20210123 | A Time Of Testing | Pastor John Lomacang (tvsdac)

and once again happy sabbath to all of you wonderful to see you in god's house on god's day i've been to church so many times i think i could find my way here in my sleep but i don't want it to become a habit i want it to become a commitment i've been praying quite a bit about this message reading and staying abreast of what's happening in the world today and i know that normally i won't do this during a a sermon but just to just to recognize some people that i haven't seen in a while i know brandon armstrong good to see brandon back in thompsonville brandon was a slimmer young man when he left and uh he's got more experience and he's back in town i think it's just a matter of time before his wife joins him good to see you brandon and good to see you dalia she was here last sabbath she had been challenged with covid but they're doing a lot better now good to see she and her husband johnny here in church today and all of you who have come through the challenges and trials of what is taking place it's a blessing to have you here in church today let me just go ahead and pray before i share with you what i was going to share loving father and our great god this morning it's always an opportunity but it's always a great responsibility and sometimes i shrink when i think about how great this responsibility is that i don't really have options there's no third box that i can check because you said he that is not with me is against me he who is not gathering with me is scattering abroad father i want to be with you i want to gather with you and so lord i ask now that you'll send your holy spirit to be with me to take my words and crafted in such a way that those who are listening that it will be clear to them that you'll use my frail instrument my voice my life to give you the glory of the honor and the praise as we consider the message a time of testing encourage each one of us that we are living in that testing time and that there's something that we must do to endure it and to stand before you in jesus name i pray amen a testing time or time of testing if i could give this sermon another title or a subtitle it would be what just happened it would be what just happened we are living in one of the most unusual times that any of us have experienced it's unlike anything i've seen and i've been around for a number of decades praising god for every new decade that he adds to me but we're seeing a world that's quite different than the world that we were raised with we're no longer in the howdy duty time kind of world and um that phrase it's a small world after all is very real today when you think about the fact that all of us every one of us in a matter of nanoseconds can see what's happening on the news and the entire world can be either united on the front of information or divided on the front of information we're living in a time where it takes a matter of seconds for a message to ping from one satellite to the next or one for one cable company to the next or from one satellite or one internet site and things that make the news in just a matter of minutes they are on youtube you really don't even have to own television any longer because it just makes the pages of social media in a splash so we're not living in a time of ignorance but it seems to me that over the last four years or even a little longer than that the church has become somewhat neutered and let me let me describe what i mean by neutered we have seen religion become a laughing stock in the eyes of the world we have seen the church the christian church lose credibility worse than a shyster used car salesperson not saying that they are all that way but the church is losing credibility i was reading some articles recently and pastors are saying people that are not christians don't want to listen to christians because of what they're seeing in society they're saying if that's what a christian is if that's what you teach if that's how you behave that's not what i want to be a part of why would i be a part of that when i can do that without even giving my life to the lord how can i do that and claim to be connected to god anyway if i can curse and swear and riot and pillage and set buildings on fire and charge the capital and claim to be connected to christ why do i need jesus when i'm already doing that but the pulpits of america have been silent and it's almost as if almost as if pastors feel threatened to call it like they see it to try to recover god's people into a place of sanity a few years ago i made a commitment to christ a recommitment to christ i said father if you save me i will serve you the rest of my life and i was serious about that so i'm stepping out from the crowd but i'm not taking on the elijah syndrome thinking that i'm the only one because god has seven thousand more that have not bowed their knees to baal and i praise god when i can go on youtube and hear an adventist preacher preaching the sermon or i get a call from an adventist pastor and he says i watch your sermon i preached about that last week keep it up brother when i got a text or a phone call or an email from somebody saying i didn't understand what seventh-day adventists believe but now i want to be one thank you for being clear about the gospel we don't have time to meander in the maze of mediocrity and to become pastors who lose the relevance of their position because they fail to be obedient to god we are not in a position of popularity let's eliminate that and we have not been called to be pat on the back and to receive accolade and i praise god when you know whenever we have pastors appreciation that's something that i take so humbly because only god is worthy to be glorified but in these trying times in these times of testing god is calling for his people to come out from the crowd and like elijah to say that there are souls on the line people that are being lost people that are passing off into eternity every day and when they try to find hope in a christian movement somewhere they see what america has seen over the last four or five or so years a church that has been spaded and neutered and has lost its vital life for us but i want to say today that's not the case everywhere somebody ought to say amen god still has men like elijah and john the baptist and joshua and caleb and moses and noah god still has paul's that are being converted from being saul are persecuted to paul a man on fire for god god still has some fishermen like peter who had their minds focused on themselves but god freed them from their chains and now they're speaking boldly for the glory of god and like the apostles of all we ought to obey god rather than man we ought not pillage and pander to politicians or leaders or people of wealth just because we feel that somehow favor with them will be an advantage to us we are members of a kingdom that is not of this world it's time that god's people in this time of testing come back to the forefront as seventh day adventist christians who recognize that we have been given the responsibility and i'll say this again we don't have the truth the truth has us when we get to the place where we think we have the truth then we somehow become stewards of something that belongs to god the truth belongs to god the truth has us we don't have the truth the truth is too large for us but the truth makes room for every one of us and so god has called me john you made a promise to me yes i did lord then be what i've called you to be i remember growing up and every now and then on television or sometimes in the car i would hear this this is the test of the emergency alert system the broadcasters in your area and voluntary cooperation with the federal state and local authorities have developed this system to keep you informed in the event of emergencies and in the end by if this had been an actual emergency you'd have been told what to do i was in thompsonville that day when i heard this come on the radio and we had 120 mile an hour straight-line winds going through this southern illinois area and god in his grace preserved three abn somebody ought to say amen not a single antenna lost calibration not a single satellite was turned out away i remember talking to jorge jorge was living close to radio at the time with his family and i said jorge what was it like were you terrified and he said i opened the window and put my hand outside and i didn't even feel the wind blowing at all and i said god surrounded you and kept you safe and all the trailers that were by 3abn not a single one of them were toppled over i want to tell you something when you are loyal to god god is your shelter in the time of storm and so we ought not be concerned about what's coming but we ought to be a people letting the world know what is coming because when we stand before the lord i only want to hear well done thou good and faithful servant i don't need a mansion just give me a sleeping bag and i'll be just fine i want to be in that kingdom and i've discovered in scripture as i've been studying god's word that the focal point of my message today is about a man named elijah a man who rose to the surface in the time of testing because he walked with god before the test came we cannot wait till the test comes to say we're going to step to the forefront if we're not walking with god every day we are not prepared to step to the forefront if we don't know the word of god prior to the storm he cannot be our anchor in the time of storm if we don't know where god is before the reigns we will not know where he is when the rains come as i've heard many people shaken when 911 shook the foundation of new york city the headline on the newspaper where was god and i i put on the facebook he was where he was on september 10th the same location and so today we are going to walk through three phases how many phases did i say three phases of the work of elijah the literal and the two symbolic and how important it is for us to step to the forefront but before we step to the forefront we've got to prepare ourselves before the sun no longer shines before the early time of trouble and we're seeing the harbingers in politics so many of us on one side are glad that we don't have the former president but let me tell you something don't think that this one's going to be a whole lot different it may be in the ways of morality because they're quite contrasted in the ways they are that's humanity but we have a president now that's a catholic the only second one since president kennedy we have a supreme court that is predominantly catholic so if the pope were to make any kind of recommendation that we unite on any policies whether political or environmental i don't see a whole lot of resistance on the horizon so the people of god are living in a time where we must be ready not because of what is happening out there but because god has given us a picture that very few people have even been given access to malachi chapter 4 verse 5. go there with me the lord said so clearly behold i will send you elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the lord when you read in the books of zephaniah and haggai and joel and amos about the great and dreadful day of the lord it's hard to describe it it is a day of such magnificent description that as we're reading it there's nothing that in society that exists today or even in the past that we can call on to say it's going to be like that the day that is ahead of us is far more intense than anything that humanity has ever seen and the prophet just calls it the great and dreadful day of the lord and what makes it great and dreadful this is when god pulls back his hand of mercy this is when god laughs at the calamity of those that are refused have refused to listen to his call this is the day when god says i no longer plead for the guilty inhabitants of the earth this is the day when the spirit of god stops knocking on the doors of men's hearts a great and dreadful day of the lord and it's not too far distant if we cannot see by the signs around us that the day of god is coming and it's hasting greatly if we cannot see by what's happening on the left and on the right and then the world is so fragile right now our country they're pouring trillions of dollars into the economy trillions of dollars into our pockets when we are so far in debt that we are on the other side of the planet where is the money coming from fake money money that doesn't exist in a frail human attempt to say everything's going to be all right but we know differently elijah was a representative of the people of god that are to stand on the side of the commandments of god and the faith of jesus elijah in the scriptures is presented in three scenarios each one building sequentially on the other and when you understand the initial story of the life of elijah this man called of god this man who was so connected to god that he had to encourage those around him this man who's the spirit of god worked in so powerfully that when he passed off the scene elisha said father give me twice as much of what you gave him and the power of god continued but elijah was taken out of the way because men became reliant on upon elijah and not reliant and upon the lord and so today as we walk through this time let's go to the book of first kings first kings unfolds to us this dramatic story of a society that had lost its bearing of a church whose allegiance was severed between their god and his commission for them elijah existed in a time of complacency in elijah's time was a time of abundant vineyards and tremendous wealth it was a time when israel became a fraternal partner with the nation of the sidonians it was a time when israel lost its uniqueness there was no marked difference between the children of israel and the worshipers of baal their music was almost identical they were worshiping at the same altars they were worshiping in the same groves they were bowing before the same god even though one had a knowledge of the true god they put that knowledge aside and began to embrace things that brought more emotion things that felt better to them and they were seduced slowly by the worshipers of baal and the prophets of ashura spirituality was pushed aside in pursuit of monetary wealth when elijah was called to go before ahab and jezebel it was a time when the kingdom of israel was at its height monetarily they had wealth they had possessions that everything that the heart can desire and to add to that the wealth of asherah and baal's prophets 450 prophets of baal and 400 prophets of ashura and they were worshiping together they were rubbing eldo elbows they lost their allegiance to god and then ahab a man that god called to be a leader in israel married a woman by the name of jezebel and created a religious political alliance through marriage the bible says in first kings chapter 16 and verse 31 describing this act that god did not approve of the word of god says and it came to pass as though it had been a trivial thing for him that is ahab to walk in the sins of jeroboam the son of nebat that he took as wife jezebel the daughter of ethbaeal king of the sidonians and he went and served baal and worshiped him ahab graduated from the seminary air was ahab was not ignorant he was the seventh king of israel jezebel was a phoenician princess of the sidonians her contemporaries labeled her as sensually evil and politically persuasive she was the wife that in the quiet moments of ahab's night she would torment and urge him on in his continual rebellion against god you find later on in the book of first kings chapter 22 that as ahab was trying to regain his bearings jezebel was still stirring him on throwing more coal in the fire putting more wood in the furnace to keep him at the height of his rebellion but under ahab unwavering allegiance to god had fallen so low that they began to alter israel's worship look at verse 32. this follower of god the bible says then he set up an altar for baal in the temple of baal which he built in samaria now let's pause for a moment i've been seeing and i want to be very clear today and be very humble about it i've been seeing a paradigm shift taking place in seventh-day adventism i've been seeing worship styles that don't give glory to god at all and i've been asking myself the question where did it come from but when you read the bible it becomes clear that when your allegiance to god is wavering and when you push aside the requirements of god in order to regain or to somehow maintain this emotional condolence or this emotional uh consolation that you are still righteous you look for something that make you feel like you're still righteous and instead of allegiance its emotion instead of complying with god's word is i want to just say i love you lord but don't ask me to live any differently sometimes my wife and i listen to songs on the radio you know and they say nine times in a row i love you lord jesus i love you jesus i love you and i remember a couple days ago andy said then why don't you keep his commandments she spoke to the radio and that's the point how can you say you love god but his commandments are so far and you don't even want to keep them god doesn't need lofty words and bias repetition praises great and grand but not what he demands god doesn't need that he doesn't need lip service and we are living in a generation where religion has been distilled down to they draw near to me with their mouth they honor me with their lips but what god is concerned about is whether or not our hearts are near or far from him and i've been searching my life i've been examining my thoughts i've been looking through what i have in my library and what i watch on television i've been i've been during the day i would pause and say father i just want to be in your kingdom i just want to be in your kingdom as i was putting the final touches on my message last night i paused as i was listening to jesus paid it all instrumentally in my ears i like to work on my sermon as i'm listening to soft music in my ears it sets my mind away from everything around me and i'm listening to him jesus paid it all and you know or another hymn and it's so beautifully done with strings and just saw piano and i have the volume below and i pause and say father i just want to be saved i don't want anything to keep me out so let me see me then i feel this sense of i hear you son come over me and then god puts my fingers to the keyboards and says let me guide you through the message and it's amazing to me what god does when i ask him to lead and guide i don't want to be a pastor that goes down the the the corridor of baal will be responsible for the rebellion that could rise up in the hearts of god's people father forgive me if i've ever done that but there's something happening in the christian world today that the evidence is clear in the media the evidence is clear in circles of politics when people can put down their moral values and and give their life their liberty and their finances and their hearts and their passion to support to the support of a man whose life doesn't even remotely resemble anything having to do with christ and then to say he's a christian profanity flying from the podiums of america from the desk of our president christians don't talk that way he's a christian somebody ought to pray that god will wake him up when we think that that kind of life is the kind of life connected to a christian but it's not new it happened to ahab it happened to those who united themselves with people that had ulterior motives and today in the evangelical community and i'll share some things with you in just a moment right now there is a crisis in evangelicalism and they're asking what just happened pastors that have prognosticated the continuation of the of the poppy show that we saw in america but it has come to an end where do we go now to whom shall we turn turn your eyes upon jesus that's where god has always called the church to look and when we turn away from our allegiance to god and look to frail men that are nothing but bones and dust and water such is the condition that follows the condition that was prevalent among israel during ahab's reign when you look at history in the bible it was not the result of that one king it was a rhythm set by the first king of israel solomon go to first kings chapter three what we're seeing in christianity today did not start over the last four years it started way back it started decades ago today what we're seeing is the baby of a movement started a long time ago called dominionism i'll talk about that in specifics one day but what happened in the time of ahab solomon started the cadence solomon was the first king to create a political alliance with foreign nations when he married an egyptian look at first kings chapter three in verse one now solomon made a treaty with pharaoh king of egypt that means a political alliance and married pharaoh's daughter then he brought her to the city of david lord have mercy god's city the very nation that held his people in bondage he now creates an alliance with a king who held his people in bondage for 400 years and he says come come into my palace the city of david the place that should be honored by the lord alone come let's bring a wayward king's daughter into the house of god not for the purpose of conversion but the rest of the story is sad when you look at solomon's cadence then he brought her to the city of david until he had finished building his house and the house of the lord and the wall all around jerusalem today was being practiced in christianity the pollution of christianity today are the same pollutions like israel of old political alliances with those that disregard the law of god can i say that again the lord said in his word to the law come on say it with me and to the testimony if they speak not according to this word it is because there is what no light in them let us not forget god's word so people come up with cute slogans and propaganda that seems to be indicative of the things that are causing our hearts to feel at ease and we grab onto it only to realize it's ropes of sand when compared to god's word the appalling decline among israel was followed it had declined so low that elijah prayed for god to withhold his blessings and for three and a half years it did not reign look at first kings 17 and verse 1. first kings 17 and verse 1 and after we read that we'll find out why elijah prayed for god not to send rain for three and a half years first kings 17 1 and elijah the tishbite of the inhabitants of gilead said to ahab as the lord god of israel lives before whom i stand there shall be there shall not be due nor rain these years except at my word let me pause and break that down you see ahab and jezebel with their 450 prophets on one side and then the other asherous prophet 400 on the other side you have 850 false prophets you got an arrogant woman you got a rebellious king you have an entire nation that have lost their bearing and then you got one man now in the scheme of statistics he looks like he's at a disadvantage but let me say something today all god needs is one man god does not need a majority god needs a heart sold out to him so from all intents and purposes elijah looked like he's a man on his own but he stands with firm voice before ahab he says as as long as god lives as sure as god's god lives there will not be due nor rain these years except that my word now how do you like that ahab not your word there's nothing you can say that's going to bring rain there's nothing you can do that's going to bring rain and you might wonder why god chose extreme measures in an attempt to awaken israel to its decline and the decline was in three specific areas social political and spiritual they had all the money they needed but it was social spiritual and political the question is why did god withhold reign this was amazing you see god withheld the rain joe because the groves and images set up by baal and also united in by ahab and jezebel and asherah these groves were fixed these altars were fixed among thick green forests so as you walk through the forest you can see these false altars everywhere these these altars of worship were established among abundant fields of vegetation so when they went to worship their god they can pick vegetation and eat and from all external purposes it looked like god it looked like their god was blessing them in the botanical gardens donald these beautiful fragrant places where flowers were without number were the groves of their false gods set up in the midst of these abundant fields of multiple colors of flowers and plants and from all external purposes it looked like their god was blessing them and they pointed to their abundant lands as a sign of approval from the false gods that they worshipped excuse me i've got to slow down so god says not so fast your gods can't make flowers grow your god can't make trees turn green your god cannot produce tomatoes and cucumbers and cabbage and lettuce just in case you forgot in the beginning the lord made heaven and earth so this rebellious nation in their rebellion they pointed to their success friends there is no greater distortion than when people in rebellion point to god's creation as evidence that god is ignoring their rebellion so they said how could i be how could i be worshiping the false god i got a nice car i got a nice house i got a lot of money in the bank how could what's the how much money do you have in the bank they began to point to god's resources as evidence that god was ignoring their rebellion so what did the lord do elijah said lord dry up everything they boast about this is powerful you wonder why the malls are closed you wonder why the sporting stadiums are shut down you wonder why you can't go to a basketball game or you can't go to a football game or you can't go to movie theaters because god is drying up all the evidences of boastful rebellious men how could we be in rebellion when our movie theaters are packed and our stadiums are packed and our malls are prospering our mall is shutting down pretty soon we're going to have to drive to florida to go to a mall god is giving us glimpses well i'm going through i'm going through withdrawals best buy is about to close in march all the things that we look for to please our senses god is shutting it down around us god did the same thing among israel he began to so here it is elijah prayed and when god heard elijah's prayer the rain stopped the forest began to wither the leaves on the vegetation began to fade the plants began to dry and die from thirst and all the fragrant gardens started to wilt and when you read about it the way that god servant ellen white brings it out in prophecy the king she says not only did this bring fear to the worshipers of baal and asherah but there were winds that god sent and on many days when they went to the groves attempting to bow down before their images they couldn't handle the dust storms their forests were turned into deserts their groves would turn into nothing but tumbling tumbleweeds and god was saying where's your god strength now where is bale's power now and for three and a half years god said the things that which you use to evidence your success i'm gonna pull back my blessings friends let me tell you let me tell you something this is very powerful this is very needed when we ignore god and point to success as evidence that god is not upset with our rebellion it's just a matter of time before god stops pouring out his blessings the rain stops and god stopped the rain but look at isaiah chapter 40 and verse 8 what an amazing thing when god's word is no longer our desire look at how god parlays what he did in elijah's day with his word isaiah 40 and verse 8 the grass withers the flowers fade but the word of god together stands forever if the people of god are going to make it through the times ahead of us we got to stand with something that stands forever come on say amen somebody we've got to become so acquainted with god's word that when everything around us is fading and the stock market is declining and the interest rate is going up and people cannot level themselves in the oil industry in the economic industry and the stock market when everything that we have trusted and begins to wilt and to fade and to wither and to die from lack of water god is saying that's not going to happen with my word during the time of rebellion in israel that's why amos said there's a famine coming not a famine for bread or thirst for water but for the hearing of the word of god friends let me tell you something one of the reasons why i re committed myself yeah i have a busy schedule but i'd rather i rather be busy for the lord and know that every effort that i put forth is helping somebody get ready for jesus second coming so i'm not complaining about the busyness that's what god has called me to be be so busy working for jesus as the songwriter said i ain't got time to die so i'm excited when i hear about evangelists like dakota day and ryan day that are just finding creative ways to keep preaching whether on the internet or in a little church or a big church keep on preaching stay busy for jesus can you say amen keep on doing what god has called you to do because as a songwriter said when are our labels and try labors and trials there are and we are safe on that beautiful shore just to be near the dear lord i adore will through the ages be glory for me our work is going to end one day but let's stay busy until that day comes when you look at what happened in israel steadily the boasted success of ahab and jezebel was eroding in the presence of their followers ahab's prophets were powerless to avert the crisis but that was not new the scenario is all too well familiar and as we go to daniel chapter 4 verse 30 to 31 we see this again we're going to see a cadence of god on how he dealt with issues you ask nebuchadnezzar how god feels about arrogance and pride and he'll give his testimony daniel 4 verse 30 and 31 god is not hostage to arrogance and pride though judgment is delayed it is not averted daniel 4 verse 30 and 31 the king that is nebuchadnezzar spoke saying is not this great babylon that i have built for a royal dwelling by my power and for the honor of my majesty and verse 31 says while the word was still in the king's mouth a voice fell from heaven king nebuchadnezzar to you it is spoken the kingdom has departed from you there's only one way to continue in success and that is loyalty to the unchanging god there's only one way to guarantee that tomorrow is going to be better than today is to be humble in the presence of god that in the time he sees best he will bring his people to the point of exaltation god is saying lay low for now because the day is coming when the world is wrapped in darkness and the people are wrapped in gross darkness that i am going to turn the light on thompsonville we've got to get ready for god to turn the light on in our lives but we got to get ready we got to get ready we cannot be idle and and complacent and say i'm ready to battle where's my uniform where are my weapons oh no you see the cadence that's there in the bible what happens around us what's happening in evangelicalism what's happening in politics the very transition that took place was because the pride was so great that god said your kingdom has departed from you look at proverbs 18 and verse 12 solomon contributes to how god feels about haughtiness and arrogance when solomon looks back at his fame and his wealth and his self-exaltation notice his testimony proverbs 18 verse 12 before destruction the heart of a man is what haughty and before honor is what humility i want to be very i want to be very intentional today i'm going to be very clear today because what we saw taking place on the soil of a country that claims to be a united country america has become a divided states not united states we are a divided states right now we as a church we as a christian movement we as seventh day adventist christians ought to be saying if you want to look for any place where harmony and god's word can be found you ought to be able to find it in thompsonville and then the adventist church amen somebody wherever people go they ought to walk through the doors and find a people that live their lives based on the cadence of confirmed prophecy not the propaganda of men whose minds are not guided by the presence and power of god and let me go a step further look at matthew 23 and verse 12. this is powerful god is showing us the kind of people we ought to be the converted tax collector says and whoever exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be what exalted can i make a comment no one can take by force that which is granted by god through humility no one can take by force that which is a gift from god through humility let's go to first peter five and verse six a confirmation a confirmation notice peter the converted man now speaking to us about humility first peter 5 and verse 6. he says therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of god that he may exalt you how friends in due time the story of america's failure and success is one of arrogance versus humility and god is looking for a church that wants to be humble under the mighty hand of god that when the time comes they have been so close to god in times of peace that when times of war come god can present a united church what kind of church should i say not left and right not blue and red but god wants to present a church's that's in one accord and in one place and how can the spirit of god be poured into the seventh-day adventist movement if we are so seduced by what's happening around us rather than doing what the lord says looking unto me the author and finisher of your faith and in this adjusting time this time of testing god is saying okay we made it through that but there's more to come in this time of testing god is calling the church to find the upper room somewhere to kneel down together to iron out our differences to become one with one each each other to lay down our pride and our preferences and to say i'm more interested in winning you than winning an argument because when the outpouring of the latter rain comes we are told in god's word he will only pour it out on those that are unified but i'm also excited about this the glory of the former shall not be greater than the glory of the latter when god pours out the latter rain brethren it's going to be better than it was on the day of pentecost you know what that means it was poured out in jerusalem then but just imagine when the world is getting darker all over this planet you're going to see lights in afghanistan lights in korea lights in japan all over the world you see those little lights that's the reason i put this up here those represent the little lights of god god has wrapped the world in the seventh-day adventist church so that when darkness covers the earth god's church is going to rise to the surface lights all over the world can somebody say amen i want to be a part of the light and not the darkness i want to be a part of those that have a message in the time of storm when people are looking when men hearts are failing them for fear well there is perplexity and anguish when the seas and the waves are overstepping their boundaries i want somebody to say let us go up to the mountain of the lord to the house of god and he will show us his way and he will teach us his law i want to be a part of the movement that the bible says the gentiles shall come to your brightness the to your rising and the kings to the brightness of your rising god is saying when i turn the light on in your life they're going to see it but brethren we got to get ready for what's coming elijah was ready for the crisis because elijah's life and the time when there was no crisis was one of consistency god is saying to the church in america it is time to get back time to get back to who we are time to regain ourselves to recalibrate ourselves to be a people getting ready for that which is coming there's something else that we find in scripture let's go to matthew 11 and verse 12 oh the bible gives so many parallels to help me understand as i study during the week what actually happened here in america what happened how did america nearly get crippled look at matthew 11 and verse 12 jesus diagnosed it perfectly because it happened in his day he says and from the days of john the baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers what violence and the violent take it by force you know what that is saying when the when the when the disciples stood up against the organized movement that had coalesced with rome they faced one act of violence after the other when the apostles went forth preaching the gospel in all the various places from philippi to antioch into all the parts of asia and asia minor everywhere they went the kingdom suffered violence scourging and imprisonment they suffered violence at the hand of those listen carefully at the hand of those that claim to be connected to god does god need violence to reign let's go to matthew 26 and verse 52 let's let the bible speak this is why jesus rebuked peter for pulling out his sword matthew 26 and verse 52. the bible makes it clear but jesus said to him that is to peter put up put your sword in his place for all who take the sword will perish by the sword god does not need violence to preserve righteousness doesn't need it we should have learned that we should have seen that during the dark ages go to revelation chapter 13 and verse 10 there's a continued cadence the people of god in a time when the world is falling apart when christians are losing their minds because they've because they've abandoned their post god's people ought to be calm in a complacent society what did the dark ages tell us what did we learn during the times of abject darkness revelation 13 verse 10 and this is what was said about the powers of rome he who leads into captivity shall what go into captivity who he who kills with the sword must be what killed with the sword but what about the people of god here it is together here is the patience of the saints can i paint the picture god's people are at the starting line poised and waiting for the call of god to say on your mark get set go and god is going to send his people out into the highways and hedges and the byways in the places that are high in the places that are low among the wealthy and the poor among those who have and those who have not god is trying to get his church ready so that when somebody knocks on your door you say come on in i go back as a young man i remember those days growing up in new york city one sunday morning i could see myself now i had on my yellow basketball shirt number 20 was my number my black shorts and i had my sneakers and it was a warm summer day and it was a sunday morning and i was on my way to go play basketball at fulton street park if you're from brooklyn you know what i'm talking about and the doorbell rang and i saw a nicely dressed young man in a suit and he had two young ladies with him and he identified himself as as he tried to give me a watchtower magazine a jehovah's witness and i looked like an easy mark i had on my shorts i looked like a guy that was only interested in basketball but what he did not know is i had my time with jesus i knew how to use god's word way back there in the adolescence of my understanding of scripture and i still have that bible to this day so that young man said to me he identified his name his name i remember his name was tracy and he said he was giving me a watchtower and he said we'd like to talk to you he said do you attend church and i said yeah i do i attend church where i said i i go to bethel seventh day after his church a little more than a mile away well i guess his mind was calibrated to say he said seventh-day adventists let's go ahead and attack the sabbath he shouldn't have done that and he attacked god's law and how the commandments were nailed to the cross and how the law of god and the ceremonial law was the same thing and he was training these two young ladies on how to get bible studies but he ran into a buzz saw i was about 19 years old he ran into a buzz saw that look didn't look like a buzzsaw he ran into a soldier that looked like a basketball player and i didn't have my bible and i knew they had the new world translation i said don't you know that the commandments of god and the ceremonial ceremonial law are different he said that's not the case i said give me your bible what does it say in deuteronomy 5 and verse 22 and i open the bible that says he he wrote the commandments on two tables of stone and let's read the last part and he added nothing more how much did he add nothing more and i want to tell you he started the fight and god said john you finish it and those two young ladies walked away and left him standing at my doorstep because i refused to let him go i was 19. i won't tell you how long ago that was but i ain't 19 anymore i remember those sundays sitting out front of my girlfriend's house who's now my sweetheart my wife sitting on the steps and on a sunday afternoon waiting for angie's brother to go to the park and there we always go play basketball on sundays and sometimes we even play at night when the lights are on in the park and i remember a lady walking by dressed beautifully dressed and she said to me as i was sitting on the steps on sunday she said remember the sabbath day to keep it holy and she said it so fast i didn't catch it but by the time huh right that's why i was cutting the hedges right so by the time she had said that it just dawned on me that she called sunny the sabbath and i said she didn't just say that and i waited outside for her to come back she never did i remember living across the street from a church that was a large beautiful cathedral that was owned by the catholic church but their membership had dwindled down so low that they sold it to a pentecostal church big brother looked like td jakes reverend big big mercedes church was kicking every sunday i could feel it across the street my windows were they had a holy ghost time and every sunday morning dakota while they're in church i'm putting amazing fax flies on everybody's window they would double park in front of my house when they come out and and i would peak when they came out of church i'd peek out my window see what they say like where are these fires coming from and when i finally put the one out on the sabbath they kind of narrowed it down and the pastor called me are you putting these fries on this card yes i was young black here too enthusiastic to be sensible and he kind of threatened me but that's all right i'd already put about seven flyers i figured that was enough to get them going but i remember sitting in his office when i was looking for the truth and that same man that challenged me probably a year so earlier i sat on his desk and asked him about the sabbath and he repeated to me that he had known that constantine had changed his sabbath he said to me don't tell me that you're going to tell me that roman emperor constantine made the first sunday law in 320 180. don't tell me you're going to tell me that and he rattled off what we know ryan he rallied off and he said wait he i'll be right back and he sat me in his office and for 45 minutes i sat there and he never came back and i left and i thought huh he knew he knew and when i was a young man in weaverville up in the northern california conference up in the mountains 2500 feet above sea level and i was preaching my heart out i put a banner across the main street they had no prohibition you could put fliers everywhere and i put them everywhere phone booths store windows every place i could put a flyer for this evangelistic series they were everywhere tracy you couldn't see any place without a fire and i was preaching about the sabbath message and i got a a threatening letter from a pastor who had the largest church in town it was so big they had it every sunday in the movie theater and he said to me for the sake of your church in our community please stop preaching to my members about the sabbath and i went to see him he was in africa on a missionary trip and i waited till he came back i still have the letter in my file to this very day pastor johnson i look at those things every now and then just to remind me how god has led me through the various paths of that i had he said i said you sent me a letter about concern about one of your members asking about the sabbath is that i did he was respectful he said i did i said can i make a rec can i make a request why don't you invite me to your church and you and i sit on the stage i said stage because it was a movie theater and you let your members ask me questions and let them ask you questions and let us both answer them from the bible and let them decide which one is telling the truth is that all right he said no that's not necessary and i said in a very nice way but please do not write me letters like that because i'm going to keep telling the truth and i left that town let me tell you what god did they were tormenting an older lady who was a millionaire in that town she held the purse for their new building that they wanted to build and she said she called me one day and she said my son and the pastor are pressuring me i want to come to your church but i'm too old to handle the the torment that they're putting me through so i'm gonna let you know my heart is with you but i cannot come to your church and i said i understand that god understands well they built that church and just like it happened to bale's prophets when they built that church this monstrosity they dug a well to try to get water to furnace the church and they never found a well to furnish water to that church god dried up god did they had a big old box jason and no water to be found anywhere to furnish that church what was god saying you want a building you got it but i'm going to keep the water for myself you see god will stand with those who stand with him can the church say amen elijah was chosen and at the time of apostasy that was cherished god was looking for not well qualified people but those that realize that heaven's approval is far greater than any approval from any man and god is looking for the same thing today among christians among seventh-day adventists those that are true to god should be as true to god as the needle is to the north and refuse to be deterred diluted or delayed so god is sending malachi malachi said the prophet god is sending elijah notice what he said behold i send you elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the lord and i apologize for not having this quote on the screen or maybe we'll add it before it's put on facebook i mean on to youtube but here it is prophets and kings page 141 and paragraph two when souls are in peril god god's ministers will not consider self but will speak the word given them to speak refusing to excuse or paleate evil god calls for men like elijah nathan and john the baptist men who will bear his message with faithfulness regardless of the consequences men who will speak the truth bravely though it calls for the sacrifice of all they have god cannot use men who in times of peril when the strength courage and influence of all are needed are afraid to take a firm stand for the right he calls for men who will do faithful battle against wrong warring against principalities and powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places it is to such as these that he will speak the words well done thou good and faithful servant enter thou into the joy of thy lord that's what god wants to say to us can you say amen god was looking for men like elijah and john the baptist and nathan men that will be true to him and said lord i'm leaving the results to you i'm not worried about the consequences i may get thrown in prison but you got the keys i may get put in the grave but you got the keys to that too and they might kill the body but i'll come forth on the first resurrection i'm not worried about that what happened when elijah took a firm stand go to first kings 18 verse 17 look at what happened look at what happened what happened to elijah when he took a firm stand the amazing story you look at this jezebel had heard about elijah ahab heard about elijah and they sent out men trying to find elijah but god knows how to hide us when the time is right so finally elijah shows up and omri meets him and he says okay elijah elijah said to him go tell ahab i'm here and he said okay i'm gonna go tell ahab you're here and they've been looking for you for a long time and when i come back and you're gone they're gonna kill me no that's not the case elijah said i'm not gonna run because this is the time so ahab is about to go face to face with elijah and elijah says i'm not running this time god is looking for those who are willing to stand firm and not to flinch in the face of the adversary somebody ought to say amen but we got to get ready look at first kings 18 verse 17. then it happened when ahab saw elijah that ahab said to him is that you o troubler of israel are you the one are you adventists always troubling folk let me let me just give you some behind the scenes points right here that you may not understand i have met people far and wide pastors far and wide different denominations far and wide i was sitting on a program in california on a set called uh coast to coast and i was sitting there with the assemblies of god pastor and he was just bullet he was just shooting scriptures at me fast arrogantly rapid fire trying to shake me on the set and there i was just young as all get out just sitting there listening to him and all i would respond by saying was god's word says the bible says god's word says the bible says and he said this to me he says would you stop saying the bible says and tell me what you believe and i said joe what i believe means nothing what god's word says is all that matters and i remember when that program is over i was invited there by the program host to talk about the sabbath and i told you this before i invited doug batchelor and alan reineck to jews and that program when the nose dove for them but it wasn't good for us so we decided well if we can't shake them let's talk about something we have in common so he invited me to to support his belief on the father son and the holy spirit and this this pastor was just shooting his bullets and i never forgot what the camera crew said those of you that work in production when that program is done the production crew there at that station in california they came to me and they said they said we watched you when he was when he was arrogant we watched you and we may not have heard what you said but we saw how you reacted and that made all the difference to us it was not even what you said because you know when you're on the cameras you can't hear what they're saying but you can see what they're doing he said it was not what you said that really attracted us but we watched how you reacted and that made an impression on us and they invited me back two more times let me tell you something brethren are you ready and willing to stand before those that are going to pepper you with their doctrines that are not scripturally supported and are you able to maintain a calm exterior knowing that you stand on the word of god and when you stand on god's word you will not be moved what elijah say look at verse 18. what did elijah say what did elijah say and he answered i have not troubled israel but you and your father's house have in that you have forsaken the commandments of the lord and have followed what the bales and so they call the mount carmel showdown mount carmel's showdown you know the story you know it all too well but somebody may not know it god called mount carmel to be the place why mount carmel because mount carmel was the the apex in that city the highest point of elevation the very mountain on which they stood to boast about their about their groves and their success in their planes and their vegetation their flowers and their forests now they go to mount carmel with quite a different scene forests that are reduced to sand groves that are reduced to nothing but tumbleweed and gardens that are wilted beyond the point of even description and they stand on mount carmel and god is calling elijah to vindicate his name and elijah says four points the first one in a time of testing we have to choose sides say that again in a time of testing what did i say we have to choose sides look at verse 21 in a time of testing we've got to choose sides but we have to make that decision before the test comes verse 21 and elijah came to all the people and said how long will you falter between two opinions if the lord is god what's the answer follow him but if baal then follow him and what did they respond but the people answered him not a word why because god is god amen somebody god is god there's none like him stand with the one that will stand with you second thing god does not need a majority look at verse 22 then elijah said to the people i alone am left a prophet of the lord but baal's prophets are 450 men god does not need a majority if this entire church emptied and you are the only one left god can use you if your entire family turned their backs on you and you were the only one left at the dinner table god can still use you god does not need a majority and why am i saying that i'm using my words carefully today because what happened in america was the was the was the grown-up child of something started more than 40 years ago called the moral majority the moral majority that descended into what we saw happening not too many months ago god does not need a majority god needs those who are more determined to stand with him than to stand against him third point look at verse 24 god will stand with you if you stand with him look at verse 24. elijah said then call on the name of your gods and i will do what call on the name of the lord and what did he say and the god who answers by what fire he is god so all the people answered and said it is well spoken you know why they said it's well spoken because they thought that their god was going to answer by fire but pastor you know that god didn't answer at all you could go back to that story what an amazing story it was from morning till afternoon from afternoon until evening they were cutting themselves and lashing themselves they had one praise session after the other calling on their gods and elijah fueled by righteous indignation said maybe he's on vacation maybe you should call a little louder no answer and when the time came for the evening sacrifice and they were exhausted with no responses look at verse 26 so they took the bull which was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of baal from morning evening even till noon saying oh baal hear us but there was what no voice no one answered then they leaped about the altar which they made no answers no responses when all their efforts to sustain their kingdom fail god showed out now notice what i didn't say i didn't say god showed up because god never left but god showed out look at verse 30. god revealed himself then elijah said to all the people come near to me so all the people came near to him and he did what my friends he repaired the altar of the lord that was broken down can i can i spend a minute on that can can you say yes seventh day adventists are called to repair the altar in christianity because what is being seen in the name of the lord is not what the world wants to see i don't want to beat a dead horse but i have to say it right here the horse is not totally dead so i have a few more strikes left i was almost in tears when i saw the name of jesus connected to what we saw in our world i would hear the name god and a few seconds later connected to a profanity and then they would pray and then they say we need to fight and i thought to myself how how did that happen how can god be connected to such a show of rebellion and anarchy and the lord said to me in such clear tones as i was reading my devotions every morning i have a devotion either ellen white or oswald chambers or my bible and god was saying what the world needs to see is who jesus really is because right now if you do an evangelistic series right now people that saw that would say there is no way i want to be connected to anything related to god and let me tell you something the devil will take advantage of every opportunity to cast aspersions against god that's why we as a people must not give the devil stones as my former secretary said and believe me i've been guilty of giving the devil more stones than i need to give to him he says the devil is going to throw stones at you but don't give him any stones to throw god is calling us to repair the altar god is calling us to talk to people in clear calm tones about the fact that salvation is still available god is calling us to be an example to people that don't know where to turn to say come to our fellowship is it a coincidence that god has kept this fellowship available do we consider ourselves coincidentally blessed or is this god's plan this is god's plan how blessed we are to be a church in the nation that's still open this is god's blessing he has poured into us the blessing that we are not deserving of and then god said to elijah here's your mission look at verse 37. elijah prayed hear me o lord hear me that this people may know our mission that you are the lord god and that you have turned their hearts what friends back to you again god wants to use us as christians to say to the world your heart may be damaged but god can repair that heart amen somebody you may be discouraged but there is a light that still shines there is a message that has not been diluted it's the three angels messages one of salvation one of mercy one of healing one of forgiveness one of reconciliation you can still find it and we are not concerned about the kingdoms of this world because we have a greater kingdom for which we stand on god is saying i want to turn your hearts back to me again and what happened when the lord called down fire and consumed the altar the wood the stones the brick the dirt look what they said in verse 39 when god answered by fire elijah's mission was accomplished and when all the people saw it they fell on their faces and they said the lord he is he is god the lord he is god what is happening here when god pours his fire upon the seventh-day adventist church the world is going to say the lord he is god it happened to the hebrews it happened to daniel whenever the hebrews were in trouble god stood with them in the fire do you want god to stand with you in the fire and when they took daniel out of the lion's den nebuchadnezzar said i've been praying all night for you god not not nebuchadnezzar but the king of persia i've been praying all night for you are you okay daniel i'm fine the god whom i serve is able and the hebrews i see four in the fire didn't we throw three in there and the fourth is like the son of man god will be with us in times of difficulty if we are with god in times of ease but elijah's message was secondly applied again and i'm winding up now look at matthew chapter 11 verse 14 and 15 that was what god did to elisha literally he turned the hearts of the people back to him but when john the baptist preached look at how jesus categorized the message of john matthew 11 verse 14 and 15 when john was preaching prepare the way of the lord people wondered is he the prophet is he elijah that was supposed to come and look what the lord said if you are willing to receive it that is his message he is elijah who is to come he who has ears to hear let him hear god said it first in the time of john the baptist and he repeats that very same phrase seven times in revelation eight times in revelation he who has ears to hear let him hear what the spirit is saying to the church when john preached the preparation for the coming of jesus jesus endorsed his message by saying if you accept his message he is the elijah brethren we've been given the elijah message turning the people back to the keeping of god's commandments and god is calling his commandment keeping church to draw near to him when we draw near to god god will draw near to us we have seen the social unrest we have seen the political strife we have seen the financial uncertainty we have seen in america rise in racial tension america is coined as the divided states we have seen the loss of life due to covet 19. i spoke to a young man yesterday who called me from new mexico i met him a few weeks ago over the phone he called me about the three angels messages booklets but i had none and he called me yesterday again and when we were done on the phone he said could you pray for my family i said sure i'll pray for your family he said we just lost my brother what happened he said we're not sure what happened but he was found in his home dead he's not an older gentleman he's still fairly in his 30s we lost him we don't know what happened he was found dead we call the local funeral parlor to come and to get his body and they said to me there are more than a thousand bodies ahead of him before they even can consider coming to get him in los angeles he said covert is racking los angeles is ripping los angeles apart they said there are more than a thousand bodies ahead of his before we can even consider to come and put them wherever they put bodies when they get them in the mortuary a thousand bodies he said our family right now is torn we don't know what to do because our brother my brother can't even get a respectful funeral because there's a thousand people ahead of him before they can even consider processing him for a funeral and he said our family has decided because of that we just have to cremate him because we can't wait for those that think that covert 19 is just a joke talk to men like him it's happening all around our world this thing is rampant and it's getting worse we have seen protests riots and the failed coup d'etat in washington but now there's a new tension and i'm going to wind up on this this new tension is the reason why god is calling us to be central there is in america right now and i read i read christianity today i read a lot of christian publications because if you only read the adventist review you only get what's happening in the adventist circles but if you read like christianity today and and charismatic magazine charisma magazine ccm you get the big picture and right now there is an evangelical uprising in america many members as as the article says members are angry with their pastors for deceiving them concerning the political future of america and the article was charismatics are at war with each other over failed prophecies i decided to read the article even further i decided to read the article even further and the pastor that talked about this article there was a link in the article because this pastor was was humble enough to admit his fault and he posted a video on youtube to to to to apologize for leading his congregation wrongly and he made some parallels that i thought to myself amazing amazing he said i got caught up in the hype i got caught up in rubber prophecies and i thought i'd never heard that phrase before what's a rubber prophecy he says when you stretch the prophecies to fit your own opinions rubber prophecies and he began to point out scriptures and i thought to myself praise god he sounds like a humble man may god recover him he said i even received letter i even received letters from my congregants telling me do not apologize do not apologize god can still turn it around do not apologize he says i have had my eyes open god has shown me where i have gone wrong and then he pointed out first kings 22 and verse 3. let's look at this let's look at this he said this is what happened to me you know what happened in first kings chapter 22 because ahab repented god decided to tear the kingdom away from israel in the days of ahab's son but the king of israel and the king of judah decided that they want to they want to go ahead and take over by force rameth in gilead and they said in verse 3 and first kings 22 these two kings got together they said we can take this town by force look at this look at this and the king of israel said to his servants do you know that rammeth gilead is ours but we hesitate to take it out of the hands of the king of syria and this pastor said we will led as a congregation to act by force because we misunderstood he said we misunderstood the voice of makaya the prophet and i said wow god is speaking to this man now many of you if now let me ask have you heard of makai the prophet raise your hand if you have okay a very rare name in the bible who is makai the prophet look at verse six look at verse six look at verse six so when the king of israel and the king of judah decided to take ramath gilead by force they said we need confirmation from the prophets whether or not we're going to succeed look at this then the king of israel gathered the prophets together about 400 men and said to them shall i go against rameth gilead to fight or shall i refrain so they said go up for the lord will deliver it into the hand of the king but one of the kings said wait a minute wait a minute you know where i'm going right isn't there a prophet in town who never says anything nice he's god's man see this kind of message i'm preaching it ain't welcomed everywhere because people like you know sugar candy donut sermons this ain't one isn't it a doughnut price isn't there isn't there a vegetable prophet in town we don't like vegetables anyway but every time we go to him he just wants to give us bitter herbs let's find out what he says so they found a man by a prophet by the name of makaya and they said makaya what do you say and mikaya said i can only say to you what god says to me come on adventists can you say amen i can only say to you what god says to me so makai the prophet said what do you want they said tell us if we are going to be victorious in the battle against rameth and gilead he said no matter of fact the the the the end result is going to be disastrous one said see i told you he always tells says things that i don't like put him in jail put him in jail and when we come back we'll deal with him i'm making this story short so micaiah said if i am the prophet of the lord and you put me in jail there won't be any of you left to deal with me when you come back because you won't be coming back they didn't want the truth of the prophet so what happened and this is what happened this is what happened i just have two scriptures left can you handle two scriptures left so since they rejected the prophet of makai the prophet the lord said they don't want the truth so here's what i'm going to do look at verse 23. here's what i'm going to do since they don't want the truth here's what i'm going to do therefore look since they don't want the truth therefore look the lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours and the lord has declared disaster against you now that's powerful you know what happened their prophets told them they're going to win god's prophet told them they're not going to win they listen to their prophets and they did not win and this pastor that i was listening to he said we didn't listen to micaiah the prophet i turned away from god's word and started getting caught up in the words of men and i said to myself praise god that there are pastors in this country that are willing to hum to humble themselves and and allow god to use them to recover members that are disenfranchised and lost at this moment and then he quoted jeremiah 23 which is my last scripture jenny then he quoted jeremiah 23 verse 30 to 32 and i sat there and listened and i i said this man is humble this man is humble he really is repenting for his part he played and i wanna i i couldn't even i couldn't even quote what was said in that article because it's so inflammatory the statements that were being made by all these people that are rising up against their pastors and the list is so long they're naming names of pastors that they felt led them wrong they're naming names of pastors and as this man is repenting as this pastor is repenting to my chagrin i read the responses of people and somebody said in the article in a response to him oh don't give up hope yet remember god showed up four days after lazarus died to resurrect him so it's not too late yet but this pastor continued he said i chose not to hear the voice of the people and i'm repenting and i'm now listening once again to the voice of god amen somebody listen to what he said and he quoted this and he applied this to himself and i said wow this man heart has been humbled therefore behold i am against the prophets says the lord who steal my words everyone from his neighbors behold i'm against the prophets says the lord who use their tongues and say he says behold i am against those who prophesy false dreams says the lord and they tell them and cause my people to er by their lies and by their recklessness yet i did not send them or command them therefore they shall not profit this people at all says the lord what just happened that's what just happened that's why my brethren as i skirt humbly these issues of politics and religion i'm saying we ought not be a people of politics we ought to be a people of god's word can i get an amen you know why i could read revelation 13 ryan donald dan i could read revelation 13. brian i could read revelation 13 next year and it's going to mean the same thing i don't have to stand a shame that somehow somewhere that society around me is going to say that was a false prophecy that's why the lord says in my last quotation listen to this in southern watchmen march 21 1905 alan white says in this time of well well-know universal apostasy god calls upon messengers to proclaim his law in the spirit and power of elias as john the baptist in preparing a people for christ's first advent call their attention to the ten commandments so we are to give with no uncertain sound the message fear god and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment has come with the earnestness that characterized elijah the prophet and john the baptist listen we are to strive to prepare the way for christ's second advent are you ready in a time of testing god is saying you are called to be an undim light in the dark world you are called to be undiluted truth in a generation where lies are preferred we are called to be prophetically constant in a theologically discrepant society we are called to remain faithful to the everlasting gospel in an apostate environment we are called to represent christ's character and not the ravings of a world gone mad we are called to let our light shine that jesus may be rightly represented to the world and so i end how i began this is not a test of the emergency gospel system the preachers of god's word and voluntary cooperation with the father the son and the holy spirit have developed a system of righteousness to keep you informed in the event of an emergency brothers and sisters this is an emergency do you want to be informed do you want to be ready why don't you stand with me this is no longer a test the emergency gospel system the preachers of god's word in voluntary cooperation with the father son and the holy spirit are saying this is a time of emergency our father in heaven a time of testing is coming to the church nominal christianity has fallen down the slippery slope of compromise and political expediency and we have seen [Music] acted out before the world that which brings shame and reproach to the heart of god god has been aligned as one who hates one nationality and favors the other or one who prefers one above the other all god but you said in your word you are no respecter of person but we pray lord that this church [Music] and other pastors in the christian world can humble themselves before god and be a beacon of light and reformation and recovery that this crisis now that has come to the evangelical community will not leave honest god-fearing christians bewildered and lost but they'll find some place a light in this dark world may we know you in times of peace then we can shine for you in times of uncertainty may we know you in times of calm that we can stand for you when the winds of strife are blowing may we anchor ourselves on your promises live and walk in your word that when somebody is looking for light we will be a beacon of undim truth in a society that is falling apart from complacency thank you father for your forgiveness for your clarion call for your commission may the seventh-day adventist christian and other christians who are seeking the heart of god may we recover ourselves and go forth to proclaim salvation and grace and faith and forgiveness in the name of jesus and for the salvation of souls this we ask that you may be glorified in jesus name i pray [Music] amen you

Channel: Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church

Views: 37,880

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Length: 92min 27sec (5547 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 23 2021