Sifted in the Hands of Satan
by Clark Copeland
May 6, 2023 · Bakersfield, California
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Isaiah 5:14, Luke 22:31, Romans 8, Hebrews 11

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/clark-copeland--sifted-in-the-hands-of-satan
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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last time i was here your pastor told me just do what you feel that's what i'm going to do tonight it's probably different for a tuesday night but i'm doing my best just to be sensitive tonight isaiah's chapter 5 verse number 14. therefore hell hath enlarged herself and opened her mouth without measure and their glory and their multitude and their pomp and he that rejoiceth shall descend into it hell hath enlarged herself and open up her mouth without measure luke chapter 22 verse number 31. chapter 22 verse number 31 and the lord said simon simon behold satan hath desire to have you that he might sift you as wheat the english standard version says simon simon behold satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat this is not what i intended on preaching today like i said i'm doing my best to be sensitive to the holy ghost i know so many times we come especially our mid-weeks and it's just we're here and it seems like there's not much expectancy and we're really just here to get through another service but i'm telling you in the holy ghost tonight that if we can tap in and do our best tonight to be sensitive to the holy ghost i believe god will save somebody's soul i believe tonight god is wanting to reach somebody would you help me pray lift your hands all over the house god in the name of jesus come on would you lift your voice right now come on help me pray god i love you jesus i need the holy ghost to help me come on we've got to have the anointing of the holy ghost in this house tonight if he's not here we're just wasting our time in the name of jesus god do what you want to do tonight be in this place that's it would you clap your hands all over the house hallelujah jesus when a preaching on this subject sifted in the hands of satan sifted in the hands of satan you may be seated thank you for standing there is absolutely nothing like the power that comes through praying in the holy ghost i believe that god has called each and every person who has ever received the holy ghost not just to receive it one time but to live a life where you pray on a very consistent basis in the holy ghost and there is a dimension in the spirit of god that i believe tonight god is willing to take some people and i want to say that i am so thankful for any person who knows how to pray in the holy ghost truly praying in the holy ghost and praying in the spirit it is going to a place in god that is beyond words it is something that we cannot explain in the english language praying in the holy ghost is something that we cannot properly articulate in the spanish language and and when you pray in the holy ghost you go to a place in god that is beyond yourself and it's when you're able to push past the flesh and and you're able to tap into the spirit and and i know many people that when we go and we begin to pray and and we reach that place where we are speaking in tongues and and we are praying in the holy ghost that is the point where many people stop because they feel that they are okay in their lives but i want to tell you tonight that in the kingdom of god things work a little differently and and when you reach that place where you are praying in the holy ghost let me tell you tonight that is not the time you should shut your mouth and that is not the time that you should shut your prayer meeting down but that is the perfect place that you should push just a little bit deeper in the holy ghost and that is the perfect time just to press on in the spirit of god paul said i will glorify god in my flesh

and in my spirit sometimes it can take a little time to push past everything that's going on in your life and and to push past the flesh and to push past the doubt and and the fear and and maybe the the the things that are going on and attacking you in that moment and i know how it is so many times we go into prayer and we go and we come to church with so many needs and and god we've just got so many problems and and i've got so many issues but i just want to preach to you and tell you that if we can push past just that initial wanting of god just to step in and fix every little situation if we can put our focus on god and seek for him with our whole heart and say god you know what i've reached that place where i'm praying in the spirit and i've reached that place where i'm praying in the holy ghost and i'll tell you what i'm gonna do i'm gonna push on i'm not gonna shut my mouth but i'm gonna keep praying in the holy ghost let me tell you tonight that praying in the holy ghost is a ministry intercession is a ministry there are many people that have never stepped behind a pulpit but they are anointed because they have a walk with god and because they know how to intercede and and there are many people that have been saved because of the ministry of an intercessor and and when you push past everything that's going on in your life and and you reach that place where you are praying in the holy ghost that is the place that you can zero in on the needs in your life and and there are times when we are woken up in the middle of the night and there are times when we go to pray and we've got a burden and sometimes you may not even know why you have a burden and you may not even know why you are going to pray and but you go anyway and you begin to pray in the holy ghost and paul told rome in romans chapter 8 there's going to be times when you don't even need you don't even know what you're praying for but the spirit will make intercession for you with moanings and groanings that cannot be honored let me tell you that can only happen when you reach a place where you are praying and the holy ghost it's as if god says well i know you're doing some praying now let me do some praying for you and i know you're troubled in your life now let me add some peace and some clarity to that situation that you've been struggling with i know the church that i'm at tonight and i know you know how to pray but i just came to urge you and the holy ghost and tell you there has never been a greater time for the apostolic church to stand to their feet and lose their tongue and the holy ghost come on why don't you lift your hands all over the house there's never been a greater need for the apostolic church to be an apostolic church we've got to be people who pray in the spirit we've got to be people who know what it is to walk in the spirit hallelujah let me tell you we are a pentecostal people and and we are an apostolic people and and there are many denominations that may try to speak in tongues but if they do not have the real deal there is no power in it because the bible says the hour cometh and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the father in spirit and in truth let me tell you i'm so thankful tonight that we have the spirit i am so thankful tonight that we have the holy ghost but let me remind you we are also the people who understand that you must be born again and we are also the people who understand you've got to repent and you've got to be baptized in the name of jesus and you've got to be filled with the holy ghost we are the ones who understand hear o israel the lord our god is one lord let me tell you there's a song that we're gonna sing in heaven one day that says we have been washed in the blood of the lamb that tells me if we have not been washed in the blood of the lamb we won't be able to sing that song let me quickly say if you're here and you have not been baptized in the name of jesus which is the way that the bible says you must be baptized or you will not be able to sing the song that says we have overcome by the blood of the lamb but can i tell you that there is a solution to your sin and there is an antidote to your sin and i've got good news for you because the antidote for sin is blood and the blood was shed over 2 000 years ago and when you go down in the name of jesus it is at that moment

that the blood is applied to your life hallelujah and you say amen let me tell you if the devil is fighting you be of good cheer it's not easy to think that way but but if the devil is fighting you you must be doing something right in your life and it really is something how when you make up in your mind that you know what i'm gonna do what god wants me to do and and i'm going to fulfill the plan of god for my life all of a sudden everybody's got an opinion about what you should be doing and it's funny how when you finally make up in your mind you know what i'm going to live for god with my whole heart all of a sudden everybody's got something to say about what you should be doing and when you finally make up in your mind i'm gonna live right and do right all of a sudden all those bad influences from the world start trying to contact you and let me tell you some things are just life and and some things are just things that we have to face but but the devil does know what he's doing and the devil is good at his job and the devil does not mind if you come to church i don't believe the devil minds too much if you come to church and and does he like it was no i'm sure he does not but it really doesn't matter as long as you don't do anything i tell you it doesn't really matter he doesn't really care if you come and maybe you even want to sing along with the choir and and maybe you even sit through the preaching i don't know that that that bothers him too much and can i go as far to say i don't even know if the devil minds it say you come up to the front and you say just a cute little prayer but but what will send the devil on the run in your life and what scares the devil is when you say you know what i'm going to take the preached word of god and i'm going to take the word of god and i'm going to pray that thing until i get it in my spirit and what bothers him is when you say i'm tired of being in the same spot that i've always been i'm gonna go somewhere deeper in god i'm gonna take new territory and the holy ghost he's okay with you passing out a church guard we need to still be doing that but what will send the devil on the run in your life is when you say i'm gonna pray in the spirit when you begin to pray in the holy ghost you can push back the darkness that is in your world when you pray in the holy ghost all of a sudden the gates of hell have to stake back and take notice of what you are doing when you begin to pray in the holy ghost the devil attacks you not as just some random act but he will attack you as a direct result and a direct response of you praying in the holy ghost there comes a time and each of our lives when we get somewhere in god that that we've had to say you know what i've had enough and and i'm going to go somewhere that i have never been and i'm going to push back that line that the enemy has put in my life where he said you know what you can only go this far and the bible says that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church and the word prevail means to show itself stronger then so when the church begins to push back the darkness in your world all of a sudden the gates of hell have to move back and those places in god that we thought were so far out of reach and those places in god that we thought we would never be able to attain all the sudden they become accessible through us all through praying in the holy ghost i want to ask you something tonight think about the last six months or year of your life and and ask yourself this question how much territory in the holy ghost have i taken somebody needs to ask yourself that in the last six months in the last year how much territory in the holy ghost have you taken i want to tell you that there is a gate in this city and and there is a gate in the city of bakersfield and it sees our shouting and it sees our singing and our dancing and and it sees our preaching and and the gate says you know what this is your line and you can only go this far and pharaoh says moses you can sacrifice but you can only go this far but but i want to tell you tonight that something happens deep down in your spirit and something happens in your heart when you stand up and say you know what i'm not gonna listen to you anymore i know this gate says i can only go this far but i'm gonna go wherever god tells me to go i'm gonna go deeper in the holy ghost that i'm gonna go further in prayer than i've ever been

hallelujah i'm praying tonight there's somebody who's tired of being in the same spot that you've always been hallelujah something i've struggled with my whole life and i've only been evangelizing for about eight months at this point and and i've really learned it since i've started evangelizing but as human beings and as flesh and blood something that i have learned is that as you get a little older and i know i'm still very young but but you stop growing up and you begin to grow out you start to grow out can i get an amen somebody make me feel a little better here the bible says or i believe that that the same is true with our spirit i believe that our spirit grows up and our spirit grows out and and the bible says that samuel got a new coat every single year and and why did he get a new coat was it just because he wore the old one out or was it just because he got tired of it no i believe it was because he grew every single year and and here are so many of us and we say god i want a new anointing on my life and and we say god i want new favor i want more dominion in the holy ghost and god is looking at some of us and saying oh if you would just grow and if you would put your focus and attention on growth i've got a new anointing for you and i've got a new favor for you and i've got a new calling for you but samuel as long as you're wearing that same coat or until you do some growing you'll be wearing the same coat that you've always worn i want to preach to somebody tonight and ask you how long have you been wearing that same coat we've had so many things get put on hold this year and so many things that we thought would happen did not happen and but i believe that god is still asking some people have you grown or or have you stayed the same and are you deeper in your walk with god or through all this time have you remained the same and is your prayer life stronger than it was at one time or is it the same that it's always been if you get in the word of god and read you will see that there is no place in scripture that you are encouraged to turn around and go back but you will see time after time that we are encouraged to go deeper and i see time after time that i am encouraged to go deeper in the holy ghost i see that there are places in god that i have not yet tapped into hallelujah but during this time we've seen such a great harvest everywhere i go i'm meeting people who are hungry for god and hungry for the holy ghost i have seen miracles this last year and i have seen god do so many wonderful things and and we are seeing such such a harvest in the church and we are seeing so many miraculous things and and i don't want it to seem tonight like i've got a chip on my shoulder i don't want it to seem like i am being mean but but so many of us all throughout pentecost we are still living with secret sins in our lives and in our hearts and we are still so carnal when it comes to the things of god and some of us have secret sins that we are hiding in the closet that we don't want anybody to know about it and i'm not trying to be mean but but some of us have been in church for years and we still don't have a prayer life the way we ought to have it and we still don't go out of our way and witness the way that we ought too i just want to tell you this is not the time to have secret sin in your life come on do you believe that this is not the time to be dealing with the same old junk this is not the time to have sin that you're trying to hide in your heart i'm convinced like many others that we are on the verge of the comeback of jesus christ we are seeing prophecy fulfilled it seems like on a daily basis but but we are seeing prophecy fulfilled and and god is pouring out his spirit all over the world but but in the midst of this great harvest that the church is seeing and in the midst of the great harvest that the church is able to be a part of can i tell you tonight that there is also another harvest that is happening right under our nose and if you are not careful this harvest will happen to the very person you see when you look in the mirror and if we are not careful this harvest will happen to the person that you sit to next on

the pew let me tell you the church is having a harvest and heaven is having a harvest but let me tell you hell is also having a harvest season hell is also having a harvest season and jesus looked at simon peter and and peter was anointed as anybody else and peter had such a calling of god and he had such a favor in his life and and jesus looked at him and said hey here's the keys to the kingdom and this is something that flesh and blood did not reveal to you but this is something you were able to understand because god gave you a revelation he said here's to the here's the keys to the kingdom and then you see jesus stopping he looks at simon peter he says but wait listen i need to tell you something i know i just gave you the keys to the kingdom and i know you've got an anointing on your life and i know god wants i know i want to do things through you and i know there's a plan for your life but you need to listen to me simon peter that's because satan have desire to have you and and jesus used the analogy of the harvest and he said that he might shift you as weed and it's the sifting process and the dividing process and jesus looked at him and said look satan desires to have you and hell wants to divide you hell wants to isolate you and hell wants you to find yourself in the wrong season there's another harvest that's going on in our world and somewhere in the uncertainty of everything that is going on in the world and it's somewhere even in the church and and not going well are we going online or are we doing it in person and how many can show up and we're so uncertain about many things but but somewhere in the midst of all this hell has found itself an advantage in many of our lives and it's not happening to those who are praying in the spirit it's not happening to those who know how to walk with god but let me tell you hell wants to take you and hell wants to stop you and hell wants to mock you and hell wants to make it to where when you come into the house of god you can't even lift up your hands and you're so bound because of the shame that you feel in your life and hell wants to sift you like weed can you lift your hands all over the house in the name of jesus come on somebody help me pray just for a minute come on church just for a second would you lift up your voice come on mama daddy would you lift up your voice and help me pray young person that knows how to pray lift up your hands and lift up your voice in the name of jesus in the name of jesus with every crop there is a harvest season there is a season where that crop is it's at the peak and it's the time that that it should be harvested and i started wondering when is hell's harvest season and and there are times in our lives when when for some reason hell seems to have more of an advantage and it seems to have more of a freedom to be able to attack us and and there's people in this building under the sound of my voice who at one time or another you have found yourself in hell's harvest season and i want to preach to some people right now and and there's some of you you've got such an anointing on your life and you've got the call of god on your life and and you've got the favor of god on your life but let me tell you that does not exempt you from hell trying to attack you in your life and when you're in hell's harvest season that is the time when the anointing starts to walk away and those young people who were the up and coming most powerful people in pentecost they don't even know what pentecost is anymore they don't even know what holiness it is anymore it's the time when the pillars and those who have been in the church for such a long time they find themselves fighting complacency and they find themselves fighting indifference one more time lift your hands come on every hand lifted all over the house god i need you to help me jesus come on would you help me pray right now if you're an intercessor would you lift up your voice oh jesus come on that's it church come on i'm preaching to somebody you know you're not where you should be with god and you know there are things in your life that you have no business dealing with let me preach to every young person and let me preach to every saint of god let me preach to every

person with the call of god on your life and let me preach to every visitor and every saying in the message is all the same hell desires to have you and hell desires to destroy you and hell wants to take you and he'll wants to isolate you he'll wants to find yourself in the wrong season hallelujah when is that season when hell can reach forth into our lives and begin to harvest things and when is it that hell has an advantage in our lives and and when is it that hell can reach forth and and he can reach forth under the power of jesus christ himself and he can pull out a judas and say hey this one's mine and when is it that hell can reach forth under the anointing and the power of an apostle paul and pull out a demons and say hey this one belongs to me and when is it that that can happen when the bible says that satan entered into judas and the bible says to everything there is a season there is a purpose to everything under the heaven and the bible says there's verses in a row where it says there's a time for this and a time for this and there's a season to do this and there is a season to do this so when is the season that hell has an advantage in your life we find it in hebrews chapter 11 it says by faith moses when he was come to years refused to be called the son of pharaoh's daughter choosing rather to if to suffer affliction with the people of god listen to this right here then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season let me tell you the season of sin in your life it's the same time as hell's harvest season and the season where you're living like you want to live and you are doing what you want to do that season where you are disregarding the word of god and the pastor everything that he's got to say you're doing what you want to what what you want to do that season where you are looking at things on your phone and you are going to places on the internet that you have no business going let me tell you that it's the time in your life when hell has the ability and the authority to reach forth in your life and to begin to harvest things i want to tell you when you find yourself in the season of sin in your life you are in a very dangerous place when you find yourself in the season of sin you are out from under the covering of your man of god and and you may be anointed but you are out from under the covering of your anointing and i want to talk to somebody tonight who who maybe you've been in a time of distraction and and maybe you have been in a time of fear and worry and and maybe you found yourself in a season of questioning and a season of doubt and wondering but one thing led to another and now you're looking around and you're wondering why you're not feeling what you want to feel and you're wondering why you're not growing the way you want to grow i've come to tell you why somewhere in the midst of the uncertainty you have landed yourself in hell's harvest season it is an unprotected season and it is a dangerous season in your life i don't know i don't know who god's come for tonight but i know god gave me this message you're deceiving yourself you think it's okay for you to keep secret sin in your life you're deceiving yourself if if you think you can keep that little pet sin in the closet and it won't get out let me tell you those little pet sins that you keep in your life those things grow up one day and those are the very things that destroy people and that little pet sin that you have well it's just a little bitterness and it's just a little doubt it's just a little this sir that let me tell you one day that thing might just grow up and destroy you and if you are in a season of sin tonight it does not matter how hard i preach and it does not matter what the singers do it does not matter what your pastor says if you stay in the season of sin it will destroy you and you can be in the presence of god you can have experiences in the presence of god you can feel him you can see the miraculous but let me tell you judas if you stay in that

season of sin it will not stop until you hang yourself let's stand all over the house let me get some help on the music i just felt an urgency today i said i did not intend on preaching this but about an hour before service i felt like god started speaking to me and and i feel to tell somebody that that there is something urgent going on tonight and i know we always think well i've got next week and i've got next service but let me tell you tonight needs to be the night that you need to shake yourself and you've got to get that sin out of your heart you've got to get that sin out of your life and you've got to quit flirting with the devil and flirting with sin and when time after time you go against the word of god and you disregard what your pastor says let me tell you there comes a time when god will take his hands off of you and step back and say well do what you want to do the lord said but my people would not hearken to my voice in israel with none of me so i gave them up to their own hearts lust and they walked in their own counsel i just want to tell you tonight hell desires to have you and hell wants to destroy you and you've got to shake yourself but you've got to break up the follow ground in your heart it's more than just playing with sin and it's more than just messing around there's spirits that's involved in what we are doing and we are seeing it grip the hearts of people all throughout pentecost people who had such an anointing but they mess with sin they mess with the wrong thing for just a little too long and one day they woke up and found themselves in the hands of satan come on would you pray all over the house right now in the name of jesus i ain't got to finish this would you lift your hands and pray god in the name of jesus come on there's some of you you know you're not where you need to be with god and maybe you've just been a little complacent and maybe you've just been dealing with fear and anxiety and worry let me tell you you need to shake yourself tonight would you lift your hands come on if you know how to pray i'm begging you right now lift up your voice and pray come on you may be where you need to be with god but there's people all around you who are not stirred the way they ought to be stirred there's people all around you who are in hell's harvest season we've got to bind together and pray in the name of jesus come on these altars are open right now if you know you need to be more for god if you know you have not been stirred the way you ought to be stirred would you find your way to this front would you lift your hands and pray come on church yeah in the name of jesus come on mother father would you lift up your voice and pray come on there's some young people struggling with stuff we're getting attacked on all sides we're getting attacked like we never have before we've got to have people who will cover us with prayer and we've got to have people who are in a seed on the behalf of us and we've got to have people who will be willing to come on would you pray would you pray come on church come on church come on they're up here struggling with all types of sins and and struggling with all types of attack from the enemy we've got to bind together and cover them with our prayers we've got to learn to pray in the holy ghost come on church you gotta stir yourself tonight come on if you don't have the holy ghost you want not to leave this place until you receive the holy ghost