Let's open up our Bibles to the book of Ezekiel
chapter 47, verse number 1 to verse number 5.
The prophet Ezekiel, God gives him a prophetic
vision of a river. And listen, we cannot stay
the same. Once the Holy Ghost grabs a hold of
your life, listen, we got to go deeper. We have
to grow. Amen. We can't remain the same as last
Sunday or the year before. We have to grow. We
have to grow in our knowledge of Christ. We have
to grow in our relationship with God. Ezekiel
chapter 47, verse number 1 to verse number 5.
The Bible says, then he brought me back to the
door of the temple. And there was water flowing
from under the threshold of the temple toward
the east for the front of the temple faced east.
The water was flowing from under the right side
of the temple, south of the altar. What does
that mean? The water was even running through
the altar. The place of sacrifice. How badly
do you want to go deeper with God? Verse number
two, he brought me out by way of the north gate
and led me around on the outside of the outer
gateway that faced east. And there was water
running out in the right side. Verse number three.
And when the man went out to the east with the
line in his hand, he measured 1 ,000 cubits and
he brought me through the waters. The water came
up to my ankles. Everyone say ankle deep. Came
up to my ankles. Verse 4, again he measured 1
,000 and brought me through the waters. And the
water came up to my knees. Everyone say knee
deep. Again he measured 1 ,000 and brought me
through. The water came up to my waist. Everyone
say waist deep. Now we're struggling to stand.
Verse number 5, again he measured 1 ,000 and
it was a river. My God, it was a river that I
could not cross, for the water was too deep.
That was a deep river. Water in which one must
swim. A river that could not be crossed. Now
move over to the Gospel of Luke, chapter number
5, verse number 4. Jesus commands Simon to go
out into the deep. Luke chapter 5, verse number
4. When he, Jesus, had stopped speaking, he said
to Simon, launch out into the deep. Everyone
say into the deep. Launch out into the deep and
let down your nets. Somebody help me. For a catch.
Listen, where's your expectation today? Let down
your nets. Listen, you're going to catch something.
Now move over to Acts chapter 2 verse 38. I'm
getting somewhere. That same Peter that launched
down into the deep. Listen, he gets up and he
preaches. They said, well, what do we do? In
Acts chapter 2 verse 38. Come on, we know this
verse. Then Peter said to them, repent. Everyone
say repent. And let every one of you be baptized
in the name of Jesus Christ. For the forgiveness
of your sins. And you shall receive the gift.
Of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Can I tell you that
this is the agenda today. That God wants all
of us to repent. That God wants all of us to
go down in the water. And be baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ. And the Bible says that
you shall. Not if. Come on. Don't wait until
next week. You shall receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost. I still believe. That's for us David.
I still believe. That's for the church today.
Come on, would you lift up your hands? Let's
pray. Father, in the name of Jesus, this is your
word. Help us, God. We give you glory. Would
you move? Come on, would you lift up your voice?
Let's just begin to pray. Connect with the Holy
Ghost. Connect with his presence. Come on, we
need the Holy Ghost. Come on, we don't need artificial
intelligence. We need apostolic intelligence.
We need a touch of the Holy Spirit. Come on,
we need the river of God that would flow in this
generation. Come on, just a little bit longer.
Jesus, would you speak to my heart? Jesus, would
you speak to me? Come on, ask God to speak to
you today. The mighty name of Jesus, amen. You
may be seated. Now, there is a great difference
between standing in water and being carried by
water. In shallow water, a person can stand.
But when it comes to deep water, listen to me,
when it comes to deep waters, that person can
no longer stand. In the book of Ezekiel chapter
47, the prophet Ezekiel, he's given this prophetic
vision, such a powerful vision of a river flowing
from the temple. And as the prophet walks through
the water, listen, that water begins to progressively
deepen. That water that started in the temple.
That water that started at the altar. Listen,
and all of a sudden it came up to his ankles.
And all of a sudden it came up from his ankles
up to his knees. And from his knees up to his
waist. And finally the water becomes so deep
that the prophet can no longer stand. Somebody
say surrender. He can no longer stand. He can
no longer rely on his human strength. He can
no longer rely on the comfortability of shallow
waters. Amen. But now he must be carried by the
current, by the flow of the river. I'm here to
tell you that it's time that we're carried by
the flow of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It's time
to step out of the shallow waters and allow the
power of the Holy Ghost to begin. To take you.
That began to flow within you. Somebody magnify
the name of Jesus. Come on somebody give him
glory. In Ezekiel chapter 47. Verse number 5.
The Bible says again. He measured 1 ,000. And
it was a river. It wasn't a reservoir. It wasn't
stagnant. It wasn't a swamp. It was a mighty
river. It was a river that I could not cross.
For the water was too deep. Listen, not only
are we supposed to go far in the kingdom of God,
we need to go deep with God. We need to establish
roots in his presence. It was too deep. Water
in which one must swim. He couldn't stand. Now
he got to swim. A river that could not be crossed.
What began as a trickle of water, listen, it
became a torrent. What became a stream of water,
listen, it became a mighty river. Ezekiel mentioned
earlier in this chapter, he calls it water. But
by verse number five, he calls it a river. What
does that mean? That the water began to grow.
The water began to grow into a deep river. Amen.
A river that is beyond your human comprehension.
A river that is beyond your human ability. The
river that is beyond human measurement and beyond
human ability. This is the picture of what the
Holy Ghost does when it takes over your ministry.
And it takes over your marriage. And it takes
over your family. And it takes over your life.
What starts as an encounter must become a lifestyle.
one touch could change everything in your life.
Can I tell you that I did not grow up in the
apostolic church, but when the Holy Ghost grabbed
a hold of my life, everything had to change.
Can I tell you that one touch of the Holy Ghost
needs to change everything in your life? Somebody
say river of God. Somebody say Holy Ghost. Somebody
say Holy Spirit. Second Peter chapter number
one. Verse number 5 to 9. Now listen, we can't
remain the same. We have to grow. We have to
go deeper with God. And the Apostle Peter, he
writes to the early church in 2 Peter chapter
1, verse number 5 to verse number 9. He talks
about seven characteristics that we as Christians,
listen, where we need to grow. We're not adding
to the word, we're adding to our faith. And these
are important characteristics that we need in
order to go deeper with God. 2 Peter 1, verse
5 -9, the Bible says, but also for this very
reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith.
Not subtract. Add to your faith virtue. Somebody
say virtue. What is that? Supernatural ability.
The power of the Holy Spirit. Peter is saying,
add to your faith. I need you to add the power
of the Holy Ghost. I need that to grow within
your life. Add virtue. To virtue. Then he says,
add knowledge. Listen, we need to grow with our
knowledge in Christ. Doctrine is so important.
We were in India and all we did was teach on
doctrine, doctrine, doctrine. Because listen,
when you grow in the knowledge of Christ, you
grow roots that are deep. So that any time when
there's a storm and you're going through a storm,
you're not going to drift. Because you're anchored.
A ship without an anchor will drift. But what
happens when that ship begins to let down its
anchor, it's not going to drift. That's why we
need to grow in our knowledge of who Christ is.
We need to grow in our knowledge of who Jesus
is. Virtue, knowledge. Then he says, verse number
six, to knowledge, self -control. This is not
self -reliance. This is redirecting your focus
as God as your source, as your strength, so that
God can give you the strength to resist temptation.
That God can give you the strength to not feed
into that worldly temptation. Self -control.
Then he says, to self -control, add perseverance.
Amen. You know, what is that? The World Cup.
I don't watch soccer, but I see all the jerseys
going. Listen, they didn't just show up on the
soccer field overnight. They didn't eat french
fries and then just show up on the soccer field.
They had to prepare. How much more us was running
the spiritual race that we need to prepare and
grow and add stamina to our walk with God. Some
people don't want to pray, but let me tell you,
prayer still works. Fasting still works. Getting
to the word of God still works. We need to prepare
ourselves so that we can persevere. Somebody
say perseverance. We need perseverance. Then
Peter says to perseverance, godliness. That's
an unpopular topic nowadays. But we need to grow
in godliness. Godliness, not just in how we look
on the outside, but listen, in our character.
Anybody could be gifted with a nasty attitude.
We need God to mold our character. We need to
become more like Christ. The way we steward things,
the way we live our lives, we need to grow in
godliness. Then he says, from godliness, brotherly
kindness. Can I tell you that we need to love
our brothers and sisters? We got to be united
in the church. It wasn't until in the upper room
when they became one accord that the Holy Ghost
came upon them. Come on. There's something so
powerful that when everybody in the church gets
on the same page and they start agreeing, come
on, and they get becoming one accord, the power
of the Holy Ghost will begin to flow. Come on,
I'm prophesying to this youth group that if you
get together and you become one accord, that
the power of the Holy Spirit is going to begin
to increase, increase, increase. Increase, increase.
Praise God. Brotherly kindness. And then it says,
love. Everyone say love. For if these things
are yours and abound, listen, you will be neither
barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our
Lord Jesus Christ. What is Peter saying? Listen,
you're going to begin to bear fruit because of
the deafness of your faith. Verse number 9, for
he who lacks these things is short -sighted.
What does that mean? They're blind. Even to blindness
and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his
old sins. Listen, if we don't grow in this, listen,
we're going to lose our vision of the mission
of the church. If we don't grow, listen, we're
not going to take the great commission seriously.
Listen, we need to get out of the shallow, and
we need to go and grow in our knowledge with
God, grow in our brotherly kindness, grow in
our love, grow, come on, grow in God, grow in
our faith, and allow God to use us. Listen, because
once we forget about that, we lose sight of our
purpose in God. All of a sudden, we don't see
it important to open up a Bible study. We don't
see it important to talk to that person at your
workplace about Jesus Christ because, listen,
you put that vision to your peripheral side.
But listen, once Jesus becomes so evident in
your life that you begin to grow deeper with
God. God, let your will be done in my life. It's
no longer about my desire, but it's about God's
will in my life. Somebody praise the Lord. Would
you magnify the name of Jesus? Bless the name
of Jesus. So it's time to get out of the shallow.
Get out of the shallow faith and get out of the
shallow trust. And it's time to go deeper with
God. Somebody say deeper with God. Now in Ezekiel,
we read about the river. But in Luke chapter
5, Jesus is standing beside another body of water.
And he finds Peter cleaning his nets, which means
that it's like he's clocking out of work. They
were fishing all night. And all of a sudden,
Jesus tells Peter to give him his boat so that
he can teach. And so Peter, listen, Peter surrenders
his boat. He surrenders his platform so that
Jesus could teach. But little did Peter know
that what he was surrendering, Jesus was going
to return much more than what he surrendered.
Let me tell you something. Whenever you surrender
your platform so that Jesus could be exalted,
so that the gospel, come on. If you surrender
the platform of your Instagram account, of your
TikTok account, come on, so that Jesus could
be magnified, God is going to return much more
than what you surrendered. He surrendered his
boat. And Jesus was teaching. I was wondering
why did he do that until I went fishing. And
all of a sudden I can hear how sound travels
on water. It was like their speakers back in
the days. And he was teaching. And after he was
teaching, he tells Peter who was fishing all
night, go out into the deep. That doesn't make
sense. If you've ever been fishing before. You
don't put a net in the deep end. That doesn't
make sense. And Jesus tells Peter, verse number
4, launch out into the deep. And let down your
nets for a catch. But we've been fishing all
night. We've been teaching all night. We've been
doing our Bible studies. Launch out into the
deep. And let down your nets for a catch. That
same Peter, listen, Jesus told him, follow me
and I will make you fishers of men. That he leaves
his career. He leaves everything behind. Because
he realized that the creator of heaven and earth
was in his boat. And he leaves everything behind.
Even Jesus shows up to our workplace. And he
leaves that behind and he follows Jesus and he's
discipled by Jesus for a couple years. And after
Jesus' death and burial and resurrection, Jesus
tells his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until
you're endued with power from on high. And then
in Acts chapter 2, after they get the Holy Ghost
and the Holy Ghost falls upon the 120, Peter
gets up and he says, hey, this is that which
Joel was talking about. That in the last days
I will pour out of my spirit on all flesh. That
river of God that's going to flow. Listen, it's
right now. That's what you're hearing right now.
Why do we speak the way we speak? Listen, that
sound that they heard, he was saying, this is
that which Joel was talking about. That in the
last days I will pour out of my spirit on all
flesh. That your sons and daughters shall prophesy.
That your young men shall see visions and your
old men shall dream dreams. The river of God.
And he tells everybody, you know that man that
you guys crucified? That was the Messiah. They
felt that conviction. They felt that conviction
in their heart that they just crucified the Messiah.
And they said, well, what? What do we do? See
that's the question that this world is asking.
Can I tell you that every person that you come
across, there's a void in their heart. Even Ecclesiastes
talks about it, that God put eternity in man's
heart, which means that every single one of us
has been designed in such a way to long for something
greater than ourselves. And some people are looking
to their careers. Some people are looking to
relationships. Some people are looking to money.
Some people are looking to drugs. But listen,
that void can only be satisfied with the Spirit
of God. That's why we got the answer. We got
the Holy Ghost. And if you carry the Holy Ghost,
you got what this world needs. This world still
needs Jesus. This world still needs to repent
and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the
forgiveness of your sins. And you shall receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost. We still need Jesus.
We still need Jesus. That river in Ezekiel. That
deep place that Peter went to. And that spirit
that was poured out in the book of Acts. Listen,
they're all pointing to the same reality. God
is calling his people deeper. We have to go deeper.
We can't stay on the ankle level. We can't stay
on the knee level. We can't stay on the waist
level. We must be walking in the spirit of God.
The spirit of God. Walk in the spirit of God.
The flow, the current of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
According to Luke chapter 5 verse 4, Jesus challenged
his disciples. Jesus challenged, especially Peter,
three different things. Three areas that I believe.
Where the Lord is challenging us today. In Luke
chapter 5, verse number 4, Jesus tells Peter,
launch out into the deep. What was Jesus doing?
He was challenging him where to go. Let me tell
you something. God, if you want to go deeper
with God, he's going to challenge you where to
go. You want me to go where? You want to go deeper?
God is going to challenge you where to go. Where
to open up a Bible study. Where to pray for somebody.
God is going to challenge. Listen, he's going
to challenge your college degree. He's going
to challenge us. He's going to take us deeper.
Peter was comfortable near the shoreline. The
shoreline represents familiarity. The shoreline
represents routine. The shoreline represents
comfort. But the miracles were not waiting in
the shoreline. The miracles were not waiting
in the shallow waters. But the miracles were
waiting in the deep end. Praise God. Miracles
are not waiting in the shallow waters. Miracles
are waiting, come on, in the deep ends. Jesus
told Peter to leave what was comfortable and
move into deep waters. My God, it challenged
him. It challenged him. As a fisherman, it challenged
him. Ezekiel could have settled for ankle -deep
waters. He could have stopped at that part of
the vision. Ezekiel could have stopped at the
knee -deep waters. He could have just stopped
there and said, this is good enough for me. Ezekiel
could have stopped at the waist. He said, I don't
know if I can swim on the next level. I'm just
going to stay here. But God was not finished
with Ezekiel. Eventually, that river became so
deep that Ezekiel lost his footing. Listen, what
does that mean? He had to surrender. He couldn't
stand on his feet anymore, pastor. He needed
to get to a level where he needed to yield to
the current of the river. He lost his footing.
He lost the comfortability of shallow waters.
And he gets to the dimension, man, I feel the
Holy Spirit, where the river starts flowing.
And all of a sudden, the only option that he
has is just to swim and go with the current of
that river. Listen, God never intended for us
to remain where we can control everything. Amen.
Many believers want enough of God, come on, to
be blessed, but not enough God to surrender.
Can I tell you that if you want to go deeper
with God, you're going to have to surrender something.
You're going to have to let go of that ungodly
relationship. You're going to have to let go
of that addiction. You're going to have to let
go of certain things in order to go deep with
God. Amen. Praise God. The shoreline of attending
just Sundays after Sundays after Sundays. Come
on. We got to progress. We got to go deeper in
our walk with God. We got to get away from the
shoreline of just sitting and warming up the
church pews. We got to go further than the shoreline
of just religion. Come on. God is calling this
young generation deeper. God is calling us deeper
in consecration. God is calling us deeper in
prayer. God is calling us deeper in ministry.
God is calling us deeper in the word of God.
He's calling us deeper. He's calling this generation
to go deeper with him. Somebody say, I have to
grow. We need to move into the dimension of the
river where we surrender and trust in God. Matthew
chapter 28 verse 19 says, go. Someone say go.
Go therefore and make celebrities. no no no make
disciples of all the nations black white chinese
indian come on japanese tongue whoever you are
jesus says go and make disciples of all nations
baptizing them in the name of the father and
of the son and of the holy spirit my god the
name of the father is jesus the name of the son
is jesus the name of the holy spirit is Come
on, say his name. When I got that revelation,
everything changed in my life. I grew up Trinitarian.
I grew up in the Methodist church. But all of
a sudden when I was reading the book of Acts
and I realized that they were baptized in the
name of Jesus, I began to realize I got to get
deep into the water and bury my life. And when
I got into that water, I'm telling you, something
happened in my life that never happened in my
life before. I went under that water, came up,
and God filled me with his Holy Spirit. I've
never been the same anymore. I can never talk
the same anymore. I can't dress how I used to
dress because the Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy
Spirit began to change me. That Holy Spirit,
listen, it's holy. That's the Spirit of God.
It's going to change everything about us because
it's a Holy Spirit. Somebody magnify the name
of Jesus. Oh, yes. God is going to challenge
us on where to go. God is going to challenge
us where to go. About a month ago, I just came
back from India. A pastor, Bishop Joe Prado,
sent me to India to go and teach at a youth conference.
Listen, the first generation of messengers of
peace were sent out. It was, they just wanted
teachings. They weren't into the fancy, you know,
services. They just wanted to, they wanted teaching.
There's no hallelujah. They're just taking notes.
They're hungry for teaching. And I went there
to teach at a conference in India, a three -day
conference. And it was all -day conferences,
teaching, teaching, teaching. And I went with
Brother Moises Jimenez, who's the national treasurer
for National MOP, and with Bishop Moran. And
the first day we got there, the first day we
got there, you know, we were. Teaching back to
back. And it wasn't until we left that I was
held up by immigration. And I'm like, oh, my
God, I'm going to get arrested. I need to make
it home back to my wife. I almost texted her.
I said, I love you, baby. I walk up to the immigration.
And the man is taking, you know, when you travel,
you need to go on a visa for tourism. And out
there they have a lot of rules, they have a lot
of laws regarding preaching the word of God.
And so I go up and they ask for my passport.
And all of a sudden, the man that was processing
my passport started asking a lot of questions.
He said, why are you here in India? And I was
telling him, I love India. Come on now. This
is the place to go. Hyderabad, India. That's
where I was living it up. You know, I was trying
to be like a tourist or something. You know?
And he looked at me. He said, I don't believe
you. And I'm like, oh, my goodness. I got to
try something else. And I was like, I just came
here to visit. And he was like, where's your
reservation for your hotel? And I give my reservation.
And all of a sudden, he finds out that I'm a
Christian. Because he swiped out of my page and
started looking at my notes. Oneness of God,
baptism in Jesus' name. Oh, my God, this guy
is. And I'm standing there for ten minutes and
he says, you come here. And I step out of the
line and he takes me into an office. And he says,
you're not here to tour. You're here to teach.
What's your real occupation? You were here to
teach the word of God. And I looked at him, I'm
like, what do I do? Thousands of miles away from
home. My wife doesn't know what's going on right
now. And he takes me into the room. And God knows
I'm telling the truth. There's three officers
in there. And he takes my phone. And he goes
to the first officer. And he's trying to bring
up my case to them so that they can, you know,
they can detain me. And in that room, me and
Brother Moises, we begin to pray. Jesus' name.
We begin to pray and take authority in that room.
I say this for the honor and glory of God. The
first officer, he said he was too busy to take
that case. And we were watching him in the room.
He goes to the next desk over to the next officer.
And he tries to tell the officer that, you know,
our situation. That officer ignores him. Goes
on to the next officer. That officer ignores
him. This guy becomes so frustrated. He pulls
us out of the office and he looks at us and he
says, what makes you think you can reach India
with that teaching? And I told him, I said, no,
it's not me. Because we already sent out the
messengers of peace out to make, come on, to
make disciples of all nations. Then he said,
do you believe us Hindus believe in demons? I
looked at him. All of a sudden the Holy Spirit
quickened me and I said, I believe God loves
India. And I believe God loves you. And he looked
at me and he said, okay, come to the front. We'll
check you. Took my passport, stamp, stamp, stamp,
go on and go. God, come on now. There was a time
where I lost my footing. I had nowhere to turn
but to trust God in the deep end. God is going
to send you places, come on, where you just got
to swim and trust in the leading of the Holy
Ghost. Even God will confuse your enemies, come
on. Even God will protect you when God sends
you places that make no sense. I never thought,
India? But listen, God is faithful. God will
challenge you. Where to go? God will challenge
you where to go. We went knocking on doors to
evangelize. Door to door, knocking on doors.
And East Palau has a lot of Espanol speakers.
I don't speak Espanol. I don't. Amen. Muy bien,
gracias. Amen. And so we came to this apartment.
You were there, brother. We came to this apartment
and we were knocking on doors. And the first
door, Espanol. They said, okay. We just gave
them a flyer pointing at the Spanish translation.
Move on to the next. Español, Español, Español.
I said, man, this whole apartment is Spanish
speaking. And all of a sudden, this kid was observing.
Remember that kid? Young 12 -year -old kid was
looking at us. What are you guys doing? And so
we're inviting people to the park. We believe
God wants to reach people. All of a sudden, one
of our brothers, he prays for that young kid.
And that young kid, he says, I want to translate
for you guys. That kid, come on, 12 years old.
He goes to the front first door. He starts knocking.
He says, hola, como estas? And he starts speaking
in Spanish. And he starts translating. And he
began knocking on door after door after door.
That 12 -year -old probably knocked on more doors
than an apostolic. Come on, that 12 -year -old,
come on. One prayer changed his life. As he was
knocking on doors, he was translating. That young
kid started preaching the gospel. of Jesus Christ.
I will never forget that man that had pain in
his back got healed. And that young kid that
was translating, he was like, wow, this is awesome.
It was better than video games. Listen, God is
going to challenge you where to go. But listen,
God is a faithful God. You see, he will take
us places that might not make sense. But if you
just obey, if you remain submitted under your
spiritual authority, under Your parental authority
under your pastor. Come on. I still believe in
parental authority. Because listen, in order
to activate the supernatural, you got to walk
in obedience. And the more you obey the Holy
Ghost, the more you obey the leaders that govern
over your life. Listen, spiritual authority and
influence in the spiritual realm. Listen, even
the devil started to take notice. Paul, I know.
Jesus, I know. Who are you? Let me ask you a
question. Do you got some influence in the spiritual
dimension or what? But we need to go deeper with
God. We need to show up to meetings like God
sent us on an assignment. We need to step into
rooms and not conform to the things in this world.
But we need to step in this room and take apostolic
authority. Somebody magnify the name of Jesus.
Oh, somebody give him glory. Number two. The
second thing that Jesus challenged Peter, he
says, launch out into the deep and let down your
nets. What did he challenge him to do? Jesus
challenged Peter on what to do. Not only where
to go, but what to do. I'm going to tell you
something. God will challenge you. If you want
to go deeper with God, he's going to challenge
you. On what to do. You want me to pray for who?
You want me to give a Bible study to who? What
do you want me to do, Jesus? He's going to challenge
you on what to do. Peter was a fisherman. Jesus
was a carpenter. From Peter's perspective, that
instruction might not have made sense. And they
had fish, you know, they fished all night. You
know, there were. toiling all night, and they
caught nothing. No results. And it's probably
his fishing logic probably told him to quit.
And his experience as a fisherman probably said,
well, hey, just wash the nets, clock out, go
on with your life. And maybe fatigue started
to settle in. But when he got through doing all
what he was doing, Jesus said, let down your
nets. Go into the deep. Let down your nets. But
Jesus, we've been fishing all night. The miracle,
listen, it wasn't in his college degree. It wasn't
in his expertise as a fisherman. Listen, that
miracle was in his obedience. Are you going to
trust God in the deep? My God, are you going
to obey even if it doesn't make sense? Are you
going to obey even if it doesn't make sense with
your human comprehension? Because God is spirit.
And oftentimes when he speaks to you, listen,
he's going to speak to your spirit man. But your
human logic says, I don't know, things are not
lining up. But once you begin to yield to the
flow of that river, my God, heaven invades earth.
Miracles, healings. When you begin to obey the
leading of his spirit. Peter had to choose between
trusting his expertise. Or obeying God's voice.
The deeper God takes you, listen, the less your
natural understanding will be sufficient. The
deeper God takes you, listen, the less your college
degree is going to be relevant in that situation.
In the deep, God will challenge your human logical
thinking. In the deep, God is looking for obedience,
not perfection. He's looking for faith, not intelligence.
Come on. He's looking for faith, not... Artificial
intelligence. Come on. He's looking for faith
and obedience. He's looking for a surrendered
vessel. Amen. One of the greatest temptations
in our generation is that we consult with artificial
intelligence instead of the Holy Ghost. Come
on. Come on. Come on. Artificial intelligence
cannot pray you through the Holy Ghost. Come
on. Artificial intelligence cannot lay hands
on the sick and they shall recover. Come on.
We got to get a hold of the Holy Ghost now more
than ever in this generation. Get away from the
superficial. Get away from the artificial and
step into the flow of the river of God. Because
that's where God is going to speak. That's where
his word is going to become clear. That's where
God is going to give you direction. God is going
to give you vision. God is going to speak to
you, listen, through his spirit. Anybody can
download a sermon off of chat GBT. But listen,
we need the anointing. We need the power of the
Holy Spirit. We're surrounded by so much information,
so much information. We need the Holy Ghost in
our ministry. The Holy Spirit every second of
our lives. To magnify the name of Jesus. Praise
him. Give him glory. At ankle deep, you can rely.
On yourself and on knee deep, you can still maintain
some balance. And even at waist level, maybe
you're probably struggling a little bit. But
once the river becomes, come on, a level where
you can swim in, self -sufficiency is no longer
an option. You must trust the current of the
Holy Spirit. I said you must trust the flow of
the Holy Ghost. And you must trust the one who
even led you into the river to begin with. Come
on. The deeper God takes you, the less control.
I have. The deeper God takes me, the more dependence
I need on the Holy Ghost. Come on, spiritual
maturity. It's not about mastering Christianity.
It's about surrendering. Where I lose my footing
and I trust in God. Oh, would you magnify in
the name of Jesus. Would you give him glory,
give him honor, give him praise. Come on, lift
up your hands. Just begin to connect with the
Spirit of God. Saul, the persecutor of a church,
was crucifying and he was persecuting Christians.
And he said, praise God. He thought he was serving
God. But even on his way to Damascus, he knocked
off of his, of what was it, a beast or animal,
some big animal. And he was blind for three days.
Who are you? I am Jesus. Why are you persecuting
me? He was blind. Ananias. The Bible says there
was a certain disciple named Ananias. You know
what I love about him? There's no book named
after him. He's a disciple just like me and you.
And God tells him, I need you to go pray for
Saul. You want me to do what? He's a chosen vessel
of mine. I need you to go and knock on his door
and evangelize to him. You know. Go pray for
him. Go speak to Saul. The Bible talks about
how Ananias was trying to reason with God. Isn't
this the guy that was persecuting Christians
and killing your servants? God is going to challenge
you what to do. Even Saul was won by a door knocker.
He knocked on his door. He didn't say Saul. He
said, Brother Saul. Brother Saul, the Lord sent
me here. The Bible says that he laid his hands
on him. He got healed and he got baptized in
the name of Jesus Christ. Come on. God is going
to send you to uncommon vessels. God is going
to send you to wind souls. They might not look
like it. Come on. They might not make sense to
your logical thinking. But God is going to send
you to open up a Bible study at your school campus,
at your workplace. Come on. And some people are
going to walk. Come on, they're going to come
in with different colored hair and piercing.
I know that's all all right, but hey, God is
going to use you, come on, to reach people that
might seem like they're not all there yet. Brother
Saul, my God, that encounter, he ends up being
a powerful man of God. I wonder how many Saul's
are behind each door in the city of Mountain
View. I wonder how many encounters that you would
have like a Saul situation, Saul to Paul situation
by just one knock on somebody's door. How many
marriages will be restored behind each doorknob
in this city? I believe that when we grow deeper
with God in this generation, nothing's going
to be more important than fulfilling the will
of God in your life. There's nothing more satisfying
than being in the will of God. That's why Jesus
told his disciples, man, I'm not hungry. I got
food that you don't even know about. My food
is to do my father's will. There's something
so satisfying about being in the will of God.
But you need to go deeper. Listen, you got to
grab a hold. God's heart. All of a sudden, your
prayer is no longer about what I need, what I
need, what I need, what I need. All of a sudden,
it's God, let your will be done. God, send me.
I believe God is calling a young person here
today. Who's going to go for me? Who's going
to go into the deep? Who's going to get out of
the shallow pews and into the flow of this river?
Because wherever that river goes, listen, Fruits.
Disciples. Bible studies, man. Wherever that
river touches, listen, miracles break out. But
listen, you need to yield to that Holy Spirit.
What a gift that we have as the apostolic church.
To be connected to the river of God. That's why
in Psalms chapter 1 it says, blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in
the seat of the scornful, but his delight, listen,
it's in the laws of the Lord. His words treasured
so much that in his laws, he meditates day and
night, day and night, day and night, day and
night. I wonder if you can surrender the video
games day and night, day and night. Day and night.
I wonder if you can just let go of what you're
not supposed to be watching. Come on. Day and
night. Day and night. Day and night. Meditate.
Meditate. Meditate. Listen, yoga is all about
emptying your mind. But Christianity is about
filling your mind with the word of God. That
the word of God would dwell so richly in your
heart, in your mind. That listen, look at the
results. That in his laws he meditates day and
night. He shall be like a tree planted by the
rivers of water. You will be like a tree planted
by the rivers of water who bears fruit in its
season. What does that mean? You're going to
become fruitful. You're going to begin to produce.
Why? Because, brother, you're connected to the
current of the river of God, that Holy Spirit.
Somebody praise the name of the Lord. Somebody
give him glory. Somebody praise him. Somebody
praise him. God is going to challenge you. He's
going to challenge you on what to do. He's going
to challenge you. He's going to challenge you.
He's going to challenge you. When we were in
India, the first day we stayed at a hotel, there
was a young lady that was working in the restaurant.
Me, Bishop Moran, and Brother Moises, we were
in the lobby. We were sitting down in the lobby.
And all of a sudden, that young girl, listen,
this young girl. What happens in India and a
lot of in the city, a lot of people that come
from poor neighborhoods, they come to the city
looking for employment. And this young girl came
from a faraway village and she's been working
at this hotel for seven months. But listen to
me. Listen to this story. Because what happens
to this girl's life, it's amazing. Because what
happened was when we went back up to our room,
Brother Moises was ordering coffee at 11 at night.
And here she comes. And she serves. Brother Moises,
and she sees the logo, Messengers of Peace. And
she looks around, and she said, are you Christian?
Brother Moises says, yes, I'm Christian. All
of a sudden, she begins to cry. She said, I grew
up in a Presbyterian church, but I've been far
away from my family for seven months. I haven't
been able to. Have a Bible or go to a church
service. My boss took my Bible. I haven't been
able to read my Bible. Could you give me a Bible
study? And Moses says, okay, let me call, you
know, my colleague. He's going to come back down.
He calls me up and says, hey, there's this girl
here, young lady. She wants a Bible study. And
we asked her what time did she get up. She said
midnight. We waited until midnight to give a
Bible study to this young lady. She gets off
of work, and she comes up to us, and she says,
I cannot sit down with you guys. I have to pretend
taking order. I pretend taking order. You pretend
ordering food. You give me Bible study. All of
a sudden, she's there. Matthew 28, verse 19.
Acts 2 .38. Mark 16. John 3. Born of water. Born
of spirit. All of a sudden, she just begins to
weep as she's standing there. She begins to cry.
And all of a sudden, we can't take it. That river
is just now flowing. I grabbed her by the hand.
I said, can we pray for you? She said, yes. We
said a prayer for her. And after that prayer,
we asked her one simple question. Have you been
baptized? She said, yes. I've been baptized as
a baby, sprinkled with water. And we said, well,
praise God. But do you want to be baptized the
Bible way? She said, what way is that? We said
Acts 2 .38, repent, be baptized in the name of
Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. She said,
I want to be baptized. My God, we went back to
the conferences and listen, we got to find a
baptismal tank. Praise God. The next day we came
to pick her up to get baptized. She evangelized
to her co -worker. And her co -worker came with
her. And now we're driving with these two individuals
to go and baptize them. When we get to the baptismal
tank, there was a man that we hired to record.
And all of a sudden, he was impacted so much,
he puts his camera down, he gets into the water,
and the cameraman gets baptized in the name of
Jesus. Come on. They come to their first apostolic
conference service, and the Holy Ghost begins
to take over. Come on. What started as a trickle
of water started to increase into a mighty river.
I'm telling you, if you can let the Holy Spirit
flow, something powerful is going to break out.
She got baptized. And here's my favorite part.
They told Bishop Zion, they said, could you take
a team to my home village? My dad is a Trinitarian
pastor. My uncle is a Trinitarian pastor. Could
you give them Bible study on the name of Jesus?
And Bishop Zion said, yes, we will go. The river
of God. The last thing, number three. The third
area that Jesus challenged Peter. He says, launch
out into the deep. Let down your nets for a catch.
God is going to challenge your expectations.
God is going to challenge on what to expect.
I wonder if we come to church services Sunday
after Sunday after Sunday with great expectation.
If we know God is a miracle working God. If we
know that he's a deliverer. If we know that he's
a provider. What's stopping us from coming with
high expectations that God is going to do something
very special in service today? Come on, I believe
God wants us to raise our expectations. Come
on, raise your faith. Increase your faith. Increase
the expectations. Come on, that when you step
into the house of God, my God, somebody's going
to get delivered. Somebody's going to get healed.
Somebody's going to walk out of that wheelchair.
Somebody's going to get delivered from anxiety.
Somebody's going to get delivered, come on, from
depression. I wonder if we can just believe God
for what he says he is. If he's a miracle working
God, he's a miracle working God. If he's a deliverer,
he is a deliverer. If he's a provider, listen,
he is a provider. Come on. With God nothing shall
be impossible. My God. Jesus told Peter to expect
a catch. Peter probably expected another empty
net. But instead he received an overwhelming
catch. And even the nets began to break. I want
to get to that dimension that we have no more
space to take people. My God, you see what's
happening on the second harvest? I declare that's
going to be for this church. You see those cars
lined up waiting for their food? Come on. I know
that's second harvest. But we worship and praise
the Lord of the harvest. Come on. I'm speaking
that over this church. That cars, pastor, that
cars are going to line up. That we're not going
to have room enough to handle the people that
are going to come into this church, pastor. But
listen, that's going to come with the flow of
his river. Oh it's going to happen. It's happening
already. Oh, I feel the Holy Ghost on this one.
Come on, cars are going to line up. There's not
going to be enough room to contain the blessings
of God. I prophesy over this church. Come on,
that God is going to open up the floodgates of
heaven. Come on, that there's going to be an
overflow of the river of God. Come on, that Mormons
are going to step in here. And they're going
to be baptized. That Catholics are going to step
in here. There's something different about the
apostolic. church. There's something different
about what they have. We got the river of God.
We got the spirit of God. We got the river of
God. Everywhere that river goes, listen, there's
going to be healing. Everywhere that river touches,
listen, a marriage is going to be restored. Families
are going to be restored. Come on. There's going
to be people that's going to walk in here. They're
going to feel something different. Like, man,
I've never felt this in the Catholic church.
I've never felt like this in the Mormon church.
There's something that they have that I want.
And I'm prophesying over this church that there's
not going to be enough room to contain all the
families that are going to come through those
doors. Come on, would you lift up your voice.
Come on, pray in the spirit. I feel the Holy
Ghost on this one. Listen, that river, that river,
that river, that river. Listen, everywhere, the
Bible says that everywhere that river went, listen,
there was healing. Where was that river going?
It was going to the Dead Sea. There's Dead Seas
in the city that needs that living water. Everywhere
that river went, listen, everywhere that river
touched, listen, somebody got healed. Everywhere
that river went, listen, there was revival. There
was growth. There was fruit. Listen, that river,
that river, we carry that river inside. The Pharisees
were like, where's the kingdom of God? Jesus
said, it's not going to come by observation.
You can't say it's right there, it's right there,
it's right there. The kingdom of God is within.
And the river flows from within this temple.
Not made by human hands. But God who takes residence.
God who takes residence in this vessel. He wants
to flow not like a stagnant reservoir. He wants
to flow like a river. And you become a blessing
to the person next to you. I wonder if you could
walk in such a way that the river of God is flowing
so much that people next to you are going to
get blessed. That even, oh my God, that even
people that are dealing with demonic spirits
are going to get delivered just by you sitting
next to them. Because listen, us as apostolics,
listen, we're filled. With the spirit of Christ.
And if we're filled with his spirit, listen,
everywhere we go, listen, there should be growth.
That's where God is taking this youth group.
Something small turns into a mighty river. And
that river, when it runs. People are going to
experience the power of God. Would you stand
to your feet? Would you stand to your feet? Jesus
says in John 7, 38, he who believes in me. Do
you believe in Jesus? Say it like you mean, do
you believe in Jesus? He who believes in me,
as the scriptures has said, out of his heart.
will flow rivers of living water. Out of his
heart will flow rivers of living water. That
means every time when you open up your mouth
and you give that Bible study. You might not
be a theological student. You might not have
a college degree. But listen, if you just get
with the vision of your pastor, the vision of
your church, and you start participating in discipleship,
you start participating. You start winning souls.
You start opening up your mouth. Listen, you
carry something that the world needs. Such as
I have, I give unto you. That at the name of
Jesus, get up and walk. Listen, what are you
carrying today? Such as I have, I give unto you.
That even John and Peter who was walking to the
hour of prayer. That man that was begging for
money. Day after day after week after week. Finally,
some vessels with the living water walks by.
Silver and gold I don't have. I don't have money.
But what I have, I give it to you. What was that?
The river of water. That river. of the Spirit
of God took him by his hand, and that man received
strength in his ankles. He was healed by that
river. Imagine that river running through the
city. When we were in India, this young kid walks
up to the front. His arm stretched out like this.
He's walking up like this. Looks impossible.
You do one of those. Let me just warm up with
people with headaches. Start praying. Anybody
has a headache? Has a bone sticking out like
this. In India, they're so desperate for a move
of God that they will travel days just to get
to church. The desperation. Some of them don't
have access to. You see, here in the United States,
we're so busy by a lot of things. But some people
in India, they would travel. They would have
no access to like the hospital. They only come
to church with one expectation. God has to move.
The level of faith is so heightened that people
just a wave of the river. You can see it visually.
People just would just get healed and fall under
the. The unction of the Holy Ghost, it's not
a different Holy Spirit. That's the same Holy
Spirit. The question is how hungry are we in
the United States? I'm praying that God will
send that wind here to the United States. Come
on, we're behind. We actually got to catch up.
Ethiopia is baptizing people more than the book
of Acts. 100 ,000 baptized in Jesus' name. Come
on, in India, 70 ,000 baptized in Jesus' name.
Flow of the river. Here's the last thing. that
I don't want us to miss today. That river came
from the temple. That trickle, that stream of
water that turned into a river, listen, it came
through the altar. And you see, the altars were
places of sacrifice. You probably think it's
a murder scene because of all the blood that's
around that altar. But listen. If you want to
go deeper in the river of God, listen, something
has to die. You want to go deeper with God, listen,
your pride has to die. Even our schedule. Something
has to die. When pastor calls for prayer meetings,
come on. We have to sacrifice something. You
want to go deeper with God, something has to
die. Maybe it's your video games. Maybe it's
something that you're watching that you're not
supposed to be watching. Maybe it's a relationship
that we're not supposed to be in. Come on, something
has to die. If you want to go deeper with God,
where you enter into the dimension where there's
no footing, and all you can do is trust in the
one who carries you. All you can do is just,
my God, trust in the current of the Holy Spirit.
I wonder how much are we willing. To die today.
Not physically today. But surrender. What are
we willing to surrender? Because 2 ,000 years
ago, Jesus, who loves you so much. Jesus, who
loves me so much. Who created heaven and earth.
Why did he create it? Because listen, he loves
us. As a father, he loves us. He's the creation
of this world of heaven and earth. But it's sin
that separated us from a holy God. It's my sin
that separated me from a holy God. And because
God is a loving God, listen, brother, he's also
a just God. And so just like a parent who holds
their son or their daughter accountable if they
make a mistake, it doesn't mean that their parent
hates them, but they want to bring correction
because they love them so much that they don't
want them to make the same mistake. so much that
the price for sin the wages of sin is death that
he even has to hold our sin accountable but the
gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus
God stepped into this world and he paid the debt
that you and I were supposed to pay and he died
on the cross of Calvary And on the third day,
even the cross couldn't hold him. The grave couldn't
hold him. That he rose with the power of his
resurrection. Come on. And he has given us the
power of the Holy Spirit. So if God moved 2 ,000
years ago, he's waiting for us to move. He's
waiting for us to step in. Because Jesus paid
it all on the cross. That blood. That was shed
on Calvary. By his stripes, we are healed. By
his sacrifice, that's where that stream begins.
That's where the Holy Spirit began when Jesus
was crucified on that cross. Come on. That God
sent his Holy Spirit to fill us today.