Pouring Out a Miracle-Is Your Vessel Ready? | Rev Greg Stepp

thank you brother weatherly praise the lord everybody praise the lord everybody ah there is joy in the house there is joy in the house today i can't be quiet about it i'm grateful to be in his house tonight i want to give thanks to our shepherd of course and the honor goes to him for him allowing me to take this precious pulpit for a few minutes tonight and of course we are praying for their safe return but more importantly i think i want to just kind of mirror what he was talking about sunday i think 2022 is going to be an amazing year i really do i know there's sickness out there i know if we read the newspapers i know if we watch the news and if we listen to what others are going to tell us it sounds like it's going to be another ugly year but i believe that our god has a different take on 2022 for us and i know i'm probably going to get 99.9 of you to agree with me but who's on the lord's side amen right so whose report are we going to believe well i'm so grateful to be in this pulpit like i said it's an honor and a privilege and if you would get your bibles out for me please turn with me to second kings chapter four second kings chapter four when you're there say amen all right second kings chapter 4 verse 1. now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto elijah saying thy servant my husband is dead and now knowest that thy servant did fear the lord and the creditor has come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen and elisha said unto her what shall i do for thee tell me what hast thou in the house and she said thine handmaiden hath not anything in the house save a pot of oil then he said go borrow the vessels abroad of all thy neighbors even empty vessels borrow not a few and when thou art come in thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons and shout pour out unto all those vessels and thou shalt set aside that which is full so when she went from him and shut the door upon her and upon her sons who brought the vessels to her and she poured out and it came to pass when the vessels were full that she said unto her son bring me yet a vessel and he said unto her there is not a vessel more in the oil state father i ask you tonight dear lord that this anointed word that is yours dear god let it let it fall upon each and every one tonight let somehow lord my feeble words dear god present to them a message from you present a word that is yours present dear god your spiritual manna tonight and god we shall be swift to give you the praise and the glory and the honor let us be open to this word tonight lord let us not be silent for there is joy in the house tonight in jesus name in the church said amen amen you may be seated in jesus name tonight i want to bring to you this story of a woman who's whose husband has died but he wasn't just an average man he was a servant he was a servant of the prophet elijah and the bible tells us he was a god-fearing man amen it's all there but what i want to speak to us tonight about and i've titled it pouring out a miracle is your vessel ready so we get into the story and we understand the wife's husband has passed and the creditors have come for the sons to work off the debt they've come for the next generation of children and there's a whole message there that i won't go into but if you follow the wording about the creditors coming for the next generation moms and dads think about it think about it we have to be careful what we leave behind and i'm not talking about money amen verse 2 says and elisha said unto her what shall i do for thee he asked her a question and then he followed it right up without her answering tell me what what do you have in the house and she said thy handmaid hath nothing in the house save a pot of oil elisha the prophet asked her what do you have in your house what do you have available now her answer seems kind of small if you will she says i just have a pot of oil and we have to understand in those days that pot was probably about this big bigger is it like a extra large coffee cup it wasn't huge now i have to believe this is me that in that house for the cave she had a bed they probably had a table in four chairs because it was her her husband and her two sons they had furniture in that house it probably wasn't luxurious but they had but when she responded all she said was all i have is this little pot of oil the prophet took that and he said this is the beginning of a miracle right here this is the beginning of a miracle because we have to understand that what we have in our house is what the lord is going to use for that miracle what we have in our house we have to understand that our our body is the house of the spirit of the lord amen it's it's where it houses it is that temple and that oil represents what a holy ghost so he she says all i have is this oil all i have is this oil that's all i have but the beginning but the the miracle starts verse 3 says then he said go borrow the vessels abroad of all thy neighbors even empty vessels borrow not a few remember that statement borrow not a few i said this i i find it so true if we want a miracle in our lives we're going to have to go out and get something if we want a miracle the lord isn't just going to plop it in our laps because we're here three times a week the lord isn't going to just plop in our laps because we prayed three times last week but the lord's going to expect us to get up and go we have to go get this miracle we have to go strive for this miracle we have to go grab as he told her go grab those vessels so that puts us in a position that if we want a miracle and i ask it tonight who'd love a miracle in their life who'd love a miracle in their life oh i would but you know what if i want that miracle i'm gonna have to get up and go for it i'm gonna have to do some work i'm gonna have to put some labor into it i'm gonna have to put some sweat equity into this thing i'm gonna have to work for it and that's not because we serve a task master as a god but he wants that relationship he wants it to be us and him he says i'll do if you do i'll provide if you work for it i'll give if you work for it he said go borrow the vessels abroad of all their neighbors and and i look through the bible and i find out that if we want a miracle and to have to work for it there are too many examples in this bible the last three and a half years of his life of jesus's life we see people crawling on their knees just to touch the hem of his garment we see people climbing trees just so they can see we find people ripping roofs apart to lower people down in for the blessing these people had to work for it these people had to work for it but that work was manifest by the faith in them amen so that work that we have to go do is not only the maybe the physical labor of going in to borrow vessels but that that that work that we have to do is our faith our faith we have to work our faith if we don't work our faith that how are we gonna how are we gonna make a way for that miracle to happen how are we gonna open the eyes and ears and heart to our spirit so that the miracle can dwell in it the preacher told her to go and get the vessels he said borrow not a few borrow not a few i went wow bar he told him borrow not a few he says don't be chintzy he said you know what the magnitude of your blessing is dependent upon how much work you do the magnitude of your blessing is based on what we put into it the magnitude of our blessing is based on our faith and our desire and our workings with him you need to know this evening that that you determine the volume of your miracle not me not pastor not your spouse not your kids but you you determine that the magnitude of that blessing you determine the magnitude of that miracle that's going to be done in your life if we read through a few more chapters down the line we'll find this same elijah about to die and he tells king joash open the window shoot the arrow victory victory now pick up those bows those arrows and strike the floor we all know that story what does he do three times i just see elijah going where's your effort where's your faith where's your work he said five or six times you would have had victory all the time three times that's what you're gonna get three victories you see the the effort you put into your your your work and your faith and your your vessel determines the magnitude of your blessing none of us are limited in our magnitude none of us are limited in faith none of us are limited in faith because the way i read my bible my god is the author and the finisher of my faith and last time i read he has no knowledge of an ending so he has no knowledge of the ending of what he can do for our faith who puts the limit on that knowledge of faith we do we put it on there therefore we determine the magnitude of our miracle we determine the magnitude of how things are going to work in our lives there are families in here tonight there are people in here tonight that need a miracle we have prodigals we have needs we have illnesses in this church tonight and abroad in our church families these are big miracles in our eyes but we serve a god who says how big a miracle do you want it's up to you because you determine the magnitude of that miracle you determine the the volume of that miracle let me read on he talks about the the value of that that peace that that borrowed equipment i said some of us want a super-sized miracle but we bring a pint-sized vessel amen amen and that vessel is ourselves our soul our faith oh we can come to the altar we can come to the lord and say lord i i have faith i know you're gonna heal brother so and so i know you're gonna work a mighty work and sister so and so it's like i know this is gonna be a and our faith just touching up there but we walk in sometimes and say lord i have need my family and i really know you know i'm high i'm not sure and i i know you can lord but uh and we start doubting so we start making that vessel real small don't we we start mixing that vessel real small and the lord says well okay drip drip i i got nothing else to put the miracle in i got nothing else to put the miracle in where's your faith where's that vessel the magnitude is dependent upon us upon what we bring to the one who can pour it out on us the prophet said borrow the vessels he also said borrow the empty vessels guess what if we want a miracle we have to do we have to be empty we have to be empty the vessel needs to be empty in order for the lord to pour out a blessing a miracle a work the vessel i can't come to the altar and ask the lord to do a mighty miracle with half my thoughts and brain being on what's going on in the world i can't bring it with thoughts about oh i gotta get on the internet tonight and check something out i can't come to the lord and say lord i need that miracle i i know you can do it meanwhile thinking about work and i gotta do this am i gonna pay the bill i gotta worry about no room for where's he gonna pour it when my mind and my spirit and my soul are so full with life and the life's duties and responsibilities where's the lord gonna be able to pour in a blessing in there a miracle the prophet said bring a lot of vessels bring empty vessels we got to be empty now i'm not talking about being mummied but i'm talking about our spirit not having anything this world in it only what he has given us and that's the holy ghost right because that vessel then now is is open it's free it's available and it's able to be worked on the vessel now has room for a miracle to fall into it amen verse 4 and when they are come in thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons and shall pour out into all those vessels and thou shalt set aside that which is full so when she went from him and shut the door upon her upon her sons who brought the vessels to her she poured out three things i want to notice here i love this i love this this story here it's it's got some it's got some meat to it and i pray and you hear it before this is over tonight i pray you understand what it means first she was told to shut the door shut the door close the world out shut the door get rid of it get rid of what's out there get rid of those distractions get rid of those things that will cause you to think otherwise get rid of those things that will put doubt in your mind close the door number two parents listen she brought the boys into the act of the miracle the prophet said close the door and have your sons there with you parents you want a miracle bring your family in bring that family in because you know what happens if you're not if they're not in there with that miracle in that faith and that working and what you're praying for to be done they're outside with the creditor pretty simple right pretty simple we got to bring our kids in we got to bring them in and get them involved in the miracles that are going to happen in our lives because if we don't we've left them out we've left them outside for that creditor the devil to take them and to make them bond men young girls young boys tonight pray with your family pray with your parents get involved in the needs of the family don't take it lightly don't think a 12 13 15 20 year old can't get involved in a miracle oh no no no how much the more when those children are involved in that miracle that's going to happen in the family the family's lives is it going to represent a remembrance to their children in life and what a testimony they will have when the crusaders get together even when kids quest gets together parents bring the kids in the prophet told bring the kids in when you close that door make sure they're there with you thirdly she poured out she started pouring out of that little pot of hers now picture if you will and this is me because i don't have anything in the bible to represent it but in this house dozens dozens little pots maybe a pail or two maybe some little pots some bigger pots all over the house couches chairs on the bed on the floor and she's looks around she goes okay by faith she starts pouring out now let me tell you here's the here's the gist of this here's the important part we have to understand this reason will affect our faith when it comes to a miracle happening reason will look around saying i have this and i got to fill all this can't happen our reason says it's not going to happen i don't have to be a math major but i can see this isn't going to fill this you see reason attacks our faith but if we want a miracle in our life shut the door shut the door on reason because my thoughts aren't his our ways aren't his and when we put reason when we let reason crawl into the situation we're gonna miss the miracle we're gonna miss the miracle amen shut the door on it close it out come to the lord with an empty vessels empty vessels look at me for a minute look with me for a minute to act two one and four let's look at pouring out i want to show you this is this is what gobby acts two and one and when the day of pentecost was fully come we all know this they were all with one accord in one place and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled all the house where they were sitting and they were appeared unto them as cloven tongues like as a fire and it sat upon each of them and they were all filled with the holy ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance jump down to verse 13. others mocking said these men are full of new wine but peter standing with the eleven lifted up his voice and said unto them you men of judea and all ye that dwell in jerusalem be this known unto you and hearken to my words for these are not drunk as you suppose seeing as it's but the third hour of the day but this is that spoken by the prophet joel and it shall come to pass in the last days saith god i will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your daughter shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams and it shall come to pass in the last days sayeth god i will pour out everybody say pour out pour out say it again like you mean it pour out that's the way we have to come to him we have to come to him in faith lord pour it out pour it out and she poured out what did she pour oil what does it represent what was the lord pouring out the holy ghost watch this now i went and looked up the word poor the verb poor means to send as a liquid or fluid or loose particles to send flowing or falling as from one container to another or into over or on something to produce freely or copiously abundance when you pour something it's intended to go where you pour it you're not walking around like this trying to fill your mug of coffee in the morning i shouldn't say that maybe some of you do um i've been there but when you pour that coffee out you're you're you're doing it specifically so when you're pouring that verb is an action it's a working it's a sending a flowing a falling the the greek word for the word poor is foos f-u-s one of the main words that the english has been translated into for fuse is fusion fusion as a noun the process or result of joining two or more things together to form one single entity when god pours out his spirit he wants to join us together with him as one in an entity of him so when it is poured out we want to be a recipient and we want to be fused with him we want to bind with him i don't want what i have affecting what he has i don't want my vessel to be dirty i want it to be filled with him i want to be fused to have that single entity which is christ jesus in me so when he pours out lord let my vessel be empty and let me have faith when she poured out she was taking by faith that holy ghost infusing her faith with an action fusing her faith with an action jesus your prophet said god your prophet said so i'm going to pour i'm going to pour by faith and the fusion started the holy ghost started working and she poured and she poured and she poured and she poured see that reasoning went out the door she forgot the reasoning she looked at it and said i don't know how but you know what my faith and the infusion started happening the binding of the spirit started happening she goes lord look what you're doing lord what you're doing it doesn't say this in the bible but i gotta i'm just gonna go out let me say they probably had to hold up her arm and pouring and pouring he says he's going to pour out his spirit upon us those of you who haven't received the holy ghost been baptized in jesus name through your sins there is a promise unto you that you when baptized in his name for the remission of sins can be fused with him fused with god almighty amen is there anybody here that's been fused can you say amen can we sing hallelujah can we say can we give him some praise right now for that how many are grateful to be fused in one entity with christ let me take it one other step further this fusion that i spoke about it happens in other different aspects there's a fusion of music people sometimes call it eclectic mixing of different styles there's a fusion of food cuisines mixing italian and spanish or french and greek i don't know whatever but it's real then the last thing i saw which just solidified what i understand his word to be giving us tonight there is a fusion of ophthalmology which is defined as the correct blending of the image of both eyes so that we can see more clearly pour it out lord pour it out lord fuse my eyes fuse my heart make us one entity let me be empty lord so that vessel can be used for a miracle for a miracle so she went from him and shut the door and it came to bass in verse six when the vessels were full that she said unto her son bring me yet another vessel and he said to her there's not a vessel more in the oil state she pours and pours the vessels are not available the flow stops a message there when the vessels aren't available there's no flow amen when there's no empty vessel what does the lord have to work with what does he have to work with he doesn't he doesn't i believe in my heart of hearts that she could have still been pouring today because my god is great and he's greatly to be praised and you know what the second part of that scripture says his greatness is unsearchable you can't find the end of it so why would i think for a minute that i can't have a miracle from my father if my vessel is empty i've been fused with him and i shut out the world and let my faith follow him i'm giving you a recipe tonight for a miracle i'm giving you a recipe for a miracle how important is a vessel ladies tomorrow the next day maybe not tomorrow the next day when you go out to the grocery store and you buy that 60 80 worth of food which is eight or ten items maybe and they just kind of start plopping them in your hands for the k they start handing you the eggs and the carrots and big bag m m's right you're juggling all these things how important is that vessel for all of you are going to order a piece of over the next couple of days when that pizza man knocks on that door and he's juggling those 12 slices how important is that 50 cent piece of cardboard now how important is the vessel tomorrow morning when you guys go for coffee the coffee shop how important is that vessel how important is the vessel how important is it we ask god for the power we ask god for the anointing we ask god for the miracle and he says give me a vessel give me a vessel that's empty and ready and i'll give you anointing give me a vessel that's powered and ready and i'll fill it give me a vessel that's ready for a blessing and i'll pour it you give me a vessel he says i'll give you that anointing two important aspects of the vessel tonight two important aspects of that vessel tonight it has to be empty and it needs to be clean now reverend are you saying that i i can't get a miracle if i'm not perfectly clean no but if we're empty of the world then we're trying to clean ourselves up aren't we we're not filled with that stuff if anybody ever worked in a in a plant that produces food tremendous sanitation processes that go on cleaning glass jars cleaning plastic has to be sanitized has to be ready to put that nutrient in it we have to be clean and ready do we have to be perfect no no no no no but we have to be ready we have to shut out that world and we have to be available the vessel has to be free from the world my first my first few months being in the apostolic church brother erickson i thought for sure the only way i was going to get the holy ghost was if the music was twice as loud as it should be the preacher was spitting and snorting and somebody was beaten on the walls i thought it just had to be all out whoop and then i get the holy ghost guess what i was wrong i got the holy ghost on a sunday morning 10 minutes into service when they gave the offering call and the pastor started playing how great thou art on the trumpet and i looked at my feet and i said feet we're going i'm ready i'm ready lord there was no loud music going there was a single trumpet plan there wasn't somebody beating a drum there wasn't somebody slapping the bible there wasn't some preacher up there giving an ordination that would just knock your sock no it has to be a vessel empty and willing empty and willing and the miracle comes because guess what he poured out his spirit a miracle happens all of you filled with the holy ghost you have your poured out miracle you have your poured out remembrance you know how it happened you know what it was and i'm sure today as i'm standing here brother that you were empty and you were willing amen empty and willing now that was when he poured out the holy ghost i'd love to tell you that i had a lot to do with my wife's recovery from cancer we know god did it we know it for sure but we went in prayer together empty with faith waiting for the miracle now here's the last part of this if we as children of god have our empty vessel and we're ready we have to be brother art we have to be expecting that miracle to happen we have to be expecting that miracle to happen because if you're going to sit there and want a miracle and not do anything for it you're kind of spinning your own wheels but if you're by faith bringing that empty vessel god help me god help me god we need god this is the need here we are the world says this is what should happen but i know who my serve i know who i serve why shouldn't we be expecting it brother sullivan why shouldn't we be expecting it i will tell you a miracle happened about three weeks four weeks ago during our altar service and i was praying for my family our daughter and son-in-law were here and i'm telling you my final prayer was god not because of me but i'm expecting you to show up i'm expecting you lord to work this out for her i got up turned around and there she was right there tears pouring over her face speaking in tongues did i do anything empty willing expecting i'm not saying this because of me i give him the glory i'm just giving you the recipe tonight i'm just giving you the recipe i know there's people in here that need a miracle and i know there's people in here that want a miracle amen how about a recipe tonight how about a recipe musicians if you would come please god won't make you be a vessel by the way god will not make you be a vessel he isn't going to throw you down and make you be spiritual he's just not going to do it he's looking for our willing heart right our faith in him our trust in him he's not going to grab you and throw you down he's not going to turn you around on your seat and make your head spin and no he's not going to make you a vessel because he wants you to make yourself a vessel god searched for a vessel one day and found a clean and empty one named mary and he poured out one of the most spectacular miracles that you and i will ever know right we just celebrated the birth which we celebrate every day but he poured out one of the most spectacular miracles that you and i will ever know son of god son of man jesus christ but look at this the day after he was crucified how many miracles were performed from then on by jesus there were no healings there were no ridding of demons that vessel was gone that oil was gone but look at just a few days later looking just a few days later there's 120 people sitting in a room willing vessels willing vessels empty vessels waiting expecting his move expecting being empty having faith prayer and all of a sudden there was 120 little vessels that were poured into he poured into them his spirit just like he's poured it into us 2000 years ago today he's not changed the recipe hasn't changed the recipe hasn't changed he's still pouring it out but he's looking for a vessel he's looking for a vessel do any of us think that he's short on miracles he's short on vessels my god doesn't have a limit on how many miracles he can perform we read the scriptures that tells us the acts that he performed the world couldn't hold it and all the books were written he's not done neither are we neither are we i believe in 2020 there's going to be miracles we follow this recipe we follow this plan there's going to be miracles he's got him he's just waiting for us acts 9 and 15 says but the lord said unto him go thy way for he is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the gentiles and kings and the children of israel we are his chosen vessels why shouldn't we expect miracles why shouldn't we expect our savior our king our father to give us miracles we're not going to get them unless we're empty and willing in closing i hope this if anything clings to you tonight this statement the vessel adds nothing to the value of the content but the content makes the vessel valuable the content oh the lord is here tonight you see not of myself brother cade two dollars i'm worth whatever but the content makes us all invaluable and because of that he wants to pour out a miracle in your life he wants you to set aside things and be that vessel of infinite value can we make our way to the altar tonight give ourselves to him make our lord in thy name the holy ghost is here somebody's somebody's in need of a miracle tonight make ourselves make our vessels empty tonight lord empty of this world empty of my reasoning and ask him to use me use you as a vessel for a miracle if we thought about it tonight if every other one of you tonight in this altar had a miracle in your life we could testify for years about it and if every one of us had a miracle in our life jesus would we not rejoice would we not rejoice unto him it's not about the vessel it's about the contents in the vessel