You're listening to the Miracle Word Podcast. We believe that the Word of God gives you the power to experience never-ending increase in every area. If you're ready for revelation that will take you to the next level, you're in the right place. Here's your host, evangelist, author, and founder of Miracle Word University, Ted Shuttlesworth, Jr.
Rapture update for you guys today. The Rapture did not happen. The Rapture did not take place. It was supposed to take place on the 23rd or the 24th, but here we are on the 25th and no Rapture.
No Rapture has taken place. So there's the new evidence. I'm always put off. Here's the thing too.
It's like people never learn their lesson. It's like they never learn their lesson. In every generation, there are people who make predictions, but I was watching the video last night because my uncle posted it of the guy who really was responsible for the Rapture 2025 craze. I don't know if he's South African.
I think he said here in South Africa, so I was assuming he was South African. But it's like people never learn their lesson on the predictions about the Rapture. They just keep making predictions. And we're still here.
But you have to live as though Christ could comment at any moment because even though we're, you know, what if somebody got the calendar wrong by a couple of days? And here we could be. We could be sitting right here today and while we're on the broadcast, it's all right, you can take a breath. You can take a breath.
The Rapture didn't happen. We're still here. We're still here. People are already looking to raid the studio.
Dibs on the sound equipment. My God, in the twinkling of an eye will all be changed. No, people don't learn their lesson. And it's like every generation people keep making, people keep making predictions.
It's gonna be this day, it's gonna be on this time. Some of you don't even remember this. There was a book that came out. 88 reasons, 88 reasons that Jesus is coming in 1988.
And the next year, no lie, no lie. The next year, 89 reasons why Jesus is coming in 1989. And people keep on doing it. So I'm watching the guy, right?
I'm watching this guy make the predictions. And it's like, you gotta be, I mean, I don't know what causes them to be so sure. But it's like, I was watching the guy last night being interviewed and he was like, I am telling you what I'm saying to you, the words that are coming out of my mouth right now are from the Almighty God. It's like, dang, this guy was so sure, so sure that the Rapture was taking place during the Feast of Trumpets 2025.
I mean, to say that. So what, I mean, I haven't seen anything from today, but it's like, what do you say after that? You know, I did see a couple of other Instagram stories, a lot of apologies, a lot of apologies. But what do you say after that?
I mean, when you're the guy that says, what I'm telling you is from the mouth of the Almighty God. Like what do you, what do you say after that? At that point, you're just kind of like, listen guys, it's rough. You lose all credibility, all credibility.
And he was so sure, even the people in the interview were like, so you're 100% sure, 100% sure. Jesus is coming. So when that happens, and I'll tell you another thing, I did some research on it, because I didn't really know his name, but saw his name last night. And we checked the records.
We checked the records, and one thing I can promise you, because I know for sure now, he was not a member of Miracle Word Plus, and he had not taken the signs of the Times course. I can just tell you with 100% accuracy, that guy was not a member of Miracle Word Plus. He had not gone through signs of the Times. He did not unlock Bible prophecy with us when we went through it.
However, there's good news, you can be a part of Miracle Word Plus and go through the signs of the Times course, so that you will not miss the Rapture, nor will you say things that are not true. Monsonique said, you don't even open your mouth again after that, and I would have to agree. But just so the world knows, that man was not a member. He was not a student.
Because here's what happens. Here's what takes place. People hear things like that, and of course, you know, they think, well, here's a pastor, here's a guy, he's so adamant, he's so adamant about it. And it's gotta be right, it's gotta be sure.
Here's a man of God, he's telling us that for sure. And what happens is, is when it doesn't take place, people, you know, it's like almost like their faith takes a hit, it shouldn't, it shouldn't take a hit, but for some people it does. Because like, well, that guy, he was so sure, and it didn't happen, or you know, or people that are engaged in what's called newspaper prophecy. That everything they see on Twitter, everything they see on Facebook, everything they see in the newspaper, on the news, is a sign, Jesus is coming in a few days, he's coming, and it's like, they make all these newspaper prophecies, and then people hear it, and they get sucked into it, and then all of a sudden, you know, it's like some people's faith is, it feels like they take a dent in their faith.
It shouldn't be that way, it shouldn't be that way. And so, you know, I saw my friend, Pastor Allen D'O online, made a great point, he said, you know, three things, you gotta be careful of saying, and the three things that he was talking about were at number one, Jesus is coming on this day. You gotta be careful, you can't say that, the Bible says no man knows that they are the hour of Christ's return. So, number one, Jesus is coming on this day.
He said, number two, Jesus is not coming on this day, we gotta be careful, Jesus is coming on this day, Jesus is not coming on this day, and then number three, the trap that a lot of people fall into, Jesus is not coming, Jesus is not coming back. That's the third mistake, is that people lose their faith or their confidence, and I've watched as people shift their whole theological perspective, you know, all way, because either they've been discouraged, or they saw something that didn't happen, or whatever it might be, and they shift their whole theological perspective. Well, you know, I guess Christ is not coming back, and maybe, you know, maybe this is the kingdom, or, you know, I've heard people, I've actually heard some Christians, you know, this is tribulation that we're living in right now, like this is tribulation, you know, the church has been experiencing tribulation for thousands of years, and this is it, and they totally throw out everything else. But one thing that no matter where you are theologically in the kingdom of God, one thing you have to, have to agree on, because the Bible teaches it, is that Jesus is coming back.
You can't get to the place where you say, well, I guess he's not coming, no, he's coming, Jesus is coming, every, and by the way, and I mentioned our course signs of the times, but one of the books that we use in that course, which I would heavily suggest that you get by it for yourself, is a book called The End, by Dr. Mark Hitchcock. The End by Dr. Mark Hitchcock.
It's a comprehensive overview of The End Times, but one of the points that he makes in the book is, no matter what position you take on eschatology or the teaching about End Times Bible prophecy, you have to agree, everyone has to agree that Jesus is coming back, he's coming back. I'm not sure what you mean the question, what about those who have seen Jesus come back already? Let me see that question. What about those who have seen Jesus come already?
Kelly, I'm not sure what you mean by that. So if you give me some more context there, those who have already seen Jesus come, I don't know what that means, but he is coming. Everyone has to agree because the Bible teaches it, Christ will return. So don't let your faith be shattered or whatever, because you heard somebody make a prediction and the prediction didn't come to pass, because the real danger, if you wanna know what the real danger is, to allow or to cause anything in your life or any experience to allow unbelief to come into your heart or into your life, that is the killer, is unbelief.
And the enemy works very hard to try to deposit unbelief into the hearts of believers. He wants unbelief to infiltrate your heart and steal your faith and put you in a place where you don't expect at that point anything from God or become double-minded. Those are two massive traps that I really wanna deal with because there are two things that we see across the world today when people are struggling. Jersey the book, The End, the author is Dr.
Mark Hitchcock, no relation to Alfred. But the two things we see across the world right now, and we put it in the comments, there it is for you, there's the link to Amazon to get the book, is number one, unbelief, number two, people get double-minded, they get double-minded. Now, let's look at James chapter one, because I want to, I wanna deal with something with you real quick in James chapter one. This is how the enemy works.
This is exactly how the enemy works. So I tell people this, be very careful what voices you allow into your life. Be very careful what voices you allow into your life. Who you listen to matters.
I don't listen to everybody. I don't check in with everybody. I listen to those that I know, number one, have a track record of integrity with the word of God, and they're rightly dividing the word of God, you can see that. But James chapter one, and verse five, this is how we look at approaching God and asking him for something.
And in this case, it's wisdom. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him. Verse six, but let him ask in faith without, with no doubting, for the one who doubts, is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind, for that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. Why?
Verse eight tells us why, because he's a double-minded man, unstable in all of his ways, unstable in all of his ways. And so it's mind-blowing how double-mindedness keeps people out of what God has for them. Do you know the same is even true in natural living, natural life. If you're double-minded about things, it will at the very minimum cause delay.
You can't make up your mind about taking action on something. You can't make up your mind about doing something. At the very minimum, it will cause severe delay in your life. Well, I was gonna do this.
I was gonna launch this business. I was gonna go, I was gonna start ministry. I was gonna go to Bible school, but then I got to also think, you know I got this going on. And then all of a sudden double-mindedness, instead of just knowing what God called you to do and running down that path, you start delaying, you start procrastinating, double-mindedness keeps you from receiving because it puts you in a place where you can't make decisions.
With the Lord, it puts you in a place where you don't have full faith in what you're believing for. And so double-mindedness is a killer when it comes to receiving from God. In the Bible's clear, don't expect to receive anything from the Lord if you're operating in double-mindedness. Not one thing.
But then if we go back to the sin of unbelief and unbelief is a sin, the Bible says in the book of Romans that whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. If it doesn't come out of faith, it's sin. Well, you're either in faith or disbelief so whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. And so think of it another way.
Without faith, it's impossible to please God. So think of, let's phrase that in the opposite. If I'm outside of faith or if I have unbelief, my life is displeasing to God. What does it mean if God's displeased with your life?
That's sin. If God is not happy with the way you're living, that's sin. We've missed the mark, right? So that's what happens.
Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. And so the unbelief, it's crazy. When unbelief truly sets in, there's like no limits to the unbelief level. I mean, think about this.
Jesus' body literally was no longer in the tomb. Literally, no longer in the tomb. But rather than believing that Jesus did what he said he would do after all the miracles he performed, people came up with things to have an answer as to why his body's not in the tomb. Well, they came in the night and stole it.
That's what the Bible says. They came in the night and they stole his body. That's why the body's not there. I mean, these are the same people.
There's, do you realize there's people all over the internet right now that are claiming, I mean, like fully convinced, you know, they didn't kill Charlie Kirk. Charlie Kirk's not dead. That didn't all have that was a hologram. That was an illusion.
That was a squib. You know, he had like, he had something on his neck like they have in the movies. That wasn't real. You know, there's people that are convinced that it was all fake.
That's just literally a spirit of unbelief. People saw it happen in front of their own eyes and they're like, that's not real. That didn't happen. Unbelief sets in.
And let me tell you, when unbelief sets in, it'll start touching every area of your life. You don't believe anything. Don't believe anything. It's mind blowing how cancerous unbelief is.
Let me tell you how cancerous it is. How negatively powerful it is. It's so negatively powerful that you could have God in the flesh standing in front of you and still be operating in unbelief and still though he's right in front of your face, not receive anything supernatural. Though God is standing right there.
That's how negatively powerful unbelief is. You know that happened, right? That happened in the Bible. In Mark chapter six.
It was a spirit of unbelief and it was so wild. It was so wild that even Jesus couldn't believe it. Listen to Mark chapter six. I'll start in verse one.
Jesus went away from there and came to his hometown and his disciples followed him. And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue and many who heard him were astonished saying, where did this man get these things? What's the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?
All right, hold on a second. Where did he get all this wisdom? So they recognized he had tons of wisdom, right? They recognized he had tons of wisdom.
What else? How are such mighty works done by his hands? They saw his mighty works. They knew he did them.
So they're looking at this man and they're saying, man, he's got supernatural wisdom. He's doing supernatural works. Then they asked this question, is this not the carpenter? The son of Mary and brother of James and Josephs and Judas and Simon and are not his sisters here with us?
And they took offense at him and said to them, a prophet is not without honor except in his own hometown and his own among his own relatives and in his own household. And he could do their no mighty work except that he ladies hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. Think about that, marveled.
And I'm gonna get to those questions. That's right, Scott. People think Elvis is still alive. Kristen, yes.
They think Tupac is definitely still alive. Somewhere on an island, there's an island somewhere where Elvis, Tupac, Biggie, Michael Jackson, and Charlie Kirk are living secretly for some unknown reason. They had to go there because in this conspiracy, they had to stay alive. We don't know why and we had to be convinced they were dead.
Don't know why, but somewhere Elvis, Biggie, Tupac, Michael Jackson and Charlie Kirk are living on an island secretly. I don't understand people. I don't understand people. And Jesus marveled at their unbelief.
It was blown away and it hindered him from being able to do what he wanted to do. Don't let unbelief hinder you from receiving what God wants to do in your life. Don't allow unbelief to hinder you from receiving what God wants to do in your life. And that's the key.
Unbelief is a sin. I believe God. I choose to believe God. I believe His word.
But when people get all caught up in opinions and then the opinions don't come to pass, here's the thing. Why do we treat people's opinions with the same level of respect as the written word of God? That makes no sense. There are people who will put all of their faith and trust in the opinions of men as though it's on the same level as God's word.
It's not on the same level as God's word. There's no man whose word, whose opinion, whose teaching is on the same level as God's written word. Nobody. And then people are so dejected.
They're so discouraged because something didn't come to pass. Something didn't happen for them like they thought it would happen. Let me tell you something. You've put too much faith in men and not enough faith in God's word.
It doesn't mean you can't trust people. It's not what I'm saying. I'm saying don't hold people's opinions up to the same standard as God's word. God's word stands alone in its integrity, stands alone.
There's nothing beside it. There's nothing above it. It stands alone. It's the highest level of truth and power that exists.
Nothing is more. I know. I'm blown away. I'm truly blown away.
And then for Christians that like ate this up, Christians ate it up. And I'm wondering what people are going to be saying today. Well, I want to hear from this guy. I want to hear what he has to say.
I mean, if he was intelligent, he would just repent and then quietly go somewhere and sit under a pastor. But I'm sure what will happen is people will come. Mark my words. This is what will happen.
People will start making comments like this. Well, I know a lot of you were saying that the rapture didn't happen. But I feel as though we were kind of enraptured spiritually. I feel like I personally felt something on the 23rd and 24th.
I felt something in my heart. And possibly I feel like what God is saying to me is that it was a spiritual enrapturement that we were supposed to experience, not necessarily the rapture, but a rapture. Or that's why I put the title the way I did today, is that people will come out. Actually, as I was studying this, the Lord directed my attention.
And I began to Google calendars. And I started to realize they've stolen days out of our calendar. Yeah, Chris, it's the Mayan calendar. And if you go to the Gregorian and subtract seven, that's God's number, but you take away 666, then what you really find out is that it wasn't that they tricked us.
It's always something like that. Either they spiritualize it or they come out with new evidence that we weren't reading the calendar right. I didn't realize this. My watch had stopped.
I needed to put a battery in my watch. I was not sure about the time. And so it's always one of those two things. Either they spiritualize it or we were looking at it too naturally.
We should have seen or something happened in the calendar, the Bible code. Actually, if you read Revelation backwards and then take out every third letter, there's always stuff like that. See, always be careful. All this stuff, it's like, you probably remember maybe when the Bible code books came out, the Bible code.
But if you look at this, and then you divide it this way, and you add these letters and interchange this, and it's like, then what you get is you get Bill Clinton. You get this, like, OK. And it's funny. It's funny how people will be all blown away like, man, when you can truly make anything say anything, if you work hard enough.
You can make anything say anything if you work hard enough. And if you do that, and then look at the Hebrew transliteration, and then you take that and subtract this number, and then you add this, and then go over two places, and then you take that letter, and then all of a sudden, Barack Obama. It's like, no. Why would God, you realize, don't you?
God gave us his word because he wanted us to have information. You realize that. He's not trying to steal information. And he's not trying to obscure information.
The whole reason that he gave us his inspired word is because he wants us to have the knowledge. He wants us to have the wisdom. He wants us to know what he wants us to know. That's why he left us the Bible.
I like it. Chris, the Bible code, available in a box set with how to lie with numbers. Yeah. I mean, why do you think we're in the middle of the Bible conspiracy?
Why do you think I'm doing that series? It's because there are so many people who have this history channel style mindset, right? Where it's like, you can't trust the Bible. You don't know the things that have happened through the years, and the corruption that's happened, and they've manipulated our scripture, and we don't have what the early church had, and all the different stuff.
They get into all that conspiracy, which is why I'm dealing with it. That's what this is all about. The Bible conspiracy, all the manuscripts, the myths, the making of scripture. Where do we get the Bible?
Is it the same as what they had in the early church? Has it been corrupted through the ages? Or is it the same? Has God preserved his word?
It's the whole reason we're going through this right now. If you're not in on this, you need to be in on this. Because people say there's so much stupid stuff going around right now about scripture, about the Bible. Can't church scripture.
It's been totally corrupted. It's been manipulated through the ages. What we have today doesn't even resemble what they had back then. And blah, blah, blah, blah.
They have no idea what they're talking about. No idea what they're talking about. And that's the whole reason that we're doing this, because what happens is that people hear those things, and they're the opinions of men, then you go look at the actual data. It's sad that, and I like, listen, I like the fictional stuff.
I enjoy it. I enjoy fiction. You know why? I know it's fiction.
I can remember when everybody, raise your hands in the comments if you remember this. Everyone got bent out of shape when Dan Brown released the Da Vinci Code, the book. I saw it on every airplane. People were reading it all over the world.
The Da Vinci Code was like an international bestseller. Author Dan Brown. And people were all, man, what about everybody got bent out of shape in the Christian community? You know, because people that read it can't separate fact from fiction.
And they don't know anything about Christian history. None. They know zero about Christian history. And so they're like, oh man, I read the Da Vinci Code.
Like it was a Bible school textbook. And it's sad that there were actually scholars who had to put out books decoding the Da Vinci Code or debunking the Da Vinci Code. And it's like, and I'm not making fun of them. They had to do it because there were so many Christians taken by, oh, did you read the Da Vinci Code?
Did you know that this and that it's like, no? Did you know they made up the divinity of Christ? The Council of Nicaea? It's like, no, they didn't even, you know, all these different things.
They changed the Bible. They took things out of the Bible. It's like, no, study some history. Stop trying to learn your truths from fiction.
And so I love the fiction. I love the storylines, exciting stories, adventures, whatever. He's a great writer. But I don't read it to learn biblical truth.
And that's where some people are at. They read one thing, and all of a sudden their faith is shaken. I just don't know anymore. I used to be such a strong Christian.
I read the Da Vinci Code. I'm like, OK. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, He always had that. He used to be such a strong Christian.
And then I read the Da Vinci Code, and I just don't know what to believe anymore. OK, you used to be a strong Christian, and then you read a fictional novel. And you don't know what to think anymore. It's like, I don't know if you were a strong Christian.
I think you think you were a strong Christian. But a strong Christian reads the Bible and understands the Word of God. Exactly, Scott. It's like taking Raiders of the Lost Ark with Indiana Jones as gospel.
That's right. And so the thing is, people, they're not as secure in their beliefs as they think they are. And then one thing comes around, which should be obvious, right? One thing comes around, and their faith feels like it's shaken.
Don't let your faith be shaken by people's opinions. And definitely not please, not by fictional novels. Read one fictional novel. Read one fictional novel.
And let me just say, if you're going to read any fictional novel in 2025, let it be Mephlabs in Maine. That's the one you need. It's not going to shake your faith. It's going to build your faith as you read about me and my cousin, Pastor Jonathan, at a summer camp in northern Maine on the border of Canada, saving another camper from a Meph lab.
And you think I'm just joking around? I actually remember it. I remember hearing Christians say, I read the Da Vinci Code, and it really hurt my faith. It's like, what?
What? That's like saying, I read Jurassic Park, and I'm telling you, my faith in creation was totally shaken. I used to be a creationist. I used to believe God created the world in six days.
Then I read Jurassic Park. And I just can't tell you that I still am a creationist. That's on the same level of stupidity. By the way, when you read Mark, a Mark, chapter six that we read a moment ago where Jesus goes to his own hometown, how can the Catholic Church still perpetuate the doctrine of Mary's perpetual virginity?
How can you believe in the doctrine of perpetual virginity? When you read that verse, James six, or Mark six, three, is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joseph's and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us? Jesus had brothers and sisters. He had brothers, he had sisters.
But we also know he was the first born because she was a virgin when she conceived. How can, it's like people don't read the Bible. And don't take people's opinions and let them carry the same weight in your heart. You know, that's why Paul, when he was writing to the Galatian church and he was annoyed with them, trust me, he was annoyed.
He was angry. He was angry that they had been taken over into this false doctrine so easily, so easily. He said, who bewitched you? Who bewitched you?
Have you left the faith so easily? And so he's talking with them about it in his letter or rebuking them about it, I should say, because that's a rough letter. But as he's talking to them, as he's teaching them, one of the things that he has to deal with is, I don't care who tells you anything. I don't care.
I don't actually care who preaches a different gospel to you. But then he says this, he says, I don't care if it's me or an angel from heaven. Now think about him saying that. He's the one that went and gave him the truth.
He said, I don't care if I come back to you and give you a different gospel than what I've previously given you. He said, I don't care if an angel shows up from heaven and starts preaching a different gospel to you. I don't care. He said, let whoever it is, now this is heavy.
He says, let whoever it is, that preaches a different gospel to you, be cursed. Let them be cursed. And the word cursed, there is that word anathema. We teach on that in the Galatians course in Miracord Plus.
Anathema is such a strong curse. It's like being cursed beyond hope of repair. Let that person be cursed. And he said, let me be involved in that same curse of I'm the one that comes with a different gospel.
That's how serious they were about sticking with what the Bible says. And if God said it, see that's why the Berean Christians in the book of Acts were considered the more noble Christians. If you've read that verse where it says, the Bereans were more noble. Why were they more noble?
Because even though the apostles stood in front of them and gave them the gospel, gave them the word of God, they didn't just take it at face value. The Bible says they searched the scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Which is what you should be doing today, what I should be doing today. I don't care if I'm the one speaking to you in preaching.
If what I preach to you doesn't line up with the written word of God, don't receive it. I've been in, listen to people and I love them. But if there are people, no matter how reputable they are, if they teach things that don't line up with scripture, I don't receive it. Doesn't mean I hate the person.
Doesn't mean I'm against them. They may have missed it. They may have made a mistake. People make mistakes.
People make mistakes. And so, but if I hear someone teach something that doesn't line up with the scripture, I don't receive it. I don't receive it. And that's why the Berean Christians in the book of Acts were more noble because though they had the actual apostles of the Lamb preaching to them, giving them the truth, they said, all right, let's check this next to the word of God.
Let's check this. And they checked it. And they were labeled more noble for that action. That they didn't just take blindly at face value that something someone said, they made sure it lined up with God's word.
And that's what I'm encouraging you is, number one, don't let your faith be shaken. But number two, don't be so caught up in what somebody says or what somebody teaches. No matter how much you love them, no matter how reputable they might be, that you just take it at face value without testing it by the word of God. Everything should go through the filter of God's word.
Tonya said, my sister listens to people that do not line up with God. I've told her to look for what they're saying and make sure it's in the Bible. There's so many false teachers. And that's actually one of the signs of the times is that there would be false teachers that arise.
And we know they're rising up all over the place. False teachers would arise. And then people who have itching ears would accumulate teachers that would just tell them what they want to hear. That's a sign of the end times.
So today there's all kinds of false teachers. Simply teaching or saying the things people want to hear and people are listening to them in droves because they're false and because what they're teaching is pleasing to the flesh. Think about that. That's right, Melon and scoffers is another sign.
People that mock it, people that make fun of it. And so all this stuff that's happened over the last, however long couple weeks, doesn't shake my faith at all. Doesn't shake my faith in Christ's return. Doesn't shake my faith in the rapture.
Doesn't shake my faith in the word of God at all. Not even a little bit, not even a small, small amount. Believe me when I say that, not even the tiniest amount. So I'm not discouraged.
And there's no reason you should be or that you should feel like somehow we missed something is the body of it. No, we didn't. God's gonna do what he said he would do. Just because he didn't do it the way some man said he would do it doesn't mean anything.
And so be encouraged today. But here's the true before we pray and I'm gonna take some time to pray and the Holy Ghost with you. Before we do that though, understand something, the trick here is really the two things that I shared with you. The enemy wants you to either come into a place of double mindedness or he just wants to fill you with unbelief.
Now, last passage here that I'll deal with. The Bible says in John chapter 10 verse 10, the thief does not come except for three reasons, to steal, to kill and to destroy, to steal, to kill and to destroy. So he'll steal from you and then kill you. I've always found it interesting that destroy comes after kill.
It's like if I'm already dead, what more can you do to destroy me? But the light turns on when you realize that the devil's not out just to hurt one person. He wants to take out whole families. He wants to take out people's lineage.
So what happens, and you've seen this happen before in people's lives, the enemy attacks one person, steals from them and maybe kills them. They don't get their victory or whatever it might be and they die. And then what about the destruction part? Because of that person's death or because of that person's whatever loss they had, it starts to affect the faith of the entire family.
People that used to go to church, stop going to church. People that used to believe in God, stop believing in God. All those different things. The devil didn't just steal from one person and kill one person.
He used it to try to destroy a family. So the key is he's not satisfied just attacking one person. He wants to destroy an entire family. He wants to destroy an entire lineage with one attack against one person.
So I always tell people this, and I'll keep saying this literally until Jesus comes. I don't allow tragedy to alter my theology. I don't allow tragedy to alter my theology. Someone's experience is not greater than God's word.
It's like somebody asked my dad. He said, brother, what would you do if you laid hands on somebody for them to be healed and they dropped over dead? He said, I'd say next. Just because somebody doesn't receive what God said is theirs, doesn't mean God's a liar.
Nor does it mean God's not able? Nor does it mean his words not true. I was with a pastor in Michigan one time and we were leaving the church and we were going to the green room and someone stopped us on the lobby and said, I've prayed for people. They said, why do we pray for people that are sick?
But and then you know, or the question was phrased this way. Why do we keep praying for people that are sick if they all don't get healed? Why do we keep praying for people that are sick if they all don't get healed? Why do we keep praying for people that are sick if they don't get healed?
And the pastor, a veteran without missing a beat, he said, we don't pray for people because of the result. We pray for people because the Bible commands us to do it. And that was an excellent question. Because people do struggle with that question, but it was an excellent answer as well.
Excellent answer as well. That was your pastor. That was your pastor that gave that end calling. Excellent.
Pastor Phil Christ. He said, we don't pray for people because of whatever outcome we pray for them because God's word commands us to do it. And that's exactly right, James chapter five tells us, is there any sick among you? Let them call for the elders of the church who will anoint them with oil and lay their hands upon them and the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise them up.
I'm commanded, I do my part and then God's responsible to do his part, I don't do God's part and God doesn't do my part. So people are all bent, why do we keep doing this? I'm not in charge of whether or not people receive from God. I do what I'm commanded to do.
I pray for the sick because the Bible commands me to pray for the sick. And I believe they'll recover. I don't go in there and say, well, maybe God's not willing to heal everybody. Maybe God's not willing to touch it.
I don't think like that because the Bible doesn't teach it. But I can't force people to receive from God. But here what I'm saying, as I'm dealing with this, of double mindedness and unbelief, don't allow tragedy. I don't know why I'm going so hard on this this morning.
There might be people that must really, really need to hear this. Don't allow tragedy to alter your theology. Don't allow experience, people's experiences, people's stories. You know, it never fails.
I'll have services at churches. I'll have revival services and then healing services in the midst of the revival. And it never fails. There's always somebody in the church that'll come up.
So I know you believe in all that healing and stuff. But let me tell you, my great grandmother went to this church you're preaching at. And I'll tell you, she was the godliest woman I ever knew. And she was here in this church for 65 years.
And she got cancer at the end. And we were all praying. And everybody was believing God. And she ended up dying of cancer.
So I don't know how. It's like there's always somebody that comes up with some kind of a story like that. To sow doubt or double mindedness. Well, and I know they don't mean to half the time.
They just, they can't wrap their mind around it. And it's like, I wanna say, it's almost like you wanna look at it like, I'm sorry, I didn't know that your grandmother was the word of God. What? I didn't know your grandmother was the word of God.
I didn't realize your grandmother was the defined every Christian's faith, whether or not she received her healing. I just said, it's like harsh. I did say it to somebody one time. It wasn't about their grandmother, but it was about somebody.
I did say it. I was like, I'm sorry, I didn't know he was the word of God. I didn't know that his life defined my faith as a Christian. And like, it shook him.
So what do you mean? I'll tell you what I mean. Somebody's life and what happens to them in their life does not define my faith or my theology. They're not the Holy Ghost and they're not the word of God.
So, Jersey, that's not the way to kindly respond to a person like that, though I did respond that way one time. But you just have to let them know. You know, we don't define our theology by people's personal stories. I don't even know what that means.
That's not faith. Sorry, my son told me as a crack in his toenail. I grabbed it and he said, no, I like it. Don't pray if we all had that kind of faith.
I don't even know what that means. If somebody had said, I have cancer and you went to praise it, no, I like my cancer. Man, what faith they have. It's not faith.
It's not faith. Love that diabetes, don't pray. Man, I wish we all had faith like that. To just love our sickness.
Tonya said, a pastor's wife at a women's event said to her friend that had terminal cancer. You may be healed now. If not, you'll be healed after death. What?
Thanks for that encouragement, pastor. Yeah, apparently. That's like people said, if you're not healed here, you'll be healed there, amen? That's not Jesus never told people that.
Jesus never told people that. He didn't tell, listen, I'm gonna pray for you. But if you don't get healed when I pray, you'll be healed after you die. That was never Jesus' message in the Bible.
Nor was it the apostles' message. Here, there, in the air. That's not how it works. And so part of that, as you can see, part of that issue is people don't have an understanding of what the Bible teaches, which is why I'm here and why preachers are here.
The Bible says, God set men of God or gifts into the church for the perfecting of the saints to build your faith, to teach and preach the word of God. Because the teaching and preaching of the word of God builds faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Oh yeah, that's, Frank Ramese said, you hear this in church all the time.
Complete healing is only in heaven. Complete healing is only ever in heaven. So don't, the other side of that is, don't put up with the devil's crap. Just because they're well, we're here on the earth.
We're here on the earth, we can never be totally healed. We get to heaven. Don't put up with stuff just because we're here on the earth. Don't put up with anything that devil sends your way.
By faith, attack it until it's gone. Praise God, what a testimony. After seeing your father in Scranton, Pennsylvania, my daughter's off seizure medications for the first time in 18 years, praise Jesus. Love your family, love you.
That's right. Don't neglect your covenant rights because people make you feel like it's, it's wrong or greedy or, oh, you're part of that health and wealth gospel. You're right. You're very right.
So don't allow people's foolishness. Don't allow bad doctrine. Don't allow fiction. Don't allow people's experiences.
Don't allow tragedy to determine your theology, what you believe about God. Let the word of God define it for you and then stick with that faith and refuse to alter your path. Refuse. I refuse to deviate from the path of faith.
I refuse. I don't care what somebody else's story is. That will not be my story in Jesus name. I don't care what happened for someone.
So that's not going to happen for me. Yes, a thousand may fall at my side, 10,000 at my right hand, but these things will not touch me in Jesus name. Let that be your faith declaration. Let that be your faith declaration.
These things will not touch me in Jesus name. As Bishop Oedepo has taught a multiple times before, it is scriptural to be attacked, unscriptural to be defeated. It is scriptural to be attacked, unscriptural to be defeated. That's it, Nadine.
Everybody should put that in the comments. Throw it up. I refuse to deviate from the path of faith. I refuse to deviate from the path of faith.
Type it in the comments before we pray. I refuse to deviate from the path of faith. Praise God. Now that's the stuff leaders should be made of.