Jesus - The Way, The Truth, and The Life

I thank the Lord as you remain standing with me for the privilege to be able to to be in his presence. you know, uh you all come to church every Sunday morning for the most part. Those of you that are faithful, uh you come to the house of the Lord and great music and great singing and amazing, you know, worship leader leading us into worship and you're able to feel the presence of God and man, that just lifts all the weight, right? He said, "Cast your cares on me all you that are are burdened. You're heavy laden." He said, "I'll give you rest." And you can feel that the moment you walk through the doors.

And what a great feeling that is. But can I tell you, there are people that do not feel that right now on this Sunday morning. People that don't know they have access to Jesus like that. They don't know what that peace is like. That peace that surpasses all understanding. and they've not been with Jesus long enough or maybe don't even know he exists to be able to say like David, "Yay, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil." They they they don't understand that. And so we have the privilege this morning to thank God for his mercy, for his presence, for what I feel.

I'm not circling a God that is dead. I'm not worshiping a God that can't hear my prayer that I cannot feel. But I I know he's here. here. He lives inside of me. I can feel the wind of his presence. What a great thing we're able to experience and encounter this morning. And so, I am so grateful. Yes, I'm grateful to be with every one of you. I love APC. I love this church. I really do. I love your pastor. He's I consider him a a great friend uh to me and my family and his wife and their family.

I appreciate them. I love them. Uh, but I most of all want to thank God for the the the opportunity to be in his presence, to be where Jesus is this morning. You can give the Lord a round of applause. That's all right. I believe that anything is possible where Jesus is. Amen. And every time I read about the Lord coming through somebody's village or town or somebody's house, I I just I see miracles as a byproduct of the gospel being preached as a byproduct of Jesus being in the room or in the village or in the town.

I see the lame walking and the deaf hearing and the blind seen and the those that have the issue of blood being instantly healed simply because Jesus is in that same proximity. And so I come this morning with great expectation number one that Jesus is here this morning but because of that absolutely anything can happen this morning. If you believe that I didn't say if you feel that feeling it's a whole different deal but if you believe that if you have faith that he is and that he's a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

If you know it, you understand it, you believe that God is almighty. Would you clap your hands just for a moment? That's all right. If you don't feel like it, that's the best time to clap. I said that's all right. If you don't feel like it just yet, that's the best time to shout. That's the best time to magnify God. Uh not because I feel him, but because uh he is almighty. Because he is God and I don't have to be. Uh because he was in the beginning. AND HE'LL ALWAYS BE THE ALPHA, THE OMEGA, the one who was and is and is to come.

What a great privilege to be able to know that Jesus can do anything. If you open your Bible with me, John chapter 14 and verse 6. Can open your Bible. John chapter 14 and verse 6. And I uh want to turn your attention there before I read that scripture. I uh want to honor your pastor. I appreciate him very much. I've mentioned already I consider him a dear friend and uh you know there are a lot of people in the world that love Jesus, a lot of great ministers out there. But when you connect with somebody and you just have a a common faith and camaraderie in the things of God is very special.

And so, uh, I consider them dear friends and I'm so grateful, uh, just to get to be here this morning. But, uh, you are blessed to have this pastor and pastor's wife and their family. Let's give the Lord a round of applause. And I really just love the fact that they're genuine. They're real. U, you know, that's to me I really just I don't know. Oh, I don't get I don't connect a whole lot with people that aren't real. If I think you're hiding something, forget about it. You go talk to somebody else. All right.

For the most part, that's how it works in this world. You know, if you got it all put together, well, I'm sorry. I don't. And so, uh, we're going to go ahead and connect with somebody else who needs Jesus a whole lot like me. And so, I honor them. I love them. I appreciate them so much. And I'm just so grateful to know them. honor your bishop as well. And what a great legacy, great man of God and his wife. I appreciate them, his family. So, so great to be among them. And you know, he uh got down off the platform, was mentioning, man, I'm I'm I'm just expecting God to do something.

I God's been talking to me and and been working on me. He was mentioning I'm thinking in my head, you know, you've you've arrived. You know, you've you've done it all already. But to to see that hunger for more in such a man of God, that that's a great thing. And so I honor him this morning. So grateful for them. And I honor my my beautiful wife and my amazing family. I love them so very much. So grateful that my wife is here. My kids are out in the Sunday school. My daughter's somewhere over there.

I think um my my kids think that this is normal. And uh last week I think we did like five services back to back uh in in about 4 days time with a little bit of travel in between coming all the way from the country of Cyprus. Anyway, um we were very exhausted. Nonetheless, my kids think it's normal to go to another service. And so we say, you know, put your shoes on this morning. And we said, which shoes? Uh David said, which shoes? And I said, oh, your church shoes. Oh, because we're going to church, right?

Yeah, exactly. That's right. Let's let's go. And so they're ready. And uh they should think this is normal, right? Because it is. It should be in your house. And so I honor them, love them very much. I'm grateful for the fact that we get to do this together. Um the book of John chapter 14 and verse 6. And the Bible says, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto the father but by me. I'm going to read it one more time. It's a very familiar portion of scripture, but I want everybody to get it in your head.

Jesus is speaking and he is making a very uh declarative statement. He is telling everybody, look, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way. I am the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the father but by me. Let's put our Bibles to one side. Let's ask God to have his way here today. Jesus, we thank you. Would you lift up your voice with me just for a moment, church? Thank you for the privilege to be in this house. I pray you would anoint my mind and loose my tongue to speak your word here today.

I thank you for every miracle you've already done. Every person you have already filled with your spirit and those that you're going to fill here today, God. Every miracle you're going to do in this place. We love you and we magnify you in the name of Jesus. One more time, why don't we thank the Lord as we clap our hands unto God. Before you are seated, uh I I am just going to ask you to stand just a little bit longer. I'll be standing the rest of this message, so I don't feel too bad. Okay?

But I I will ask, you know, the Bible says, and I've even quoted the scripture a few times to clap your hands all you people and shout unto God with the voice of triumph. I was invited. We're in the nation of Cypress, and I'll testify a little bit more about that in a moment, but I was invited to go preach at a church there in Cyprus. Uh they believe some of the things we believe, not I'm not sure entirely. Nonetheless, uh they believe in the power of the Holy Ghost, the evidence of speaking with other tongues.

They invited me to come preach. And so I went and I ministered the word. And they were translating in Greek. That's what they mainly speak in Cyprus. And the the son-in-law of the pastor who's my translator, I said, "Why don't you clap your hands all you people and shout unto God?" And in a church like this, you all would understand that scripture and you would start clapping and shouting for the most part. But the translator kind of stepped back and he looked at me like, "You really want me to translate that?" And he looked over at his his father uh and he he looked at him.

He said, you know, kind of giving him a question, you know, and his look. And the pastor I could tell was looking around at the people and pastor said, "Okay, I guess you know." And so I said, "Well, the Bible says," and I was explaining, "This is not based on emotion or based on what I feel, but the word of the Lord gives us a command." And it says to clap your hands, all ye people. And I begin to realize it really has nothing to do with where we're at on the schedule of the service.

Whether it was a good point or a bad point, whether the person gets running and shouting or whether we're waiting for the young people to start dancing. But it has everything to do with the word of the Lord uh that declares unto the people of God. CLAP YOUR HANDS ALL ye people and to shout unto God with a VOICE OF TRIUMPH. I DON'T FEEL THE VICTORY, BUT I KNOW IT'S ON THE WAY. SO, I MIGHT AS WELL SHOUT LIKE I'VE ALREADY GOT IT. I MIGHT AS WELL LIFT MY VOICE UNTO THE KING OF KINGS AND THE LORD OF LORDS BECAUSE HE'S ALREADY WON THE BATTLE.

I see a few of you out there kind of, well, I'm waiting for the next point. Hey, the next point is here. His name is Jesus. We can feel him in the room. WE CAN STOP THE ENTIRE SERVICE. UH THE MOMENT JESUS WALKS IN UH BECAUSE WHEN HE WALKS IN UH THERE'S NOTHING MORE TO DO EXCEPT BE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE ALMIGHTY GOD. UH HE SAID I'LL HIDE YOU UH IN MY PAVILION. UH I'LL SET YOU UP ON A ROCK. I'LL BE THE ONE UH WHO IS YOUR PLACE. UH I'LL BE THE ONE IN WHICH YOU HIDE UNDER.

UH IF YOU'VE GOT ME UH THEN I'M TELLING YOU today you don't have ANYTHING ELSE TO WORRY ABOUT. BECAUSE IF GOD IS ON MY SIDE, UH THERE IS NOBODY THAT CAN STAND AGAINST ME. One more time, clap your hands. I feel Jesus here today. Don't worry about the next point. Uh don't worry about what's theologically uh going to come in the next order. Jesus is in this room. Uh and that's what makes the difference. Uh it's the simplicity uh of the gospel. Uh it's he said uh TO THOSE THAT HAVE NOT SEEN BUT BELIEVE. Shake somebody's hand.

Tell them Jesus the way, the truth, and the life. About two or three people, give them a big smile. Tell them with a whole lot of faith. Jesus the way, the truth, the life. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You may be seated. I want to talk to you for a brief moment on this topic. As I mentioned, Jesus, the way, the truth, the life, and I uh do not plan to be long here this morning, but if I feel like you're not getting it, then I'll just pull out every point in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. And uh I may not be as smart as some, you know, with a doctorate in theology.

I don't have that, but I have gone to Bible school for a few years. And so, while I'm not normally a long-winded preacher, I have plenty of the word of God in which to say. So, you all let me know you're you're getting it and we'll be all right. This sister right here, she's like, "Yeah, I get it. I'm ready. Is lunch coming?" She's ready to go. She understands the assignment. One more time. You all let me know you're getting it and we'll be all right. Okay. We have been so blessed, so honored, my wife and I, my family, my kids, to go and be a part of what we call global missions and to go and minister the gospel in other countries.

And I know by the flags on the wall and uh the beautiful decorations here on the wall, you all obviously are supporters of missions uh what we call missions. Everywhere is a mission field, but global missions uh beyond this particular country. And uh of course there are many different cultures in which you all come from many different uh walks and backgrounds of life that we have been able to be involved in and actually go and uh share the gospel in these different uh areas where uh culture is very very different. We got to be mindful of what people say or what they do or what they don't do.

uh you know and and when you get around people like that, you you really test out the scripture. You know, it really puts it all to the test. Does this thing really work? Because the reality is this, you know, as a preacher, I could come into an apostolic church and many of you have learned already. You've been taught very well. You've got amazing preachers here and you've been taught very well to worship and to clap and to shout and to believe that Jesus can do the impossible and know that he can save your soul. But when you go to a place where there's nothing and there's nobody I should say that believes in Jesus this way where tradition is the reigning force in that particular nation and I mean spiritually the enemy has infiltrated uh the the orthodox church there and they really believe and hang and hold on to their traditions their uh physical literal traditions of lighting candles and their traditions of kissing the face of a picture which is saint or Mary, the mother of Jesus.

And one lady told me, "I I feel so close to God when I kiss these pictures." And I can't help but think, but I've got him living on the inside. And I know what it feels like when he himself is in the room. I don't have to kiss the glass of a picture frame. I don't have to to to think, "Oh, I hope and pray to this particular saint that this saint will break through to Jesus. I realize that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And so I think about Peter and John as they come to the temple and as they're on their way on that Sabbath day and they see a lame man, they're at the front of the temple reaching up for them and asking, "Hey, would you give me some some money?" And that still happens today everywhere you go.

And uh he's reaching up asking for some money and all of a sudden Peter and John said like some of us apostolic people, "Hey, silver and gold have I none. I don't have any money." Anyway, some Okay, you guys are very blessed. Never mind. Like, no, man. I got plenty of money. Anybody ever, you know, had some humble beginnings? You started out in a little car that wouldn't go more than a couple lights before you had to get out and fix the water heater, throw more water on. I learned this one trick one time. I was in in South LA.

I'm from Los Angeles and I was in South LA. That's even worse than where I'm from. Anyway, and I remember stopping at a gas station and I was overheating. I think this is the worst place to break down. 11:00 p.m. at night. And this guy came and told me, "Look, if you just keep the heater on, you can drive all the way home. You're going to be all right." I learned that little trick, you know, but if you've never had some humble beginnings, you don't know about that. So, I I was like Peter and John, you know, hey, silver and gold have I none, my man.

And so, they looked at that guy and they said, "Look, silver and gold have I I don't have anything, but what I do have said, give I thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth." They they gave him something that was better than silver and gold that went a whole lot longer, a whole lot further, that had more meaning than that money, that monetary substance. They said, "Look, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." And all of a sudden, the Bible tells us this man was healed. He went running and he went leaping into the temple.

The significance of course is he was not able to go into the temple before that as he was disabled in his body. He wasn't allowed to be in the temple. So, of course, the awe of being able to go where all of his ancestors and friends and family was able to worship the Lord while he was stuck outside of the temple. Now, he's been healed. And he goes straight in. And all of a sudden, people are looking around amazed and in awe. Wait a second. Isn't this the guy that was lame? And now he is healed.

Now he's walking. What happened? And all of a sudden their curiosity rises and even their faith, you might say, would begin to rise. Well, what's going on with this? This is abnormal. This is not uh something we see every day. And all of a sudden, these Pharisees start rising up and say, "Hold on, hold on." They take Peter and John over to the side and they begin to tell him, "Look, you can't do this anymore. You can't preach the name of Jesus like you have been preaching it." And Peter and John, of course, in their boldness and their apostolic authority and filled with the power of the Holy Ghost, they look at these Pharisees and they say, "Well, who should we obey?

You or God? You judge? We need We know that we should obey God according to this gospel." And and they threaten, "Look, you can no longer preach this name of Jesus. And we don't want you talking about Jesus. You're messing everything up." And they begin to describe how they don't want them to preach this name anymore or else this and or else that. And they begin to threaten them over and over. And all of a sudden, Peter and John say, "Look, let's let's go tell the the people of God." And so, they walk over to their congregation of believers.

And they tell them the whole story. Look, this man was healed in the name of Jesus. These Pharisees got upset. They threatened we shouldn't preach. What do you think we should do? You go look it up in the book of Acts chapter 4. All of a sudden, the Bible says that the congregation or the believers, the people of God laid hands on them and they begin to pray that these should speak with more boldness. And I begin to think about that there are a lot of people in a lot of places that say, "Well, let's try to figure out the right way in which to declare the word.

Let's let's kind of come at." Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all about wisdom, and that's a good thing. You can't just walk around and say, "Hey, be baptized and grab somebody and dunk them in the tub." It doesn't work that way, right? They've got to make the decision for themselves. But what I do find as a common theme in the word of God is a boldness that accompanies the believers. I don't find a timidness that says, you know, let me try to figure this out and let me take this amount of time to get it all right and plug it all in the right way and let me learn this and learn that about the culture.

No, no, no. Let me tell you something. You have uh the greatest culture this world has ever known. Uh it's the apostolic culture. Uh and when you begin to walk uh in the authority of the culture OF THE BOOK OF ACTS, GUESS WHAT HAPPENS ALL OF A SUDDEN? UH THE BLIND SEE UH AND THE DEAF HEAR UH AND THE LAME WALK. UH DOESN'T MATTER WHERE YOU'RE FROM OR WHO YOU ARE, WHAT CULTURE YOU COME FROM, WHAT ETHNIC GROUP UH YOU'RE A PART OF. UH JESUS IS STILL HERE TO SAVE UH AND DELIVER IN EVERY VILLAGE, TOWN, AND NATION.

He's still the same. And you start to realize, wait, the word of God, you see, when you're in a nation with no apostolic believers, you start thinking, well, does this thing really work? And how does it work? And I remember being in the nation of Montenegro. And uh it's for those of you that have just heard that now for the first time in your life that that's even a country. It is right above Albania. Two countries right above Greece. You can go Google maps it later. Anyway, uh while we were there in Montenegro, I remember thinking, man, there are no apostolic believers.

We don't have recorded in the UPC or in any oneness apostolic organization, anybody being filled with the gift of the Holy Ghost or being baptized in Jesus name, having that bornagain experience that's written in the word of God. And so we were so privileged to go, my wife and I, our family, and we were blessed to be able to go and preach and to teach the gospel. And I remember, I'll tell you a little bit of how this uh particular individual came to to believe. I remember walking by this one place and to be quite honest with with you, this I wish I could say it was this great cloud in the sky or voice in heaven.

The Lord said, "Go into that shop right there." But I don't have a cool missionary story like that. It was actually quite carnal to be honest with you. My family and I had been out of the US for a little while and uh I've told you all this before, but just to remind you, I am Mexican, just in case you cannot tell. And so uh there was a sign in this restaurant that said Mexican burrito. And I thought, "Oh man, I have not had any kind of Mexican food. I'm out in Eastern Europe. They eat like I don't know what they eat honestly." And I apologize if you're from Eastern Europe.

It's not my favorite food, okay? And so anyway, I'm just being honest and saw the signs of Mexican burrito. And so I walked in. I said, "Man, I got to try this out." And I walked up to the to the guy that was there and I said, "Hey man, uh this Mexican burrito, is this this any good?" He said, "Oh, my friend, my friend, the best the best Mexican burrito you ever have." I said, "Are you sure?" He said, "Yeah." I said, "Look, man, I'm Mexican, bro. Like, I'm I'm from LA, California. That used to be a part of Mexico.

I need you to know that I know Mexican food, you know. I mean, I said, "Is it good, my friend? It's the best, the best." He insisted. So, I said, "All right, I'll be right back." Went to take care of my business. I came back. I said, "My brother, bring me that Mexican burrito, man. I am ready to eat." I sat down and I had the worst Mexican burrito I've ever had in my life. That is the honest truth right there. It's like a McDonald's McChick wrap. If you know what I'm talking about, man, most of you ain't even Mexican.

You know what I'm talking about. Anyway, I could go on carry on with that. But nonetheless, it led to a Bible study. And uh, you know, great sacrifice, right? I'm being persecuted for my my faith. And uh, the guy said, "Man, what are you doing here? Where are you from?" And I said, "I'm from America. I'm American." He said, ' Really? I I He said, ' Uh, what are you doing here? I said, 'I'm a believer and I'm actually here to teach and to preach about Jesus, to give Bible studies. I want to tell people that Jesus can save them from their sin, right?

And so he looked at me and he I mean, I'm giving him this whole like spiel, you know, about faith in Jesus. And he says, "Wait, wait, wait. You speak English?" I thought, "Bro, that's not what I said, man. I'm Jesus saved your life and all you got out of that was English, you know." Anyway, and so he said, "Will you teach me English?" I said, "Yeah, yeah, I'll teach you English, but I'm going to teach you using the Bible." All right. Is that okay? He said, "Yes, of Yes, of course. Of course." Sorry. I'm doing my best Serbian broken English accent.

Okay. That's how they do it out there. And so, he said, "Yes, of course." I said, "All right, man. Next week, we'll set up a Bible study. I'm going to teach you Bible stud." I taught Stefan, my good friend now, taught him Bible study week after week after week. And what a great experience that was. And at one occasion, I got to talking to him about the fact that you need to be filled with the gift of the Holy Ghost. And the book of Acts, I begin to describe explains that when you receive the spirit of God living on the inside, you begin to speak with other tongues and you get joy and peace that surpasses all understanding and and love that doesn't come from anything this world has to offer, but a love that goes beyond even your darkest sin.

a love that goes beyond even your darkest situation. And I begin to explain to Stefan, my man, you need to be baptized in Jesus' name. Because when you go down in that water, the Bible says you come up a new creature. I begin to tell him. And I said, "Listen, if you've been sprinkled as a baby, that's not going to do it." Cuz the Bible doesn't tell us there's any infant baptism. You can't make the decision when you're a baby to serve God. And he looked at me and he was kind of pondering the situation because he had been baptized into the Serbian Orthodox Church as a child.

And I said, "Look, if you have not been baptized in Jesus' name, Stefan, you need to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." Why? Because the name of the Father, Son, Holy Ghost, that doesn't do it. The Bible is very, very clear and lets us know. Peter said unto them, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sin." It was it was Peter and John again that said, "Look, neither is there salvation in any other." There's no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.

Uh I'm saying the Lord declared one Lord, one faith, one baptism. And I begin to declare to Stefan uh when you are baptized in the name of the father, son, holy ghost, let me tell you that's not going to do it. You need the name of Jesus uh spoken over your life. Uh when you go down in that water, why? Because now when you come up uh the Bible tells us uh that the old man has passed away. Uh the enemy doesn't see a wet sinner. Now the enemy sees somebody that's been free. Uh somebody that's been delivered.

uh somebody who he CAN'T HOLD GUILT AND CONDEMNATION OVER BECAUSE YOU'VE BEEN IN THE WATER. And he looked at me WITH SO MUCH AWE IN HIS HEART AND IN HIS MIND. AND HE SAID, "MAN, WHY DIDN'T MY PRIEST TELL ME THIS?" I SAID, "STEPHAN, I don't know why. I can't answer for the priest. But I can tell you today, revelation has come to your mind and to your heart, and you NEED TO ACT ON THE WORD OF GOD." He said, "Yes, I want to be baptized." Uh, I don't know if you're able to get that picture up there, but can I tell you here today, we baptized Stefan in his tub, AND WHEN HE GOT OUT, HE WAS SPEAKING WITH OTHER tongues as he was filled WITH A PRECIOUS GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST.

UH, THAT'S THE FIRST MAN IN THAT NATION THAT WE KNOW OF, UH, THAT'S WALKING THOSE STREETS WITH APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY, LIVING ON THE INSIDE, UH, THAT'S BEEN SET FREE BY THE MATCHLESS NAME OF JESUS CHRIST. SOMEBODY clap your hands just for a moment. I don't know if you know what that means, but that means uh that there is an apostolic presence in the nation of Montenegro. THAT MEANS THAT there is an apostolic PRESENCE WHERE THERE MAYBE ONCE WASN'T. UH I'M HERE TO LET YOU KNOW THAT JESUS IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. UH I'VE SEEN HIM WORK.

I'VE SEEN HIM OPERATE EVEN IN A PLACEH WHERE PEOPLE DIDN'T BELIEVE. Just for a moment, out of your comfort zone, out of what you know is normal, why don't you clap your hands unto the Lord? Because the spirit realm begins to be shaken and stirred when we thank God for what he's done. When we magnify God for what he's done. You can be seated. I'm here to let you know something you already know, but even more importantly, something for you to never, ever, ever forget. It is the simplicity of the word of God that saves.

Don't over complicate this. Don't think about it too hard. You want to be saved, you need Jesus. That simple. Amen. You want to have peace and joy in your life, you need more of Jesus. One instructor in my Bible college out in California, he would tell us, he'd say, "Look, if you don't have the fruit of the spirit, you know, you're always cranky all the time, you don't got joy, you don't got peace, and you don't feel love, you don't have faith, you got doubt all the time, you don't have the fruit of the spirit, just in case you didn't know, if that's the way you're always thinking." And he said, "If you don't have that, go get more of Jesus.

get in the presence of God until you leave that prayer room and now you've got hope and now you've got joy and now you've got peace and now you've got love and nobody can take that away from you. We've now been uh in the nation of Cyprus for the past 7 months or so and uh it has been an amazing experience. There is a church there an apostolic church and we're on furlow replacement meaning we're helping the missionaries that are there. They're here in the US and we're on a short trip here now, but we'll be headed back next week.

And so, we're helping out the the work there and and uh really trying to break into the criate community, which is also very very Orthodox. And uh some of you might not agree with this, but we were even invited to an Orthodox service. It's very much like a Catholic service. And you know, so I went in and I I did my thing. No, I'm just kidding. I'm joking. Everybody's like, "Oh my god, don't worry. It'll be all right. I promise." And uh you know it's so funny because out there they don't really they don't I actually don't have any notes.

Keep looking over there. But I'm just going to walk down here. It makes me more comfortable. But you know out there they don't really uh understand Pentecost or understand apostolic. That word doesn't really do anything for them. And they say why are you here? And so I'll say well instead of a pastor or you know something along those lines I say I'm I'm a Christian. I'm a believer. And they'll say, "Oh, are you so you're Orthodox?" "No, no, I'm not Orthodox." I tell them, they say, "Well, then you're Catholic." I said, "No, no, I'm not Catholic." They say, "Well, what are you then?" And to them, there's nothing outside of those two things.

It's very, very interesting. Until one guy told me, he said, "Wait, wait, wait. So, how do you do it? You do it like this or you do it like this?" I said, "I didn't know there was two different ways, man. I had no idea." But I remember being in Cypress and and we walked into this this gym. To be honest, uh I was trying to get my boys, you know, involved in MMA. And I know some of you all are on the edge about that. I'm I know I'm being recorded, but oh well. I'm already over the edge here, so it is what it is.

Some people are like, I don't agree with that. Oh well. And so anyway, uh got my boys involved and and I was really just trying to get them to, you know, become become men and have some some confidence in themselves. And you know, our young boys got to become young men, right? All right. Don't make me change the message. I'm already halfway through. And so get my boys involved in MMA. And when I walk in, you know, of course, I I look very different than all them do out there. I speak very different. They speak Greek for the most part and a little bit of English.

And they say, "What are you doing here?" And I say, "Well, I'm a believer. I believe Jesus can do anything. He can change your life." And I'm a Christian. And so they begin to to ask, well, yo, okay, where's your church? I said, it was down the street. And and the owner of the gym, his wife, uh, they've become great friends now. But she looked at me, she said, wait, so you do exorcisms? I said, well, you mean like casting the devil out? Is that what we're talking about? And she said, "Yes, yes." I said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I can do exorcism.

Yeah, yeah, that's not a problem. Jesus gives me the power to do that." And the thing is when you're out there, you don't have church and you don't have all this good stuff. It's just either it works or it doesn't. You know, to them it's real or it's not. And so I was like, "Yeah, yeah, of course, of course. I can cast the devil out. Won't even charge you for it." No, I'm just joking. The priest uh they would come, she would explain, you know, they come and and they uh come and they begin to try to cast the devil out of this girl I knew, she said.

And she said, "I was holding the girl's legs down." and and the priest would say their sang and rub the beads on her and and nothing happened for an entire year. The priest would come over and over and over. And I looked at her and I said, "It doesn't take a year for a devil to come out. If you've got Jesus living on the inside and I'm beginning to tell her this in front of the whole gym, the the parents are all waiting for their kids." And I'm just like, "Look, this is my opportunity to give a Bible study." So, I'm speaking loud and I'm saying, "Listen, Jesus can do it in a moment." And she looks at me.

She said, "But I I saw this demon start speaking and so on." And she said, "Do you talk to the devil?" And I said, "I don't talk to the devil. He's a liar. What else do I need to hear him say?" And she begins to to understand it in her way. And I said, "Look, if you want to be delivered or whoever this person is wants to be delivered, it just takes a moment." That's all she finally told me. My mom is the one that's actually was possessed or is possessed. She said, "My mom kissed the bones of a particular saint up in this monastery and out there in Cyprus, they have boxes and there's bones or you'll see a skull and some bones in that box." And so she said, "My mom kissed the bones and all of a sudden there was a manifestation of these demonic voices and so on." And we didn't know what was going on.

We called the priest and he tried for an entire year to get rid of these demons. And finally, these demons looked over at my brother who was there also trying to help my mom and hold her down. And the demon looked and said, "I'm going to go into him and make him look crazy." Until this day, 40some years old, he has epileptic seizures. He's he can function here and there, but he'll start hurting himself. And even in some suicidal manners, he really will go over to that extreme all because of these demons. And and she began to explain to me, you know, we don't know what to do.

We've taken him to doctors for years. We've tried this and we've tried that. And I begin to explain to her, look, I'm telling you, I have the answer. I know Jesus and I've seen him do it before. He can save your brother. He can touch your mom. He can deliver them because that's the God uh that we serve. And I begin to tell her, "Hey, listen. Uh this Jesus can do absolutely anything. It It's not the WILL OF THE LORD FOR YOUR brother to continue in THIS LIFE BOUND this way. And can I tell you today, it's not the will of God.

Whether you're possessed or oppressed, uh I'm here to let you know it's not the will of God for you to walk out of these doors, uh with DEPRESSION HOLDING over your mind, UH WITH FEAR ALL IN YOUR HEART, UH IT'S NOT THE WILL OF GOD FOR SUICIDE, TO BEGIN TO MOVE AROUND YOUR HOME, INTO YOUR KIDS' HOUSE, INTO YOUR KIDS' ROOM. I'M HERE TO LET YOU KNOW THAT GOD IS HERE TO SET YOU FREE. UH HE IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. UH THERE IS NO OTHER WAY. YOU WON'T FIND IT IN ANYTHING ELSE.

UH IT'S JESUS UH AND HIM ALONE. Somebody clap your hands and magnify the Lord just for a moment. I'm telling you today that I'm not preaching something that I have not experienced myself. I'm not telling you something I just read about in a book. Uh because the book of Acts uh was never meant uh to be finished uh at that last chapter, but it was supposed to continue uh with people of God. Uh what I'm telling you here today IS YOU SHOULD ALSO BE SEEING MIRACLES, SIGNS, AND WONDERS UH IN YOUR OWN LIFE. UH DON'T WAIT FOR SUNDAY CHURCH TO COME AROUND uh to experience WHAT THEY'RE EXPERIENCING.

GO TELL SOMEBODY ABOUT JESUS UH AND WATCH HIM DO WHAT NOBODY ELSE CAN DO. I'm telling you, I begin to talk to our friend over and over. We've given her Bible studies. And the one that was there behind the desk, she would have her Greek Bible there while she was behind the front desk. And I'd tell her, "Open up the scripture." She'd look at me and say, "We have a saying in the Orthodox church, and it the saying is believe and don't search." I thought, "Man, that is so wild." know then I said well we have a saying and it's in the Bible it says seek out your own salvation with fear and trembling and the Bible lets us know that it is up to us to go and seek what the word of God says uh to make this an experience uh that we need to have on our own.

Uh in other words, it's not good enough uh for you to come to church on Sunday morning. Uh it's not good enough for you to just come on a Wednesday. It's not good enough uh for you to just have a little part at a men's meeting or ladies meeting. NO, NO, NO. YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE JESUS uh in the middle of the week, uh early in the morning, UH LATE AT NIGHT. UH IT SHOULD BE COMMON UH FOR YOUR KIDS TO hear you speaking IN TONGUES. UH WHEN YOU'RE WALKING THE HALLWAYS OF YOUR HOUSEH INVITED INTO YOUR CAR ON THE WAY TO SCHOOL, IT SHOULD BE COMMON.

WELL, that's about 15% of you that believe what I'm talking about. That just means I need to preach a little bit longer. I'm here to let you know that we cannot cannot get to a place as a church that says, "You know what? I already know how this works. I've got this thing figured out." And when the preacher comes, my favorite one, and he preaches that message, man, that's going to be a great service. But I'll just wait till next year when he comes. I'll wait till this time when he comes and and we'll have a good re This isn't revival service, so I don't need to get too excited, right?

Is okay. All right. Well, I already said it, so I can't take it back now. We have to to realize that this thing is real. And that means when you go home and you've got your kids who are battling depression through whatever they're watching online or whatever they're dealing with on their phone or whatever it may be at school, you have the authority to speak. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And when you declare the word, you know what happens? All of a sudden, the atmosphere shifts.

Let me explain why. Because when you speak Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life, all of a sudden you are speaking the name that is above every name. And you are letting the enemy know, which the Bible says that the devils know and they tremble. Also, you're letting the enemy know, hey, listen, every lie that is rooted here in this home, it's now needs to be exposed. every way that every door that has tried to be shut or every hindrance the enemy has put on my family, Jesus is going to be the way out.

Uh he's going to be the way through. Uh he's going to be the way on the other side. Anybody know what I'm talking about here today. And where death is lurking coming around your life and your home, you can let the enemy know Jesus uh he's the way, the truth, and the life. There's a second story building in that church in Cyprus. Uh, and on that balcony, I find myself uh time and time again uh while there are cars going by, people walking by in a busy street. Uh, I FIND MYSELF UH LEANING off of that balcony AND DECLARING JESUS UH THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE.

I'M HERE TO LET YOU KNOW IT DOESN'T MATTER WHERE YOU ARE, WHO YOU ARE. WE SHOULD DECLARE THE WORD OF GOD. EVEN IF YOU DON'T FEEL LIKE IT, THAT'S THE BEST TIME TO DO IT. SOMEBODY CLAP YOUR HANDS AND MAGNIFY THE LORD. I WANT GOD TO CHANGE MY LIFE. UH I WANT GOD TO SHIFT MY WHOLE MINDSET. UH I WANT GOD TO TOUCH MY KIDS. UH I WANT GOD TO HEAL MY BODY. I WANT GOD TO TOUCH MY MIND. UH YOU'VE GOT TO GET UP UH AND BEGIN TO DECLARE THE WORD. DECLARE THE WORD UH ONE LORD UH ONE FAITH ONE BAPTISM.

Somebody clap your hands unto the Lord for a moment. No, no, no. Somebody think about the chains. Somebody think about the brokenness. Uh somebody think about the battle you've been facing. UH YOU SAY, "BUT I'M TRYING UH TO GET OUT ON MY OWN." UH WELL, WATCH GOD. UH WHEN YOU PUT YOUR TRUST IN HIM UH WATCH HIM DO A MIRACLE IN YOUR LIFE. UH WATCH GOD BRING YOU THROUGH UH WHERE THERE IS NO WAY OUT BECAUSE HE IS THE WAY. WATCH GOD BEGIN TO DO THE IMPOSSIBLE. Go ahead. You can clap your hands one more time.

I feel Jesus here today. I feel him here today. I'm telling you, if you need the Holy Ghost, today's the day. And Andre, that lady we've been giving Bible studies to, guess what? She came to church uh NOT TOO LONG AGO AND ON A SUNDAY MORNING, she received THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST. UH I'M HERE TO LET YOU KNOW JESUS WORKS. UH HE WORKS EVERYWHERE AND ANYWHERE, MAN. I I just I feel Jesus. I'm a little excited about that. Doesn't that feel good? You feel that? You know what's interesting is the rest of you feel it, too.

And I'm not here to talk down to you, but I'm here to let you know there was only one that walked on water. But everybody saw Jesus. Oh, if that's really you, Peter said, bid me to come. Let me try this out. Let me test this thing out. If that is really you, let me walk on water just like you. The rest were kind of waiting. Well, is it really him? Is it really not? What should we do? What do we think? Peter said, "Let me go test this thing out. Let me go try it out.

If this is really him, he'll let me walk on water just like you." That lets us know that we can try Jesus. Uh that we can come to a placeh where we can say, "You know what, Jesus? Uh without you, I have no way out. Uh I've already exhausted all my options. Uh I don't have any left. Uh I've got to get a hold of you or this thing isn't going to work. I'm here to let you know that if you're willing to try Jesus this morning with that kind of faith that absolutely anything is possible.

If you're willing to try I'm TALKING TO SOMEBODY THAT HAS BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER FOR YEARS. UH I'M TALKING TO SOMEBODY WHO'S HAD ARTHRITIS IN YOUR BODY FOR YEARS. UH AND YOU SAY GOD CAN'T HEAL ME. GOD CAN'T DELIVER ME. IT'S ALREADY BEEN TOO LONG. UH TOO MANY PREACHERS HAVE COME. UH TOO MANY REVIVALS HAVE COME. UH NO. JESUS UH IS IN THE ROOM UH TODAY. NO, NO, NO. I said Jesus is in the room right now. This I feel the Holy Ghost. I feel Jesus right now. That tells me that he wants to do something special.

He wants to do the impossible. Let's do this. If you have faith and you believe he can heal your body, I want you to stand up right now. If you have faith and you believe he can heal your body right here, right now, and you're sick in your body, you got something you need Jesus to touch. I don't want you to come the way you've always come. Oh, wait till everybody else. No, no, no. There was a woman with the issue of blood. Your pastor reminded me this morning. She found a way, fought away, climbed away, crawled away, whatever you want to call it.

She got to the hymn of his garment. blind Barnameus. He said, "Look, Jesus is coming to my village, my town, and when he gets here, I want to be on the right side of the highway. Look, I can't hear him." I'm paraphrasing a bit, but I know I'll be able to hear the commotion, and if you'll just just position me right, just get me in the right right place. And and when he comes, I'll hear everybody's commotion, and I'll know it's him. And he might be in the distance a little bit, but I'm not going to let him get away from me.

And all of a sudden, he heard the commotion. instead of sitting back uh waiting for a friend to take him up uh waiting for somebody else to do it for him, UH HE DECIDED, "WAIT, THOU SON OF DAVID, UH HAVE MERCY on me. UH I DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU'RE AT, BUT JESUS, UH THIS IS ME, AND I'VE GOT A NEED. UH I'M NOT LETTING YOU WALK THROUGH THIS VILLAGE UH WITHOUT TOUCHING MY BODY." One lady came to church and they're in Cypress. He said, "Oh, it's very emotional service." I said, 'Yes, it is because if you have faith, it's emotional, right?

I mean, Paul and Silas, let's take it like this. You can remain standing. All right, Paul and Silas, they're literally bound in stocks and bonds. They cannot move their feet. They cannot move their hands. And the Bible says they begin to sing and they begin to, if you look up the word, it means to celebrate. They begin to celebrate while they were bound. That's a whole other message. and I don't have time for that. But nonetheless, they did not allow their situation or the people around them to determine what they were going to do. And they started doing what?

Something maybe a little bit emotional, some of you might say. And they started singing. They started shouting right there in that moment. Yes, it's emotional because when I think of the goodness of God, uh I can't help but tears swell up in my eyes. I can't help uh but lift up my hands and surrender. I can't help uh BUT BEGIN TO DANCE LIKE DAVID DID. UH DOESN'T MATTER HOW DIGNIFIED YOU ARE. I'M TALKING TO SOMEBODY THIS MORNING THAT SAYS, "YOU KNOW WHAT? I JUST NEED MORE OF JESUS." UH WHEN WE GET THERE, WE'RE ALL GOING TO THROW OUR CROWN AT HIS FEET.

IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO YOU ARE. JESUS IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. If you need a miracle this morning, I want you to raise your hand real high. Would you do that? I believe Jesus can touch me. I believe he can heal me. He can change me. Now, this is your step of faith. If your hands raised, you need Jesus to do a miracle. I want you to come down to this front altar area right here. Would you do that and do that right now? Go ahead. Make your way on out. And some of you need to start speaking the opposite of what you have, the opposite of what you've been saying and need to start speaking life into your life right now, into your body this very moment.

You have an opportunity to do that. We're not begging God, God, would you please? That's not what we're doing. We are expecting him to do a miracle. We're expecting him to touch our mind. Expecting him to touch our body. And he's going to do it today. We're going to lift up our hands here in a moment. Everybody else, let's stand. Let's stand. We're going to lift up our hands here in a moment. And we are going to shout at the top of our lungs and we're going to shout the name of Jesus. And when you shout the name of Jesus, I'm telling you, the atmosphere will shift.

And if you're ready for what God wants to do in your life and you got faith, today is your day. If you've never been filled with the Holy Ghost, come come on down this way and God's going to fill you with the gift of the Holy Ghost. I remember being as we were and have been in Cyprus. I didn't know a whole lot about the saints that they pray to and so on. Now I know a bit more uh and mainly through the experience that I've had with our friends. And one lady asked us, said, "Will you come to my brother-in-law's house?

He's sick and he's not able to stand." And uh will you come and lay hands on him, pray for him? And we believe, man, I was like, "Oh, this is Book of Acts stuff right here." We weren't even going to his house, but an hour away from where we live, we happened to be in the right place, the right time. And and so she invited us to go over to the house and and she we all walked in with her and and this man was laying out on the couch and and I looked at him and and the Lord spoke to me and said, "I want you to tell him that you are not praying to any saints, but that you are praying to me." I didn't really understand in the beginning.

Now I get the difference and the distinction that needs to take place in an atmosphere like that with icons all over the room and all over the walls. I am not exaggerating. You can go, you can look it up, Google it. You'll find it's a very very common thing. Icons all over their favorite saints, a saint on this day and on that day. And I'm not necessarily belittling that, but I'm just saying this is how they believe. And and I remember walking into the room and the Lord spoke to me. And so I looked at the man and I looked over at his daughter and I had them translate for me and I said, "Tell him that we are praying to Jesus and not to any of these saints and that when he is healed right now, it will be because Jesus healed his body." I wasn't going and wishing maybe it might happen because when you've got Jesus living on the inside, you better believe it's going to happen.

Uh and I lifted up that man in the name of Jesus. My wife and I laid HANDS ON HIM AND ALL of a sudden HE GOT UP AND AS he got up there was strength in his legs. Uh we got a picture where he's standing up AS HE'S BEEN HEALED BY GOD IN THAT VERY MOMENT. UH I'M HERE TO LET YOU KNOW THAT JESUS CAN DO ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING. UH RIGHT NOW IN THIS ROOM UH IF YOU BELIEVE THAT, would you clap your hands? Uh would you lift up your hands unto the Lord now? And would you lift up your VOICE UNTO GOD?

HUH? IF YOU ARE A BELIEVER HERE TODAY, go ahead. Somebody all over this room, would you lift up your voice? Would you begin to worship God? We're not praying to anybody else. Uh we're praying to Jesus Christ, uh the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. UH IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW LOUD YOU SHOUT. SOME MIGHT NEED TO SHOUT LOUDER THAN OTHERS. TO LET THE ENEMY KNOW, I'M NO LONGER UNDER YOUR YOUR BOND. I'M NO LONGER UNDER THAT ADDICTION. UH I'M NO LONGER UNDER THAT DEPRESSION. I'M NO LONGER. Go ahead. That's it. Would you lift up your voice all over this room?

We're going to shout the name of Jesus on the count of three. And as we shout the name of Jesus, I'm telling you, many of you are going to be healed here this morning. Sickness is going to leave your body here today. Would you lift up your hands all over this sanctuary? If you are a believer out there, you feel like laying hands on somebody, come make your way, lay hands on them. Uh would you do that? The Bible said believers uh shall lay hands on the sick uh and THEY SHALL RECOVER ALL OVER this room right now.

Would you lift up your voice unto God? Would you begin to magnify him because he's worthy to be praised? Uh because he is the Almighty. BECAUSE THERE IS NO OTHER WAY. YEAH. YEAH. YEAH. That's it. Go ahead. Somebody lift up your voice. Uh all over this room right now. Right now. By the authority of the word of God and the power of the name of Jesus. Uh I command every one of you to be healed in the NAME OF JESUS CHRIST. EVERYBODY let's shout Jesus. 1 2 3 Jesus. That's it. Cancer go. Sickness go in Jesus in the name of Jesus.

That's it. Right now all over this room. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. That's it. Go ahead. Don't stop. That's it. Go ahead. Let that flow right now in the name of Jesus. Sickness go, pain leave your body all over this room. Would you do that? Uh if you're back there in the in the pew, would you lift up your hands unto the Lord? Let's worship God for what he's doing right now. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. That's it. Let it flow. in Jesus name. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. Hallelujah. I want you to lift up your hand.

Lift up your hand and believe. Let's all lift up your head and believe it. Go sickness. Go right now. Jesus. Yes. Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Give me Can you get Can you get ready and maybe we'll play something slow in a minute. Go ahead, somebody. Abandon all the options right now. That can be the problem with some of us today. Too many options. I want you to go ahead and just leave all those options right now at the altar. Would you do that? We're not going to try to figure it out our own way.

I just need more of Jesus. Would you lift up your hands all over this room? I feel Jesus here today. I need more of him and less of me right now. More of him in my life. That his peace would be upon me. That his joy would begin to flow through me in the name of Jesus. Uh go ahead all over this room right now. In the name of Jesus, your past uh will not have the victory. The condemnation and the guilt uh the enemy has placed on you will not have the victory. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. In the name of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.