If People Only Knew What Was Coming (What Should You Do?)

[Music] hello friends welcome to 3abn worship hour i'd like to extend a greeting to you from our family to yours and we like to pray and ask for the lord to guide our minds for this very urgent and important message entitled the coming world blackout every time the lord gives me an opportunity to share from his word i always need to know that what i'm doing is in harmony with god's will and i don't want to make any attempt on my own effort to give glory that only god is worthy of receiving or to receive glory that only god is worthy to receive but i also want to pray that god will send his holy spirit that your mind and his word will find a meeting place and our lives will be empowered by the work he does so let's pray gracious father in heaven thank you lord that we can open our word which is in fact your word we can open our bibles but even more than opening the bibles we pray that you'll open our hearts open our minds speak to us in a way that you know each one of us is capable of understanding and capable of receiving take this message and find i pray that heart that mind that life that not only needs to hear what is proclaimed but also needs to be empowered to live in harmony with what is proclaimed and so lord i give you my hearts and hand and mind use it father for your glory alone in jesus name i pray amen the coming world blackout a number of years ago my wife and i lived in fairfield california it was august 10th 1996. we had just arrived home from church after preaching at my local church not too far away from where we lived and as was the case every day or every sabbath we pressed our garage door opener expecting the garage door to go up but it didn't budge well in my mind i thought well i didn't press it correctly so i pressed it again and the garage door didn't budge and i thought well maybe the batteries died so i took the battery out put it back in shook it up you know we do things to try to somehow find power where there is none and the garage door would not budge and then i i i i found tried to find alternative ways to get into the house but then i realized that we had shut the doors and windows tightly i'm a native of new york city and i know that it's a habit of mine that even still today i practice i make sure my car doors are locked my keys are in a safe location i make sure my windows are shut when i go away and the doors are fastened tightly and so in essence we locked ourselves outside of the house but then i noticed something i noticed that people in the community were coming outside of their homes looking bewildered and i could not help but asking them what had happened and i heard people talking amongst themselves they're saying the power went off everything in our house has stopped working it was daytime the impact was not immediate but then as i listened i found out that there was a blackout in our neighborhood i turned on the car radio to find out more about it and i found out that the blackout was not localized just to our neighborhood but the blackout had affected northern california and as i continued listening it it bewildered me it shocked me because the commentator said it's not just northern california but the entire west coast including western canada and as i listened i found out what the cause was i was told that a power grid had failed because of the intense heat of the summer they said that the power grid had been overburdened and they did not know when the power would come back on i thought to myself if i had only known the blackout was coming i would have made decisions i would have made provision to do something differently friends we spent the greater part of the afternoon in our vehicle waiting for the power to come back on when i think about that i think about what the word of god says if the people of the world only knew that there would be a coming world blackout to define that even more the day is coming when everything that we rely on will no longer be available the banking systems all electronics all means of communication everything material will lose its impact on our lives all the things that we have leaned on and learned to trust in and rely on will no longer have any effect at all and everything in the world not only economically and socially and electronically and all forms of communication but there's going to be something that's even darker than the material impact of this coming world blackout and isaiah the prophet describes this coming day isaiah the prophet gives a stark vivid description to the coming world blackout listen to his words in isaiah chapter 60 verses 1 to 3. the bible says arise shine for your light has come and the glory of the lord has risen upon you for behold the darkness shall cover the earth and deep darkness the people but the lord will arise over you and his glory will be seen upon you and look at the impact the gentiles shall come to your light and the kings to the brightness of your rising what an amazing day the bible is describing a day of darkness a day that's not going to just cover the people it says darkness will cover the inhabitants and gross or dense darkness the people when you think about why isaiah the prophet wrote this he's emphasizing that this approaching hour is one of unavoidable darkness and when you study this the bible is in essence saying only those that have prepared for this hour will shine when this dark moment arrives you see the world has arrived at a time of unpredictable apprehension a lot of people today are concerned about what's going to happen in the future they have no idea what's coming down the pipe we are confronted by something called an indiscriminate contagion we're coming out of covet we're coming to normalcy but on the horizon there is still this apprehension and the question is being asked what's next and we're hearing about this delta variant and people are saying i hope it is not as bad as what just passed by until they hear on the news it could be more deadly more intense more effective more infective and people are wondering to themselves not again but that's not the only thing we live in a world that's racked by calamity and disease and when you look at the bible and you begin to see how this worked in the old testament using job as an example we begin to see that calamity and disease are satan's tools to prepare the world for its ends and there is an irreversible fearful anxiety hovering over humanity but let's add to the picture let's add to the picture that god sees let's go to the west coast unquenchable fires that are consuming life's accomplishments in seconds people that thought that let me move out of the city and find a nice comfortable safe place in the country only to realize that we are living in a season of drought where lake levels are lower than they've ever been before in some states where water is beginning to be rationed and and they can't even use that to to to water their lawns something's happening in the world that's letting us know that there's an unexplainable fearful sign just on the horizon and when you put those categories together medically socially economically and religiously the citizens of our world are paused in a solemn awe about the future that's coming to this world men just really don't know and the bottom line is men are not reading the word of god thinking men are not able to think beyond what they see but god's word gives evidence as to what is coming and what our responsibilities are one of my favorite authors writes this quant quotation about what's coming down the road we read in the book testimonies for the church volume 9 and page 43 these words we are on the very verge of the time of trouble and perplexities that are scarcely dreamed of are before us think about that scarcely dreamed of stretch your imagination reach back into the experience of some of the things you've seen on television and maybe some of the things you've seen in movies and we are told that the perplexities that are scarcely dreamed of are before us well let me make it very clear this is not an attempt to frighten you into accepting christ but this is an attempt to awaken us to the hour that's coming to the things that are unavoidable to realize that in this hour where evil is fueled with a demonic intensity god is saying what is coming has never existed before and he's trying to awaken his people he's trying to say to us this is the hour to get ready if ever there was a time that the people of god should be awake this is the hour and when you study god's word you begin to see that evil angels and evil men are uniting in a coalition against righteousness and revelation makes it very clear that the final contest between light and darkness good and evil christ and satan in this final battle there will be no middle ground and if you've known that if you understand that it makes sense to make our decision now as to where we're going to stand when that hour comes because revelation expands the picture and adds another brush stroke to what isaiah the prophet has already said look at revelation chapter 12 and verse 12. we are told in this book of apocalyptic understanding therefore rejoice o heavens and you who dwell in them but look at the next phrase woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea for the devil has come down to you having great wrath because he knows that he has a short time satan is working with demonic intensity his coalition is building religiously his coalition is building immorally his coalition is being built men of greed and hatred as second timothy describes this crumbling society men that have a form of godliness religion that has run off the tracks and has gone away from righteousness to just entertainment what a world we're looking at and what a picture the bible is describing and why is this happening because the devil has come down with great wrath knowing that he has but a short time well the fact is time is short but the question is what preparation are you making for this trying hour ahead of you how should you respond to the knowledge that we're living in the time of the end what should we do and what difference should there be between us and the world knowing that god is saying it is not even sensible for the people of god to hear this and remain unmoved by it to remain complacent to do nothing to prepare for what's coming well the prophet joel not only describes this coming calamity but he does something else which i praise god for he instructs the servants of god concerning their responsibility look at joel chapter 2 verses 1 and 2. notice what he says in this descending hour of darkness he says blow the trumpet in zion in other words wake up the church and sound an alarm in my holy mountain in other words call the people to urgency but he expands it let all the inhabitants of the land tremble and look at his description for the day of the lord is coming for it is at hand look at his description a day of darkness and gloominess a day of clouds and thick darkness like the morning clouds spread over the mountains a people come great and strong the like of whom has never been nor will there ever be any such after them even for many successive generations joel the prophet isaiah the prophet john the revelator are saying brethren this is coming god is giving us instruction i like to follow instructions as a matter of fact sometimes i think i have it put all together i think i have my mind already calibrated to what's coming but then when i read the word of god it's like it's like addressing or listening carefully to directions given by our gps because sometimes we drive and our feelings may say go left or go right but when the gps points us we begin to say wait a minute what i thought was happening is not in fact what's really happening you see joel the prophet is saying this is the hour that god is saying to his people it is time to turn up the volume it is time to turn up the light it is time to ignite the gospel candle and that's why we are committed to the proclamation of the first second and third angel's message it is a message of urgent appeal now when you think about it in an hour of darkness what do you need you need light the word of god is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths and as a pastor i've often said to my church members are you studying your bible how much time are you spending in your bible and i'm saying the same to you is your bible close enough so that when descending darkness comes you will be ready because the word of god has been hidden in your heart it has it has informed and ignited your life and your life will be the one that's shining when this darkness comes because isaiah the prophet said if your light is shining in this hour of descending darkness people are going to see it the gentiles shall come to your light and the kings to the brightness of your rising meaning god intends to turn up the light in the life of his people he's calling us to an intensity a reach an emphasis that the everlasting gospel in this hour of approaching darkness the everlasting gospel says that there is still hope even though the horizon has a foreboding of darkness and gloominess and that's why in this age of dissenting darkness zechariah the prophet tells us what we need to be doing not only the proclamation of the gospel but notice what he says when we proclaim the gospel god is going to turn the gospel up to another level look at zachariah chapter 10 and verse 1. he's saying to us ask the lord for rain in the time of the latter rain the lord will make flashing clouds he will give them showers of blessing grass in the field for everyone notice what zechariah is saying he says ask are you asking are you praying are you saying lord i need the latter rain in my life or are you comfortable with just a remedial humdrum nominal christian life are you comfortable just going to church sitting for a sermon and going back home and falling into complacency or is there an urgency in your household are you leading your family before the altar of god daily in prayer and bible studies are you putting down the devices and picking up the all-powerful word of god it is by the study of the word of god that two things happen one we become informed about what's coming and secondly god begins to ignite us by putting his word in our lives and let me tell you something when the word of god enters your life it begins to affect your life it begins to guide your thinking it begins to become your guiding light thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light into my path it lets us know that what is before us is either good or evil but you'll never know that unless god's word is a part of your daily study but not only that not only will the message be empowered but the people of god will be empowered and i can tell you today the church needs to be empowered because when you look at modern christianity with all the trials and difficulties god is saying he does not want his church to end less glorious than it began and there are many people that are comfortable with the phrase christianity or being church members but their lives are not growing their experience is not flourishing and god is saying he wants to empower the church because we do not have self-possessed vitality there's nothing in us that can ignite us because because paul says i know that in my flesh nothing good dwells but god wants to galvanize the latter-day church as he galvanized the early church but he's saying to us that there's only one power that can make the difference look at zechariah chapter four and verse six zechariah chapter four and verse six he tells us about that power so he answered and said to me speaking of the lampstands and the oil he said this is the word of the lord to zerubbabel what is the word not by might nor by power but by my spirit says the lord of hosts notice not by might that's programs and ideas and outreaches and things that are happening in our church it's good to have programs that's that's a sign of an act of church but when the church is growing when the membership is flourishing when the person's life is being ignited by the work that god is doing inside of him or inside of her something else happens it goes from just programs to conversion it goes just from great ideas to the church becoming empowered unified strengthened all the walls of division go down and the walls of the unity hold the church together but the life that the church needs is a prelude to the life that the lord knows we can have but we have to understand where this power comes from you see the prelude to a life of power is a life of prayer i'm going to say that again if you want your life to be a life of power it has to begin as a life of prayer simply meaning before the church can stand on its knees the church has to learn how to bow before the church can stand on his feet the church has to learn how to bow on its knees look at acts chapter 1 verse 12 the 14 the outpouring of the holy spirit is a response and not a prelude what is it what is it a response to let acts answer the question acts 1 verse 12 to 14 speaking about what god did on that day of pentecost the bible says then they returned to jerusalem from the mount called olivet which is near jerusalem a sabbath day's journey and when they had entered they went up into the upper room where they were staying look at those who were there peter james john and andrew philip and thomas bartholomew and matthew james the son of alpheus and simon the zealot and judas the son of james but look at what it says in verse 14 about this illustrious crowd these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and mary the mother of jesus and with his brothers what's happening in the upper room what took place in the upper room let me make a very important point before it took place in the church before it took place in jerusalem before it went from jerusalem to judea to samaria to the outermost parts of the earth it began in the upper room now when you look at that list of names i know that peter was different from james and james was different from john and john was surely different from doubting thomas and philip the evangelist was surely different from bethalami and matthew they had all their differences but the bible says when they got together and prayed it says these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication you mean to tell me that when they got together and prayed walls came down that's what the bible is saying when they got together not only the men but also the women that came from galilee that followed christ and mary the mother of jesus and with his brothers god created a unity god brought down the walls that they had before because when you study the disciples lives you begin to see they had a lot of contention peter was the one that spoke quickly and thought last his mouth was in fifth gear his mind was in first james and john was contending for seats in heaven as their mother requested sit one of my sons on the right hand and the other on the left but when they got together and prayed they became less of the focus and the work of the kingdom became the most important focus of their lives it empowered them because god was about to do something on the day of pentecost and he needed the disciples now the apostles to lay aside their differences and get ready for the outpouring of the early rain now let's look at the comparison the early rain what the lord did to prepare the church for the early reign is what god wants to do to prepare the church for the latter rain now this is very important this is vitally important because a lot of people are content you know we excuse the behavior of some of our church members we say well that's that's how that's how she is that's how he is he's always tempestuous he's always angry he's always in controversy with somebody brethren we can't expect to be in controversy and angry and divided amongst ourselves and expect the holy spirit to be poured out on a divided church that's why they got together and prayed what does prayer do prayer humbles us it doesn't change god's mind you see god wants us to pray so that he can reveal to us the weak walls in our lives the weak places of our character the things that we think that we should not be thinking god wants his church to be empowered because an empowered church is evidence to the world that christianity is alive and it's real but if the world sees a divided church what appeal could a divided church be to a divided world if the world sees a church that's that have members that are at odds with each other what appeal could a church at odds have for a world that is at odds if the world sees a church that is bound in sin what appeal is a church that's bound in sin to a world that's bound in sin god wants the church to be different god wants to bring the church back to life and that's exactly what god assures us he can do god can take a church that's dead and bring it back to life and then fill that church with the power that it needs to accomplish an urgent work in these last days look at ezekiel chapter 37 verses 5 and 6. notice what god promises to do to the church that needs vitality thus says the lord god to these bones ezekiel was standing in front of a valley of dry bones and look at the word that the lord says surely i will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live i will put sinew on you and bring flesh upon you cover you with skin and put breath in you and you shall live then you shall know that i am the lord you see ezekiel is painting a picture of a people empowered by a vitality that is beyond their natural abilities ezekiel is saying that we cannot possibly buy our own strength by our own intellect by our own understanding possibly accomplish a work that only divinity can accomplish now why is that the case because we don't wrestle against flesh and blood we're living in a very real world a thirsty world and men are running to and fro looking for something to satisfy their tur their thirst their hunger but they're looking in places that will never satisfy their needs but what would happen if men of the world and women of the world and leaders of the world begin to see something happen to the church as they saw it happen on the day of pentecost what would happen if they see people that are like peter in character that gets converted and the lord says when you are converted strength in the brethren what would happen if they see people like thomas who used to doubt that doubt the lord no longer what would happen if they see people like philip that are content in the position he's in all of a sudden becomes an effective and empowered evangelist what would happen if they see a man like a tax collector finds conversion at the feet of jesus and goes out and begins to be active in empowering the church to accomplish a divine mission you know what happened to these men that we read about what happened in their lives caused the world to be turned upside down in just 34 years and get this it wasn't that many began with 12 and the numbers expanded but on that first day when god poured out his spirit 3 000 conversions happened in a day what am i saying i'm saying that if the church is just content with sermons and music and all the religious activities without praying for this earnest infilling of the power of god it will never understand what god really wants to do he wants to empower the church but listen to this quotation it opens our minds as to what god is showing us that he wants to do in our lives it comes from a book that i value very highly it's a book about evangelism and it comes from page 699 in paragraph five listen to what it said as the time comes for it that is the message of the third angel to be given with greatest power the lord will work through humble instruments what kind of instruments humble instruments leading the minds of those who consecrate themselves to his service now watch this the laborers will be qualified rather by the unction of a spirit than by the training of literary institutions men of faith and prayer will be constrained to go forth with holy zeal declaring the words which god gives them notice what's going to happen they're not going to allow society to say you can preach this but you can't preach that and we're living in a day and age where so many laws have been passed to to to authorize and and approve things that are not approval approvable in god's sight and men are today becoming fearful of preaching what god has given to them but god is saying that he is looking for men like joshua and caleb at a time when people are looking and thinking that things are impossible god is looking for men like caleb that says we are able to overcome it caleb was a man that existed during the time of the journey of the israelites and just before they crossed over into the promised land god gave the leaders of the different tribes in israel a glimpse of the promised land but they saw obstacles they saw the giants they saw the people that were great and strong they saw people that were far greater in number than they were and instead of saying that god can give us victory over these obstacles they said we are just grasshoppers what are we going to do with the obstacles before us well friends what's the problem the problem was their focus they saw the obstacles and the obstacles to them became bigger than the god that sent them on this mission he gave them a glimpse of what he was going to bless them with but they focused on the obstacles and i would suggest today that a lot of what's happening to us a lot of what is happening to the church today is where they are focused if you focus on the problems more than the problem solver you will feel the very same way the world makes us look like grasshoppers it makes us look like we cannot do anything to impact it but if you remember what god did on the day of pentecost when he turned these ordinary men and women into vessels of light he turned the world upside down and the word of god continued to progress and caused division and concern in the kingdom of darkness but what did god do he turned up the light look at acts chapter 1 and verse 8 he turned up the light and he's saying the same thing for us what does god want to do for us he says but you shall receive power when the holy spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in jerusalem and all judea and samaria and to the end of the earth god is saying wait a minute you want to be a witness let me make a suggestion i firmly believe that one of the reasons why people are uncomfortable about witnessing is because they think that witnessing happens only as i finished the course on how i i could witness you know what course of witnessing the disciples had they prayed for the holy spirit's infilling the lord trained them as he walked with them as they walked with him but they went from head knowledge to life activity when they prayed for the infilling of the spirit of god but notice the word of god said but you shall receive power when the holy spirit has come upon you is there power in your life what do you feel as a church member and i use the word field because many of us go by feeling i don't feel like going to church today i'm tired i don't feel like going out and giving out tracts in the community i don't think people want to hear about that these disciples these apostles went out and in spite of all the obstacles they turned jerusalem judea samaria antioch and the surrounding cities philippi they turned the world upside down and kings tried to stop them governors tried to stop them the pharisees and scribes tried to stop them the officials in the cities tried to stop them but they could not and the word of god grew and multiplied why because they changed their focus they were no longer focused on the cities they will focus on the christ they were long they were no longer focused on the authority of man but they were standing on the authority of god and i can tell you i can look back in my own life and realize that the transitioning point from who i was to who i am continually becoming is when i pray and ask for the spirit of god to be in my life for the spirit of god to guide my life and i've seen lives turned upside down i've seen people ignited by the power of god when they say lord i'm at a standstill in my walk with you i want something different i want to ask for the power that i need i don't want my christian walk to end humdrum i need that infilling power we are told that the church is not going to end on a wet noodle note the church is not going to fizzle out it's going to be more glorious than it was on the day of pentecost i go back to an article written in 1914 and when christians were concerned about this i was i was thanking god for this signs of the times article it was written february 17th 1914 and notice the encouraging words given to the christians of that era christians ask in faith for the promised blessing and it will come the outpouring of the spirit in the days of the apostles was the former reign and glorious was the result but the latter rain will be more abundant the latter rain will be more abundant what do you mean more abundant it's going to be more powerful it's going to be more glorious it's going to be far greater than it was in the localized area of jerusalem it's not just going to be jerusalem it's going to be new york it's going to be detroit it's going to be miami california all the major cities it's going to be from the east coast to the west coast it's going to be in canada and in europe and in asia and in africa and the caribbean god this time is not going to light up just a local part of the world he is going to light up the world all together but something has to happen which satan is working tenaciously to try to prevent from happening in the christian church what is that secret look at acts chapter 2 and verse 1. you see this is a powerful passage the bible says when the day of pentecost had fully come they were all with one accord in one place now watch this god ignited the church at its inauguration god also want to ignite the church as is preparing for its coronation god ignited the church when it was small god wants to reignite the church as it becomes a mighty army in all parts of the globe but what happened and this is where there's a caution i need to add right here right now the devil knows that when we argue when we argue over doctrinal differences when he brings in thoughts and ideologies that cause us to question things that god's word has confirmed through the decades and through the centuries when we know what god's word says and someone comes to uproot that and supplant that with theories and ideologies that are not supported by god's word what is satan trying to do he's trying to break that one accord that god is intending for the church to have he wants to bring in division he wants to weaken the church because he knows that if we could begin to argue over whether or not the holy spirit is the third person of the godhead the church is going to get weak he knows that if we begin to reinterpret prophecies in daniel in revelation and begin to add what we call contemporary applications and say well that no longer applies which is happening on a large scale he knows the church becomes divided and a divided church cannot be a united church and a united church is the only condition that god is looking for to pour out his holy spirit but look what happened the bible makes it clear in acts chapter 2 and verse 41 what happened the first impact record is recorded there for us to understand the bible says in acts 2 and verse 41 then those who gladly received the word were baptized and that day about 3 000 souls were added to them now don't look at the souls being added to them part first of all first of all look at what they did those who gladly received the word don't look at the baptism yet those who gladly receive the word what's your attitude toward the word of god are you gladly receiving the word of god or is the word of god a stumbling block to you i remember meeting with a family my wife and i called them the three ladies they came to our church and they came from a different denomination and they responded to our church by a revelation seminar that we were giving and they came one came then the other came then the other came and they began to hear things that were out of harmony with what they had believed but what they did which is what god instructs us to do is to check out what is being proclaimed by god's word so they did that and they took it back home well that one lady became two ladies and then the third one followed and when the series was over we were able to baptize seven family members husbands and wife husband and wife of both women sons sons sons god created an amazing harvest why did he do that and how did he do that because they received the word of god they gladly received the word of god in these last days the world is distracting us so much that people are not glad to receive the word of god but god has given us the ability god has given us various tools god is saying maybe they're not able to read the bible or maybe they're not ready to read the physical bible and this is where god is saying to us be creative don't use facebook for propaganda post scriptures on facebook use your instagram to put things there that will activate the minds of those looking at your page don't tweet don't tweet divisive statements tweet the word of god connect sabbath school lessons to that connect websites that will teach somebody the word of god and begin to ignite in their lives so that as they begin to grow they can gladly receive the word of god and then what happened the bible says in acts 2 and verse 44 now all who believed were together and had all things in common so notice the first thing i pointed out is that before we can stand on our feet we have to bow on our knees and when the unity of christ is being developed unity in christ precedes the outpouring of the holy spirit and that's why the holy spirit is needed but unity the thing that we must pray for and work towards is unity my wife and i have discovered this beautiful passage and even after many years of marriage we disagree on certain things but if i disagree and she disagrees we say let's go to god in prayer let's put down the walls between us and ask for the lord to give us a unity not based on our likes and dislikes but based on the instruction of god's word pastors and leaders god is saying the same thing to you when the church is confronted with division bring them to the place of prayer pray for them to have a receptive heart work with them to bring down the walls of division and guide them to the place where they can be unified together because god can take pentecostals and presbyterians and methodists and catholics and anglicans and lutherans and every other ism and unify them together how when the word of god becomes the focus of their minds why do you think the devil will try to keep you away from god's word because he knows if they believe the word of god they can have all things in common and they can believe and be together unity in christ is a precursor to the corporate outpouring of the holy spirit listen to this quotation comes from another favorite book of mine called testimonies volume 7 page 236 listen to this it is god's purpose that men entrusted with responsibility should counsel and pray together in christian unity and here's the reason why in christian in unity there is a life a power that can be obtained in no other way there will be a vast power in the church when the energies of the members are united under the control of the spirit and look at the promise then will god be able to work mightily through his people for the conversion of sinners wow it's amazing when we are united god takes over and began to work begin to work for the conversion of those who are not yet converted for the strengthening of those who are weak for the opening of eyes who for those who are in darkness for the guidance of those who have no compass at all to give them wisdom as to where to go next and that's why the devil fights as difficultly as he does he wants us to be bound in this coming world blackout he wants us to lose power by having no access to the very things that could empower our lives and i've said it a number of times and i'll say it again this is the hour that the only reliable light on the planet is the unalterable the reliable the never ending never never-changing word of god and when you look at the new testament church you find something you see when the word of god got into their lives violent opposition rose up against them but something happened when the violent opposition rose up against them the church still grew exponentially because here's the point when men stand against you and god stands with you nothing that man can do can prevent the blessings of god from coming down what kind of blessings did the new testament church experience that god wants us to experience look at acts chapter four and verse four look at acts chapter four and verse 4. the bible says however many of those who heard the word believed and the number of the men came to about 5 000. but look at the key again i don't want you to miss this the number of those who heard the word believed you see that word it's one thing to hear the word it's something altogether different to believe the word when we hear the word it's one thing it goes into our auditory nerves it it begins to inform us but when we believe it it begins to transform us i'm going to say that again when we hear the word of god it informs us but when we believe the word of god it transforms us you ever wonder why your weak is so busy you ever wonder why the children always make noise when you pick up your bible you ever wonder why the phone rings when you say let's take some time and study together all these are satan's distractions and that's why i've said to my wife and we have practiced this in our home if you're studying your bible in the phone rings let the answering machine get it let let it go to your voicemail don't be controlled by the things around us you must be more determined than ever to allow god's word to permeate your life and if the devil knows that you're sitting before a meal that's going to empower your life he's going to do everything in his power to distract you from that but what about those of you that are living in an environment where you are surrounded by conflict in your home conflict maybe from your husband or your wife family member family members turning against you what do you do in those situations you begin to trust god what do you do when people that that you trusted turn their backs on you you continue trusting god because there will be persecution there will be difficulty but at no point will god allow you to go through what you cannot handle by his grace and so when the persecution comes when the difficulty arises god will still be your strength and god will still be your defense what happened god added to the church look at acts chapter 5 and verse 14 and fierce resistance the church continued to grow and so don't expect the resistance to go down but in the presence of fierce resistance god is going to still bless his people notice acts 5 and verse 14 and believers were increasingly added to the lord multitudes of both men and women multitudes of both men and women we were visiting the country of new guinea wasn't too long ago and my wife and i were there and i was having a series of meetings and a young lady approached us and said to me she said you know i want to give my life to the lord last year but my parents told me i'm not old enough yet to make that decision and i want to give my life to the lord again and i said young lady how old are you and she said i'm 22. i said you're old enough to make your own personal decision about your life for the future and so with tears in her eyes she said pastor john sister angela can you pray with me that i won't be fearful of my parents because when they hear that i'm going to be baptized when they hear that i am baptized they're going to get angry with me they've already threatened me because she came from a home with a different background i won't mention the religion she said they're upset with me they don't want me to join this church they don't want me to be baptized i said young lady give your life to christ it's your decision about where you're going and so as they were having the baptisms and one school student after another was being baptized and she stepped into the baptistry and the pastor said i know your family is rejoicing over the decision you're making right now to be baptized and she turned and looked at my wife and i with tears running down her eyes because we knew that her family didn't even know we knew that her family was not rejoicing about her decision but when she came out of that baptistery she said thank you for giving me the courage thank you for giving me the courage and the strength to make a decision about my future because if anything happens she said to us if anything happens to me i want to know that i've made the decision for eternity and so the question is what obstacle is standing before you what is satan threatening you with preventing you from giving your life to christ because i say it again the coming world blackout is not far away everything that humanity has relied on will one day be gone and if we don't make decisions for eternity then we cannot stand when that time comes but this is the hour that multitudes are still being added because god wants to empower his church you see the day of pentecost took place only in jerusalem but when the day of pentecost comes this time it's going to take place around the world just imagine when god pours out his spirit on the day of pentecost it's going to be in every corner of the globe can you imagine the outpouring of the holy spirit on every continent denominational walls will crumble seekers of truth will be liberated tradition will be surrendered to a plane thus saith the lord that is the power of the holy spirit things that people held on to dissatisfying rituals will be abandoned for the reliable word of god the light of hope will be rekindled in the lives of those who have been down-hearted and repetitious dogma will be traded for a life surrendered to the power of christ let me pause the question let me pose a question and answer the question why does god want his church to be empowered in the way that he wants them to be ignited in these last days why does god want to turn the light on in the seventh-day adventist church why does god want to empower those who have the three angels messages in these last days here's the reason look at john chapter 10 and verse 16. here is the reason the bible says in john 10 and verse 16 and other sheep i have which are not of this fold them also i must bring and they will hear my voice and there will be one flock and one shepherd what is the lord saying to us it is in this hour of challenging circumstances that god is saying wait a minute i'm not content to have my people just strewn in all these various corners of the world i want to gather my people back into my fold i want to bring them to the place where truth abides i want to bring them to the place where the commandments of god are sure i want to bring them to the place where the sabbath is established i want to bring them to the place where tradition is not more powerful than truth that's why the lord says in john chapter 4 and verse 23 these following words notice what he says and this is an amazing thing because it's all about time he says but the hour is coming and now is when the true worshiper will worship the father in spirit and truth for the father is seeking such to worship him god is spirit and those who worship him notice must worship in spirit and in truth that's what jesus is looking for he's calling on you young lady young man to worship him not based on what your parents did or what your grandparents said or what your great-grandparents did but he's saying this is the hour that god wants you to pick up your word pick up the bible get on your knees and say father what do you want me to do in this hour of descending darkness what do you want me to do in this hour when the world has gone mad what do you want me to do in a world that has lost its bearing and is seeking to ignite our lives from one thrill to the next lord what do you want me to do young lady young man the world as it has become will not return to what it used to be this is not the world that's going to get better one day even if we could return the world to what it was years ago the sad history of humanity is this there'll still be pain there'll be heartache there'll be suffering there will be death there is no lasting peace and safety found on this planet there is no security found in the banks in the financial institutions there is no lasting pleasure found in the movie theaters there's no lasting joy and satisfaction found in the social media part of of our generation today the only lasting peace and joy we can find is in the person of christ jesus what kind of world is this political instability on one side social insecurity on the other financial insecurity on one side and rising unemployment on the other a morally crumbling society on one side and a racially divided society on the other a world divided by ravaging diseases amidst the society of mistrust it is in this kind of hour that god is saying he's wanting to reignite his church the world coming blackout is not too far away because the world is rejecting the only answer to the darkness that is around them but when you open the book of revelation the light is turned up revelation illuminates the pathway to eternal peace and tranquility and i know that's what you need revelation shines the light on a message that can prepare the world for the soon return of jesus and friends i'm encouraging you pray for the infilling of the spirit of god pray and develop and train yourself to increase an appetite in holy things because nothing happens by chance we've got to become personally spiritually responsible for the way that we are developing our character we've got to make choices and decisions because we are living at the most pivotal hour in the history of the world everyone's destiny is about to be decided for eternity it's life or death for the inhabitants of this planet and no one is exempt so what are you looking for what are you praying for every one of us is going to be on one side or the other of this coin in the final showdown between light and darkness there are only two choices light and darkness and the question is in this hour of approaching darkness in this hour when the world is going to be wrapped in a dense darkness that it has never before experienced the question is where are you going to stand it's high time to get the three angels messages to your friends your neighbors your co-workers people on the streets and you'll be fulfilling the most urgent call for the hour the most earnest mission of heaven the darkness is coming the hour of descending darkness is coming all around us the clouds on the horizon is forecasting something about to break as an overwhelming surprise upon humanity and where you're going to be what are you going to do you see while the world is heading for a blackout the people of god are preparing to turn up the light isaiah the prophet says it one more time isaiah chapter 60 verse 1 and 3 arise shine for your light has come and the glory of the lord has risen upon you for behold the darkness shall cover the earth and deep darkness the people but the lord will arise over you and his glory will be seen upon you the gentiles shall come to your light and the kings to the brightness of your rising and here's my appeal to you today pray father ignite my life turn on the power of your holy spirit in my life make me a living sacrifice that someone may find the light and find jesus god bless you [Music] you

Channel: Three Angels Broadcasting Network (3ABN)

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Keywords: John Lomacang, Prophecy, Seventh day Adventist, SDA, Bible, 3ABN, Three Angels Broadcasting Network, yt:quality=high

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Length: 58min 0sec (3480 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 01 2021