In this sermon, the preacher talks about how the Lord instructed the early army to conquer their captivity by simply walking around it and praising God. He shares his personal experience of being set free from nine years of intense fear and panic attacks by trusting in God's promises. The preacher emphasizes that we should not share our lives with the strongholds and fears that have been planted in us, but instead trust in God to lead us to victory. He encourages the audience to believe in God's power to break down the walls of captivity in their lives and receive the blessings that come with it.

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. Ephesians chapter 3 beginning at verse 14. Paul the Apostle says, For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now, I'll stop there just for a moment just to say that there's only one way you can know this love of Christ that passes knowledge. When you and I have a direct encounter with the living God and we see how distant we really are from him. We see that we really, none of us deserve to be called by his name. He is infinitely more holy than we are. He is infinitely greater than we could ever hope to be. And the gap between us could not be bridged but by the mercy of God. When you begin to see this, it unlocks something in your heart. Now, unto him, verse 20, that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power, now that's his power, that works within us. Unto him be glory in the church by Jesus Christ throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Now, there's a promise for you today. Now, this is not just Easter. It doesn't just happen on Easter Sunday. Resurrection Day began the day that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. It's Easter Sunday, it's Easter Monday, Easter Tuesday, Easter Wednesday, for those who know him as Lord and Savior, who've opened their heart to the working and to the ways of God. If you haven't done that, I want to encourage you to consider that this morning. There's no greater life that you could live than the assurance that when you die, you're going to heaven. You don't have to go to hell when you die. Christ died for you 2,000 years ago. If you'll open your heart to him this day, you can have an assurance and a knowledge that when you die, you're going to go to heaven. Thanks be to God. I know that today. I have no fear of dying. Death has lost its fear, as the scripture says in the New Testament. I thank God for life. I thank God for being here and part of this world and this generation. But I'm looking forward to something that's coming ahead, not too far down the road for me and for many. In 50 years from now, irrespective of what you're doing today and whether or not you're a mover or shaker, however you see yourself, 50 years from now, most of us will be passed into eternity. And what we determined about the Son of God, what we determined to do with what God has done for us, will determine where we're going to spend that eternity. For those who choose to live for Christ, not only a promise of eternity in heaven, but a promise that he can do above all that we even ask or think. Now, I know everyone in this room today, you've got desires in your heart. There are things that you'd like to be. There are even things you'd like to be in God. There's a certain level of goodness, as it is, you'd like to achieve. Otherwise, why would you even be here? What would be the point of coming to this church this morning? Unless deep down within you, there's some kind of a desire to be more than what you are. Yes, you've tried resolutions. We all tried these things before we came to Christ. And you have an inner knowledge now that you're not able to change in your own strength. No man can change. We can bring about a measure of change, but in the core, we remain the same. And determined effort can only take us so far. And all it takes is that one instance to arise, and something in us snaps again, and we're brought back to point A, right where we began. And despair again begins to take over, because we don't have the power within ourselves to bring about lasting change. Paul says he can do above all that we ask or think. Above all that you've even asked for, or you even think that you could become. God is able to do this by the power, now that's the power of His Holy Spirit, who is given to those who come to Christ as Lord and Savior. That is at work within us. Thanks be to God, this is our portion. The Christian life in its fullness is a supernatural life. We are not only saved, but we are changed. As the Bible says, we begin to move and live and have our being in the Christ who lives within us. And we begin to be a brand new creation. The old things begin to pass away, and those of us who have walked with God for a long time, I don't know if you've ever taken out any of the old photo albums, and looked at pictures of yourself years ago, especially before you were saved. Pretty scary, isn't it, when you look at it? Thanks be to God that you can look at that today and say, that was another woman, that was another man. Thank God that was another person. Thank God that person died and was buried when I came to Christ. Thanks be to God I'm not like that anymore. Now there's a journey, if you go to 2 Kings 2, for those who want this life of Christ. When Jesus rose from the dead, His life, His resurrection life, the power of God that raised Him from the dead became available to all who want it. And that's really the key. Do you want this resurrection life of Jesus Christ? Are you satisfied with coming to church once a year at Easter time, and have somebody else talk about the experience? Or would you like to have it yourself? And truly, there's got to be something desperately wrong. If I'm holding out to you the promise of something of God that is supernatural, and in your heart you're saying, well, I really didn't come for this. I don't want this. I want to hear some nice songs about how He lives. I want to look at some nice white flowers that are on the platform, typically at Easter time. Everybody's in their finest. I want to feel good about myself. But I didn't come here to find out that I'm a sinner that needs to be saved. And that God has a life for me that is far beyond my greatest expectations of what I could ever hope to produce in my own ability. But if there's even a spark in your heart, and you say, God, I want this, then the Lord will unlock something to you this morning that will take you on a journey. And when you get to the end of this life, you're going to look back and say, Oh, God, thank you. God Almighty, thank you for April 2007, when I went to church, whether you're invited, whether you're cajoled, whether you're pushed or bribed to get here, you're here anyway. And you're going to say, God, thank you. God, thank you that that day I had the sense to hear what you were speaking, and to open my heart to it. I promise you, it's all I can say, I promise you, that there will be a day coming when you're going to look back and say, Oh, God, I didn't even have any idea what you were going to do. I had no idea how deep this salvation is, how wonderful this experience of your life being lived out inside of mine can be. Oh, God, you put things in me that were never there. I came to you with such a horrible self-image. I came to you so bound, so closed in my mind and emotions, but yet you came into my life and you changed me. Day by day, little by little, mile by mile, step by step, I began to evolve into another person that God alone could have made me into. That's why the Bible calls it born again. It's as if you're born all over again. A brand new nature comes into you that God himself begins to mold as you and I begin to yield our lives to him. Now, in this Old Testament story, it's about a prophet Elijah and a young man called Elisha. Now, Elijah is a type, I guess, for us this morning of those that have gone on before. Elijah had been greatly used of God. Elijah had a supernatural life being lived in him and being lived through him. Everybody knew that Elijah had the spirit of God on him. And this young man began to follow him, just as many are here today. You're following Christ, of course, first and foremost, but you're also looking at those that have gone on before you. And you're looking honestly and you're saying, well, if this is true, if God has really done this, I want this in my life. And you see, Elisha wanted this. He went to Elijah, his master, and he said, Elijah, I want a double portion of the spirit that is upon you. Now, he was saying, I want the son's portion. That means I want twice as much as anybody else is going to get after you're gone. That's really what it means. I want this. I want it with all my heart. I remember sitting in a service when I was in my early years as a Christian, straight out of bondage and darkness. I'd come to Christ. I was sitting in the service, maybe two years in the Lord. I had no power to speak. I was gripped by things in my mind because of past experience and things that have been spoken over my life. And I remember this man of God standing there and he was preaching and saying, with God, all things are possible. And God can do anything through a surrendered vessel. It will just say, Lord, use me. And I was sitting there and it was so incredulous, even the thought of it, it was so far beyond anything that I could have ever hoped or dreamt for my own life. And I remember sitting in the service saying, oh, God, if this is possible, I want it. Lord, I want to preach like this man is preaching. I want to know you like this man knows you. I want to walk in this path that I'm hearing and seeing about. And the Lord took me right at that point and began to lead me on a journey. Now, this is the journey you find in this book of 2 Kings 2. And it begins with a place in verse 1 called Gilgal. Elijah, it says, went with Elisha, chapter 2, verse 1, from Gilgal. Now, Gilgal is a place where the reproach of Egypt was rolled away from the people. God put a mark, historically, in the physical body of those people that were about to go into a place of promise and they were to be separated as his own people. The mark is a mark of separation. Now, if you're not willing to receive that mark, you will never go on this journey. Forget the journey. The mark is a mark of separation. That means I'm going to be walking in a different way than all the people in the societies around me. God's going to put his mark on me. And that mark is going to distinguish me as different from people who don't walk with God. When they lie, I will speak the truth. When they exaggerate, I will speak the truth. When they are murmuring and complaining, I will speak the truth. It puts a mark on me. Now, some people will not like that mark. They will not appreciate it. People never like things that are different than they are. Especially the religious, most of all, do not like those who truly walk with God. But there has to be this willingness. It's pointless for me to even preach any more to you today if it's not in your heart to walk with God. To walk with Christ is going to make you different, folks. There's no way around it. You're going to become a different person than those who walk without God in their lives. It's as simple as that. And Elijah said to Elisha in verse 2, For the Lord has sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said to him, As the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel. You can stay here, Elisha, if you want. Jesus Christ is an absolute gentleman. In the book of Revelation, he stands at the door of a very backslidden, very lukewarm church people. The Laodicean church. He is the God of all creation. He has the right to demand devotion. He has the right to create. And he has the right to destroy everything that distorts his image. And yet the God of all creation, the scripture says, stands at the door and knocks. Isn't that amazing? I don't think there's a scripture in the Bible that touches in that measure, in this part of the Bible, the humility of God. This morning, he's standing at the door of your heart and he's knocking. You might be in a very, very difficult religious condition. And he has the right to demand your worship. But he doesn't do it. He comes and he knocks at the door of your heart. I love this thing about Jesus Christ. And he says, If you want to come and open the door, I will come in and my father will come with me. We'll sit down at your table. We'll open this book and you and I will eat together. What a feast we're going to have. I'm going to set a table before you in the presence of your enemies. I'm going to anoint your head with oil and your cup is going to run over. I'm going to fill you to the point where you can't contain it any longer. It's going to spill out of the borders. There's going to be this life that's going to come from within you. And no matter what you have to go through, you're going to have the knowledge that I'm with you. And goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life. Bethel, historically, is the place where Jacob sought the blessing of God. Now, he was one of the descendants of Abraham. God came to Abraham and he said, I'm going to make you more than you are. I'm going to bless you. I'm going to give you descendants. I'm going to increase you and the world is going to be blessed through you. Now, this is impossible. He was an old man who didn't even have a son. But God gave him this incredible promise. And now, one of the descendants of Abraham, who is supposed to be the inheritor of the promise, just as we are, as the descendants of Jesus Christ, is led to Bethel, as Jacob was led there. And in Bethel, here's a man who sought the blessing of God, but he didn't seek it in the right way. He disguised himself and went into his father and pretended he was another man. And said, oh, Father, bless me. And his father, although he was old in years, he said, I smell a rat here. Something is not right. You smell like Esau, who is the firstborn and the one who has the right to inherit the blessing. But your voice is the voice of Jacob. And he said, I sent you out to get something, a sacrifice for me as it is, a sweet meal for me before I bless you. How did you get it so soon? And he says, well, the Lord brought it to me. And you see, he was coming for the blessing. I'm not going to get into all the details of the story, but he was coming for the blessing. But he put on other clothing than the man that he really was. And he came before the man who represents the blessing of God and says, bless me, bless me. I'm this other man than who I am. You know, there are folks here today, you put on your other man to come to church this morning. You put on your suit. You put on a new way of speaking. You put on new conversation. You come in the door. You smile. You don't normally smile at anybody throughout the week, but you smile this morning. You walked in and you said, praise the Lord. You never say that any other time than in the house of God. And you put on your other man. And you come before God and you say, God, bless me. Oh, God, bless me. Now, if there's even, there was just a spark of truth in this man. He really wanted the blessing. So God did bless him through his father. But the blessing that came on him took him on a journey. If you are going to be blessed of God, there's a journey involved in this. And he was sent into a foreign place, a place that he was not familiar with. And the very first night or so in this foreign place, he ends up sleeping in an open field with his head on a stone, the scripture says. He had a stone, actually a pile of stones for a pillow. And when you're on this journey, if you want to be blessed by God, if there's anything in your heart that wants to be blessed by God, he's going to turn every comfortable religious pillow into a stone. I'm warning you, that's exactly where you're going. You're not going to be able to sleep. There's a troubling going to come inside of you because the Lord says, I want to give you the blessing. But you and I have to walk together in agreement. You are coming before me as a man that I know that you are not. You are you're standing before me and there's a measure of fraud, spiritual fraud in you. And the Lord says, I cannot walk together with you until the two of us are in agreement. The Lord took Jacob on a long, long journey. And he put him under the ministry of Uncle Laban, who was a man ten times as crooked as he was. And he got so sick of corruption and crookedness that finally he ended up wrestling with God before going back into the place of promise again. And he fought with the Lord. And before daybreak, he said, oh, bless me, bless me. I won't let you go until you bless me. And then the Lord says to him, what is your name? You see, the last time you sought the blessing, you gave a wrong name. But now I'm asking for your name. And he says, my name is Jacob. And his name meant swindler, deceiver. I'm a swindler. I'm a deceiver. I tried to steal the blessing, but I realized the blessing of God cannot be stolen. It cannot be obtained by religious fraud. It cannot be obtained by changing my conversation on Sunday morning. It cannot be obtained by coming to church once or twice a year. It must be obtained by opening my heart to what you did on Calvary, inviting you to come in and allowing you to work a new nature into my life. That's where the blessing of God comes from, beloved. And if you want that blessing of God, you're going to be led to Bethel. But Elijah says, you don't have to come. You can stay right where you are. And that's the gentleness of God. Now, it doesn't mean you're going to heaven, folks. But he says, you can stay where you are. I won't force you. This blessing is by faith. It was given freely by the Son of God 2,000 years ago. God says, I will bless you. I'll make you more than you are. I'll take you so far beyond yourself. There will be a shout of glory comes into your heart. It won't be just a song on Sunday morning. It will be something within you that causes you to walk down the streets of New York in the midst of this generation. You'll have a song when everyone else is shoving people out of the way and angry and fighting for a future. You'll know where your future is. You'll know where you're going. You'll know that my hand is upon you. That's the only consolation Jacob had when he put his head down on the stone. The Bible says, God opened heaven to him. And he saw a ladder ascending all the way up into heaven. At the top of the ladder, he saw God Almighty Himself standing there. And he saw angels coming down and working the will of God upon the earth. And that became his comfort. There is a part of this walk, folks, where you and I are taken into hard places. And the only comfort we will ever have is the only one we will ever need. That God is in absolute control of everything. Hallelujah. He's working everything together for His own purposes. And all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Thanks be to God, I don't have to figure this life out anymore. Whether I have a good day or a bad day, God Almighty is absolutely in control of everything. Now he says, Elijah said to Elisha, you can stay here now at Bethel if you want. You can stay at this place of putting your head on a stone. Or he says, you can go a little farther. And Elisha says, no. You see, I believe that he had such a taste of God. And that's what happens. When you begin to get a taste of God, folks, you'll not settle for anything less than everything that God has for you. You're not going to retire. Trust me, when you get filled with the Holy Spirit, there's no longer any such thing as retirement. You're going to be so on fire to have people throughout this world know what God has done for you and what God can do for them. Or you might cease working at your job, but you will not retire in the kingdom of God. You can't retire when the presence of God is in your life. You can't stop speaking His name. You can't stop telling people what God has done. There's a burden that comes on you that is a glorious burden. It's not a hard thing. Jesus himself said, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. There's a passion of God that the Holy Spirit plants within your heart to have every person know what it is that can be done in their lives as He's done it for you. He said, Terry, hear, the Lord has sent me to Jericho. And he said, as the Lord lives and as thy soul lives, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. Now, Jericho, historically, when Joshua brought the people of God of his generation into the Promised Land, Jericho was an entrenched place of captivity in the Promised Land. Now, it represents those things that are built into us that we think cannot be changed. They're inside of us as it is. They're in our minds. They're in our character. They're part of us. And the Lord comes in and says, I'm with you now. And we're not sharing this Promised Land with anything of captivity. I'm going to take you there. And you don't have to figure it out. You just raise your hands and you walk around this thing. And you begin to, you just be quiet and praise me. That's all He says. You just give me glory. That was the instruction of God to this early army as to how this captivity was going to be destroyed. And you walk around about this. And at a certain point of obedience, I'm going to put a shout into your heart. And you're going to know this thing is broken. I'm talking about fears. I'm talking about the image of self that's been planted in many people because of things that have been spoken over your life in the formative years. The Lord says, no, we're not going to share the land with these things. We're going to march around them. And your part is to trust me. Your part is to believe me. I'll take you there. You don't have to figure it out. And these walls are going to come down. And you're going to go in and take the spoil of all of these places of captivity that are in your life. Oh, beloved, I know this. I was set free from nine years of hell. I lived with panic attacks in my life. I lived with a fear beyond anything that probably the majority of you in this room have ever known. I'd had to take pills to go to class in college. I had to be literally in a bubble and vacuum. If I was singled out in a crowd, a panic would hit me and I'd fall to the floor. Most often come to the near point of collapse and passing up, losing consciousness altogether. It was hell on earth. But when I came to Jesus Christ, I opened this Bible and he said, Carter, let me take you there. Let me take you into that. I was already born again. I was already saved. I knew if I died, I was going to go to heaven. He said, but you got a stronghold in your life. Let me take you there. He took me into that stronghold in my life. And one night at home, I felt this fear coming on. And it was a dripping fear. It would be a fear that would cause me to feel like there was no hope for even the next moments in time. And I went down into my living room. I'd been reading my Bible. And I found a promise. If God before us, who can be against us? And I went into that living room that day. And I said, Satan, you've run my life into the ground for over nine years now. But I'm finished with you. All you can do is kill me. And even then, I'm going to heaven. So what? And you can only kill me if God allows you to kill me. I remember the prayer. I said it out loud. I said, so now you throw everything at me that you've got. Go ahead. Throw it all at me. But I throw this back at you. In the name of Jesus Christ, I resist you. And I lived as the children of Israel did. I lived to see those walls come down. And I went in to take the spoils. What are the spoils? These are the things that were mine. That were within this walled city of captivity. This love that compels you to go out and to speak the name of Jesus Christ to others around who are captivated by the same fear. The ability to believe God. To be led by God. To go on with God. To know God. To trust God. To honor God. To say to the Lord, nothing is impossible with God. To go into any situation. Any country. Any war-torn area of the world. Any war-torn home. Any war-torn situation. Any place where anybody alive says it can't be done. To walk in with the power of God and say, no, that's not the truth. With God, all things are possible. Anything can be done in God. Go to your Jericho. Don't let these places of captivity grip your life any longer. Let God take you to these places. Prove that He is God. Prove it. Walk with Him. Let Him prove it to you. He's not going to disappoint you. He Himself said, if a son asks Me for bread, I'll not give him a stone. How much more, Jesus said, will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? How much more will God give the supernatural power of His own life to those who want to honor Him? Those who want to walk with Him. Those who want to glorify Him. Those this morning that say, Jesus, I want to live in resurrection life. I don't want to live in religion. I don't want to live in the pretense of holiness. I want to be holy. I want to walk with a God who is holy within me. I'm not afraid to be different. I'm not afraid to stand out and be thought of as a fool in a society that is foolishly headed for hell without God. I'm not afraid to stand in this generation. And then He said to him, we're going on a little farther than this. And Elijah said, tarry here, for the Lord sent me to Jordan. And as the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, He said, I'll not leave thee. And the two went on. And all through this journey, there are these religious people. Let me just call them that. They're popping out of these places and they're saying, oh, do you not know that there'll be great loss on this path? Do you not know your master will be taken away from your head today? And all these voices are coming out. All they've got is religion, but they don't see any profit in hardship. They don't see any profit in this journey. And so they've camped in these places. And they offer theories about how God works. They talk about people in the past have done great things for God, but they themselves know absolutely nothing about it. But they come out and their voices, their voices from within your own heart, their voices from the religious community that say if you proceed on this journey, you're going to suffer great loss. Oh, folks, you're going to lose things. There's no doubt about that. But what you're going to lose has absolutely no value whatsoever in comparison to the life of Christ that you're going to be given. What are you going to lose? You're going to lose your arrogance. You're going to lose your pride. You're going to lose your confusion. You're going to lose your fear. You're going to lose your self-image, which is destined for damnation anyway if Christ is not at the center of it. You're going to lose it all. Absolutely. What are you going to gain? You're going to gain the wisdom of God, the power of God, the knowledge of God, the heart of God, the life of God. You're going to lose your life, literally, because your old nature, the Scripture says, is going to pass away. It's going to be gone. Thanks be to God. That's all I can say. Thanks be to God. Oh, folks, you don't want to fear loss. You have nothing to lose. You have everything to gain. They went on to Jordan, and Jordan represents a place of death. It's the water of baptism where we die to our old way of living and are resurrected in the new life of Christ. And the Scripture tells us that 50 sons of the prophets stood to watch it afar off, and the two of them went across Jordan together. You'll find when you take this journey, a lot of people will just stand and watch. They really are not willing to give up what they think is valuable. But they will watch it. They will comment on it. They will even write books on it. They'll even give lectures on it, but they will not partake of it. The two of them went through Jordan together. And this is where Elisha said to Elijah, I want a double portion. I've just seen God in you, and I want the God that I've seen in you, the Spirit of God upon you. I want a double portion of this Spirit of God. And Elijah said, well, you've asked for a hard thing. In other words, I can't give it to you. It's not mine to give. But if you see me, he said, when I'm taken from you. In other words, if you and I are walking eye to eye still. Jesus himself said through the prophet Amos, how can two walk together except they be agreed? If we're walking together, there's a moment coming when God says, I'll put an anointing on you. Well, you'll be able to go into barren places and bring life. And the scripture tells us they were just, in verse 11 says, as it came to pass, as they went on still, and they talked. All they were doing is talking. They were just walking. You say, oh, Pastor, what do I have to do to get all of this that you're talking about this morning? Well, you have to give your life to Jesus Christ. Then you walk with him and you talk with him. It's as simple as that. You commune with him every day. You make him part of your life. He's the Lord of your life. And you walk with him. You let him speak to your heart. And the scripture just says, as they walk together and they talk together. All of a sudden, the chariot of fire came and part of them asunder and Elijah went up, our world went into heaven. And Elisha saw it. He cried out, my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof. And it says at that moment he took his own garment and he tore it into two pieces. That's really the point where death has come. When I'm willing to take all of my image of myself and say, God, I don't want this anymore. I don't want the religious falseness. I don't want a spiritual deficiency to govern me anymore. I don't want just thoughts and seminars about God. I want the God of the Bible to be living in me. Lord, I'm not willing to play any games. I want the whole thing or I want nothing. And he took his own garment and says he rendered in pieces. And at that moment he looks up and I believe because the scripture says he then took the mantle that fell from Elijah. I believe he sees this mantle just floating down to the earth. And he saw it. And when he saw it, he said, that's what I want. I don't want this. I want that. And folks, that's exactly where it comes from. You're in this house today and you're saying, well, I don't understand it, but I want that more than I want this. It's as simple as I can make it to you. And he ran his own garment in two and he picked up the mantle of Elijah. And I remember the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two, when you have 120 people in an upper room. They had been among the crowd who had been standing when Jesus finally ascended up into heaven. It's a type of what you're reading here in the Old Testament story. And they saw him go up. Now, the scripture says some even doubted. They were still not quite yet convinced. But out of that multitude, 120 chose to go into an upper room. And they said, God, we want your power. And only a short time later, the anointing of God, just like the man of Elijah, came down from heaven. And they were turned into other people. The Bible says they stepped out of this place of fear, walked into the marketplace. They opened their mouths and they began to glorify God. And they began to speak the Megalios of God. Which means they began to make a declaration in known languages throughout the world, that the Christ who is now within them, in the power of the Holy Spirit, was going to work out things that are impossible for man to do and only possible with God. They began to make a public declaration of these things. And people came and they heard them and they saw these things. And the scripture says they were pricked in their heart. And they said, men and brethren, what must we do to be saved? In this last generation in which we're living, God is looking again for a people who want the mantle of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit more than they want. The accolades of this world, the possessions of this world, more than they want just a religiousness that offers no life to them or anybody around them. They're willing to become fools so that, for Christ's sake, so that the power of God may rest upon them. They realize that this is not something that can be procured from within themselves, but it has to come from the hand of Almighty God. And they're saying, God Almighty, I open my heart, I open my life, I'm willing to put off this old nature. If you'll give me the power to walk in newness of life, I ask you to come to me. And to those 120, the glory of God descended upon them. They stepped out without fear and trepidation into the public marketplace, and people were absolutely convicted of their need of God by their lives. We need people in this generation whose lives absolutely convict the society that they are living without God. Jesus said, you are the salt of the earth. If the salt has lost its savor, it's good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under feet of men. What that means is that the salt is to bring healing. It's to bring preservation. It's to bring the taste as it is. Our lives are to bring the taste, that fruitfulness of the life of Christ everywhere we go. But if we lose that and settle just for an empty religion, all we do is keep men from stumbling and falling on their journey to hell. We become a source of traction for those who are without God. We make them feel like everything is okay when things are not okay. We make them feel like there's peace when they're not at peace with God. We make them feel they're saved when they're not saved. They've not been bought with the blood of Jesus Christ. God help us to understand, in New York City or wherever we're from in this generation, there needs to be a ministry again raised up in the power of the Holy Ghost that will stand in the public marketplace. Their lives will be a declaration of the reality that Jesus Christ is alive from the dead. He has risen from the dead because He lives in me. He can be seen in me. We have the only Bible now that our generation is going to read. They're not going to pick up the Scriptures. The days of opening a hotel room drawer and getting saved are getting now far and few between. The only Bible that this generation is going to read is you and me in the public marketplace as our mouths declare what God has done for us. I want to challenge you with everything in me. Put away lifeless religion. Put away empty pursuits of God. Put away all of the deception of the carnal nature and get a life in God through Jesus Christ. Rent that garment and say, God, I'm not going to be content until you pour your Spirit upon me from on high. I yield my life to you as a living sacrifice to the purposes of God. I want you to use me for your glory. I don't want this generation to go to hell. I want them to know there is a God who loves them, who died for them, who rose from the dead on the third day and can give them salvation and a brand new life that they've longed for. God Almighty help us in this generation to understand these things. The moment he picked up that mantle, he went into Jericho and the people of Jericho came out to him and said, Can you help us? The water here is worthless and the ground is bearing no fruit. And he took a new vessel. He said, Bring out a new vessel. And he put salt in it and poured it in the water. And he said, These waters now have been healed and there will not be any more death or barren land. And this is the heritage of those who belong to God. You can go into homes, families, workplaces, environments, situations, and people will say, Can you help us? The water, whatever it is, the truth that we've embraced has not helped us. And the land, we put effort into it, but it's not bringing forth any fruit. And God says, No, it requires a new vessel. And that vessel has to be filled with the salt that truly represents Almighty God. And the words that will come from your mouth will be poured by the Spirit of God into these barren situations. You will have the authority to say, From this day forward, no more barren land, no more death, no more miscarrying wombs, no more fruitless labor. I bring to you the truth of God that is mine and yours through Jesus Christ. I speak to these things in the name of Almighty God and command them to lose their hold and I release to you the truth of God in Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. This is what God wants to give you. This is what Easter is all about. Jesus Christ is not a religious holiday, folks. He's the Son of God. He died for your sin and rose the third day as living proof to you that your trust in Him, when you open your heart to Him, it will not be in vain. Oh, thanks be to God that there are people in this generation who want the touch of His life. Hallelujah. Father, thank you, Lord, that you've spoken to my heart. I have delivered your word today. I pray, God, in this sanctuary that you give people the courage to say, Lord, I'm going to go with you. No matter what it costs me, I'm going to go. Let the religious have their opinions. Let the world scorn their scorn. But I'm going with you. I'm going. I'm going until out of my mouth will flow rivers of living water. Until your presence within my life will bring healing into deadly and barren situations. I'm going with you. I'm anticipating that you're going to change me. Lord, you're going to be in control of my life. You're going to overthrow the strongholds that the enemy has built into my thinking. You're going to lead me to this place of laying everything down that your life might be taken up within my heart. Father, I thank you for this. God, I praise you for it. I thank you, Lord, that the miraculous will transpire this day. Lord Jesus, you have men and women here that you have an incredible plan for if they will open their hearts to you. Here in the main sanctuary, in the education annex, we'll be giving you an opportunity to step forward if the Holy Spirit has spoken to your heart. If you're lost in your sin, if you'll just step out. And all you have to do is say in your heart, Jesus, I'm coming to you. I'm a sinner. I need to be saved. And he will receive you. In the annex, you can stand between the screens and in any of the overflow rooms, maybe just even stand in your seat. But as you do, if the Holy Spirit is drawing you today, if you can say with those in this house, Pastor, I hear something. I hear it deep in my heart. I want to walk with God. I want this life that Christ has for me. I'm not going to be a deceptive religious person. I want the life of Christ. If that's in your heart, come and meet me here at this altar. We're going to spend a few moments in worship and then I'm going to lead you in a simple prayer. As we do that, let's all stand in the balcony. You can go to either exit. Make your way down here in the main sanctuary. Please do the same. Join me here, please, if you will. We'll pray together. And let's believe God. Let's all stand together. Let the people who need to get out, get out. Praise God. You will not regret this decision. You will not regret it. God is offering you life. He's offering you abundant life. A full life. He's offering you an incredible life. Step out. Don't be afraid of loss. You have nothing to lose. You have everything to gain as you walk with God. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. You know, those that have come to this altar today, you're saying in your heart, I'm going to take this journey. And some of you have come from places where you've been told, even by spiritual leaders, that this journey is not necessary to know the anointing of God. And, of course, you may have been there for a lot of years, but you're now starting to find out that it is necessary. Because those other places have left you very dry, very empty, very unfulfilled. Promises that don't come to fruition. But I promise you, if you'll undertake this journey with Christ, you'll not regret a single step of the journey. The life of God will be your portion. Let the Lord take you to these. You don't have to figure it out. Just walk with Him. He'll take you. He knows how to get you where you're going. Hallelujah. Let's pray together. Please, if you will. Lord Jesus, thank you for receiving me. Thank you for forgiving me. All my misunderstanding of even how you give life to those who call your name. I open my heart to you. I invite you to come in and be my Lord and my Savior. I thank you that there is a love that you have for me that will guide me into all the days ahead of me. And you will do what you have to do to bring me to a place where I know your life being lived out from within mine. I yield my heart to this. And I say to you, as Elisha said, I will not leave the places where you lead me. I know that only good is there. And my heart will be filled with an awareness of how greatly God loves me. Lord, thank you that you're going to turn my life into a spring of living water that will give drink to a thirsty people who live all around me. Thank you, Lord, that my life, there will be a source of healing because of Christ within me to those who need to be healed. I thank you, Jesus, with all of my heart for what you're going to do and what you've begun in my life this very day. I make a declaration. I believe that you are the Son of God. I believe that you died for me. You paid the penalty for all of my sin. I believe that on the third day you were raised from the dead by the power of God. I believe that as you were raised from the power of death, so too death has no power over my life anymore. I believe that in Jesus Christ I am a new person, and the life I now live, I will live it by the power of God that now rests within me. Oh God, this is an awesome truth. Thank you for this. Lord, I rejoice in my heart. You will lead me now, and you will guide me into this new life as a follower, a true follower of Jesus Christ. Amen. Now thank Him. Give Him thanks. This is the conclusion of the message.