20210904 | The Final Showdown | Pastor John Lomacang (tvsdac)

if you're joining us just joining us the message today is entitled the final showdown the final showdown and today if you have your bibles with you i'd like to encourage you to turn to second kings second kings but before we read before we read i'm going to ask you to bow your heads with me loving father in heaven thank you so much that when you sent out your disciples one by one two by two that you told them to go and feed your sheep to tell the world that jesus is the way so lord in this challenging hour of earth's history we pray that you will lead us that we will lead others and that they will lead others and your kingdom will be furnished with souls redeemed from the power of darkness from the pit of sin that there will be redeemed and forgiven souls entering into your eternal kingdom transformed by your power and put on the battlefield for such a time as this so send your holy angels lord today to do a work that we cannot do and your holy spirit to empower me to do what i am not capable of doing but may all the praise go just to you in jesus name i pray amen the scripture reading this morning is from second kings chapter 6 and verse 15. second kings chapter 6 and verse 15. and when the servant of the man of god arose early and went out there was an army surrounding the city with horses and chariots and his servants said to him alas master what shall we do may the lord have a blessing to the reading of his word it is the question of the hour what shall we do we are living in the formation of the final showdown and we are watching a world crumbling at our feet nature's fury is on display on a global scale and people are asking the question at last master what shall we do and this is the hour that god is saying to his servants that the work he has given us to accomplish should be embraced with such tenacity that we're looking beyond the problems and the trials of the here and now and getting ready for the kingdom that is soon to come what shall we do as never before we see a planet in perplexity i stood aghast as i watched the videos on the news about new york city the subways inundated with water in all the years i have lived in new york city i've never seen that kind of display of natural forces the trains as it were riding through a river of water the subways becoming a so to speak of niagara falls where water is pouring into the underground where homes are being inundated their basements are being filled and cars are being washed away in the streets of new york city as though they were in the country somewhere overpasses underpasses inundated where cars cannot pass in some cases people died in their cars trying to make their way and in the mind of a new yorker many times they say well i've seen rain like this before and some of them have their suvs and they say we can make it through this water only to die at that very spot we are seeing brothers and sisters we are seeing a world in perplexity and nature is protesting the reckless behavior of humanity we are seeing a world in distress so when the servant of the lord is asking at last master what shall we do he's asking a question that is being echoed from the west and from the east from the north and from the south when people's homes are going up there saying what shall we do when all their life savings go up in smoke they're asking what shall we do when people are dying by this terrible pandemic covet 19 and the variant that's coming people are asking what shall we do when a husband cannot visit his wife who's dying from covet and her wife cannot visit her husband they're asking what shall we do we're seeing a world in perplexity protesting on one side riots on the other instability promises made that cannot be fulfilled by politicians that may have the best of intentions and they are asking what shall we do and god is saying to us this is the hour that the people of god need to rise to the occasion this is the hour that those of us who know the end of the story need to repeat and repeat and repeat to the world until they can look beyond the fray and know that behind this dark cloud the son of god is still shining this is the hour that the people of god need to rise to the occasion this is the hour that the people of god have a message for soon the words of jesus are going to be fulfilled as we read in revelation chapter 11 and verse 18 notice the words of christ in revelation chapter 11 verse 18 soon these words are going to be fulfilled on a global scale the bible says the nations are angry the nations were angry and your wrath has come in the time of the dead that they should be judged and that you should reward your servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear your name small and great and should destroy those who destroy the earth we are watching the earth being destroyed before our eyes for reasons that are too numerous to count some people believe in global warming some people don't some people say it's the fossil fuel issue some people don't and it's not our responsibility to settle the issues but it's only our responsibility to see what's happening to our climate and proclaim to the world that these are signs of a soon approaching god these are the signs fires in the west floods and tornadoes in the northeast i never thought the day would come when i would see tornadoes of the magnitude that i saw them in in maryland or in pennsylvania when i was living in new york city when we lived in new york city the word tornado didn't even enter into our vernacular that was a southern thing that was something for mississippi and for texas and louisiana and arkansas and some of the other southern states the word tornado never entered into the vernacular of a new yorker when i was being raised but today it is almost as though the planet has somehow shifted and weather patterns have changed location however that's not the case the lord said in these last days we will see signs of a nature that is longing to be delivered do you know that even nature itself wants to be delivered and nature is displaying its fury on such a global scale new york city new jersey philadelphia floods hurricanes tornadoes in those locations not to count california washington oregon arizona fires out of control i was speaking to someone in the west and they said some of the firefighters are choosing to allow the fires to burn themselves out because they are beyond control as we took off in sacramento california angie has a picture on our ipad we had a chance to fly over some of the places where the fars the forest fires are tenacious and we have pictures of these clouds rising blending with storm clouds blending with thunderheads and we could see them traveling east watching the mountains go up in flames and then we read the news in colorado new mexico nevada where 40 million people are threatened by a water shortage then we read about the farmers who say we don't have enough water to even produce a crop and you see the you see the spiraling you see the snowball no water to produce crops what does what does that lead to food shortage famine on the way the bible says there will be famines and there will be pestilences covert 19 delta variant and scientists are saying that there are two more on the horizon coming in january they begin to see them as they traverse the world scale we're living at a time that the world is fragile and then there are those that are being affected by the issues surrounding liberty of conscience no longer able to see this as a luxury and a freedom of the citizens of the united states and the arguments and the and the stress and the and the frustration are abounding everywhere people are saying what about my right to make a choice and i won't even take the time to talk about all the issues surrounding that but we are seeing an atmosphere where it's becoming more and more challenging to communicate the gospel but god's people need to look beyond the difficulty and say as long as the gospel exists it is our responsibility to see that somebody in our sphere of influence knows about jesus can you say amen that someone in our sphere of influence now i've heard the stories of the creative ways janelle moving up pulling up to the gas station and a motorcycle retinue of of soldiers marines on their motorcycle and she gives them a card as donald sits in the car nursing his leg she gives them the cars america what's next and they say we hope this is not a political event no it's not a political event it's about jesus it's about getting the world ready for the coming of christ we hear about those who go to the stores and put pamphlets and flies in different locations friends god is saying be more creative and tenacious and fired up about saving souls than ever before because it's not getting easier it's becoming more difficult to share the gospel i'm reminded of the quotation in the book evangelism page 31 and paragraph four this is a chilling statement when i read it i thought lord this is a description of today the servant of the lord says the work which the church has failed to do in a time of peace and prosperity she will have to do in a terrible crisis under most discouraging forbidding circumstances that's our day that's this atmosphere that is this time that is this hour that is this scenario that is this world is becoming more and more difficult but still there's a door that's open praise god for that still there's a door before us that god is saying it's still our responsibility and with the increasing crises the news is god will never abandon those that are faithful to the call of god on their lives i think about being in the airport i'm i'm getting more bold as i get old sorry get older and i'm i'm thinking to myself well what can people say other than i don't have time or no thank you and i look at some of the faces of people that when i give them the card i saw a lady with a a red white and blue mask on and i thought to myself she needs a card to go with that red white and blue mask and i gave it to her she said what is this and i said just scan the qr code on the back and you'll find out it's commemoration for 9 11. she said okay thank you she didn't look too pleased but she took the card and i prayed lord touch your heart may the holy spirit activate in her desire to see what's beyond that title what's on the other side and the lord has even told me in my own time of devotions he says pastor when you stand up john when you stand up on that day next sabbath i want you to communicate in a way that is not native to adventists i don't want you to use phrases and words that adventists are familiar with because you're going to be talking to people that have never heard this message before leave out all your cliches that we know you know like we say you heard the story about the man the woman at the well they might be thinking is there a woman at the well in my neighborhood they may not even have a clue what that means we might say 1844 the great disappointment they might want to disappointment about what god is saying i want to teach you how to communicate in a way that people listening that have no idea of who jesus is what is the phrase everlasting gospel what does that mean he says communicate in such a way that people that have never heard it before will perk up and say there's something different about that message because we're living in a world where you can turn on the television any given day of the week and religious television is the commodity of this age praise god that our network is committed to the everlasting gospel the undiluted truth what do you say but that's not the case everywhere and we know that when we go forth in the way that god has called us to be faithful we cannot look for a approval we cannot look for approbation we cannot look for support we cannot expect a pat on the back we must expect the worst of circumstances to follow those who are faithful and why is that because jesus says all those that live godly in christ jesus shall suffer persecution the enemy is never concerned unless what he hears is an opposition to his message and his method and his will when the servant of god men and women young men and young women those who know and those who are just finding out when we embrace a call on our lives and begin to be concerned about people that we see when we no longer see them as another person living in our community but a soul for the kingdom then all of a sudden the devil becomes upset and angry and he'll do whatever he can to thwart the purposes of god that's why i chose today this message about elisha you know you've heard about the elijah message that's the term we all know the elijah message behold i will send elijah before the great and dreadful day of the lord but today i want to talk to you about the elisha message the elisha message one man who asked for a double portion of the spirit of god when elijah was being swept away in a chariot of fire taken to heaven by god which is not the normal procedure just want to make that clear god's not sweeping everybody into heaven on a chariot of fire there are those who are waiting in the grave for the coming of jesus i just want to make that clear but when elijah was being swept away in a chariot of fire elisha asked for a double portion of the spirit of god and he got it and when he got it he started turning worlds upside down upsetting circumstances and one of those very circumstances i'm going to refer to today because elisha's experience is parallel to the events that are going to take place in the lives of the servants of god in the last days so cometh mean out of second kings chapter six and we're going to dive into the middle of a story in verse 8. there are many stories preceding this but second kings chapter 6 we're going to begin in the story in verse 8. and we read these words these inspired words now the king of syria was making war against israel and he consulted with his servants saying my camp will be in such and such a place let's look at the scenario the king of syria represents satan the the the the children of israel represent the people of god satan has servants that he's consulting with today working on a plan to set up camp in preparation to attack the people of god he's consul as we sit here today make no mistake about it revelation tells us peter tells us he is as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and today as we sit here he's putting plans together he is consulting with his servants who are his servants do you know that the devil is so clever he has servants that look like preachers read second corinthians chapter 11 verse 13 and 14 he has servants that look like preachers the bible says and no marvel for satan himself is transformed into an angel of light therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also appear as ministers of righteousness whose end will be according to their works the apostle paul calls them sheep in wolves clothing the writer in the book of acts dr luke says they are savage wolves that enter the flock not sparing the sheep and matthew the converted tax collector calls them false prophets the apostle paul says that they are deceitful workers and he goes on to say these men the only god that they serve as the god of their belly financial gain popularity approbation possessions stuff and so in these last days we have to keep in mind that satan has servants but praise the lord god has servants the syrian army laid plans to attack israel but they forgot when you read the when you read the back story i don't know how they forgot the story of naaman the syrian commander naaman the syrian commander who not long before the king of syria began to lay plans to attack israel naaman the syrian commander came to this very same prophet elisha expecting elisha to come out and give him a great show of god's approbation and approval and all he told the commander to do is go take a bath how would you like that if the president came to you and say i need an answer and you don't even come outside you say tell the president go take a bath and he was offended the moral of the story is god does not respect anybody who doesn't respect him and god led naaman to a full restoration and i don't know as i began to read the story tried to find evidence to see how a story of such magnitude had missed the attention of the king of syria and how he didn't know wait a minute you don't want to mess with elijah because elijah is not a normal prophet elijah is connected to the living god but nonetheless they laid their plans and while they were making their plans god was watching god was watching over the children of israel that's why i love the words of the apostle paul he says in romans 8 and verse 31 what then shall we say of these things if god is for us together who can be against us you see this is important because often we pay attention to circumstances more than we pay attention to god we look at the fires the floods we look at the unstable economy we look at an uncertain future we look at the vaccines and the masks and we pay attention to the conspiracy theories and we become ingested we ingest whatever is on the internet as though it's the gospel we quote this doctor and that doctrine this scientist is this physician and i'm seeing in the midst of all of that could somebody please speak up for jesus could somebody post on facebook something that jesus said i had to address a lady directly who said to me she was listening she said i i watch your sermons every sabbath but but the day that you said the vaccine is a distraction i no longer want to listen to you and i said to her if you if all it took was the word vaccine to get you to ignore a man committed to preaching the three angels messages you are not ready for what's coming and praise god she later apologized and said you know i shouldn't do that i shouldn't judge you like that you see brethren there's a distraction that is taking possession of the church today and why wouldn't the devil try why wouldn't he try to distract god's people often we pay more attention to circumstances that we pay to god we become overwhelmed and wonder how can god reverse what seems to be incredible odds against his church and then i look out on sabbath morning and sometimes i think lord we're just a motley crew but if god can turn the world upside down with 12 men what can he do with us if god before us who can be against us today we listen satan like the syrian army is laying out his war plans for the people of god in the last days and ellen white makes it very clear she says in the councils for the church page 335 and paragraph two listen to these sobering words she says while men are sleeping while they're doing what sleeping satan is actively arranging matters so that the lord's people may not have mercy or justice so are we going to expect mercy yes or no no mercy from god not from man are we to expect justice the answer is no because satan is working behind the scenes when the sabbath question begins to agitate the world when preachers rise up in opposition to the message that god has given me to proclaim next sabbath or even any other message proclaimed from this pulpit by any of our preachers when men rise up in opposition to that satan begins to use these so to speak religious entities these religious components and make them appear to be more credible than the words of god communicated from this podium but i want to say if it's not from god's word don't believe it but if it's from god's word embrace it as though god is speaking to your heart directly what the what the what the what the syrians didn't know that while they were playing plans god was listening while they were getting their plans together and that encourages me today because i look at the climate movement coming up i look at the the the climate sunday movement that's on the move now i look at back to church sunday that's been pushed nationwide for the last 25 years gaining momentum and more churches joining every year i look at the climate sunday accord that's coming up in november this year in in europe i look at the pope getting together with religious leaders economic leaders ecologists environmentalists and and as they said the world is gathering together to try to redeem the planet but jesus is getting his saints together to redeem lost souls god will make a new heaven and a new earth amen somebody so it's not our job to fix all this stuff but it is our responsibility as stewards to to take into responsibility what god has given us access to but we can't reverse 6 000 years of damage we can't fix this we could be faithful stewards with what is within our realm of influence why should we fix what jesus is not coming back back to the reason why people are trying to fix the planet is many of the leaders today feel that somehow god is going to come back and reign on earth he's going to send jesus to reign on earth oh he'll reign on earth in the new earth not in this millennium coming up he's not setting up camp on earth he already came down here and while they were laying their plans i love it the lord sent up he set up some spiritual reconnaissance and god was listening you know what amazes me bob is that people think that somehow they could do stuff that god can't see look what david osama said in psalm 139 and verse 12. speaking about god he said indeed the darkness shall not hide from you but the night shines as the day the darkness and the light are both alike to you come on somebody say amen god doesn't need night vision he created the night if an owl could see at night why is god blind at night isaiah the prophet chimes in with his words in isaiah 29 and verse 15 woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the lord and their works are in the dark they say who sees us and who knows us who sees god does who knows god does you know why he knows he knows the end from the beginning he knows your thoughts before you put it on paper you know he knew what the what the syrians were doing that's why the apostle paul reminds us that in the global turbulence that's being displayed on a worldwide stage the apostle paul is saying servants of god wake up look at first thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 1. he's saying but concerning the times and seasons brethren you have no need that i should write to you if anybody knows you know if anybody should understand how it's going to happen you should understand if anybody has been given light like you have they would be aware if i knew that somebody was coming to my house and they drove a red corvette i could see them the moment they turned the corner god has given us messages god has given us insights god has given us scriptural knowledge god has given into our hands what we are responsible for and god is saying to us as you see the world in global turbulence don't be surprised i've told you that this must occur before my return the apostle paul continues to speak to the church at thessalonica and he's speaking to us today first thessalonians chapter 5 verse 4 and 5. notice the words he says but you brethren are not in darkness let me pause right here and say something but you brethren are not in darkness let me finish the text you brethren are not in darkness so that this day should overtake you as a thief why you are all sons of the light and sons of the day say it together with me we are not of the night nor of darkness amen somebody brush off the books on your shelves get the great controversy out and read it and share it get out steps to christ and strengthen your relationship with christ look at the testimonies read what god has given us the privilege to know as i've said to somebody before we will be held accountable not just for what we know but what we could have known can you imagine a student with a history book right on the bed head of his bed and the history the history test comes and he says to the teacher i don't know and she said did you have the book he said yes then you should have known god will hold us accountable not only for what we know but what we what we could have known while the syrians were planning trying to conceal their ideas from god god revealed the enemy's plans to his servants i want you to think about that for a moment when i was reading and studying and i've been getting a lot of epiphanies lately and i know i'm not the only one but i just want to talk about my own personal experience as i'm reading the bible i'm beginning to see things in a different light in in in what i might refer to an enhanced light like my wife said to me didn't you preach that sermon before i said i think i've used the text but god has given me additional understanding in an area that i didn't see it before that proves the validity of the inspiration of god's word when god can show you something 15 years later that you read over and over and over and over and over again and you just didn't see it that proves that god knows when the time is right to say i bet you didn't see that have you had that experience before i bet and you say i don't know how many times i read that how many times i read that but the bible says spiritual things are spiritually discerned while the enemy is laying their plans god is saying to his servant you know what they're planning to do to you why did god do that to keep his servants one two three four five steps ahead of the approaching adversary look at second kings chapter 6 verses 9 and 10 god revealed to his servants so his servant could reveal to the people of god the bible says and the man of god what kind of man will god speak to those that stand with god and the man of god sent to the king of israel saying beware that you do not pass this place for the syrians are coming down there then verse 10 then the king of israel sent someone to the place of which the man of god had told him thus he warned him and he was watchful there not just once or twice wasn't being said when the servant of the lord received information from god and then he communicated it to the leaders in israel he said watch out don't go to that neighborhood they waiting for you there and it happens if you look at the bible in many many instances ron in many instances that's why the lord told nehemiah don't come down and go to oh no your only response should be oh no when sandal had to buy the arab when all they got nice to nehemiah and said let's go have some lunch nehemiah said i ain't coming down and you find even in the life of jesus christ there were certain towns he chose not to go to because he knew that they were waiting for him there i'm so glad today and i want to say this that we serve a god who's always a step ahead of the enemy so when we talk about evangelism whatever whatever comes whether it's covert on the rise or delta variant on the rise god always has another plan but sometimes you know we get discouraged until god said now i allowed that so let me show you what i had in mind we had a meeting the other day when we were told to cut back on our and we know we want to make sure that we all stay healthy we don't want to bring into our church the possibility of having a covet outbreak here and when we got together and tried to figure out creative ways to work with three abn and make it happen i never forgot that as i share this with our church board and our committee they said as bob called me and you know i just love bob bob is just always cut loose bob has always cut loose for jesus and so bob said pastor if i don't talk to you i'm going to explode in the parking lot i said what bob you said see pastor when you were told not to continue your invitations to people in the community he said the problem with you you were planning a cherry bomb event because god was planning an atomic blast and i sat before jill praise god i thank god for her leadership in greg's and and i said jill we've increased our advertising and she said i thought i told you not to and i said i know what i know what xcom said let me share with you and we said we're go we're going global we're not just going thompsonville we're not just going bent and we're going global can you say men church god has a thousand ways of which we know not of so we must always remember that the god who spoke to elijah the god who spoke to elisha the god who told abraham and his old age he will have a son the god who holds back waters and gives strength to those who even lose their eyesight he is the same god today there's no difference between the god of elisha and the god we serve today there is no difference he is the everlasting god the beginning the end the first to last the one who is the alpha and the omega he still rules in the affairs of humanity god will not be prevented denied or delayed by any enactments of humanity he says my counsel will stand and i will do all my pleasure isaiah 46 9-10 you know why because god knows that he has given but so much space in the course of human history for satan to be foolish and then he says and then i'm gonna cut it off and give my people a new world a clean one a sin a an earth where there is no more sin and that time is not too far away somebody ought to say amen i cannot wait till the junk of this world is done but we got to do our work we got to do our work which brings you which brings me to point number one i only have three points we are responsible for the knowledge that god has revealed to us we are responsible for the knowledge i told you about my incident in new york city i was in new york city at a large church and and i was doing the week of prayer and i saw in the back of the church a large stack of paper on the radiator and i thought what is that i thought that was lessons that went past that i went and looked at it and to my chagrin it was a stack about this high of flyers that the church member should have passed out to the community to invite them to this church that could seat about 1200 people and i'm looking around and i'm seeing all these empty spaces i'm not talking about this morning i'm looking around seeing all these empty spaces and i'm thinking look at all those flyers in brooklyn how many people pass this church on a daily basis you know there's something happening in the minds of some of us we're thinking that when you say the lord is coming oh i heard that and i heard how long have i been hearing that but i want to remind you of the words of christ the evil servant says in his heart my lord delays his coming god does not want us to be evil servants who think that somebody said i was talking to a pastor in the west and he said he was speaking to another pastor and that person said oh well actually it was a conversation i was having with a church member they were saying that they had a family member he used to be in the ministry he said well the lord could come in 40 more years who knows how long it's going to be he may be right or he may be wrong but don't ever delay the coming of the lord by your statements because for somebody as was the case that i was repeating recently one of our one of our members told me this uh one of our local mayors had had an opportunity to meet one of our local church members and one of our local church remembers was telling him about jesus and about the end of the world and he said oh it could be a thousand years from now and that person died the next week probation shut waiting for the coming of jesus but there are those that are looking for the understanding we are responsible for the knowledge that god has revealed to us and i'm appealing to you even those of you watching and those of you listening i'm appealing to you not to get sucked into the quagmire of today's vortex of foolishness in the book faith i live by page 325 and paragraph four the servant of the lord says it is no time now to allow our minds to be engrossed with things of what minor importance but you know the problem people don't think that their issue is minor if it has nothing to do with salvation it's minor if it's political or i'm going to be very candid here don't even send me emails trying to tell me about your issue i don't want to hear about it the point of the matter is if it does not focus on leading someone to know jesus it's minor if it's not about deliverance from sin it's minor if it's arguing over political differences it's minor if it's trying to straighten out the medical community it's minor they are not listening jesus says if i be lifted up i will draw men unto myself that's major lift him up he'll do the drawing you can't correct folk who are convinced against your will can't convince people who are so deep in junk that they have just enough space for their head to breathe and what amazes me is when you try to wake them up they think that i'm talking to somebody else because my issue is legitimate god help us god was dealing with the assyrians and elisha in the near future god is going to be dealing with his people in the last days and the leaders of the world the armies of the world the syrian army represents the armies of the last days and there are three unclean spirits gathering together the kings of the earth and of the whole world to the battle of the great day of god almighty and who are they going to battle against and the dragon is angry with the woman and want to make war with the remnant of her seed who keep the commandments of god and have the testimony of jesus christ revelation 12 and verse 17. and also revelation 16 verse 13 and 14. we've got to understand the stage we're sitting in don't think that because we have rain and everybody else doesn't have water that we're okay oh no brother the devil can work in any environment he has umbrellas and he has suntan lotion the devil doesn't need a perfect environment he just needs a corrupt heart to be the portal through which he can corrupt others god had revealed the enemy's plan to reverse the tables you see this is beautiful about the story and i'm going to transition to the next verse here when the syrians were laying their plans it was the enemy's plan to trouble god's plan but let me tell you something it was god's plan to trouble the enemy's plan instead of god's people being in distress god was going to reverse the tables and satan's people were going to be in distress let me make it even clearer matthew the tax collector says the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church he recorded the words of jesus when he was speaking to peter upon this rock i build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it amen church so what does the devils do when he hears that he is saying in the words of jesus jesus just laid the gauntlet down that no matter what we do we will not prevail against this church but that's not saying he's not going to try to pull some of us out that's not saying he's not going to come against some of us to find out where our weak points are that's not saying he's going to try to say to you you can hold on but i haven't increased the speed of this ride yet because when god stepped into elisha's life the syrians were nervous look at second kings chapter 6 verse 11 the syrians got nervous they're wondering we're laying plans but look at this second king six verse 11 therefore the heart of the king of syria was greatly troubled by this thing and he called the servants and said to them will you not show me which of us is for the king of israel did you get it which one of you are telling israel what i'm talking about i thought this was a confidential meeting i thought i said don't let anyone know so which one of yours are leaking the information excuse me for smiling the syrians were troubled about their plans being revealed and they thought that they had an internal leak they didn't have an internal leak they had an unseen guest that unseen guest visited belshazzar at his at his debacle and his feast when babylon came to its knees they had an unseen guest that unseen guests came to sodom and gomorrah to say it a lot it's time to get an airplane ticket and get out of town god is always the uninvited guest come on somebody say amen you know they thought that somehow they had disloyal men god does not need disloyalty on the side of the enemy because god is in every council that ever stands i love that i love the words that the wise man solomon said it this way in proverbs chapter 19 verse 21 and the the niv makes it very clear he says many are the plans in man's heart but it is the lord's purpose that prevails amen you can make whatever plans you want but god's going to decide whether to cancel it or make it happen you can say this is what you're going to do god says well let me see that not amen somebody because if the devil had his way we'd have been dead a long time ago he'd have blown up three abm with all these storms going through here when we had that 120-120 mile an hour straight win a number of years ago some of you remember that it came through town and cut trees down like it was a flying chainsaw and not a single trailer on the property of three abn moved not a single antenna needed to be recalibrated amen moses god kept all those of small and big antennas just as straight as an arrow i never forgot what jorge told me that day and i said jorge you were in a small house by radio he said pastor i put my hand out the window i didn't even feel any wind at all trees were down all around town in the front of our house on new lake road i came home and the tree right in our front yard was cut into three pieces the top piece was that side the middle piece was that side and right in front of our living room window a tree fell and it was this close to the window god said stop right there see that's the god we serve storms come and storms go and how with all the tornadoes we've had and all the possible disasters that have could come to this area we've had a camp meeting where tornadoes would split and go around while mark finley is preaching god is in charge somebody ought to say amen many are the plans in man's heart but it is the lord's purpose that prevail we serve a god who's always in the know god is never in the dark god does not ask the enemy for permission to let him in god has a key himself the enemy can't keep god out amen somebody the why here's what john said jesus's words in revelation 3 and verse 8 i love this i have set before you an open door and no one can shut it god says i got keys i got i even have the keys of death and the grave i don't just have keys to these these meetings in congress and these meetings in the white house i don't even have i have keys even to the what the what they call that the situation room i could be in the meeting at the g7 the g9 and the g20 and they could put plans together let me tell you something i know that by god's hand god has kept the sunday law from being passed thus far because if if the european sunday alliance has their way it'll be a law throughout the entire world if back to church sunday had their way it would have been a law in america already but god is holding back the wind so that somebody else who doesn't know this message can be saved god is always in the know he sets before us an open door so that when you're on god's side when we stand with the lord there is no need to worry i i have to learn because every now and then a little bit of worry i have to wipe off on my forehead you know what i'm talking about i sat there when i got that phone call that we had to cut back on plans i sat there i was like oh oh what on earth is going on and god said to me i'm about to roll up my sleeves watch out when god rolls up his sleeves and he said to me don't worry about it i'm still in control my my plans will still come to pass that's why jesus said these words to his troubled disciples in the midst of a an economy falling apart in the midst of a a ruthless roman government he said these words to his disciples before he left john 14 verse 27 he says peace i leave with you my peace i give you not as the world gives do i give to you and then he said these words let not your heart be what troubled neither let it be afraid which takes me to my second point focus on the plans of god and god will focus on the plans of man let me say it again focus on the plans of god and god will focus on the plans of man that's what he did to the syrian army they got so nervous they wondered who knows our plans god does god does i don't care how powerful a president claims to be he's just a pile of flesh in whose nostrils is the breath of life that god owns god can shut off the air and he'll be a funeral casualty but god doesn't go around killing folk he allows them all the time they need to turn their hearts to him so that in the judgment they'll never say that god did this to me and i didn't have time that's why sometimes wicked people live long i know some evil folk and then man how old is he and he's still evil i always wonder why do evil people live long like the lady said to her husband lady i know story she had an abusive husband he would come in the house and one one evening he came in the house and brought his fence they were drinking at a bar and they got all drunk and all bent out of shape with alcohol and all the men were talking about their wives how powerful and how controlling their wives was and he said to them i'm in control of my house come with me let me show you a real man and he took these two men to his house at four o'clock in the morning and he kicked the door down and walk and he said and he yelled come on down here make me some breakfast his wife came downstairs didn't say a word didn't say a word she walked to the kitchen and these two other men with him were just shocked what he got it going on his wife didn't say a word open the fridge made his breakfast put on the table in front of the gas and they thought and he looked at them like i'm in charge of my house and when they left he was puzzled he said to his wife why do you put up with me why do you why do you why do you stand for what i put you through she said i've told you over and over to accept jesus i'ma put up with your stuff for just a short time but i got eternity ahead of me and you only have a short time to do this to me but i got eternity that you'll never do this to me again it's a true story that man fell to his knees and became a deacon in one of the local churches in ohio about 25 years ago got baptized and gave his life to the lord because his wife said oh yeah you're going to have your time now but i got my time coming amen somebody weeping in door for the night but joy cometh in the morning isaiah the prophet said to the people of god on the last days isaiah 41 verse 10 fear not for i am with you be not dismayed for i am your god i will strengthen you don't look for strength from anybody else but god i will help you don't look for help from anywhere but god i will uphold you anybody else could let you down because they don't have a righteous right arm like god does if you want help turn to me i've witnessed god take evangelism to another level i was at kathy bloom a few days ago meeting with one of the local state representatives dave severn big man lovely man we were so enthusiastic and i shared with him how i had been meeting for more than a year with the senator and he said i'm upset with the senator he said you mean to tell me he's been meeting with a man like you for a year and didn't let me know i missed out on all those opportunities and i said let me tell you what 9 11 is all about let me tell you what america what's next is all about and i said if a storm was coming and you knew about it what would you feel as far as your constituents are concerned he said well i'll be responsible to tell them i said well that's my responsibility as god's servant and god is revealed in his word what's coming and this is an event to let the world know what's coming he said i'm with you brother i said now i know if you mentioned this through through pastor fripps to through pastor fritz but i want to make sure are you okay to be a part of that event he said i'm not no i'm not only okay but i'm ready for it and i'll be there and he's gonna have a powerful powerful powerful story to share with you about how god got him ready for 9 11. but then i sat with pastor phillips and he was sitting next to me pastor philip fritz and we were praying about what god has been bringing him through and i gave him a stack of the flies that janelle designed and i said pass this out and i gave him a stack of the cards and i'll pass this out and god took that opportunity and turned it around in an amazing way because the restaurant was filled with women very classy women high fashion women and i thought man how come i don't see them in walmart i mean these women were dressed to the nines and he went over and the the representative took a picture with a group of these ladies who had asked him could you take our picture and the pastor took that stack of flyers and gave it to these first day christians and those cards and gave it to these ladies who go to church on the first day and he said to them pass them out and they said we'll make sure all of our friends get one of these oh that was not a layman i was looking for god can take evangelism to another level god is using those who he wants to save and exposing them and their willing hearts to share jesus god can look into the hearts of people that we may not agree with and use them as instruments to advance the cause of god if god can do that with people that don't know what we know what is our responsibility [Music] if god has folk that don't even know half or one-tenth of what we know and they're excited about what's coming and they want other people to know about it what is our responsibility what's our problem what's our problem we sometimes don't think that it's going to work but listen to this in christ object lessons christ object lessons page listen to this when we give ourselves holy to god and in our work follow his directions he makes himself responsible for its accomplishment he would not have us conjecture as to the success of our honest endeavors not once should we even think of failure we are to cooperate with one who knows no failure amen you know how could 12 men turn the world upside down if they can do if god can do that with 12 what could he do with us yes yes there are no exes in god's loss column he didn't have a loss column thank you thank you bob thank you for helping me out on that god doesn't even have a loss column another quotation i got to share these with you today these are powerful god has encouraged me i have to encourage you evangelism page 30 paragraph two we are nearing the great and final conflict do you believe that every advanced move made now must be made with increasing effort increasing effort for satan is working with all power to increase the difficulties in our way he works with all deceivableness of unrighteousness why to secure the souls of men i am charged to say to ministers of the gospel and to our missionary physicians go forward the work to be done calls for self-sacrifice at every step but together with me go forward go forward go forward god knows what the enemies are doing god is in their bedrooms he knows what they're thinking second kings chapter 6 and verse 12 the syrians found out about it and the lord recorded this story to let us know i've got a step on the enemy look at second kings chapter 6 and verse 12. the syrian army found out what they didn't know and one of his servants said no my lord o king we're not we're not leaking your information but elijah the prophet who is in israel tells the king of israel the words that you speak in your bedroom somebody in the community is saying i read this article about america what's coming i'ma do what i can to defeat it lord said no you ain't getting back to my brooklyn vernacular no you're not god sees the enemy in secret but the enemy cannot see god in secret god sees the enemy's secrets but the enemy does not see god's secrets when god is about to move he reveals his next move to his servants so they can reveal god's next move to god's people how do i know that amos 3 and verse 7. god never does it without letting us know first praise you lord surely amos 3 7 surely lord surely the lord god does nothing unless he reveals his secrets to his servants the prophets god doesn't want to sneak upon us he says i want you to move in harmony with my will and i'll tell you what it is at the time i believe you need to know about it that's why today friends satan's concern for us is just as concerned as he was about the syrians he felt about the syrians the way he feels about us today but something has changed the bible tells us what has changed revelation 12 and verse 12 therefore rejoice o heavens and you who dwell in them woe to the inhabiters of the earth and the sea for the devil has come down to you having what great wrath because he knows that he has a short time he was angry with the israelites but now he has great wrath his attitude has changed god is always the same but the devil is becoming more angry as he knows he only has but a short time testimonies to the church the servant of the lord reveals this testimonies to the church volume 9 page 19 paragraph one listen listen in a special sense seventh day adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light bearers to them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world on them is shining what kind of light wonderful light from the word of god they have been given a work of the most solemn import the proclamation of the first second and third angels messages there is no other work of so great importance they are to allow sid with me nothing else to absorb their attention god is on the move that's our call that's our marching orders don't allow anything else to absorb absorb your attention do you not see what the devil is doing he is saying argue with this issue and that issue and this medical issue and that medical issue and this political issue and that political issues he's saying i got some other issues the lord's servant is saying no do not allow anything else to absorb your attention i am just flabbergasted by those claiming to believe the third angel's message and their attentions are absorbed and they have built themselves a castle of proof while souls are passing off into eternity just so they could win their position and what they fail to realize is satan was bent on silencing god's servant and he's going to seek to silence ours but god always has an answer but look what the devil did to the syrians sorry look what the devil did to elisha look what the syrian army attempted to do second kings and i'm winding up second kings chapter 6 verse 13 and 14. look at these closing phrases the syrians said go and see where he is find out where that ministry is in southern illinois that keeps on talking about the sabbath i'm sick and tired of them talking about the sabbath it's upsetting folk around the world find out where that church is that keeps on talking about the commandments of god i'm sick and tired it's causing trouble in my congregation you'd think i don't know that we had a couple that was here that passed away uh um that were attending the presbyterian church down there in um in one of our southern communities and on a wednesday night when he came here lord have mercy older couple honey remember they stood up in prayer meeting and i said who are you are you an adventist they said no i said are you an elder they said no i said are you a member they said no i said why are you here they said we were watching you when you and pastor stanton extended a challenge to us to find out about the sabbath and whatever we find out go take it to our pastor that's why we're here and they told me the story when their pastor when they brought the sabbath question to their pastor he was so agitated with them he said to them he took them out of office he took them out of leadership he took the man's wife out of being the church treasurer where she was for 34 years he was a he was a head elder for more than 20 years took him out of leadership harmon and helen and he stood up and said to me i gave my pastor he went down to hunt he went down to alabama and prayed he said for two weeks what should we do with this information he went back to his pastor and said pastor why are we not talking about the sabbath the pastor said to him you've got a problem you fix it he said i am i'm going to the adventist church and they both got baptized here their sons thought that they lost their mind his oldest son said dad you lost your mind all your life you led us in this direction two months later we baptized his son and his son's wife and their members down in the marian church you can't stop the cause of god you can't fight against god's truth that's why god is saying to his servants so in these last days satan is going to try to find out where are these pockets of resistance coming from where are my people finding out all this information go and shut them down but look at what god did look what god did second king six verse 13 and 14 so he said go and see where he is that i may send and get him can you hear it i want to get him and it was told him saying surely he is in dothan they're down there in west frankfort thompsonville area therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there and they came by night and surrounded the city help me preach the sermon bob they came by night and surrounded the city brethren the devil loves the night because he likes to see us at he likes to catch us when we're sleeping he likes to attack us when our eyes are closed but i want to tell you our eyes may be closed but god's eyes are never closed he likes to make us feel that we are comfortable and everything is honky-dory the monies are flowing the ministry is successful everything is going our way he says that's what they think but i got a great army that i'm getting together i'm gonna find out where they are and i'm gonna get them but i gotta share with you this quotation excuse me for being so direct today but i'm just excited about something signs of the times january 13th 1904 how does the devil work servant of the lord says his step is noiseless his movements are stealthy his batteries are masked he has so concealed himself from view that many can hardly believe that he exists much less can they be convinced of his amazing malignity activity and power they're saying that can't be the case why would he want to do that and the reason why they feel that way is because they haven't heard the footsteps of a noiseless enemy roaring lion seeking whom he may devour that's why the apostle paul said to the thessalonians and he says it to us today first thessalonians 5 and verse 6 therefore let us not what sleep as others do but let us watch and be sober there are some people that are sleeping with their eyes wide open you don't have to have your eyes closed sleeping with their eyes wide open and i like this this this is where i'm going to wind it up i got two more verses can i do two more verses when the syrian army found elijah now last night i want to wake my wife up and tell her this but god and i had a god and i had a praise session together when the syrian army found elisha they said we got him just where we want him but what they did not know is god had led the syrian army where he wanted them to go and god said i got them just where i want them they thought they had elisha just where they wanted him but god had the syrian army just where he wanted them oh man isn't god good they thought that they had elisha when god had them i don't shout but i just might today the syrian army was determined to put god's work to an end but god was about but god was about to put their work to an end that's god i could hear heaven saying god are you watching this i can hear the angels say god should we go now no god said i got this i'ma work on this one i just need i said wait a matter of fact i need some angels with some horses that are lit on fire y'all need to go down but don't let them see you coming just go on down you go down to dothan and you wait for me to blow the whistle can you see it happening because some of you know the story god says y'all go on down there and what i want you to do is i want you to go ahead and set up your camp around the syrians and i'll tell you when to raise the curtain so there they are that they are and the next verse my brethren reveals the issue of many of us in the last days look at verse the next verse second kings chapter 6 and verse 15. and when this and when the servant and when the servant of the man of god arose early and went out there was an army surrounding the city with horses and chariots and his servant said to him at last master what shall we do you see it brian what are we going to do they found us they know we're down here in southern illinois they know exactly where the ministry i remember pastor jim gillian and i used to say he said man when things go south they're going to come straight to three a b and shut us down not before god is finished come on somebody say amen they ain't shutting down nothing until god said i'm done and when god is done he's going to shut everything to hell they ain't shutting down nothing because god said oh you oh oh you found elisha no no i found you you surrounding his house i'm surrounding your house look at it from god's perspective come on somebody the problem with the servant of the man of god and i got some church members like that um praise god i humbly say i want to be the man of god his servant if i'm not lord make me your servant but the servant of the man of god said pastor what we're going to do we can't invite the crowd and anymore the choir backed out we don't have a marching band what are we going to do what shall we do about all the complacency and the lack of passion for souls what shall we do what are we going to do about the obsession with politics and conspiracies in the church what shall we do what about issues that are threatening our liberty of conscience i don't want to take the vaccine but somebody is trying to get me to do it what shall we do what shall we do about the theological arguments that are just plummeting our church with hurricane force winds what shall we do what shall we do i'm going to say to you today all of those that think the church is in danger you need to stop looking at the church and start looking at god one man named elijah was important enough to god for god to send some of his best angels god said i need me some bad angels sorry some good angels that are bad i need me some angels that are ready to break it out so god said go on but don't make any noise but don't turn your lights out because you need to find those and when you find other and i see you land i'm going to go ahead and give you the thumbs up so here they are sorry i'm a little tickled on the inside because i'm just think thankful about how god works here they are and the servant of the lord the servant of the man of god is just at his wit's end he may be the deacon he may have been uh just a guy that helps out elijah on a daily basis brings his lunch or whatever but he don't know what to do and he's looking at elisha and elijah ain't saying nothing i just said and what's your problem he's giving him that look and he said at last master what shall we can you not see the horses in chat this is a great army you couldn't even get light through the through the bridge of soldiers that surrounded that house and he could he could see his demise in their faces because they looked angry and they had to look like we got you now but i'm so glad the story didn't end in verse 15. look at verse 16. second king six verse 16. so he answered elijah finally said something what did he say what did he say he said do not fear for those who are with us are more than those who are with them now i want to pause before i go to the next verse because right now that servant ain't seeing nobody but the syrian army sometimes god waits when he reveals himself you know some of you folk that are praying in your bedroom and nothing's happening god's got some angels on the way some of you are warned about what's going to happen in your family your marriage your children your job your future the issues that are confronting you in this modern society god's sending you some angels and he's going to wait till the moment when you need him to raise the curd and say we were right here they're right here we cool but we were just waiting for when you needed us don't forget the text the angel of the lord encampeth around about those who fear him and deliver them god ain't god's never god don't ever say what do we do so verse 17 and elijah prayed when you are surrounded by people that can't see you ought to pray and this is the prayer you ought to pray and he said lord i pray what is the problem with some of us today open his eyes that he may see if you haven't been here if you haven't heard me say that from sabbath to sabbath you hadn't heard me say nothing else i've been saying father open the eyes of our members so they stopped looking on these websites and all this garbage this junk fighting with folk someone make a statement in a moment that's gonna blow your socks off when elijah prayed that prayer don't try to straighten out church members pray for them pray lord open their eyes now i want to make a point here sometimes god does not work because the person prays for it sometimes god works because you prayed for it did you hear what i said the servant didn't say open my eyes elijah said open his eyes see i'm praying that god will open some of your eyes because some of you ain't convinced yet that god is god all by himself then the lord opened his eyes and the young man don't ever miss why those words are there and the young man why did the bible say young man because he didn't have enough experience to know that god is always god young man the lord opened the eyes of the young man and he what saw and behold god said raise the curtain and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around elisha [Music] can you hear the crackling flames of divine aid i can't even make the sounds i don't need to can you see the gaze of the syrian army redirected they were first looking at elijah then all of a sudden they said uh do you see what i see and another one from another part of the army said no no look look it's everywhere it's all around us and they could see the fire radiating from these chariots and the angels are not consumed and they can see in the eyes of these divine deliverers flaming fire and a sword that has no hand connected to it just waiting for them to draw their sword and they probably said uh why didn't people tell us that he had those kinds of connections brethren we got connections but let me make the statement that i said is going to blow your socks off and here it is while people are arguing about covering their nose and their mouth satan is busy covering your eyes i don't want to cover my nose i don't want to cover my mouth that's your choice but while you're arguing about that satan is determined to cover your eyes that was the crux of the story open his eyes that's why the lord prayed this prayer for us in the last days the church laodicea revelation 3 18. come on danielle bring the praise team that's why the lord prayed this prayer that's why this is the message to this last day church revelation 3 and verse 18. anoint your eyes with what i self that you may see that you may see that we may what that we may see don't look for things that are physical look for things that are spiritual spiritual things are spiritually discerned people that are spiritual don't look for physical evidence we walk by faith not by sight we don't wait for the newspapers to put articles in in our favor we don't wait for men to say okay we're with you now we know that god is with us and man can't do anything to prevent what god is doing we know that god is moving in our behalf and nobody could prevent god from what god is about to do we know that god makes the final call i could only wish i was there when i get to heaven and say lord could i rent that dvd about the syrian situation i want to see what happened that day you ever see those stories in the bible you want to you want to rent that when you get to heaven could i see that because i heard the story this is and you said that's why we a thousand years adventists are going to be renting dvds for a thousand years can i see when you turn the water backwards so that people walk through dry ground didn't even get wet i want that one with the the the hebrews and the lions then i want to see that one i mean daniel in the lion's den give me the fiery furnace dvd how long is it it's two hours i'm gonna watch the whole thing i ain't falling asleep forget about that 20-second attention span when god gets your attention he could hold it as long as he needs to but look at this last quote selected messages book 3 page paragraph 3 the lord will do a great work in the earth satan makes a determined effort to divide and scatter his people he brings up side issues to divert from the important subjects he brings up side issues to divert minds from the important subjects which should engage our attention that's the devil brethren if you think that there any if you don't think that we're dealing with side issues then you ain't awake and everybody is right everybody wants to win the argument everybody's got their points they posted on this site and that site they have symposiums they put out thousands of dollars to prove their point and that money should be given to rate wind souls for jesus side issues diverted minds when i read that i couldn't help but look this up on the internet to try to find out and i was shocked by what i found and i i found that this statistic was starting to be recorded back once when phones became a popular item and they said the number one and number two reason for pedestrian deaths and driver accidents is distracted pedestrians and distracted drivers saw a video where a lady was walking and she walked right into a manhole while she was looking on her phone people walking into the streets and they're talking about death tolls going up pedestrians they're not committing suicide they're just distracted it's an increasing cause for pedestrian deaths and driver deaths don't text while you're driving the number one cause and the number two cause of deaths among pedestrians and drivers are they distracted but i couldn't help but ask the question and i ask you this question as i close could it be that christians are about to suffer the same fate because they are distracted that's why the last word from god is this isaiah 45 and verse 22 could you say it with me let's read it together look to me and be saved all you ends of the earth for i am god and there is what no other today brethren how many of you are going to ask god to refocus your attention to give you clean eyes to get ready to get on the battlefield to not worry about what the end of these plans are but to focus on god's plans god will focus on the enemy's plans they could surround you but they cannot supplant you they cannot root you out god will root them out all the plans that god lays will be accomplished but today i want us to sing the first and last standard of this song the first and last stanza of this song because it makes a difference we can't tell but we can see the signs and we must do all in our power as i invite the praise team to sing the song and i invite you to stand and then i'm going to pray at the end of this because we don't know what the enemy is doing but god does we don't know when jesus is coming but the evidences are clear we have a directive do our part and in the final showdown god wants us to show up god will do the work through us listen to this our heads about our eyes are closed gracious father in heaven i just praise you lord jesus for recording these accounts of your majesty of your sovereignty of your foresight and insight of the plans that you make that man cannot cancel of the movements in the hearts and the society of nations that have been held back have been delayed for the purpose of carrying the gospel forward i praise you today that the enemy never has the final say but lord i pray for something even more dire than all of that but i pray that our prayer would be open our eyes that we may see that we may see the movements that the enemy has thrown before us are side issues that even though they may be passionate and have relevance in our day-to-day life lord i pray that these issues will not divert us from the most important work of the hour guide your people give them wisdom and understanding from above may they embrace the message proclaim the message lift up the jesus of the message and someone in this area someone around the world will hear and know that in this trying hour this is the time for the people of god to rise we rise in the final showdown that jesus may be shown as the world is coming down sent us forth from this place unsatisfied with our part we have played and give us a passion to do more as our physical abilities allow tomorrow may we avail ourselves and seek out someone to share a card with a flyer with a attract something that when this event comes somebody would hear the seed that will leave them to know the christ and be prepared for eternity this we ask that you alone may be praised we take no glory to ourselves we give all the glory to you in jesus name and all of god's people said amen amen

Channel: Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church

Views: 31,861

Keywords:

Id: d7qZpyd_r6M

Length: 87min 20sec (5240 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 05 2021