In this sermon, the speaker shares a personal experience of a group of people planning a trip to the islands. They prayed and sought confirmation from God, and scriptures started pouring out, confirming their decision. One member of the group, Danny, felt called to return home and seek confirmation from his family. After receiving confirmation from his family and others, Danny announced his decision to go, and over 20 people confirmed that God had already spoken to them about it. The speaker emphasizes the importance of faith and obedience, referencing scriptures such as Matthew 6 and the story of Abraham in Genesis 22.

This tape is recorded at Calvary Chapel of the Finger Lakes, taught by Pastor Bill Gallatin, studying in the Book of Acts, chapter 12, beginning with verse 11. What a delight and what a privilege to know that you answer prayer. And, Lord, You put desires in our hearts concerning things You want to accomplish through us, and then You bring it to pass if we'll just ask You something You've already wanted to do, just to bless us. Lord, how wonderful the privilege of prayer. And how we thank You, Father, for Your glory. The doors You've opened and the things that are already in motion. Father, You're just so wonderful. And, Lord, as we share these things tonight, You grant us the proper sequence of events. Lord, we praise You. We pray that You'd be glorified. And, Lord, we ask You to honor Your Word tonight as we look into Your Word before this evening is over. And, Lord, reveal to us even more Your great love for us, Your faithfulness to us. How good You are, Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, let's see. We've got to start off with a plane trip to San Juan. Maybe I should explain. We were praying, and the Lord just kind of laid it on our hearts that there's no Calvary chapels in the Caribbean. And I've been, oh, for some months praying personally, Lord, we need to get into Cuba. We need to get into the Caribbean. Calvary chapels are spreading all over the world, but it seems like nobody's even considered Puerto Rico or Cuba or some of St. Thomas or the Bahamas. And certainly no one has actually considered it. Calvary chapels are spreading all over Europe. In fact, in two weeks I'll be going to Europe and doing a pastors conference for all the Calvary chapel pastors in Europe and the British Isles. Things are just happening so rapidly. There's some 1,800 or 2,000 Calvary chapels in India now. I mean, there's some of them, four or five a day are starting. And now it's happening in Mexico and South America, and I'm not going to name the denomination, but there's a very prominent Pentecostal denomination where they're just lining up, wanting to become a Calvary chapel as they've been listening to the radio and the teachings and getting the balance and everything. And it's just amazing. We can't figure it out. But as we pray on it, well, you know what, Lord, who do we begin with? And so the Lord laid it on my heart to ask Danny Crespo, who is Hispanic and just a super brother. He started the outreach up in the Flower City and has done tremendous things up there. The Lord's done some fantastic things. Not only does Danny have, you know, he's got some fantastic black people in his church. He's got Cuban people in his church. He's got Hispanic people in his church. He's got this inner city church, and God's doing great things with these people, awesome people. So I thought, well, maybe Danny would be interested. And then I thought of Henry Tomaso, because he loves to travel and experience foreign food like I do. And so I gave him a call, and the next thing you know, man, they were more excited than I was. He says, well, do you want to get together today? And I said, well, you know, it's too soon today, but maybe let's meet, you know, in a couple of days. Man, they canceled their schedules and everything. We got together. Danny showed up with maps already for Puerto Rico, and of course, he's got some family down there. And you just got to know Danny. He is as bold as, you know, the righteous are as bold as the lion, the Bible says. He will go into the streets. I mean, he's an amazing young guy. So we prayed. We said, okay, we've got to get down there. And we didn't know exactly what to do, because we didn't know anybody. So we're not going to go to anybody we know. Just as we came back here from California like Abraham, I said, that's the way we operate. So we're just going to go somewhere in Puerto Rico and seek God's face, the three of us. So we looked at the map, and naturally San Juan is on the northern side of the island. That's about three million people. We said, no, that's too congested. And I looked at the southern part of the island, and Danny said, there's not too many cities. There's some villages down there, but there's not many big cities down there. In fact, there's not many big cities after San Juan in Puerto Rico. And so I said, what's this thing here? Ponce or Ponce or something. Oh, that's the place down in the southern side of the island, Ponce. And he said, yeah, that's, you know, it's the city, and you can get stranded out. There's not too many places around there, and you can be maybe alone. So I said, well, let's just go there. Just go by the beach with our Bible and seek God. And so Danny was going to work out the arrangements with his wife, Linda, to get flights into Puerto Rico. He got busy, and there was confusion. He didn't get to it. I didn't know anything about it. So the next thing I know, Henry tells his secretary, Ann, Ann, call a travel agency somehow. Can you get us, find out if we can get a package deal to get to Puerto Rico for about three days. Ann calls back, and sure enough, they got a deal in this someplace called Copa Marina, and we think it's in Ponce. And so we get the tickets, and we're on the plane. We, you know, go down to Kennedy, and next thing you know, we're in San Juan. Eighty-five degrees. I'm thinking, Lord, I've got to call. I mean, I know a little bit of Spanish from college, you know. And Clark says, no, it's not you, Bill. So we get a car, and Danny's really excited because he's familiar with the area. And so those of you that aren't familiar, some of you probably are, but Puerto Rico's only at the top of a mountain range, and you've got the windward side, which is the south side, which is much like Southern California or Baja. It's kind of barren and scrub growth. It's not really lush and green. But the leeward side, this side on the northern side of Puerto Rico, it's got a tropical rainforest. It's lush and it's green. As you drive around and you get out of the city of San Juan, you see coffee bean plants, coffees everywhere. The hills are alive with the colors of these coffee plants. And banana, you know, wild bananas trees growing everywhere. In fact, as we came back, I don't want to get to that too soon. I've got something I need to share about on the way back. I found this out about coffee. I don't know if you're aware of this, but coffee was introduced to South America and Brazil and Colombia through Puerto Rico from Africa. Didn't know that, did you? That coffee originated in the West from Africa, and the French, the elite, drank coffee loaded with chocolate in the morning. That was the drink of the kings in France. And France, when they first came over to Puerto Rico before the Spaniards drove them up, brought little coffee plants to grow their own coffee because they loved it in the morning. Rich coffee from Africa doused with chocolate. That's a great high, isn't it? I mean, you get that much caffeine in you, but that's a jolt that you add that to the Holy Spirit and you're set. And then I discovered that after it got to Puerto Rico, it replaced sugar cane as the cash crop of Puerto Rico when it got into the islands and the climate was just right and it began to grow. And from Puerto Rico, it went to Central America. The traders took it down through the Caribbean, to Cuba, into South America, and that's where coffee comes from in the West. I didn't know if you knew that. I didn't know that. And man, they've got a coffee there. See, I've been off coffee for a long time. I'm back on it again. I mean, this Puerto Rican coffee, they grind the beta. It's got a unique flavor. It's really great stuff. Anyhow, off we go. The hills are beautiful, lush and green. You get over the top of the mountain ridge in Puerto Rico, and then you're going south and down on the windward side towards the southern coast, and we're heading towards Ponce. And it's only about an hour and a half drive from Puerto Rico on this road going right from San Juan down to Ponce. So we get down there and Danny says, get the map. And so we get the map, get the brochure. Where are we supposed to be going? Oh, it's somewhere in Ponce. And about every 35 miles or they've got a toll road where you've got to throw 50 cents or 75 cents into a basket, you know, in the toll booth. And so we get to the area of Ponce, and there's a girl there, and we show her the brochure, the Copa Marina, where we're supposed to stay. Having the faintest idea of what it is and where it is. The girl says, well, that's not in Ponce. That's 28 miles further southwest. You've got to keep on going. And Danny says, oh no, where in the heck are we going? None of us knew where we were, where we're going. And again, I like that kind of stuff, because you've got to really pray, and that's the way Abraham went, you know. So off we go, and then we drive another 35 minutes, and as we're going along there, Danny happens to look up on top of a big cliff overlooking the highway, and there's like a holiday-in-resort thing that people go down and gamble and then just go around the island, you know, on like a package deal. He says, you know, isn't that interesting? That's that place where Linda and I stayed last year. We came down, and not that we gambled, but it was such a good deal. We could get a room for three days, and then we just got a car and drove around different places on the island, found some neat places on the beach to go swimming that were inexpensive, and then at night we'd come back to our room. He says, wow, we were at that place. Isn't that amazing? We keep on driving and go right down by it, and then we're getting out in the boondocks, and we're getting away from everything, and we're going along the coast, and it's really jagged and rocky. And next thing we know, we're down to a two-lane road from the four-lane highway to a two-lane road, and then a one-lane road winding around, and next thing we know, we're going along the coast, and Danny says, you know, this looks familiar. And he looks over at Henry, and Henry says, I don't know where we're going. And now I'm starting to think these guys are putting me on. They're setting me up. They know where we're going. And so we're winding around, and all of a sudden we come around the southern portion of the road, and it comes right down to the end of the beach. And the interesting thing is, Danny says, wow, this is the place where Linda and I found last year. This is where they filmed Gilligan's Island, right next to it. And then we pull it, and you see the sign, Copa Marina, and Danny says, I don't believe it. I said, you don't believe what? Linda and I came here last year because it has such beautiful beaches and pools, and these palm trees overlooking the beaches, this white sand, the water temperature's about 80 degrees. We were here last year. That's exactly where we were staying. Now I said, you're putting me, now I said, you and Henry are setting me up. He thought Henry was setting us up. None of us knew. This is where the travel agent put it. Now, here's the wonderful thing about it. This thing is like out of an Ernest Hemingway movie. Nothing but these gigantic, beautiful palms along the beaches, lush green grass and flowers, swimming pools and jacuzzis by each pool, islands in the pool with palm trees, and the pools were the level of the ocean. As you walked into the resort area, you look out over the ocean, and you're looking right across the pool, the same level. And so you can go swimming in the pool, go a hundred yards through grass and swim in the ocean, come back in the pool, get the jacuzzi. Then there's the restaurant right there. 1700 rooms. No, excuse me. 1500 rooms in this resort. Nobody was there. There were probably 30 people in the whole place. We had the whole place to ourselves. God put us alone so we could seek His face and not be in the hustle and bustle of San Juan. So the first night there, we said, this is what we're going to do. We prayed and said, OK, Lord, You've got us here now. You've got to speak to our hearts, confirm something in the Word and show us what You want us to do. Because He's so faithful that way. And we had planned the next morning, what we were intending to do was that we were all going to separate for the day and just go up and down the beach or somewhere. In fact, it's so neat. For four dollars, they'll take you out into the Pacific or the Caribbean in the ocean and drop you on an island. There's all kinds of little islands sprinkled around that are not inhabited. And for four bucks, they'll take you over and drop you on an island and then you tell them what time you want them to come back and pick you up later in the day. Amazing. So we separate. We're going to separate. We start giving scriptures and they just start pouring out the scriptures confirming about going to the islands, leaving the north and going to the islands. And I'm in my heart. I know that it's not me. I'm just there kind of just to eat, you know. And as the scriptures keep coming up, we're watching Danny and Danny's just starting to, you know, you can see his countenance changing. And before you know it, we're getting scriptures. Henry's getting scripture. I'm getting scripture and we're comparing them. And next thing you know, tears are streaming down Danny's cheeks. These are the very same scriptures that he was getting probably a year ago and keeping in his heart, not understanding what they meant. Then Henry got a scripture that someone had prophesied to Danny last year at the fellowship about him leaving and he didn't want to accept that he got it. And even Lindy, his wife, had received some text about them going, you know, going out for the Lord. And so this thing is all rushing in and rushing in. And Danny got so spoken to by the Lord, he couldn't sleep. He was up all night. He burned the batteries out of my flashlight, reading the word, you know, in the room. Again, it's in this little room, you know, by the beach. He's sitting up reading all night and God's just pouring out His grace and His love. The next morning, again, God giving more and more scriptures, confirming that we should be there, that He wanted us to do something on that island. And from that island, He was going to spread it through the Caribbean. And again, it all pointed to Danny. And if we're sharing scriptures with each other, it's confirming things that have already been in Danny's heart that he's had just, you know, filed away, not sharing with anybody, just praying about it and afraid to do anything about it. You know, not wanting to leave the church in the city because God will be beginning to bless it. It's just such a fantastic work of the Lord there. After the Lord gave so many scriptures all day Tuesday, we were overwhelmed. So we had to just kind of just sit and just say, Lord, you know, you've got to hold back because we're getting so excited with this thing. The last night, as we prayed together, we decided, Danny, you've got to go alone. Maybe go up and see someone of the family near San Juan. You've got to hear more because he's convinced he's supposed to come back the very next day. Danny said, God has spoken to me and he was ready to fly back and start packing. And so he said, no, I said, you know, he hastens with his feet sinners. You better slow down. Give yourself two days. So, you know, you've got to prepare Linda. Call her first. Well, he called Linda that night and she started crying because the Lord had spoken to her. While he's speaking to Danny on the line with us, he's speaking to Linda, preparing her heart that she knew all along they were supposed to. And she said, wherever you go, I'm going with you. Right. Give it. Give the house everything, wherever you go for Jesus. So the next morning we said, Danny, you've got to just be alone and have God confirm these things. So you won't think that you're being influenced by me or by Henry or our association with each other. As much as you're convinced you go along. I felt led to share with him that the message he was to bring was grace, grace. It's not by might or by power, by my spirit, sayeth the Lord. Now, you see, you've got to remember, because of the Hispanic background, the majority island is Catholic or Pentecostal. Now the Pentecostal movement down there hates the Catholics and rather than teach the truth and allow the spirit of God to open the eyes of the Catholics, they spend all their time with this one radio station. They have attacking, attacking. So there's no grace. There's no real love and no real teaching of the word down there. It's always attack, attack, attack, trying to beat the darkness, so to speak, rather than just turn on the light with God's love. So he said, you've got to bring the message of grace, because that's what Zachariah said. If you're going to build something new, like Zachariah coming into an impossible situation from Babylon to begin a new work, you remove the mountain, remember, with crying and shouting of grace, grace, not repent, repent. That's Zachariah. Grace, grace. And so I shared that with him. That's how you remove the mountain. And then he said, you know, if it is, if you're supposed to come down, Danny, you know that we're with you. And Henry and I felt that we were the olive branches and we were going to help provide all of his needs in some way to be part of this. He didn't have to worry. So Henry said, remember that the birds of the air don't store up or don't have to be concerned that God provides their needs. He said, God's going to provide your needs. And he gave us the text out of Matthew 6, about taking any anxious thought, because remember, they're just giving everything away and leaving, getting on a plane and going. And then I said, well, let me share something else with you. And I just went to Genesis in the account where the Lord told Abraham to leave his kindred, his family and his friends in the land that I will show thee. And he didn't give Abraham any promise of insurance or a salary or even an address to go to. He said, just go. That's faith. He said, just go. And I shared with him, you don't have to worry, because that's exactly how we got here from California. And look what God's done. He rewards obedience. And there's no mountain that can't be removed with shoutings of grace, grace, no matter what the obstacle. And God will bless and reward your obedience if you just step like Abraham. I said, and when you get to your relatives, your uncle, don't you say one thing about that? You feel you're here to fly out the land about planning a church. Let God confirm something in your heart by something they say. Don't you just be silent so often? And so Henry and I, by the way, we're praying all day long for God to fill him with such overflowing love and grace that it would cast out all fear. Overwhelming with your love, Lord. Fill him with so much love that it would cast out all fear. Confirm in his heart, you speak to him in some way, Lord, that it won't be Henry or myself. And so we prayed that way all day long. And we kept getting scriptures to direct us how to pray for Danny and for what God wanted to do in Puerto Rico. Well, about eleven o'clock at night, he wasn't even back yet. Well, what had happened, he got up there to his aunt's house and you've got to taste the food in Puerto Rico. They fix beans and rice and pork and the chicken in Puerto Rico tastes better than steak. They don't jack it up with all kinds of steroids and hormones, you know, make the chicken ten pounds and you don't have to. The natural taste is so delicious because the chickens just run around the yards. In fact, in there, this is where his aunt lived, just to give you an idea how great it is. Coffee beans grown in the backyard, banana trees, they go out and pick the bananas off their tree, grapefruit trees, lemon trees, oranges, and they fresh squeeze orange juice and grapefruit juice mixed together for breakfast. Man, was that good. And then they fix chicken in such a way. Well, Danny got up there and ate all day and fell asleep. He passed out. He was, but when he finally got back at about midnight, and by the way, he didn't sleep that night either. His face was swollen from rejoicing, praising God, and crying at the same time. On the way to his aunt's, he sure was, he almost wrecked the car. Now remember, Henry shared Matthew six. I gave him the mountain shall be removed, shouting, Grace, Grace, and then share with him the Genesis 22 account of Abraham, you know, moving out by faith and then God directing him as he moved, blessing the obedience with tremendous revelation. He's driving, he gets about an hour away from Henry and I at the beach and he's going up the mountain. He's driving up the ridge to go over the top, down toward San Juan. As he's going up the mountain, he says, I'm going to see what's on the radio. He turns the radio and this is a car, you know, a rental car, hits the button and the Pentecostal station comes on. Just happens to come on, you know, and the guy's preaching in Spanish, this Pentecostal preacher in Spanish, and he's teaching Genesis 22. Now there's someone that's going right now is being challenged like Abraham and I'm in the next thing. You know, the guy gets so excited in the radio, he breaks out in tongues over the radio and then he prophesies. The Lord is telling me that it's a young pastor and you're in a car and you're driving up the mountain. Do not be afraid of the mountain. It will be removed. If you're a young pastor and you've got a big decision to make by that time, Danny's bawling, he's all over the road. Oh Lord, Lord, you got to stop. I can't take any more of you. He just spills them up. He had to pull over. As he's driving up the mountain, this guy's yelling, you're a young pastor and you're coming to the mountain. Don't be afraid of the mountain. Man, confirmation, confirmation, confirmation. So he pulls over to the side of the road so he can see where he's driving, calms down, gets heart pumping out of his chest. He gets to his aunt's house. Next thing you know, he's sitting there and finally they say, what are you doing here anyhow? Why are you here? And Danny just said, well, I'm just here with Pastor Bill and Henry. You haven't met them, but you're going to meet them. And his uncle says, are you going to start a church? And then he says, then he had to say, he felt that was the Lord initiating it, because he didn't say anything. He said, well, we're thinking about it. His uncle says, well, why don't you do something right in his house? Do a study. Because a year ago when him and Linda were there, they started sharing their faith. And you know, they're so filled with the spirit and the joy of the Lord. As Catholics, my uncle said, where do you people come from? We never saw so much joy and so much excitement, you see, from their background. And all Danny and Linda did was love him. And they said, his uncle said, well, why don't you just use this house and share the one you did last year? I mean, why don't you do that here? Danny says, hmm. And then he says, well, I have to get a place. I got to find out in the Word. God's going to let me live. His uncle says, you know what? I just built another house for ourselves. It's got four bedrooms. You can have it. You can live. Now Danny's got four children. And one thing led to another. And just confirmation after confirmation. Well, he gets back and tells us. And so Henry and I go out and pray, Lord, we don't want this to be an emotional thing. But we know, Father, that in two days you not only spoke to us, you confirmed it was signs and wonders. You spoke to Danny. You've opened doors aren't exactly as you promised if you would just go. Well, before we left, Danny was up again all night again. He could not sleep again. And God told him he's supposed to go. So he calls in again, and she already was in a prayer meeting at the women's prayer meeting in their fellowship. And God told her there at the prayer meeting, they're going. Now, another amazing thing, he announced it Sunday. Over 20 people all confirmed and said, the Lord has already told us all. And boy, everybody's crying, you know, and hugging and sharing his act of faith and obedience to the Lord. Not only is he going, but his brother David is praying. They want to leave and go back. He's a worship leader, and the Sunday school teacher is with his wife and kids. They're packing it up. They're leaving. They're going with them. Families are going back with them. They're just going to go down there and invade. Isn't that exciting? Now, remember, you all prayed for this. And so Danny's leaving. He said he's leaving the 17th. And it's funny, they got to talking and Linda said the Lord spoke to her in a dream that they should go pronto. The Lord spoke in Spanish, pronto. So they're making arrangements right now to leave. Danny's going to be leaving probably within three weeks. And other families are all getting prepared to just, you know, go with them. What an exciting thing. Just go out there and break down Calvary Chapel of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean. And the Lord told us also, we're going into Cuba, so keep praying. God will honor it. You only have to do stuff. It's like I was looking at Isaiah, and the Lord confirmed it to me to go, to do this when I was reading Isaiah. And if you look at Isaiah chapter six, verse eight correctly, God didn't command Isaiah to go. Isaiah had an ear to hear the voice of the Lord, and he overheard the Trinity discussing the need and heard the Lord saying, who shall we send? Who will go for us? And he left the decision up to Isaiah. He does never command anybody. He left the decision up to you. So many people, you know, have such a desire to go somewhere and serve God. And you know something, year after year after year goes by, and they still aren't doing anything, waiting for God to tell them or command them. In this particular case, you see, God leaves it up to you. If you start getting the desire, you better do something. He leaves it up to you. Isaiah said, send me! And God said, all right, go. But he didn't force Isaiah. He just let Isaiah hear there's a desperate need here. People need to hear the truth. And that's exactly what God honors. So keep praying, continue to pray. We know that Satan's not going to have a brass band there waiting to, you know, welcome them. He's going to try and hinder in all kinds of ways. But they've set their heart as a flint. They're going. And God's stirred up the faith of other families, and they're quitting their jobs, they're getting rid of their belongings, and they're going. Jesus said, the fields are white unto harvest. The labors are so few. It's interesting. It's beyond me how anybody could have that much of the world. As you look at the world today, what is there in this world that's worth forsaking a call of God for? What pleasure, what fulfilled ego or personal goal or satisfaction that the world has to offer is greater than laying your life down for Jesus Christ and denying yourself daily and taking up your cross and following him? The eternal rewards. You know, there are people down here that they've gotten all the rewards they're ever going to get. They're saved, but they're getting all the rewards from the world, from corporations, and praise from the world. I am so thankful I had the opportunity to respond to the call of God and just walk out of the world and away from it. So, pray for Danny and those that are stirred up to go with him. Keep praying for them, and keep praying that we have that open door like God gave us in Puerto Rico for Cuba. Let's turn to Acts, chapter 12. I think we ought to finish the angels. When we left off, we were discussing angels in the Bible. Maybe I'd like to just bring a few things up before we finish it. We see much in Hollywood and Christmas cards and things and Hallmark cards of, I don't know why, angelic beings or angels that are made to look like female angels when there is no reference whatsoever in the Bible. You should know this. If you're going to know anything about angels, there's nothing in the Bible ever about a female angel. They always have appeared in the masculine form. There's no such thing as a baby angel, a little cute chubby cheek thing with a little bow and arrow, you know. I mean, that just is not biblical. Not any Renaissance or Europe, I don't know, or Hollywood, but it's not biblical. The only angelic beings are either the good angels that appear manifested in the masculine form that respond to the direction of God, or you've got the fallen angels, which are evil angels or evil spirits, which also are categorized by demons, but never a female angel or a baby angel in the Bible. Now, if you want to look at Revelation chapter 12, there's an indication that when Satan rebelled, it speaks of the dragon, the great red dragon, the metaphor or analogy of Satan himself, with his tail drawing a third of the stars after him. And then in another verse, I think that's Revelation 12, 4, and then I think in verse 9, it speaks of him being cast down to the earth with these evil angels or his angels to corrupt the human race. We do know that in Genesis chapter 6, the fallen angels that went with him tried to defile the human race and corrupt the human race in Genesis 6 to destroy any possibility of God using man to bring the Messiah. You have the where we get the Greek stories and mythology and Roman mythology of Hercules, the demigods, the half man, half God, and we've touched on that time and time again in many of our teachings. But we also know, as Jesus said, as in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of Man, where Satan will use evil spirits or angels again to corrupt the human race just before the return of Jesus Christ. We see the world being conditioned now through the new age and channeling what's interesting to me is the explosion of Hollywood, of demonic beings that are coming on the scene, demonic involvement in rock music. So, the world definitely is being conditioned not to fear these things, but to be almost enamored by them. So, we are in the days of Noah again, and just as it happened before the first worldwide cataclysmic judgment, the flood, the last cataclysmic judgment will be by fire, and we see, as Jesus said, a tremendous interest in the occult, a tremendous explosion in Hollywood of demonic creatures, UFOs, and the whole thing. So, we're right back there, exactly as the Bible says. Now, the interesting thing is, I want to show you something. Turn to Daniel chapter 2. Daniel prophesied at the end, and I think this is very interesting. I remember showing this to Chuck Missler, and he'd never seen this before, and interesting thing, somebody in the church who's been, you know, studying Daniel, showed it to me. But speaking of the last days and that last great powerful world government, the revived Roman Empire, and it's interesting, it describes the toes of the feet, the ten kings of the ten nations that will rule the world. We do know, remember, that the world now has been divided up into ten economic districts worldwide for the New World Order. But this is what's interesting in verse 43. Daniel prophesied this, and this is Genesis 6 again. Look at it. He said, Whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, these are the toes, all these nations, you know, being brought together, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men. But they shall not cleave one another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. Now, the normal scenario is the seed of men mingled with the seed of men. Human beings. Who are they? Angels. The fallen angels. Genesis 6 again. The days of Noah. The channeling. And you're going to see many, many people, maybe before the rapture of the church because of what's happening, the amorality, the interest in ego, the denial of Christ in our society. You're going to see much more violence and demon possession in America. Don't be surprised. Now, this is what's interesting. I'll turn to Matthew 24 and we'll finish the angel part. It's interesting. Jesus said before he returns, Satan will be using his angels. Now, notice verse 30 of Matthew 24. The visible return of Jesus Christ. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man. Now remember, this is seven years after the rapture of the church. So the evil angels have had their way for seven years on the earth. Remember, the Abusos will be opened and these horrible creatures will be released that have been incarcerated since Genesis 6. And it says, there shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. Then all shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the Son of Man coming in clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send, and the emphasis is on his, not angels. Now, Satan is going to be using his angels. But Jesus, at the end when he returns, he will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. So, there's the evil angels of the third of the stars. You can again look at Revelation chapter 12, and they're symbolized by stars. But later in the text, it reveals the speaking of the angels that rebelled with him. And they will be used by Satan, and they're being used by Satan now. People are dabbling in seances, hypnotism, opening themselves up to demonic possession. Very dangerous thing. And Satan's clever enough, you see, to make people think it's harmless. Even a rational person is not going to expose themselves to something they think might harm them. So, Satan has to describe it in such a way, like every other sin there is, to make it seem plausible and beneficial that you always pay the price when you dabble with the occult or seances or hypnotism of the New Age or channeling any of those things. If you have as a Christian, you might be fighting terrible depression, and it's very important that you repent. And ask the Lord to cleanse you in the blood if you need to get your joy back. Renounce it and be cleansed and come back into fellowship with the Lord. I have had, I still have, because he's alive, but he's in heaven now. A very dear friend who was a chiropractor. A fantastic chiropractor. And he went to be with the Lord, and I remember he lost all his joy and he was in a terrible depression. And his wife would find him in the fetal position sometimes in his home. Now, he was retired as a chiropractor, but just because of his love for the Lord and he fell into a chair, he'd fix me up a lot. He'd fix some of the other guys, the pastors up. He'd just see me walk in and say, I want to see you in your office. He knew something was out of whack. And he'd fix me. Just a fantastic way. We'd pray and that. But all of a sudden, he just went into this terrible depression. And I remember his wife told me, well, it's something that he hasn't told you. They had a conference of chiropractic chiropractors in Buffalo, and he went to this thing and they called in a shaman from the Philippines who was introducing shamanism into chiropractic work, because it seems to be getting great results. And he went into this auditorium and this shaman was introducing a new technique to chiropractors in the United States, and some of them were already using it. And he opened up and he said, Pastor Bill, I saw this with my own eyes. I'm a rational man, an intelligent man. I don't know what to mean, how to handle this thing. He had a pain in his side and it wasn't going away. And so the chiropractor who got and dabbled into the shamanism said there's a whole new technique that we're introducing into chiropractic work. Now, these weren't Christian men. There's nothing wrong with chiropractic work that's, you know, above board. This man said, let me see your side. And so he walked in and he sat down at the table and he took his shirt off. There was a table there with a pan and this chiropractor just drove his hand right in the side. He saw and felt the man's hand go in his side and pull flesh right out of his body, bloody. And he put it in the pan and the pain was immediately gone. And then he just took his hand and he saw his side close up. Now you're looking at me the way he reacted and the way I look at him. I am a rational, normal man. I'm not making this up. And he was a member of this church and he'd gone into depression. It was demonic. He lost the pain from that side, but there's always a transference that Satan does. And there's you paid the piper for these things. He went into terrible depression and he didn't know how to get out of it. And so the Holy Spirit led him into repentance. You need to renounce this. You've dabbled in something satanic. You opened yourself up to something occultic and demonic as a child of God. You need to repent and renounce it and plead the blood of Christ. He did it and his joy returned instantly. But so did the pain in his side and he never complained about it again. It was that quick. It was right in my office. This is what the things are going on in the United States. So nothing to fool around with. These things are real. But praise God there are two-thirds good angels that didn't rebel. And remember there are millions upon millions upon millions and they are created as we touched on earlier. There are angels created to watch over you if you're an heir of salvation. If you've given your heart to Jesus Christ and you come to a point in your life and you said Lord I know I'm a sinner. Jesus I want salvation. I want my name in the Lamb's Book of Life. Jesus come into my heart. From that moment on there are created angels that are good and powerful that are assigned to your life because you're an heir of salvation to watch over you. Well in Acts chapter 12 Peter's friends think they see his guardian angel. It's interesting. Remember chapter 11 I think where we left off. An angel comes and releases Peter from prison. Satan is using Herod to stop the gospel and he's seeking to put to death Peter because at this point he and James, the Lord's half-brother, the one of the children that Mary had after the virgin birth, are the prominent figures now in Jerusalem in the church. And so Satan is going to try and stop Peter. But an angel came and remember delivered him out of jail. And in verse 12 when he had considered the thing he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark. Young Mark. Eventually he became like a disciple of Peter and he is the one who wrote the gospel of Mark. You remember in Mark chapter 14 the account of the arrest in the garden. I think it's verse 51, 52. In that area the writer makes mention of the fact when the soldiers went to grab the apostles and they all fled there was a young lad there who was naked with the exception of a robe and when he went to flee one of the soldiers grabbed the robe and it pulled him off and he didn't get the young boy. He ran away naked and it's thought by most people that Mark is making reference of himself as he was there in the garden. He's the one who had the robe ripped off and ran away naked in the night to escape. Well, this is that young Mark who became a very close friend of the apostle Peter. And so Peter is going to their house where many were gathered together praying. They were actually remember they were praying for the release of Peter. I am so thankful that the Bible says that if we believe not the Lord abideth faithful he cannot deny himself. Now the Bible tells us without faith it's impossible to please God. He that cometh to God must believe who he is and what he says he can do. And many, many people, you see, they don't believe that God is powerful enough. They bring God down to their own level and in their own intellect if they can't figure out how the problem can be solved when they do pray, if they've come to the end of their own ability, they're praying at such a low level that they're not really praying believing, because they're already convinced in their mind, I don't know how God's going to do this. And then they pray that they need a miracle, but they really in their praying it in their heart. They don't believe God can do it because they brought God down to their level because they can't possibly do it. They can't conceive how God can do it, since they can't think of it and they kind of nullify their own faith. And so they didn't pray believing, but God is so wonderful that even if we pray that way, he loves us so much, many times he will answer anyhow. If we believe not, he abides faithful. He cannot deny himself. He loves you so much. He's so concerned for your welfare, so concerned that you enjoy being one of his children, and so concerned that you realize how much he loves you, that many, many times he answers prayer when we don't even ask, when we don't even ask the right way. Sometimes he'll come to the rescue when we are just filled with God. He loves us so much, and I'm glad. Now, we get the blessing when we pray by faith, pray believing, we get to see God operate and be part of it. And there's a thrill, and that increases my faith to pray for greater things, for greater accomplishments. If a person doesn't begin to experience that, you see, they will never grow in their prayer life. They'll never take the challenge to pray and step out in something even greater. They will be paralyzed or neutralized at a certain level the rest of their Christian experience. God will provide their needs. God will heal many times without even asking or believing He will heal. But their prayer life has just gotten to a point where nothing ever changes. There's nothing new in their life. And that's the wonderful thing about when you pray, and you begin to step, and you see God work. Then you pray for greater things, and it releases God to do greater things. And then you pray for greater than that, and pretty soon God's doing even more than you can ask or hope or think. You remember Peter, when they were walking on the water in the storm, and I find this interesting. In this particular case, as God was trying to increase Peter's faith, remember in the beginning, the first trial of a storm on the sea, when Jesus stood up, He spoke instantly, the storm stopped. This particular trial and this test to increase their faith, when He showed up this time, the storm didn't stop right away. You remember, and He challenged Peter to get out and walk on the water. And remember, Peter did. He stepped by faith. And now, he had the faith to step and the courage to do it, but then he didn't have the faith to continue. What happened? He got his eyes off the Lord, and the circumstance overwhelmed him, and he began to think, and all he could say was, Lord, save me. And that quickly Jesus grabbed him. Jesus wasn't going to let him perish. Jesus won't let you perish. And many times, you see, He tries to challenge our faith. Step out in the storm. Don't be afraid that you can't figure out how God's going to do it. That's not faith. If you can figure it out, then there's no faith involved. It's easier to step when there's no fear. When there's no, you know, when I can have it all figured out, I've got money in the bank, and I've got a forwarding address, and I've got Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and the money's there, and I'm going to be, oh, I'll go, Lord. That's not faith. Faith is stepping in the storm, and then all of a sudden, you realize the storm, and the waves haven't ceased. You see, and that's what gives more faith. And even if you do begin to go down, Lord, I'm never going to let you perish. And I'm thankful that God doesn't cover up the doubt and the mistakes that the people make, even in the book of Acts and the Gospels, even the apostles, you see. That gives me hope. None of these people were perfect. Here, they're praying for Peter's deliverance from jail. And you've heard so often, boy, you have better praying, believing. Yes, praying, believing does excite, does bless. But you know something? I think there's too much emphasis on that, that God can't do anything unless you're praying, really believing in such a degree. They're in there praying, Lord, deliver Peter from jail. And God does it. And so, as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. They're in there at the prayer meeting, oh Lord Jesus, please deliver Peter from jail. We need him for the Thursday night Bible study, Lord. He's our leader, our fearless leader. What are we going to do? Lord, deliver him. And they're probably agreeing with each other and quoting Scripture and all the things you know. Binding the devil, and he's knocking at the gate. Now, the neat thing is, Jerusalem's an amazing city. You can walk down the narrow streets of Jerusalem, and it looks like solid walls with these big iron double gates and doors. Once you go inside, you see beautiful courtyards. You don't step into a house in many places. There's courtyards where you walk in, and there's fountains and there's trees and gardens, and then the people live on the inside and have these courtyards all over Jerusalem. It's that way today. There are places we visit in the city of Jerusalem. One of the places is St. Anne's Church, and it's a crusader church, a beautiful place where we worship when we go in there and we sing acoustic. It's made in such a way that as you sing just in an acoustic way, it's just fantastic the way it...the reverberation of the music and the sound of the voices off the columns and the stone. And it's inside this courtyard, but you wouldn't even know it's there because you're walking along this narrow street of Jerusalem, and you have to knock on the gate, and then the denomination that controls that site lets you in, and it's just beautiful in there. Well, this is the way this house looks. Peter knew the address because he's friends with the family and he's knocking on the gate, and so she gets up from the Bible study and she goes and she opens up the hearkens, and before she even opened the gate, she could hear Peter's voice. When she knew Peter's voice, she opened up the gate. She got all excited and left him standing in the street. Peter! And she left him standing out there for gladness. She couldn't wait to go in and say, everybody, the Lord's answered our prayers. And she ran in and told how Peter stood before the gate. And they said, you're crazy. I don't believe it. Have you ever done that? Do you ever just pray and then God doesn't? You go, you're not going to believe this. Or you're praying, you know, you have a financial need, and you're off, you know, and my gosh, you've got only until this afternoon and the electric's going to be turned off, or the car's going to be repossessed. And so before you leave the house, you and your wife pray, and off you go. You get home and your wife's standing at the door, jumping up and down. Honey, you're not going to believe this. You're not going to believe this. Guess what? Look what's in the envelope. We can pay the electric bill. They're not going to turn the electric. I don't believe it. And then the first thing you say, who did it? We don't even realize what God did. Who did it? Who was it? Who sent it? And yet we pray, Lord, if you don't provide the money today, and all God has to do, just like he can influence you to make a ham sandwich in the kitchen, or get in your car and drive somewhere to give of yourself to do someone a favor, he can do the same thing to someone to just write out a check. You know, Lord, well, you're giving me a burden for so-and-so. We have some extra this week. Lord, I'm just going to trust you that this coming here, I'm going to write a check and get it in the mail. See, God is so great that way. When it comes to faith, I don't believe it. And that's exactly what they did. So it shows you they weren't praying believing. They weren't praying believing. But see, God's love for you is far greater than your perfection in dealing with him. You see, grace, the grace of God is so wonderful. And God is just thrilled to do things for you and I when we fail miserably, to prove his love for you. Their very reaction proves that they were not praying believing. I wonder how often we do it. I wonder how many of us are guilty every single day, every morning we go through our motions to pray for this, this, and that, and we just know, well, I know God's not going to heal me. I know God's not going to provide. I know God's not going to do it. We may not say it, but it's in our minds while we're mobbing the words of it. And yet he is so faithful. You're mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was so. And then said they, it is his angel. Well, maybe it's guardian angels out there. So it showed you they had that belief. They really believed exactly as the scripture said, that we do have our guardian angels. But Peter continued knocking, since he's still there forgetting. They're arguing about answer of prayer and Peter's still on the street. And when they had opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. Just like you are or will be. There's somebody here tonight and you've prayed in unbelief, and God's got his perfect timing for whoever you are, and you're going to open that envelope, or you're going to get that phone call, or something's going to happen, and you're going to be astonished. Because you don't realize how much God loves you. And he's going to delight. Remember, he delighteth in mercy. He delights in expressing love for you and I, and proving himself faithful. And there's somebody here tonight, before this week is out, you're going to be just as astonished as they are. Because you've prayed in unbelief, and God wants to show you how important you are to him. It's going to happen. He's beckoning unto them with a hand to hold their feet, declaring to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, go show these things unto James and to the brethren. And he departed and went into another place. You know, he knows Herod's out to kill him, so he probably leaves Jerusalem. Now, it's interesting, from this point on, Peter kind of takes a secondary role after they have their council in Jerusalem in chapter 15, with James concerning the issue of being circumcised and eating things strangled or with blood. Remember, some of the Pharisees that believed were concerned about the Gentiles not being circumcised, and so they called together the apostles. Paul and Barnabas came up from, you remember, Antioch, because the Pharisees were coming down from Judea, and they all had a gathering. At this particular point, Peter and James, the half-brother of Jesus who wrote the book of James, were like the elders of the leaders of the church at that time. Well, from this point on, you don't hear much of Peter anymore. He has to leave because he's not supposed to be out of jail, and you know Herod's going to try and find him and kill him. And from this point on, God uses this, and Peter moves out, and remember, and he becomes the apostle to the Jews, and Paul comes on the scene. He's the apostle of the Gentiles. Now, there's some church tradition that states that Peter went to Rome. There's absolutely no proof or anything on record that that ever took place, that Peter ever ended up in Rome or was in Rome. Now, Paul, yes, but not Peter. So, after he departs to another place, as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers. What would become of Peter? Now, certainly there would be no small stir because, you know, Roman law said, if your prisoner escaped, you received their punishment. That's Roman law. So, no one really escaped from jail, or no prisoner ever got away. And remember, there were four quaternions assigned to Peter all day long in shifts. Four sets of soldiers, two chained to either side, and one standing in the prison and one at the gate at all times, and they took their different shifts, 24 hours a day, four sets of them. Sixteen Roman soldiers. And Roman law was, if you ever lost a prisoner, you would pay the price. You would give your life. And so, you know, there would be no small stir among the soldiers, knowing that when Herod finds out that their prisoner escaped, what was going to happen to them? And when Herod had sought for him and found him not, he examined the keepers, and believe me, when they examined the keepers, that means torture and beating. And these poor guys, what can they say? They can't lie. They're telling the absolute truth. And so, Herod, being an unbeliever, can you imagine the guy saying, he just disappeared. We just saw the bracelets and the shackles lying on the stone floor of the cell, and he was gone. And so, he probably beat them all the harder. What do you think I'm some kind of a fool, telling me stories like this, and angels appear, and he just disappeared, and he probably beat them all the more. And he commended they should be put to death. The kind of a man he must have been. Put 16 men to death. And he went down from Judea to Caesarea and their boat, his summer palace in Caesarea, this amazing city on the sea coast. Herod was highly displeased with them, of Tyre and Sidon, but they came with one accord to him, having made Blastus, the king's chamberlain, their friend, desired peace, because their country was nourished by the king's country. Now, Palestine, or the land of Israel during Herod's time, was very fertile and the breadbasket then of the Mediterranean there. Now, Tyre and Sidon were in the area today of Lebanon, the same area, and Jerusalem, because of its power and Herod, controlled the shipping. And if they were displeased, if Herod had something against them, he could stop all the ships from bringing supplies and even food to Tyre and Sidon and make it very difficult for them. More than likely, there was commerce between them, and he received a pretty high tax from them in that. And to really put the squeeze on them, he could put a blockade and they'd really be in trouble. So they sent Blastus to try and appease King Herod, because they needed these things with him. So he met with them in Caesarea. So they're sending Blastus from Tyre and Sidon. Herod leaves Jerusalem. He's killed the sixteen soldiers. He can't find Peter. And so he and his wife go down for a weekend at the sea coast in Caesarea. And upon a set day, Herod, arrayed in a royal apparel, sat upon his throne and made an oration unto them. Now, Josephus, the Jewish historian, has given the account of this. Now, it's interesting. The Spirit of God tells us what happens here. Josephus gives us the secular historical account. It's quite a bit different that takes place here, because he doesn't see the supernatural any more than you may pick up a newspaper and you see such and such was killed in a head-on collision. And they can't figure out what happened. Well, you see, they don't know that God could have given that man and just taken his life in an instant while he's driving down the road. And maybe God had something to do with the other drivers, that God can control all that in his province. Or maybe they just find the guy, you know, the car embedded in a bridge abutment. And he's a young kid, yet God took him out, because the Bible is very clear that God can just take a person with an instant stroke. Now, they may do an autopsy and do all these things. And in the newspaper, you'll find out what sect of a man has to say about the accident, because they don't know the supernatural, that God is the one who really did it. In this particular case, Josephus tells us that in all of his pomp and his splendor, he was wearing a silver robe. Now, you have to know the position of the amphitheater in Caesarea. It faces the West. And the Romans were geniuses of building amphitheaters to do praise in and to have judicial holdings. Paul was tried there in an amphitheater. And because of the westerly wind and a soft breeze, if you stand, and even to this day, you can stand in the base of the amphitheater that seats some 23,000 people in Caesarea. You stand in the base of that today, some 60 feet below where the people sit up above, you can speak in your normal voice. And because of the breeze from the Mediterranean, you can hear all over the amphitheater. We do it when we have our Bible studies over there. If the conditions are right and it's not real windy because it's spring or rainy, you can just speak in your normal voice and hear it anywhere in the amphitheater. The acoustics are amazing. Also, where the throne would be set in this marble, this beautiful marble, with a silver garment, you see, the sun rises in the east, which is behind the amphitheater. It comes up from Jordan. And so here you have, sitting down here in this thing, in all this splendor, in all this spot with a silver robe, and the sun coming up behind the amphitheater, shining down, and the people are all sitting looking at him. And as he's speaking, he begins to give like a Shekinah, as the sun's hitting his silver robes, as it goes up. And he made an oration to them. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a God, and not of a mayhem. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God to glory. And he was eaten of worms, and he gave up the ghost. Now, it's interesting, the historical account, what Josephus tells us. What happened, historically, because Josephus doesn't know the Lord, or know the narration of the Holy Spirit, but really took place from God's side. He just is looking at it from man's side. What happened while he was speaking, and they were beginning to applaud, and he was getting filled up with pride, like, Aren't I something? He looked up, and there was a rope, a strand of rope, for a curtain or something, behind the platform where he was sitting, and there was an owl sitting on it. Now, an owl is an evil omen in the East. And he looked up, Herod looked up, saw the owl, and got a pain in his side, just like indigestion. But what it doesn't say here, it increased for five days to the point where it was unbearable, and the worms sped out through his whole body, ate his insides out, and he died in horrible agony. It lasted five days. You see, Satan was using this man to stop the gospel. Satan was using this man to hinder the spreading of the word of God, and destroy people that God was using. You know, the Bible says, "...fret not yourself for evildoers, for they shall soon be cut down as the grass." I, in my own life, have seen people that have attacked Jesus Christ and the gospel, and I've seen some tragic things happen to people because they've attacked. And you never have to defend yourself. Remember, you're a child of God. The Bible says we're never to render evil for evil. You never have to lash out and attack. Always leave God to be your defender. Turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. I might just show you a text. Some people, and I've been there as I was younger, thinking, you know, they're not going to get away with that. They're absolutely wrong what they're saying about me. Lord, I'm going to prove them wrong. If they want to fight, I'll fight. And God says, well, if you want to get down in the devil's turf and fight like they are, have at it. But if you want to leave it up to me, I can do a better job. Look at verse 3 of 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is neat, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the adoptee love of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth. Doesn't one of you know that our love can abound? We can grow in the love of Christ? It abounds. I can see opportunities, or I can see situations, or I can see the love of Christ, an opportunity to have love grow in my life. You can have love grow in your life by something you can do for somebody. To increase, to have the love abound in the church, so that we ourselves glory in you, the churches of God, for your patience and faith and all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which you also suffer, seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you. God sees it righteous to attack your attacker, and I'll tell you, he's a lot tougher than you, and he's got greater resources. So don't seek vengeance. Leave it in God's hands. In due time, he'll take care of things. He sees it righteous to take care of the people that are troubling you. Leave it in God's hands. Herod found out the hard way he was attacking one of God's children, trying to stop the growth of the church. Now, they probably took his body today if they found Herod dead. They'd take him to Thompson Hospital or up here to Strong Memorial and you'd have a big write-up in the paper, what type of worm it was, what causes, how he got it, maybe eating some bad food, drinking some water, you know, maybe he was on a business trip, and they would have it all laid out and not see the hand of God at all in it. But, you see, when you know the Lord, you see things a lot differently, and it governs our actions, doesn't it? You know, Jesus said something wonderful. The gates of hell will not prevail against my church. It's impossible. Because, see, he's the head of the church. Now, when men are running the church in committees and programs and self-appointed priests or pastors, when they've not been called by God and they aren't filled with the Holy Spirit, disaster. It's nothing but a religious business with no power. And Satan can have all kinds of corruption in that church, uncleanness in the people, no holiness, no life, maybe a lot of money, maybe it's a religious business. You see, that church hasn't stood. That church has already been taken over by the enemy. But Jesus said, my church, the one that I'm the head of, my person, my family, my marriage, the gates of hell will not prevail against my church. So, when you have Christ ruling your life, ruling in your life, and you're in submission to Christ, Satan doesn't stand a chance. The gates of hell cannot prevail. And here is proof of it. Notice, as soon as he gave up the ghost, it says, but the word of God drew and multiplied. Now, remember, Satan's using the most powerful man in the country to stop the spreading of the gospel. And God knows how to upset the most powerful people in the country, doesn't he? Kind of like watching David try to cover up his sins. See, better if you just repent, keep praying. It could be that this is the answer to the prayers of the salvation of this man and his wife. But as soon as God takes care of Herod, proving that the gates of hell cannot prevail against his church, no matter how powerful the earthly person may be, here's the most powerful man in the land. And God, all God has to do is just, all God has to do is just make a decision, and the Berlin Wall comes down. All God has to do is make a decision, and your problem is solved. That's how great and powerful God is, if you put your trust in him. So, the word of God drew and multiplied, and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry. Isn't that wonderful to know? They did not return until they fulfilled their ministry. There's so much about them finishing, or Jesus finished his course, Paul finished his course. They fulfilled their ministry, and then they returned. And they took with them John, whose surname was Mark, a young boy that became Peter's sidekick, and probably did the writing of the epistles for Peter. Some people feel that. Shall we all stand? Is it warm in here? Isn't it great, January 29th and it's warm? Thank you, Lord, for El Nino. And Lord, thank you that the gates of hell will not prevail against your church. And we thank you, Lord, that we need not fret ourselves for evil doers, or render evil unto evil, or attack, or strike back. Just leave it in your hands. You care so much about us, Lord, that even times when we pray and we don't believe you love us enough, you're going to take care of things. Oh, Lord, what love. How we love you and adore you, Jesus. And thank you that we can know you in a greater way. Lord, give us that ability to pray. Cause us to grow in our prayer life, to see the exciting things you desire to do in our personal lives. And Father, we thank you so much for this open door that you have given us in Puerto Rico. And we pray to you, Lord, for your glory, that you give us that door of utterance now, and go before everyone that's going there, Lord, and prepare that place for your glory and your great namesake. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 14425 May Jesus bless you as you study his word.