In this sermon, the preacher discusses the power of God to restore and strengthen us in the presence of our enemies. He emphasizes the importance of hearing the voice of God and obeying His commands. The preacher uses the example of a man with a withered limb who was unable to stretch forth his hand until he heard the voice of God. He explains that God desires to restore and strengthen His church, even in the face of opposition from the devil. The preacher encourages believers to trust in God's power to overcome weakness and to experience the joy of fellowship with Him in the presence of their enemies.

This recording is provided by Times Square Church in New York City. You're welcome to make additional copies for free distribution to friends. All other unauthorized duplication or electronic transmission is a violation of copyright and other applicable laws. This recording cannot be posted on any website. However, written permission to link to the Times Square Church homepage may be requested by emailing info at timessquarechurch.org. Other recordings are available by calling 1-800-488-0854 or by writing to Times Square Church Tape Ministry, 1657 Broadway, New York, New York, 10019. I want to talk to you tonight about panic and hell. Panic and hell, I think it's started. I can hear it. We can feel the presence of the Lord, and when the church knows their Jesus, knows Him, there is panic in hell. I want to talk about that tonight. If you would turn with me to two places in your Bible, in Luke chapter 6 and Isaiah 14. Luke chapter 6 and Isaiah 14. And we're going to start in Luke chapter 6. Panic in hell. Hallelujah. Isaiah 14 and Luke chapter 6. Father, Lord, I praise you tonight. You are such an awesome God. And you are our God. Now, Lord, we ask you, Lord, to receive your glory. Because, Lord, we hear you. We hear you in this word. And, Lord, we're going to believe every word of it. Lord, we would honor you, God, by loving you, by worshiping you, and by obeying you. By, Lord, taking this word in our innermost being, O God, and let it find a resting place. Lord, I ask you now to honor yourself because you're so worthy of being honored. There is no other God but you. And, Lord, I ask you now that I may just disappear. And, Holy Spirit, that you would come and lift up Jesus Christ. I pray, Lord, He would become unveiled. He would be so real, so sweet to us in these next few minutes. O God, I thank you for what you're doing in our hearts, O God. But we ask for more. Lord, we ask for more of Jesus. We ask to see Him more. We ask to love Him more. We ask, Lord, to walk with Him in such a way, Lord, that brings such glory to you, Father. Lord, Holy Spirit, now come. We need you, Holy Spirit. I need you, Holy Spirit. Come and do what only you can do. Thank you, Holy Spirit. You are present here now. Do what is ever in your heart to do. Do what is ever in your heart to do. Lord, we invite you now to come and do and be all that you want. Lord, have free reign in this place. And we'll give you all the praise and glory in Jesus' precious name. Amen and amen. In Luke 6, I'd just like to read the parable of the man with the withered hand. Verse 6. And it came to pass also on another Sabbath that he entered into the synagogue and taught. And there was a man whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the Sabbath day, that they might find an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts. And he said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing. Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it? And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so. And his hand was restored whole as the other. And they were filled with madness and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus. Now I would like to look at this parable three ways tonight. I would like to look at it, if you will, three levels. In the first way I want to look at it, it's Jesus heals a man with a withered hand. Or if you look at that word, it means a withered arm. Roughly from the elbow down. That's what was withered and that's what got restored. And this man was sitting in the synagogue. And he was sitting under the teaching of Jesus. And we know now from reading this that Jesus calls that man out. He asks him to rise and stand in the midst. And he heals this man's withered right arm. And the scripture tells us that the Pharisees and the scribes that were there watching Christ and wanting to bring accusation in their heart. When this man's right arm gets healed, they were filled with madness. Filled with madness. And communed one with another what they might do to him. It says in Mark how they might destroy him. Now when I first read this, my first thought on the surface reading is Why would they be filled with madness over such a relatively minor miracle? I mean, Jesus did much greater things than restored one withered portion of an arm. Why is it when Christ did this miracle that the scribes and the Pharisees there to watch him, there to accuse him, not to learn anything of him, not to recognize who he was, not to know in the spiritual realm what was happening, except that when Jesus did a relatively minor miracle, they are filled with madness. They all of a sudden go into a frenzy. They commune together. They grab one another. They pull themselves aside and they're saying, What is it? What might we do to him? Something has to be done now. Something has to happen. How can we destroy him? They said in Mark. Over this miracle? Over what took place there? Why the frenzy? Why the panic? And I think the key to understanding that is if we would look at the scribes and the Pharisees, these particular ones in this miracle, the ones that were present there, they represent a type of a hardened heart and a blinded eyes that we find in religious circles that are actually demonically inspired, demon filled. They are a type of people that are given over to demonic spirits and it's a dark, murderous, religious spirit that fills them that still operates today in the name of religion. And they take Scripture in their mouth to kill faith. They take Scripture in their mouth to destroy faith. There is no light in them. They are all dark. And when Christ moves in this particular miracle, I don't think they have any control. I don't think they fully understand why they went into such a frenzy. I don't understand why this filled them with madness to the degree it did except to say that they are under the control of their father, the devil. Something set him off that set them off. They are harassing spirits. Christ is teaching in the synagogue. And as He's teaching, He can see them. He knows they're there. He discerns them. He knows what fills the scribes and the Pharisees that are surrounding Him at this moment. He sees them. He knows exactly what is going on. And there is a major confrontation happening in the spirit realm over this miracle, over this withered right hand being restored. You see, if they're their father, the devil, and this confrontation is going on, I would just like us to see what Scripture has to say about the scribes and Pharisees' father, the devil, who fills them with madness, who is the one who drives them to group together in a frenzy, in a panic, how they might destroy Him at this moment. You see, the Bible calls devil, at one time, his name was called Lucifer. And that name means son of the morning, brightness. And he was a created being. And if we have in our Bibles there in Luke, Isaiah 14, the Hebrew prophets recorded that Lucifer was an angel, a created being who walked among the fiery stones before the throne of God. Lucifer, this created being, was a being created that music emanated from him. The Bible tells us that his very name, Lucifer, means a clear sound or clear color. This was a created being who was an anointed cherub. Lucifer was a created being who was beautiful beyond description. The Bible says in Ezekiel 28 that thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, perfect in beauty. Of all that was created, of all the created beings to that point, Lucifer seemed to be the crowning point of it all. He sealed up the sum. There was nothing more to add to the perfection of his beauty. There was none more wise. There was none more full of the splendor and glory that a created being could be was Lucifer. The Scripture says in Ezekiel, Thou hast been in Eden, the Garden of Eden. When I created a perfect place, you were there, Lucifer. Which probably explained why the snake knew his way around the garden so well. It says every precious stone was thy covering. Every possible beautiful stone, anything that God could create that was precious and gorgeous, it covered him. It was his covering. He was the sum of all beauty and wisdom. He was made for music. He was made for beauty. He displayed all the splendor of it. And it says, And thy pipes were prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. The day you were created, Lucifer, was the day music was born. He was something else. This created being, this angel, Lucifer. It says, Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created. Thou wast perfect in thy ways. You weren't just perfection. You acted perfection. You walked my being, my creation. And you were perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, it says in Ezekiel 28, till iniquity was found in thee. Till you were perfect till there came a time when iniquity was found in thee. And God said, Your heart was lifted up because of thy beauty. You have corrupted your wisdom by reason of thy brightness. So proud, so beautiful, so anointed, this angel Lucifer rebelled against his creator. And when he rebelled against his creator, he uttered five catastrophic I wills. Out of the mouth of this perfect perfection, this being that was created, that God seemingly put the capsule and all that was created in this being, this anointed cherub, all of a sudden he said that God said, There was a day your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. And you corrupted your wisdom by your own brightness. You were overcome by who you were and what I made you to be. And in one split moment, all of a sudden from the heights of perfection and perfect in your ways, you uttered something that brought in such a blackness, a darkness, an evil and a corruption in you. Because out of your mouth became five I wills. And iniquity was found in you. In Isaiah 14, we can read that. It says, starting in verse 13 of Isaiah 14, it says, For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven and I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I'll be higher than you, God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds and I will be like the most high. And his corruption led him to the place where he said, I consider myself equal with God. I look at myself and I say, what can be lacking? I must be worshipped too. And I will go to the heights where God is. I will rule from a throne higher than his. I will sit upon a throne on the mount of the congregation. And all that God creates, it will worship me. And the scripture tells us in Revelation that the picture of Lucifer now, all of a sudden there is a name change from Lucifer, son of the morning, and brightness to devil, the accuser, the father of lies. And he is cast out from heaven. And the scripture in Revelation says he is like unto a dragon. And it says that it's like he took a third of the stars when he felled with him. It's like this horrible, evil tale of a dragon came. And all the angels created, cherubim, seraphims, all those that knew the holiness and the perfection of God, that God had created them in this heaven. And all of a sudden Lucifer rose up and it's like a third were corrupted, were deceived by him. Such was the glory of this created being. And his tail swept in a third of the angels. And they were cast out of heaven and cast to the face of the earth. But God had something to say when he put them out of his heaven. And he says in Isaiah 14 verse 9, this is what he says to him. Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming. It stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth. It is raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy vials. The worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations? For thou hast said in thine heart, I will, I will, I will, I will, I will. You see, here is the true picture now of our enemy. Here is the true state. No longer a Lucifer, but a devil. Consigned now by God himself that hell has from beneath moved to meet thee. This is now going to be your dwelling place. This will be your kingdom, devil. And the chief ones of the earth, there will be a taunt. And there is going to be a taunt that says, Are you as weak as we are? Have you become like unto us? Why would the chief ones of the earth say that? Why would a thought even come into their mind to say something like that? To fallen Lucifer. The scripture says that when God created Adam and put him in the Garden of Eden, that Lucifer, now the devil, saw that God had set his love upon man. And he created him in his own image. And though man made a little lower than the angels, in rank and order did not have the power of an angel, did not have the understanding of an angel, had not stood before the throne of God in the face of God like angels had, yet man created in the image of God, somehow had a claim on God's heart and God's love and God's mind, that I think made all of heaven in awe. God created man lower than the angels, but I believe that Satan, Lucifer, he looks at this creation and there is something that causes him to want to destroy man, to get it back at God, to hurt God, to put his ultimate revenge. He wants to mar his creation. He wants to mar man. There is something in him that despises man, that desires to dominate him, to crush him, to humiliate him, to torment him until the day he feels he can take him to hell with himself. But God sent His Son in the likeness of human flesh. When Adam fell and Adam knew sin, there became a longing in the heart of Adam, of man, to be restored to that former place of glory, that former place where that communion with God, where he knew he was loved and he knew God face to face, where he was made in the image of God. There was a longing for that purity, a longing for that restoration to be as God longed us to be and created us to be in the first place. And though we don't understand the deep questions of our heart, it starts in Edom. It starts why we were created in the first place. And there is a longing for us to be as God. And Christ came and He said, I have walked this earth, I will put on flesh, He said, that all those who come to Me and will acknowledge their need of Me, know that they are fallen, know they are sinners, and repent, and come to Me and look to Me for their cleansing and for their life, their spiritual life, a God life in them. I will bring them unto Me and I will know I cast them out. God says, I love you so much and you are longing to look like Me. I will come and be like you. God became flesh. But beloved, can I say that this parable that we are looking at, if we want to look back to Luke, this parable happened before the cross. This happened before Satan, the devil, knew what the full plan of God was. Satan just knows that when he gets his demonic spirits in men and women given over to darkness and that he can dominate them at his will. And that's what happened in these Pharisees. That's what happened in these scribes. The enemy is able to take people and their heart is so hardened, their eyes are so blind, they want nothing of light, they want nothing of holiness, they want nothing of God. And they're filled with darkness. And that's what these scribes and Pharisees, they're filled with the spirit of the devil himself. And we have this confrontation and Jesus is standing there now, teaching in his synagogue. He's standing, he's preaching, and he looks down in the congregation and he sees a man with a withered hand and he sees Pharisees and scribes filled with the devil himself, filled with the spirit that he had cast out from heaven, now living in these men. And he sees this confrontation perfectly. And he looks and he says to the man sitting under his word, sitting in the temple, the Bible says that in verse 7, the scribes and Pharisees, they watched him, whether he would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts, he knows all that's going on. He sees in realms that we cannot see. But he knew their thoughts and knowing their thoughts, and knowing their thoughts, and knowing what fills these men, and knowing what the devil, who he is, and his whole story, and the judgment of God upon him. He looks at these scribes and the Pharisees and then he looks at the man with the withered hand. And I want to tell you, my beloved, on one level, this parable, I want you to tell what I feel it means. That the man sitting under the word and in the presence of Jesus with a withered right hand is a man that represents the church. This man represents the church. And Christ, and the right hand is the scriptural type of power and strength and might. And Jesus looks down at a man with a withered right hand. A man sitting there with the type of no power, no strength, no ability to fight a spiritual fight. And Jesus just looks down at that man and he says, you, stand up. Rise up. Come here. And he's a type. And he's saying, devil, I want you to know something. And I believe that he's saying, this man is a type of what's going to come after my cross. That when I die and I descend to the lower parts of the earth and I take captivity captive and I take the keys of hell and I unlock the prisoners and I know of all the generations that are yet to be born, there is going to be a church come out of my life, out of my death and of my resurrection. And devil, I'm just going to give you a little taste of what's to come. When I die, go to the grave and resurrected, I'm going to form a body. I'm going to form my beloved body, my bride. And you have dominated so much of the Old Testament church through your will because they had been people of such little faith. Anybody who seemed to have any kind of faith at all, it seemed like you could rise up and dominate them. You could rob them of their faith. You could take for them what I wanted to give them and so few were able to understand this conflict, this spiritual conflict. But he said, I want you to know something. When I am resurrected and when I choose out a man, when I choose out a body, he said, I'm going to fill them with the Spirit and I'm going to give them, I'm going to restore to them the right hand which is a symbol of strength and power. They will no longer have a withered hand to fight you, Satan, but I'm going to give them a restored right hand. And all the days of the earth till you be descended to the lake of fire, there shall be a church on the earth. There shall be a people filled with the Holy Ghost. There shall be a people who know that I am their God, who will glorify Jesus Christ, who will be fearless in their testimony of Him, who will say, Devil, you're a defeated foe, who will not be blinded by what they see, but they'll be people of the book and will know their adversary is defeated. That man is a type of the church after the cross who has a restored right hand, power and strength given to him. Beloved, we have to know that this church exists today on the face of the earth. There is a church with a restored right hand that knows how to fight a spiritual battle. It is Christ's intention to restore His beloved church with a fully restored right hand, power and strength in Christ alone, filled with the Holy Ghost. That's His will. That's His heart. That's why He terrorized hell. He said, I'm just going to give you a little prophetic touch of what is going to happen before the cross. And they didn't know why they were in a frenzy. They didn't know why they were filled with madness. They don't know why they had to commune one to another and say, we don't understand this, but we're in a buzz and a frenzy and a panic down here. Some guy with a withered hand got healed and we're in panic. Oh yeah. Hallelujah. Before the cross, the devil did not understand how that man, how a chosen people, how a church would receive such power, why they would be given such power, and what would be the extent of that power, but it threw hell into a frenzy. Something unknown and unseen was taking place and they were powerless against it. And the Scripture says, if they had known this mystery, if they had known this, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory, which was the door of our life, the door of our being able to be filled with the Holy Spirit to draw on the life of Christ in us, that we may have that strength of a restored arm, that we may know how to fight a spiritual warfare against an already defeated foe. Now on the second level of this Scripture, when we are in Christ, beloved, we will receive His heart to restore others. When we are in Christ, we are going to look around and we are going to see people withered. We're going to see those withered lives and those withered minds. We're going to see that withering all around us. And know that every time you and I determine to believe Christ, that it is His heart, His church has a restored right arm. His body is a fully restored arm. There is no withering in Christ. It is a body full of strength as it draws its life from Him. And when we look around, and we see the world around us that are withered, do not be deceived by the devil that says if you would just change a bit more, clean up a bit more, obey a bit more, pray a bit more, then you can say something to people. No, let me tell you something. If the Holy Ghost is in us, the work has begun. The restoration is there. We don't have to be perfect to say to a dying and withered generation, rise up in the name of Jesus, because it's not us saying it. It's not our power. We're drawing on the name that we have authority. We have a restored right hand in Christ. It is made whole and we can draw on His life in us. And we can say it by faith because the Holy Ghost is in us. Because we do hate sin. Because we despise the works of darkness. Because whenever we hear the devil's I will ascend over this life. I will dominate this life. There is something that rises up in us and says no, this restored right arm, no. I have a restored mind, devil. And I happen to know the real story. I happen to know in Christ, it will be Jesus speaking through me. And I will say to them, regardless of how I feel, you know, beloved, when we set out to be part of God's restoration, know that we will experience the same things Christ did when He was in that synagogue, which should have been a safe place. He looked around and what did He see? Powers of darkness encircling Him. Watching Him. Waiting to accuse Him. Beloved, when we step out for God, we're watched. And if you've done anything for God, you know you're accused. Oh yes, we are. Just like Christ was. Just what He confronted. So shall we be. But let us not push away off our ground because we have a restored right hand. It's no longer withered. It's an arm to fight. It's an arm to believe. We don't have to have our act together. We need to have the heart of Christ. If we've truly been saved like we heard at 3 o'clock, the Spirit of Christ is in us. Hallelujah! And the devil wants to lie to us out of that power. Beloved, the power is not of ourselves. The devil doesn't give two hoots what we do as long as we never exercise that faith and that power of Christ in us. His battle is not with us. His battle is with the Christ in us. And when we step out in the power of Jesus' name, looking around and all of a sudden seeing things we never saw before, withered people and withered lives, and we begin to pray and we say, God, I know You're asking me to step up, rise up and go to them, and it's so fearful because I hear the accusations of the enemy. I hear them say, Who are You to speak? Who are You to believe? Who are You to pray? But if we just press forward and we say, Christ, I believe You that You've restored this right arm and I'm going after the devil because of course he's watching and accusing me, but I will be like You, my Jesus. I will see right through them and I will still speak. I will still say, Rise up and be made whole because, beloved, we can. We can. We had a wonderful women's meeting here on Saturday. Hallelujah. And the glory of God filled this sanctuary. And the love of God, the love of Christ, women hugging and crying and loving each other. And, beloved, I saw when the Word of God went forth, whether it was a very quiet voice, whether it was a very dynamic voice, I saw the Word of the Lord go forward and I saw the restoration power in it. I saw people leap up. I saw people with light in their eyes. I saw people step into light and be restored. I saw the miracle of when we go forth in Jesus' name, preaching His Word by the power of the Spirit. I saw nothing but restoration, restoration, restoration. All day. I've seen it with my eyes. And you have too. And God wants us to see more of it. We have that same authority. This Scripture speaks to us. Move out in the power of Christ. Not in ours. Beloved, if we're going to step up in the power of Christ, we will feel the opposition. If we're moving in the Spirit, we will feel the opposition to keep us quiet. No, you're on the right track. And don't be intimidated by it. If we want to do something Christ-like, it's not the devil telling us to do that. If we want to go and speak in Jesus' name or pray for them or have a compassionate word or a word of deliverance or write a check, hallelujah, hallelujah. Oh yes, the harassing spirits are there when we want to walk as Jesus walked. Let us not be intimidated. The third level, how I can see this Scripture, is not just on the grand level of Christ and the church or us following the path of Christ, walking in His life, being able to speak as He would speak and seeing the restoration happen, knowing we have a restored right hand. But I see it on a level too where sometimes, for seasons and circumstances in our life, it is our hand that is withered. It is our power and our strength that is frozen and paralyzed. But may I say to you tonight, beloved saints, it must be so. It must be so. Because you see, this church that has a restored right hand, that symbol of power and strength, first must believe it is God's will, that restoration for the church. Must believe that that is God's heart for His church. But then also must experience it for ourselves. We must experience ourselves that when God touches what is withered in our life, what is withered in our testimony. You see, because what Christ is offering us in Him is a life of power, is a life of transformation. And the check and the balance to all this is that you and I experience, the people that we're speaking to, we experience the same thing in the sense of the loss of strength, the loss of power, or what it is to have something withered in our testimony. At times our strength seems paralyzed. It must be so. My husband said something to me this week. He said that a high priest, to be the real high priest, must be encompassed by his own weakness. In other words, he's fully convinced of who he is apart from the power of Christ in him. Fully convinced. Unless Christ touches me. Unless I do this in the power of Christ, I'm frozen, I'm withered, there will be nothing happen. And I need the same touch in my life as that I'm speaking to everyone else. And it fills us with compassion. And it fills us with a check and balance that we don't become these over-weeding, proudful, arrogant people where we think we're moving in the Spirit. No, there's something about being encompassed by our own weakness, when our own withering of our own part of our testimony, when our own arm sometimes seems frozen and paralyzed. We experience that. Sitting in the temple, sitting under Jesus' Word and the teachings, and we become aware of a withered part of our life. But then we hear Jesus talking straight to us. In the same way He did for this man in this parable. Sitting in the same place this man was. Sitting in the presence of God. Sitting under the Word of Jesus Christ. We feel all of a sudden His eyes on our withered limb. On that withered part in us. And we hear His voice. Rise and stand in the midst. And we too feel like, what it is if I stand and acknowledge the withered part? Can't I just sit in the temple and enjoy this teaching? Can't I just say, Jesus, I'm alive and I have Your life in me. I'm a living man. I have a withered arm, but I'm alive and I'm sitting and I can hear Your Word. I can receive this teaching. But Jesus said, no, you see this is how I'm glorified because this type of strength and this type of power, I want to give this to you in a full measure. And don't be ashamed when I ask you to rise. When you hear My voice and you feel My presence. You see, you're convinced. The church is convinced. It is His will that the withered part be restored. The church is convinced that the church glorious is a church of strength. And we move in that strength. And then there are times when we need our own withered parts to be touched. We don't draw back. There's times we're moving in power and there's times we seem frozen to the ground. And one does not contradict the other. There are times when we hear His voice and where we would normally want to panic and say, God, don't call My name. Don't call My name. You see, because I really do feel like I'm in the presence of My enemies. I do really feel, Lord, that if I rise in the presence of My enemies, their voices will win. But, beloved, there is something so special about when we, the beloved of Christ, in hearing His voice with our withered limb, with our withered part of our testimony, with that withered part where we know has no strength tonight, we hear His voice and we rise anyway. Then I believe we also hear Him say a voice that says, Thou preparest a table before Me in the presence of Mine enemies. You prepare a table before Me in the presence of Mine enemies. We stand with that withered limb. And then Christ says, I want to show you something. In the presence of your enemies, in the presence of My enemies, that stand watching, that stand accusing, for those voices that speak to us and tell us things, Jesus says there is a special delight when they in their restrained fury, when they are chained, are forced to watch something. When the devil thinks that he will get back at me by marring you and staining you and dominating you and humiliating you. When he says that withered part of your testimony and mine, when that weakness, that witheredness in us, that he will dominate that for the rest of our days. That we can sit in church, but there will be a part that will stay in weakness. It will not rise. The fear of man will stay. The fear, the unbelief will stay. You can go to church, but that withered part that battles me, I'm going to control it all the days of your life. Don't think you need a middle-aged miracle and it won't happen. That's for the youngsters. Not where you are in this stage of life. Or how long have you walked with me? No great things happened. Beloved, believe me, the enemy has a way to keep that withered limb frozen and in the house of God under the teaching of Christ. But Jesus says, no, you see for My beloved bride, I'm going to prepare you a table in the presence of My enemies, in the presence of your enemies. And we're going to rise with a withered limb. And when there's a table there and He bids us come and eat, how do we stretch it forth with a withered limb? How when He sets before us this table of the Lord? And it's a prepared table. When Christ draws us to a table and we rise and we go with a withered limb and we look at it, it's a prepared table. There's flowers. There's China. There's an incredible tablecloth. That is gorgeous. Oh yes. Candles, goblets. It's a prepared table. And on it are the delicacies, the strength and the power to believe and forgive, the strength to trust Him through the storm, the strength to be transformed the way we want, the life we want, strength to say no, strength to say yes, strength to write a book, strength to preach, strength to go to the mission field, strength to live holy, strength to even want to be holy, strength to ask the question, what is it to be holy? All this before me. Beloved, the true church will stand. The true church will rise. And they will have known what it is to move in the power of a restored limb. But in this area, for this season, it seems like it is withered. But beloved, we're going to rise and we're going to go before the table. And you know what we're going to do? I'll tell you what with that withered limb. First, we're going to look at our enemies round about us that are chained, that are forced to look on and watch this, that are forced to see that the Jesus that loves us and gave His life for us has prepared a table for us. He says, rise and come. And when I said it before you, I'm going to create a longing in it, not just for the table, but for me. And when I say, stretch forth your hand, the hand that you could not do it with, you will do it in Jesus' name. What Jesus asked us to do, what Jesus asked His man to do, the one thing He asked him to do, He said, stretch forth thy hand. He couldn't do it one second. And the next second, He could. Jesus asked Him to do the one thing He could not do, except that He heard the voice of God. He moved to the table. And in the presence of the enemies of God, He was given strength to stretch forth His hand. What He couldn't do one second, He could do the next. And beloved, we have to experience that to preach that. We have to be able to say it in our testimony. Not only be convinced that it's God's heart and will that the church be fully restored, and there is a fully restored church from the day of Pentecost right through to today. There is a church, and there's times we move in that power. But do not be ashamed when there are times that withering is there. We just know we're being beckoned to the table in the presence of our enemies, where we can look them in the eye. I tell you something, we've got to do that. We're going to say, watch this devil. And walk to that table. There's something about in Jesus' heart when He said, I prepare for you a table in the presence of your enemies. There's something going on here deeper than we know. Incredible humiliation of them, but what an incredible supper that is with Jesus at that table. Because He just doesn't say, come and eat. When He restores that arm that we can reach out and take all that's on that table, we'll also pull out a chair and we will sit and sup with Him. And He with us. We're going to learn something in those moments when we were so paralyzed, so weak, and we heard Him say, rise and come to Me and believe Me for this, for I will restore My church. Beloved, what we've been struggling with up until this point, this parable is for us because He says, it is My will that arm be restored, that that part of your testimony be restored. Never doubt it. But don't grow afraid and draw back when you've come to church, or I with a paralysis in the weakness. No, it's part of our testimony. It's that growing part of when we sup with Him and we can actually reach out for that living bread. There is something so powerful and so sweet. It's the type of prayer. It's the type of when we get alone for a few minutes with Him and He comes to us. And He reveals so much in those few minutes that He is with us. Where we've given Him our undivided attention, and He us. And there's this restoration in the presence of our enemies that is so incredible. So when Christ says, stretch forth Thy hand, and what He couldn't do, He did. He stretched out His hand, and as He did so, and His hand was restored, whole is the other. Beloved, that's going to be our testimony. It must be our testimony. It is the church's testimony, but then it has to be as individuals, our testimony. So we leave this place, and we will not back down from us extending our hand to those around us with withered lives. And then we're going to experience ourselves any place of withering and defeat. We're going to come boldly to the table. We're going to come boldly to the throne. This is His heart. And when Christ comes, there's a church with a restored strength and power in that fighting hand. In that hand that's able to reach to others. In that hand that's able to reach to the table for our own nourishment, for the glory of God. In that hand that's able to extend our hand and say, Christ, my Lord and my God, and grab the hem of His garment and go down on our knees. It's a type of that fellowship of loving Him more where He grows so sweet. This is our heritage. This is what we will experience in our lives to the glory of God. But it will not be a church with a withered arm. And tonight we don't need a withered place in our testimony. While our enemies have maybe followed us not just to the church door, but right into this service and said, that's for others, but not for you. That's for this area, but not that area. No, Christ is saying, this is for you. He's saying, stand up. Believe me. Come to the table I've prepared for you in the presence of your enemies. And come and partake and be whole. Will you stand with me? Hallelujah. Strength is coming to His church. Strength is here for His church. The only thing paralyzed at this moment, and we believe this, is hell. Hell is paralyzed at a word like this if we'll rise up and believe it. These altars are open now to those that have said, Lord, I'm not going to back away. I hear you calling. I've heard your voice this whole service. And you're speaking to that withered part of my testimony. You're speaking to that withered part. I'm saved. I love you. But you and I know what it is. I'm coming and there's going to be some here. Lord, I need that ability to move in power with that word of restoration in my mouth for those at work. Lord, I want that ability. I understand now that I can speak your name at work, at those around, confident you will restore. And I'm going to move in that restoration power. You come to this altar. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. We'll meet together. For those that have come to this altar and there is something that you know that is withered, something that has no life in it, let me tell you something. It's the devil. And he's telling you and he's saying over that withered place, that place of death, he says that I will ascend over it. I will exalt my throne over your weakness. I will sit on your failure. I will ascend to the heights of your mind and dominate and humiliate you all your life and I will be like God to you in this area. There will be no escaping it. God says, I think not. That's the truth. That's the truth. God canceled every lie that was. Sent it to hell where it belonged. He said, no, now I'm going to tell you what, devil. See that weak man where there's death and withering? Rise up. Come here. And he restored it whole because that's the heart of Jesus. That's what he does for everyone who comes to this altar. I've been saved 28 years and every time I came to an altar I got healed. And you know what I've learned to do? Every day I make an altar. And I'm getting healed. And so are you. And everything that's withered, I run to Jesus because He doesn't despise it. He says, no, I've got a word for you. Be whole. Give it to me. I'll work it out. All things work together for good. I breathe life into this situation. I bring my life into your confusion. Ask of me, me. Ask for my life. Ask for my infusion of my life, of my power. I break and cancel hell in this situation. I break and cancel the lie of the enemy over it. I break and cancel his power over it. He will not ascend up over your situation, but God says, no, before the foundation of the earth I cast, of the world before you and I were created, I cast him down. That's what I said about it. But now rise up and believe me because it's my will that you be made whole. My church shall be whole. My church shall have a right hand of power and strength. That's my will for my church. And now we receive it as individuals. And every day of our life we say, God, I've made a mess of things. I've destroyed things with a hand that was withered. And now, God, I ask you to touch it. And through me I want you to bring restoration to where I brought pain. Bring restoration where I brought destruction. Through my hand that has brought nothing but death, I ask you now to touch it with your life and let me bring life for your glory. And that's what he'll do for us because he's Jesus. That's what he'll do. Come confidently to Jesus. He gave his life for us that we may have life, that we may be whole. He gets glory when we're made whole. He gets glory when we trust him. He gets glory when he restores through us. He gets glory when we are his hand extended. He gets glory when we move into the workplace full of life, speaking life, speaking restoration. He gets glory that way. We're not backing up in front of a devil anymore because we don't need to. We know in the word he's defeated. We know he's nothing but a liar. We know he's nothing but an accuser. But it didn't stop Jesus. When Jesus was watched and accused, it didn't stop him from restoring people around him. And it won't stop us. And it won't stop us in our withered places because the devil's lies have been cancelled by Christ. Jesus, we believe you. We believe you, Jesus. Now everyone that has come with something withered, it's not withered because we're going to pray. You know what? When you came, it broke the power. It's not a prayer here. Your faith, it's broken it. Those that want to be Christ's hand extended, want to be part of the restoration, you can be. You are in Christ. You leave this place confident that you move in the words of Christ, the spirit of Christ. You bring restoration. You are speaking life. Don't let the harassment, don't let the accusing, don't let the watching of the enemy stop you. It didn't stop Christ. It won't stop us. But now everyone that's hearing what Christ is saying to them, would you just lift your hands with me? Lord, we don't pray a prayer. Now we're coming to say thank you. It's done. The work is finished. We receive it. Jesus, you're a God that heals and restores. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Just thank him, beloved, now in faith. Thank him for what he is and what he has done. We thank you, Lord. We thank you for what you've done. Thank you for what you've done tonight. Thank you. Receive your glory, oh God. Receive it now. And tonight, one last word for you. Tonight, you will not be lied out of this victory. You will not be lied out of this truth. No, either will I. And either will I. No, tonight, now, we walk out this door in victory, confident of Jesus Christ, his heart, and what he's done for us. What is the reality? What is the truth? The devil's I wills are canceled. He's been exposed. But we believe Christ. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. Father, we ask you to send out a church into this city with authority, with the right hand of power. God Almighty, be glorified. Jesus Christ, be glorified in your church. I pray, Lord, that you give us the authority to speak to the imprisoned, to speak to the addicted, to speak to the immoral, to speak to the confused, to speak to the demonic powers that control them. God Almighty, to see a people come out. Father, I pray that in this city hundreds of thousands would find Christ as Savior. Find the freedom that you want on Calvary. Oh, God, oh, God, have a church. Have a church, Jesus, in this city. Have a church, oh, God. Have a church, Lord, in this hour. Oh, God, oh, Lord, have a church. Have a bride, oh, God, that walks with you. Father, we thank you for this. Thank you for where you're guiding us to, where you're taking us to, Lord. You have intended, oh, God, to do something so profound in this city. We give you the honor and the praise and the glory. For, Lord, we know that without you we are nothing, but in you we have everything, Lord, that we need. Oh, God, we give you the glory. This is the conclusion of the message.