It’s Payback Time

Open your Bibles to John chapter 10. Meet me at verse 10. John chapter 10 and verse 10. Before we read that, didn't Zaven do a great job today on the keys? Yeah, give him a hand. This guy is, everybody didn't give him a hand. Let's do it again. Give him a hand. There we go. No, this guy, this guy is so multi-talented, 13 years old. Last week he was on the drums.

He's on the keys this week. he's all over the place so I'm excited and thank you Latoya thank you Sierra and Brad back there on the sound Robert thank you so much Alfred EJ back there and Allie with our children thank you guys so very much open your Bibles to John chapter 10 meet me at verse 10 John chapter 10 verse 10 very familiar passage of scripture Jesus tells us in this verse the thief does not come except to. I want to welcome everybody to church today online.

Thank you for joining us. Those of you listening to the podcast right now, thank you for joining us wherever you are. We've been talking about this verse over the last several weeks, maybe even months now, about what Jesus says here in John chapter 10.

He distinguishes the difference between the thief and himself and we understand that the thief is satan or the enemy he's an adversary he's an opponent and the only reason the sole reason the thief shows up is to steal to kill and to destroy but jesus said i've come to give you life and to give you life more abundantly the amplified translation says that jesus wants us to give us life till the full, till it overflows. New Living tells us he wants us to enjoy a satisfying life.

But the thief wants to take this life that Jesus has already given us. Everything Jesus has given us, everything he's provided for us through the salvation process, everything that he has obtained from us is ours. Everything is yours. You're not missing or lacking anything, but the thief wants to take it from you. He wants to steal, he wants to kill, and he wants to destroy. In the Old Testament, there wasn't a lot of revelation regarding the devil.

If you think about the Old Covenant or even reading in the Old Testament, we don't see a lot of things that the devil did or the devil does. But when Jesus showed up, he exposed the devil. And he said, anytime you see stealing, anytime you see killing, or anytime you see destroying, that is the devil. but anytime you see life and life more abundantly, that is me. So we can take a look at what is stealing, what is killing, what is destroying.

If it's something that is taking from you, then we can attribute that to the thief. If it's something that is destructive, we can attribute that to the thief. If it's killing, we can attribute it to the thief. And what has happened in our society that we tend to believe that everything that happens is of God. And that is not true, that everything that takes place on the earth is of God.

I was watching a basketball game recently, and the star player got hurt, and then he got up after the game and said this was God's plan. No, the thief stole from you, brother. It wasn't God. He didn't plan for you to get hurt in that game so that y'all can lose that game. The thief is a part of any and every interaction that deals with stealing, killing, or destroying. Satan is a terrorist. You cannot negotiate with him. He only has one agenda. That's to steal, kill, and destroy.

And one of the things that we've said in weeks past, and I'll say it again, is the Bible doesn't call Satan a robber. He calls him a thief. And the reason being is a robber is going to confront you, get up in your face, bash you over the head with something, and take your goods. But a thief is going to come secretly. He's going to be stealth. He's going to be sneaky. He's going to be sly. And he's going to take from you without you even realize that he has stolen from you.

And this is what the devil is. He's a kleptomaniac, which means he is persistent in his ability to and desire to steal from you. He is always looking to steal, kill, and destroy. I had a talk with an atheist this week, and obviously an atheist means they don't believe in God. And I asked him why does he believe that. He said, well, if there is a God, then he is unconcerned about the humanity or the affairs of humanity.

Humanity and I was like well let me submit to this is there a devil because if there's a God if there's good there must be bad now the bad is not as as strong as the good but it could appear to some people that the bad is stronger than the good if we look around but but at that point what he you know whether no he doesn't believe in the devil either well what makes the most sense to me is there is a God, and there is an opponent.

There is a devil as well, and the devil is stealing, killing, destroying, but God is heavily involved in the affairs of humanity. I have testimonies. I have experiences of God being heavily involved in the affairs of humanity, and he didn't believe it, but when I submitted to him that, you know what, there's also a devil, he goes, I never thought about that. There's also a bad force that's trying to steal, kill, and destroy, and the thief wants to take from you.

The thief wants to kill your relationships, kill your dreams, destroy your life, destroy what God has planned for your life. He wants to take you out early. He wants to steal your your mindset he wants to steal your peace and steal your joy and he also wants to steal your money. Now listen to me, because that's what I'm going to talk about today. The thief also wants to steal your finances. And I want you to hear me clearly today. I feel like I'm like the Apostle Paul.

If you ever read through the Corinthians, there are times the Apostle Paul says, the Lord says this, and then there are times he says, my advice is this. And so I want to talk to you today as a father figure through some experiences that I've heard over the last couple of weeks. And I want you to hear me clearly, and I want you to pay attention to what the Lord would have for you today. Watch this. According to the FTC, which is the Federal Trade Commission, people in the U.S.

Have reported losing more than $10 billion to scams in 2023 alone. loan. That's over a billion dollars more than the year before. Ten billion dollars in scams. Okay? To give you some perspective, according to the most recent valuations from Forbes, the Dallas Cowboys, somebody say, whoo-hoo, the Dallas Cowboys. Brad, I can't hear you back there. Brad, I can't hear you. The Dallas Cowboys are the most valuable NFL franchise, and guess what they're valued at? Nine billion.

So $10 billion have been scammed, which is more than what the Dallas Cowboys are even worth, and they're the most valuable NFL franchise. Now, I want you to do me a favor in this exercise. Raise your hand if you are under 60 years old. Raise your hand. Raise it high if you're under 60, 6-0. Most people in here are under 60. Watch this. You are the most targeted group for scams. Now, we tend to believe that those that are over 60 are the most targeted.

The most targeted group is people under 60 years old. According to a 2022 report from the National Cyber Security Alliance, Gen Z, people who don't even remember a time where there was no Internet, report higher rates of being taken in by everything from identity theft to phishing to romance scams, more so than baby boomers are.

Now identity theft is someone stealing your identity getting your authentication, authentication i practice this word authentication am i saying it right, authentication there we go authentication i was practicing i didn't get messed up when i got a prayer authentication that means they're stealing it getting your passwords getting your username the fraud is when they use it okay they use so the theft is they took it the fraud is is they use it.

Now, here's the interesting thing I want you to listen to. Your information is out there.

They don't know everything about you, but they know a little about a little bit, okay? They don't know everything. And thank God for defenses and, you know, banks and those sorts of things. They're doing their best to stay on top of everything, but they know a little bit about you, and they're fishing for the rest of the information. They're fishing for it. Now listen to me now. Younger generations fall prey to this kind of thing at a higher rate than their elders.

I heard of three stories that I want to share with you this week. One of them was a scam. Didn't start out as a scam or the person was led to believe it didn't, a church member put on Facebook that they were selling some furniture and a bunch of equipment. This particular guy sends me the screenshots of what happened. He writes back, hey, sis, church member. He knows the person. Hey, sis, I see you got some stuff for sale.

And she said, yeah, I got a bunch of stuff. A lot of people are contacting me. If you really want it, I need you to put a deposit down on it. That's pretty normal. A deposit is pretty normal. You know, hey, if you really want something, put a deposit down on it. Person said, I will. will. Yeah, I really want it. Hold it. Take it off. I get it, sis. I'll come get it. Take it off to Facebook. I want all that stuff. I'll get it.

Put a deposit down on it. Never heard from the person. Reached out, called the pastor to get the lady's name. Lady, I don't know nothing about this. Wasn't her. Someone stole the deposit money and it wasn't even them. Another situation I heard a guy lost his debit card. He gets a call and it says, hey, I heard you lost your debit card. Oh, I did. Yes. Let me show you how to do this or that. Started talking to him. He gave the numbers, this, that, and the third.

Talked for 30 minutes, gave this information, all that. Next thing you know, he looks at his account. A couple hours later, all the money is gone. Well, how did they know that the debit card was stolen? They don't. They only have to be right once. So they call you, we stole your debit card, stolen. I ain't got my debit card stolen. They hang up, call the next person. Or you lost your debit card. I ain't lose my debit card. Hang up, call next. They only have to be right once. This is a thief.

This is a thief. Another situation I heard, there was a car for sale. Great price. I've done this before. Hey, there's a car. Come look at it. Everybody wants it. Listen, you know, put a deposit down on the car. All right, we'll put a deposit down on it. I'm coming right now. They get a text back. Deposit doesn't go through. Put another deposit. it. Okay, I didn't go through it. Put another one. Next thing you know, boom.

Scammer got them both. Wasn't even the person. And let me tell you this situation firsthand. I know this one firsthand.

This person, came validated by another person and said, I know them. I vouch for them. them. They got a car. I vouched for them. Yes, I almost was going to buy that car too, but we decided not to vouch for them. Come to find out they were talking to a scammer, wasn't even talking to their friend via a text. He thought he was texting his friend. He's texting a scammer, impersonating the friend, took the deposit money and gone. This is a thief. Ten billion dollars.

I'll have to say this to you. Many of you know I've given this example before, but I want you to know how much this is. I want to give you some perspective. A million seconds is 12 days. A billion seconds is 32 years. So when we say 10 billion, we're talking about a whole lot of money has simply been scammed, stolen, cheated.

And most people say that will never happen to me I'm too smart for that you think people that got ten billion dollars taking from them weren't smart either that'll never happen to me I'm on top of stuff like that I'll never do anything like that everyone who falls victim to a scam often believes it won't happen to me and look at these ones that I told you about it wasn't like some you know rinky-dink rolled up on you and said I got some encyclopedias

for sale and and then you know hey by my segment they don't read it ain't like that no more they are hiding behind computers. Impersonating friends a eyes involved in some situations it's the same voice this This is the thief at loose trying to get the resources God has provided you with. And we're going to expose him today. Amen. Now, I don't know if you've ever have fallen victim to a scam, but I know that if you ever have, you felt embarrassed.

You know, how did that happen to me? You felt anger. You felt disappointed. I was talking to a pastor friend just the other day. I told him I was going to be talking about this. He has a son, a teenage son. The Apple computer, he's got a, you know, computer. The Apple computer said, call this number. You've been hacked. He calls the number on the screen. They say, we need all this information.

I mean this is not listen this is well organized trickery sneaky deceitful this is not somebody banging you over the head this is someone that's trying to insult you and pretend like they're there to help and the guy eventually he figured out like wait a minute this ain't right we don't know if anything got taken or not. You don't know how much. Remember, they have some information. They're trying to piece other information together.

We have to be wise if we want to hold on to what God has given us. Are you listening to me today?

I want to talk to you like a father figure today because if you've ever fallen victim to a scam, I know you felt disappointed, foolish, hesitant, hesitant, uncertain, and even unsure about yourself now as you go forward because of a scam that's taking place. And I want you guys to know that they are out there motivated by Satan himself to take your stuff. That is the goal. If they can get it all, they will. And here's the interesting part. Rarely do they ever get caught.

Rarely. It's almost impossible to catch them because they're hiding behind different type of names that is not a real name. It's some kind of cyber name that you got to figure out who the cyber name is and so on and so forth. Very rarely do they ever get caught. And so it's the onus is on us to be responsible for what God has given us.

Now, listen to me. If you've ever been caught caught up in a scam or something's been stolen and cheated from you, I'm going to talk to you today because God's got a plan for you. God's got something greater in store for you. Come on, somebody say amen. God's got something for you and I want to talk about it today. But I want you to know that there may be weapons that are formed against you, but they shall not prosper. Somebody Somebody say amen.

The enemy right now is plotting a weapon right now to come against you, to take your stuff, to take your health, to take your relationship, to take your money, but it shall not prosper. Somebody release faith with me and say no weapon formed against me shall prosper in Jesus name. Hallelujah. And typically what happens, and I want you to be aware of this because I'm not raising any dumb sheep. Amen. And I'm not saying if you get scammed, you're dumb. Please don't misunderstand.

Because, listen, but by God's grace and his wisdom, there we all go, okay? And the enemy's out there, and $10 billion is a lot of money that's gotten scammed, all right? What typically happens is you are too eager, you're too trusting, you're too foolish, and you feel too invincible. I was talking to a guy recently about the scam that I just told you about, and the guy was like, well, that never happened to me. And I said, see, you feel like you're too invincible because these guys are good.

They're good. And you want to be humble and say, Lord, build a fence around me. Protect me. Watch over me. Help me know what to do. Help me alert me right away when these things are taking place. I don't know what to do. And no shame I'll talk about that next week But no shame if this has happened to you And here's what I want you to learn Okay Use wisdom When it comes to money dealings With people you haven't met in person Okay Be very very wise.

Because there are There are easy ways To change money To exchange money money, to give money now with Cash App, Apple Pay, Zelle, you name it, PayPal, Venmo, that's very easy to give money to someone that you are trusting and they turn out to be a scammer. So I want you to use wisdom and here's what I want you to do. Now, I'm going to be like the Apostle Paul when I say this, okay? This is not the Lord, okay? This is Devon, okay?

Pastor Devon, not the Lord. do not trust anybody on Facebook Instagram tick-tock nobody this is Devon the Lord didn't said I can't I don't have a verse for you to show you this is me don't trust nobody on any of these social media sites if they're selling something don't trust anyone. Did you hear what I said there? I got I got I got a great thing. You want this cane? I got this cane. Yeah. And it's a cane I had. And I'm selling this cane.

I don't want that cane until I see you in person with the cane. All right. I was talking to a friend of mine. I told him about the scam that I just told y'all. Two days later, he calls me back. He said, my wife found a car on Facebook and she wants that. she wants to buy it.

He said, I told her, no, Pastor Devon said, no, no, no. The number one, and I did some research, the number one thing these scammers are doing is they're impersonating people on social media and they're selling stuff and they have nothing to sell.

I was in the barbershop the other day. Guy told me that he went to a reputable site and he was going to get a tattoo and he paid in advance for the tattoo because it was 20% off if you pay first paid in advance first reputable site goes to the tattoo place wherever they don't they never even heard of the tattoo artist money gone. But money's not gone. I'm going to tell you today, glory to God, the money's not gone in Jesus' name.

My advice, avoid purchasing anything on Facebook and never send money to strangers. Another thing I learned here over the last couple of weeks, Zelle and Apple Pay are instant. Instant. The bank can't help you. That's an instant transaction that takes place. And so if you send money via those platforms, nothing wrong with the platform in and of itself. Just know what you're doing. Be looking at the person and say, OK, did you get it? Because I'm looking at you.

Not not, you know, well, my name is so and so. And and I'm going to do some work, but I need 50 percent up front. Nope. nope, nope, I need to be looking at you face to face, and I need to know you. And you need to become well vouched for. Are you listening to me today? I'm trying to help you keep your money in your pocket, because these thieves are out here trying to steal from you.

And they are racking it up, and there's really nothing much that law enforcement can do, because we are too trusting and we're too eager.

And so I want you to know that don't do it. Now, I send Stacey money because I know Stacey, all right? But Willie Lump Lump, I don't know Willie Lump Lump, okay? Willie Lump Lump's not getting any money, all right? Because there's probably a scam behind it. And I'm not built like this way. I'm very optimistic. I'm very trusting until you do something that causes me not to trust you. But when it comes to my money, I've gotten there. I've got a wall up now. Like, nope, this is a scam.

Everything is a scam now. I think everything is a scam. Pastor, we want to help you build a church, but that's a scam. OK, I mean, I got I think everything is a scam now until I vet you and get the talking and that sort of thing. Then then I will not be as trusting. We had a situation here recently. So, I mean, and be checking your credit cards to your credit card. I'm just talking to you there. Are you listening to me? We don't get into some more word, but I'm just talking to you.

Be checking your credit card statements. A lot of the stuff on there, it's not right. We had people on one of our cards, they was an organ buying. So I ain't been to Oregon. I called right up. That ain't me. Cut groceries and all type of stuff. Get it off. Check it. Get it off there. And so when that happens, you get a new card. And so we got a new card. And so when you get a new card, a lot of our stuff

is recurring giving, right? And so you get this new card, and then so all of a sudden, some company, because you didn't remember to give them the new number, says you owe them money. So this guy calls me. He says he's from somewhere, and I owe them. I said, who are you? Now, my name is so-and-so. And I said, listen, I ain't giving you nothing. I said, you called me. I didn't call you. Okay? Now, if I called you, maybe I'd be a little more. You called me.

And then he tried to get mad. Well, we both mad. I ain't giving you no information. For me. Finally, he backed down because they need the money. I said, you're the one who needs the money. I ain't giving you nothing until you vet yourself. And he vetted himself, so on and so forth, told me the company. I went online to make sure that the dollar amount was the same. He said, okay, here's the new card, right?

We took care of the thing. This is what I'm saying. Don't be as trusting anymore because what you laughing at, dude? Because the thief, the thief is out here trying to steal, trying to take from you.

And he's praying on you and what what what he wants to do is he wants to cause you to be at a place that you get mad at God God why did you let this happen to me God you could have done something you could have stepped in God's like I've given you wisdom I've given you a brain pause take a break and I and I'm please Please don't misunderstand me. I want to help you keep the money.

I'm not trying to shame you because what I want you to see here today is that you're going to get that money back in the name of Jesus. There are people in church that have told me in our church that said, pastor, I got scammed. And I started hearing this more and more now that scamming is happening and it's the enemy, but it's not a done deal. We're going to get this money back. Somebody say amen.

Proverbs chapter 6, verse 30 through 31. Proverbs chapter 6, verse 30 through 31 says you can almost excuse a thief if he steals to feed his own family. Watch 31. But if he's caught, he still has to pay back. Somebody shout pay back. Shout it again. Pay back. What he stole. And guess what? Sevenfold. His punishment and fine will cost him greatly. Glory to God. Pay back. The title of this message, it's payback time. Praise God.

The thief has been caught. I know it might have been some rinky dinky dude sitting over there in Brazil somewhere. But no really it's satan that is stolen from you it's him that's trying to take and cause you to be without and he has been caught satan has been caught now listen to me i want to i want to say this as a word to you right now whatever's been stolen scammed or cheated from you god wants God wants to restore to you this year. Come on, somebody say amen. Somebody say that's mine.

Whatever's been stolen, whatever it is, financially it's been taken from you, whatever it is. Maybe it's your health. God wants to restore it this year. Maybe it's a relationship that's been broken because the thief came in. God wants to restore it this year. Come on, somebody say amen. man. There is for there to be a restoration there must have been a theft. So we look at restoration. Restoration is a Bible word. I'm going to talk about it this week and next week.

Restoration is a Bible word. In order for there to be restoration, something has had to have been stolen. Like I say, whether it's your health, whether it's finances, whether it's a relationship, but God promises you a return, watch this, on everything you give, and he promises a return on everything stolen from you. So you cannot lose. Let me say it again because I thought I'd get a lot more amens than that.

God promises you a return on everything you give and he promises a return on everything stolen from you so you cannot lose. Amen. Glory be to God. The thief has been caught and he must return it. He must return it. He's got to return it. And so I've been declaring, I know there's people in the church. I know there's some bad business deals that have fallen through for you. I know there's just been some money taken from you that you've been owed and you have not received that money.

I'm telling you this year, there shall be restoration that takes place in your life. God is going to return it to you, not like original, but sevenfold in Jesus name. name. Come on, somebody shout amen. You will come out better, improved, increased, and multiplied in the name of Jesus. Shout amen.

Second Kings chapter 8 verse 1 through 6. Watch this. Second Kings chapter 8 verse 1 through 6. Then Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored door to life, saying, arise and go, you and your household, and stay wherever you can, for the Lord has called for a famine. And furthermore, it will come upon the land for seven years. So the woman arose and did according to the saying of the men of God. And she went with her household and dwelt in the land of the Philistines seven years.

And it came to pass, somebody say, it came to pass. At the end of the seven years that the woman returned from the land of the Philistines and she went to make an appeal to the king for her house and for her land. Then the king talked with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, tell me, please, all the things Elijah has done.

Now it happened as he was telling the king how he had restored the dead to life, that there was the woman whose son he had restored to life appealing to the king for her house and for her land. Look at verse six. And Gehazi said, or verse five, Gehazi said, my lord, oh king, this is the woman and this is her son whom Elijah restored to life. Now verse six.

And when the king asked the woman, she told him. And so the king appointed a certain officer for her, saying, Restore all that was hers and all the proceeds of the field from the day that she left the land until now. Now watch this. Let me tell you what happened in this story. Many of you know Elisha is a prophet. And this woman is the woman that built him a house found in 2 Kings chapter 4.

Same woman built him a house the prophet's chamber when Elijah came through he would come into the house and do you remember the story Elijah told Gehazi find out what does this woman need and the woman had everything she needed except Gehazi noticed that she didn't have a son so Elijah said by this time next year you shall have a son so we're talking about the same woman and her son son. And so Elijah tells this woman, there's a famine coming to the land. It's going to last seven years.

So the woman and her son, they leave the land, go to the Philistines. I'm impressed with her because she obeyed the man of God. She packed up and left when she heard the word of the Lord. She goes to the Philistines, but the seven years are up. She's doing fine. Praise God, because she didn't stay in the land, she comes back. Now here's what happens in these situations. When you come back, you forfeit the land that you had before.

So when you left, you have forfeited it and over a certain period of time, it becomes part of the kingdom. So now she has returned to appeal to the king to get her land back.

But how many of you know right place, right time? Say Say that, right place, right time. She shows up at the right place to the king at the right time. Gehazi is telling the king at that moment all of the miraculous miracles, that marvelous miracles that have taken place, and talking at that moment about how Elisha raised up a lady's son. She shows up at that moment. They're talking about her.

And El Gehazi turns and says oh king this is the woman right here she tells the king the story and this is what the king does the king restores her. The land, and all of the proceeds she would have gotten from that land since she left. So not only did she get her stuff back, she got more than what she originally had. Come on, somebody say amen. Somebody say that's me.

Say it again, that's me. Now watch this, I jotted some things down because she was in the right place at the right time and restoration took place. Not only did the king grant her appeal for her land, but he also restored all the profits of her land during the seven years of famine that she was away. So this woman did not just get back what she lost, she received more than she deserved. Somebody say, that's me.

The Lord will bring restoration in the areas of your life where you have experienced loss. I want you to receive this. restoration this year in the areas of your life where you have experienced loss when God restores and repairs it is always better in quality and quantity all right when he restores and repairs it is better I don't know what's been stolen from you I don't know what's been taken from you I don't know what's been scammed from you. I don't know what's been lost.

What I do know is God's going to bring it back to you, and it's going to be better and more than whatever it was that you lost. Somebody say amen. God can turn things around. Do you believe that? He can turn things around, and he can restore you. When God restores, you don't return to your original state. Matter of fact, he restores and you get back more. You get back better. You are multiplied. You are improved. You are increased. And you come out on top.

Somebody shout amen. Somebody shout restore. Shout it again, restore. Shout it like you mean it, restore. I believe that we are in the days of restoration. There have been some things stolen from my life. And I'm believing in this year, it's coming back in more, greater, better than original. I'm believing that there are some relationships that were broken that's going to come back. I'm believing that people that may have left our ministry got offended. They're coming back.

I'm believing that God is going to restore money that was taken or lost. I didn't know that a thief took it from me, but it was a thief. I'm telling you, it's coming back. This year, it's coming back. Somebody shout amen. I'm telling you, it's the right time for restoration to take place. God is restoring, and we are in the days of restoration. Stand to your feet right now if you're believing for God to restore in your life. Stand to your feet.

Things that have been taken, things that have been stolen. You can help me out, buddy. things that have been scammed from you. And I know that there are many people in here that you may not even shared it, but you've been scammed in different areas of your life. Today, I declare August 14th, 2024. April. Thank you. Hallelujah. Correct me. Thank you. We got to get this started sooner than August. I guess, hallelujah, April.

April, you guys are listening. Praise the Lord. April 14th, 2024, I declare restoration take place in Jesus' name.

Hallelujah. When I was listening to different stories and thinking about times that, man, I got scammed. I got taken advantage of. And I just thought, well, it is what it is. But now, it's a seed sown. And God's going to bring the harvest on that. The devil owes me. You listening? And he owes you too. He's been stealing. Stealing our time, energy. Stealing our hell. He's been stealing. Stealing, stealing. And we're just, oh, you know, whatever. Not anymore.

I found the thief. And he owes me sevenfold. Come on, somebody say amen. Now say this after me. Lift up your hands. Say this after me. Today is my day for restoration. Whatever's been stolen, taken, scammed, comes back to me sevenfold this year in Jesus' name. I call it mine.