Pastor John Lomacang - Breaking the Chains

foreign test one two there I am good morning everyone [Music] wasn't that a wonderful song in Brokenness we shine you find that throughout the scriptures similar to the alabaster box when it was broken the glory of God was revealed thank you for that moving rendition of a song that reminds us of the beauty of the Lord and how wonderful it is to know that God doesn't need perfect vessels but even if we're broken God can use us can the Church Say Amen it is good to be here Pastor Anderson thank you for inviting us you know we have so many similarities he pastored in Northern Californian so did I he passed it in Illinois so did I he's here in Phoenix I'm not here yet but his wife's name is Angela and so is mine so I don't know are you part Filipino he's Phil I'm part Filipino too that's one of my four flavors so am I and uh and I sing also and you sing too don't you so do I so I don't know there's some method to the madness but God is in charge of all of it and we are so thankful that we're here today to give God the glory in our own lives you know when we when we think about what happens in our lives and how it happens I'm just looking down here to make sure I'm good when we think about our lives and how it happens we have to come to the conclusion that God is never the one at fault with who and what we become but God is the one that fixes all the broken places and this morning I will be talking about the broken places and tonight I will be talking about how God found my wife and me in the city of New York and the streets of Brooklyn and worked out our lives in a meaningful and a powerful way honey would you stand please I know they saw you back when you were doing children's story but you're more beautiful than you're back can we say Amen yeah we've been married for 35 39 years and 39 good years uh recently was talking to a couple they were married for five years and they said it seemed like a lifetime pray for them we've been married 39 and it seemed like yesterday and what do they say time flies when you're what when you're having fun and when you're blessed love you honey we have the saying together forever eternity in view now I know that um the Bible says in heaven we need to marry nor are given a marriage but are like Angels I've already had my angel angel a you'll get that on Tuesday Angela Angel a and we're glad to be able to travel together and and serve the Lord together we've been through a lot of challenges in our own lives but God is faithful if you've been married for more than 10 years or 20 years or 30 years or 40 or some of you 50 some of you even way more than that you know that you didn't get there on a flowery bed of ease but you got there by God's grace I know that they said tonight at four o'clock Pastor is going to stick with that time on the streaming but we want to begin a little later about a 4 30 because I didn't realize the time change here in the state of Phoenix or the yeah the state of Phoenix well I was going to say the country of Phoenix in Arizona it's at 6 20 is sunset so we want to try to start about 4 30. it's going to be pictures and videos and testimony you'll see my wife and I through the years as we've changed as we grew up as I went from jet black here to gray here and as we have gone from these idealistic young people to realistic adults God has got along the way you know when I meet young people and I perform weddings and they say are we in love I said you don't have a clue what love is you got to make it through stuff come on say Amen young folk and I said you tell me when you get some scars you come back and tell me you're in love it is not getting married some people love the wedding but it's not the wedding that makes the marriage it's the work you put in after the wedding is over and we have been blessed to be able to learn that together and to stick to that and know that God is a great God above all gods so today I want to invite you thank you for that song can we say Amen again but would it be okay if I started with a song because let me just give you a glimpse into my life I'm not going to talk about all of it today but the Lord found me in an unusual situation an unusual set of circumstances I'll talk about the birth challenges and all those things this evening but um at the age of 13 I left the church walked away from the church dove into the life of New York City I was a partier consummate partier disc jockey Gambler pool Hustler I disjointed in the World Trade Center on Broadway Uptown downtown House Parties Club parties I was a dancer I still know how to dance but I'm not going to do that today some things you don't need anymore amen but God brought me through a lot gang violence I never joined a gang but I was involved in gang violence fighting with gangs and held up at gunpoint twice and all kinds of trouble that I got into New York and all of that I'm still here today because when God has a plan nothing that the enemy can do can prevent the plan of God from being fulfilled so I'm here today not because of who I am but because of who God is and we're going to talk about that tonight but I had to make a decision my wife and I we met when I was when we were both 16 years old and it was the strong pull and relationship she had with the Lord that made the difference in me coming back to God I'll talk about that tonight she'll share with you about the family worships and how those things were I'll let her tell that story tonight and about how we got married but as I look back on where I was and where I am today this song tells my story in a beautiful way and I know you've heard it before but I will allow the song to minister to you in a way that I know you've heard this message before listen to it foreign [Music] I would rather be here then have a richest Untold I'd love rather have Jesus and houses and I'd rather be late by his name than to be a king's domain or Be Heaven sins dreads sway I'd Rather Have Jesus [Music] today [Music] would you rather have Jesus the man's up you'd rather be faithful to hear their call would you rather have Jesus been worse worldwide Fame would you rather be true foreign than to be the king's domain name sway I'd rather have Jesus than any thing this world today and to be the king of the past sins yes I rather have Jesus then any anything this world today [Music] so would you rather have Jesus been in anything this world of wars today [Laughter] than this old world can afford today [Applause] that's one there we are let us pray our gracious Father in heaven we come to you in Jesus name the name that is above all names The Only Name that we find victory in the name of Jesus we thank you Lord today that when you speak to our hearts we can still hear and we thank you today Lord that many have responded to the wooing of your Holy Spirit and so Lord we pray that as we open your word that you'll open our hearts as we pray to rightly divide the word of Truth that we would find that Jesus is the way the truth and the light speak now Lord that your purposes may be accomplished to your glory in Jesus name I pray amen honey if you have a tissue maybe you could give me one sometimes my role my nose is in a marathon and I don't want to run you you got that if you have your Bibles this morning with you let's go to the book of Acts Acts chapter 12. as I study the book of Acts I find that it is anything but an act it's a reality it's a book that talks about how chains are broken and the reason why this story is so synonymous there are a lot of Bible characters that we talk about but I could identify with Peter more than any one of them I was raised by a mother and father who knew how to talk and uh you could wake me up at four o'clock in the morning and I could talk for all day long so I'm going to try my best to make this message to the point but we're going to start with a story that I believe many of us can identify with and I would put the question out there without asking for you to raise your hands have you ever had a chain that you wanted God to break if you understand that chains are not easily broken this story will make a difference to you and as I did last night I want to bring out some points that I think are vitally important one of the first ones I want to bring out is this until your life is a threat to the kingdom of darkness it is no use to the kingdom of light the devil is not afraid of people that go to church he goes to church too he studies the Sabbath school lesson he reads the pastor's sermon before the pastor preaches the sermon he knows how to be a deacon if it takes a deacon to get you to fall he knows how to be a personal Ministries leader if the personal ministry's leader is not one who's committed to Christ he's been around for a long time he knows the Bible but he still cannot prevent the plan of God from being fulfilled can you say Amen and so when we talk about this reality until your life is a threat to the kingdom of darkness it is no use to the Kingdom of Light you see the reality is when we stand with Christ Satan takes a stand against us I don't have to struggle as a person living for the world I don't have to struggle to disc jockey I'd have to struggle to be a pool Hustler I didn't have to struggle to gamble to live a nightlife carousing and dancing and doing all those things that the world calls us to I didn't have to struggle to do that but when I gave my life to the Lord then the struggle began because the devil is not concerned with us until we are determined to have the chains that he has bound us with broken and when you study the life of Peter you feel you'll see that the devil had been stalking Peter since Peter accepted Jesus but before the day of Pentecost something significant happened Jesus came to Peter knowing that he had not yet been fully converted you see this being converted then there's being fully converted some of us are in the process can I get an amen some of us are not where we were but we talk about the things that we don't no longer do like somebody might say I don't smoke anymore but you have an issue in another area I don't drink anymore but just struggling with something else and we often talk about the things we overcome but we never make public the things that we still struggle with but God knows and so God saw Peter in his in his ability but God saw Peter in his disability and these words shook the foundation of Peter we read them in Luke chapter 22 verses 31 and 32 and the Lord and the Lord said this is a conversation when I read this text I thought man has that conversation ever taken place about me and I think the answer is yes Simon Simon indeed Satan has asked for you but he may sift you as wheat but notice this this is a prayer list that I would love to be on but I have prayed for you come on say Amen your name is on Jesus's prayer list are y'all missed an opportunity your name is on the prayer list of Jesus now let me ask you something let me just let me just say this because you don't know how the devil Works some of you stay awake for everything else but you fall asleep in the sermon you know why because the devil is at work that's why he comes around you his angels come around I read about this and Ellen watch writing she said when the sermon begins evil angels come and they waft their wings around you you could be sitting on cold steel I've seen people go to sleep I've seen people sitting on wood they fall asleep and as soon as the sermon is done they're wide awake because he wants you to miss what God wants you to hear so do your best to stay awake because you're going to miss exactly what the Lord may want you to hear today if you see somebody next to you say to them this is not saint mattress Cathedral this is church the Lord said to Peter but I prayed for you that your faith should not fail and when you have returned or as the King James says I love it when you are converted strengthen the brethren until your life is a threat to the kingdom of darkness it is no use to the kingdom of light what amazes me about this story is let's look at our lives in the trajectory of where we are and where God knows we're going to be the Lord had already selected Peter to be the preacher on the day of Pentecost I don't believe that that was a last minute decision by Jesus I believe that when the day of Pentecost was on its way Jesus said I've got a very talkative disciple if I could just simply convert him he's the man that I need to preach on the day of Pentecost but he had to get Peter's mind and his mouth synchronized some of us are milder in fifth gear and our minds are in first gear we say stuff that we regret because our minds catch up later and say I shouldn't have said that so God had amongst his 12 disciples a man that always talked if you studied the gospels Peter was always talking always had something to say you know anybody like that don't look around Pete had always had something to say and the Lord said I need to convert this man because he would be of great use if I could just get his mouth in the right place so he says I'm going to lend you to the devil for a few hours I'm not going to ask you if you've been there but I've been there it did something to me it took me from a good pastor to a better pastor you see God is concerned about getting us ready for the kingdom and he knows exactly what we need to go through to break away all the pretense in our adventism all the fake Christianity we got a whole lot of Christianity but a whole lot of it is fake when you like music more than you like truth that's fake when you are concerned about emotions in a plain thus saith the Lord that's fake when you raise your hand I love you I love you Lord but I don't want to keep your Commandments that's fake and there's a whole lot there's a form of godliness sweeping the Christian world today and some of us are getting caught up in it because we are more concerned about the feelings that Christianity gives us rather than a stable Foundation that cannot be moved when difficulty come our way when you go through when the Lord says to the devil the devil says you know Lord can you give me Peter for a few hours and he says this is how far you can go you remember the story of job you can go this far but no farther and Paul the Apostle even said when he talked about those who just don't get it right he says commit such a one to the to the devil that he may Buffet him that in the end his soul may be saved and some of you won't be saved until the devil takes you where you don't want to go and God's grace brings you back it's going to take some hard stuff there's some folk that will sit in church for decades hear sermons compliment the preacher and never give his life to Christ they'll even become vegetarians let me tell you something vegetarianism ain't going to save you that's for good health come on say Amen that's for good help but some people have clean colons and corrupt hearts it's not what's going in their mouth but what's coming out that's concerning them it's not what they're eating but what's eating them that's the issue and so God's got some Peters in the church he's got to say to them the devil needs to take you on a journey but I'm not going to let him take you to the end the Lake of Fire I'm gonna let him take you real close he could feel the flames and I'll bring you back and when I bring you back then you're useful Peter preached repent and be converted he preached that on the day of Pentecost you know why because he repented and he was converted the Lord said to Peter do you love me he said you know I love you he said do you love me you know I love you he said do you love me you know I love you he asked Peter three times because Peter denied him three times what we do is no shock to God So today we're going to talk about a man who the devil singled out Peter would not have been singled out if he had not been a threat Satan would have left Peter alone if Peter would have left Satan alone we have a member in our church that said he can't wait till the day that the devil is thrown into the Lake of Fire and he said he's going to ask the Lord could I throw the match oh come on has the devil given you a hard time can't you can't you not wait until the day he's no longer a factor but let me make a statement that's going to shock you some of you are in such autopilot doing wrong that the devil don't even need to mess with you you'll do wrong if you don't even come to your house because what he does he gets you into an action which repeated becomes a habit which repeated becomes a character which repeated becomes a destiny he introduces temptation to you you yield and he goes he walks away because he chooses the Temptation that Fess that best fits the thing you like and when he gets the fire started he says they are right don't have to worry about them they'll be sinning for the rest of their days but the goodness of God breaks into our he interrupts our destiny of Destruction and brings to our plate the opportunity to be saved again and when that happens that's when the battle begins you see the early church was challenged by what we call partial dedication Peter was one with partial dedication Peter was willing to die for Jesus but Jesus wanted Peter to live for him he said I will go with you wherever you go I will go all the way to the Cross Jesus said I don't need you to go to the cross I want you to live I want to use your life for something purposeful and the Bible said that Peter followed Jesus here in math in Mark 14 54. Peter followed him at a distance and some of us are followers of Jesus but we follow him at a distance you know how I know because those folk that followed Jesus at a distance have a hard time with Wednesday night bible study I'll be right back you mentioned Bible study and they they got a thousand reasons why they can't take one of their 168 hours to study the Bible well you know I have plans I got some land I bought I gotta go look at it I got a cow that I purchased I gotta go test it out and then the one that really always makes me laugh the guy said I just got married my wife won't let me come there's so much natural devotion some of us come to church because our parents came to church some of us will raise Adventists so we come out of natural habit Sabbath comes we show up that's why covet was a good thing covet weeded out those that had natural devotion because now that covet is no longer a factor they still saying well you know it's cold but I can't go to church those are the folks that are waiting for nothing to be in their way to come back to Jesus that'll never happen the devil will always make sure there's a reason you can't come out of your house you got to be determined you got to do what the Apostle Paul says you got to press toward the mark for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus can you imagine if the Phoenix Suns your basketball team that now has Kevin Durant God pray for him some of you basketball fans are excited now but Kevin Durant ain't no guarantee for a championship I'm a New Yorker so let's not talk about that tonight but here's my point can you imagine if people on your basketball team said you know it's just too hard I'm not going to play I just I can't handle the enemy I can't handle the opposition people do in the secular world what some of us fail to do in the Christian World there are football people that are football fans they will sit in a stadium in two feet of snow to watch a football game and the wind just starts picking up and still I can't go to church they said that rain is on his way I got to stay in the house football players play in snow Christians can't go to Door Christians can't go door to door when the temperature drops five degrees natural devotion one of my favorite writers by the name of Oswald Chambers wrote this in the book My Utmost For His Highest he says natural devotion may all may be all very well to attract us to Jesus to make us feel his fascination but it will never make us disciples natural devotion will always deny Jesus somehow or the other somewhere or the other somehow or somewhere the devil looks at those who are naturally devoted but when we go from natural Devotion to spiritual devotion then something happens in us which brings me to my second point and I want you to get this until spiritual conversion replaces natural devotion we will lack power so you might say I go to church but there are moments that come that test whether or not you go to church under your conditions or whether you go under God's conditions natural devotion you always have these conditions well Pastor if it was at six o'clock I would come but since it's at 6 15 I can't make it and for the life of me I just don't understand how folks had planned to go to heaven have to rush out of church on Sabbath morning I gotta go home and sit down for the rest of the day following his conversion Peter preached a different sermon notice what he said this is after Peter was converted he said repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit what happened to Peter he went from a disciple to a soldier he went from one who did not care he went from one who was not completely committed to one who had Heaven's agenda as his mission what's your what's on your agenda is your agenda just to get a good education is your agenda just to get a good job everything that you go after is temporary if you don't go after the kingdom but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things how many of these things all of these things will be added to you so many of us try to add to our own schedule what is not in God's schedule and we think that now that I got my degree I'm more useful to God very few of the disciples had an education you have some Apostles that were Well Suited Paul the Apostle well-educated you had Nicodemus that Finance much of the New Testament evangelism he was a man of wealth and a man of statue of man of Education there's nothing wrong with education but when education supersedes spirituality you become a dangerous individual because you have an intellect the devil likes intellect because people that are intellectual I've seen people leave the Adventist Church and write books as to why we shouldn't keep the Sabbath highly educated and people say well he's got a doctorate degree he must know what he's talking about well the Bible is higher than any doctorate degree can you say Amen remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy will will not be canceled by your doctorate degree Peter became a soldier of the Cross he finally embraced God's power and nothing angered Satan more than those who are getting freedom and dedication In Christ Alone look what happened in Peter's life look at Acts chapter 4 and verse 13. the Bible says now when they saw Peter when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were what friends uneducated and untrained men they marveled and they realized that they had been with who with Jesus is Jesus a good educator does Jesus have a degree does he need a degree he's got 360 degrees you'll get that on Tuesday you got one degree Jesus got them all covered he's got enough degrees to know how to make another galaxy he's got a degree on how to calm storms he's got a degree on how to create whom humans he's got a degree on how to put DNA together so much DNA is in our body that they say if you take the DNA molecules and put them end to end it'll go to the moon and back nine times Jesus knows how to hide that in one human body he's got a degree in creating DNA you don't need the world to transform your mind the greatest transformation you'll ever experience as Jesus said to Martha is at the feet of Jesus Mary has found the best place at the feet of Jesus brings me to my third point spiritual conversion is more valuable than intellectual connection spiritual conversion is more valuable than just an intellectual connection you see why nothing causes hell greater concern than a Spirit-filled Christian a person that wakes up every day and said I'm going to live my life for the Lord my wife and I are studying our Bibles together and we notice that whenever we get ready to set our Bibles the phone rings or somebody tries to interrupt our study the devil knows how to break into your time he knows how to get people that you really like to talk to to call you when you want to call Jesus so what we've done and I encourage you to do that we don't let our phones control us we control our phones let me give you an illustration if you turn your phone off and look in it you find the most important thing yourself there's a reason why they call it a cell phone they say what's your cell number you get it on Wednesday some people have made the phone their cell read the story of a young lady on her way back home from school in New York City 14 years old her Fame her phone fell in the subway she jumped down to get it got run over by the train went into viewed by the media other young teenagers standing by said I would have done the same thing they said but you could have gotten a new phone but they said but all that stuff on my phone I couldn't replace they would rather give their lives for a phone and some people in phone some people in church can't pay attention to the sermon because they got their Bibles on their phones and while they're looking at their Bibles they get a text from a friend and it pops up the devil knows exactly how to do that he calls in notifications while you're trying to get a notification from Jesus he says send him a notification from me and you get an Instagram notification notification or Tick Tock notification and you don't know where you are and when the sermon is done you miss most of it because you are locked in your cell the devil was concerned about Peter he started taking notice about Peter he started understanding that Peter was a threat and wherever Peter preached you notice what happened look what Peter said look at acts 5 and verse 29 Peter kept his mouth open but for the right reason this time when they tried to stop Peter notice what the Bible says but Peter and the other Apostles answered and said we ought to obey who friends God rather than men this is what we need to do I was at a job I was working downtown Manhattan and um the company at the time it was just when Sabbath worship was sorry Sabbath employment was starting to come in you know when people wanted you to work on Saturday so I was working for an insurance company and they said well next week we're starting what's called you work twice a month on Saturday and I told my supervisor I'm not coming in he said what's your schedule I said I'm not coming in he said but you're scheduled so I was scheduled and I didn't go in and on Monday morning they said well you didn't show up I said I told you I wasn't coming in he said well then two more weeks you're scheduled and what did I say I'm not coming in I didn't go in and they call me in that Monday follower and fired me I went down the road there in the Wall Street area and about maybe two hours later I had another job you see friends we fear men oftentimes more than we fear God Peter said we ought to obey God rather than men and this is where prayer comes in when you I talked about this last night when you put your needs before God In Prayer when you are specific about prayer God will answer those prayers I'll tell you a story I'll tell you about nine of them last night but I'll tell you one right now my wife and I back in 1987. after returning from the Heritage Singers we both decided to pray I was sitting at my desk at an excavation construction company and I realized after being in 19 countries for two years I realized I don't want to waste the rest of my life sitting at a desk counting numbers because that's where my education was in accounting and I thought is this the way I'm going to be till I die I just traveled to 19 countries in two years is this the rest of my story and my wife walked past my office she said what's wrong I said if this is what the rest of life is I don't want this she said well what's wrong what do you want I said I want to be in the ministry and we began to pray and we prayed and we had some friends now you young folk just give us I'm not old yet but I'm just you know I'm on my way this is before cell phones and so when people there was a time that you could actually get in your car and not have to talk on the phone come on say Amen I wish those days would come back again remember that come on any old people raise your hand when you could get in your car to get peace nowadays you get in your car it's like huh phone is right there and then start talking you turn left right here sometimes I'm preaching I was preaching just now and uh I said something about Mary and my phone says this is what I found I was preaching at my church in Thompsonville and I was really in I was in The Stride of it in my phone said keep on going keep on going it's in all parts of our lives but there we were in Florida in Winter Garden Florida and we started praying together Lord we want to be involved in Ministry and I said Lord I want to I would love to be involved in Ministry but I'll go anywhere except California hi so nothing was happening and then one day our friend saw us in the mall and said you guys are never home y'all did anybody remember answering machines don't raise your hand because the young folk will say you oh but um we had an answering machine and uh we put the answering machine in and and we prayed and this time we changed our prayer don't limit God in your prayer life we said Lord we will be willing to go anywhere including California and we prayed for seven days how many days did I say seven days at the end of the seventh day we went to work and the very first message we got on our answering machine was from the Northern California Conference president now here's the amazing part about it I didn't know him but God put his my name on his heart I didn't have a theological degree at that time I didn't send any resumes out saying which conference will pick me up but when you got God he is a great campaign manager God will put you where he knows you need to be some of you folk try too hard stop trying hard and try God some of you make so much fuss I sent all my resumes out did you pray no I got a degree did you pray no so we prayed and at the end of seven days we got that message there's a position opened up an evangelism in the northern California Conference if you're interested give us a call what were we interested you better believe it so we packed and then we call them we're on our way on our way we prayed seven days straight on our knees God is amazing let me give you a little bit more of the details here we are in an apartment we finally got an apartment and uh after traveling for two years with the Heritage Singers they said that we were moving around too much to have stable credit so we tried to get an apartment we got an apartment then we went to try to get some furniture they said your credit is not good enough to get a Furniture I said why not they said because you've been moving around too much for the last two years well that was my job I was supposed to move around they said well we can't Grant you credit so we had an apartment two-bedroom apartment with only one chair we had a bed with no Bed Head just had pillows the wall was our bed head and we bought this 25 La-Z-Boy recliner at a yard sale so when our friends came over everybody ran to that one chair and we wondered why God would not let us get furniture but at the very same time I told you last night and I didn't I don't think I told you this but I have to add this into the story our car was breaking down a lot and we were working for this construction company and the the boss said you know you guys always struggling with that car just go go ahead and get yourself a new car and we'll give you the down payment amen so we we dreamed big and we went and got a 1984 Toyota 4Runner when they first came out brand spanking new and we were sitting in the office of the of the um car company uh Toyota and they said um how much could you put down you know you could when you were using somebody else's money you feel happy don't you know that you know what somebody else said well we'll just whatever you need we'll give it to you you get happy so we got happy because they said they'll give us the down payment so my wife and I said we could put down a thousand thousand was a lot in 1984. and he said could you put down 2500. and we kicked each other and said well you know I guess so so sure we went ahead and wrote a check for twenty five hundred dollars and drove that Forerunner home that day and the next morning we were so happy we drove up to the company with this brand new Toyota 4Runner and uh Toyota said now we're gonna put your application in to see if it gets approved well in the back of our mind we thought we couldn't even get approved for furniture how are we going to get approved for a brand new Toyota 4Runner so we got to work and we said that the boss's daughter met us in the front she said what a nice new vehicle praise God I'm glad you guys are so happy come to my office because I talked about giving you the deposit she said how much was it I said 2500 she said but you know what I talked to my dad and unfortunately at this time we can't Advance the money to you excuse me that's when everything slows down [Music] because you just wrote we just wrote a check the day before young folk check this out we wrote a check last night for two thousand five hundred dollars and my wife and I said you know what could you say okay and we left the office a lot less happy than when we went in there and she stopped in my office and she said what are we going to do we could take it back I said no remember what we prayed this morning we prayed we prayed we prayed Lord if you want us to keep this truck let the loan go through and it wasn't I don't remember how long it was but not too long after that we got a call from Toyota who said your loan was approved and we are going to deposit the check and my wife said this is a good time for a Toyota to open a dealership on the moon because it's going to bounce as high as the Moon I said she said we need we just need to take it back I said honey no remember we prayed Lord if you want us to keep it let the lawn go through and the loan went through so she said what do we do now I said well we pray for the 2500 to show up we prayed and in less than an hour we got twenty five hundred dollars I don't ask for money I was raised by a man who always said no so I don't ask for money but God put two names on my heart and I called them and they said it'll be in your bank in no time flat and we got that truck and I didn't understand why that happened until we got a call from the conference to go out to Northern California and we needed that Forerunner to drag our stuff out to California we didn't even have furniture you know why because we couldn't even take any furniture with us everything we had we only had our wedding gifts and just some little small things that we put in a small five by eight U-Haul and we made it to California and when we got to California they said you have to get here how you can and we pray Lord they said we're not gonna We're Not Gonna you have no insurance you'll have no medical coverage we're going to commit ourselves to you for one year and at the end of that one year we could say to you thank you but no thanks what do we do we prayed when we got to California we knew the city where the church was and so we said let's try to find a place to live in this city when we got to California we had less than 600 to our name now you know we had to be crazy or we had to be filled with faith because you don't move to California with 600 bucks to try to find a place to live every place we went they needed sixteen hundred dollars thirteen hundred dollars plus first and last month's rent and security deposit and every time at that time every time you put an application in it was 25 dollars and we had gotten turned down twice for the same reasons you don't have enough history and credit and after two days my wife said you know we have just enough money to go back to Florida I said honey God didn't bring us this far to let us down and I threw the newspaper on the bed and there are this small little ad jumped out 75 dep now we were staying at NADA Hotel not a motel we were staying at a yield tell you know what a hotel is it's those hotel rooms where you go in and you realize this carpet has been here since the dawn of light it's so dirty you don't want to take your shoes off anybody know what about you go he's like oh man you'd be tiptoeing it's a truck stop and why well you just hear the diesel truck outside is just trucks everywhere you walk from the car right into your hotel room and when you close the door the fumes die down it was a yotel and every time we stay there every day was more money going down the drain so my brother here we are we said we got to do something so let's pray and I threw the newspaper down on the bed and the small little ad one square inch popped up 75 deposit so I said honey at this time I'm I'm willing to take anything so we call the apartment complex and they said um I said are you still open they said we're still open I said well do you have any units remaining they said we do I said can we come and check it out they said sure come on up and we went to check it out and as we were driving around in Vallejo California we were driving around the valley looking for places to live but we started ascending up to a hill and when we got up to this hill we saw a brand new apartment complex in Vallejo California it was so new that the asphalt was jet black and the lines were bright yellow and the grass was actually green and the lines on all the parking spaces were Pure White it was brand new and we said to ourselves if we couldn't get approved in some of them other places there's no way we're going to get approved in here but one we went ahead with the whole routine figure of all 25 more and then we just head home we walked into that place the lady was rushing to go home we said she said here's the application fill it out that'll be 25 for the deposit to check it out again and we went home waiting for the phone call the next morning no phone call came eight o'clock nine o'clock you know you got a check out of the yotail by 11. so we went ahead and waited and I decided to call her and the lady was very nonchalant she said who is this I said this is John Lowe McCain how can I help you I said my wife and I came last night well how can I help you I said we left an application any news what was your name again How Could You Forget Loma King so she said hold on a moment oh by the way you are approved we were approved yeah you were approved well Hallelujah I mean I didn't sell that to her but my wife and I went like this you ever have a silent praise session while you're on the phone like those are good things God sees it so we said Hallelujah and when can we come up well you can come up right now so we drove up the hill and as I'm driving up the hill I can hear these words I will lift up my eyes into the hills from whence comes my help my help comes from the Lord who made Heaven and Earth let me make a statement When you pray nothing is impossible for God we sometimes look at situations and say no we're not going to ask God about that one no God controls the lights of the universe he could flick them all in and pick him off as he desires glad he didn't do that yet amen so we got to the apartment complex we walked into the office and there's the same nonchalant lady there and she said well sit down and we're thinking to ourselves okay how much is it going to cost to get into this beautiful place she says well you know we're doing a special now it's the middle of the month we're prorating it and well that 75 deposit not the regular deposit and we're waving the Depo we're waiving the first and last month's rent check box second one so far well how much is a good deal well let's let's prorate it we have this many days left she said that'd be about 200 and something dollars to get in didn't want to ask her twice because she might have gotten a conniption and corrected that did you say 207 dollars yet is that to get in I mean to move in that's that's what it takes you want to see somebody write a check real fast before she lose her mentality we gave her that check we got in that apartment but let me tell you the good part of the story so now we're walking across the parking lot and she said oh by the way just want you to know between yesterday and today we only have one more unit left well we only needed one let me talk about God so we walk across the parking lot and and my wife sent me the picture today and she she just dropped it to me and uh she just ear dropped it to me uh they called it ear drop I sometimes they should call it drop kick but uh she just ear dropped that picture to me beautiful so so she we walk into the apartment and you will not you will not believe what the apartment number was seven amen God's perfect number okay honey hold on we're gonna do this except just so y'all could see technology is beautiful especially when you need it okay check this out okay this is gonna be amazing my wife and I took this picture [Music] there it is okay okay here it is okay okay I'm gonna bring it up on the screen okay there it is we took that picture about three years ago we went back God sent us back so we could see how God got us started to go forward do you see the number right there number seven that was our humble beginnings how did it happen prayer and trusting God we walked into the apartment and it was beautiful she said oh by the way you see when God blesses you God doesn't just bless you God blesses you God does what you cannot do God does what you cannot afford I can tell you some more stories about that I said okay now we're in the apartment how much is going to cost to turn the lights on she said they're already on just called PG e and put it in your name what about the phone number how much it's going to cost for that well here's your phone number just call the phone company and put it in your name well what about the Heating and everything she said it's included in the red God had it all covered and there we were apartment number seven I walked into that apartment with black hair a few years ago I went back to show my for my wife and I to see how far God has led us and we walked out of the apartment with with joy in our hearts can you give God praise God is amazing that's why that's why my fourth point I'm gonna say that's why when Peter said never never obey God rather than man when you obey man now look back on that and my wife and I have talked about this situation many times and we have said either we were crazy or we had a whole lot of faith and it was a whole lot of faith that's why my fourth Point very carefully notice what it is never allow allegiance to man to replace allegiance to God Amen you see when Peter became completely dedicated as when we are completely dedicated only then can God fully move through your life and the devil really got upset with Peter he really turned his anger against Peter and that's why we read in Acts chapter 12 these words Acts chapter 12 and verse 1 and 2 the church grew rapidly and Satan was determined to stop its growth and progress which he linked to Peter and here's what the Bible says now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church then he killed James the brother of John with the sword and then verses three and four and because he Herod saw that it pleased the Jews he proceeded further to do what friends sees Peter also now it was during the days of unleavened bread so when he had arrested him that's what he did then he arrested Peter and he put him in jail he arrested Peter and put him in jail during the days of unleavened bread and Peter was there in the jail Peter was there in the jail not knowing what to do but something happened something was happening look at the next verse when we become a threat to Darkness Satan pursues us but something was happening look at verse 5. Peter was therefore kept in where prison but what kind of Prayer what kind of Prayer last night we call that importunate prayer the kind of prayer that does not cease because the blessing didn't come while Peter was in prison the church was constantly praying let me make a point here friends my wife and I have been praying for my sister my sister left the church when she was 16 years old she's now 67. she left the church over some strange unusual experience and I always say to her I'm praying for you I say to my sister I'm praying for you don't give up I'm praying for you and periodically she'd say I said to her what's going to happen when we make it to heaven when I make it to heaven and mama is there and she says what happened to your sister what am I going to tell her Ellen White says when we pray for people tell them we pray for them so that they could begin to live a life in harmony with the prayer so the church is praying for Peter and they're praying constantly for Peter you see what does constant prayer do constant prayer is like constant rain constant rain softens the ground constant prayer softens the heart constant prayer does not change God constant prayer changes us something happens when you really pray and some people don't really pray until they are in difficulty then they really learn how to pray when we learn how to pray before difficulty when difficulty comes we still have a prayer life that's strong amen but God sometimes allow those things to happen so that we can understand the difference between a short prayer and a dedicated prayer they're praying for Peter and Peter is in jail notice the bondage and when you read this passage you may think about where you used to be and where you are today but if you're not free in Jesus you may think about where you are today and I'll show you where you can be in Christ notice what would happen here which brings me to my sixth point being bound in the sight of man is different than being bound in the sight of God I want you to keep that in your mind as we read verse 6 of Acts chapter 12. and when Herod was about to bring him out that night Peter was sleeping bound with two chains between two soldiers and the guards before the door were keeping the prison let's explain this Peter why was he bound so hard all he was doing was preaching he was not a criminal he wasn't killing anybody wasn't stealing anything he wasn't robbing anybody but they but the devil when the devil binds you he binds you in such a way that he feels if I really bind you intensely there is no way that you can get free but there's somebody called Jesus he who the son sets free come on now is free indeed however God allows the devil to heat the furnace seven times hotter sometimes so the devil can say ah they won't bow now I really got him because the furnace is seven times hotter than it was so when the situation that you're in seems to be heating up don't give up on God because God will even sometimes let you go in the furnace we want to be delivered from the trouble but sometimes God delivers us through the trouble We Fear men because what's God well I'm gonna go to jail if I don't do what they tell me to do well Nebuchadnezzar you're going to go into the fire if you don't do what I tell you to do Bow Down and Worship this image and they were willing to go all the way how far are you willing to go with Christ some of us want to serve God up until this point Peter was serving God all the way and the devil said if I can bind him but I want to say it again being bound in the sight of God is different than being bound in the sight of men when the Bible says bring him out that we're going to bring him out to humiliate him and then to kill him which brings me to point number seven here it is being in bondage and being in darkness are not the same thing now you might say break this down Pastor look at verse 7. of Acts chapter 12. remember he was bound Peter was what Peter was what he was bound he was chained to Two Soldiers the two soldiers were chained to the wall and then outside of the Gate of Peter's prison was a fifth guard kind of like that Samoan brother you have where is he Tongan stand up my brother I I love this brother I'm always teasing him stand up please and the other one the one behind you both of you I'm gonna hire these guys as bodyguards you know they had guys like that outside the prison and Pete the Bible didn't say that Peter was a fit man the Bible just said he was a fisherman didn't say that Peter was a strong man but they had a fit guard outside the prison you read it in in the book Acts of the Apostles the fit God that Almighty says fit man and then bound to the and while he's in prison this is this blue Mary while he's in prison while he is in prison look at the text look at the text Now Behold an angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shown in the prison and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up saying what two words arise quickly and what happened his chains fell off his hands come on say Amen now look at what the text says the guards didn't see the light Peter Saw the Light the guard didn't feel the touch Peter felt the touch the Lord didn't say the guards get up the Lord said to Peter get up oh what is the message for you today when God brings light to you until you get up only as you get up well the chains that bind you fall you've heard about the Sabbath but you haven't gotten up you've heard about the truth about what happens when you die but you refuse to get up and you're still bound in the devil's chains when God allows light to come your way and you refuse to arise quickly you will remain bound Peter didn't say well could somebody release my chains the angel said arise quickly and when Peter determined to follow what God Said then the chains fell some of us want the chains to fall before we obey but when you obey the chains will fall don't pray about something that you are not willing to do Lord free me well then get up you know what's truth get up arise quickly the longer you wait the more comfortable the chains will feel which brings me to my eighth point I'm almost done I love this tell your family members that are in darkness when we can't get to the light the Lord brings the light to us we have some people in our church had a couple in my church once lady brought her husband to our church we did an Evangelistic series I'm so thankful to see your pastor is an evangelist loves the evangelism more than 50 baptisms this year coming up in 100 last year God bless him a man of evangelism let me tell you what happened we had a lady that brought her husband to our church one of our Evangelistic Series in California and she brought him because he wouldn't go to church so she he so she brought him to our Evangelistic series at the end of the series when I made the appeal he stood up to be baptized and she came to me a deep concern she said pastor I'm concerned I said why are you concerned she says because my husband wants to join your church I said what's the concern when you came you told me he didn't even go to church now he wants to join the church and while you're nervous she said because I don't keep the Sabbath but I love the Lord I've been going to church all my life on Sunday but would God hold that against me I said the Bible says remember the Sabbath to keep it holy she said but I've been loving the Lord all my life I said but God knows you love him that's why he brought the message to you now and the husband said can I wait one more can you give me one more week for my wife to make up her mind I said I can't give you another second but it's God's grace that'll give you one more week and he waited for one more week and that Friday evening I remember very well I called all the baptismal candidates to solidify everything for Sabbath morning and I called I said I'm going to call this lady my wife said did she make up my mind I said no I don't know so I called her and I said sister Helen yes Pastor what wonderful Spanish lady always smiling I said your husband's getting baptized tomorrow she said I know pastor but will God hold the Sabbath against me I said God will hold the Ten Commandments against you he's not single he's not singling it on any one of them that we are given permission to ignore she said but I love the Lord I said let's do this read John 14 15 if you love me keep my Commandments and I said pray this prayer Lord teach me to love you that much and I hung up the phone didn't spend a Time wearing her out didn't try to beat her into submission I said it's God's job so when I hung up the phone my wife came into my office and I was filling out all the baptismal certificates and um yes honey and my wife my wife is my wife has my wife helped me preach sermons amen Church y'all need a wife like mine so so this is the okay this is beautiful my wife added some more to my sermon hope y'all don't mind praise God for this y'all need a wife like mine team workers Dream Work I like that I'm gonna use that one so uh so uh so I'ma just use this right here quickly and I'm not gonna show you yet so so I was um making out the baptism with certificates my wife said did she say yes I said no but she's going to she's going to she said how do you know I said because she told me she loves the Lord so I've filled out her baptism with certificate Sabbath morning came and I entered Sabbath school early to get everybody ready for the baptism get him back behind and change their robes and and she came to me she said oh Pastor that's what she said I'm getting baptized I said I know here's your certificate you weren't here last night you may have missed it we claimed a car in Jesus name we claim souls in Jesus name and here's that lady today we went back and saw her the other day and she brought her Bible with her and that big Bible was his holy Bible she said remember this Bible you gave me when I got baptized and she got baptized her husband got baptized her children got baptized they went to a Pacific Union College they all in the church today amen her daughter's still on the fringes we're trying to bring her back but I'm going to tell you every time we see them they always remember Pastor you know they're nice Spanish you know they give me that nice accent and they remember that God brought them back I'll tell you friends when you when the devil wants to bring you out and embarrass you God will bring you out and exalt you the Lord brought her out the Lord brought Peter out and here's what the Bible said look at this then the angel said to Peter not only get up but he said gird yourself and tie on your sandals and so he did when God says get up he starts changing your life gird yourself dress differently tie in your sandals your journey is about to begin and so he did notice everything that the angel said to do he did and he said to him put on your garment and follow me until you follow the lord you'll never be in the journey that God has in store for you he said follow me what does the Bible say when we follow the lord notice this Jesus does not change our location he changes our circumstances right he doesn't send broken people to another location to stay broken he fixes you and sends you someplace so you can help fix somebody else that's why the Lord said these words I'll love it then he said to them follow me and I will make you I knew you were going to say that we always focus on the fish look at the text follow me and I will make you what is the Bible saying until you father Lord he will not make you how do I know that I don't have no theological degree but I have Jesus I went back to school after the fact or Doug Batchelor one of the most well-known preachers in the Adventist Church God found him in a cave he and I together were the two most requested evangelists in the northern California Conference for a long time they broke us up after 11 months they said because nobody else is getting a request he found one in the streets of Brooklyn the other one in a cave in Palm Springs God can change and transform your mind and Doug Batchelor and John Loma King under the for the glory of God our names are repeated around the world not for our Glory but when God sends you on a journey he says don't forget to tell them you are who you are not because of who you are but because of who I am I am a changed man by the hand of God I didn't get here on the flowery bed of Education I got educated afterwards God brought Peter out and said I'll make you you see Freedom friends is not an instant Act freedom is a continual progress the change will be so unimaginable that you will look at yourself and say I cannot believe that God did this look what the Bible said look at Acts chapter 12 and verse 9 I'm about to finish now look at acts 12 verse 9 so he went out and followed him he did what he went out and did what followed him and look at this and did not know that what was done by the angel was real when my wife and I looked back at our lives Pastor doesn't seem real even Peter saw the change he didn't seem he said how could I get out of prison like that it didn't seem real God can bring your life from where it is to where it needs to be and it'll be so amazing that you say I don't believe this is real I go back to Brooklyn every now and then I find friends that are either dead or strung out on drugs or in jail doing time and they say you're a pastor how did that happen that's right God can do anything you put your hand in God's hand you'll follow him put on that garment God will put you on a journey and you'll look back on that day and say I don't believe it's real God had so delivered Peter the Bible says but he thought he was seeing a vision let me tell you something whose Vision was Peter seeing here it is Jeremiah 29 11. I know the plans I have for you says the Lord plans to prosper you not to harm you young folk to give you a future and a hope and some of you are trying to be what you want to be without God's help but you can't be who you need to be without God's help Amen to body he thought he was seeing a vision which brings me to my last two points look at number 10. bondage has many stages free bondage has many gates but Freedom comes in stages how do I know that look at chapter 12 and verse 10. and when they were passed the first and the second guard posts they came to the Iron Gate that leads to the city which opened to them of its own accord who opened that gate God did and they went out and went down one street and immediately the angel departed from him watch this how many gates do they have to get past the first watch this the first gate in your life may be alcohol or cigarettes the second gate may be immorality or pornography or thievery or dishonesty but the devil is still happy because watch this this is powerful I don't know you may have missed it Peter was still in jail when his chains fell off did you hear what I said he was still in jail when his chains were broken some of us have broken chains in our lives but were still in jail what was the very last gate that Peter had to get past somebody tell me say it out loud why the Iron Gate the hard things in your life until you get past the hard things you're not free until the things that you love the most are broken you are not free you can say I don't smoke I don't drink I don't corralize I'm no longer looking at pornography I don't follow this and follow that you can say all that but your chains are broken and some of us rejoice that our chains are broken but we're still in jail it was not until Peter got past the Iron Gate that the angel left him today you got iron gates some of you have an iron gate in your life today but I got some good news for you look at this here it is the last Point God does not stop leading us until we know we are free come on say Amen here it is here it is and when Peter had come to himself oh my friends my wife and I were sitting down one day and we came to ourselves what do I mean by that we looked at our lives we travel the world places like this in Australia and South America and Europe and the Caribbean and Asia and all these places and people are saying I watch you on 3abn and you know when we go back to our hotel rooms we come to ourselves and say what has God done for us and we can't boast about any of it because God says get up quickly when God said to us get out of Florida we love family and friends with little to nothing in our lives and God has taken us 35 years of ministry we are not here to tell you about something we don't know we're here to tell you you can struggle with all that social media you can struggle with the partying life you can love the dancing and the The Tick-Tock and the this rap artist and that rap artist you can do all the things the world has brought to you on paper until you get past the Iron Gate you will never come to yourself and know that God is real we come to ourselves is this the same kid that was abandoned by his mother and father at three months old am I the same girl whose dad died when I was three how could God get us to where he has today because he said get up and we got up and God will not stop leading and look what it said look at the very next Passage but motioning to them Peter came to the house where they were praying motioning to them with his hands to keep silent he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison and he said go tell these things to James and to the Brethren and he departed and went to another place today is there somebody that wants to go to another place I'm not talking about physical location before God changes your physical location he changes your spiritual condition God wants to change somebody today but the question is there's somebody praying for you today constant prayer don't stop praying for your loved ones don't stop praying for your children don't stop praying for your spouse don't stop praying for your wife or your husband somebody ought to say Amen constant prayer what made the difference in Peter's life look at it look at this it is part of God's plan the book prayer page 47 paragraph three it is part of God's plan to grant us in answer to the prayer of faith that which he would not bestow did we not thus ask people today God wants to free somebody my question today how many of you want God to lead you come on raise your hand this morning I want to make an appeal I want to make an appeal today because this one too test one two test one two come on Bob help me out Tess blue it's on God's got always another way come on save it today I want to make an appeal because today somebody wants to be free am I telling the truth today somebody wants to be free I told you about our freedom and are we going to testify about that in video and pictures and our own story but today God wants to free somebody my first appeal is for those who have family members that are still bound today how many of you have family members you're praying for why don't you do something for me today why don't you stand in agreement that your prayer is not answered yet come on do you think that God is going to still answer that prayer but it answered yet why don't you stand with you now these who are standing are praying for family members that are still bound but you know that God hasn't answered that prayer yet but God is going to answer that prayer how do I know I will contend with those who contend with me and I'll save their children Ellen White said that one of the last prayers that God will answer is the Salvation of the children of those who've been praying I will contend with those who contend with me God can save anybody and can you say Amen to that a second request today before I sing this song is this it's just between you and God but there's something in your life that you want complete deliverance from I don't want you to tell it to me but I want you to raise your hand wherever you are you say Lord Jesus I need not just these chains to fall but I want these iron gates to be opened God is wrestling with you today he wants to lead you he wants to guide you and when he does so friends you will experience a freedom that you can tell others about you can be a Living testament the power of God to save God sees that hand my final appeal is this to young folk you don't want to be a victim of social media you want to be a victor of God's precious blood I'm asking the young people today if there's somebody who has a young folk in here a young person you're praying for young people today your children those young people that are that are in their cell and you want them to find the Living Word of God I'm praying for them today because God can take my wife and I's life young folk in the streets of New York We Were Young Too 16 17 we wouldn't know it's like you don't get old before you get Young but God wants to change you today so as I sing this closing song if you want special prayer today I just want you to come down here where you are we're going to make this place past you come on up and join me we're going to make this place a place of prayer today if you want special prayer today as I sing this song today I'm going to ask for you to come on down God wants to lead your life God wants to change your life he wants to transform your life he can do it he can do it but you got to let the Lord lead you we lead you you'll find that freedom in here listen to this and Shady Green Pastures so rich and so sweet God leads his dear children oh where the waters cool he bathes the weary ones as God leads his children along can you hear it out there some through the water some through the flood [Music] s but all through his blood some through great sorrow but God gives a song in the night seasons and all the day [Music] [Applause] with Sorrows before us and Satan opposed God leads his dear children of all faith we will conquer we'll defeat all our foes his children along healing water some through the flock to the fire but it needs all through his blood through great Sorrows yet God gives us [Music] in our night seasons and all the day love [Music] let us pray [Applause] Father in heaven we come to you in Jesus name today [Music] each one of us has a characteristic of Peter in our lives before all of our gates are opened in our chains are broken before the Iron Gate foreign you have for us may we answer the question do you love me Peter do you love me my brother my sister do you love the Lord do you love the Lord do you love the Lord and Peter said Lord you know I love you I pray today Lord that our love for you will be greater than our love for the world our love for eternity is greater than our love for the temporary addictions of this life I pray that we will not thirst social media but spiritual regeneration Lord our young folk even some of our parents here today are bound by something that seems so sweet and so endearing something that seems to be the joy of their hearts and their lives and they don't know how to break those chains but Lord today send your angel into their life send the Holy Spirit to bring conviction to their hearts for there's a journey that so many of us have yet to experience because we have become victims of sometimes of our own chains sometimes victims of the chains of the enemy what we have found today Lord that there's nothing that's difficult for you there's nothing you cannot break there's nothing you cannot change there's no battle we ever face that can defeat you so Lord send us forth from this place today Victorious free in Christ rejoicing that our chains have been broken our gates have been open and we are now on the battlefield for the Lord Jesus Christ I pray for our young folk that they'll leave here with a renewed Vigor Lord I've been through that world the Party World a gambling world the social media world of the dance The Nightlife the music is all addressing of the destruction it's not what you have for us so may we find our freedom in you today bless this church may it continue to grow and become stronger under the pastor's leadership and in the direction of your Holy Spirit one day when we stand before you Lord may we know that we are free because you broke all of our gates and we give all the glory and all the praise to you alone and all of God's people said amen and amen amen praise the Lord somebody now let me just say this pastors stay here for a moment if some of you here have questions that you want to ask Pastor or me or the elders because I know that some of you have stood today to make serious changes in your life don't allow the spirit of God to move you and not follow through on that change Pastor Anderson is here today come to see him he could enroll you in a Bible study class get your life prepared for the journey that God has in store for you but I'd like to remind you this evening at about 4 30 we're going to share the massive blessings in our lives and how God brought us from where we were to where we are today God bless you you may be seated can we all say Amen amen how many of you were moved this morning amen we're going to allow the pastor and his wife to come down there but before everyone leaves let me close with the Priestly blessing may the Lord bless you and keep you may the Lord make his face to shine upon you may the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you and your families Peace and Freedom from the chains that bind you in Jesus name amen God bless everyone foreign

Channel: Chandler Media Ministry

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Length: 89min 15sec (5355 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 25 2023