All Things Work Together For Good Pastor Sean Pinder Who knows, whenever the Holy Ghost

shows up, there is a Word from Heaven? When you read the book of Genesis, the Bible says, In the beginning God created the heaven and the earthand the Spirit of God moved (Gen. 1:1-2). After the Holy Ghost started moving, God started speaking. Whenever the Holy Ghost shows up, God is about to talk to His people. Some people think were strange because of the way we worship God. This is only a rehearsing ground. If they cant handle this, I dont know what theyre going to do when they get to Heaven. The Apostle John said, There was a number, I couldnt number it. Every nation, every tribe, and every tongue was in heaven (Rev. 5:11-13). Can you imagine what that sounds like? For billions of people, throughout all the ages of eternity, to lift their voices and begin to praise Him, saying, Holy, holy, holy? Thats going to be something else! Tell your critics, Dont get nervous. This is only practice. This is only rehearsal. That is all it is. He is getting us ready for the real deal.

Some people say, Youre so noisy! Let me tell you something. If a dumb person were to accidentally catch on fire, they would scream out. You show me somebody on fire and not screaming and carrying on. Something is wrong with them. Im on fire. You try to quiet somebody down that is on fire and burning. They cant even hear what you are saying! You cant shut them up. They are on fire. Burn me up, Holy Ghost. Burn me, Jesus. Burn me! Im on fire; Im not ashamed of it. When John the Baptist prophesied about Jesus, he didnt say, he that cometh after me is mightier than Ihe shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and ice water. He said, he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire. The presence of God is very strong in our services. He is real. Did you know that was what Moses felt? We read about Moses and we act as if he is a million miles away and that we can never attain. Do you know the same presence of God that you feel in an anointed service is the same presence Moses felt on Mount Sinai? If Moses were sitting in the service, he would say, Ah! I know that presence! Thats the presence of God! Isnt

that awesome, that God would hang out with a bunch of nobodies like us? I am an ex-dope smoker. I dont even know why God would want to hang out with me. Im an ex-gangster. But, you know, He is not looking for vessels of silver and vessels of gold. He is looking for yielded vessels. He is looking for the nobodies that will say, Here am I, Lord. Here am I with all my struggles and with all my problems. Use me. That is what He is looking for. He cant use perfect people. Everybody that God ever used in the Bible was a murderer, or a thief, or someone who struggled with lust. They were problems. Look at Simon Peter. He cussed somebody out because they said, We saw you with Jesus. Peter said, Youd better get your And you know the rest of what he said in Jewish language! How about David, a man after Gods own heart? He killed a man and took his wife! Arent you happy you are not perfect? He uses the weak things of this world to confound the things that are wise and mighty (I Cor. 1:27). Thats why He chose an old gangster; a dope-smoking, cussing thief. There are no accidents in the Kingdom of God. Everything is by divine purpose. Are you listening to me? I like to take my time and

let the Holy Ghost have His way. I like being a pastor and talking like this because there are so many phony people out there today. They do not want people to know where they came from. They cant help anybody. I have to let you know where I came from. This is me. I am short and black. What you see is what you get. When I used to go to the nightclubs before I got saved, I wanted to come out stoned. Now, I want to get drenched in the Holy Ghost. And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying. (Acts 16:16) Who knows the devil does not like prayer meetings? I am sure you mess him up a whole lot by praying the way you do. Isnt that amazing? Even if you are in a physical prison, you are free. Being out in the world does not make you free. You have some of the worst prisoners out there in the world because they are slaves to the devil. But you are not a slave to the devil. Your citizenship is in Heaven. When you die, like the Apostle Paul says: Absent from this body, Ill be present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8).

The devil always wants to mess with you when you go in to pray, doesnt he? He is not afraid of a Christian who is just beating off their lips. He is afraid of people who pray and seek after God. Those people are a real threat to the devil. People who are seeking after God can offer some really hell-shaking prayers. The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour (Acts 16:17-18). Even the devil knows who you are. I like hanging around preachers like Paul. You know, people in the church do not like to talk about casting out devils today. They may as well take the Bible and throw it in the garbage because, every Gospel you turn to, Jesus was casting out devils. I like the next part of this verse: And he came out the same hour. When did he come out? Next week? A couple of weeks later? A month later? When did the devil turn this girl loose? The same hour. Now that is power!

My ministry team and I were in Uganda, Africa conducting a Miracle Crusade. The first night of the Crusade, we had loads of people leaving. They were leaving by the hundreds and I didnt know what was wrong. I was disturbed on the inside. About Tuesday of that week, the ministers there in Africa said to me, We need to tell you why these people are leaving. Theyre leaving because theres a demon-possessed man stoning people. A demon-possessed man was stoning people and beating them with a stick. I said, In my service? No, brother, I dont think so. I used to like to fight. So I said, Well, brother, if he comes tomorrow night, the minute I see him, Im gonna leap off the platform and Im gonna cast the devil out of him. Im not talking about fake stuff here. Im talking reality. So, Wednesday night, I peeked into the crowd and guess who was there? The demonpossessed man. The Holy Ghost fell on me, and I rebuked the devils and demons and commanded them to leave. When I made the call for salvation, I said, If you wanna get saved, come now. When I looked, the guy in the raggedy clothesthe demon-possessed mancame walking towards the platform. I thought, Oh, God, this is it. This is gonna go

down right now! The guy came onto the platform and I rushed over to him like I was still in the gangs. I was ready for business! He was not going to ruin my service. People were there to get saved and healed. He was not going to ruin that. When I looked into his eyes, he looked as humble as a lamb. He was the demoniac of the town, and every demon came out of him and he gave his heart to Jesus! I am not giving you some missionary story; I am giving you a real story. And he came out the same hour When the Holy Ghost gets ready to bring deliverance to somebody, it does not take Him but an hour. You know, you read passages in the Bible where it says, This man was lame for 38 years, and guess who showed up? Jesus showed up. He looked at him and said, Do you want to be made whole? You know, we all have our excuses. The man said, Every time I try to get there, someone comes down before me. Jesus said, Look, forget all this talk, brother. Rise, take up your bed, and walk. And the Bible says, Immediately, he arose, took up his bed and walked. I dont care how long you may have been in the situation that you are in. When Jesus gets

ready to deliver you, all you need is one word and you will be delivered by the power of God. And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers, and brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city (Acts 16:1920). Its about time the world gets upset at the church. They said, Hes making us uncomfortable. Yes, its about time somebody said that. The drunks and the dope-smokers and everybody else are out there, and its about time somebody rose up and brought them under some kind of conviction because they are about to go to hell. Are you hearing me? We have been to many pastors in many different churches, asking them if we could come and hold a healing service at their church. Every church has sick people in it, and we have a powerful healing ministry. Weve seen over 1,300 people healed. The blind see, the deaf hear, cripples walk, cancer is healed, and tumors disappear. I am not telling you a phony story. Im talking about Jesus Christ, Who is the same yesterday, and today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). And guess where He lives? The Apostle Paul said, Christ liveth in me (Gal. 2:20). He lives in me. He is alive. He is not in the tomb. He is alive and ready to

set the captives free. He is ready to cast out devils. He is ready to open the eyes of the blind. He is ready to unstop the ears of the deaf. He is ready to make the dumb talk again. He is ready to make the cripples walk. That is the God I serve. You can change the place you are in because Christ lives in you. You can set the captives free right where you are because Christ is alive. I dont care what your problem is, Jesus cares about you. Ive seen too many paralyzed people healed. Your problem is not too big for Jesus. Christ said to Jeremiah, Is there anything too hard for [the Lord]? (Jer. 32:27) Do you believe in Jesus? He said, All things are possible to them that believe (Mark 9:23). The Bible says in Matt. 19:26, With God, all things are possible. Thats the key: youve got to be with Him. Are you with God? Then there is no limitation on your life. If you are walking with God, all things are possible. All, not some. I love that. Jesus said, If you have faith [faith means to believe He is the Son of the living God], nothing shall be impossible to you (Matt. 17:20). Nothing. Think about that. There is no limitation on you. If you believe, absolutely nothing shall be impossible to you. Thats powerful. You may say, Lord, are you telling me there are no limitations to what I can accomplish in you? That is exactly right. The

verse says, With God See, you have to be with Him. That is the catch. Jesus said, for without me ye can do nothing. Are you with Him? These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans. And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. You cant do anything with me; Im full of Jesus. You are wasting your time. Go on ahead and kill me. Hell raise me from the dead and Ill still preach the Gospel. Jesus said to Lazarus, Come forth. What did Lazarus do? Did he argue? No, the dead man came forth! Jesus said, Youd better loose that man and let him go. Mary said, But, by now, Master, he stinks. He likes dealing with stinks. I was a stink when He found me. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely. (Acts 16:23) You cant hold anybody down who God has His hands on. You are just wasting your time fighting God. Tell the devil, Devil, you can try all you want to. When God gets ready,

no magistrate, no courtroom, no President of the United States, no Prime Minister of the Bahamas, can stop Him. When God gets ready to raise somebody up, there arent enough bars on a prison to keep God from setting them free by the power and the anointing of the Holy Ghost. Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. (Acts 16:24) That is what the devil wants to do with every person. Like I told you, there are a lot of prisoners out there in the world that are in bondage to the devil. They might not be in a prison, but they are in bondage to the devil. Real freedom is liberty to serve Christ. You are either serving God or the devil; there are no two ways about it. You are either going to heaven or you are going to hell. There is no such thing as purgatory. I do not know where they get that one from; I dont see purgatory in the Bible. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. (Acts 16:25) Midnight is the darkest hour. It is praying time. When it gets dark, it is time to pray. These brothers just finished getting a whipping. They should have been cussing and

carrying on. But they werent. They prayed and what did they do? They sang praises unto God. Everybody on the grounds heard them. Whats that singing? Somethings going on. I believe that, when they started singing, God just started tapping His feet. Sounds like music to my ears, He said. He can hear you when you sing, you know. He can hear you when you pray. The Bible says, For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers (1 Peter 3:12). He is listening to you when you pray. Every time you start praying, He tells the angels, Shh! Hes praying. Gabriel, just hold up for about two or three hours until service is over. Not now, elders. Tell me how holy I am later. Just shush. Not now, I have to hear my people. They are hungry. They are worshipping. God is sitting right up there saying, Little do they know Im about to pour out a blessing on them. Some of them are getting weak. The devil is telling them, What youre doing is vain. Im about to pour out my blessing on them. Im about to anoint them afresh. Im about to lift them up one more time. Im about to touch them another time. Im about to come through. Im about to work a miracle. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the

doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. (Acts 16:26) Suddenly It doesnt take Him a long time at all. You can be bound up in one situation for 38 years. The woman who was bent over in Luke 13:10-17 was like that for 18 years. But Jesus showed up to that service. When Jesus shows up, everything changes. Change is coming. She was bent over when Jesus showed up but, when Jesus left, she was straight. And suddenly there was a great earthquake The weatherman didnt predict that earthquake. This was supernatural. I like the next part: and immediately Are you reading your Bible with me? It did not say anything about later. Do you know the children of Israel were in bondage to Pharaoh 430 years? Moses showed up with a big stick and, in 24 hours, Moses said, Ive got good news for you. These Egyptians that you see, take a good look at them. You will see them no more forever. These people that have you in bondage, that are holding you back, you will never see them again because God is about to fight for you. God is about to fight your battle. The battle is not yours (2 Chron. 20:15). The battle belongs to the Lord. Joseph was hanging out in the dungeon. Joseph said, God, this isnt what I dreamed! I

was in the palace, man! Kickin it! I wasnt in no dungeon. Gods not through with you yet. This is not the end of the dream. It is not over until God says its over. Joseph said, What am I doing here? God said, Hang in there, Joseph! Just a little while! Acts 10:34 says, God is no respecter of persons. He does not love Joseph more than He loves you. I dont care what crime it is youve committed, I would be working against God to tell you that you cant believe Him to get you out of your prison. Can He do it? Did He do it for Joseph? How about Daniel? They told him, Were gonna feed you to the lions. The lion roared, the angel showed up, and the lion curled his tail between his legs. Daniel said, Ill just sleep on you, lion, because Im coming out tomorrow. Am I giving you false hope? No. The Bible is filled with hope. If you dont want to give anybody hope, dont preach the Bible to them. Preach something else to them. Can He really do it for me, Pastor Sean? He sure can. And immediately all the doors were opened Isnt that amazing? Wait a minute, though. Just 24 hours ago, everything was closed up to them! Everything was impossible. But God showed up. When He did, every prison door flew open. Every door that said, You are staying in here forever, flew wide open. Now, the Apostle Paul was a little better

than I would have been. I would have been running out that door. I would have been scramming. Can God open some doors for you? Do you think I am preaching some phony story? I am preaching the Word of the living God to you. All the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. You talk about a revival! And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. (Acts 16:27) It was about time the keeper of the prison woke up. He was about to go to hell. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? (Acts 16:28-30) Paul and Silas werent even armed. This man was armed and he was trembling. Talk about the power of God. And [he] came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Do you understand, the devil might have caused you to get in your situation, but God wants to use it for

good? All things work together for good. If Paul and Silas were not cast into prison, that jailer would have gone to hell. Thats pretty powerful, isnt it? God has a purpose. And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31) Do you have unsaved loved ones? Do you realize God promised you the whole house? Do you understand He promised you your whole family is going to be saved? But Im in prison, Pastor Sean. No, that has nothing to do with it. He said, If you believe, your whole house is going to be saved. Thats powerful. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. (Acts 16:32-34) He and all his means his entire house. Because Paul and Silas were cast into prison, the jailer and his entire family were saved. All things work together for good.