Ears to Hear and an Encounter with the Risen King

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everyone come a little closer it's easier to pray easier to to listen to be together I want to read from Matthew Chapter 13 before we pray Jesus is saying parable of the fer scattering seed and uh I'm not going to preach today but I just want share something before the service something is very important okay let's read I'll go fast I'm not going to read everything but it says so put put up Matthew 13 verse one later that the same day Jesus left the house and said besides the lake a large crowd soon gather around him so he got into the boat I just want to I want you to uh imagine Jesus everywhere Jesus go people follow him everywhere Jesus go people always follow him always gather together to listen to Jesus why because Jesus is different Jesus was different than everyone else else people see that Jesus is different than Pharisees Jesus is different than than scribes Jesus they they testify by Jesus and they said when he speaks he speaks with authority he doesn't speak like regular person he speaks with authority that means everything listens to him a lot of people listen to him even that let people listen to him wind was listened to him Waters sea was listening to Jesus to his commands so when Jesus spoke people see something different in him than they see in Pharisees and other people so Jesus so the people that gather around him he went into the boat he sat down and start taught them as people stood around him so basically start telling them the stories in verse three he told many stories in the form of Parables why did Jesus spoke in Parables one of the reasons is because so people could understand him people cannot understand God if Jesus Will spoke heaven in like same uh in language of Heaven people would not understand him so Jesus brought these truths about the the father and he spoke in Parables that that so we understand because the most important thing for us to understand God so he spoke in different parables in one of The Parables he says here it it SS um like this listen a farmer went out to plant some seeds a as he scattered them around his field some seeds fell on the foot pth and the bird Birds came and Aid them so basically when he was scattering the seeds it fell on on the heart surface on on food pad for example it's we could say on a sidewalk you know when something falls on a sidewalk you could see right and all the seeds were on the sidewalk people who's looking for the seed they're going to pick and take it so Birds when they see the seeds they they start coming and they they ate them they took all of them Jesus said then and some fell on the um fell on a sh shallow soil with on uh underlaying Rock the seed sprout quickly because the soil was shallow but the plants soon waled under the hot sun so basically when sun came out when the heat came it start burning them they didn't have enough juice because the roots were not deep into the ground and they what and they die and then and another um category is other seeds fell among the turn turns that that grew up and choke been choked you know when you fall between these uh wild uh plants they grow quickly and you as a good seed you could die but there's still another seed they came or that fell on fertile soil and they produced a crop that was 30 60 and even 100 times as much as had been planted you know when Jesus said this Parable he said basically the seed is the word of God that is spoken to people the word of God the seed that has to come into your heart you have to reach receive the the seed and you have to bear fruit but Jesus points out that there's different hearts with different condition of heart not always you can receive the word of God to produce fruit but I want you to point I want to point something out Jesus don't give any excuses for anyone Jesus doesn't give anyone any excuse for example oh you have problem in your heart in your life you don't have to bear fruit and you have another problem in your life you don't have to bear fruit or you have trouble in your life you don't have to bear fruit Jesus did not give any excuses Jesus did not give any exemptions for anyone but what did he say he said he who has ears to hear Let Him hear he who has ears let him hear so basically if you have ears to hear you have to hear it's your and my responsibility to hear what God says it's my responsibility and another translation same verse it says like this I like it better anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand everyone with ears to hear should listen to understand very important is to understand to understand the the word of God but in order to understand the word of God what do we have to do we have to listen we have to open our ears we have to listen otherwise we will not understand what God wants to talk to us and today we have this sermon we're going to have uh worship we're going to praise God for all his goodness we're going to hear uh brother Dennis is's going to share the word we're going to have Brother David that's going to share the word but what I want want us to do is to open our hearts those who has ears let him hear those who have ears to hear listen to understand let's stand up we're going to ask Christ to come in with the Holy Spirit and let him help us let him open our ears to hear let him let's ask God to open open our heart let's ask God to give us the understanding of his word because the only word can save us let's pray oh Jesus Christ we thank you so much for the seeds that was s like once in our life and it that one that is continue coming into our life the seed of the word of God the word that gives life the word that gives Prosper prosper in you oh Jesus Christ sometimes we don't listen sometimes we're lazy to listen sometimes we're not responsible enough sometimes we we we we just walk away from your word but you want us to listen those who have ears let him hear what the word of God says oh Jesus you keep talking to us you say Allah lot of stuff through different sermons through different situation in our life and I ask you today May our ear be open May our mind be open to understand why you came to this Earth what you want to do to us how much you want to bless us and so we can bear fruit oh Jesus because you want us to bear fruit bear fruit you want us to not be hand hand empty but you want us to bear fruit oh Jesus help us and be praised in our life in the name of Jesus I pray amen praise the Lord I think that today we don't have a full band but it's only me and Cornelia but you know we have angels singing so uh just like prayer you don't see all the prayers but they're all around us so everything and everyone praise the Lord all right we're going to be singing a song you were the world word at the beginning were the word at the beginning beginning one with God the Lord most high your hidden glory in creation Now revealed in you are Christ what a beautiful name it is sing it what a beautiful name it is the name of Jesus Christ my king what a beautiful name it is nothing comp pass to this what a beautiful name it is the name of [Music] Jesus you didn't want heaven with without us so Jesus few brought Heaven [Music] down my sin was great your love was greater what could separate us now what a wonderful name it is what a wonderful name it is the the name of Jesus Christ my king what a wonderful name it is nothing compar to this what a wonderful name it is the name of Jesus what a wonderful name it is the name of Jesus [Music] and death could not hold you the veil tore before you you silence the boast of sin and Grave the heavens are alling the praise of your glory for you are raised to life again and you have no Riv and you have no we now and forever God you re and yours is the kingom and yours is the Glory yours is the name above above all name what a powerful chur what a powerful name it is the name of Jesus Christ Our King what a powerful name it is nothing comes stand against what a powerful name it is the name of Jesus you have no right and you have no weal now and forever God you re and yours is the kingom and yours is the glory yours is the name above above all what a powerful name it is what a powerful name it is the name of Jesus Christ might what a powerful name it is nothing can stand against what a powerful name it is the the name of Jesus what a powerful name it is the name of Jes let's just Worship the Lord we just give him all the glory that his name is above all names let's worship him and give him all the praise Hallelujah We Worship You Lord we worship you Jesus because your name name is the most powerful name Hallelujah your name holds the beginning and the end Lord Jesus your name is above all names your name is peace your name is Alpha and Omega your name is Emmanuel Hallelujah you are the rock of our Salvation Hallelujah and we we magnify your name today we magnify your name today and we praise your name today I just Worship You Lord and I ask that you touch everyone today that is here touch everyone's soul lord Jesus open our hearts to your word open our hearts Lord Jesus for the holy spirit so it could come and comfort us and give us the answers we're looking for because we know that you you have all the answers to all our questions Hallelujah and we come today to to Worship You Lord Jesus and to receive your blessing hallelujah hallelujah Give Me Jesus sing it [Music] church I don't [Music] want about you you're more than ever every dream come true all of the things I thought I wanted don't come close to knowing [Music] you now that I'm yours and you are mine he's mine our love is the secr that I find I'll spend forever in the pleasure I Found Love In Your Eyes give me cheesus give me [Music] Jesus you can have oh all this world you can have all this hallelujah [Music] hallelujah more than silver more than gold yes he is you are the treasure that I hold now that I've tasted all your goodness nothing else will [Music] satisfy Give Me Jesus Give Me [Music] Jesus you can can have all this world you can have all this world Give Me Jesus Give Me [Music] Jesus you can have oh all this world you can have all this world just give it Jesus we are all here today just wanting Jesus we just want Jesus today we just want his peace we just want his grace in in our life this is all we want if you have no Jesus in your life you absolutely have nothing in your life everything will come everything will go but Jesus he will be there he will be there for you let's just worship him today and just praise him let's lift our hands and just praise the name of Jesus Hallelujah Jesus Hallelujah Jesus we come before you today knowing that if it was not for your grace and for your love that we would not be standing here today because Satan has planned every day and is planning every day to destroy us to destroy our families to destroy our children to destroy our relatives just to destroy but because of Jesus because of Jesus and his protection and his grace towards us that you have given we are standing here today hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah thank you Jesus we thank you Jesus we just thank you Jesus Hallelujah bless everyone that is here today Lord that does not have you in their life or wants to renew relationship with you you Lord let their heart be soft that you can penetrate their soul lord Jesus and you can penetrate their heart Lord Jesus we ask that in your name we ask that in in the name of Jesus Christ Our Lord and our savior amen them hallelujah praise the Lord I feel kind of far from you all I hope you don't mind I'm going to go ahead and step off the stage get closer to you guys praise God how is everyone doing today anyone sick today no one's sick praise God today I want to base my sermon on the Holy Spirit and I think a lot of times nowadays I feel like the holy spirit in a way is kind of neglected where churches nowadays a lot of churches maybe preach more about God the father and God the son and God the holy spirit is kind of left to the side and today my main sermon is going to be about walking in the Holy Spirit and to kind of for just to remind us what exactly it is to walk in the Holy Spirit and how to do it and so first to do to do that we need to kind of find out who the holy spirit is and we read in Galatians 5:1 16 it says so I say walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the Flesh and in the Bible it says many times there's a spirit of the Flesh and the Holy Spirit and what is the difference between the two and you know Apostle Paul he he says he talks about the spirit of the flesh many times but he doesn't talk about the Flesh and Blood he talks about the flesh as in what human nature is what the body wants and we know that when God created man he created this flesh to kind of it it kind of desires to rebel against God we were born with it and everyone has it in them and we kind of think about it so what is the Holy Spirit and especially us Pentecostals we say oh the holy spirit is uh he gives the gift of tongues and without uh the gift of tongues there is no Holy Spirit and that is completely wrong the holy spirit is many things and the Holy Spirit himself is a person and we also failed to remember that because in the Bible when Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit he refers to him as he him or whom and we know that a person needs to have reasoning needs to have feeling and that is what the Holy Spirit has and when the when was the Holy Spirit first mentioned in the Bible you know in Genesis is chapter 1 it talks about both God the Father also God the son and also God the Holy Spirit and if we can open up Genesis 1:1 it says in the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth in verse two it says now the Earth was formless and empty Darkness was over the surface of the deep and the spirit of God was hovering over the waters can we take off the Reverb thank you now what are the responsibilities of the holy spirit in John chapter 14 it talks a lot about the Holy Spirit and what the Holy Spirit does in our lives in verse 16 it says and I will ask the father and he will give you another Advocate to help you and be with you forever and so here it says the the holy spirit is an advocate so he is someone that is for you so he is on your side he is your Advocate and then later on in that ver in that chapter in verse 26 it says but the advocate the Holy Spirit whom the father will send in my name will teach you all things and will will remind you of everything I have said to you so here we read in this verse that God will send a spirit to remind us and that is very important for us to remember that the holy spirit will remind us of what Jesus Christ himself has said here on this Earth in the next chapter John 15: 26 it says when The Advocate comes whom I will send to you from the Father the spirit of Truth who goes out from the father he will testify about me I feel like that's a lot of a lot of reasons why the Holy Spirit isn't really thought of in our minds is because the job of the holy spirit is to remind you of Jesus so he testifies about Jesus the holy spirit will never testify about himself in John 16:8 it says when he comes he will prove the world to be in the wrong about Sin and righteousness and judgment now what that means is the holy spirit will convict you of sin John chapter 16:14 it says he will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you so the holy spirit will glorify the father in Romans chapter 8 it says if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of this because of his Spirit who lives in you and you know when Jesus was resurrected from the dead we know that the Holy Spirit came into that tomb and Rose Jesus from the dead the holy spirit is the one who Rose Jesus from the dead and now this next verse that I want to read is actually very important because I think it's the main verse that I want to share today it's in Romans 8:1 14-6 for those who are led by the spirit of God are the children of God the spirit you received does not make you slaves but that you live so that you live in fear again rather the spirit you received brought about your adoption of sunship and by him we cry ABA father the spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children so what happens when we die we go up to the throne room to judgment and we come before God and the Holy Spirit will testify to God on our behalf claiming that we are his children amen 1 Corinthians 12: 6-11 this is I think what we know the Holy Spirit most by is by the gifts of the Holy Spirit the gift of tongues the gift of Prophecy and in this verse it says all that there are different kinds of working but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work now to each one the manifestation of the spirit is given for the common good to one there is given through the spirit of message to the spirit a message of wisdom to another a message of knowledge by means of The Same Spirit to another Faith by The Same Spirit to another Gifts of healing by that one Spirit to another to another miraculous powers to another prophecy to another distinguishing between spirits to another speaking in different kinds of tongues and to still another the interpretation of tongues all these are the work of one and the same spirit and he distributes them to each one just as he determines so the spirit of God gives gifts now if the spirit of God lives in you what does that mean what does that mean to you when the spirit of God lives in you what does that give you authority to do see when Jesus when he went back up into heaven after he resurrected he told his disciples it is good for me to leave you because if I do not leave you then I will not be able to go to God the father and tell him to send the spirit to you now the disciples did not understand this until they actually received the Holy Spirit and when they received the Holy Spirit they were given the power to do things that Jesus was able to do and more amen and you know when you walk in the spirit it gives you Authority so you you are given Authority by the Holy Spirit but that does not mean that every good thing that you do is not the will of God and what I mean by that is if we think about it in the Bible that there were Apostles I think I have it written down over here it says yes in Acts 16 Verse 6 and 7 it says Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of piria P Pia and galatia having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia when they came to the border of missia they tried to enter bethenia but the spirit of Jesus would not allow them what does that mean it means that that that the will of God was not for them to go and preach the word of God in that one area so when you are led by the spirit the spirit of God will tell you to preach the gospel or it'll tell you that it is not time to preach the gospel you know many times we think oh I am led by the spirit so I need to go do this my calling is to do this so we act our on our own impulses and we try to do something that we think is is the will of God now a lot of times it's not a bad thing to do maybe it's to go out into Tarpon Springs and to preach or or to go and pray for someone we think that it is that it is God's will but really sometimes it's just us thinking it is a good thing to do and I feel that I'm led by the spirit but are we actually and I kind of want to remind us that walking in the spirit means that we completely surrender ourselves to the will of God to go to where God wants us to go to preach where God wants us to preach and the three ways to do that to be led by the spirit is number one to be sensitive to listen how often do we listen how often do we take time to actually sit in prayer and to think what is God trying to tell me what is the holy spirit trying to tell me how often does the Holy Spirit actually try to talk to us how often does the Holy Spirit want to reveal something to you but the question is are you listening sometimes us as Christians we get so caught up in our lives in our jobs and our families that we kind of forget get how important the holy spirit is in our lives and we sometimes think you know I'm praying for this to be to to happen to get an answer from God I'm praying and praying and nothing's happening what if God what if God the spirit is trying to tell you to give you an answer but you're not even listening what if he's giving you an answer but you don't like the answer so you keep listening to hear the answer that you want to hear you know when you pray to God God gives you three answers he says yes he says no or he says wait when we listen to God we're listening and we're waiting for a yes or no answer but maybe God isn't ready to reveal us the answer amen the second one is to be obedient and that is something that I was already kind of talking about if the Holy Spirit tells you yes or no are you willing to be obedient and accept that answer and the third one is being reverent and the word reverent means feeling or showing deep and solemn respect how often do we respect the Holy Spirit we go to church and we hear about all the miraculous Deeds that Jesus did on his on the Earth all of the people that he's healed him walking on the water him calming the storm him dying on the cross for our sins and raising from the dead and then sometimes we think okay that is the end of the the New Testament that's that's all that happened but the most important thing after Jesus went up into heaven is he sent his holy spirit to come and to live in each and every one of you we think of the Bible as this ancient word but the Bible is still going on now in our lives lives because Jesus says go out and preach the gospel preach the good news he doesn't say that to the people who lived all the way up to up to Jude in the Bible or Revelation Revelations hasn't come to pass yet some of Revelations has already happened but the important thing is is that life on Earth is not over and God lives in every one of us and we fail to remember that but being reverent to G to to God the Holy Spirit Romans 85-8 it kind of talks about showing respect to the Holy Spirit it says those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires but those who live in accordance with the spirit have their minds set on what the spirit desires the Mind governed by flesh is death but the Mind governed by the spirit is life and peace the Mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God it does not submit to God's law nor can it do so those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God and so if we neglect the Holy Spirit and we walk in the flesh we are displeasing God and we are not fulfilling God's God's desire for our lives the last verse that I'd like to read is Colossians 3: 1 and 2 it says since then you have been raised with Christ set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God set your minds on things above not une Earthly things amen you know our bodies we require something we require we require food we we require sleep we require energy but in the same way the spirit that lives in us also requires attention and we can't we can't quiet that we need to remember that so let us go ahead and stand and pray father God I thank you for bringing us all in this place I thank you for giving us your son Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins and I thank you for the holy spirit for sending your Holy Spirit down on this Earth to live e in each and every one of us I pray that you help us Lord help us to remember how important it is to pray in the spirit to meditate on the spirit and to walk on this Earth in the spirit so that we would fulfill your will in our lives Lord Jesus so we wouldn't we wouldn't Ponder on our own thoughts but we would Ponder on things that come from Heaven on things that you want us to think about God I pray that you help us to fulfill your will on this Earth Lord Jesus in your mighty name I pray amen amen if you could just pray with me really quickly um let's just stand really quickly and just you can repeat this prayer after me just say dear Jesus Jesus speak to me speak I open my heart to you remove all distractions in Jesus name amen amen you may take your seats this was wonderful words shared before me by Brother OLG and Dennis you know I really think we need to just tonight right now be sensitive to the spirit of God and listen what he's trying to say to us because he wants to speak to all of us if you have your Bibles open them with me to Matthew chapter 28 you know as I Was preparing for this message I had something written out and and I was ready to share about you know joy and and I had all these notes but God as I Was preparing and and praying and calling out to God he spoke to me and he gave me this passage and he told me he said tell them that I am coming he's coming Jesus is coming that's what I'm here to share with you today that Jesus is coming and there's nothing else we need but him he's coming you know I really feel God moving tonight I really felt his presence before the service and even as we were worshiping him just calling on his name I really feel God wants to do something special today that that so that it was not just be another service it would not just be another you know another check mark that we were here for an hour and a half two hours another check mark that you know we worshiped we heard the word and we went home no but so that there was an encounter and a transformation that we would all receive something we would receive something from him from his Spirit whatever he has for us today that we would grab onto it and we wouldn't let go we just need to come hungry and expecting and and God's going to reach us all in the place where we are amen amen now Matthew chapter 28 verse 1 now after the Sabbath as the first day of the week began to Dawn Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb and behold there was a great earthquake for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the Stone from the door and sat on it his countenance was like lightning and his clothes were white as snow and the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men I want to pause right here really quickly you know it's just talking about an angel of the Lord here and the angel was white as snow and he was like lightning so much so that the guards fell down as dead and that's just an angel of the Lord I don't think we could ever even imagine what Jesus is going to look like when he comes in all of his glory that's just an angel just just a servant of Jesus coming and and just bringing the presence of God and the guards they shook In Fear And Fell as dead man you know who were those guards these guards were the ones that were put in front of the the grave of Jesus when they thought they had defeated Jesus when they thought they had the victory they put these guard so that no one would come in no one would tamper with anything but then when the angel of the Lord came they fell down he rolled the stone away when God's presence comes with this Angel like this Angel when God comes in all his glory white as snow like lightning and all his power then whatever the enemy is trying to stand against you whoever is trying to stand in front of you trying to stand before you they can only Shake in fear and fall before the Lord they can't even stand before the glory of the Lord not even the Lord himself just his glory they can't even stand in front of it verse 5 and then the angel answered and said to the women do not be afraid for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified that verse is so powerful right there I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified you know these women they came with Hunger they came seeking Jesus you know all of Jesus's disciples that walked with him that went with him they were not there they thought Jesus had been killed but the women still were seeking Jesus even though he was crucified you know that's a hunger that that you cannot teach that's a hunger deep inside of someone I know that you seek Jesus that's what we need in our life if we want an encounter if we want a transformation if we want to find the Lord we need to seek Him wherever he may be we need to go after him and find him in the places where he is at we need to set our heart on the goal of finding Jesus and the world might tell us Jesus Is Dead He's crucified we buried him behind a stone we've put guards in front of them there's no way you're going to get in but this these women came to seek Jesus who was crucified they came looking for him even though there were so many obstacles in the way even though it was impossible they were told they just went after Jesus and what happened when they went they came to the place where the angel of the Lord was where God's glory fell and all the enemies were falling down in fear and they were trembling they were as they were dead the stone whatever was in their way was rolled away and the angel said verse six Jesus is not here for He Is Risen as he said he is risen come and see the place where the Lord lay and verse 7 says and go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead and indeed he is going before you into to Galilee and there you will see him behold I have told you so they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to bring his disciples the word what happens to the women when they encounter the presence of the Lord when they see that the power of God that raised Jesus from the dead they leave that place with fear and great joy and they go to tell others you know the enemies of Jesus the ones that killed him the ones that are trying to to put it into the grave so that everyone forgets about it when the presence of God comes and hits them they fall like they're dead with fear but then when the presence of God comes and these women come when they're seeking Jesus they come they they have this fear but they also have great joy and they they don't fall as if they're dead they leave that place and they go to tell others they go to share the good news that he is alive they go to bring the word to his disciples that he is risen and that's our job as well he is risen we need to have an encounter with him we need to find him in the place where he's at we need to seek him with all our hearts and when we seek Him and and we find his glory and we find the empty grave we find the power of God we find that joy that we're searching for we find that fear of the Lord we need to go and tell others that he is coming back the angel told them in verse 7 go and tell his disciples that he's risen from the dead and he's going before you into Galilee there you will see him that must be our message we need to go and tell the people that Jesus is risen from the dead and that he's going and he's going to meet us soon he's coming soon that must be our message message that rings in our hearts and verse 9 we keep reading and as they went to tell his disciples behold Jesus met them saying Rejoice what was one sadness Jesus turned into Joy he's telling them Rejoice the angel to told them do not be afraid and they left that place with great joy and Jesus is encouraging them more Rejoice have great joy and when they see Jesus in his glory when they see the Risen King of Kings when they encounter him they came and held him by the feet and worshiped him they held him by the feet and worshiped him it's not just worshiping Jesus Jesus tells them to Rejoice but what do they do they fall down and they bow down at his feet because when you see the feet of Jesus you see the holes in his feet you see the wounds that he he bore for us they saw the grave they saw the empty tomb and they saw the Victory and they left that place with great joy but then when they encountered Jesus they see all the pain and suffering he had to go through for us and they fell down and they worshiped him when we encounter Jesus if we want a transformation in your life you need to come encounter Jesus fall down and worship him just grab onto him it says they held him by the feet they grabbed him they didn't want him to leave anymore they didn't want to let him go they just wanted a touch of him they just wanted to experience his glory and they begin to worship Him the King of Kings because they finally realized his true power His True Glory but Jesus said to them in verse 10 do not be afraid go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee and there they will see me there they will will see him we must go and tell others see when you have an encounter with Jesus when you meet him and you you're seeking him and you finally find him he comes to you and you fall down you don't want to let go you just want to hold on to him and worship him but what does Jesus say he says go tell the others so that I could meet with them also in other words he's not he's telling us don't hold on to it for yourself yet yes it's wonderful you've experienced the glory you've experienced The Joy you've experienced the fear of the Lord but I want you to go tell others others who have not yet seen others who have not yet experienced That Glory go tell them and I will meet them you tell them to come meet me in this place and I will meet them there they will see me and then verse 11 it says now while they were going behold some of the Guard came and into the City and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened and when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers saying tell them his disciples came at night and stole him away while we slept and if this comes to the governor's ear we will appease him and make you secure so they took the money and did as they were instructed and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day day you know the enemy is always going to come against you whenever there's a big miracle whenever Jesus gives a big breakthrough the enemy's always going to fight back the enemy's always going to do something to break your faith you know God sent his one and only son onto this Earth and he came and he lived a perfect life and he performed Miracles and he preached and he shared about the me good message message that the Kingdom of Heaven is here but the enemy fought back and he tried to kill him and they killed Jesus and they buried him and the enemy thought they won it's finished so they put guards in front of the Tomb that nothing would happen but then God comes again with another miracle he raises his son from the dead back to life and the stone is rolled away and the tomb is empty and and they see the glory the angel there that Jesus is raised from the dead he's alive but then the enemy comes back and he tries to bring lies and deception and say oh it was just his disciples that that took his body you see whenever you have an encounter with God whenever God performs a great Mighty work A great miracle the enemy will try to bring deception to lie to you to trick you to do whatever to break your faith to make you not believe and verse 16 says then the 11 disciples they went away into Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them and when they saw him they worshiped him but some doubted they saw Jesus you might be thinking how would you doubt Jesus I mean first of all you lived with the Son of God you saw so many miracles why in the first place would you think he can't raise himself from the dead but then he dies and he does raise from the dead and you're still doubting after all those Miracles you saw you see him standing before you you see his hands and his feet and you're still doubting but some doubted him because the enemy comes in and he tries to lie and he tries to steal all that God is giving and some were doubting him just like Thomas they were doubting thinking no this isn't real this isn't possible how can God to do this they thought it was finished we're we're defeated we're done we were following our Master he's dead and they don't even believe it when he comes back and they're doubting they don't think it's true but if we read about Thomas it says he would not believe until till he saw till he he said he wanted to touch touch his wounds touch the holes in his hands and his feet and when Thomas came to an encounter with Jesus he saw him Jesus let him touch and Thomas came and he believed why did he believe because he got closer to Jesus he saw the miracle you know sometimes someone can tell us about something great God does sometimes we might see it even a little bit but until we experience it for ourself we will not believe the devil will try to come and destroy our faith and sometimes we just need to get a really close and personal encounter with God to believe but when we have that encounter every time we believe because we serve a god that is above every other God we serve a king who is above every other king we serve a mighty and Powerful God that can do all things things that we could not even comprehend we could not believe or imagine and verse 18 says and Jesus came and spoke to them saying all authority has been given to me in heaven and on Earth amen amen all authority all of Heaven's Authority all of Earth's Authority all Dominion on Earth all the angels in heaven all creation he has authority over it all he overcame that sin and death that he left in that grave he overcame all and now God has given him all authority and what does he say he said it's given to me and he says go verse 19 go therefore and Make Disciples of all Nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo I Am With You Always even to the End of the Age amen he has all authority and he says go and tell them go and baptize them and I am with you he is with us the one that has authority over all the one who overcame all sin and death the one who is Victorious says I am with you you go as a representative of me of my kingdom King Jesus he tells us to go what an honor and privilege it is for us to be his hands and feet for us to be his Messengers the ones that carry the good news of the victory of him Jesus he says go you know but we will never go as people until we have an encounter with him that's why he he he didn't tell he didn't have the angel tell tell the Marys he didn't say hey go to the disciples and tell them that I'm with them and they can go make Bap baptize all the nations he didn't just send them a message no he wanted them to encounter him he wanted them to see him he wanted them to see his presence his glory he wanted them to realize that he has overcame all and he has all authority and he's giving it to them to go so tonight I really feel like we we just need an encounter with God again we just need to stand before his presence and just realize that he gave us everything that his victory on the cross was enough that he has authority over all and he's telling us go and it's a privilege for us to go you know there's a song and it sings the cross is still stands the blood is still flowing the work is already finished and all of hell knows that the grave is empty the stone is rolled away Jesus is high and lifted up he is the name above all names that is King Jesus he's the name above all names we have the victory in Jesus in his cross his cross that is standing to this day his cross right here is a reminder to us that he has victory that he suffered for us it's a reminder to us all the pain all the suffering that he bore and he was hanging there and he said father forgive them they do not know what they do that is us you know we did that to him our sin our all our evil in our life we did that to him we put him on that cross but God is a merciful god and he still came for us because he loves us and he forgave us all of our sins and he poured out his blood so that we could be clean so that we could be clean so we could come into His presence and just have an encounter with him because we're not worthy just like the story of of of the woman who came to Jesus and she breaks her alabaster jar at his feet and she washes his feet with her tears and wipes them with her hair she just bows down before him she comes to him and she realizes his glory and the man at whose house Jesus was starts thinking to himself if only Jesus knew what kind of Sinner this person was he wouldn't even let them come close but Jesus answers to the man and said and he tells them he says the one who was forgiven much loves much she was forgiven all of her sins she was forgiven so much and that's why she loves him so much that's why that encounter for her is so precious because she has something that was washed away that's why she can give him all his her life her alabaster jar what was most important to her she can give it to to him because he gave her everything she did not deserve to live she deserved to die but Jesus gave her life that's every one of us you know sometimes we might think oh but my testimony you know it's not as powerful as someone else you know that's what I would think very many times you know growing up a Christian my testimony it's not as strong as someone else's God I wish I wish I did drugs I wish I did some more evil so that you know you forgave me much and I would love you more God I wish I could love you more but no the secret isn't in how big your sin was because the Bible says the punishment of sin is death you know sometimes we think God if I was on my deathbed and you had an encounter with me then I would believe you with all my life and I would owe all my life to you well I'm here to tell you that we're all were on our deathbed and we all had that Encounter With Jesus where we were going towards hell towards spiritual death and he pulled us out of that and he gave us everlasting life and that is our testimony you know our testimony is not meant to to glorify the evil that's how some people tell testimonies they say look at all of this evil that I used to do and I don't do it anymore because I'm I'm saved they say I did drugs I I did all these bad things I was in gangs I I tried to kill myself I was depressed but then Jesus saved me no that's not a testimony my friends you're just te testifying of what the devil was doing in your life your testimony is hey I was once lost and broken but then Jesus came and I had an encounter with him and he picked me up he took me out of that place he turned my life back around he washed me with his blood he forgave me of my sin and now I am alive because of him our testimony is to glorify him and when we have that encounter we have that testimony we can go and share with all the world of how good he is and how wonderful of a God he is you know I was sharing my testimony recently with someone I was sharing it on the streets in front of a public just just just about a week ago for those of you that don't know my testimony I you know I obviously I grew up in a in a Christian family that went to church and and it was wonderful God really blessed me but but there was just something not right I I didn't have a love for God I didn't have a relationship with him I knew of him I read about him I knew you know I could know so much about him I could tell others about him but I didn't know him personally and you know you go to church and you don't know God and it just feels so so religious it feels like you're living a double life you're in sin at one time and at the same time you're going to church you know maybe you're even serving in church but at the the same time on the weekends or the weekdays or when times when someone doesn't see you you're you have other sin coming into your life whatever it might be Pride greed lust and that sin just creeps in and sometimes it's so hard if we don't walk in the spirit to battle against that sometimes we feel like we don't have the victory sometimes we feel like Jesus you died for me but but why am I not overcoming this and and that was me I had I had that lust creep into my life and and one thing led to another and all of a sudden I I found myself just you know getting to a place where the devil just got such a stronghold of me and and I I slowly my life just began to fall apart and and I starting getting more and more sad and and I didn't know what the point of life was and and I eventually I got to the place where my friends began to influence me and and I just fell into all the desires of My Flesh you know I began to to lust after women watch pornography I did all these things that I knew was wrong inside of me in my mind I'm like this is wrong I shouldn't do this God help me but for some reason something was not changing it's because there was no hunger it's because I didn't have an encounter with him and then came a moment in my life there was a conference I went to where the brother was speaking on stage and he was sharing he said how God delivered him from the same things I was going through it was a crowd of a couple thousand but yet it was as if he was speaking to my heart and he was telling him how God delivered him from addiction to pornography how God delivered him from the lust of his flesh how God delivered him from pride and God brought him out of that place and deep down in my heart I started to say I said God I want that God I want that encounter with you God I don't want a church God I don't want a religion God I don't want Heaven God I want you I want an encounter with you I want a relationship with you when I made that decision when I started to hunger after that as the brother was speaking at the end he made an altar call and he said whoever is going through something like this come to the front and God will encounter you here I was sick and tired of going through all those motions of repenting and sinning again repenting of sinning again so I told God it stops here today and I came to the front and as I fell on my knees I just begin to cry and weep I just felt God giving me a hug from behind I felt an encounter with him like I've never had before and as God encountered me there I gave everything to him but here the angel of the Lord says go and tell others that's what must happen when we have a transformation as we go and tell others and as I was weeping there at the altar the preacher comes back on stage he says whoever God deliver tonight whoever God encountered tonight I want you to come on stage and share your testimony so that it would not have power over you anymore and you know me going through all those things going to church for so long I was so ashamed I'm like God I could never share that in front of one person let alone thousands of them but God said no if you want to be set free if you want to true encounter go on there and tell other people what I did for you so I got on that stage I I took the microphone and for just a few seconds I told people how God has delivered me how he set me free how his love hit me how he delivered me from all the lusts of My Flesh and that's when I saw a change in my life that's when I saw my life have purpose and meaning my life is to go and tell others of Jesus tell others that our King is Coming and you know I was sharing this testimony a week ago and there was a young girl you know I was just standing in in front of public speaking it out loud and this young girl stops and she listens with her friend they were just going shopping and she comes up and she says she comes up to me and she says I love that message that was so encouraging so I asked her is there anything I could pray with you for I saw that hunger in her I saw there was something not right that she she saw saw something in me she saw Jesus and she needed an encounter even if if she knew of him she needed a fresh encounter and she just opened her heart that hunger that hunger brought her to a place where she had an encounter with Jesus she shared how she was depressed how there was thoughts going through her mind that she could not get rid of even though she goes to church and as we prayed she just began to cry she she just had an encounter with the King of Kings the Lord of lords s she had a fresh Encounter of his blood that washes away everything of his cross that overcomes all of that empty grave she had a fresh encounter my friends we need a fresh encounter every day of our lives every day that we live we need a fresh encounter we need to see him see his feet that are pierced with nails see his blood that is dripping down from his body washing away all our sins see his cross that is standing testifying of his death see that tomb that is empty testifying of his life we just need an encounter with him an encounter that'll wipe away all sin that'll wipe away all impurity that that will clean us and bring us to the place where we truly can worship him where we truly can tell him we are giving you everything God where we can encounter his love where we realize how much we have been forgiven and that he gave us everything and from that encounter we can go go and tell others that the king is coming my friends we need an encounter today so that we could live our life wherever we go going and testifying that our King is Coming telling the world that our King is Coming he's coming in Victory he already has the victory you know the Bible says every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord every knee and every tongue either you bow willingly to him or he will put you down on your face either you have the fear of the Lord and the Joy from that encounter or you will fall down as you are dead we need that encounter and we need the world to have that encounter I don't want the world to have to fall down before him in fear and trembling as they are dead I want them to have a true encounter with the King of Kings the one who is coming in all his glory to take up his church to be with him I want the whole world to have that encounter and I'm going to go and tell the whole world because I've seen Jesus and he tells me to go and make those disciples you know when you tell people hey you need to go and tell people some thoughts that go go through their head and it very often goes through my head is I'll tell people but there's certain things I need to do on this Earth so I I just can't do it all at once I have I have a bucket list you know there's some things I need to enjoy here on Earth before I get to heaven my question to you would be if you can enjoy it on Earth then why don't you just enjoy it in heaven on Earth spend your time telling others about heaven so that they can enjoy it with you oh but but David there's some things on earth that we might not have in heaven if we don't have it in heaven then I don't think you're going to enjoy it on Earth I don't think it's very good for you if God didn't create it in heaven then that means the devil's the one that put it here on Earth our purpose here on Earth is to go and tell others it's not to enjoy our life is to give everything to Christ and in that you will enjoy your life in that you find your joy just like those two Marys they found joy they left that place of his glory with joy they find Jesus and he tells them Rejoice you find your joy in that encounter so my friends tonight we just need an encounter with his love it's an encounter with him with his cross with his blood with with the empty grave with the King above all Kings the name above all names we need an encounter with him if you are hungry those whose hunger and thirst for righteousness shall be filled if you are hungry for him you will be filled if you're seeking him tonight you will be filled like the blind man outside the city that was waiting for him he was hungry and he was waiting he was waiting for his Miracle they told him to be quiet but he was not quiet he said Jesus Son of David have mercy on me he was screaming he did not care what others around him thought he just cared what Jesus thought of him what the King of Kings could do for him my friends tonight it doesn't matter what someone thinks about you it's what the king of kings can do for you tonight doesn't matter if you're a Believer or not a Believer you just need an encounter with him whether you have sin in your life or not you need an encounter with him whether you've been preaching the gospel or not you just need an encounter with the King you need an encounter with the king I need an encounter with the king I want him I want you Jesus your Holy Spirit to fill this place my friends we just need to run to his feet and he will wash us with his blood if there's sin in your life maybe my testimony touched you maybe there's something you're going through over and over and over again that you can't get rid of you need an encounter with him you need to be hungry for him maybe you've gotten to that point where you had an encounter but you started slowly going back to your old ways of life and and you slowly started doing the old habits that you once had you need a fresh encounter maybe you know him completely you're living for him but there's just a little bit of fear holding holding you back from sharing him with the world from telling the world that the king is coming we need an encounter we all need an encounter we just need him so tonight my friends is our night to encounter Jesus tonight I'm gonna open up the altar so that not so that I would pray for you I don't need to pray for you not so that you know some Pastor would pray for you they don't need to pray for you we're going to open up the altar so you can just come to the feet of Jesus come to the cross of Jesus come to the place where you can have an encounter if you said to yourself I need an encounter tonight Jesus I'm hungry and I'm thirsty I don't care what others think about me I don't care what I have to do I just want you he will encounter you tonight you just need to come to him you just need to cry out Jesus you need to cry out Jesus you need to cry out Jesus I Need You King Jesus I need you let your blood flow the cross is still stands the blood is still flows the work is already finished and all of hell knows that the grave is empty and the stone is rolled and he is high and lifted up he's sitting on the throne and he's ready for us tonight he's ready for us tonight he's ready for us tonight the work is finished the work is finished you know all of hell knows they believe even the demons know that Jesus is risen from the dead but they don't have that encounter with him that that they can confess him as their lord and savior we need to have him as our King our Lord and savior you know when there's a king over a king om you say what the king does there's a certain reverence with a king let's say our president walked in here there'd be a certain respect for him what if our King walked in King Jesus I believe he's here I believe he's in the room his holy spirit is here and it's touching hearts and whatever he's saying to you today do it we just need to come to a fresh encounter let us stand to our feet right now and I just want to pray a short prayer over all of us and after I pray I'm going to give you a time to have an encounter with the King it'll be your time between just you and Jesus and no one else the altar will be open and if you have it in your heart if you're hungry and you're thirsty for him I want you to cry out cry out as if he's here cry out as if he's standing before you cry out to him whatever you're needing whatever you're Desiring that you cry out that you lift your voice and you just say King Jesus I Need You we need your blood Jesus we need you to wash us clean Jesus we need you God there's no nothing else in this life more valuable than you Lord give us a fresh encounter fill us with your fire fill us with your Holy Spirit Jesus we ask that you come and touch every heart right now in the name of Jesus in the name of Jesus every life would be changed and transformed God that tonight would not be a regular night tonight would be a night where you mark us to go and tell the world that you are coming that the king is coming he's coming to take his people but Lord first we need an encounter with you we need an encounter with you so if that's you tonight you need a new encounter with him I know that's me I'm not going to ask you to lift your hand I'm not going to ask ask everyone to close their eyes you whatever people want to do they can do but it's up to you are you hungry are you hungry for him do you want him do you want change do you want something different do you want an encounter with the King if you want an encounter with a king if you're hungry and thirsty if you want a fresh revelation of the cross a fresh revelation of the blood a fresh revelation of his grave I I invite you to come to the front right now and just bow before him at his feet bow before his feet and just come to the king and lift your voice and cry out cry out to him cry out to him and just thank him cry out to him and tell him what you need if that's you come don't be afraid if that's you come and encounter your king if you want Jesus come and and tell him that you want him come to the place where he is and he will meet you there he will meet you there come to the place where he is where his blood flows Jesus Jesus we want you God Jesus we want nothing else in this world but you Jesus we want a transformation in our life Jesus we want to see your glory God Jesus we want to see your glory God pour it out give us a fresh [Music] encounter [Music] [Music] [Music]