If You Want It, A Miracle Will Come Your Way

Praise God. Thank you, worship team. Great to see you guys. You're from Alabama. Awesome. Great to see you all here with us tonight. God bless. Praise God. For those that are considering Bible school, this would be a great school for you to consider attending because you do learn who you are in Christ and you can come here to summit as you are. In other words, you don't have to fake it. You don't have to be a spiritual firebrand. You just have to be vertical and breathing and willing to have a living encounter with God. Okay. We'll take you right as you are. Just the way you notice in the Bible, the people who pretended to be what they're not never got the miracle. It's the leper. It's the blind guy. It's the person that just knew what they were that got the miracle. And that's one of the things that we espouse here at this Bible school. You just be who you are, be honest, be real, be natural and watch God meet you. I have personally seen some incredible miracles here. Lives absolutely transformed in their thinking and people transformed in the very essence of their being was changed by the presence of God. I remember one young man that came to this school and I said, so what brought you here? He says, I have no idea. I don't want to be here. I don't know how I got here. I don't know why I applied to come here. He was just a negative, negative, negative, negative. And I said, wow. I said, I really like you. You're honest. It's hard to deal with people that are not honest, but you're honest. Well, I was here the day that God got ahold of him. I was here the day that he cried for 45 minutes or so at this altar, the day that God called him. And he's still preaching like a house on fire today. The Lord gave him a beautiful, beautiful wife that loves the Lord as much as he does. And the two of them are in ministry together. And I have just seen that over and over again. Well, not the wife part over it, but the getting touched by God. Some people are fortunate that way. Others have to wait just a little bit longer after they get out of school. But the Lord always meets their need. There are people on their phones tonight, if you want to just text in Summit to 51,000. There are people on their phones that are actually right here with us in the sanctuary that will answer your call and talk to you about the school if you're interested in that. We're going to have communion tonight at the end of this short sharing of God's Word so that if you can get some juice and some crackers at home and be ready to partake of the celebration of what Christ did on the cross for you so that you could be forgiven and have a new life. My message tonight is from Luke chapter 4, if you have your Bible with you. If not, I'll just read it to you. Luke chapter 4, beginning at verse 16. And the title is, If You Want It. If you want it, a miracle will come your way. If you want it. Now, Father, I just thank you for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. I thank you, God, that we don't have... I don't have to make anything happen tonight. I'm simply here to declare who you are. I'm going to declare what you do. I'm going to declare your words as you have spoken them, and the rest is up to you. Lord, if I could convince somebody of truth, that's a good thing, but it can't transform their lives. It has to be you that does the transformation. And thank you, Lord, that you're willing to go into any darkened place, any darkened mind, any darkened room, any bondage, any prison, wherever people find themselves in, that's where you are willing to go if they want it. So, Father, tonight I pray for an open heart in those that are listening from around the world, and those that are listening here in this sanctuary. God, open our hearts to simple truth. We don't need to know profound truth. We just simply need to know what is your heart. What did you come to do? How does it apply to my life? Can it change me tonight? Can I be a new person as you promised that those who turn to you do become? Can that be my portion? Can I have a miracle tonight? God Almighty, I ask that you be God Almighty. I ask you, Lord, tonight that you do miracles. I'm asking you, God, that you transform situations, deliver those that are oppressed, heal the wounded in heart, give sight to those who can't see a way forward. Let the treasure of heaven be open to those who know they have no resource to get out of where they are. Oh God, oh God, oh God, I pray as you once said to the church of Laodicea, behold, I stand at the door and knock, and if you will open it, I will come in and sit down with you and fellowship with you. God, let that be tonight. I pray for somebody online tonight that's in a very, very dark place, a dark apartment, a dark room. God, would you help them to open the door to you tonight, that you may come in and you're willing to sit down in that place, and you're willing to bring hope and help and clarity and freedom and forgiveness, God, everything that was purchased for him on the cross. Oh God, oh God, oh God, let this be a night of miracles. Let this be a season of transformation. Let it be a time, Lord, when you visit people one more time in a powerful way, far beyond just the presentation of information about you, but an actual visitation by the living God. Father, thank you for what you're about to do tonight. Thank you, Lord, for you are our only hope now. There is no other hope now, and God, I thank you that in the scriptures you tell us that you choose the weak and the nobodies and the nothings and the foolish and the offscouring and the despised in this world. You choose us, Lord, to do a work in that will bring your own name to glory. Thank you, God, for the simplicity of who you are and who you've revealed yourself to be to each heart in Jesus' name. If you want it, a miracle will come your way. Luke chapter 4, beginning at verse 16. And so he, that's Jesus, came to Nazareth where he had been brought up. And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. Can you imagine being there? You imagine if this was a synagogue and this ordinary looking guy gets up and opens the scroll of the book of Isaiah and begins to read. And he was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it is written, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because, that means for this reason, that's what the because means, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, and to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Then he closed the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing, today. Now the inference in verse 18 where he says the spirit of the Lord is upon me is that the poverty is so deep, there's no resource left in a person's life to get out of where they are. Sometimes the depression can be so captivating. The lack of physical strength, the lack of inner thought, the lack of ability to get up and get out of where they are, is just no resource. There's no chance to get out of where you are. But he said, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because I've come to bring a message to you that you can get out. There is a resource available to you to escape the poverty of your present condition. He sent me to heal the brokenhearted, implying that the wounds in some people's heart are so deep there is no escaping them. No counselor can do it. No amount of trying to pull up your own bootstraps can make a difference. No amount of reading self-help books can do it. And many people tonight who are listening to my voice or today, you know exactly what that feels like. You know that there's no human counseling available to you that can get you out of the place of wounding that is in your heart. Words that were spoken over your life, something was done to you that so bruised you that it has affected your entire being. Jesus said, the spirit of the Lord is upon me and I've been sent to heal you, to proclaim liberty to the captives. When your captivation is so deep, the bars are so thick, the gates are so strong, there's no way out. You can't get out of the captivation, whether it's a captivation in your mind, if it's in your body, if it's in your thought process, whatever it is, you know you can't get out in your own strength. I've came to give the recovering of sight to the blind, people who just simply can't see a way forward anymore. They don't know how you're ever going to get out of where you are. And even if you could stand up, you don't know where the door is. You don't know how to go forward. I've been there, so I kind of get this. When you so loathe what you're becoming, you don't see a way forward. You don't see your way out. You try to get out, but every time you try to find the door, you can't get out. And to set at liberty those who are oppressed, the oppression in a sense being so strong, the thoughts, the bombarding of your mind, this never ending grinding of the teeth of the devil, may I put it that way, over your life. And the oppression is so strong, and the words coming. We just came back from Italy where we were ministering to leaders and pastors who are on the front lines of addiction all across Europe. And some of the pastors and leaders have had to fight, and finally they got free at the conference, thank God, but they had to fight thoughts that life is not worth living. Your life is not worth going on. These grinding, here they are serving the addicted and serving those who are in some of the difficult places of life, and yet they themselves are being bombarded by hell trying to tell them your life is not worth living. Throw yourself in front of a train. Drive your car at 100 kilometers an hour, in their case into a wall. End it all right now. But the inference is that the oppression is so strong that only the supernatural power of God can touch it. That's the miracle I want to talk to you about tonight. It takes God's power. There's nothing in human reasoning, strength, counseling that can get you out of where you are. You can't change. You can maybe pacify yourself for a little while, but there's no power to change. That's the miracle I want to talk about. When people talk about miracles, some people say, well, that's water turning to wine and all the rest of that, which is great. Thank God for all of those things. But I want to talk about the miracle of change, the miracle of freedom, the miracle of vision, the miracle of purpose in life, a miracle that only God can give. And Jesus said, he closed the book and he gave it to the attended and sat down. And the eyes of all them in the synagogue were fixed on him. He began to say, today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. In other words, the promise of God that is made through the scriptures, that there's going to be, there's somebody going to arise that has this anointing to bring you into this kind of freedom is today fulfilled in your hearing. Can you imagine being in that meeting? Well, in a sense you are because the voice of God through the Holy Spirit and through his word is still speaking today. The word is just as valid today as it was when he spoke it today. Listen to me, somebody online. I know there's somebody there tonight sitting in a very, you're in a dark room. There's almost no lights on there. And you're listening to this, this message tonight. And I want to tell you, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. You can be free tonight. There is a miracle coming your way if you will receive it, if you desire it. You know, the irony of it all is sometimes people get so comfortable in their pain, it actually becomes a blanket for them and they don't want to throw it away. They want to embrace it because it's at least something to talk about. And it gives me a sense of identity. It's not God's identity for my life, but at least it gives me a sense of identity. And pain has been such a blanket around you for so long, it's almost inconceivable of casting it away and adopting something else in your life. But I'm telling you tonight, if you want it, a miracle is coming your way. In the book of Acts chapter 12, beginning at verse 5, Peter was in prison. He's one of the disciples of Jesus Christ. It says in verse 5 of Acts chapter 12, Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. And so you need to know tonight, those that are in this place of imprisonment in your mind or your body, whatever it is, we are praying for you. We are constantly praying for you. We're standing up and believing God that he's going to set you free. 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. Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shone in the prison. And he struck Peter on the side and raised him up saying, arise quickly. And his chains fell off his hands. Then the angel said to him, gird yourself and tie on your sandals. And so he did. And he said to him, put on your garment and follow me. So he went out and followed him and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they were past 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. And they went out and went down the street and immediately the angel departed from him. From this story, we learned that God will open doors to get you out of where you are and into where you should be. Peter is sleeping between two chains, with two chains between two soldiers. There's guards before the prison door. Remember Jesus said, the spirit of the Lord is upon me to open the prison, the doors to those that are bound, the prison doors. It doesn't get much worse than this. It's a physical type of the bondage that many people in our time are now finding themselves in. And suddenly a messenger of God is standing by him. Suddenly I'm in your living room tonight or whatever kind of room you're sitting in. Suddenly there's a messenger from God standing there beside the place where he's laying in his prison and in his bondage and telling him, get up quickly. And as soon as Peter got up, the scripture says his chains fell off his hands. That's the first thing you have to do. You see, the message comes to you tonight because God wants to give you a miracle. And you say to me tonight, well, what do I have to do? Get up, just get up and start following where the voice of God is going to lead you. And as he got up and began to follow, the doors began to open. First of all, the prison door opened and let him out. And secondly, the city gate opened and let him in. That's what God does. When you begin to follow God, he takes you out of where you're not supposed to be and takes you in where you're supposed to be. And all these gates opened of their own accord. There is not a prison gate that can hold you back when Christ is leading you into the miracle that he has for your life. In Matthew chapter 14, we see another instance of the same thing of the apostle Peter. He was in a boat. He was in a storm like many are in a storm tonight. And the boat was in the middle of the sea. So it's Matthew chapter 14, beginning at verse 24. The boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by waves for the wind was contrary. And a lot of people know what that feels like. You're in a storm. The waves and the winds are against you. You're afraid that you're going to sink. In the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went to them walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled and saying, it's a ghost. And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them saying, be of good cheer, it is I, do not be afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it's you, command me to come to you on the water. And he said, come. And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. When you get up and you begin to listen to him, you begin to let those prison doors open. You begin to walk out of where you're not supposed to be and into where God has for you. Then all of a sudden, you will find yourself empowered to walk where you never could before. Peter could not walk on water up to this point in his life. You know, it's interesting that Jesus didn't wait till the storm was over. A lot of times, that's what we think. Okay, God, when the storm's over, we'll talk. He says, no, we'll talk in the storm. And we won't talk in the morning, we'll talk in the fourth watch of the night. In the darkest moment, in the most violent time, when the waves are overflowing your boat, I'm going to come to you and I'm going to call you at that time to walk where you never have before. Can you imagine? That's the way God does things. Call you out of the boat in the worst moment of your life. When you listen and you step out, you begin to walk in places that you never could walk before. So your part is to get up, remember, from the prison and in the boat, get out. So get up and get out. Get out of where you are and start moving to where the voice of God is calling you. And lastly, in the book of Acts chapter 2, I'm going to close with this. Acts chapter 2, verse 14. Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and heed my words. For these are not drunk as you suppose, since it's only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. God will give you new power, new perspective and new purpose for your life. From being in prison to being in a boat to now standing before at least 5,000 people with an anointing of God now coming upon him, giving him words now, not only ability to walk where he couldn't before, but to speak what he didn't have the power to speak before. If anyone is in Christ, he or she becomes a new creation. The old things in our lives pass away and thank God, all things become new. So get up, get out and get in to where you're supposed to be. That's your part. God's part is to open your prison door. God's part is to hold you up on the water. God's part is to give you a voice that you never had before, give you a message, give you a reason, give you a purpose in life. And Jesus closed the book in Luke chapter 4 and the eyes of all of them were fastened upon him and he said to them, today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Today, if you want it, it can be yours. I have spoken to you about Jesus Christ and I've spoken to you about what he's able to do. I've shared with you his desire. Remember when he got up in the temple, he said, the spirit of the Lord is upon me for this reason. Didn't go just to prove a point on a cross. He didn't feel like he had some judicial obligation to die for you. Came to get you because he loves you. Came to get you because he wants you back. He came to get you because he himself said, I've come to give your life and give it to you more abundantly. Not just eternal life, but a reason to live while you're here. A new song to sing, new words to speak, a new path to walk. I know what I'm talking about. This has been my life. It's been an amazing life. Sometimes I feel like I've, I've been in a dream. It's hard to describe it. You know, the song that says when the Lord turned our captivity, we were like them in the dream. In other words, we're saying, how did this happen to us? How did we go from all these years of being in bondage? And then suddenly a decree is issued and we can all go home and we can rebuild. Well, that's who God is. That's what God does. That's the amazing thing about God. Why do we make it so complicated? We bring everybody into church and we talk about Hebrew and Greek meanings of words. When all Jesus wants to do is set us free, save us from our sins and give us a new life. You know, the older I get, the simpler it's becoming. I want you to know tonight out there that God loves you. I want you to know that he's knocking on your door and a miracle is coming your way if you want it. If you want to get up from where you are, if you want to get out from where you are, if you want to get into what God has for your life, you won't regret it. And you will say when you get to the other side of your storm and your prison and everywhere you've been or are, only God could have done this. See, that's the miracle. That's going to be your story. That's going to be what you'll do for the rest of your lives. Like Peter, you'll stand up and say, the spirit of the Lord is upon me. There's no other reason why Peter would stand before a bloodthirsty crowd on that particular day, other than the spirit of God was upon him, empowering him to do what he could not do in his own strength. That's the gospel in a nutshell. When we realize that we can't save ourselves, that only by receiving the Son of God can we be forgiven for our sins. And we realize that the Son of God came not just to forgive us, but to give us a reason to live. Even in difficult days like we're now living in, He gives us a reason. He gives us a new song. He gives us a new heart. The Bible says He gives us a new mind and a new spirit. The old things are passed away. The old prisons, the old bondages, the old ways of doing things are passed away. And behold, all things have become new. And our message is real simple. What God did for me, He can do for you. There was no formula involved in this, and there's no seven steps to anything. He just tapped me on the side and said, Hey, put on your clothes, put on your shoes, follow me. The doors began to open. I began to walk out of bondage and into freedom. And then in the middle of my storm, He says, Hey, come walk where you've never walked before. Let me show you what I can do. Let me show you what my presence in your life is going to produce. And I began to walk in places I'd never walked, doing things I could never do, speaking things I was incapable of speaking in my own strength. That's been my life. That's been my testimony. And it's my joy tonight to be the angel standing beside your couch, tapping you on the leg saying, Hey, get up, get up, get dressed, put on your shoes. Come on, let's go. Let's go. We're going to get you out of here. And then some doors are going to start opening for you to go where you need to go. And even in the midst of everything that opposes you, I'm going to call you to walk in places you've never walked before. And I'm going to take you away. I'm going to take out of your heart, your fears, and I'm going to bring you out of, into the open. And I'm, you're going to speak words you never even knew you could speak in a way that you never had the power to speak them. That's what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. And if you want it, it can be yours. So I'm going to lead you in a prayer tonight, and I'm going to ask that everybody who's here tonight could pray out loud with me. And for the sake of those that are online with us this evening, that you would open your heart and receive Jesus Christ as your savior. And after you pray this prayer, start at the beginning. Tomorrow morning, get dressed, put on your shoes, go outside, and follow where he leads you. Lord Jesus, pray these words. Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for loving me. Thank you for coming to get me in my pain, in my poverty, my blindness, and my prison. And you came for me because you love me. And your instructions are simple. You don't ask me to do much, just to believe and to get up and start walking. And you do all the rest. So tonight I open my heart. Jesus Christ, I invite you into my life to be my Lord, my savior, and my God. Lead me, and I will follow you all through this life. And when it's all over, heaven will be my home because you have chosen to forgive me. And I belong to you, Jesus, and you belong to me. Amen. If you prayed that prayer tonight, I'm going to ask you to text the words decided to 51,000. Decided, 51,000. A video will come your way, and somebody from Times Square Church will explain to you what do you do now. Where do I go from here? It's really simple. We don't bother you. It's just for your information and for your help. We're going to have one song, and then I'm going to come back, and we're going to have communion together, and we're going to celebrate your victory tonight. Thank God for you. Thank God for his word. Amen.