Hold Onto the Covenant of Only Christ and Pray, and God will Work Transcending Time and Space (Acts 12:1-15)
Acts 12 tells about what happened after Peter was arrested. King Herod was capturing and killing the members of the early church so that he could gain political popularity, and among them, James was martyred. Martyrdom is honestly the greatest blessing, because God was completely holding onto James as he was murdered. When our physical bodies die, we have the blessing of going into heaven, and the greatest blessing is to die a death of faith as a martyr because when we are martyred, God completely holds onto us. Even if you want to be martyred, it’s really hard to get martyred. Not everyone can be martyred; only the chosen people of God can be like that.
When King Herod killed James, the Jewish people were really happy because they wanted to get rid of the people in the Early Church, so King Herod had to follow along to gain political popularity. Because he realized that all the Jewish people were really happy whenever he killed a member of the Early Church, he said, “Fine, let’s imprison the head of the early church, Peter.” This was around the time of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread which happens right after the Passover. At that time, Peter was the head of the Early Church, so they said, “Let’s imprison him.”
In Acts 12:5, it says the church was earnestly praying to God for him. What kind of church was the Early Church? Just because we gather together doesn’t make us a church; we have to have the covenant God desires, in other words, it must be a church God is with. Just like in the Old Testament, God was together with the Israelites in the Holy of Holies at the ark of the covenant. There are some churches closing their doors, and there is a plan of God within that, but it means God is not with that church, so it also means there are members of the church God is with, and members he is not with.
The Holy Spirit is with the saved people, and among them, there are people in whom God works and others God doesn’t work on, and for the believers God doesn’t work through, they don’t see the works of God in their life, but the works of God are upon those whom God is working.
So in today’s passage, the members of the early church are praying for Peter because he was about to be killed as James was. It says in Acts 12:6 that Peter was about to be sent to trial, so he was up in iron chains, and he was surrounded by guards, and he fell asleep. At that time, when the Early Church was praying for Peter, God sent an angel to Peter.
Acts 12:7, Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared and light shown in the cell, he struck Peter in the side and said, “Quick, get up!” These were the things that happened when the early church was praying for Peter, God sent an angel to Peter . Does this mean this is what happens every time we pray? That’s why I said, there are some churches God works upon and some God doesn’t, there are some people God works upon and there are some people God doesn’t work upon.
Why was it that God worked upon Peter and the members of the Early Church? It’s because they were a church that had God’s covenant, in other words, they were a church that held onto their God-given word. They had the Word of Jesus Christ which is the core center of everything God said in the Old Testament.
Jesus is the Christ, and He finished all of life’s problems on the cross; He is the solution to all problems in life. They held onto those words, and that’s why we have to relay the solution of Jesus Christ to all people because they don’t have the answer, they hold onto incorrect things, and God has given that mission and covenant to us. That is why, as they were doing the missions and evangelism movement, the apostles were being killed and murdered.
Whenever we pray, God is of course in heaven, and the angels of heaven are at God’s throne. But whenever the members of the church pray, God sends His heavenly angels to run His errands. Whenever the member of the church the covenant pray then God sends His angels to work, transcending time and space. Psalm 103:20 says the angels of the LORD run His errands and do His bidding. They don’t just do whatever they want, but they are the angels that move according to God’s command, and whenever the members of the LORD’s church pray in the name of Jesus Christ, God sends His angels to fulfill that Word through prayer.
Sometimes God will send His heavenly armies to fulfill God’s Word. When you pray for the life-saving movement, God will send His heavenly army to break down the kingdom of Satan and darkness. If we are a proper church and proper Christian with the proper prayer, then the darkness in the region will be broken down. What does “proper” mean? I’m talking about the person and the church that has the proper word, that Jesus Christ is the answer to all problems, and it’s talking about the individual of the church that has the mission from God to relay Jesus Christ. Whenever those people hold onto God’s Word and pray, there is a way that God works.
God works transcending time and space, that’s God’s work. It might seem we’re the ones who fight the spiritual battle, but it rages on and we don’t fight it. Through our prayers, the heavenly angels are fighting that battle. So, if there’s a proper Christian or proper church, it’s normal for the forces of darkness in that region to be broken down. If there’s a proper family or one person who believes properly, then it’s normal for the darkness to be broken down in that family, but it doesn’t work if living a religious life.
The darkness in the family doesn’t break down for those who just come and go to church. And more so the darkness in the region doesn’t break down, what is a religious life? It’s the same as in any religion, it’s the same as unbelievers, they’re self-centered and people like that can go to church, how do you think they pray? They pray as unbelievers do, and Satan actually likes people like that. Satan isn’t broken down. It doesn’t matter how many people gather like that. If it’s a gathering of people like that, it doesn’t matter if it’s a church or temple because Satan is not being broken down and the darkness in your family line isn’t broken, either, because in your heart, you’re still doing idol worship. God told the believers in the bible to not worship idols, people think that they are worshiping God but are worshiping idols, greed is idolatry. That’s why churches are closing their doors.
Not only are they closing their doors, but they’re not able to overcome this age of mental disorders, because Christ is the solution to our lives, and we have to solve everything with Christ. Christ is the answer to every single problem, and the Lord is with us in everything. You have to finish everything with Christ, nothing is a problem then, because Christ is the answer. If something is a problem, it means Christ is not the answer. Christ is the one who created all things, and the One Who Created it will know the answer to the problem, and only Christ is the One who can solve the problems. When this is relayed to the individuals as well as in your business, that’s when God works.
If you don’t have this solution, you’re just living a religious life. If you’re a religious person, you’ll make religious people, and if you talk to another religious person you will get along because your center is still the same. The forces of darkness and demons in that region will never be broken. You know and have Jesus Christ but your thoughts and heart are always focused on me and physical things, and even when you pray, you’re not praying in a way to make the darkness flee, but you’re praying to fill up yourself, and the more churches are like this, the more Satan is happy.
People think this is the meaning of the church and relay this message a lot and that pleases the devil a lot. A proper church is one where Jesus Christ is the solution to life. A normal church is where relaying the answer of Christ is the normal thing to do.
As they were doing this, James died and Peter was about to die, so of course the Early Church would pray for Peter because death and life are in God’s hands, because the gospel of Christ has to be relayed through Peter and there’s still a lot of work that God must do through Peter, so that’s why God sends an angel to answer their prayers. When you guys pray for missions and evangelism, God will answer prayers by moving his heavenly angels, transcending time and space.
If you don’t know this, you can’t evangelize, you always think you have to go somewhere and do something. That’s someone who doesn’t understand evangelism. Simply put, if a man goes into the military, they would understand, but I don’t think anyone here went into the military. Deacon Elliot was a policeman but he didn’t go into the military. I’m the only one who went into the military, so I’m very frustrated because even if I said something about it, you wouldn’t understand. You have to understand the military to understand me. Even if I told you, I don’t think you’d understand. God is telling me to not talk about it, “Stop being so arrogant, stop saying things that will reveal your own greatness; only talk about the Word of God.”
Whenever you pray, the darkness is broken down. What is a war? It means there’s an enemy. When do you have peace? You can only have peace when you win the war. You guys don’t know because you didn’t go into the military. Because you’ve never fought in the military, you think peace just happens , but you are only enjoying freedom because the military soldiers fought to the death then if you didn’t fight in the military, you think peace just comes. If we didn’t have the military, people would fight and enter into the nation.
So, unless we have a spiritual battle, we cannot have peace. It’s a matter of whether you will win or lose the spiritual battle. Missions and evangelism is the result that comes from victory in the spiritual battle, so we talk about demons but never talk about prayer, so that means you only know with your brain. What would happen if you really knew? Then you’d realize, “I can’t go out unless I pray.” You only know Satan and demons with your brain, but it doesn’t matter, you don’t really know.
When you pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Satan is afraid. It’s not praying, “Give me this or that,” but when you pray to evangelize in the name of Jesus Christ then the forces of darkness are broken. When you pray for God to work upon your work, God sends His angels ahead of you, why? To do missions and evangelism. God doesn’t send you angels so your work can go well, but it’s for missions and evangelism, but if I give messages like this, more than ⅓ of you will stop going to church, “Why would I pray if it is not going to benefit my work?” That’s not a real believer.
You have to pray for missions and evangelism. If you’re a normal Christian, Christ is your solution and if you’re a normal believer, you’ll pray to relay this solution to others. That’s normal, but abnormal people don’t pray. Even if they do pray, they pray for physical benefits; they don’t pray for this, so even if they pray, if they’re not going to gain some kind of benefit, they’ll stop praying, meaning they’re living a religious life. The darkness in your family line will then still work powerfully.
Satan knows whether you have Christ or not. Of course, Christ is there, but how do you know Christ? Christ is with you because by God’s grace, the Holy Spirit is with you, but how do you know Christ? Everybody understands Christ differently; you have to become normal.
Christ is the solution to all of our life. To receive healing, you have to keep receiving the message. Nothing else will ever heal you. If you receive some kind of prayer and get healed, Satan’s going to work again later on, at first you seem better, but if you’re not rooted in prayer then will fall until this person has the solution of Christ. Once Christ becomes your solution, the problem you have isn’t going to be a problem anymore. It’s the same as your personal life as well as your mintries and healing and you have so many thoughts going back and forth, so have a very quiet time.
What’s important is how visible is this content being relayed. The members of the Early Church had the proper, correct covenant within them, and because they had this covenant in them, of course they had to relay it. There’s no answer other than this. Success was not their solution, if you’re saying I’m going to race toward success, you already don’t have the answer. You have to save the successful people and save the failures, too. If you have the answer, that’s how your prayer topics will change and the way you look at your life will change, too.
If you live a religious life, that’s not right. Just like the members of the Early Church in the Bible, you have to become a proper normal Christian. But because I’m rooted in different things and I have a certain nature, I’m living a religious life without even realizing. I keep listening to the Word of God centered on me, my things, and my success, and if the word of God touches you you’ll say, “I received grace,” but if that person talks to a Buddhist, what do you think they’ll say? It’s always talking about the same thing, imagine how much that makes Satan happy? That kind of church cannot save your family or yourself.
It must be the church that has the covenant, a church that prays for the covenant, and God fulfills His covenant to evangelize this covenant by sending His angels that transcend time and space. Why do we keep listening to messages about transcending time and space in this age? Because the Three Organizations in this world that are completely controlling the entire world through their evil prayers.
People who have no interest in missions and evangelism are centered on themselves, so they are saying, “I don’t care about the three organizations, that has nothing to do with me,” but people who are interested in God’s covenant will say, “oh, that’s right, that’s how the field is moving right now,” and the Three Organizations are spreading their influence really fast around the world.
Just as how the coronavirus is not localized to America, it makes the entire world one neighborhood. We have the delta variant that has gone all the way to Korea and all different nations, and now we have the lambda variant as well. Why is everyone scared of this? Because it’s not enough to just quarantine one neighborhood; it’s gone around the world. American movies and books and music do not just influence America; they influence the world. The way that this is being spiritually influencing all around the world, the artists are demon possessed and they put it in a masterpiece, and it’s relayed globally.
Why do Americans like Japanese anime so much because it’s a demonic masterpiece, it’s made by people possessed by demons. Why is it that people don’t even speak Japanese but they like Anime? It’s only people in Japan but it is influencing people all over the world. Anime isn’t just cartoons, but it’s putting demonic ideas into your children’s minds and it’s gone all the way into your living rooms.
There are games where you kill others. Humans have a nature of killing other people because our father is the devil, so they receive a lot of grace and are inspired whenever they kill people in games, so they keep falling deeper and deeper into games. They’re swayed by falling into these games without realizing this is how Satan is controlling them. We can’t kill people in real life, but we can kill people in games, and that’s how I can feel some pleasure, and who are the ones who created these games? The ones who created all this media, their spiritual state goes into these games. They didn’t just make it from their imagination, otherwise it wouldn’t sell. They’re possessed. There is some godlike entity that has possessed them, inspiring these creations, and the devil knows the inner nation of humans, and that’s why these works of art are so inspirational.
That’s how demons are completely sweeping over the world. They give you one piece of music and that the lyrics will not escape your brain for the rest of your life. Even right now, more than singing praise, you think about worldly lyrics, and it goes on for a very long time. This is how people are seized, then what do we have to do about that?
Right now, it’s a contact-free age. If you need to meet someone in-person, that’s weird; it’s not aligned with the age. We’re in an age where we can sit in one place and move the entire world. The Three Organizations are doing this right now, but what are the churches doing? Should we be going door to door and giving each other pamphlets? They’re going to make it so you can’t even go into their house. If you want to live a long life you have to be good with a computer. If you don’t want to live a long time, you don’t have to learn things like zoom, but if you want to live a little longer, then you have to learn it and you have to do it, because you have to be aligned with the age.
It doesn’t matter how much you hold onto the dead technology of the past. Did you watch the movie, The Last Samurai? You know about the Samurai with their swords in Japan. The technology of guns had already advanced but they were sitting by themselves holding onto their sword with the Japanese flag on it, you have to hold onto the age quickly. God is moving the age right now and you have to align yourself to it, but you’re sitting there by yourself, thinking you’re so great, thinking you’re the last samurai, but you’re going to die. Even if you’re just going to your job.
This is the age we’re entering into, we have to mark it. Nowadays if someone is traveling to India, for example, they’ll go online and research all the restaurants, hotels and prepare all the money accordingly. How would you know that? Because already, they have all their routes and prices determined, then they go. But if our restaurant is not online, no one will know about us. It’s the same with evangelism. We have to be connected with the proper, correct message, with the entire world online, because right now, is an age where we are not meeting face to face and that’s what God desires.
It’s possible to have a prayer that transcends time and space, that’s the age we’re in, so whenever you guys have the proper prayer, God works transcending time and space. The method is by influencing the entire world through things like zoom. Even students, before you go into school, that’s how you study. They told you not to go to school, but what happens if they say you shouldn’t go to school but you keep going? It doesn’t matter how much you want to go, “I’m a soldier of Christ,” they’re not going to let you in. You have to quickly come to your senses.
“I have to go into this age where we’re able to influence the entire world online.” It is a very important time schedule where we can influence anywhere, whether it’s Mongolia, India, or Pakistan, and that’s why we pray behind the scenes, and whenever we pray, God works. It was the same age now and the same for the Early Church. They couldn’t proclaim the gospel and they couldn’t even gather, so that’s why they had no choice but to go by God’s method, and that’s prayer.
Whenever you pray, God will give you these very accurate meanings, He has prepared. If God isn’t giving you accurate meetings, it doesn’t matter how many people you meet. Everybody needs other people, even dogs need to meet other dogs, but it is a meeting that is right according to God’s time schedule, and God has a separate prepared evangelism door, and through one person, much evangelism takes place. These things exist but you’re so stubborn thinking you can work diligently.
It’s not enough with your studies and diligence; if you’re praying, God will move you forward, and it’s the same with your business as well. You have to go in with the Word of God because God is moving his word, and he moves the economy, too. If you’re irrelevant to God’s Word, your economy is irrelevant to God’s word, too. If my studies are irrelevant to God’s Word, then my future is irrelevant to God, too. If the adults know this, they can relay this to the children well, but if the adults are blind, then the children are blind, too. God never works outside of His Word.
Old Testament, New Testament, Jesus Christ is the answer to all problem because Jesus Christ is the Creator and the answer to all healing is Christ. You have to be at the right door. The Creator knows the creation, who else would know? Would other people know or would God know? The problem of my life, the problem of my future, the Creator would know me and the Creator is Christ, that is our solution and have to tell other people about this.
It is for this reason that we work and study. If the church doesn’t have this, it’s not a church and that’s why God gives us a very detailed message every week because it is the Word that is necessary now, that’s why we worship at church. If our churches disappeared, then just like the ages of Malachi,the whole world disappears from the Age of Malachi to the New Testament, everything was destroyed. God is working but the people didn’t want to receive it, and they were supposed to give their tithes, but they didn’t because they didn’t the priests had to go and get other jobs.
Even if they did give their tithes, they only gave their animals that were diseased or would die tomorrow, and the priests can’t starve to death so the Temple just disappeared. God is working but they said, “I don’t want to receive it.” This happened for 400 years. When did this begin? It ended with captivity in Babylon. They escaped from captivity from Babylon and were instructed to build the Temple of Zerubbabel, and remaining in unbelief for a long time is a real big problem, because even after they started building the temple of Zerubbabel, they talked so much that the Temple wasn’t even completed.
Later on, the Temple was taken away to Persia, and after one year, they came back, meaning they didn’t have the ability to do anything, and that’s why they had to keep running to Persia to get help. Because of this weakness, the members of the church didn’t give offering. What does it mean that you don’t give offering? It means there’s no reason to have a church. Most people think that way, “We just have to go to church.” Is that enough, to simply go to church ? Then should the person giving the message be fasting? Then do you think the rent for this building will just fall from the sky? But there are many members of the church like that.
So, the priests have to take this offering to sacrifice the animals to absolve sins, but the members of the community didn’t believe that. That’s why they were completely colonized by Rome. So the people of Israel who were like that, it’s honestly rightful for them to revolve against God, and honestly, it makes sense with their spiritual state why they killed Jesus Christ because it’s not something that happened today or yesterday, but after 400 years of their spatula state, they killed Jesus.
But through the remnants whom God left behind, the remnants meaning the ones who did not bow down to idols in every age, those were the people who received the gospel. God prepared the people who receive the gospel as answer to their life. In other words, they were finished with Christ. These people didn’t care about persecution or being martyred, they gathered, and of course, through all of their different meetings, the word movement has no choice but to take place.
Acts 4:12, Peter confessed there is no other name under heaven or on earth by which we must be saved. By law, Christ is still the answer, so relaying him is nothing wrong and it doesn’t matter who much you try to proclaim this with the law, Christ is still the answer now imagine how much the Holy Spirit was working, because the Holy Spirit doesn’t work however it wants.
It was working according to God’s accurate Word. Then when they face the danger of death, do you think God will just let them go? It’s not just that the members of the church prayed to save Peter, because James had already died and Peter might die, too, and it’s not that James just died, but God allowed that to happen. Because they prayed God may use Peter to do world evangelization.
I’m not talking about the works that took place, I’m saying, “What is God doing when the people who have the covenant gather together and pray?” Why is it that God, who is seated at the throne of heaven, had to go all the way down to liberate Peter Peter when he prayed? God is doing His work through the angels that He commands with His Word and He is doing the work of fulfilling His covenant and there is never a time when someone who prays with the covenant will fall to the ground, because if someone has the covenant, they may seem to be facing a wall, but it’s never a wall, it is a promise God is fulfilling. Who can ever block that? Of course God would send His angels.
Even the people that are possessed by evil spirits are moving the whole world, it doesn’t matter what your age is. Just because you’re young doesn’t mean you’re blind to this, the spiritual things are independent of your age. If a small child prays holding onto the covenant will God work? It’s possible that even the elementary kids or toddlers can evangelize. Some people can’t evangelize even if they’re older, but elementary students do because they believe. If anything, children have better faith. Adults don’t hold onto the covenant because they’re so worried about all the other opinion and things, but children receive it wholeheartedly. God always works with His word, He never works with anything else because that would be a lie.
Then, as the jail begins to shake and the chains are broken and the guards are freaking out, Peter goes home because back in these days, everyone just gathered together at home to worship. So, without a doubt, it’s Peter but they say, “How could it possibly be Peter? It might be Peter’s angel.” Hebrews 1:14 says that angels of God are ministering spirits sent to the people of God. God has attached an angel to help every saved person, and whenever you pray, God moves. God is moving, transcending time and space.
During these times of worship, whenever you hold onto God’s covenant and pray, God is sending his heavenly angels to your field transcending time and space, to give you answers in advance. God gives you His Word and whenever you reach in your heart, “Wow this is true.” that becomes your prayer, and God sends His angels to fulfill that answer immediately. That’s the work God does, then how important is worship? If you don’t have worship, we lose God’s word, so if the churches are closing down, it means they are closing down as they no longer have God’s Word. Even if they are reading the words of the Bible, Christ is still not their answer. Missions and evangelism is not God’s plan for them, then. Those people are exactly the same, as the people gathering at churches rather than Temple. God will break down the churches that do idol worship. He is breaking down these churches because they are soiling the name of God.
Restore the covenant, Christ, the solution to every problem; it doesn’t matter what problem: Christ is the answer. Your scars, your future don’t matter; the solution to all problems is Christ. Whenever you hold onto that covenant and pray, God works. “Right, God has given me a mission to relay this covenant to others” and that becomes your prayer, and at that time, the darkness in your familyline breaks down, but Satan has been blocking you all the me so that you can’t do that, but when you pray like that, the darkness in your children will break. There’s no other way to break the darkness.
When the church gathers and prays with one heart, of course the darkness will be broken down. Is it just in the region? It is in all the places, God is working, and that started in the Early Church, and God’s first priority is to restore the proper believer and the proper church.
Prayer
I hope you will have that blessed time tonight. Let us pray holding onto the Word God has given us today. “God, allow me to be the one to testify that Jesus Christ is the solution to all the problems in the world.” Let us pray.
Let us pray together. Let’s pray for your family line, the region, and for the 50 states of America. Let us pray for the people who will do the Word and Life movement to be raised up.
Let us pray for world evangelization and missions. Utah, Navajo, Central area, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Mongolia, Karen, and the Jews. Let us pray together.
Finally let us pray for the Sunday message. God, please give us the word that will be fulfilled in our lives on Sunday. Allow us not the Word we desire, but the Word God desires to give us. May all the forces of darkness that are hindering the Word of God may be broken down, and let us pray for the North America Youth Evangelism Institute, and Saturday Mission School tomorrow.
Let’s sing one praise, and we’ll have benediction and you can have your personal prayer and go home.
Benediction
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of God, and the indwelling, working, guidance, and communion of the Holy Spirit, be upon all the believers of Christ who want to hold onto the covenant and to relay this to the field, and upon the multiethnics and the remnants, upon their businesses and studies, be with them now until forevermore always, amen.