20210918 | God's Prophetic Alarm Clock | James Rafferty

amen people need the lord and the lord needs us so it's a mutual experience god wants us he needs us he longs for us to be with him so good morning church it's good to be here this morning we are going to be studying in matthew chapter 24 this morning but before we get there we're going to be looking at our scripture reading the topic the title of our of our message this morning from god's word is god's prophetic alarm clock god's prophetic alarm clock and our scripture reading is found in romans 13 and verse 11. let's just read those words before we start romans chapter 13 verse 11 and that knowing the time that it is high time to rise or awake out of sleep for now is our salvation nearer than when we first believe you know sometimes you can read verses from the word of god and they don't really need much explanation you just read the verse and you're thinking that really makes sense i don't really feel the need to to explain or expound upon these words i just feel like we should well we should pray and we should get right into our study so let's pray again together as we open up god's word father in heaven i want to thank you again for the opportunity we have to be in your presence i want to thank you for your word that you vouched to us that you protected i want to thank you for the holy spirit that you promised to send to guide us to lead us to instruct us to convict us to comfort us and father we pray for a blessing now as we have gathered together here as we have read a verse that reminds us of the time in which we live and as we recognize our need of you individually and collectively be with us to this end we pray in jesus name amen it's interesting isn't it how waking up with an alarm clock is different for different people you know some people will wake up before the alarm goes off i always set an alarm and most of the time i wake up before it goes off my wife really appreciates that she doesn't like it if i don't wake up and i hit the snooze button you know some of us we hit the snooze button where snooze snooze snooze right wait until the very last minute and then some of us we don't even need an alarm clock aren't there some of us like that how many people you don't even need in a long way you just wake up you just wake up i'm working on that risi you know i think it's interesting here in the bible that this verse appears to be addressing the snooze snooze snooze people have you noticed that i'm supposed to look over to the right at this point in the sermon but i don't know the snooze snooze snooze people right it says that knowing the time okay knowing the time that snooze button hey do you know what the time is honey honey do you know what the time is okay that it's high time honey it's tight you put the snoo it's time to wake up it's time to wake up that's the second snooze hit honey it's nearer than when we first believed you only got a few minutes left if you're going to get to 3abn on time right our salvation i believe is nearer than when we first believe can you speak that word with me this morning it's nearer than when we first believed see that's god speak that's the word of god and we can go ahead and let the word of god and you know we let the news in right we let the media in well we need to let the word of god in because the word of god has to balance out and even obliterate all the stuff we're receiving from the word world the word of god has to come in and it has to tell us it has communicated us you know my coming my second coming my return my reunion with you my homecoming is nearer than when you first believed you know i've been a bible believing prophecy studying salvation sharing born again christian for 37 years now and at this point in time in my life i can agree with the apostle paul i can agree with this verse in romans i believe that our salvation as never before is nearer than when i first believed god god and his people are going to be rejoined together very very soon and so god's people need a wake-up call you know jesus explained this in the parable of matthew chapter 25. let's just open our bibles there we're in matthew 24 and 25 we're going to look at 25 first some interesting verses here that we want to read matthew chapter 25 and we're going to start in matthew 25 with verse 1. jesus christ uses an interesting word to start off this chapter it's the word then then so it implies what he's just been talking about we'll get to that in a minute then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom and verse two says five of them were wise and five of them were foolish verse three then they that were foolish they that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them that is extra oil with them verse four but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps so the wise had extra oil and then in verse 5 it says and while the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept what does that verse say how many of them summoned and slept does it say seven of them slumbered and slept eight nine what does the word of god say all of them slumbered and slept and at midnight there was a cry made behold the bridegroom comes go you out to meet him then all those virgins arose we'll stop right there all those virgins arose when they heard the cry you know jesus is telling us that this parable represents the church it represents his people and he says all of us are asleep not seven not eight not nine all of us are sleeping so my question this morning is if we're all sleeping who wakes us up it says there was a call made right there was a call made wake up behold the bridegroom comes so who wakes us up you know i think a lot of us are tired a lot of us are overwhelmed a lot of us asleep beca asleep because we are just you know how it is when you have a rough week when you have a rough month when you have a rough year it wears you out i think a lot of us are just tired because of the conflicts that we've been facing in in this nation in this world in our community we're tired we're worn out and it's difficult for us to be awake to be alert to be focused there's different ways that we sleep you know sometimes i take naps i'm not really asleep asleep i'm actually awake awake but i'm not actually in the moment too often we do that in it's church a long week it's been a busy week we've been pushing it to the very edge we come to church and we catch up and somehow people that sleep in church think it's my job to keep him awake oh pastor that was such a good sermon i usually sleep in church but that kept me awake no you're sleeping on god's time not my time you're sleeping on god's time his word communicating to us and the person that's putting you asleep is not your guardian angel right eric it's not your guardian angel the person that's putting you to sleep is the enemy of souls so when we're tired we've had a rough night when it's been a tough week when it's been a tough month a tough year anxiety can wear us out depression can wear us out it keeps us down it keeps us in bed not wanting to wake up not wanting to get up we don't want any more bad news because we feel wiped out already you ever feel that way you're just like done just done like you want to give up so what wakes up the church that's what we ask what wakes up the church we wake up because we hear a voice a voice that tells us that jesus is coming we wake up even though we're all slumbering and sleeping because that voice is crystal clear do you hear it it's almost time for the lord to come that's the voice it's not my voice it's not the voice of the church it's the voice of the word of god and it strikes the conscience it speaks to us individually conscience is the voice of god speaking amid all the hustle and bustle of the world so there's something outside the church that wakes up now we can get really practical with this because really we have a direct connection here between matthew 24 matthew 25 jesus says in matthew 25 verse 1 then then shall the kingdom of heaven be like unattended virgins so obviously there's a connection with matthew chapter 24 and matthew chapter 24 happens to be a full revelation of the signs of the times that we are to look for just before the return of jesus christ and so obviously i think if we think about this the thing that wakes us up the thing that is waking us up right now are the signs of the times in matthew 24. would you agree with that we are seeing these signs being fulfilled in an unprecedented manner you know i love matthew 24 it's one of my favorite chapters because i'm a revelation guy matthew 24 is just an addendum to the book of revelation along with luke 21 and mark 13. matthew 24 is where jesus in the gospel of matthew focuses on the same truths we find in revelation and it helps us matthew 24 helps us to understand revelation and one of the amazing things about the book of revelation is how it starts the revelation of jesus christ i love that because see we as sad venice we as people who are inundated with the media and with all of the other voices religious voices sometimes are inclined to think that the book of revelation is the revelation of the beast that the book of revelation is the revelation of the antichrist that the book of revelation is the revelation of all of the plagues and judgments and negative things that are coming on this earth and so god wanted to make it crystal clear right from the very beginning he said this is i'm going to put my stamp on it this is the revelation of jesus christ not just a revelation from him but a revelation of him all through the book of revelation you're going to find the lamb the lamb the lamb even in revelation chapter 13. shelly quinn will like this reference in verse 8 one of her favorites right even in the very midst of the final conflicts of the mark of the beast we have this picture of the lamb slain from the foundation of the earth and you know why we have that picture because that's our only hope jesus on the cross that's our only hope he has god has to put it in there when the whole world is submitting when the whole world is following when the whole world is receiving when the whole world is worshiping earthly powers that's what be saw right earthly powers you know we say well you know people are going to worship the beast well a beast is symbolic of an earthly power so once you get the definition in there let's just transition to the earthly power people get all confused they're looking for some terrible beast you know no no no this is an earthly power it's an earthly kingdom it's very clear it's very simple the world is going to be worshiping the powers of this world and god is calling us to worship the lamb who died on calvary's cross for each one of us well matthew chapter 24 does the same thing it starts with jesus it starts with jesus you know matthew chapter 23 jesus has just left the temple in verse 37 he says oh jerusalem jerusalem thou that kill us the prophets and stone us them that are sent unto thee how often i would have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings and you would not what is jesus talking about there this is the jewish nation they're the people of god they got the temple to prove it they got the structures they got the organization they're set up they've got the word of god they're god's people these are god's people and jesus says you don't have relationship with me you've got buildings you've got structure you've got ceremonies you've got truth but you don't have relationship you don't have relationship and i wanted you to come to me and i wanted you to connect with me i wanted to cover you with my wings with my feathers i wanted to have this this relationship where i protect you in all things and you wouldn't you wouldn't do it you were you were fine with just going to church just sitting in the pew nice comfortable seats you've got distance nowadays you know you feel safe you're not all crowded together you feel comfortable just paying your time you felt comfortable just saying i'm a seventh-day adventist i believe the truth you feel comfortable with all that but that relationship with jesus was missing and when that relationship with jesus is missing as you step into trial as you step into conflict as life comes at you christ isn't going to be seen that's what we saw in the religious leaders of christ's day they were hypocrites legalists persecuting christ persecuting his followers and then he leaves the temple he says behold your house is left unto you desolate verse 39 says for i say unto you you shall not see me henceforth till you shall say blessed is he that comes in the name of the lord what's that verse referring to that last verse second coming of jesus so we know right now we're on track right now as we move into matthew 24 we're talking about the second coming of jesus right that's the context as we move into matthew 24 because some people think oh matthew 24 it's just talking about the destruction of jerusalem no it's a parallel prophecy it's unique daniel doesn't do this revelation doesn't do this daniel revelation go all the way through they're cyclical prophecies they're repeating enlarge but they're cyclical they go they start at one point go all the way through the end start at one point matthew 24 doesn't do that matthew 24 begins with this bit about the destruction of jerusalem then it stops it ends and then we go back before we even finish the whole thing we go back and we talk about the signs of the second coming of jesus well guess what the destruction of jerusalem took place in 1870 so now we're on the second coming of jesus that's where we are right now so as we step into this jesus wants to talk to us about the second coming now he's just told his church his denomination that has the structure the temple he just told them you don't have connection with me and he leaves and he goes across to the mount of olives after he leaves the temples and it says in verse 1 of chapter 24 and jesus went out and departed from the temple and his disciples came to him for to show him all the buildings of the temple i think we're still there friends you know i think we're still there we're just we're looking at the temple we're looking at the buildings of the temple look at our institutions look at our churches look at our schools look at our hospital look at all this god must be with us is he with us because if he's with us there's connection if he's with us there's individual connection it's not the buildings that prove that jesus is with us right it's not the structures that prove that jesus is if he's with us there are people that are connecting with jesus and when god calls other people into these buildings into this structure they don't impress with the structure in the buildings and and all that we're do they're impressed with the people because these people are like jesus they're connected with jesus and so he says continuing on as the disciples appointed the buildings jesus says unto them see not all these things all this stuff verily i say unto you there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down now remember this already happened for the jews so now we're going back right all of this is for us did you know that did you know that the structures are coming down we can't trust in the buildings the early church had to meet in home churches the religious system of christ's day became so connected to and so entwined with the government the romans were invested in the temple when the jews gave up on it they tried to save it we got to remember this history because this is where we're heading the bottom line is we're occupying till jesus comes and it's great to have these structures here at 3abn it's great to have our churches here and all over the world but if we lose those we're still god's people if we lose those we still have jesus if everything we are and everything we have is identified with the structure we're in big trouble down the road and so god is saying jesus is saying to us right near you see all this stuff it's all going to fall not one stone is going to be left upon another that won't be thrown down and this shocks the disciples they're shocked they're literally shot because they they're they're just like but but wait a minute i mean to the jewish mind the temple was everything it was the indication of god's blessing and they're saying wait a minute wait a minute how can this be and so you know what they do now this is key because remember we've been talking about the revelation of who jesus not the revelation of the destruction of jerusalem not the revelation of destruction of our churches and our buildings and the loss of all the the outward things we're talking about the revelation of jesus so when you come to a crisis when you face something that seems overwhelming in your mind you just can't even comprehend it that's when you've got to do what the disciples did notice what the disciples did as they respond to christ it's in verse 3. this is the most important verse in the entire chapter of matthew chapter 24. and perhaps you've never known that perhaps you never realized that perhaps you just kind of skipped over it you know and you thought well you know we need to get those signs we need to understand what's coming no not not if you don't understand this verse you don't knowing all that stuff that's coming without knowing this it's going to overwhelm you now some of you are ahead of me i'm sure you are verse 3. let's go to it and as he sat upon the mount of olives the disciples came to him privately as he sat upon the mount of olives the disciples came to him privately are you coming to jesus privately when you face overwhelming odds when you feel like everything is going to fall the whole church structure is going to go are you coming to jesus privately that's what the disciples did i call this the jesus huddle the jesus huddle they come to jesus private they say when are these things going to happen one of these things are telling me tell me tell me tell us when are these things going to be and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world because to them the loss of the temple the loss of the church structure was the end of the world and so they came to jesus privately and they had this huddle if jesus were on the earth today and he was giving his sermons you know the the the many times when he spoke to the people he might say something like you know how he said the kingdom of god is like a man seeking for treasure the kingdom of god is like a merchant seeking for pearls and today he might say you know the kingdom of god is like a football team because he used the common illustrations of the day so that when people wasted their time watching football whoops they might remember they might think about spiritual things instead instead of getting all caught up and wasting their time watching 22 people chase pigskin i think it's really cool that all this stuff is happening in our sports because it's kind of turning us off you know and we need to take advantage of that i'm i'm a sports guy man i mean just i like football a lot but i don't watch it anymore just a waste of time need to be in the word of god so i want to encourage you out there if you're watching football you're into football perhaps god can use that to remind you of the truths of his word the disciples came to jesus privately you know when you get in a football huddle it's a private thing no those defensive they're not allowed in there right it's a private thing why is it a private thing because the quarterback the captain jesus is going to tell us the play right he's going to tell us the play which he's gotten from the coach the father right he's going to tell us the play and we don't want anyone else to know at least not right now not until we execute the play then we want everyone to know so we come to jesus privately so we can receive instruction from him so we can know what we need to do so that soon everyone can know what to do everyone can know what's happening right so we come to jesus privately we're holding together and he calls out the play now i'm kind of new to the football team i've transferred or i'm a rookie or whatever and i've been i've been looking at the playbook you know i've been i've been i've been going through the playbook right the word of god have been going through the playbook but i don't know as many verses as as terry here because i'm a bra i'm a newbie right right ian i'm a newbie i don't know all the bible studies in all the verses i don't know the playbook as well so when the when the quarterback calls out the play i say to him ah i don't know that one and so he spends a little bit more time in the huddle right to explain to the newbie how the play works why why is that important friends don't fake it don't pretend you know the playbook don't pretend you know the play because when you're on a football team if you're on the front line if you're a receiver if you're a running back and you're pretending to know the play it's going to mess up the whole team it's going to mess up the whole team you're not going to be blocking who you need the block you're not going to be running the route you need to run you're not going to be in the position that god wants you to be in we need to know the playbook the kingdom of heaven is like unto a football team that knows the playbook so when the quarterback calls the play we know where we need to stand we know the block we need to make we know the route we need to run we're there and there are times you know when the enemy's going to call blitz those are scary times right everyone's coming in they're all coming in there may be a time when we lose some yards there may be a time when we need to punt but hunting is not losing it's not over yet you know because because the people that are in charge of the punt are the special teams god brings in special teams the special promises you know that we need in those times when we feel like things are pretty bad so we start out matthew 24 just like we start out the book of revelation we start out matthew 24 focusing on christ huddling with christ connecting with christ because that's how we learn where we need to be the position we need to occupy there are a lot of people out there that are going to be affected by the next play there's a lot of people in the stands that are going to be impacted by the next play and god wants us in the right position in the right place at the right time according to the playbook right now we're in quarter number one of the football game and that picks up in matthew chapter 24 versus four and five says here and we could even say this might be a hockey team because this hockey game because there's three basic sections here not four quarters but three you see in matthew 24 jesus christ warns us first and foremost about being deceived that's the first thing he says read it with me here and jesus answered and said unto them take heed that no man deceive you for many shall come in my name saying i am christ and shall deceive a few what's that many i'm so glad you're awake this morning i'm so glad that you're not following everything i say but you're following what the word of god says because that's the first way that satan deceives us you know that satan came to christ and tempted him and christ said it is written satan said hmm i know what i'll do it is written what did christ say it is written again we need to be students of the word of god it's interesting here that word i am christ you know we think oh that's religious well no the word itself in the greek actually means well it comes from a root word which means to smear a rub with oil to consecrate to an office or religious service in other words there are people that are coming they're going to say you know what i have authority i have religious authority i have political authority i have medical authority this is the first deception we're in quarter number one there are three quarters there are three places where christ outlines deception there are three stages this is stage number one and i believe we're in stage number one right now explain that more as we get through this in fact we're only going to cover stage number one i know you're thinking at this point there's three stages and he's only in stage number one there's two more after that how long is he going to preach i feel that way too i don't want to stand up here for hours and hours so we're only going to cover the first stage the second stage and the third stage will cover at a later time god leading or maybe you can study it stage number one is where we are right now in our world we're in a stage where people are coming to us and they're saying i have authority i as it says here i'm consecrated to an office i have religious authority you need to do what i say i have political authority you need to do what i say i have medical authority you need to do what i say and in that context as we're in stage number one as we enter into stage number one jesus says and by the way stage number two begins in verse 11 and stage number three begins in verse 24 and each one of those stages begins with a warning not to be deceived and then explains what's going to happen don't be deceived here's what's going to happen don't be deceived here's what's going to happen so right now in stage number one jesus is about to explain to us what's going to happen why it is that it's possible for us to be deceived and how it is that we could be deceived he says here in verse 6 and you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars have you heard of wars and rumors of wars it's kind of scary when you think about it i mean luke 21 tells us uses the word terror don't be terrified terrorism wars and rumors of wars though are not the issue here there's always been wars and rumors of wars a lot of times when we look at the signs we think oh wars and rumors of wars you know and and famines and and earthquakes and natural disasters these these signs are all over the place surely the lord is coming soon but there's something significantly different that's happening today that has never happened before not only do we have wars and rumors of wars and famines and peasants and earthquakes and natural disasters and diverse places but we have a reaction to these things that is unprecedented it's not just that the events are happening the reaction to the events are happening in a way that we've never seen before go back to 9 11. we just celebrated 20 years since 9 11 right at the event of 9 11 the american people and much of the western world began to lose freedoms in an unprecedented manner that we've never regained in the context of these signs jesus is telling us something very significant i want to see if you can if you can catch it i want to read through the verses there's going to be wars and rumors of war see be not trouble for all these things must come to pass but the end is not yet for a nation shall rise against nation kingdom against kingdom and there will be famines and pestilence and earthquakes in diverse places by the way some of you who are not reading the king james or a new king james nothing against other versions of the bible i have as many as i can get but i also have a king james a new king james i want to tell you you need to have a king james if you're going to be a serious student of the bible you need to have a king james and new king james in your library you have to well why pastor james well because if you don't you're going to read this verse that just said there's going to be famines and pestilences and you're going to say pestilence that's not in my bible had a friend come to me i can't meet him we were doing recently and he said you know i was i was talking to my pastor about what's going on in the world you know pestilence you know that's a that's a disease that's what that word means and it's a disease i was telling him you know all this stuff that's happening you know with the coveted and everything that's a fulfillment of prophecy right here and the pastor said to me that's not in my bible that's not in my bible see that's what's that's what satan does he does he steals the place he steals the place and play if he knows the play we're going to run man boom he's going to stop us right in our tracks so he takes the place that's not in my bible pestilence disease is a major sign of the end of time now we haven't let's just we got to get to where we're going here and earthquakes and that is just a term that is used for all natural disasters you know we got fires we got floods we got hurricanes we just saw earthquakes all over the place in different places right now where we live i just checked the weather this morning our health indicator for air is at 156 here in thompsonville that's like 19. that's good 156 is unhealthy don't go out why because there's fires and there's smoke coming around and of course we lived in oregon just a couple years ago same thing washington same thing east coast blood wish we get some of that water and mix it with some of this fire over here you know what i mean get it all together but we're divided we've got fire over here and water over here we're divided and that's what satan wants to do he wants to come in he wants to divide he wants to divide this world he wants to divide this nation and he wants to divide this church i wish we had time to talk about that but we're going to stick to stage number one here it is and there shall be pestilences and earthquakes in different places all these are the beginning of sorrows sorrows you know what sorrows is some of your translations will say birth pains i know what those are like because i was with my wife both times that our children were born the second time our daughter was born greece woke up at two o'clock in the morning we lived in melo washington you you'll never find that on a map but it's up by the canadian border about 15 miles south it was january 23 1998 and there was a snowstorm you couldn't see the pavement it was covered reecey woke up at two o'clock in the morning her mom was with us to take care of our son because he was in the house and she took a warm bath to help you know the labor along and as she got out of that bathroom we got ready to go in this snowstorm an hour and a half from the hospital my mother-in-law said to us don't go she's going to deliver soon and we said ah first labor was 31 hours we've got time and we got in our car fortunately we had subaru all-wheel drive snow tires studded to get us to the hospital because by the time i got halfway there just over the pass my wife said pull over i'm going to have this child as i was hyperventilating seriously by the time we got to the hospital my hands were like this when i took them off the steering wheel i couldn't open them her pains increased with intensity and frequency the closer we got to the hospital our daughter was born five minutes before we got there at 4 25 after we got there that's a mistake a preacher doesn't want to make at 4 25 a.m that's what's taking place right here jesus said it's going to be an increase in intensity and an increase in frequency and it's not only going to be the signs themselves but our response to the signs our response to the signs is going to increase in intensity and frequency and then verse 9 follow with me then they shall deliver you up to be afflicted and you will be hated of all nations for my name's sake guess what we are here stage one we're here you know what the word afflicted means it means to pressure to pressure you felt the pressure i've got friends doctor friends medical friends members church they're calling me and they feel the pressure they're losing their jobs they feel the pressure it doesn't matter what side you stand on the pressure is wrong coercion is wrong the principle itself is from below it's a satanic principle and it is preparing this world for what we see in revelation chapter 13. and we're not we're not there yet this is not the mark of the beast please but it is a dress rehearsal that's what jesus is telling us you're going to feel pressure and that pressure is going to come from all nations not just one nation it's going to come from all nations hello you're going to be hated for all nations by all nations you feel the hatred you feel the cancer culture it's it's there we're there why are we going to feel this jesus says for my name's sake for my name said yeah god is love and love means freedom to choose you can't be forced to love god it's a choice and choice involves risk there's risks involved with choice which comes from love the bible says in 2 corinthians 3 17 where the spirit of the lord is there is liberty that's right liberty is an evidence that god's spirit is among us praise god we do not want to shut the door of this church to the holy spirit we want the holy spirit to be with us we want to respect one another romans 14 says you know when you're in the faith and there's differences differences it's a principle here he was talking about you know ceremonial law and the new converts having to or not having to be circumcised and all that kind of stuff that was the context of romans 14 but but the principle is when you're in the faith and there's differences you need to let every person be fully persuaded in their own minds because we're all going to stand before the judgment seat of christ conscientious conviction needs to be respected in this country and in this church that's what the bible teaches but jesus is teaching this coming a time when it's not going to be they're going to hate you they are literally going to hate you for my name's sake for standing up to freedom for standing up to liberty for standing up to conscientious conviction they are going to hate you and then shall many be offended and betray one another you know to betray someone means you're connected with them previously betray one another and hate one another this is where we are right now we're in stage number one there's three stages we won't look at the other two right now because our time is running short we live in a country that is christian one of my favorite writers calls this country protestant america protestant america that means it's a christian nation and some people today would say well it's not really a christian nation this was never a christian nation we were never supposed to be a christian nation wrong i don't think it's an issue of whether or not we're a christian nation i think it's an issue of understanding what a christian nation actually looks like because we have the history that tells us that a christian nation might look like europe in the dark ages but i'll tell you right now that was not christian america is a christian nation because christ honors freedom he honest choice america is a christian nation because you can live here if you're a christian or if you're not a christian you can be here if your religion is christianity or if your religion is islam or hinduism or buddhism or atheism or have gnostic or any ism you're free to live in america that's a christian nation that is the very bedrock of what this country is all about that's what christianity is that's what christianity does jesus christ lived this in his life he was a jew we could say let's just say that's a christian but he didn't just hang out with the jews he hung out with the samaritans and he hung out with the greeks and he hung out with the romans and he did favors to all of them the sea of phoenicians he went everywhere and he hung out with everyone he accepted all people he gave everyone freedom and to choose to accept or reject him and that's what this country is really all about because you see god has his people everywhere jesus said i have many sheep that are not of this fault jesus says there are people in babylon and i'm going to call them out romans 2 tells us that there are people that don't even know the law of god they don't know anything about god but their conscience becomes a law either excusing or condemning them in the things that they do so are we awake yet romans 13 tells us it's past time to get awake to be awake right romans 13 tells us it's past time to be awake that snooze button is no longer helpful yeah it might help us a little bit we're really wiped out 10 minutes might do it but romans 13 says and that knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep for now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed the night is verse 12 far spent the night is far spent not just spent it's far spent the day is at hand so what are we going to do i mean what's the practical thing for us to do well it says verse 12 let us therefore cast off the works of darkness number one and let us put on the armor of light off with the darkness on with the light and jesus makes this clear did you find the little phrase of instruction did you find the play from the quarterback from the coach did you find it there as we read through those verses in matthew 24 it's in verse 7. excuse me verse six you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars that's coming to us from the world right we hear all these wars and rumors of wars what does the next phrase say see you be not trouble that's our instructor that's the play that's the play from the quarterback that's the instruction don't be troubled are you troubled are you troubled about what's that word trouble means frightened to frighten are you frightened about what could happen to you your family about what's coming on this planet in our nation are you frightened of course you are of course we are all of us you know i think daniel had some butterflies in his stomach when they were putting him into the lion's den right i think the three young men they were a little bit a little bit nervous when when those when those you know strong men of babylon all died at the entrance to the furnace as they were being pushed in they looked back out and i think they we're a little nervous there's nothing wrong with me in fact jesus says don't be frightened because he knows we will be frightened right his instruction to us here is not something we're capable of accomplishing by ourselves that's why we're part of the team that's why we're following the playbook and at this point in the football game if we're down inside the 20-yard line and we just failed on fourth down we need to pull in the special teams and that could be kind of scary the game could be on the line and when the special teams come in and they kick that punt which gets fumbled on the other end and one of them picks it up and runs it into the end zone we're all good and that's what jesus is saying to us first john 4 18 is our special teams and what does first john 4 18 say it's a verse that we all need to memorize first john 4 18 god is love and there is no fear in love but perfect love casts out all fear because fear has torment he that fears is not made perfect in love that's the special teams that's the play that's what god plans to do we can't do it but he can do it he can cast out all the fear he's promised to cast out all the fear so so when it when he says here see that you be not troubled don't be frightened don't be afraid that is his play call for us to rely upon special teams first john 4 18 to go to the word of god to remember psalm 91 he that dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide is under the shadow of the almighty to heed the call to the huddle to get in can you imagine being so obstinate so stubborn so self-dependent that the whole offensive team is huddling there around the quarterback and you're standing over there in your position thinking you know what the play is because that's the way some of us are oh i know all the plays in the playbook as soon as i hear him call as soon as i see him line up i'll know what to do i don't need to be in the huddle no you need to be in the huddle we all need to be in the huddle we all need to privately come to jesus that's what it says we need to be waking up it's past time to wake up we have an enforcing important engagement with christ we can't afford to sleep in we need that time in the morning with jesus we need to connect with christ that snooze button is no longer helpful it's almost time for the lord to come i hear the people say do you hear the people saying that they're coming to 3abn they're coming to our churches they're coming and they're looking you can hear them they're saying this what's going on and god wants us to be awake it's time to get up so what are we going to wear well let's just close out with these verses in ephesians chapter 6. here it is this is the connection we make remember it's time for us to wake up and put on the armor of god that's romans chapter 13 verse 12 cast off darkness put on light what do we get what's the light we're going to put on right what's the light we're going to put on here it is closing verses verse 10 ephesians chapter 6. finally my brethren be strong in the lord and in the power of what's the next word his might put on the whole armor of god that you may be able to stand we need to take a stand the bible says against the wiles of the devil for we not wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and against powers and against the rulers of darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places this is not even about governments this is about the great controversy this is about freedom and liberty this is about the very principles the very foundation of god's government jesus died on calvary to preserve choice freedom liberty that's why he died wherefore verse 13 take unto you the whole armor of god that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand so we can stand in this evil day we may be tired may be hard for us to get up because we're so tired i've experienced that while i've been here i've been initiated into 3abn thank you greg and jill and by the way greg happy birthday we may be weary of the conflicts we may be sad about all that is beginning to happen in our country in our world our hearts may be torn within our very own families but we need to step it up my friends we need to step it up we need to know god's playbook we need to know jesus we need to get to know jesus we need to get in the huddle we need to press on the way to the end zone to the blessed hope and today i want to make a personal call for all of you who need special teams prayer this morning special teams prayer there may be some people here who are prayer warriors just one or two people that's all i need because after we're done with our closing hymn and our closing prayer i'm going to invite you anyone here just to come down just to come down so that we can pray for you if you feel the need for prayer if you feel needed for a little help and waking up a little help in pressing on i want to encourage you to come down here and i'm going to pray for you and maybe there's a couple other people who would like to pray for you too and uriah smith and then of course us let's pray together father in heaven thank you so much for being our quarterback for being our coach for sending us jesus for giving us a playbook for giving us special teams for encouraging our hearts when we're weary when our lives in our country and our families are torn for pointing us to the blessed hope that we have in jesus christ for giving us that courage that little bit of energy that we need right now to get out of bed to shake off the lethargy to get off the ship to tarshish [Music] to put on the armor of light [Music] and to share the gospel of our salvation father bless this church bless the ministry of 3abn bless all the efforts all the work that has been done that is being done and it will be done and be with each heart here this morning father if there's anyone that needs a little bit of prayer a little bit of encouragement may they come forward right now as we pray together and we ask it in jesus name amen

Channel: Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church

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Id: 2xhfQBCe5Ug

Length: 53min 50sec (3230 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 18 2021