that door instead of dying vexed at the hand of Herod the Antichrist Spirit God wants to give you victory over that inner warrior and is there anybody ready for an angel to help you for God to intervene now notice this I'm I'm hurrying up once Simon Peter realized the Deliverance wasn't a delusion I like that it was real he said in verse 11 God had set him free from Herod that's first gate and he set me free from the expectation of the people that's the second gate and you got to pass through those two gates get out of your own personal prison and get freed from the expectations of people all these years I've read acts 12 and it never stood out to me recently he equated the second gate to the quote expectation of people unquote there's nothing worse than trying to feel like you have to fill a void or fit a mold or conform to peer pressure that you're not called to conform to God loves Originals he's not into copycats whether we want to admit or not one of the greatest forces and powers in the world is the expectation of people that they put on us the need to please people to live up to certain demands or expectations and you can never truly experience God as long as you fear man maybe you're sitting there today you need freed from the first gate you're sitting there stuck within yourself and you're saying quote I just can't get up on my own two feet I can't get out of this present dilemma present Darkness well that's great you get free to that but then the next thing you got to stop woring about what are people going to say what are people going to think people how are people going to react somebody needs to hear this today oh people might criticize me uh listen people are going to criticize you no matter what you do I love that verse in Jeremiah when he said I he didn't know how to handle the people because they were hard-headed you know what God said he said I'm going to set the face Like Flint Jesus when he was on his way to Jerusalem going to die and his disciples were trying to talk him out of doing God's will you know what the Bible says happened he set his face like a flint to go to go to Jerusalem after you get free on the inside you got to get free on the outside of the expectations and the demands of people and I believe we've been asking God for the third gate which is the gate to the city the key to the city to see a move of of God in our community a Revival in our state a Revival in our city a Revival a Reformation in our nation but God will not let that third gate of the city open to us of its own accord until we get over our own personal sells and get freed from the second gate the expectation of the [Applause] people but if you do if you can get over what people think about you what they're saying about you it will the third gate will open to its own accord you don't have to push you don't have to prod you don't have to do anything it'll open automatically but you can't get the gate to the city until you get through the first two you got to get free of our own personal chains then we got to get free from the fear of man and God will grant us access to the city last but not least there's another gate I'm going to get to the fourth and final gate it's that gate of the church to open up the church sees their prayers come knocking on the door and then they try to explain it away have you ever noticed how they could believe as I said it was an angel but they couldn't believe it was Simon Peter the very one they were gathered together praying for the last and final gate is when God sends us people who have been set free from the chains of past imprisonment and God has met them and God has encountered them and they've encountered God and we canot leave them standing on the doorstep of the church with the door closed to them we the church the praying Church on the inside we that are praying for those who are locked up in personal imprisonment or those who need freed or liberated from the expectation of their peers or pleasing people we can't when they come knocking let him stay there in the cold knocking we got to open up the door to every person that God has liberated so I speak that over you in the name of the Lord today you'll be freed from any personal ineptness and set free from the sins and weights that keep you so easily beset in your internal prison and that God will grant this church Divine favor with God and men and that every person here will have their own personal Revival come out first gate come out of the second gate be delivered of that personal vexation and the expectation of the people and God grant us access into our field to find the Harvest that the gate to the city will open of its own accord and so that when the church the church that's us has the answered prayers things we've been believing for praying for comes knocking at our door will open that fourth and final door and be a living testimony to our generation of what a move of God can look like but we first got to come through those four gates to freedom and fullness God bless you thank you [Music]