20210612 | The Coming Blackout | Pastor John Lomacang (tvsdac)

let us go to the lord in prayer our gracious father in heaven to whom can we go if not to you on what can we stand if not on the power of the promises of your word and father we pray this morning as the message goes forth that your holy spirit will come and continue with us that your holy angels who surround us and that a power from on high will reach into the hearts and lives of those who are here those who are watching listening and that we will know that whatever may be our state we can take it to the lord in prayer now empower this message lord and strengthen i pray my mind and my heart for i desire one thing and that is to give the glory and honor just to you in jesus holy name amen you know there's a time when you hear a song and there's a time when through a song you hear the voice of god thank you danielle for allowing the lord to use you our scripture reading this morning is from isaiah isaiah chapter 60 verses 1 and 2 verses 1 through 3. i read in god's word arise and shine for your light has come and the glory of the lord is risen upon you for behold the darkness shall cover the earth and deep darkness the people but the lord will rise over you and his glory will be seen upon you the gentiles shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising it was august 10 1996 i was pastoring the fairfield church we were there that's in fairfield california thank you honey we were not there long but it was one of those hot california days hot and dry and it's not unusual in california for the heat to be so dry that you can't tell that it's in the low 100s i just finished preaching my sermon we drove home as we have on other occasions and pulling into our garage i pressed the garage door opener and nothing happened well i thought maybe i didn't press it right i pressed it again still nothing and then i thought wait a minute and i pressed it and held it long just in case the battery was dying and still nothing happened i thought to myself how are we going to get in the house because as new yorkers we don't leave windows unlocked or doors in the back of the house unlocked or anything opened and i thought this is really strange it worked just fine this morning we tried alternate ways to get into the house only to realize that everything was securely locked tight coming to the realization that everything we needed was in the house but there was no way to get to it but then we noticed a few people coming outside of their houses in our neighborhood and i thought to myself how strange that while we're going through this people are coming out of their homes are they looking at us are they coming to help us and i discovered no they're coming out of their homes looking around and then i turned on our radio only to find out that there was a blackout in our neighborhood the lord kept the light on long enough for me to finish my sermon at church and between church and coming home the lights went out as i was listening to the radio continually i realized wait a minute it's not just in this neighborhood it's in california it's in the bay area it's not just in california it is the west coast it's not just the west coast but it's portions of western canada and i came to find out that the entire west coast including western canada had experienced a power failure the power grid that supplies power to millions of homes had been overburdened due to the the overwhelming demand to provide energy for all the air conditioners and it just couldn't handle it and the news broadcaster said there was a power grid failure and let me tell you it was mid summer in california well and this is very important everything we needed was right in front of us but we could not access it we couldn't get to our water we couldn't get to our food we couldn't get to our clothing we couldn't get to anything in our house we saw it but we had no access to it because the power was completely shut off i never forgot that because we spent the greater part of the afternoon and the early evening in our vehicle we had no place to go we were in our suit we just listen to the radio turn the vehicle on and off to maintain the battery and not cause that to die and how exciting it was when we decided well we've been out here long enough let's see if it works and we hit that button karen and the garage door came up and it was like we had a reprieve god gave us one more chance i thought about that in light of this passage in the bible because the bible had is making it very clear that the world we live in is approaching two types of darkness darkness will one day cover the inhabitants of the earth and the second kind of darkness is going to be even deeper and gross darkness or deep darkness the people and if you look at our world today our world is priming itself for the approaching hour of one of the most unavoidable events of darkness in the history of humanity right now our world is priming itself and if you look carefully enough you'll find there's darkness on every side but what the word of god just said to us in that hour of gross darkness when the world and all of its power sources have been forever crippled when god pulls the plug when god calls on humanity in a descending hour of darkness and says to the world this is what you have desired and this is what you shall receive similar to the land of egypt god covered the land of egypt with a darkness so so dense that they could not see their hands in front of their eyes but why did god do that because they desired darkness in the media there's darkness in the music there's darkness in the entertainment there's darkness in every facet of society the world is priming itself and it seems as though there is this insatiable desire there's insatiable appetite to make the next thing darker than the last thing and god is saying if this is what you desire you'll have this but in that hour of unavoidable darkness god is going to keep his people lit up so that those looking for the light will still be able to find it the world is collectively arising at a time of unpredictable apprehension who could have predicted that our world would be the way that it is today who could have god did god's word and i'm learning as we look at what's happening around us we are confronted by this indiscriminate contagion not only disease but moral contagion financial contagion family contagion there's something that is happening in our world today that seems to be happening almost simultaneously there is there is an irreversible fearful anxiety that is hovering over humanity it is grabbing us politically socially economically did you hear recently what's happening in colorado the colorado river the the water supply that provides water to california into arizona is at the lowest levels it has ever been the folsom river is almost completely dry and the and the powers that be are saying we are entering a phase on the west coast where water is available but we have to enter the stages of rationing until the rains will come and i was amazed to hear the news reporter say this is the time that we need to pray for rain on the on the regular news we need to start to pray for rain farmers are saying without the rain the crops will be diminished the supply chains are going to go down you see one deficiency affects another creates another deficiency and i looked at that river that supplies the power even the power source at that grand power supply that damn therein in colorado that provides power it provides power based on the amount of water and they said they had they've had to lower the output because they don't have enough water to turn the turbines how god can easily society by simply saying it is done and the day is coming when god is going to bring upon man not only calamity and disease but god is going to allow satan to have control of the finally in penitent those that have chosen not to listen to god while the light is still shining my brethren if there's ever a time that the people of god need to be hovering over filling their minds with truth establishing re re-familiarizing themselves with prophecies that are coming to pass before our eyes this is the hour that god's people are to get back to the light unquenchable fires are consuming life and fires are indiscriminate they don't care how much money you have in california the wealthy as well as the poor face the same dilemma the medical society the social society the economic the financial the religious citizens of the world are in solemn awe when they look at what's happening on planet earth god is saying through all these events that we are standing before the hour that the lord has predicted will come it's going to get worse before it gets better but when it gets better it's going to be better eternally in testimonies we are told in this quotation vol 9 page 43 we are on the verge the very verge of the time of trouble and perplexities that are scarcely dreamed of are before us what we're being told by the servant of the lord is she's saying stretch your imagination as far as it can go and you can scarcely dream of what is before us is god trying to scare people into repentance absolutely not we serve the lord we give our lives to the lord because we love him not because we are afraid of the destruction that is coming if you serve god out of destruction fear then your service of god is going to end when the destruction is over serve god because he is the only escape for the destruction that is coming upon humanity we're living at an hour where evil is fueled by a demonic intensity never before seen have you seen the media have you seen the entertainment are you listening to the music i was raised in a very innocuous society it was bad in my day but i was never faced with a society growing up as a teenager where there were warnings on the music labels i can watch television and most everything i watch is rated g but nowadays evil angels and evil men are uniting in a coalition against righteousness and i've even heard lately this is really troubling to me that even among those that have held on to this message for many many years even among those leaders and preachers that we have looked to for maybe decades saying this person is reliable and what he is saying can be trusted i'm beginning to even see among many who are fearful of proclaiming the undiluted gospel there are ministers that are beginning to dilute what the word of god says and begin to say well you know the bible doesn't predict the coming sunday law and i've asked myself the question what bible are you reading how could you not i heard a preacher recently saying i won't mention his name because he's so well known i've heard a preacher recently say well you know revelation does describe that there will be some kind of substitute for god's sabbath but it could be any day and i thought to myself what are you sniffing when out of that same mouth for decades they've been saying if you only look at what's happening in our world the world is being massaged to establish sunday as a universal day of worship and i thought to myself what other day could they be talking about are they talking about throwback thursdays on facebook no are they talking about tgif thank god it's friday no are they talking about bargain saturdays and macy's no the only day that has been substituted by the powers led by darkness is the exaltation of the first day of the week sunday over the day that god blessed the holy sabbath that's why i'm not i'm not diluting or changing my mind i'm going to proclaim more clearly what god's word has predicted the bible reveals that there is a satanic push the reason for this descending darkness is there is a satanic push satan is bearing down and let me make a point whoever's whoever does not have the mind of christ will succumb to the pressure what do i mean by that if you fear the powers of rome more than you honor the word of god you will succumb to the pressure somebody sent me an email once and say do you know it's against the law to speak against homosexuality i said well it's against the law to speak against a lot of things but god's word says we got to do it we're not speaking against the person who is homosexual or lesbian we're saying that there's salvation for everybody can you say amen but the salvation for the drunkard for the adulterer for the thief for the liar for every other sin there's salvation when we stop preaching the message of salvation and deliverance from sin we ought to close the doors of the church because it has lost his power but john in revelation made it very clear about where we are in the hour that we are facing he says in revelation 12 and verse 12 therefore rejoice o heavens he's speaking about the unfallen worlds about the angels that did not sin and you who dwell in heaven but he continues woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea for the devil has come down to you say it together with me having what great wrath because he knows that he has a short time time is short praise god for that time is short i don't want to be down there for 200 more years i wouldn't know it but i don't want to be down here for 200 more years i want this thing to wrap up anybody else feels the same way while we're pursuing things that may bring satisfaction to our heart what i desire more than anything else is not another grammy awards not another music awards not another red carpet event i want to see the red carpet of heaven unrolled and jesus come and take us to our eternal home because it's not yet as dark as it's going to be but the question is what preparation should the people of god be making knowing that the dark hour is coming my wife and i ask ourselves the question if we knew that there was going to be a blackout this sabbath afternoon what would we do differently and just this week we were in walmart in marion and i thought to myself how strange they're selling food in boxes they're saying in the event of some coming crisis this box will sustain you for 25 days 25 years sorry 25 it has a 25-year shelf life and this container has a 100-year shelf life in it are x amount of servings of this food and that food and this food and that food in the minds of men people know that something is coming but i want to tell you when it comes we're not going to be running with boxes of food on our back god will supply all of our need according to his riches in glory if god can feed elijah with a raven that's the first federal express the bible ever talked about god sent some federal express food to elijah when he was running for his life god can turn the last bit of flour into an abundance that will carry us through any time of famine any time of disaster any time of want god can do it what difference should there be between us and the world how should we respond to the knowledge that god has given to us that we are approaching the time of the end well if you study the bible you find out the bible is clear about what the people of god should be doing in this descending hour of darkness joel the prophet in joel chapter 2 gives a directive to those that god has given the trumpet and look what he says look what he instructs the servants of god to do joel chapter two verse one and two what is the first phrase blow the trumpet where in zion that is in the church and sound and alarm in my holy mountain let all the inhabitants of the land tremble for the day of the lord is coming what a description for it is at hand and then he parallels isaiah the prophet when he says the kind of day it is it is a day of what darkness and gloominess a day of clouds and thick darkness like the morning clouds spread over the mountains a people come great and strong the like of whom has never been nor will there ever be any such after them even for many successive generations you might say what is the prophet joel talking about what is the prophet joel describing here when you read revelation you just you begin to see a scene that god paints in such vivid colors and let me bring that to your mind this morning turn on your imagination and find out what god is talking about what joel is saying he talks about god's army he talks about the army of the lord that god is going to allow to be unleashed on humanity joel goes on further to talk about them as locusts revelation chapter 9 talks about them as locusts and when you begin to describe and begin to connect what happened in the bible you begin to see that on ancient egypt god unleashed locusts that ate up all the crops of the egyptians but when you read joel and in zephaniah and revelation these are not literal locusts that are being talked about in the bible the great controversy ellen wife says god is going to give satan final control of the impenitent and and evil angels in the form of men will begin to inhabit the earth god is going to remove the restraint that is being held praise god that even as we sit here today god is restraining the devil from what he really wants to do what do you say god is holding back but there's coming a day when there will be no restraint the forces that god is now holding back will be removed as paul and ra in the book of second thessalonians says only he who now restrains when he remove when he is moved out of the way when the restraining power of god is removed then satan will have control of control of the finally in penitent what do i mean by that those that have refused to repent and i always ask myself the question what is there about earth that somebody prefers this over eternity think about it is it the music we haven't seen good music yet amen if you think that there are good singers down here wait till you hear singers that are perfect and angels that can sing in many keys at one time and the choirs of the redeemed singing at such volume that the heavens are shaking to the glory of god i want to be in that number what about you can you say amen i want to be there when the when the praise goes up and the blessings come down you can't give a grammy award to that and i always wonder how can you give somebody an award for a religious song do you know how many souls that that song brought to christ you can never gauge that but the way of the world has come into the way of the church christians are being given awards for the song that they sing to the glory of god let me tell you something if i don't ever get a reward down here or an award down here i'm okay as long as i get a crown up there i'm looking i'm looking beyond this time you know lucifer was a great musician people forget that he was the musician that of musicians he was able to sing in many notes at the same time he was a covering cherub music was his gift and he's using that today that's why it's important not just to sing christian songs but to live a christian life when joel talks about that joel is saying there's only one message that's going to get the world ready and you've heard me talk about this before but brethren there is no other movement on the planet let me say this carefully you've got a great responsibility there's no other church on this planet that is proclaiming the three angels messages so what should we be doing proclaiming the what three angels messages there is no other church on the planet proclaiming the three angels messages why because it cuts directly across their practice how can you worship him who made the heavens and the earth the sea and the fountains of waters and ignore the sabbath it's not possible anything that you remove and considering god's words as irrelevant disqualifies you from proclaiming a message that points people back to worshiping the creator what should the seventh day adventist church be doing in this hour as the servant of the lord allen wife says when it comes to proclaiming the three angels messages she says we should not allow anything else to occupy our attention why would that be if we were working for the emergency broadcast system and you've heard about that before right i think they call it something different now i got the old phrase but that tone that you hear when you're watching a program or that tone that you hear in your car that interrupts your broadcast and then you're wishing that it's only a test and you hold your breath until it's done and they say this was only a test well brethren one day is going to come when we're going to hear the tone and they're going to say this is an actual emergency and i always wondered and this is one of the reasons why i'm so glad we can all say amen on this i am so glad i don't live in a big city because i'm always amazed when they say let us evacuate in an orderly manner we evacuate in an orderly manner you kidding me they'll be breaking into stores ripping off shells only the strong will survive and they prime the minds of people to think that way only the strong survive if ever there's a time the only way that we can prepare for what is coming is we have to dedicate our lives to the keeping of the lord who promises i will supply all of your need according to my riches in glory in this age of descending darkness zephaniah or zechariah the prophet tells us what we should do what the people of god should be doing knowing that preparation is necessary for what is yet ahead of us zechariah 10 and verse 1 notice what the first word is what's the first word say it together ask one more time what is it ask who ask the lord not your banker not the president not the republican party or the democratic party but ask the lord ask the lord for what zechariah 10 verse 1 ask the lord for rain in the time of the what latter rain the lord will make flashing clouds he will give them what showers of rain grass in the field for everyone now to whom is this promise being made when you give your life to the lord let me make this very clear when you live for the glory of god when you say there's nothing more important to me than getting ready for the coming of the lord the lord is saying i will send you the rain god is not going to send the rain for those not looking for it in other words your field may be dry your heart may be dry your life may be dry but when you pray lord jesus send the rain god is going to send showers of blessing what does that mean what does that mean that means what the ant of the lubians fail to do in their day god will do for those of us who call on him in our day what does that mean the bible says in their day in genesis 6 i believe it's verse 5 the bible says the lord said my spirit will not always strive with a man do you know brethren and somebody said this before there will never be a time that the people of god will not be protected by the presence and power of the spirit of god in their lives can you say amen however the holy spirit will not always strive with humanity the day is coming when those who are hearing the spirit speak to them now and they're turning him off that is coming that god will no longer broadcast to them god will no longer say to your neighbors remember the sabbath day to keep it holy give your life to the lord repent of your sins turn your life over to christ and there are people that don't want to be lost but they're saying well not now got a little bit more time young folk don't think that your young age is permission to to put god off because young folk are dying too people are dying at every age every moment of every day if we make it to the end of another day we can praise god for that the god is saying the latter rain will empower the preaching of the final message and i don't want to just preach this message and hear praise god for satellite transmission and internet and all that other stuff but god is saying that we can cover more bases all of us collectively can cover more bases than pastor john can by himself what am i saying to you you should have in your possession at all times a track some kind of brochure maybe in your trunk of your car a box of three angels messages booklets so that when you pull up to a restaurant or you go to walmart there's some people that do that like bob eats does that a number of other people that say you know don and janelle you know they'll go to walmart and they'll put tracks in the bathroom and they'll put them at gas stations brethren we should be ready at all time to let the world know that jesus is coming again but there's a danger when this message becomes so familiar to you that you say i've heard it before it will lose its impact on your life when you get used to hearing the message and it starts sounding like the adult's voice in a charlie brown movie when it starts sounding that way and it's lost the thrill down in your soul god is going to come at an hour that you do not think and he says he's going to appoint you your portion with the hypocrites because you're going to say my lord delayeth his coming and the lord says watch for in such an hour as you do not think brethren if ever there was a time that the people of god need to be awake it is this morning what do you say it is today and awake should not awake and excited is not the same thing awake and uh hyper is not the same thing some people think that if i don't have if i'm not jumping up and down and all enthusiastics and i'm not awake no a soldier better not be jumping up and down at his post god is saying that we ought to be awake what does that mean that we ought to keep one eye single our minds focused and my favorite term calibrated our minds calibrated to the times that's why when i hear the news the world hears one thing i hear something altogether different the world hears well the water supply is is is low in colorado i hear there shall be famines and pestilences hundreds of earthquakes happen in california just in a few days there shall be earthquakes in various places famine forest land as joel was sharing with me in brazil they've lost more more farmable land in the month of may than at any other time why what's happening some of you may not know that some of the largest desert in north west africa used to be some of the most fertile land but what happened deforestation men are killing themselves and the planet that we're on is getting to the point where it cannot permanently sustain its inhabitants and that's why people are fearful are they trying to kill us are they trying to eliminate us is the medical institutions trying to get rid of us through this and through that brethren god will sustain his people there is nothing that man can do to us that god will not allow but the last day church needs to pray for power we don't need to pray for just clear doctrinal understanding we need to pray for power we don't just need to pray for i understand that doctrine or i understand that prophecy we need to pray for the power that galvanized the new testament church somebody sent me an email and they said to me pastor john i heard you're preaching about unity but how can the church ever be unified when they have this position over there in that position over there i say you know what that's not my responsibility god knows how to separate the wheat from the dare so those are not those will not those who will not be galvanized as the disciples were on the day of pentecost those who will not be in one accord in one place as on the day of pentecost god knows those who are in it for one reason or the other it's not my responsibility but the lord made it very clear this work will not be done without the power of god look at zechariah 4 and verse 6 what galvanized the church then will galvanize the church today zechariah 4 6 so he answered and said to me when he speaks about the lamp stands this is the word of the lord to zerubbabel let's say the last part together not by might nor by power but by my what spirit says the lord the day is coming when there will be no more transmissions there will be no more satellite transmissions the people of god are going to be on the streets proclaiming the gospel how did you miss isaiah when the world is dark god will allow his glory to be seen upon his saints ah you didn't get that that means god is going to turn on this god is going to turn on the same light that caused aaron and miriam to say to moses we can't look at your face it's the same glory that's going to encapsulate the people of god on the last days god is going to turn that light on and they're going to say he has been she has been in the presence of almighty god they said when that happens when that happens there is going to be a unity a unity that the world has never known a unity that the church has never known a unity that's going to take us from church members to those who are proclaiming the final message i cannot wait the lord knows it and i know that he's more patient than i am but i can't wait to the day when this church is so on fire for christ that they are taking advantage of every opportunity when the word of god goes forth that they are going to be there it's going to come i saw it on a baptist church sign many years ago repent now and avoid the rush because it's going to come you know what happens when it's no longer available is when people start looking for it but the outpouring of the latter rain is going to be in response to those praying is not going to be incidental it's not going to be a it's not going to be something that just happens it is going to happen when the people of god get together and pray and so my brother my sister i ask you how much do you pray for the holy spirit during the week i can guarantee you if you're not praying for the holy spirit to fill your life your religion is going to be like an old loaf of dried up bread you got bread but nobody wants it because it's molded when your religious experience when the doctrines you believe start to mold in your life is because the moistening presence of the spirit of god is not being poured into you every day do you pray for the spirit of god somebody say why should i pray for that well that's what happened on the day of pentecost the church was imbued on the day of pentecost with the power that they did not naturally know look at acts chapter 1 verse 12 to 14 the bible makes it clear the outpouring of the latter rain was a response not a prelude what am i saying the lord did not pour out the latter rain to get them to pray the lord poured out the lattering because they were praying so if you're not praying for the latter rain it's not going to come the lord didn't pour out his spirit to get them to pray he poured out his spirit because they prayed how often do you pray acts chapter 1 verse 12 notice what the bible says it talks about this grand day of unity and it brings about diverse personalities and i can guarantee you not one of us is just like the other but god can bring about unity in spite of our diversity verse 12 of acts 1 then they return to jerusalem from the mount called olivet the first thing you got to come back to the church they returned to jerusalem watch this which is near jerusalem a sabbath day's journey that's about a half a mile and when they had entered they went up into the upper room where they were staying who was there peter james john and andrew phillip and thomas bartholomew and matthew james the son of alphaeus and simon the zealot and judas the son of james verse 14. these all continued together with one accord in what prayer and supplication with the women and mary the mother of jesus and with his brothers what a group of people they got together to pray let me let me make a very important point here this is powerful if you're not praying for the spirit of god to come into your life if you're not praying for the holy ghost to come into your life you can still know all the doctrines and be as dead as a pig at a luau i don't know if when i got the two together i don't know if i could get that right whatever they do whatever they call it when he's spinning around in the sand of hawaii i don't know what they call it was that correct thank you we can have all the doctrinal knowledge and still be as dry as the hills of gilboa but when you pray the lord promises to do something in a world that is being drained of life heaven is saying the church should be searching for the source of its power and praying that the god who promises to fill our lives will do so in response to our prayer god will never do it if we're not praying for it god will never send what we're not asking for god will never intervene where we're not inviting him what does the lord promise to do what does he promise to do to those who are inviting him look at ezekiel chapter 37. what does he promise to do and this is more appropriate to the church of laodicea than any other time because the church of laodicea parlays ezekiel 37 it was just a valley of dry bones but look what the lord promised to do ezekiel 37 verse 5 thus says the lord god to these bones okay do something for me look to your neighbor and say bones yeah we're all bones we're all bones without the lord am i right because the lord is saying to ezekiel talk to the bones now don't be upset but some sabbath mornings i preach i feel like i'm preaching to bones thus says the lord god to these bones what is the next word surely what's the next word surely me positively you can count on it i will cause breath to enter into you today my brothers and sisters we need to pray for the breath of god to enter our lives and what's going to happen you shall live that means if you think that doctrinal understanding is life you wait for doctrinal understanding scriptural integrity and a life filled by the spirit of god you'll understand only then what life is all about life is not winning a lottery or getting a temporary award life is knowing that your life is filled and the lord is getting you ready he's filling you with what you need to be prepared for the world for the road ahead of us and for the trial that's coming only those that are filled by the spirit of god will make it through the trying hour that's just upon us but what else is he going to do look at verse 6 i will put sinew on you and bring flesh upon you what does that mean i'm going to cover the dead things in your life with those things that live i'm going to begin to replace the dead things in your life i will bring flesh upon you i will put sin that is all the tendons and the muscles i'll put that there and your life will be activated it'll be a christian experience i'm looking forward to today when i can see what i refer to as a person who is so excited about jesus that they look for opportunities to present jesus to someone i'm going to cover you with skin and put breath in you and you shall live and then he says what's the very next word then after he's done all that then you shall know that i am the lord ezekiel is painting a picture that's far beyond human vitality far beyond natural ability he is saying to the church in this these closing hours and this is really humbling to me he's saying at a time when we have every inventive device that we need think about it for a moment what else do we need what else does the church what else does the world need what new invention do we need that could bring us happiness nothing else nothing else is going to bring us lasting happiness so when the next ipad comes out on the next iphone and the next laptop or the next car or the next exciting device what comes out is going to have excitement for this amount of time until the next one comes out and that's going to be exciting until the next one comes out you know how i know i'm one of those guys come on somebody else confess yeah i get excited when they say hey look at this new air i got a survey yesterday ricky you could appreciate this from adobe they said we notice you use our products that's how i make my backgrounds what else can we do what else can we add to the product to make it better for you and i thought man what else can you do it's good where it is but you know what they're doing listen to this companies are continually seeking ways to make the experience of their users better do you do you not think that the lord is looking for the same thing he is continually seeking ways to make the experience of his children better but he's saying here's how it happens it doesn't happen by just a new thing but it happens by a life praying to be filled to be covered to be empowered by the breath that god wants to put in our lives i thought so look what evangelism says evangelism page 699 paragraph five as the time comes for it the message of the third angel to be given with greatest power what kind of power greatest power the lord will work through humble instruments leading the minds of those who do what consecrate themselves to his service and this is a powerful part right here the laborers will be qualified rather by the unction of his spirit than by the training of literary institutions men of faith and prayer will be constrained to go forth with holy zeal declaring the words which god gives them what is he saying let me tell you what he's not saying servant the lord is not saying that education is useless but she's saying don't just trust education if you are not imbued by the power of the spirit of god you may have the intellect but you don't have the power meaning you could have a food supply that that is second to none but if you don't partake of it you'll die of hunger you can have a message that is so increasingly exciting and when i whenever i think sometimes that that that the church has kind of lost a zeal i run into new people i run into new people i like to meet people that just heard about this message when i get letters from them or talk to them on the phone or talk to them through zoom i get excited like the gentleman that gave his life back to the lord after 60 years of running from god he says when we said 2020 was the worst year of our lives you know what he says 2020 was the best year of my life because it took that to get me to realize that this is the hour to come back to jesus somebody ought to say amen i get excited when i hear about people that were in darkness for 35 and 40 years and they never were allowed to pray now they give their lives to christ they leave one movement and come to the advent message and they say i was prevented from praying for 40 years in my denomination but now i'm a prayer warrior in the adventist church i love to pray and nobody could stop me from praying now can somebody say amen you know what happened they found something new but it frightens me because years ago i read a little story in a in a in a you know these old church bulletins they have stories that were published in old church bulletins and this was one that was um don't remember don't remember exactly where i read the story don't remember but i remember the story itself when a a lady was standing up in church and she was saying praise the lord hallelujah thank you jesus and one of the elders at the door standing by the pastor said what's wrong with her and the pastor said don't worry give her time she'll become just like one of us revelations message to the church of laodicea is true the world is saying this is what you need that's what you need this is what will make you happy that's what's going to bring satisfaction the lord is saying the only thing that's going to bring you power and satisfaction is a life dedicated and filled to the glory of god a life empowered to do what only the holy spirit can qualify us to do we get excited about the day of pentecost do you not think that the law wants to do the same thing today look at acts 1 and verse 8 what happened on the day of pentecost it's going to happen again today the lord said to the disciples then but you shall receive what my friends when you shall receive power when the holy spirit has come upon you and what's going to happen then i would say today the reason why we are not witnessing is because we're not praying for the power of the spirit of god to come upon us you cannot be a witness unless the spirit of god in power comes upon you you can do it because you have great material you got to say lord and what does the spirit of god do let me finish the text and you shall be witnesses to me in jerusalem and in all judea and samaria into the end of the earth meaning when the spirit of god comes upon a life no boundary can prevent that person from communicating the gospel through voice and through life what does it mean what does it mean it's saying that laodicea is rich and increased with goods and feel we have need of nothing and i'm listening around us my wife and i we get shocked when we look at some of the things that are happening in the world church today leaders that we thought we could rely on going in different directions people saying this doesn't matter and that doesn't matter and this is no longer imperative and that's old and this has been replaced and we're saying to ourselves what on earth are we hearing we're hearing that the bright lights that we have admired admired for their brilliance is beginning to go out around us but there's only one light that will never go out and that's the light of jesus christ in signs of the times february 17 1914 this is a beautiful quotations christians ask in faith for the promised blessing and it will come let's read that one more time ask in faith for the promised blessing and what will happen it will come the outpouring of the spirit in the day of in the days of the apostles was the former rain and the glorious and glorious was the result but the latter rain will be what more abundant what happened back then what happened back then let's look at acts chapter 2 and verse 1. the bible says in acts 2 and verse 1 these words it says and when the day of pentecost had fully come they were all with what one accord in one place the first impact of the outpouring of the spirit of god is what we are harmonious we are together we are not divided we are united we are praying to be one with each other what does that mean that means when we look at our differences we we go to each other and say my brother my sister do i have anything against you do you have anything against me we pray for god to evaporate those walls and we become one in christ but you know what prevents that human pride putting self aside putting down the things that we think are important and holding on to those things that are only important to christ when jesus prayed that we may be one the only way that we can be one is the way that they were one of the day of pentecost they were in one accord because the spirit of god was poured into their lives and what happens when it affects us look at acts 2 and verse 41 then those who gladly received the word were what baptized and that day about 3 000 souls were added god can exponentially grow the church when we are in harmony why because when people say as somebody once said i've never seen a message like this i've never heard a message like this the lord is saying we got one more step to go up i've never seen a people like this the message is all-powerful but when the lord added to the church three thousand in a day the evidence of that was in verse 44 of acts chapter 2 how did that happen how did that happen now all who believed were what together and had all things in common we need to have all night prayer meeting at this church did you hear what i said we need to have all night prayer meeting at this church i'm going to set a date that we can have all night prayer meeting you know what that means if you forgot all in our prayer meeting means we pray from sunset to sunrise we take turns praying we put our lives before the lord we pray for god to break down the strongholds in our families for god to break down the strongholds in our children for god to break down the strongholds in our marriage for god to break down the strongholds in our lives you cannot find victory unless you begin to pray pray as though your life depends on it as somebody once said we have bible workers in new york city this now made it around the nation they had a button on that says push people say what does push mean pray until something happens not a time when we get together and talk about church politics but a time where we come and put ourselves before the lord and we haven't had one of those in a long time joe i remember those days we prayed all night long and when the sun was coming up the church got together and we all sit outside the church and we gathered around and we took all those prayers and we put them in a bundle together and we lit them on fire and we prayed as the smoke ascended god accept our prayers change our lives but god is looking for a church that wants that power again do you want that power in your life it doesn't happen without praying unity doesn't happen because we have intellectual abilities unity happened because the spirit of god takes the whole of our lives testimony is volume 7 page 236 the servant of the lord says it is god's purpose that men entrusted with responsibility should counsel and pray together in christian unity listen to this in unity there is a life a power that can be obtained what in no other way there will be a vast power in the church how when the energies of the members are united under the control of the spirit then will god be able to work mightily through his people for the conversion of sinners where are your energies are you pushing together or are we pulling in all different directions we're looking for something that will not satisfy my brother my sister don't look for things that will disappoint you you spend your life and time and energy pursuing that which will disappoint you one day when god is saying i am right here it's like the days in the jewish nation they were they were they were they were complimenting their gigantic temple that took 40 years to build and the lord said destroy this temple and in three days i will raise it up and they thought he meant the building then he said to them you search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life but these are they that testify of me he was the living word and they missed him my brother and sister could it be happening in your life could we be building our faith on our institutions our temples our our massive universities and our hospitals and our colleges and our in our medical institutions could we be building our security on the boasts that we have the largest of this and the largest of that just like the jews said we have the greatest temple it never came down and the lord said it's coming down the only thing that will not come down is a life filled by the indwelling power of the word of god and make no mistake about it the new testament church went through violent opposition but what happened in spite of that violent opposition in spite of everything that satan threw at it look what the bible says happened to the new testament church acts 4 and verse 4 the bible says however i love that phrase however many of those who heard the word did what believed and the number of the men came to be what about 5 000 the church went through violent opposition are we going through violent opposition is anybody trying to break into our doors trying to stop us from gathering to worship no but the day is coming the powers around us are preparing to shut down that which does not harmonize with societal preferences and let people nowadays are saying hey the preaching about the mark of the beast is out of date nobody wants to hear that they want to hear about their next successful investment the next successful investment you're going to have is if you invest your life in believing the word of god that's a successful investment the apostles were fiercely resisted but the church kept growing why acts 5 and verse 14 notice what the bible says and believers were increasingly added to the lord multitudes both of men and of what and of women why did god do that just imagine for me for a moment as i close just imagine a day of pentecost taking place here in thompsonville just imagine pentecost in every corner of the globe just imagine god pouring out his spirit all over the planet traditions will be surrendered and the word of god will be accepted the light of hope will be rekindled and the light of discouragement will be removed men and women will find in christ that which they have missed that's right before their eyes repetitious dogma will be traded for a life surrender to nobody but jesus and self will finally be put to death and christ alone will be reigning on the hearts of our lives why am i preaching this way because the coming world blackout is near there will be a day that the power will be shut off and no longer available and we will see before us everything we need but we will have no access to it and like my wife and i could have done we could be banging on the doors of our own house and the only voice that we will hear is i don't know you but god wants to ignite his church for this reason john 10 16 other sheep i have which are not of this fold them also i must bring and they will hear my voice and there will be one flock and one shepherd god is saying the way that they will hear my voice is through your voice the way they hear my voice is through my word but i need some body that's going to go remember he asks isaiah who will go for us and whom shall i send and isaiah said here i am lord send me are you praying that prayer or do you think it's a spiritual impossibility there's no greater life that the devil has told you than that you can't make a difference can i say that what if bill gates believed he could never make a difference what if steve jobs said man this is just an idea but it will never take off what if benjamin franklin said you know i know that's lightning but we'll never be able to harness that the power of one what if jesus said yeah they need help but i'm not going down there the power of one don't ever think that you are insignificant to god your life is a life that god wants to empower if you think that he can't use one what did he do with moses he led millions of israelites out of bondage in egypt god wants to do the same today he turned the world upside down through men and women who knew that the powerful one makes a difference if martin luther did not catapult the protestant reformation we would still be under the bondage of rome today a great possibility but the power of one you think your life doesn't make a difference because you don't have this and that what you need more than anything else is father supply my need god will supply the need when he extends to you the challenge to be his mouthpiece how do i know that i'm a witness to that my wife and i prayed seven days in a row on our faces in our apartment with only one bed and one chair a two-bedroom apartment with one bed that we we had no bed head we had one chair in our living room a 25 chair we bought as a yard sale we couldn't get credit for furniture but we prayed father opened the door for us in ministry we prayed seven days in a row am i right honey we prayed on our bed we knelt on our bed like muslims our face to the bed father we don't want to do this for the rest of our lives please open the door in ministry we got a phone call on the eighth day from california three thousand plus miles away from a man i never met saying that god has opened the door for you and evangelism are you interested i'm telling you i'm here today because we prayed i'm still here today because we never stop praying if you think that prayer doesn't make a difference if you think that one life could not make a difference this big building is here today because danny stop didn't stop praying the power of one and god wants to do the same in your life he may not build up another building to your memory but god wants to do something in you that he cannot do in me that he did not do in danny's life that he did not do in elder brook's life in other people's lives he has a call on you alone that he wants to accomplish but you've got to pray and then there's one last thing you got to do you got to understand what worship is all about the heart of jesus will follow the invitation john 4 and verse 23 but the hour is coming when the hour of darkness comes this hour has to come first in your life but the hour is coming before the darkness comes i pray that this hour would come in your life the hours coming and now is when the true worshiper will worship the father in spirit and in truth for the father is seeking such to worship him god is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth amen church the day of pentecost was intended to find a people searching for jesus and draw them to him by worshiping him in spirit and in truth we've got truth but we need the holy spirit in our lives individually the world as it has become will not turn will not return to what it used to be it's going to continue going the way it's going and stability insecurity unemployment morally crumbling society racial division ravaging disease and social mistrust it's all an indication that the coming world blackout is not far away and we are living in the most pivotal hour in the history of the world i'm going to do something different this morning i don't know if danielle is still here danielle would you come and do me a favor actually i want you to let the lord use you this morning because what danielle prayed what daniel played is what we need to pray about what a friend what a friend we have in jesus and as daniel is playing that i'm going to make an appeal this morning we are living in the most pivotal hour of this world's history everybody's destiny is about to be decided for eternity life or death for earth's inhabitants no one is exempt everyone must choose a side but we need jesus as our friend begin to play it we need jesus as our friend in this hour of darkness we need jesus as our friend want to make an appeal today and i want to make an intentional appeal today the spirit of god might have said to you young man young lady brother sister whomever you may be god is calling you today to take a a step of faith in your life and you want to be one of god's remnant people to stand firm in the closing hours of history but today you want to make that decision father i don't know what the future holds but i know i want to be in that redeemed number i know i want to be one of those that you use in the last days to draw somebody from darkness to this marvelous light my first appeal is for those that have not yet become a part of this church family you may be attending here you may have come through the doors and god has been speaking to your life but you're saying by faith today i want to go different i want to go in a different direction i want my life to be an intentional decision i want to be clear about where i'm headed if you want to be a part of this fellowship today and you want me to pray for you today i would like you to stand i'd like you to stand now wait a minute if you already if you're already baptized i'm not talking to you i'm talking to somebody who has not yet become a baptized member of this family you may have been baptized before but you say by profession of faith i want to unite myself with god's remnant church i want to be a part of those who proclaim this message before the coming world blackout and today you're asking me to pray for you to make that decision i want you to stand where you are it's not about anybody else it's just about you and god it's not about anyone else it's just about you and the lord is there someone here today that wants to make that decision daniel sing one verse for me while they're praying about that [Music] yes [Music] as daniel prays please just come [Music] keep playing danielle i'd like one of my deacons to go to the foyer and get those white cars for me just anyone in my deacon just go to the foyer and get one of those white cars for me because today god is saying this is undeniable it's coming it's coming but somebody might say pastor what about the things that i have to deal with on a daily basis you can't deal with them without the spirit of god guiding your life you could try but you're going to fail you can try to make those decisions but you're going to be operating in darkness god wants to ignite your life god wants to empower you and give you grace to stand our deacons have in their hand a white card bring one for me brian appreciate that jason has it if you're asking for the lord to come into your life and empower you this morning this card has decisions on it that you need to make if you want to know what those decisions are just raise your hand where you may be and you want one of these cards i want you to have one of these in your hand they're decisions that you need to make in your life and while you're praying about it and thinking about it let me say one other thing this is the moment that the devil makes you feel that this is the most fearful thing you could ever do he's a liar he's lying to you right now saying don't do that my life will change i won't know what to do what do i do after i give my life to jesus leave that up to him that's not your responsibility you don't have to worry about what happens in your life after you give your life to jesus i want to be friends but the one who knows the one who can move and shake jesus is the only mover in the shaker in the universe he's the provider he is our supplier he is the one that wants to save us today my brother my sister says i'd like to more information about becoming a follower of jesus about baptism about membership about bible study about visitation if any one of those fall into the category of your desire would you raise your hand this morning we'll get a card to you my second appeal you're saying lord i need the holy spirit in my life we need the holy spirit in our marriage we need the holy spirit in our home i want the holy spirit to empower my life this morning if that is your desire would you stand where you are praying for the friend named jesus to empower and transform your life we could say oh i'm a seventh-day adventist christian i know about this and i know about that i don't know about this but do you know jesus is his spirit active in your life are you living beyond the challenges of life are you finding the security that you need the devil's lying to you today and saying you've got more time don't worry about it everything is okay and while the world is heading for a blackout god is saying i want to turn up the light in the life of my children i want to get them ready for what is coming somebody may be standing that says i need to rededicate my life to the lord through rebaptism i wandered far away from god and i want to give my life back to him but i feel so strange that somehow it just seems like i fail and i fail but god understands let me tell you my brother my sister god knows where you are god knows what you face and he's willing to bring you to the foot of the cross with all your faults and all your failures that's god's responsibility if you need a new start would you raise your hand with me if you need a new start in your life somewhere would you raise your hand young folk and my final appeal if you want this friend named jesus to be your friend to be the god of your daily life would you raise your hand with me [Music] i think we all should be raising our hands we want that friend jesus to be in our lives we want him to be the power in our daily lives to speak to us to talk to us we could do all the religious things but still miss that friendship i don't want the lord to be on the outside knocking on my door saying if you hear me let me in i want to have that friendship that undeniable friendship to bond families parents with children husbands with wives family members together bring the unity where there's now conflict and bondage and difficulty right now i'm going to pray that the people of god would have their minds fixed and that their hearts or desire but jesus christ has made available for every one of us let us pray loving father in heaven this morning we need to have a friend in jesus oh what needless pains we bear called because we do not carry everything to god in prayer have we trials and temptations yes we do is there trouble everywhere yes there is you told us we will never be forsaken if we take it to the lord in prayer what i'm praying today for a heart transformation a life transformation a mind dedication an empowerment to each of us individually and to the church collectively that we can go forth and make active choices in our lives to be ready for the coming blackout it's coming you've told us we believe it you see the evidence of it we must be ready father push us aside and fill us with your almighty spirit of god that will lay the human side of us in the dust and empower us to be at one with each other to be unified to love one another and then we can go forth as a united army bringing people to a knowledge of this grand message to the saving grace to the forgiveness of sin to the restoration of broken hearts and broken lives do this father for you have promised but may we do our part in coming to the author and finisher of our faith and this we ask and for those this morning lord that are dedicating their hearts may they know the enemy is still lying to them may they not wait another moment another hour another day another month for time is not guaranteed may they make that eternal decision to dedicate their hearts and lives to you alone and be ready that when the lights go out our lights will shine to your glory and your honor and this i pray in the worthy name of jesus and all of god's people said amen let's just sing that song you

Channel: Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church

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Length: 81min 22sec (4882 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 12 2021