Gateway Church's Podcast
Reinhard Bonnke
This Friday and Saturday, this week, we will be in the Dallas Convention Center arena for something we call Firestorm USA. It has something to do with the fire of the Holy Spirit and a mighty rushing wind. It's not just, you know, Jesus, meek and mild, a mighty rushing wind, I call that a hurricane. And then the fire, this is what God desires to do if we desire the fire, he'll give it. Joe will the Prophet said, sons and daughters shall prophesy, young men shall see visions. I believe today has come for that, when our teenies, when our youngsters shall raise their voices to prophesy, that means speak as God speaks. See visions, see as God sees. I believe something fantastic is going to happen now, it's going to sweep America. It's not a conference, it's not an event, I believe it's going to be a movement. We've put our whole heart into it, Kerry, Joe will be there, singing, delirious will be part of it as well. And I'll tell you, we will have hot bridges. For my sake, I don't need to warm up, I don't need to warm up, I'm hot already. Hallelujah, it's the fire of the Holy Spirit is a volcano of love, God's love is not extinct, it's still active and burning in the hearts of his people, is that correct? Hallelujah, blessed be the name of the Lord. Now, this is the last opportunity, the last although registration is closed, here for you your wonderful gateway people. We have a priority seating band available, it's right here and you may receive it, registration in any case is free of charge, free, free, free, come and be part of it. It starts Friday night, really hot and then it goes down right to Saturday evening and I believe God's fire will fall. I believe it's, I've seen it in other countries, I have seen how God shakes whole nations. They can do that, I'm sure of that. We are not just singing about it, but we have seen it happen. I've seen presidents come to me, I'm talking of state presidents. I didn't know them at all, I'm not after these people at all, but they call me. They say, "What's happening? I've seen the meal right in front of me wanting to receive Jesus as they say, "Avio, not one and not two more." Isn't that wonderful? I've been preaching in houses of Parliament. People are hungry for God and we want to give them the bread of life, hallelujah. So make sure that you're there on Friday and on Saturday and I'm going to look out for you, okay? And make sure you get your priority sitting band. It's a lot of work, I know you are engaged in active mission work worldwide and it's a lot of work and I've got good news for you. You see in Matthew 25, Jesus said to the faithful servant, the faithful steward, he said, "You have been faithful over little, I put you over much." You know what the reward was for good work, more work. The reward for good work is more work. Say, "Hey man, that's how God does things," but I think it's not just more work. I think it's a promotion because he's not just the lifter of our heads. He will lift us in total. He lifts us from face to face to face, glory to God. I've seen this in my own life. It's amazing when I started off in Africa, the people who are not interested in my ministry. I found it much easier to preach at home in Germany. I really had success there and then I came to Africa and the whole thing was zero and I cried out to God. I fasted and I prayed and then one night I had a dream. I saw the whole continent of Africa becoming washed in the precious blood of Jesus. That shook me and I heard a voice in that dream. It must have been the voice of the Holy Spirit. He cried, "Africa shall be saved." I jumped out of bed. The power of God was there. I said, "Oh, how wonderful. How wonderful." Then my German brain began to tick again and I said, "What? My ministry has no impact in this tiny country. Now, Africa shall be saved." It was just a dream. God gave me that dream in four consecutive nights and after night number four, I said to my wife, "I think God is trying to tell me something." You know a lot of you slow off heart, but I got it. The penny had dropped and wherever I went, I said, "Did you hear already?" They said, "What?" I said, "Africa shall be saved." "Did you hear? Did you hear? Did you hear?" "Africa shall be saved." When you give me the nations, "Africa shall be saved." Anyway, God started to use me from one moment to another. I would never say that, but someone that healed so, healed so, "Brian, Houston." He said, "From zero to hero, I'm not a hero. I'm a servant of God, but I tell you one thing. I'm not willing to play marbles when we can move mountains in the name of Jesus." I'm not willing for that. We must go, you know, I used to say, "I want to go for God's maximum until the Holy Spirit rebuked me and said, 'God has no maximum.' He has no maximum. So let's go for it all. The whole wide world for Jesus and may gateway be such in, what shall I say? May this church just have the same rhythm of heart as the heart of God has in Jesus' name." I have a word on my heart that is a great challenge. I may just be able to deal with the first point, but I think it's enough to show us what God wants. Let me quickly go to Judges chapter 5. Judges chapter 5 is the song of Deborah. Deborah was an anointed judge in Israel, a woman. The first time God had chosen a woman to be the judge of Israel, and then Israel was attacked. I make it very short, but I need to just give that context so that what I have to say makes sense. Israel was attacked from the outside, and the enemy had an easy play because the tribes were all divided. And you know, when a country is divided, it's easy for the enemy to take one after another. But then God raised Deborah, an anointed woman of God. And instead of putting on the armor herself, she got back the general and said to him that he would lead the army against the enemy. And Deborah sent a letter to all the twelve tribes, challenging them to unite and face the enemy on the battlefield. And when the battle was won by the grace of God, Deborah kind of analyzed with her song the different reactions of the different tribes to the call, to come and resist the common enemy. The tribe after tribe after tribe, and I just want to deal with one or two tribes here and their reactions. We read here in, we read here in verse 17, Gilead stayed beyond, sorry, it's judges chapter 5, I said, verse 17, "Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan, and why did Dan remain on ships? Why did Dan remain on ships?" Now let me draw my parable. The done nights were the outstanding business people in Israel. They had an ocean going fleet to bring merchandise to Israel. I think they must have been the inventors of the hypermarkets or supermarkets, you know, from manufacturer to the customer. Because Dan turned his ships when they moved in the harbor, he turned his ships into shops. And there the transactions were made and their business was roaring. And I imagine Dan himself sitting there at the main till just cashing in. Business was first class. Suddenly a runner came with a sealed letter from the Anointed Church in Israel, Deborah, and run up the gangway. And said to Dan, "Here is a message from the Church of Israel, very, very, very urgent." Dan took the letter, broke the seal, and read the letter, "Dear Dan, we are invaded by the enemies. We need your help. You must come with your men to help us win this battle." Dan jumped to his feet. He felt he had to leave immediately. But suddenly there was a second thought that crossed his mind, "What? I can't go. I can't leave my money and count it." Number one, number two, actually the enemies of the nation are my customers as well. Number three, what? When I return from the battle, even if we won, my ships may all be sunk, I face total ruin. I cannot go, it's impossible. It's impossible. Dan remained on his ship. He took a bunch of money, stuffed it into the pockets of the messenger, said, "Greetings to Deborah, I am going to support her in spirit." Enough. He went and he continued to count his money while his brothers were dying on the battlefield. Dan remained in his shop when God had called him to the battlefield. I somehow see here a very strong parale in our time, today's time. So many Christians and are willing to respond, to personally respond when God calls them. He's calling us. And his battlefield is the mission field. It's the nations of the world. The gospel must be preached. There must be people who lend their voices to make the gospel to be the gospel. Gospel means good news. And news is only news when it is announced, otherwise it's nothing. So someone has got to raise his voice, go out and preach the gospel and let the world hear it. Dan remained on the ship. When the battle was over, Deborah arrived at the pier. He was still counting his money and suddenly that female voice penetrated the air. Dan, where were you? Why didn't you come? Why didn't you leave your ship when you were called to the battlefield? I don't know what Dan replied, but I think I know what was going to happen in the future. That same question will be asked from the throne of God. Dan, why did you remain on your ship when I called you to be part of the greatest thing on earth to build God's eternal kingdom, proclaim the gospel to set the captives free? This burns in my heart, you know. I want to do nothing but go out and continue to preach. We thank God for 53 million people saved, having completed a decision card. We count the decision cards since the year 2000, but when I think of the whole population of Africa, I think we haven't done too well, there's so much more to do, there's so many more voices needed, so many more ministries, so many more to obey the voice of the Holy Spirit. Dan, where are you, are you on your ship of self-interest, maybe greed, those ships never reach the golden shore, they want, lots of shipwrecks around to prove it, but along we say yes to Jesus, we say yes to the great commission, I say that to the youngest and to the oldest, we all need to be part of it, we all need to be part of it, say amen. They were the next tribe, the Rubenites, let me continue to draw my little parable here, the Rubenites were the intellectual people in Israel, when they got that seal letter, what did they do, they do, of course what is done in such circles, they called their committee together, for God so left the world that he did not send a committee, but he sent his son, but whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life, but the Rubenites had an agenda and they started from the top and they took very great care to go through all the aspects, they had battle plans all on paper, pincer movement and everything, and they had a coffee break, they must have heard from far the battle noise, they must have rushed back in, there's one, one, one item on the agenda, we have no answer for, they said, and you know what point that was on their agenda, do you want to know? This was the point on the agenda, can God use a woman? This is unprecedented, never has God used a woman to lead Israel into battle, how just does it optically look if we man march behind a woman into battle, can God use a woman? What do you say here today? Yes, of course, God can use a woman, and especially annoying did women, and especially if we cannot find a man? I was in Central Africa, I was received like a head of state, red carpet and all the whole the President had sent his Mercedes limousine for me, the evangelist, I didn't know what hit me, and there was the evening news, television news, question number one, I normally know exactly all the questions, it's always the same questions in the whole world that reporters have, but here I had a surprise, question number one, Reverend Bonke, you've got women preachers in your team, how can you allow a woman to preach? I thought by myself I knew I only had 30 minutes for a Bible study, but I only got 30 seconds, every time my brain isn't fast enough, I go one level higher, I've got a flame right here, I said, "Lord," I said, "with open eyes I praise the Lord, what must I say?" And there it came, he said, "How can you allow women to preach?" Oh, I said it so easy, if I am a man, I'm drowning in a river, I don't care if a man or a woman would throw me the lifeline, hallelujah, if the man don't preach the gospel the women will, if the women don't preach the gospel the children will, if the children don't preach the gospel, the stones will cry out, but the gospel must be preached, luben, move into action, this is the day, let me quickly move on, let me quickly move on, I've got a whole list here of 12, remember, there's Zebulon, Zebulon, and Naftali, and I like to park here for a minute or two, Zebulon, and Naftali, when they got that, when they got that shield letter from Deborah, the anointed judge of Israel, they broke it, they were just doing their field work, they looked at each other, they said there's only one thing to do, and that is to go and fight, I love, I love that sentence here, Zebulon is a people who jeopardized, who risked their lives to the point of death, Naftali also on the heights of the battlefield, I'll tell you the highest field is the mission field, that's where you will find God cooperating like nowhere else, the gospel must be preached to the poor, Zebulon's Naftali, get into action, pay your price, and win the world for Jesus, let's not be those self-interested doneites, and those intellectual Rubenites who never get something done, let's be those Zebulons and Naftali's for Jesus Christ, preaching the gospel and bringing in millions of precious souls to Jesus Christ, say amen, are you blessed, are you blessed, I've been praying this morning that the spark may land in everybody's heart, let's be more dedicated than ever before, we may all have such a thousand wonderful reasons why we are not really active, but here is the seal letter for you today delivered by the Holy Spirit, break the seal, and you will get a very personal message, be a Zebulon, go to the battlefield of God, support those who go to the battlefield of God, our generation needs regeneration, we've got to preach the gospel, we must preach the gospel, it's a must, Jesus called it a must, this gospel he said, must be preached, it's an imperative, it's an imperative, and this keeps me going, it keeps me going, and I come home from a crusade, I'm physically exhausted and I say to my wife, all I want to do is just to sleep for two weeks, but after two days it starts itching, I look at my skull and there, my schedule I said, let's go, I want to do maximum harm to the devil who is a murderer, who is a murderer, in Jesus name, in Jesus mighty name, my time is up, are you got the letter, one day, one day you will have to give an account what you did with that call, Dan, what did you do with that letter, I didn't you come down, I didn't you risk something for the extension of God's kingdom, I would like to do what Isaiah did, I would like to throw up my arms and say, here are my Lord, send me, I do just want to sing about it, I want to do something, let's do something, let sent those who are ready to go, let's pray for those, maybe you will go and have a look yourself of what God is doing on the battlefield of God, next month, let me just close with this, next month I'll be in the city of Ibadan in Nigeria, I just came from there, got a glorious crusade there, in the city of Ibadan the third largest city in Nigeria, we are right now training 150,000 counsellors to be in place for souls when souls want to get saved, 150,000 counsellors, well that's wonderful, that's wonderful, 20 years ago in South Africa, I met for the first time the Coplands, Kenneth and Gloria Copland, they came into my trailer next to the big tent and Kenneth started to prophesy, he said that they will come when you will see one million souls saved in one meeting, oh I thought this is wonderful, when I began to see a million souls saved in a crusade of six days, some of my team members said this is the fulfillment, I said no, no, no, no, he didn't say one week, he said one meeting and then it happened, I mean we had our gospel crusade in Lagos, 1.6 million people, I thought I said to my team, I was joking with my team, I said I think I can see the curvature of the earth, an ocean of humanity, 1,600,000 people in one meeting, I preached the red hot gospel and when I made the call of salvation and we counted the decision cards that one night 1,093,000 had received Jesus as their savior, hallelujah, that is the battlefield, that is where you find God active, that's where the Holy Spirit is waiting for you, as He's waiting for me, let's close our eyes, let's close our eyes, I need to ask this question, who is here, who wants to respond to that sealed letter that you just received in your heart from the Holy Spirit, I would just like to pray for you, if you are really willing to lift your hands, let Jesus see your hand and your resolve, I am going to be in zebulon and enough to lie, I want to go in the mighty name of Jesus and see the fulfillment of prophecy, when I was a young man I went from prophecy to prophecy, today I go from fulfillment to fulfillment to fulfillment and that same thing will happen to you, those who are raising their hands, please lift your hand, stand up please, I mean just stand up, those who have raised their hands stand up, oh hallelujah, just keep your hands up and open your spirit for the spirit of God, Lord I pray from the bottom of my heart that everyone standing may now this moment break the seal of your divine calling, it's irrevocable, in Jesus' name and Lord everyone will accept that call, leave that ship, come out of those council chambers and enter the battlefield, may be risking their lives on the high places of the field, Lord I pray, young and old, I pray for young and old that you may bless them and that you may fill them and that you may guide them and the God who guides is the God who provides, I pray, Lord that you may guide and provide for each and every one and that as a result of this service, O Lord, that millions of souls be saved here in America and across the world in the mighty name of Jesus and everybody says amen, amen.