He Never Left! - Pastor Johannes Amritzer

Welcome to SC Church Podcast! We’re so glad you could join us. Today Pastor Johannes Amritzer shared with us his message:

“He Never Left!"

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:13

Hallelujah. Are you ready? We don't have as best Christians here today. You are not fireproof, right? You are highly flammable. How many of you are highly flammable for God? Come on. So as you can hear, I was not born in America, right? This is the Arnold Schwarzenegger accent. He is from Austria. He's not Californian. He's fooled you all. But everything is possible in California, they tell me. But I'm so happy to be preaching the gospel with you today. So please be seated, and we are getting straight to it here. How many of you have have heard uh have heard Christians pray? Oh, please, God, come into our midst. Oh, please, God, that you would be in our midst. Oh, Jesus, be in our midst. And I wanted to say something about that today. Uh, that actually, you can't ask someone to come that has never left. How many of you with me on that? Can't ask someone to come that never left. And uh, before I go to share that message with you, I just want to say that I'm releasing two brand new books here today. Uh, I picked my churches very carefully to release new books, but I've written a number of books, 13 as a matter of fact. But uh since I was here the last time I was picked to be the dad of evangelists for the dad of evangelists for Assembly of God in Africa, uh, which I don't take lightly, but this is our manual. It's called The Evangelist, the Fisher of Men. You can buy it here today. And then I also, this this I've written with a hot pen. It's called Intel, the guidance of the Holy Spirit within, and how to hear the voice of God. And we need to raise up a book of Acts, people that know how to hear the Holy Spirit, right? So turn with me, as this is a mission Sunday, and turn with me to Matthew's Gospel chapter, chapter 28. We can't start off anywhere else and read some very familiar verses. Um it says here from verse 16. Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I commanded you. And here it comes. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. How many of you believe that he is with us today? Come on, somebody. He never left. We don't need to pray. Dear Jesus, come into the room. He's right here among us. Now, for you that have never met me, I didn't grow up in church. Some of you have already sniffed that. My mama was an alcoholic and lived with drug addicts, and yeah, that's how I grew up. Dad was in and out of prison, so I was in foster care, had 22 addresses before I turned 18. And uh then um then the gospel was preached to my family. I buried a believing dad a few years ago, so he's with Jesus right now. And my mom is part of one of our churches in Europe, she's also believing in Jesus. She gave her life to Jesus at age 63. Come on, somebody. And uh so our whole family has experienced Jesus, and and we know that he never leaves. Hallelujah! He's not a hitchhiker. How many of you know that? He doesn't take into a homeless shelter and then he leaves when you mess up. He stays, he's with you, he never goes, he's with us, he never left. Tell your neighbor, tell your neighbor right now, he never left. We do not ask him to come, he never left. All right. Hebrews chapter 13, verse 5 says, Keep your keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. And here uh the author of Hebrew is actually quoting Deuteronomy chapter 31 and verse 8, where it says, The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you, and he will never leave nor forsake you. Do not be afraid and do not be discouraged. So I'm here to just announce to each and every one of you that Jesus was with you, if you felt it or not, this morning. Are you with me? Actually, Psalms tells us that we can go up above the stars, but he will be there. And even if we make our bed in hell, he'll be there too. So even when you are off the rail and you are walking away from God, and you make your bed in hell at times. I I remember a story, you know, a lot of my stories are not so churchy. Tell your neighbor, I warn you right now, they're not too churchy. There was a backslidden guy, he must have been from Louisiana. He he was in the room with three strippers. He had sex with them all, and then when they were getting their clothes on, uh yeah, they were sniffing cocaine together and do what they do in those rooms, right? And then uh uh they they put the television on as they're getting the clothes on, and there's a preacher on the television preaching Jesus, and the strippers start to talk about the message. How many of you know God knows how to reach you? And the strippers say stupid stuff about Jesus, and he just has to jump in because he's a church boy, he knows. And all of a sudden he he explains the gospel to the three strippers he has just had sex with, and and and this is how I think God is. God is omnipotent. How many of you are with me? God will find us, hallelujah, even when we make our bed in hell. And the God that I've seen at work in Africa, who is omnipotent in Africa, he's not impotent in America, he's the same God here, hallelujah! And it doesn't matter where you are in life, you can run, but you cannot hide. He will find you because Jesus has never left. He has never left, he is here through his Holy Spirit, and he's close to each and every one, and he's always close to a contrite heart, not a crushed heart. All right, Joshua chapter 1, verse 5 says, No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. And I just had this in my spirit to read out over Pastor Deron and uh over Sarah today, that um no one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Denideron, so I will be with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Come on, somebody, I will take care of you. Isaiah 43, verse 2 tells us, when you pass through the waters, can someone say amen? I'll be with you. And when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, the flames will not set you ablaze. Hallelujah. How many of you know there was a fourth man in the fire with Shadrach Mesha and Abnigegu? Am I right? There was a fourth man in the fire, and that was Jesus Christ. So I'm here to tell you and declare to you today that He has never left. Never left. Now I've seen the hand of God, people always want me to tell miracle stories because we see them weak, weekly, we see miracles. God has really graced us with a miraculous. And um, I remember the one of those first times when I was um praying for the sick alone. How many of you know that in the beginning you lean on someone else? You learn, and I was working with an Eritrean preacher from from the northeast of Africa, and he was very powerful and strong in signs and wonders. And I learned so much by up by observing him. But one day he didn't come when he had promised to come. How many of you know that can happen? And had to tell the people I got good news and bad news. Desta will not be coming, but Jesus has never left. Hallelujah. And I remember I started praying for the sick, and I took my first voply steps, and they carried up a girl to me that was 11 years old with polio-twisted feet. Um, and the feet were standing backwards, the wrong direction. And as I held her her feet in my hands, they twisted right in my hands, and the legs straightened out, and this girl started to walk, and from that day, hallelujah, I know that it doesn't come down to what name you are having, it comes down to his name, hallelujah. And we all bear his name. And as I told you here in the beginning, I God makes nobodies into somebody's, isn't it? The world's rejects are God's elect, isn't it? And what can you learn from me that if God could use me, he could use anyone because I'm one of those guys that he picked from the beer pubs. I made jokes over at North Point. We did pretty much three things when I grew up. We chased girls, played cards, and drank beers. Sometimes we mixed up the order, but that was what we did. But then Jesus showed up at my beer pub. Hallelujah! And Jesus saved my family, and I know nothing else. I got nothing to brag about than this one. He walks with me, he is with me, he never left. Can someone shout hallelujah? He never left, he's with me. Jesus is with me, and I didn't come in here today nervous because you are not to receive from me, you are to receive from the one I walk with. Hallelujah. I come in here with confidence that Jesus is in our midst. Hallelujah. Now, there is just some things that I wanted to bring you to today, and and that is that sometimes have uh I don't know if you've met them, but there are preachers, they are they are waiting for the presence of the Holy Spirit, just like they are praying, Oh Jesus, come in our midst, oh Holy Spirit, come now. When the Holy Spirit has not left us since he came on the day of Pentecost, and Jesus has not left us since he came to walk with us on earth. And and um I heard a preacher once, he said, I'm not going up on the stage unless I sense the Holy Spirit is in the room. And I was thinking, you know, I respect him, I love him, but I don't agree with him. Because I was thinking about the many times when I felt nothing. Are you here with me? When I preached with malaria, when I preached glowing hot with fever, or I would preach sick as a dog, but the Holy Spirit was there, hallelujah. Demons came out, cripples walked, people left wheelchairs, blinds, blind eyes got opened because even if you feel that he's not there with you, you can't trust those feelings. He is there with you. Your feelings might be lying to you because Jesus never left, hallelujah. Jesus is here today, he will never leave you nor forsake you. And I want to preach this into your spirit. He doesn't jump off when you mess up. How many of you know that if you are a father or a mother, you will understand that I I got I got four adult children, the oldest 31 and then down to 25. If they call me up and they say, like one of my sons did a few years ago, is daddy, I really messed up. You will not look at me the same way. You will not you will not view me the same way once I've told you what I've done. And I remember when he said that, tears started rolling down my face because I felt I loved him more now. I stopped him, I said, Hey son, listen to me. I just want to tell you that I love you more right now for turning to me. How many of you know that I'm not a better dad than the dad up there? He's a better dad than any earthly dads. So when you mess up, he's not taking into another shelter. Are you here? He's not a hitchhiker, he is with you and he stays with you through the storms, through the rivers, through the waters, through the fire, he's there. And I love the fact that sometimes when I have felt absolutely nothing, I was in a place called Namalu. I'm I'm going to say a few things about Namalu. Namalu is in Uganda, in the bush, with the Karamodja people, and I felt absolutely nothing but they were hostile. But believe it or not, in these six days, 20 blind people got their sight. When I felt nothing but but resistance, when I felt nothing but but you know hostility. But I'm telling you here today, the Holy Spirit moves either you feel it or not. The Holy Spirit is in this place moving the miraculous because he has never left the room. Hallelujah. Oh, demons are coming out, especially when we don't feel good, when there is resistance in the air. I remember in the DRC Congo, in in the uh Democratic Republic of the Congo, when when uh when all the witch doctors came in to Uwira, a place where we were having uh one of those mass mass Jesus festivals, as you saw on the screen, and and they came in to curse me, and they stood on the ground and did their hocus pocus. And uh I knew it was not going to go well because you can't curse someone that God has blessed. Can I hear an amen? It is impossible to curse someone that God has blessed. I know it was not going to go well, it would boom around. And one of the guys who stood there, he he got all of a sudden so afraid, he feared for his life, and he peed himself. We got this on video. I'm not allowed by my wife to show it anywhere. But he peed himself and they carried him in backstage and he was set free. And the rumor spread among the witch doctors all throughout the Democratic Republic of the Congo that the devil is so afraid of Johannes that he pees himself in his meetings. But I know that it is not me that he is afraid of, it is the one that walks with me, the one that is in this room today, and his name is Jesus Christ. Come on, somebody, can we clap for Jesus who never left, who never forsakes us, who is here? Hallelujah. I was together with a foreign minister in Tanzania not so long ago, and and and I felt that was you know a day when the anointing was just flowing. I think the anointing flows in stories and in jokes and through everything that we are. Hallelujah. And uh, this foreign minister he said 10 times, I really like you, evangelist. I like you so much. We should spend more time. And when he said it the 10 times, I kind of started feeling, I'm pretty good. I'm an awesome dude. And then he walked, I walked him out to the to the car with all the security personnel, and he sat in the car, and then I said bye-bye, and then he rolled down his window again and he leaned out and said, I really like you, evangelist. And as he drove away, the Holy Spirit whispered to me, You know that it's not really you that he likes, right? How many of you need that kind of a reality check at times? It is me that he likes, it is my presence in your life that he likes. If I've ever been likable, it is because Jesus is walking with me. I come from nothing, I was nothing but a but a you know, a little gangster beating people up and breaking into places and come from absolutely no family background or statue, but I can tell you, Jesus walks with me. He is my life, he holds my hand. Now, I wanted to bring you here today to a certain little story that I don't know if you've been to uh what do you say in America? I'm learning English. How many of you understand that? This is my this is my fourth language. Somebody say, God help the preacher. This is my fourth. When I grew up, I th I I spoke one, but then Jesus brought me into his unlimited kingdom. Hallelujah. And I'm not an ex-ghetto rat. Are you hearing me? I don't like gangster romance. I'm a new creation in Christ Jesus. I am royal, I'm priesthood. Come on, somebody, I'm with Jesus, He has lifted me out, and I can do all things with him who gives me strength. Now, um, when I grew up, we talked about haunted houses. Do you talk about that here? Haunted houses, you know, poltergeisters and stuff like that. And it was real. We stayed in a house where my mama's boyfriend did a lot of LSD and and you know, with our friends. It was it was the hippie era. Someone just I grew up in the I was a kid in the hippie era. So everyone was walking around naked with flowers behind their ears. It was that era. And uh and we were in one of those houses where they were doing all these kind of hocus pocus in the evenings, and I remember me and my brother were supposed to sleep in a room, and things were were falling out of the cabinet in the night, and we could hear footsteps, and the it was, you know, windows flew open. We all knew there were more than humans living in that house, and we feared, we didn't know what to do about it, and then my brother had some Christian friends. Hey, don't take for granted the Christianity that some of you grew up in. But my brother had some Christian friends and they taught him a worship song. And I was 15, my brother was 16, and they taught him a worship song, and they would tell him, Sing that when you are afraid. They had not led him to Jesus, but they have told him, sing that song because Jesus lives in that song. How many of you know that the Holy Spirit can sit upon a text? The Holy Spirit can sit upon a song, the Holy So, even when the Holy Spirit was not with us yet, Jesus was not living inside of us yet. My brother would teach me that song, and we would sit in that hunted house and sing that song together, and when we did, we felt peace. And we would sing until the sun came up. But praise God, I don't have to sing until the sun comes up anymore. Because one day I invited Jesus to my life. I was 20 years old, I was a wreck, I came to a rehab center and they preached Jesus to me, and I invited Jesus and He came in here and the pieces right in here. And if I'm in a haunted house nowadays, it is the demons running and not me running. Hallelujah. And if I go into a place where there is another atmosphere, I'm the thermostat. I changed the atmosphere and the temperature of that house, and you are the same. Come on, somebody. You are a very highly flammable Christian, aren't you? You are a believer that believes that Jesus walks with you. When you walk into a room, Jesus enters that room. When you walk into a place, you know, I don't wait for revivals. I'm not one of those Pentecostals that are waiting for revivals. I cause revivals. I walk with Jesus, I live under an open hand. And I believe he has never left. And when we walk out in faith and we believe that he is with us, everything is possible. And then today I came here this morning just to tell you that Jesus has not left you. No matter what you have done the last couple of weeks, where you where you felt that you failed him, he's right with you. Even when you made your bed in hell, he's right there. Even when you made a mess of your life, listen, he is not going to abandon you. He's got you, he is with you. So different from Allah in the Quran, so different from Ganesha in Bahaga Bagita. Are you with me? So different. Not a God that we have to please without good deeds, but a God, Hallelujah, that died for our bad deeds on the cross. What it would mean to be lost. But I've also been the most drunk in sin. When you're drunk in sin, you don't know what you do. That's why Jesus cried out on the cross, Father God, forgive them for they do not know what they're doing. And then Jesus came to my life and He walked into my life, and today even when I mess up, I run to him because he's a good father. Can someone understand that God is a good father? He's a just father. He's a beautiful father. Can we please stand up on our feet? I'm not going to preach a particularly long here today. I want to take you into the presence of Jesus. And then tonight I'm back here for a very special night, I've heard. And then all restraints are off. We are having no seat belts, and we're going to have an African meeting. How many of you are with me on that? And we're going to pray and we're going to see the miraculous. But already this morning, listen, Jesus is right here. Jesus is right in this room. Can every one of you lift up your faces towards heaven and close your eyes? Even if you are not in faith with me yet, you don't share my faith yet. I don't know what you call yourself. Muslim, atheist, baptist, or bicyclist, are you hearing me? Whatever you call yourself, it doesn't matter. Jesus died for each and every one. Sweated, bled, you know, sweated. He was bleeding, he was giving his life for each and every one. And if you acknowledge him, if you come to him, if you cry to him like I did, like my family did, he will move right in, and he will never leave, he will never forsake you, he will never abandon you, he will be with you. Father, I pray that the holy angels will surround this building right now. Father, I bind every demon power in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Father, I thank you that Jesus is walking through this building right now. And I thank you, Father, that his nail-marked hands are stretched out, ready to heal and cut bonds and chains and change lives and do the miraculous. Father, I thank you that everything is possible in this moment here, right now. Jesus, you are here. Jesus, you are here. Lift up your faces and close your eyes and lift, lift up your faces to God. I'm here to tell you that if you haven't invited Jesus yet, do as these three strippers did in that room. You know, this backslidden man, have them all kneel down in front of that television. And even though he was in sin, they walked out cleansed in the blood of Jesus Christ, full of the Holy Spirit. And right here, right now, you can invite Jesus. Anxiety will leave, darkness will leave, the demon powers will leave, and Jesus will enter in, and He's going to live with you, walk with you, be with you. So let's lift up our faces and close our eyes so that we don't disturb those that are around us. Father, I pray for every man and woman in this room right now. Break the fear and the bondage, break it in the name of Jesus. If you are in this room and you would like to acknowledge Jesus, maybe you want to what do you call it here in America, rededicate your life to Jesus. You walked away from Jesus, but you want to come home again. It's a lovely morning to do that. July the 12th, 2026. It's your holy date. But if you've never ever acknowledged Jesus, you've never ever prayed a salvation prayer. Listen, you can do it like I did 1990 when I cried out, if you can come to me, and He did, and He walked into my life. Today you can have Jesus walk right through your doors and hold your hand and walk with you. Father, I pray for every man and woman. If you are in this room and you would like to give your life to Jesus, the one who bled, the one who sweated, the one who cried out on the cross for the first time, or if you want to rededicate your life, on the count of three, you're going to shoot up your right hand in the air without any hesitations. Hesitation doesn't exist in here because it's going to happen right now. Right now, Jesus will enter in. So on the count of three, if you want to call out to Jesus, say, Come, come into my life, live inside of me. This is your moment. Rededication or first time, here we go. Jesus is standing in front of you all. The resurrected Jesus is among us here. Account to three. Make that right hand ready, and on three, you are shooting it up. One, two, three. Come on. Yes, hands are coming up everywhere. Hold them up, wave them to Jesus where you stand without any hesitation. Wave them to Jesus. Oh, yeah, wave them to Jesus. I see some 30, 40 hands in the in the air. Hold them up to Jesus. Don't hesitate. Hold them up to Jesus. Now I gotta tell you this before I make an extension on this invitation because it's so important. Don't take down your hands. All of you that have lifted your hand, hold them up, hold them up. Don't be ashamed. Hold them up. Hold them up. Jesus is coming to you right now. I parted with I partied with Americans long before I became a believer. So don't tell me you guys are shy. Because they were always the loudest in the room. And in your national anthem, you sing the home of the free and the home of the brave. Right? The Americans aren't afraid of anything. So all of you that have lifted your hands, wave them. Come on. This is your decision before God. And now come out from wherever you're standing because I want to shake your hands up here and pray with you right here. So come immediately. Come, all of you free and brave. Come, all Americans, come meet me here. Yes, good to see you, man. Just stay here with me. Come, come wherever you are. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Come, yeah. Good. Come up here. Come up here. Good to see you. Good see. Hi. Uh uh. We won't have this. You don't know who you have invited. Turn around to everyone right now, even if you know you're standing next to a hallelujah Christian. Say, Hey, if you lifted your hand and you don't dare to come up by yourself, I'll walk with you. Come on, especially you that are standing next to that boyfriend that has promised to come to church. Tell him right now, I'll break up with you if you don't walk up with me. This is that moment. So turn around to one another and help one another. There were so many hands in the air. Come on, help them to come up, take them by the hand, lead them up front. Good to see you, man. To see you come stand here. Come stand here. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on, we are waiting. Come on, clap for them, clap for them. We're waiting. Come come help one another, help one another. Listen, there are absolutely no fear in the meetings where I'm preaching. Why? Because me and Jesus have decided so. Fear is broken over your life, and you're free to receive and free to respond, and no one can hold you back from Jesus. So help one another. Come on, there are still people that have their hands up, but they're not up here. Help them, talk to them, take their hand, lead them up front. This is that kind of a morning when we are making bold decisions for Jesus, and you will not regret it because you're going to walk out hand in hand with Jesus Christ today. Hallelujah. Come on, lift up your hands wherever you are, hold them out in front of you. Hold them out, hold them out, and lift up your faces to Jesus and close your eyes. Hallelujah. Do I have time to lead them in a subject? Yeah, I have that time. Okay, so hold out your hands like this and lift up your faces, and I'll say, Dear Lord Jesus Christ. Ah, ridiculous, ridiculous, ridiculous. This is not working. We can't be the shyest in church when we're supposed to be the conquerors of the world. Come on, somebody. So I want all of you to pray loud and give support to the people standing up here now. Let's everybody say unison in a mass choir. Are you ready, dear Lord Jesus Christ? I believe in your blood, in your sweat, in your tears, in your agony. You died for me. Come on, pray loud. Say, Jesus, I'm coming to you. I'm standing at the foot of a cross. You are resurrected. You are real. You are alive. Forgive me my sins. Cleanse me in your blood. I surrender. I repent. I need you. I can't do life without you. Welcome into my life. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. Fill me today. Stay with me forever. I am your temple. I am your house. Oh now. Take those hands that you're holding in front of you and put them on your chest and say, Thank you, Jesus. Yeah, He's entering in. His blood is washing you right now, and His Holy Spirit is entering into your life right now. He's never going to leave you, never forsake you. He's going to be with you all the days. Hallelujah. Say thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Holy Spirit. July the 12th, 2026. Hallelujah. If I would take off my shirt, we're not going to have that fun of a Pentecostal meeting today. You would see, first of all, that I have the Brazilian rainforest on my body. You've never seen a hairier one. But there is a lot of tattoos. And uh one up here was done in a kitchen with the boys around. Now listen carefully. Today Jesus takes a nail from the cross, dips it in his blood, uses it as ink, and makes a salvation tattoo in your heart. July 12th, 2026. Forever mine.

SPEAKER_00 35:04

Thank you for connecting with us today. The first step to a new life in Christ is receiving the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. If you have never received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, repeat this prayer after me. Jesus, I believe you died on a cross and rose again for me. I ask that you come into my heart and be the Lord of my life. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Whether you committed your life to Jesus for the first time today, or are already on your journey of faith, we would love to stay connected with you. Please visit fvechurch.com and follow FVchurch on all social media platforms. And remember the best is yet to come.