The Evidence of Praise

Praise the name of the Lord. What a privilege to have you join me here today for this session, Speak the Word. We are also streaming live on trueliferadio.net, or perhaps someone could even call in to listen at 641-552-8103. Before we get into the Word, I want us to join our hearts, our faith, our minds and our spirits in prayer. Let us pray at this time. Let us seek the Father, because the Bible tells us, ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened. We believe that when we pray that our Father, he answers prayer, shall we pray at this time, my Father, the one who is strong and mighty, the one of whom there is no shadow of turning, the one with whom all things consist, I thank you for your power. I thank you for your might. I thank you that every hearer, every viewer is being touched by your mighty hand. There is great transformation and lasting change that is hitting the lives of those who encounter this session. I am confident, hallelujah, that you have started this great work, is going to fulfill it until the day of Jesus Christ. Now Lord, show yourself mighty through this Word, show yourself strong, hallelujah, through the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Use this medium on today to touch someone's life, may their life be turned in the direction that you would have them to go. I give you praise and I give you glory and I honor you for doing it in the strong, the mighty, the powerful name of Jesus Christ, amen and amen. For the past several weeks, we've been talking about evidence carries that speaks of those who have been called out of darkness into the marvelous light as disciples, as believers of Jesus Christ, and they are doing more than just having church, they are engaging the assignment and the task that the Lord has called them to engage, and they're moving forward in the power of the Holy Spirit. Being evidence carries, bearing in their work, in their personality, in their language, in their communication, in everything, every aspect of their lives, manifests the evidence of the Holy Spirit. Today we want to go to Acts chapter 3, where the first 10 verses document what happened to a particular man who was being laid at the gate beautiful. He was a beggar, the Bible tells us that quite clearly, and what was happening to this man is that the people brought him to that gate and as they laid him there, they left him there all day, but one particular day, one specific day, everything changed. So today I want to speak to us, I want us to come together and I want us to listen on this thought, the evidence of praise, the evidence of praise. So the last time we spoke about the evidence of compassion, but today I want us to speak about the evidence of praise. Let's go to Acts chapter 3 and verse 1 at this time, and I want us to pay attention to what God did at the gate of the temple. The Bible says, the Bible says this, and let's start from verse 1, glory to God, verse 1 of Acts chapter 3, Acts chapter 3 verse 1 says, Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour, and a man limp from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, that is called the beautiful gate, to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms, and Peter directed his gaze at him, at the John and said, look at us, and he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, I have no silver, no gold, but what I do have, I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered into the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat at the beautiful gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened. I want us to go back, and I want us to pay attention to verse number six. But Peter said, I have no silver and gold, but what I do have, I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and leaping up, he stood and began to walk. Beloved friends, I want us to focus on verse five, six, seven, and eight. There's so much in this account of what happened to that lame beggar, but I want us to focus. The Bible makes us understand that he was placed at this location daily. It was a tradition. It was a custom. It was a routine. Every day he was placed at this specific spot, at the gate beautiful, because he expected to receive from those who went into the temple. His expectation was twofold. One, to be carried and to be placed at the gate. And two, to receive from those who came to the temple. I want us to pay attention to this. His expectation was twofold. It reveals, it reveals something about this lame man. He was a beggar. We know he was lame. So he depended on others to carry him and to place him at this gate, at that very spot. You could, you could count on it that at a particular time, on every given day, this man was going to be at the same spot. I want you to pay attention. I want us to get that. Every single day, for whatever length of time it was happening, he was at the same place because that was tied to his expectation. It was tied to his routine. It was tied to what he had been accustomed or had grown accustomed to. He had come to the place in his life where being carried was acceptable. The Bible does not tell us he liked being carried. But there was no way to get to the temple. The only way he got there is because someone else had to do the job of transporting him to the gate of the temple. He would not so much so be inside the temple because of his, because of his lameness and because he was a beggar. But watch what the Bible tells us. The Bible tells us while at the gate, while he at his position, at that place where he was to receive alms from the people, Peter and John were heading into the temple. They were going into the temple at the hour of prayer. And I don't want us to forget this. You may say, why is this important? Because God was about to do something at the ninth hour, at a specific time that this man had been placed in this location for perhaps multiple weeks or months or days. He had been there before. Remember this. He had been in that situation before. This was not the first time that the ninth hour would have met him there. But on that particular day, Peter and John, they were about to enter the temple. And the conversation between Peter and John and the lame man brought something unusual into the atmosphere or into the environment of the temple. What happened was that the man expected, as usual, he expected to receive from Peter and John. We are not sure whether he had received from them before. But on that particular time, he was about his expectation. He was about, you know, if I can only get enough for today, then I can do this again tomorrow. He was so focused on receiving alms that even when Peter said, look at us, he fixed his gaze on the apostles, because he was trained to receive from others. That was his lifestyle, his lameness. And the second situation, which was begging, was connected to everything that he knew. I want us to understand. But on that particular day, what he did not know is that Peter and John, they were evidence carriers. Sometimes people don't even know who they are about to encounter. Seriously. They don't know. This man had no idea that he was about to encounter someone who had not just perhaps silver and gold, not someone who simply was able to give him something. But now he was about to encounter someone who, two men who bore the evidence of the spirit. They were evidence carriers. The Bible tells us that Peter said, look at us, and he having fixed his gaze upon Peter and John expecting to receive something, he's approaching the situation the same way that he approached every day before. And do you realize that's what many people do? They approach life the same way that they approached it the day before, the month before, the week before, the year and years before. Something is rising out of this scripture that I want us to pay attention to. What is about to happen for this man had not happened because his expectation was tied to be in place and his expectation was tied to what he was about to receive from people. He did not have an expectation beyond being carried. He did not have an expectation beyond receiving from the people. But now that is about to be shattered. When we become evidence carriers, we shatter people's expectation. We shatter it in a very good way. And it's not that we are the ones who are doing it, but the power of the Holy Spirit, the evidence of the supernatural which does work in the lives of those who are evidence carriers. I want us to get this. Look what happens. As he kept his gaze on Peter and John, the Bible tells us, Peter said to him, we have no silver, we have no gold, but we have something that we want to give to you. Every evidence carrier has something that they can give. The request may not be according to what is expected. The request may not be granted based on what people think. But as evidence carriers, there is something that we always have to offer. There is something that we always have to give. Peter said, we don't have silver, we don't have gold, but we've got something just for you. We've got something that is going to correct your expectation of being carried. We have something that is going to correct your expectation or anticipation that people are going to give you something. We are about to fix that and this is about to change today. In looking onto Peter and John, the Bible says, Peter said to him, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, not one name, not the name of the organization that will represent as important as these things are, but he said, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, change your posture, change your position. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. Wait a minute, I have not walked before, Peter. That's not the question, that's not the debate, that's not the concern. Rise up and walk. There is no discussion about the directive, there is no discussion about the instruction, there is no discussion about the mandate, there is no discussion about the command. Peter said, in the name of Jesus, let's do this and let's do this now, rise up and walk. Things don't change because we think about them, but they change because we act accordingly. Peter said that there is an action that is demanded, that is required on your part, there is an action that is going to cause things to happen and to move expeditiously and to move not just in your favor, but in the favor of everything, of everyone who is connected to you. But there is something that you've got to do. You've been doing some things, you've been doing other things, you've been doing things perhaps for a little while, and they work because you've become accustomed to the system, you've become accustomed to the mechanics and the way it all falls together, you've become accustomed of being carried, you've become accustomed of being placed at the gate, you've become accustomed of expecting something, receiving something, but today, in the name of Jesus, there is an action that is required of you. Wait a minute, so for the past time that he was there, there was an action that was required of others, those who carried him, and those that gave him, but there was a moment of transition, there was a change that happened on that particular day when the evidence carrier showed up. Let me say this, beloved friends, when evidence carriers show up, tradition is dismantled. Customs literally got to go out the window, because there is a new dimension, there is a new approach, there is a new way of doing things, there's a new level, there's something that is totally cutting edge that would have entered that space on that particular day. Dear beautiful, Peter said, rise up and walk. Nothing happens in terms of discussion, but the Bible says he lit up, stood, and walked. He lit up, stood, and he walked. He did not think about it, there was no one who said, you know what, what's going to happen? The only thing that happened, the Bible says that Peter took him by the hand, and having taken him by the hand, the Bible tells us that he lit up and he stood and he walked. You see, there was something about evidence carriers, when we connect with people, spiritually and physically, their situation must change, and evidence carriers, when we connect with people spiritually and even physically, their situation must move, their situation, if it had been laying for a long time, it is going to jump out of the lameness, and it's literally going to receive strength, glory to God, in its ankles and in its bones, and it's going to begin to move. That's what the Bible says happened for the lame man. He stood up, and he walked. He stood up, and he entered the temple with Peter and John. He entered the temple with Peter and John, and the Bible tells us that he was walking, leaping, and praising God. He was not praising them. Now that is important, because we need to understand that the man's condition was touched by the apostle's posture, which has now exploded in exuberance, in adoration, that exploded in praise, not to the men, not to the organization that they represented, but it exploded in praise unto the King of Kings and to the Lord of Lords. That's when you know that the evidence carriers are real. That's when you understand that the evidence carriers are literally the bearers of the evidence of the Spirit, because the Bible makes it clear that he entered into the temple then walking and leaping and praising God. The evidence of praise. The evidence of praise came about because something tangible happened. Something which bore witness of the power of the Holy Spirit happened. Something which bore witness of the hand of God that touched the life of this man had taken place. When Peter spoke to this man and said, Now, I want you to look on us, then Peter said to him, I have nothing tangible or nothing of monetary value to give you, but I have something more powerful than silver and gold, and I have something that is not of this earth, but I have something from the realm of heaven, and that is the difference between those who are evidence carriers and those who simply try to do something. He said, In the name of Jesus, right up and walked, he touched him, took him by the hand, and the lame man is now on his feet. The lame man is now walking, and he did not stop there. The Bible says that he's praising God. He's praising God because he had not experienced such favor. He's praising God because he had not experienced such blessing. He's praising God because he had not experienced such expectation beyond his imagination. He's praising God because he understands in himself that this is not an action of Peter and John. He's praising God because he understands that this was not fate and it was not chance. He's praising God because the man understood it was God himself that took him by the hand. He's praising God because he understood in time past that there were people who brought him to the gate and they lifted him up, and I want to believe that there were others who have prayed with him and tried to help him, but he said, This particularly, I'm going to praise God because this is not the actions of man. This is not the hand of man. This is not those who have helped me to this point, but this is simply an action of divine power. This is the action of the supernatural hand of Elohim Adonai who has lifted me up from that place of lameness, who has brought me out of that situation of begging, who has literally changed my story, and that's what God is doing, and when God does that for people, glory to God, there will be the evidence of praise. And the evidence of praise, sisters and brothers, is not to the apostles. The evidence of praise is not to the temple. The evidence of praise is not to that wonderful seat at the gate that he had at the gate, but the evidence of praise, hallelujah, it's coming from the man. It's coming from someone who's been stopped for months. It's coming from someone who's been stopped for weeks. It was coming from someone who's been stopped for years. It was coming from someone who was helpless, hopeless, and the only hope he had that someone would come and give him something. If nobody came and did anything for this man, that he would have wasted away. But glory to God, someone who had the evidence of the Spirit came by and took him by the hand, challenged him and said, you've got to get out of your situation. I am so glad that evidence carries. Never leave us where they meet us. Can I say that again? Those who carry the evidence of the Spirit, never leave us where they met us. There is something which takes place. Glory to God. There's a lifting that happens. There is a picking up that happens. Glory to God. There is a pushing forth that happens. There is a celebration that happens. That's why the Bible says he entered into the temple leaping and praising God. Because perhaps, just perhaps, he wanted to praise God before. Just perhaps, he wanted to have a celebration at the temple before. Just perhaps, he wanted to go into that place. Glory to God. That others went into, but he couldn't have gone because of his condition. But I am so glad that his condition, hallelujah, being touched by the power of the Holy Ghost, oh glory to God, was changed miraculously. And that's something else we need to pay attention to. As evidence carries, we carry the strength of God. We carry the help of God. We carry the insight of God. We carry glory to God. More than just man, we carry the means of God. The means of God would lift this man up. The means of God would set him on his feet. The means of God would have him enter the temple. And he said, I've got to do something about this. I've got to leap. I've got to praise God. You will be a participant and a partaker of the evidence of praise. You may say, how do you know this man is God? Because you have been, oh glory to God, you have been like this man. You've been like this man who was carried daily, carried for months, carried for years, and you've been placed in the same spot, yet nothing changed. There was a routine after routine, and it seemed like the mundane and the mechanics of life just kept on going like a wheel, like a grinding wheel. And it's going, not going. But when the evidence carries came, beloved friends, yeah, the word of the Lord, hallelujah, everything shifts. Everything changes. Everything moves from one level to a level of praise. Glory to God. I am so glad that once God had finished his transaction with this man, this man did not run away. But this man ran right into the temple. He did not run home, but he ran right into the temple. He did not say, how much money can I pay you guys? But he ran right into the temple. Glory to God. And he said, it's time for me to give God the glory. It's time for me to give God the praise. It's time for me to shebach him. It's time for me to lift him up because God has done it. Beloved friends, right at this moment, I want you to lift up your voices and lift up your hands and say, God has done it. Blessed be the name of the Lord. When you are in the presence of the evidence carriers, glory to God, your situation will be touched by the power of Elohim Adonai. Your situation will be touched by he who alone is mighty. Your situation will be touched by he who alone is strong. Your situation will be touched by he who alone is glory to God that is able to make all things new. This man has moved from being a lame person and a beggar because someone was not afraid to be an evidence carrier. Because someone was not afraid to infuse, glory to God, the evidence of power into his spirit. Someone was not afraid to infuse or to demonstrate or just show him the evidence of compassion. It was compassion who had, glory to God, Peter and John to focus on this man. And they didn't focus on him from a physical standpoint. They focused on him because they realized that his condition could only be changed by the supernatural hand of Elohim Adonai. And out of that experience, out of that moment, something gets a hold of this man. And this man, he moves from a condition of lameness and begging to a place, glory to God, of praise and exaltation. He moves to a place, glory to God, where he is supported by the community. Where now he enters the community and he blesses God. He lifts up his hands, glory to God, and he blesses God because God had done great things for him. Beloved friends, I am convinced in my spirit that this is going to be your story. That this is going to be your testimony. That this is going to be your report. That God would cause your situation to be turned around so much so, hallelujah, that you now enter into a place where you give God the glory. You enter into a situation, hallelujah, yes Lord, where you say, Father, I thank you that you have lifted me up from that low place. He is not a beggar anymore. He's not lame anymore. He's not going back begging. Let me just slow it down. I need to help somebody. He was not going out of the temple begging. He was not going out of the temple lame. Many times we talk about deliverance, but guess what? In a matter of weeks, in a matter of months, they go back to the very same situation that they were in. Let me tell you this. When we are in evidence-carrying, people are touched by the hand of God. And after the hand of God touches these individuals, they can never go back to the place and to the situations that they were in. The Lord did it. This man is now healed. This man is now transformed. His life is changed. He is now in a situation where he is now part of that faith community, praising God. He's about to go home. I want you to picture this in your mind. He's about to go home, but he's not going home. Being carried. Oh, glory to God. He's not going home begging, but he's going home. Hallelujah. With new, with a new perspective. He's going home with a new look on his face. He's going home because his countenance has been lifted. He's going home. His feet are straightened. He's going home. His hands are lifted. Glory to God. He's going home. And there is something taking place in this man. Why? Because the evidence carriers operated in the evidence of the power of the living God. And now what we have is a man who is saturated in the evidence of praise. May this be your testimony. I say, may this be your testimony. I say, may this be your praise report. That you would be lifted from your situation and then you explode into a lifestyle of praise. You'd explode. You'd explode, glory to God, in a situation, in a posture. You'd explode into momentum. You'd explode, glory to God. Hallelujah. Yes, Lord. Every step you do, you lost him. You give him thanks and give him praise. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Beloved friends, that's what I want to share with you on today. Remember this. When Peter and John met this man, they met him in a certain condition. When the interaction was over, when the interaction was over, what you have now is a man who is full of praise. What you have now is a man who is giving God all the glory. What you have now is an individual who's been touched by the hand of Elohim Adonai. What you have now is someone, glory to God, that God had worked a mighty miracle in his life. Hear the word of the Lord. I believe God with you today. That the routine expectation that you had, the routine expectation that you had is about to be demolished. That is about to be canceled. And God is going to give you the evidence of praise. Did you hear that? The Lord will cause you, glory to God, to embrace and enter into the evidence of praise. Evidence carries. They don't carry the evidence of the Spirit for themselves, but they carry it everywhere they go. They're initiating. They're initiating, glory to God. They're bringing to pass, glory to God, things of the kingdom, things, glory to God, of the Spirit. And people's lives are touched and transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Elohim Adonai. The one who's strong and mighty. The one of whom there is no shadow of turning. The one who sits higher and he looks low. I thank you, glory to God, for what you're doing. I praise you now for your hand that is mighty upon the lives of your people. Now, Lord, I give you glory and I give you honor. Thank you. Thank you for letting us know that there were those who came to a situation with one expectation, but when they encountered the evidence of the Spirit, when they encountered the evidence of power, when they encountered the evidence of compassion, hallelujah, what comes through, what shows up is the evidence of praise. There is praise in every area of their lives, hallelujah, because you have done it. I am so glad, Father, that you have allowed us to see that it was not Peter and John that gave the man his ability to walk, but he had enough sense to know that you did it and he praised you. Now, Lord, let this be the testimony of those who have come in connection and contact with this session on today. Glory to God. May their experience be like that of this man. In the name of Jesus, the strong, the mighty, the powerful. Hallelujah. I thank you for doing it. In Jesus' mighty name, amen and amen. Beloved friends, as I get ready to go, I want you to remember this. When they met this man, he was in a particular condition. By the time the interaction was finished, the Lord did something mighty in this guy's life. His life was so impacted by the power of the Holy Spirit that he entered the temple. Now, glory to God. I want you to see it. I want you to see it in your mind. He entered the temple, walking, leaping, and praising God. May this be your testimony.